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  • Water tanker crushes pick-up truck in Kamala villa estate

    Water tanker crushes pick-up truck in Kamala villa estate

    PHUKET: A water tanker rolled backwards down a hill and crushed a pick-up truck outside a residence at Jomchang Villa in Kamala yesterday afternoon, only moments after the pick-up driver got out of her vehicle. Kamala Police officers called to the scene were told by witnesses that the pick-up driver, who declined to be named, had escaped almost certain death…

  • Russian hitchhikers spared dangerous nighttime jungle trek

    Russian hitchhikers spared dangerous nighttime jungle trek

    PHUKET: Two Russian women were spared the ordeal of becoming lost in the Phang Nga jungle after a police officer realized that they were heading for potential trouble last night. Named by police only as Ms Susan, 21, and Ms Vilka, 23, the women were spotted heading into the jungle at Khao Nang Hong, a 400-meter-high mountain eco-tourist site. The…

  • Molly’s fatal road in Phuket fixed

    Molly’s fatal road in Phuket fixed

    PHUKET: Officials have fixed the rural road that claimed the life of 7-year-old Molly Anne Bailey after the truck she was travelling in plunged into a massive sinkhole. The sinkhole did not have any lights or obvious signs warning drivers of the hole. There was only a dark green plastic net with a sign that read “Road Cut Off”. The…

  • Police probed for opening fire on suspected human-trafficking boat off Ranong | Thaiger

    Police probed for opening fire on suspected human-trafficking boat off Ranong

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police probed for opening fire on suspected human-trafficking boat off Ranong The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday confirmed they were investigating an incident last Wednesday in which a Ranong police boat opened fire on a fishing boat in the Andaman Sea. National police spokesman…

  • Police accused of kidnap, Bt2m ransom from Korean gambling ring | Thaiger

    Police accused of kidnap, Bt2m ransom from Korean gambling ring

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police accused of kidnap, Bt2m ransom from Korean gambling ring The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Seven police officers will be summoned to explain their role over allegations that they demanded Bt2 million from South Koreans who have illegally operated online gambling services. Investigators are also…

  • Divers retrieve AirAsia ‘black box’, explosion theory questioned

    Divers retrieve AirAsia ‘black box’, explosion theory questioned

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Divers retrieve AirAsia ‘black box’, explosion theory questioned Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Indonesian navy divers retrieved the black box flight data recorder from the wreck of an AirAsia passenger jet on Monday, a major step towards unravelling the cause of the crash that killed all…

  • Video Report: World Pencak Silat Championship biggest – ever, say officials

    Video Report: World Pencak Silat Championship biggest – ever, say officials

    PHUKET: At the the opening ceremony on Saturday, officials marked the 16th World Pencak Silat Championship 2015 as the largest such event for the Indonesian martial art. “Under the campaign ‘Uniting Silat, Uniting the People’, we hope to raise the world’s awareness of this sport. We hope that all pencak silat member countries will be united and grow strong,” said…

  • Rohingya woman dead, dozens of children among 98 trafficking victims

    Rohingya woman dead, dozens of children among 98 trafficking victims

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rohingya woman dead, dozens of children among 98 trafficking victims Reuters / The Nation PHUKET: One woman was found dead in the back of one of five vehicles being used to traffick 98 Rohingya through Phang Nga, north of Phuket, and were intercepted by police in…

  • Siblings drown off Krabi on Children’s Day

    Siblings drown off Krabi on Children’s Day

    PHUKET: A pair of siblings drowned after they were swept out to sea off Nopparat Thara Beach in Krabi on Children’s Day. Vimvipa Keawyai, 14, and her 12-year-old brother, Vongvut, were swimming with friends in the Son Canal, about 20 meters from their parents, when the accident occurred. “My wife and I stayed on the beach while the children went…

  • Phuket cyclist arrested for robbing store with lighter gun

    Phuket cyclist arrested for robbing store with lighter gun

    PHUKET: Police tracked down and arrested a known cyclist early this morning after he robbed his local Family Mart convenience store with a lighter gun to buy some beer a few hours earlier. Key to finding the suspect, Narin Gamegaeman, 26, was that he made his getaway on his bicycle, said Maj Col Thitirat Arsakij of the Thung Thong Police.…

  • Phuket officials scramble to avoid Chalong underpass traffic mayhem

    Phuket officials scramble to avoid Chalong underpass traffic mayhem

    PHUKET: The Phuket Highways Office and consultancy experts are scrambling to find alternative routes for motorists to avoid serious congestion once construction of the Chalong underpass begins next year. Slated to cost up to 800 million baht, construction of the underpass is expected to have a damning effect on traffic at the critical southern roundabout, Chalong Circle, said Samak Luedwonghad,…

  • Man slain, body dumped in Phuket mangroves

    Man slain, body dumped in Phuket mangroves

    PHUKET: Police are attempting to identify a man whose body was found in a mangrove swamp in northern Phuket late last night. A local fisherman discovered the body among mangroves in Tah Chat Chai, at the northern end of Mai Khao, at about 10:30pm. “The body is of an Asian male, dressed in a black t-shirt and purple shorts. He…

  • Bull elephant causing strife at Khao Yai

    Bull elephant causing strife at Khao Yai

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bull elephant causing strife at Khao Yai The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: In just 10 days, a wild bull elephant has damaged four vehicles and caused alarm among tourists at Khao Yai National Park. Fortunately, no one has been harmed in the two shocking encounters…

  • Millions, world leaders, join Paris protest against attacks

    Millions, world leaders, join Paris protest against attacks

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Millions, world leaders, march in Paris to protest attacks Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: World leaders including Muslim and Jewish statesmen linked arms to lead more than a million French citizens through Paris in an unprecedented march to pay tribute to victims of Islamist militant attacks.…

  • Three foreign neighbors robbed in one night

    Three foreign neighbors robbed in one night

    PHUKET: Three foreign neighbors were robbed last night of cash and valuables amounting to more than 100,0000 baht. This morning, Thalang Police were called to the scene, the Baan Bang Rong Community. “The three bungalows are located next door to each other and were robbed sometime last night or early this morning,” said Thalang Police Superintendent Sirisak Wasasiri. “The owners…

  • Safety, hygiene at Phuket worker camps to be regulated: Gov Nisit

    Safety, hygiene at Phuket worker camps to be regulated: Gov Nisit

    PHUKET: A special committee will be set up to manage and oversee security and safety at Phuket’s numerous construction worker camps following a spate of violent clashes, Phuket Governer Nisit Jansomwong announced yesterday. The move follows a massive gang brawl on January 1 between construction workers from Cambodia and Myanmar at a camp for workers involved in the expansion of…

  • Local president pleas for help, patience concerning filthy Phuket beach

    Local president pleas for help, patience concerning filthy Phuket beach

    PHUKET: The president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) has made a plea for help concerning the piles of trash at Surin Beach and the untreated wastewater flowing into the swimming area there. “Although we have trash bins there, people don’t use them,” said Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay OrBorTor. “There’s a lot of garbage strewn…

  • Stateless children make plea for Thai nationality, rights | Thaiger

    Stateless children make plea for Thai nationality, rights

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Stateless children make plea for Thai nationality, rights Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: As New Year and National Children’s Day gifts, homeless and migrant children in Thailand are asking for Thai nationality and basic rights. Kaloh Ma-yeur, a 21-year-old freshman at Loei Rajabhat University, recalled…

  • Phuket driver’s licence tests start rolling toward privatization

    Phuket driver’s licence tests start rolling toward privatization

    PHUKET: The Department of Land Transport (DLT) has begun rolling out its campaign to privatize driving tests, with the goal of having private-company driving schools conduct all the practical and theory tests on the government’s behalf by 2017. People applying for their first driver’s licence will soon be able to watch the mandatory training video at a driving school instead…

  • Video Report: Phuket International Hospital organizes charity run

    Video Report: Phuket International Hospital organizes charity run

    PHUKET: Phuket International Hospital will hold its annual “Run for Health, Run for Charity Mini Marathon” this February 22, with the winners receiving trophies presented by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. “This is the third year that Phuket International Hospital has organized this event. It will be a great honor to have HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn taking…

  • Letter from the Governor: Let your children know you care

    Letter from the Governor: Let your children know you care

    Nisit Jansomwong, 52, from Ratchaburi, landed on the island in October to take up the position of Phuket Governor. He has a master’s degree in administration from Chulalongkorn University, where he graduated with honors. Before coming to Phuket, Governor Nisit was governor of Ratchaburi province for one year. PHUKET: Children’s Day gives us the chance to show children just how…

  • Phuket B12mn marina canal extension completed

    Phuket B12mn marina canal extension completed

    PHUKET: The extension of the Koh Kaew canal, which leads to Royal Phuket Marina and Boat Lagoon, was completed on December 28, allowing easier passage for big boats and yachts to the area. “We no longer have to worry about big boats getting stuck in the canal. We can also better manage our boat departure and arrival schedules; it is…

  • Opinion: Time to tackle Phuket’s ever-growing trash dumps

    Opinion: Time to tackle Phuket’s ever-growing trash dumps

    PHUKET: We started 2015 with breaking news of a “private” dump site in coastal Kamala (story here), which is still serving as a pungent reminder that Phuket’s waste disposal problems remain a dire threat to the island’s future. Now, as everyone returns to work and the year begins in earnest, we must face the fact that current strategies are not…

  • Video Report: Children’s Day kicks off in Phuket tomorrow

    Video Report: Children’s Day kicks off in Phuket tomorrow

    PHUKET: Put the youngsters to bed early tonight, because tomorrow is Children’s Day, which means Phuket will be aflutter with fun activities and entertainment. The first Children’s Day in Thailand was in 1956, since then, government leaders have annually branded the event with a slogan. This year, the slogan created by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha is “knowledge and virtue…

  • Phuket light rail is a game changer, says property expert [video] | Thaiger

    Phuket light rail is a game changer, says property expert [video]

    PHUKET: The long-awaited project to build a “light rail” mass-transit system to ferry tourists and residents the length of the island passed its third and final public hearing on Tuesday, when it was revealed that construction is slated to begin in 2021. The 23.5-billion-baht project has been heralded as an enormous development for the island’s tourism and property industries, with…

  • Thai charter clause to prevent media domination

    Thai charter clause to prevent media domination

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Charter clause to prevent media domination The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The new constitution will have a clause that is designed to prevent investor domination over media businesses through hostile takeovers, a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) said yesterday. The move follows the…

  • Armed French gendarmes swoop on villages in manhunt for newspaper attackers

    Armed French gendarmes swoop on villages in manhunt for newspaper attackers

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Armed French gendarmes swoop on villages in manhunt for newspaper attackers Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Armed and masked anti-terrorism police swooped on woodland villages northeast of Paris on Thursday in a manhunt for two brothers suspected of being the Islamist gunmen who killed 12 people…

  • Vendors to be allowed back on three Phuket beaches

    Vendors to be allowed back on three Phuket beaches

    PHUKET: Three of Phuket’s most popular beaches, which have been given the green light for a three-month beach vendor trial period, were inspected by officials yesterday to establish vendor-friendly zones. The trial period was announced at a meeting in Provincial Hall last month by Governor Nisit Jansomwong, during which he laid down a stringent list of conditions under which vendors…

  • Corpse found in Phuket coconut grove

    Corpse found in Phuket coconut grove

    PHUKET: Police have yet to rule out foul play after a decomposed corpse was found in a Mai Khao coconut plantation yesterday evening. A local resident cutting grass at the site discovered the remains at about 6pm, said Lt Thanom Thongpan of the Tah Chat Chai Police. “When we arrived, there were quite a few locals at the scene trying…

  • Human traffickers claim B300k payoffs to clear police checkpoints

    Human traffickers claim B300k payoffs to clear police checkpoints

    PHUKET: Corrupt Thai officials allegedly accepted bribes of about 300,000 baht per truckload of trafficked people in order to allow smugglers past checkpoints, it has been revealed. The revelation comes after police on Tuesday arrested two of three men who attempted to smuggle more than 50 Rohingya through Takuapa, Phang Nga, north of Phuket, to Malaysia on Monday (story here).…