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  • Sukhothai and Ayutthaya hit hard by floods

    Sukhothai and Ayutthaya hit hard by floods

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sukhothai and Ayutthaya hit hard by floods The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Flooding in Sukhothai and Ayutthaya remains critical with hundreds of homes inundated, while a flash flood hit Chiang Rai’s Muang and Mae Sai districts yesterday morning. Meanwhile, ML Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who resumed as…

  • Arab League vows to confront Islamic State, join international efforts

    Arab League vows to confront Islamic State, join international efforts

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Arab League vows to confront Islamic State, join international efforts Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Arab League foreign ministers agreed on Sunday to take all necessary measures to confront Islamic State and cooperate with international, regional and national efforts to combat militants who have overrun swathes…

  • Police take down armed teens for Phuket Town street shootings

    Police take down armed teens for Phuket Town street shootings

    PHUKET: Police have arrested two teenagers, and expect to soon take into custody a third suspect, for shooting into a shop and then a family home in Phuket Town late Tuesday night. Butrprom Choopeng, 18, was arrested yesterday at a house in Bangthong village in Kathu. He was found in possession of a homemade .22-caliber handgun with one round of…

  • Phuket airport taxi driver charged with reckless driving

    Phuket airport taxi driver charged with reckless driving

    PHUKET: A taxi driver based at Phuket International Airport has been charged with reckless driving causing injury after slamming into a motorcycle with a sidecar late last night. The accident occurred on Thepkrasattri Road, about 800 meters north of the Keha housing estate in Thalang, just after midnight. Taxi driver Jeerasak Kakate, 46, said he could not avoid hitting the…

  • Customs staff face probe over 500 ‘missing’ cars

    Customs staff face probe over 500 ‘missing’ cars

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Customs staff face probe over 500 ‘missing’ cars The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two officials from the Customs Department have been moved to inactive positions pending investigation into their role in the disappearance of some 500 luxury vehicles that went missing from the customs’ bonded…

  • NACC stands by case against Yingluck, asks if all files read

    NACC stands by case against Yingluck, asks if all files read

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NACC stands by case against Yingluck, asks if all files read The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Panthep Klanarongran, chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), reiterated yesterday that former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra had been derelict in her duty, which led to huge losses in…

  • Sukhothai fights flood, as barrier on Yom breaks

    Sukhothai fights flood, as barrier on Yom breaks

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sukhothai fights flood, as barrier on Yom breaks The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Floods have wreaked havoc in 25 provinces and claimed eight lives over the past two weeks. Five of the flood-hit provinces – Sukhothai, Nan, Chaiyaphum, Tak and Nakhon Sawan – are still…

  • U.S. moves to gain allies against ISIS | Thaiger

    U.S. moves to gain allies against ISIS

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. moves to gain allies against ISIS Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The small country of Georgia, one of the United States’ key partners in Afghanistan, will discuss ways it might be able to help in the battle against Islamic State fighters during a visit by…

  • Phuket taxi brawl lands Aussie tourists in hospital, custody

    Phuket taxi brawl lands Aussie tourists in hospital, custody

    PHUKET: A drunken brawl inside a Phuket taxi landed three Australian tourists in hospital with minor injuries late last night. A fourth Aussie tourist, Todd Taylor, 31, who was blamed for starting the fight, was taken to Thalang Police Station for questioning. Taxi driver Jaran Chamnankaow told police that he picked up four passengers in Patong at about 10pm, and…

  • French tourist smashes motorbike through Phuket salon window

    French tourist smashes motorbike through Phuket salon window

    PHUKET: A French tourist injured her leg today after she lost control of her rented motorbike and crashed through the glass window of a Phuket Town beauty salon. Rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation called to the scene on Phang Nga Road by the startled salon owner found Nastasya Kotnarovsky, 27, with minor injuries to her left leg and scratches…

  • Phuket Cycling Fest 2014 ready to roll

    Phuket Cycling Fest 2014 ready to roll

    PHUKET: If you have some untouched reserves of stamina and feel like exploring the beauty of Phuket in a more natural, personal manner, head for the Phuket Cycling Fest 2014, which kicks off tomorrow, September 6, at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town. A bustling bicycle fair boasting booths and stalls from bicycle specialists will be held at the park,…

  • Authorities to sweep Phuket for illegal tour companies, guides

    Authorities to sweep Phuket for illegal tour companies, guides

    PHUKET: Authorities will sweep through Phuket from Monday in a move to rid the island of illegal tour companies and illegal, foreign guides. The news follows a brainstorming session yesterday between Phuket officials, authorities and officers from the MOTS Phuket office on how to tackle the issue of illegal tour companies and guides operating on the island. “We have 1,601…

  • Costs, lack of demand delay Phuket Airport Bus service to Karon

    Costs, lack of demand delay Phuket Airport Bus service to Karon

    PHUKET: High costs and lack of demand has forced the operators of the Airport Express Bus service to push back the launch of its new route from Patong to Kata-Karon until at least October. However, bus company chairman Prakob Panyawai is working on adding two more bus stops in Patong, Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) chief Terayout Prasertphol confirmed to…

  • Prayuth assures fair selection of reform council members

    Prayuth assures fair selection of reform council members

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prayuth assures fair selection of reform council members The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday gave his assurance that members of the National Reform Council (NRC) would be selected fairly and carefully, with none of the candidates being especially favoured because…

  • Ukraine, rebels back peace plan, ceasefire from Friday | Thaiger

    Ukraine, rebels back peace plan, ceasefire from Friday

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine, rebels back peace plan, ceasefire from Friday Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the main pro-Russian rebel leader said they would both order ceasefires on Friday, provided that an agreement is signed on a new peace plan to end the five-month…

  • DDPM prepares to combat potentially deadly blazes in Phuket

    DDPM prepares to combat potentially deadly blazes in Phuket

    PHUKET: A full-scale fire drill was held today as the Phuket-based Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office, Region 18 (DDPM-Region 18), prepared to prevent any further deadly blazes on the island. “Though the fire drill must be carried out annually by law, we are really doing this to make sure that when the time comes, we are able to…

  • Special Report: Police “hungary’ for Phuket murder conviction

    Special Report: Police “hungary’ for Phuket murder conviction

    Special Report CONFESSED killer Moshe David is expected to be sentenced on Monday for the gruesome 2012 murder of fellow Hungarian Peter Reisz. Although police believe he will escape the death penalty, they do have faith he will be handed a “very long sentence”. Following Mr David’s first murder trial will be a second, for the murder of another Hungarian,…

  • Phuket beach vendors given more time to lodge complaints

    Phuket beach vendors given more time to lodge complaints

    PHUKET: The doors of the Kathu District Office will remain open to Phuket beach vendors who wish to lodge complaints or register for financial assistance, officers confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. More than 370 vendors, who lost their jobs during the Patong and Kamala beach cleanups, registered their complaints with the Kathu District Office last month (story here) and…

  • Serena crushes Pennetta to reach Open semi-final

    Serena crushes Pennetta to reach Open semi-final

    PHUKET: Two-times defending champion Serena Williams, in her black and white leopard dress, started quietly before roaring past 11th seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open on Wednesday. The world number one lost her first two service games to Pennetta to fall behind 3-0 before snapping to attention and rattling off the next six…

  • Attorney General declines to prosecute Yingluck – for now

    Attorney General declines to prosecute Yingluck – for now

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Attorney General declines to prosecute Yingluck – for now The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Attorney-General’s Office on Thursday decided to set up a joint committee of public prosecutors and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to conduct further investigations into the rice-pledging case against former…

  • Phuket National Reform Council candidates kept secret

    Phuket National Reform Council candidates kept secret

    PHUKET: The names of all candidates who have registered to represent Phuket as the sole “provincially selected” nominee to serve on the National Reform Council (NRC) will be kept secret until five finalists are chosen. “About 20” people have entered the race to be Phuket’s NRC member, Phuket Election Commission (PEC) Director Kitipong Thiengkunakrit told the Phuket Gazette this morning.…

  • Sleepy Chinese tourist lands motorbike in Phuket roadside ditch

    Sleepy Chinese tourist lands motorbike in Phuket roadside ditch

    PHUKET: A Chinese tourist was badly injured after he dozed off and drove his motorbike into a roadside ditch in central Phuket early this morning. Rescue workers and officers from the Thalang Police were called to the scene in Pa Khlok at about 1:10am, where they found a helmet-less Zhong Li Fong, 38, lying in a one-meter-deep ditch. Mr Zhong’s…

  • Surrogate dad Shigeta to see police ‘soon’

    Surrogate dad Shigeta to see police ‘soon’

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogate dad Shigeta to see police ‘soon’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The lawyer of Mitsutoki Shigeta, a 24-year-old Japanese man who fathered over a dozen children via surrogate mothers in Thailand, has affirmed Shigeta would give information to police in person soon, an assistant…

  • Wanted bomber plans new attack, Hat Yai security sources say

    Wanted bomber plans new attack, Hat Yai security sources say

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Wanted bomber plans new attack, Hat Yai security sources say The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Insurgent suspect Faisal Hayeesama-ae, wanted for the 2004 bomb attack at Songkhla’s Hat Yai Airport, may be in the Hat Yai area to make a bomb or provide training to…

  • Attorney-general’s decision on Yingluck corruption charges due today

    Attorney-general’s decision on Yingluck corruption charges due today

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Attorney-general’s decision on Yingluck corruption charges due today The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Attorney-General’s Office will decide today whether to prosecute ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra on charges of dereliction of duty for neglecting to act on corruption in the rice-pledging scheme and inflicting damage of…

  • Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief

    Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and “raise the flag of jihad”…

  • U.N. says US0mn needed to tackle Ebola as deaths top 1,900

    U.N. says US$600mn needed to tackle Ebola as deaths top 1,900

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.N. says $600 million needed to tackle Ebola as deaths top 1,900 Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The United Nations said $600 million in supplies would be needed to fight West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, as the death toll from the worst ever epidemic of the virus…

  • Saudi religious police issue rare apology for beating Briton | Thaiger

    Saudi religious police issue rare apology for beating Briton

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Saudi religious police issue rare apology for beating Briton Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Saudi religious police issued a rare apology on Tuesday for the beating by its personnel of a British man residing in the kingdom in a supermarket in the capital Riyadh. The…

  • Marines spearhead Phi Phi Island beach cleanup campaign

    Marines spearhead Phi Phi Island beach cleanup campaign

    PHUKET: About 60 officers took to the beaches of the popular party island Phi Phi, east of Phuket, today to talk with seaside vendors and inspect buildings suspected of encroaching on national park land. “We only inspected the buildings. Tomorrow, we will file a complaint against any buildings we believe to be encroaching on park land,” Capt Prinyatham Poonpitagtham of…

  • Bread truck kills man crossing Phuket road

    Bread truck kills man crossing Phuket road

    PHUKET: A man was killed today in Phuket after being hit by a speeding Farmhouse delivery truck while he was trying to cross the road. The van, belonging to President Bakery Public Co Ltd, was delivering the well-known Farmhouse brand of bread when it struck the man on Thepkrasattri Road. “The victim, an unidentified male, is thought to be in…