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  • PM vows crackdown on Koh Tao scourge

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM vows crackdown on Koh Tao scourge The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: N THE WAKE of the murder of two British citizens on Koh Tao, off Surat Thani coast, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday vowed to tackle influential rackets and illegitimate businesses on the…

  • Orient Thai Airlines mechanics in high-speed Phuket crash

    PHUKET: An Orient Thai Airlines mechanic will be charged with reckless driving after he and his colleague crashed into a Phuket used car lot at high speed early this morning. The two mechanics were driving an Orient Thai company pick-up from Phuket International Airport to Phuket Town at about 2am when the vehicle careened off the road. “Witnesses said that…

  • Preparing for retirement

    PHUKET: Many expats don’t know where to begin when planning for retirement. The key is getting a head start. While it’s best to start planning as soon as possible, it’s never too late to take control of your finances and your own destiny. This is the first of a three-part series outlining the three critical steps that must be taken…

  • Patong Police fail to find any illegal tour operators in Phuket crackdown

    PHUKET: More than 30 officers led by Patong Police scoured the resort town yesterday afternoon, but failed to find any culprits as part of an ongoing island-wide sweep for illegal tour operators and guides. The officers split into five teams and began inspecting businesses from 2pm as part of the crackdown announced at a meeting on September 5 (story here).…

  • ICC claim Outrigger T20 title after epic final

    PHUKET: The final of the Outrigger T20 took place on a gloriously sunny day at the Alan Cooke Ground between the Bondi Bar Bashers and the ICC. BBB’s had only lost one game all season, however, that was against ICC and they were very keen to avenge the loss and claim the title at the same time. ICC had been…

  • Russian arrested for installing ATM skimmer

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russian arrested for installing ATM skimmer The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Russian has been arrested for allegedly installing a “skimmer” device to steal PIN numbers of cardholders who used an automatic teller machine (ATM) at a 7-Eleven convenience store in eastern Bangkok. The new…

  • Police free bar owners and look for ex-village headman’s son

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police free bar owners and look for ex-village headman’s son The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police are looking for the son of a former Koh Tao village headman in their pursuit of the killers of two British backpackers on the night of September 14, after…

  • Three Laguna resorts step up to help jobless Phuket beach vendors

    PHUKET: Three major hotels at Laguna Phuket have agreed to allow vendors who lost their jobs in the Cherng Talay beach cleanup to work on sections of their beachfront properties. “After the cleanup [in Cherng Talay] we got our beautiful beaches back, but we have been left with many jobless vendors who want to make a living,” said Ma-ann Samran,…

  • Koh Tao Murders: Police arrest one suspect, launch manhunt for another

    PHUKET: Police have arrested the brother of a local village chief on Koh Tao for the brutal slaying of British tourists David Miller and Hannah Witheridge last week (story here). Region 8 Police Commander Panya Mamen named the man arrested only as “Mon”, reported Thai PBS. Local officers are coordinating with Bangkok Metropolitan Police to hunt down a second suspect,…

  • Facebook tip-off leads to Laguna Phuket beach fence teardown

    PHUKET: Laguna Phuket today was ordered to pull down a fence at Bang Tao Beach until it could be established whether or not the operators of the resort complex own the land. Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), issued the order after inspecting the site while accompanied by armed soldiers. “Photos of the fence were…

  • B15.9mn budget approved to tackle some of Phuket’s water woes

    PHUKET: A 15.9-million-baht budget has been approved to manage and develop Phuket’s water-resources in order to increase storage capacity and improve a canal that has become a health hazard. “We have approved a 4mn-baht project to dredge about a kilometer of Bang Yai Canal in Phuket Town to improve the water flow and drainage,” Natural Resources and Environment Minister General…

  • Phuket Vegetarian Festival to begin tonight

    PHUKET: As the sun sets on Phuket tonight, all Chinese shrines taking part in the annual Vegetarian Festival will raise their go-teng poles so that the Jade Emperor, among the Nine Emperor Gods, can descend from the heavens, heralding the beginning of this year’s event. Devotees began pasting gold-leaf papers to the poles last night ahead of the festival’s precursor…

  • Gala Leon becomes Spain’s first female Davis Cup captain

    PHUKET: The Spanish Tennis Federation have named former WTA player Gala Leon as the country’s new Davis Cup captain following Carlos Moya’s decision to step down last week. Moya quit after five-times winners Spain were relegated from the World Group following defeat against Brazil in a playoff. The RFET federation said in a statement on Monday that 40-year-old Leon, who…

  • Phuket Town to suffer more water shutoffs

    PHUKET: The mains water supply will be shut off throughout most of Phuket Town for two nights, starting tonight, so that Phuket City Municipality workers can install larger pipes to serve the growing town. Water supply will be shut off at 8pm and restored at 5am on Wednesday. The second shutoff will see water supply cut from 8pm Wednesday through…

  • Koh Tao Murders: Mass DNA tests fail to identify suspects

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Koh Tao Murders: Mass DNA tests fail to identify suspects The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police hunting the killers of two British tourists on Koh Tao failed again yesterday to link suspects to the crimes, as DNA tests on 30 out of 64 samples collected…

  • Reinforced by Thai military, Phuket park chief decides to stay

    PHUKET: Emboldened by more military personnel to provide around-the-clock protection, Kitiphat Tharapiban has decided to stay on as chief of Phuket’s Sirinath National Park. Mr Kitiphat was convinced to stay during newly appointed Natural Resources and Environment Minister Gen Dapong Ratanasuwan’s visit to Phuket on Saturday. Gen Dapong’s visit – and the promise of more military security personnel – came…

  • Patong bar employee drowns in dangerous Phuket surf

    PHUKET: A teenage bar employee drowned at Patong Beach early this morning after ignoring red “no swim” flags and swimming in the dangerous Phuket surf in his jeans. Suksan Jaiyen, 19, and three friends were having drinks on the beach after closing the bar around 2am, explained Lt Thawatchai Srimai of the Patong Police. “We assume that Mr Suksan was…

  • Foul play not suspected in death of former Phuket police officer

    PHUKET: Police have ruled out foul play in the death of a former Phuket policeman-turned-money lender who was found dead in his bed Saturday night. “We found Sub Lt Anan Thongkham, 65, dead at his home on Soi King Kaew 5 in Rassada at about 10:30pm,” said Maj Sakchai Chunyong of the Phuket City Police. “There were no signs of…

  • Phuket Police probe foreigner over woman found hanged

    PHUKET: Police are questioning a foreign man for the possible murder of a woman who was found hanged at her home in Phuket late last night. Police declined to identify the foreigner as the investigation is ongoing. Officers were called to the scene, in Soi Bang Tao 4, Cherng Talay, just before midnight to find Kroramol Chittangkul, 51, from Bangkok,…

  • Patong’s one-way system to change by year’s end

    PHUKET: Plans to change the direction of Patong’s one-way traffic system in Phuket look set to go ahead by the end of this year, Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup has confirmed. “A public hearing was held on Friday to determine whether or not to change Patong’s traffic flow. I believe this could happen by the end of this year,” Mayor Chalermluck…

  • Tourist Police, charity rescue German beggar

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tourist Police, charity rescue German beggar The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Tourist Police and a German charity have come to the aid of a German man with excessively swollen legs, found begging near Khao San Road in Bangkok, after his photos were distributed and…

  • NCPO will select National Reform Council members | Thaiger

    NCPO will select National Reform Council members

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO will select National Reform Council members The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order yesterday clarified its decision to cancel the appointment of a 14-member committee to select the 250-member National Reform Council. NCPO spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvari said the…

  • Vietnamese men arrested for kidnap, extortion and torture

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Vietnamese men arrested for kidnap, extortion and torture The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Three Vietnamese men are in police detention for allegedly kidnapping and chopping off their victim’s finger in an unsuccessful attempt to extort Bt1.5 million from his family. The victim, who is also…

  • Police to offer compensation for wrong imprisonment | Thaiger

    Police to offer compensation for wrong imprisonment

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police to offer compensation for wrong imprisonment The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Soon individuals who were wrongly imprisoned or victims of serious crimes will be able to lodge a police complaint and simultaneously file for compensation with the Rights and Liberties Protection Department. Department chief…

  • DNA samples to be sought of all Koh Tao residents

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community DNA samples to be sought of all Koh Tao residents The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police are collecting DNA samples of all people on Koh Tao, an island off Surat Thani province, in a bid to find the murderers of two British tourists. “We are…

  • Land officers target network of corrupt Phuket officials

    PHUKET: The Royal Forest Department (RFD) this week ramped up its campaign to break open a network of corrupt officials who allegedly issued illegal land titles over the past three decades, covering at least 8 billion baht of protected land in Phuket. Working in collusion since 1987, the officials continued to issue SorKor 1 land-use documents for plots in Sirinath…

  • Former Phuket Governor named in billion-baht illegal land title probe

    PHUKET: Former Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, along with a former Phuket Land Office chief and several other officials, has been named in a police complaint filed over illegal land titles issued for 80 rai in Sirinath National Park. Kitiphat Taraphiban filed the complaint, naming a network of 13 people, at Thalang Police Station on Thursday as one of his last…

  • Chinese man joins Swedes in epic journey for Phuket post-tsunami orphanage

    PHUKET: A Chinese man has joined the group of Swedes pedaling toward Phuket from Europe to raise money for a post-tsunami orphanage on the island (story here). Kunn Lee, who was originally supposed to be cycling southern China and Tibet, changed his plans after meeting Calle Wollgard and the team – he is now bound for the Barhem Muang Mai…

  • Australian tourist ignores warning sign, injured in fall

    PHUKET: An Australian tourist was injured after ignoring a warning sign and falling down a small cliff at the Susan Hoi Shell Cemetery, also known as the “Fossil Beach”, near Ao Nang in Krabi yesterday. According to police, David Grant, 40, was visiting the famous natural attraction with a friend when he decided to climb down the cliff to the…

  • Phuket Police vow to continue hunt for Russian murder-kidnap suspects

    PUKET: Police have exhausted their leads in the hunt for two Russian men wanted in connection with the murder and kidnapping of a fellow Russian in Phuket earlier this year. Ukrainian Oleksandr Boychuk, 44, and Russian Aleksandr Novichkov, 58, are wanted for the kidnapping of Alexey Slabinskiy, 39, and his girlfriend Iana Strizheus in March (story here). Miss Strizheus was…