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Is tap water in Thailand safe to consume?
Wondering if you can drink the tap water in Thailand? From brushing your teeth to filling up a bottle, it’s helpful to understand a few basics. Tap water safety in Thailand varies by location, and while some people use it...
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Phuket prepares to celebrate Children’s Day 2017
PHUKET: Prepare for the hustle and bustle of a day full of entertainment and fun activities as Phuket celebrates Children’s Day tomorrow. The first Children’s Day in Thailand was held in 1956, and since then government leaders have annually branded the event with a slogan. Celebrated on the second Saturday of every year, the slogan created by Prime Minister Gen…
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Drunk foreigner hits parked car and runs off into the woods
PHUKET: A drunk foreigner ditched his car and ran off into the woods after he smashed into a parked vehicle in Kathu yesterday. Lance Corporal Prawattinun Fuengfoo of Kathu Police received reports from locals at Bang Thong Village, who claimed that they tried to chase down the intoxicated driver of a white Toyota Vios but could not catch him. “The…
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Construction company ‘warned’ for discharging wastewater
PHUKET: A building contractor, KMIT Construction, was let off with a warning for discharging murky brown rainwater onto Tri Trang Beach today. Patong Municipality officials went on site to investigate the source of the brown water flowing directly onto the beach, following complaints regarding the issue by concerned local residents who may have thought it was bio-contaminated. The locals told…
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Indian, Pakistani expats unite for flood donation drive
PHUKET: The Indian and Pakistani expat communities on the island have joined hands to help flood victims in the south of Thailand. Since Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan’s announcement of a flood donation drive last Friday (story here), locals and expats have organized their own efforts to help the more than one million people so far impacted by the deluge. Firoz…
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Arrest warrants issued for university students in police scandal
BANGKOK: Dozens of medical and engineering university students now face arrest warrants for their alleged roles in cheating during police officer entrance exams last month at the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB). Criminal arrest warrants were issued today for about 51 university students and a Bangkok city regulation enforcement officer, after MPB Training Centre Chief Colonel Uthen Nuiphin filed cheating complaints…
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Bang Ku Underpass to open temporarily during Royal visits
PHUKET: One northbound lane of the Bang Ku Underpass will be open from January 14-20 to ease the flow of traffic during two upcoming Royal visits next week. “We have received a request from traffic police to temporarily open the lane, as Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana will visit the island on January 16 and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha…
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Phuket’s serial top-up machine thieves caught red-handed
PHUKET: Two cellphone top-up machine thieves were charged in Thalang yesterday after they confessed to committing the act at least six times in order to obtain money to buy the locally illicit drug krathom. A 22-year-old suspect named by police as Attaphol Panyasak, accompanied by a minor, were seen stealing the machines on CCTV. “We had received reports over the…
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Escaped prisoner prompts jail security upgrade request
PHANG NGA: Phang Nga Police officials are planning to request the Royal Thai Police to improve the standard of nationwide prison locks after a prisoner used a three-inch metal wire to escape from Takuapa Police Station on Tuesday. The runaway prisoner, named Panom Sirikul, 36, was recaptured yesterday, following which police made him demonstrate the lock-picking technique that reportedly took…
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Chinese national dead in Phuket after motorbike crash
PHUKET: One man died while another was injured following a motorbike crash in Karon early this morning. Two Chinese nationals, named Yang Dong, 36, and Hengquan Zhang, 22, were found lying on the ground in pools of blood at the Karon beachfront near the ‘Beyond Resort’ hotel at about 2am. “By the time the ambulance arrived, Mr Dong had already…
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Cardiac arrest victim prompts emergency landing at Phuket International Airport
PHUKET: A Malaysian man was pronounced dead, after an emergency landing of his Malaysia-bound flight at Phuket International Airport last night. The Turkish Airlines flight was on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Turkey, but the 60-year-old passenger’s troubled breathing prompted aircraft staff to seek medical attention for him in Phuket. “He was rushed straight to Thalang Hospital, where he…
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Koh Racha receives new buoys, artificial coral
PHUKET: Fifteen new buoys and sets of artificial coral were installed at Koh Racha yesterday, following the allocation and approval of a 300,000 baht budget for environmental preservation by the Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Department (DMCR). In recent weeks, Koh Racha has seen a spate of environmental issues, including coral damage (story here), fish feeding and coral theft by…
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Phuket donates by the truck-load
PHUKET: Both private and government sectors have stepped up to generously donate daily items of use for flood victims in the south of Thailand. Most of the southern provinces have been adversely affected by floods following incessant rains last week, after which Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan launched a donation drive (story here). On Monday, Phuket Provincial Police loaded two ten-wheelers…
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Fisherman dies after boat capsizes in rough seas
PHUKET: The corpse of a local fisherman was found near the Koh Sirey Bridge yesterday evening. Locals gathered around the pier as the body of Wirot Thongrueng, 56, was brought to shore. “His capsized boat was found near a mangrove forest in the area, while his body was found near the bridge. His lungs were filled with water, so we…
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Two Italians charged for disrespecting Thai flag
KRABI: Two Italian tourists were arrested on Sunday after CCTV footage showing them disrespecting the Thai flag and damaging public property in Krabi emerged on social media the day before. The video shows the men – named Ian Gerstgrasser and Tobias Gamper – pulling down the flags and dragging them on the ground. The footage has been shared thousands of…
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Thalang locals ask for help following spree of burglaries
PHUKET: Thalang locals are urging police to investigate a spate of robberies that reportedly took place on several occasions last month in their area. The inhabitants of Moon Baan Phanason Park Ville 3 in Srisoonthorn yesterday appealed to officials to attend to the matter, claiming that cash from over ten houses had already been stolen and asked why the burglars…
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Police chief to probe entrance exam cheating scandal
BANGKOK: National police chief Gen Chakthip Chaijinda said yesterday he would await the results of an internal investigation into cheating before deciding whether to cancel the results of an entrance exam for applicants seeking to be police officers. Gen Chakthip’s comments were made after Col Uthen Nuiphin, chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Training Center, filed a complaint with the…
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Phuket serial thief finally apprehended
PHUKET: A serial thief who broke into nearly two dozen vehicles during the New Year’s holidays was apprehended on Saturday. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Teeraphol Thipjaroen, along with his team, spoke at a press conference at Phuket Provincial Police Station yesterday regarding the arrest of the suspect, Ging Phonsae. “In two months, Mr Ging broke into cars in Phuket Town,…
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Tourist injured in old school bar fight at Bangla Road
PHUKET: An Indian tourist was injured after a friendly banter with bouncers turned into an argument on Bangla Road on Saturday night. The tourist, named by police as Rauka Ayush, was punched in the face at least three times and was taken to Patong Hospital before police arrived at the scene. “We called the bouncers, Sarawut Samroengkit, 23, and Wanchalerm…
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Four rescued after boat sinks in stormy weather
PHUKET: Four people were safely rescued after their boat sank due to strong waves at Koh Racha Noi yesterday morning. The Thailand Maritime Enforcement Coordinating Center Area 3 (Thai-MECC 3) received reports of the incident about 10:30am yesterday. “A fishing boat named Thepsiri, whose owner was named as Sirisak Seethep, left the shore last week with four crew members on…
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Phuket university student killed by driver who fell asleep
PHUKET: A university student was killed after a taxi, the driver of which reportedly fell asleep at the wheel, crashed into her motorbike in Thalang this morning. “The incident occurred at about 7:30am on the road between Thalang and Baan Don. The victim, Jiraporn Plotpai, 21, was lying on the side of the road, her face and body covered in…
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Unidentified Thai man found hanging in Pa Klok
PHUKET: An unidentified Thai man was found hanging in a house in Pa Klok this morning. Lt Sunan Petnhu of the Thalang Police received the report about 9.20am. “When we arrived we saw the body of the 25 to 30-year-old man hanging by rope on the first floor of the two-storey house. He was about 165cm to 170cm tall, wearing…
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British woman found hanged after argument
PHUKET: A 27-year-old British woman was found hanged in an apartment early this morning in Chalong. It was reported that she had had an argument with her boyfriend a few hours prior. The Phuket Gazette is withholding her name until police confirm that the British Embassy and her relatives have been notified. “We received the report about 6:45am from her…
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Phuket Gov launches flood donation drive
PHUKET: A special unit to help those affected by the floods in southern provinces was set up by Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan yesterday. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office opened for donations such as rice, instant noodles, water and other dried foods for distribution in the south. “The floods have affected Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani,…
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Phuket Bus flips and crashes in Krabi
PHUKET: A bus headed from Phuket to Trang flipped on its side and crashed into a power pole in Krabi last night, injuring the driver and 22 passengers on board. The crash took place on Petch Kasem Road in the Baan Klang sub-district. Capt Suwit Kaewpreecha of Ao Luek Police received the report about 8:30pm. “It happened on a straight…
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Van numbers to decrease by 2019
BANGKOK: As many as 40,000 inter-provincial passenger vans could be taken off Thailand’s roads by 2019 because they are not appropriate for public transportation, Deputy Prime Minister Wisanu Krue-Ngam said today. PM Wisanu said that the Transport Ministry’s proposal to use Article 44 of the interim charter to immediately tackle the problem with passenger vans did not solely stem from…
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Opinion: Tackling IUU fishing
PHUKET: The hunt for the Taiwanese owner of a fleet of seven fishing vessels currently impounded in Rassada (story here) is a test of the willingness and ability of Thai authorities to tackle Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels that port in Phuket. Taiwanese tuna fishing vessels have a long history of using Phuket as a base of operations,…
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Swiss man “lost and found’ after two days
PHUKET: An elderly Swiss man who had wandered off from his Karon rental house two days ago was found in Thalang this morning. Rescue workers arrived at the scene after they received a call from locals regarding the man about 10am. “The man was found by locals sitting at a grocery store in Baan Lipon. When they couldn’t communicate with…
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Jail breaking teen finally arrested
PHUKET: A 19-year-old robbery suspect who escaped a police station while being interrogated for his crime was finally arrested yesterday in the northern province of Maha Sarakham. The suspect, named as Chaiwalan Pennuanong, was first arrested on December 13 of last year, after he and his accomplice stole a girl’s bag – the girl subsequently chased them down and crashed…
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Business: Thailand’s airports to get overhauls
PHUKET: As authorities anticipate 34 million foreign-tourist arrivals and 150 million domestic air travellers in 2017, major airports including Phuket International, Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang International, U-tapao Rayong-Pattaya International, Krabi International and Chiang Rai Mae Fah Luang International are undergoing renovations or expansion. Meanwhile, there have been calls for some small airports upcountry, such as in Roi-et, Nakhon Ratchasima and Hua…
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On Deck: Yachting forum needs better exposure
PHUKET: We’ve had one regatta, two superyacht rendezvous and a yacht show in the last month in Phuket. Squeezed in between all of that was the little-discussed Thailand Yachting Forum (TYF). Held a day before the Thailand Yacht Show, the second TYF was this year hosted by Phuket Boat Lagoon. Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing, kicked it…
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