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128 killed in accidents over first two days of New Year
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 128 killed over first two days of New Year The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The first two of the New Year period’s “seven dangerous days” have seen 128 people killed and 1,158 others injured in 1,133 accidents nationwide, the Road Safety Center said yesterday. Phetchabun,…
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Weather stalls search for AirAsia black boxes; first victim buried
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Weather stalls search for AirAsia black boxes; first victim buried Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Heavy seas stopped divers reaching the possible wreck of an AirAsia Indonesia jet off Borneo on Thursday and an aviation official said it could be a week before the black box…
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Myanmar rapist of girl, 14, sentenced to eight years in jail
PHUKET: The pedophile who confessed to raping a 14-year-old undocumented Myanmar migrant worker with the help of his wife in Khao Lak in August has been sentenced to eight years in jail. The wife, as an accomplice to the crime, was sentenced to three years in jail. The couple, named by police only as “Mr Ko Nai” and “Ms Ma…
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Chinese dive tour company shut down at Koh Racha
PHUKET: Officials have shut down a dive tour company serving Chinese tourists at Koh Racha, located about 25km south of Phuket, after confirming that Myanmar nationals were working illegally there as dive instructors. Santi Pawai, director of the Minister of Tourism and Sports Phuket office, announced the forced closure of dive company Hou Hai Diver Co Ltd during his inspection…
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New Year’s Eve stampede kills 35 on Shanghai’s Bund tourist strip
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New Year’s Eve stampede kills 35 on Shanghai’s Bund tourist strip Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A stampede killed at least 35 people during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Shanghai, authorities said, possibly caused by people rushing to pick up fake money thrown from a building…
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Opinion: Phuket, an island haven lost
PHUKET: A couple of weeks ago, I joined some work colleagues for lunch at a Cherng Talay restaurant. The restaurant is Australian-owned and caters mainly to expats who are homesick for stodgy meat pies and other Western fare. While waiting to be served I noticed, among the restaurant memorabilia, an old black-and-white photograph on the wall. It depicted a group…
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Russian expert finds investment paradise in Phuket
An outstanding representative of Phuket’s international community, Sergey Nesterenko – who has a doctorate in business law and an MA in finance – has travelled the world searching for an earthly paradise to invest in property. At a unique Phuket location on secluded Naithon Beach, he is building the exclusive Vista del Mar villas with breathtaking sea and mountain views.…
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Phuket suffers first fatality in New Year “Seven Days of Danger’
PHUKET: A Mercedes-Benz and a motorcycle collided at 12:10am today, resulting in the first fatality of the Seven Days of Danger safety campaign – which targeted zero deaths. The Mercedes, driven by Chaichana Seaong, 40, collided with the motorcycle in front of the Mook Phuket shop on Chao Fa East Road, near the Kwang Road intersection. Witnesses claim the the…
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Private jets can set down, but not stay at Phuket Airport for New Year, say officials
PHUKET: Private jets can continue to land at Phuket International Airport over the New Year holidays, but are restricted in how long they can remain parked at the airport, the Phuket Gazette has been told. An order issued by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) mandated that priority be given to commercial flights at Phuket Airport until January 5, confirmed…
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Records tumble at We Freedive Suunto Series final in Phuket
PHUKET: A number of national records were brushed away as the We Free Dive Suunto Series drew to a close on December 21. All eyes were on American Katie Wierenga, who is ranked third among the USA female Dynamic No Fins (DNF) athletes after an outstanding performance in October. Having surpassed the USA DNF record in practice, Wierenga pushed hard…
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Slow lorises touted on Phuket beach
PHUKET: Cherng Talay Police have vowed to search for a pair of beach touts who were taking photographs of tourists with a slow loris at Surin Beach yesterday. “There were issues with touts offering to take photos of tourists with snakes and iguanas on Surin Beach, but we haven’t had a report about this issue since the beach encroachment crackdown,”…
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In Phuket aviation business, the sky is not the limit
PHUKET: Do what you love and make money doing it – how’s that for a business plan? That is exactly what Sky Club Asia co-owners Mark Silverberg and Paul Derstoff did when they turned their passion into a prospering business. Did their leap of faith pay off? One of the things that Mark Silverberg brought with him when he moved…
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Two flights report problems, turn back to Bangkok
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two flights report problems, turn back to Bangkok The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A domestic flight of Thai AirAsia – and a long haul Bangkok-London flight of Thai Airways International – both made emergency landings yesterday due to technical problems. Thai AirAsia’s flight FD3254 departed…
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Death sentences commuted to life in prison for Akeyuth murder
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death sentences commuted to life in prison for Akeyuth murder The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Criminal Court handed down the death sentence to two of six defendants for murdering high-profile and outspoken businessman Akeyuth Anchanbutr last year – but the penalty was commuted to…
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Divers set to search for AirAsia wreckage after debris, bodies found
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Divers set to search for AirAsia wreckage after debris, bodies found Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Divers and ships will search for the wreckage and the all important black boxes of a doomed AirAsia plane on Wednesday after Indonesian rescuers found several bodies and debris floating…
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Patong’s Keesin clan yet to face Phuket mafia charges
PHUKET: The Public Prosecutor has yet to press formal charges against Prab and Pattawee Keesin, both sons of former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, for operating a mafia organization. Pisitpol Phumsawat, chief Phuket public prosecutor, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that his office was still reviewing evidence presented by the police “I have dedicated a team to investigate the police claims,”…
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Teen killed in Phuket Town drive-by shooting
PHUKET: Police are hunting a man who shot dead an 18-year-old in a Phuket Town drive-by late last night. “Chalong Netphetdang*, 19, was riding pillion with a friend when two men pulled up close to them on a motorbike,” Phuket City Police Superintendent Sermphan Sirikong told the Phuket Gazette. “One of them pulled a gun on the pair and shot…
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Bodies, debris from missing AirAsia plane pulled from sea off Indonesia
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bodies, debris from missing AirAsia plane pulled from sea off Indonesia Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing AirAsia plane carrying 162 people pulled bodies and wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo on Tuesday as relatives of those on…
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Phuket pick-up truck smash near Mission Hospital
PHUKET: Emergency medical orderlies at Mission Hospital, north of Phuket Town, rushed out to rescue several injured people from a road accident directly outside the facility yesterday morning. An Isuzu pick-up truck had hit the back of Honda saloon car opposite the Toyota dealership on the southbound side of the road, causing the car to skid and hit a motorcycle…
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Cargo boat sinks off Phi Phi, crewman believed drowned
PHUKET: Marine Police are continuing their efforts to locate a crewman still missing from a cargo boat that sank in a storm two kilometers off Phi Phi Island yesterday afternoon. The Sor Jatuporn was carrying goods from Ao Nang on the Krabi coast to Phi Phi Island when it was slammed by a storm, said Krabi Marine Police Inspector Chaiyasit…
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Video Report: Khao Lak 10 years on – remembering the tsunami
PHUKET: Thailand’s primary tsunami 10-year commemoration ceremony – presided over by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha – took place on December 26 at the Tor 813 Police Boat Tsunami Memorial Site in Khao Lak. The program consisted of disaster control drill presentations followed by a number of keynote speeches by dignitaries, including PM Prayut and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister…
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Phuket expat, Microsoft MVP Henry Habermacher passes away
PHUKET: Long-time Rawai resident Henry Habermacher passed away peacefully on the morning of December 11. Born Heiri Habermacher on July 2, 1961, in Sachseln, Switzerland, he graduated from ETH Zurich in 1986 with a degree in electrical engineering, specializing in acoustics project management superconductivity. In 1994, he received a graduate degree in business management from HWV Luzern – IBR University.…
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Phuket’s “naughty maid’ strikes again in Patong
PHUKET: Reports of Phuket’s infamous “naughty maid” surfaced yesterday, following a police warning about her kleptomaniac behavior in May (story here). Patong Police repeated their warning yesterday, cautioning any prospective employers to be on the watch for the still-unidentified woman. “We received a complaint from a hotel on Nanai Road that a woman took a job as a maid and…
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Welfare officers tread softly in Phuket sea gypsy child prostitution probe
PHUKET: Officers are treading warily as they investigate reports of sea gypsy child prostitution and youth drug abuse at Phuket’s Rawai Pier. The pervading fear among all departments involved is that any direct confrontation could drive the children deeper into a world of crime. Pimporn Khorsantiwichai, director of the Phuket office of Social Development and Human Security, confirmed to the…
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Russian tourists injured as Phuket tour bus flips, crashes
PHUKET: Nine Russian tourists were rushed to hospital after the tour bus they were travelling in crashed and flipped onto its roof in Kamala, on Phuket’s west coast, this morning. The bus was carrying 37 Russian tourists from Phuket International Airport to Patong when the accident occurred at about 7:30am. The bus driver, Aroon Yaemkua, told police that he was…
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Indonesia expands search for missing AirAsia jet, US sends warship
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Indonesia expands search for missing AirAsia jet, US sends warship Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Countries around Asia on Tuesday stepped up the search for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that is presumed to have crashed in shallow waters off the Indonesian coast, with Washington…
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Websites with lese majeste content to be shut down
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Websites with lese majeste content to be shut down The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) intends to shut down all websites carrying lese majeste content by the year-end, according to its secretary-general Takorn Tantasith. If websites violate Article 112…
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Greek ferry stricken by blaze fully evacuated, 10 dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Greek ferry stricken by blaze fully evacuated, 10 dead Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Rescue teams evacuated more than 400 people from a car ferry that caught fire off Greece’s Adriatic coast in a 36-hour operation on roiling seas, but 10 people were killed in the…
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Krabi monk injured in inferno
PHUKET: One novice monk was injured when a dormitory at a temple in Krabi was engulfed by flames yesterday evening. Sarawut Likitkarn, 16, suffered from smoke inhalation and rushed to Krabi Hospital. However, doctors have since confirmed that he is in a stable, safe condition. The fire broke out on the second floor of the monks’ dormitory at Wat Keaw…
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Love, humanity ripples through Phuket tsunami memorial service
PHUKET: The devastating loss of hundreds of thousands of lives to the Indian Ocean Tsunami 10 years ago also brought a wave of humanity among the differing peoples of Phuket and the global community, Phuket Vice Governor Suthee Thongyam told those gathered at the Light Up Phuket memorial event on Patong Beach on Friday. “It is a great honor to…
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