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Ukrainian forces quit besieged town after rebel assault
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukrainian forces quit besieged town after rebel assault Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Ukraine pulled thousands of troops out of an encircled town on Wednesday after a massive assault by pro-Russian rebels, who ignored a new ceasefire to seize the strategic railway junction. The fall of…
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Phuket beaches return to TripAdvisor ‘Best in Asia’ rankings
PHUKET: Nai Harn Beach and Kata Beach, both on Phuket’s southwest coast, have ranked in TripAdvisor’s top 10 list for Asia, with two beaches in Krabi also making the grade. Nai Harn beach ranked third (click here), while Kata beach returned to the rankings, coming in at number eight. Railey Beach and Phra Nang Beach, in both Krabi, ranked seventh…
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Yingluck faces suit over B600bn losses
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yingluck faces suit over B600bn losses The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) resolved yesterday that it will recommend the Finance Ministry to sue former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra for about 600 billion baht in damages – for failing to stop massive…
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Police kingpins Pongpat, Kowit get 10 more years for money laundering
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police kingpins Pongpat, Kowit get 10 more years for money laundering The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former crime-buster Pol Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan and a close police aide were yesterday given 10-year jail terms for money laundering. Five other members of the racket he ran…
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Australia ratchets up pressure on Indonesia over Bali Nine executions
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia ratchets up pressure on Indonesia over Bali Nine executions Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Indonesia owes it to Australia not to execute two Australian drug offenders on death row, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday, ratcheting up a diplomatic war of words that is…
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No Beach Butts: Phuket bans smoking, eating on sands
PHUKET: Smoking and eating are now banned on Phuket beaches following a press conference today to clarify the new “no beach chair” rule (story here). Governor Nisit Jansomwong called the conference following tourists’ protests of police officers asking them to remove their beach chairs from the sands (story here). “Despite smoking and eating being banned, people will still be able…
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Phuket Governor stands strong against beach chairs
PHUKET: Governor Nisit Jansomwong stood strong in his anti-beach chair campaign today, amid some tourists denouncing Phuket and its beaches following the recent “no beach chair” rule. “Today, I would like to make it clear. We will continue to strictly enforce the rules prohibiting beach chairs on Phuket sands,” Governor Nisit said. The governor’s statement flies in the face of…
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French tourists survive Phuket airport van crash
PHUKET: Three French tourists escaped serious injury when the passenger van they were in blew out a front tyre and tumbled onto the median guard rail en route to Phuket International Airport this afternoon. Yassin Bouhou, 31, suffered a broken left leg and compatriot Franky Legueulle, 33, broke his left arm in the accident, confirmed Lt Col Watcharin Jirattikarnwiwat of…
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Missing girl found safe in Phuket
PHUKET: Saowaluk ‘Nong Mai’ Thappan, the 15-year-old girl reported missing from Ranong two days ago, was reunited with her mother at the Chalong Police Station last night. Deunphen Tongtirum made a public plea to find her daughter after she went missing from their family home on Sunday (story here). Also reported missing was Nong Mai’s friend, named only as “Nong…
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Greece defies creditors, seeking credit but no bailout
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Greece defies creditors, seeking credit but no bailout Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Talks between Greece and euro zone finance ministers over the country’s debt crisis broke down on Monday when Athens rejected a proposal to request a six-month extension of its international bailout package as…
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Phuket nightlife raids fail to find human-trafficking victims
PHUKET: Raids on some 40 nightlife venues throughout Phuket Town over the past month have failed to uncover any evidence of human trafficking, police have reported. “The only illegal activity we have found are women offering sexual services in public, mostly along Chaofa Road,” said Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Khunnadet Nanongkhai. “We recently arrested three more prostitutes in that…
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Travel agency suspected of breaching FBA with nominee
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Travel agency suspected of breaching FBA with nominee The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Bangkok travel firm is suspected of breaching the Foreign Business Act by having a Thai nominee to hold a majority share in the company, according to the Business Development Department. Pongpun…
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Migrant children as young as 11 found working in Tak factories
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Migrant children as young as 11 found working in Tak factories The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: At least three textile and electronics factories in the western province of Tak were found to be using immigrant child laborers aged under 15, according to Labor Ministry official…
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Thaksin ‘ready’ for talk, but not Prayut
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thaksin ‘ready’ for talk, but not Prayut The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday rejected a call for him to have talks with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as part of the efforts to achieve national reconciliation. Mr Thaksin, however, has…
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Tsunami danger passes after strong quake hits northern Japan
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tsunami danger passes after strong quake hits northern Japan Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck off northeastern Japan on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and small waves were reported along the northern coast after Japan issued a…
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Soldiers deployed as security for oil-drilling firm
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Soldiers deployed as security for oil-drilling firm The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Soldiers and police joined a group of men wearing hoods and volunteers to clear the way for drilling equipment to be taken on an oil well in the Northeast yesterday morning, to the…
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Man stabbed in teen gang attack meters from Patong Police Station
PHUKET: A man is in critical condition at Vachira Phuket Hospital after a gang of teenagers dragged him out of his pick-up truck and stabbed him in the chest within meters of the Patong Police Station early yesterday morning. Yet, police did not learn of the attack until staffers at Patong Hospital called them at about 3:30am. The staffers reported…
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Ranong girl missing in Phuket
PHUKET: A mother is desperately searching for her 15-year-old daughter after she disappeared from her home in Ranong and hopped on a bus to Phuket with a friend yesterday afternoon. Saowaluk “Nong Mai” Thappan and her friend, named only as “Nong Prae”, went missing at about 3pm yesterday, Nong Mai’s mother, Deunphen Tongtirum, told the Phuket Gazette today. “After she…
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Japanese man found dead off Kalim Beach
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a Japanese national after his body was found off Kalim Beach on Saturday. Patong Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived to the scene, opposite Phra Baramee Soi 9 in Kalim, at about 1:30pm to find the man’s clothes and passport lying on rocks near the shore. The body of 48-year-old Hiroshi Yoshiki,…
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Tour boat captain finds body off Phuket
PHUKET: Police are attempting to identify the body of a man found floating off Coral Island, off Phuket’s southwest coast, yesterday. The gruesome discovery was made by a tour boat captain passing through the area at about midday, said Lt Col Anan Anutarawasarat of the Chalong Police. There were no tourists on board, he pointed out. “We believe the man…
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Bar staffer charged for baseball bat attack on Phuket expat
PHUKET: An employee at a bar in Rawai who brutally attacked a British expat with a baseball bat has been charged with assault, police have confirmed. Sarawuth Kongphat, 37, an assistant at the Green Leaf Bar, beat customer Christopher Stark with the bat and fractured his skull, after Mr Stark discovered he did not have enough cash to pay for…
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Copenhagen in shock over shootings, 22-year-old suspect dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Copenhagen in shock over shootings, 22-year-old suspect dead Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police shot dead a 22-year-old Danish-born gunman on Sunday after he killed two people at a Copenhagen synagogue and an event promoting free speech in actions possibly inspired by an attack on the…
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New law orders one-stop service centers for slashing red tape
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New law orders one-stop service centers for slashing red tape The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A new law aimed at ensuring faster processing of state permits and other services should go a long way towards reducing bureaucratic red tape in Thailand, many agree. The State…
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Socialite dad of driver in notorious road-rage bus stop ram busted with meth
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Socialite dad of driver in notorious road-rage killing busted with meth The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Businessman and socialite Kan-anek Pachimsawat has been arrested for allegedly using the drug “ice” (crystal methamphetamine) and possessing it with intent to sell. He was released on Friday on…
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Woman becomes first Thai driver arrested for refusing breath test
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Driver arrested for refusing breath test The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A female driver has become the first motorist in the country to be punished for refusing a breathalyser test, said the police, who added that they were forced to tow away her car with…
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Samui bar owner, guard confess to slaying Turkish tourist
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Samui bar owner, guard confess to slaying Turkish tourist The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A security guard and the manager of a bar on Koh Samui confessed on Friday to conspiring to shoot dead a Turkish tourist, police said yesterday. Kabin Srisa-ard, 27, the guard,…
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Lost in translation: Phuket police hand out fliers proclaiming “No Summer Dream On Beach’
PHUKET: Police are rushing to fix fliers that were handed out to tourists at Patong Beach yesterday that mistakenly read in English “No Summer Dream On Beach, Start 12 Feb 2015”. “It was a translation error. The A4 flier was supposed to say something that would mean ‘no beach loungers’, as it did in Thai below the English translation,” Deputy…
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Ladyboy busted dealing meth in Phuket Town
PHUKET: A ladyboy drug dealer in possession of 58.48 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and 145,000 baht in cash was netted in a sting operation this morning in Phuket Town. Police were informed by undercover officers that Thiwa Saengreung, 38, had been selling ya ice to teenagers in the area, said Lt Col Chaiyadej Kaiyarit, an inspector for the…
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Bicycles banned on Phi Phi Island
PHUKET: Bicycle were banned on Phi Phi Island’s public walkways today following complaints from tourists about crowded streets and reckless cyclists. “The bicycle problem started about three years ago. Since then, the number of bikes on the island has increased significantly,” said Prasert Wongma, deputy chief executive officer of Ao Nang Administration Organization (OrBorTor). “No vehicles are allowed on the…
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Online 90-day immigration check-in yet to be launched in Phuket
PHUKET: Foreigners living in Thailand will be able to report to immigration for their 90-day check-in via the immigration website no sooner than April, an immigration officer confirmed to the Phuket Gazette yesterday. The news follows an experimental launch of the online reporting system in Bangkok last month. “The online 90-day reporting service is being tested now. For the time…
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