News
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Foreign-flagged superyacht charter licence defined
PHUKET: The final regulations and requirements for a one-year permit that will allow foreign-flagged superyachts to charter in Thailand were announced at a public meeting in Phuket today. The chartering licence is expected to be signed off by the Ministry of Transport next month, confirmed Marine Department Director-General Chula Sukmanop today (story here). “We are confident that licence registration will…
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Business Buzz: Building your database
PHUKET: This week, let me explain the biggest asset your social media marketing efforts will build for you: your database. A marketing database is an electronic list of all of your potential customers, with as much relevant information as you can gather about them. Normally, this is combined with a platform that can be used to communicate automatically on a…
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Phuket gets B29mn for CCTV
PHUKET: A budget of 29 million baht has been allocated for Phuket to boost the number of government-run CCTV on the island by 202 cameras, it was announced last weekend. The cameras are in addition to the 307 recently installed Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) CCTV cameras, but not part of the 238mn-baht upgrade of cameras on the island that is…
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Finance: Bond investor survival guide
PHUKET: It’s inevitable that interest rates will eventually rise, but what do rising interest rates mean for investors and how can you prepare your portfolio? First of all, here is what you need to consider or be concerned about: INTEREST RATES AND BONDS When interest rates rise, prices of fixed rate bonds will fall (and vice versa) because no one…
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Opinion: Last chance to rid Phuket of jet-skis
PHUKET: Officials’ reactions to efforts by one resort to spare its guests the annoyance and dangers posed by jet-skis indicate that this plague on Phuket’s tourism industry is highly-resistant, defying everything from common sense to existing Thai maritime law. It remains mystifying how this particular industry has somehow been spared the law-and-order crackdown that has gone a long way toward…
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Phuket police not worried about checkpoint warnings on social media
PHUKET: Phuket police are not worried about social media users posting warnings for motorists about standard checkpoints on the island, but will consider pressing charges if a post helps street-racing youths avoid authorities. The news follows a report by The Nation this week that police in Bangkok are considering taking legal action against those who post locations of checkpoints online…
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Inaugural Laguna Phuket Junior Golf Tournament tees off this weekend
PHUKET: The newly upgraded Laguna Phuket Golf Club will host the very first Laguna Phuket Junior Golf Tournament on Sunday. Working in partnership with British International School, Phuket (BISP), the event is aimed at growing the game of golf with tomorrow’s future champions. “Both Laguna Phuket Golf Club and BISP are committed to growing the game of golf in Phuket.…
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Video Report: Le Meridien lifeguard training to boost island safety
PHUKET: Lifeguard training recently took place on Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort’s secluded beach to train guards from 11 different properties in Phuket. The day was split into four sections with practical training at the beginning and end, and theory and first-aid training sandwiched in the middle, explained Surf Life Saving Australia Trainer and Assessor David Field, who has been…
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Rawai Mayor looks to ban pets in work camps
PHUKET: Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos revealed plans yesterday to prohibit those living in worker camps from owning pets as part of a new strategy to control dogs in the southern part of the island. “We have no issues with people raising pets. However, when workers leave the camps the dogs are usually left behind, which has turned into a serious…
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Dengue fever spreads in Krabi, Phuket safe
PHUKET: More than 400 people have been diagnosed with dengue fever in Krabi since January as the mosquito-borne disease spreads in the coastal province east of Phuket. “There has been one fatal case in Krabi so far,” confirmed Phuket Provinical Health Office (PPHO) Chief Kajohnsak Kaewjarus. “However, everything is under control in Phuket.” Krabi is currently ranked among the top…
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Fake quake to strike Phuket next week
PHUKET: An imaginary earthquake will strike Phuket next week so that emergency-response personnel, island officials and locals can take part in a full-scale drill in preparation of the real thing. The exercises and subsequent discussions will take place from June 24 to 26 in Thalang, said Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak yesterday. “There will first be a simulation on June 24…
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Phuket tourism official pushes against foreign tour guide registration plan
PHUKET: The island’s top tourism and sports official will ask for Phuket to be excused from the Tourism Department’s plan to allow foreigners to work as ‘tourism coordinators’, if the move is approved. Tourism Department is planning to ask Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to approve its plan to allow foreigners to work as tour guides under the position of…
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Light the house for Jimmy
PHUKET: Friends of American expat Jimmy Pearson are staging a fundraising party at Dickie’s Lighthouse in Chalong on June 24 to help support Mr Pearson’s recovery from a recent stroke. Mr Pearson, originally from Santa Barbara, California, suffered the stroke on June 10. Though he is recovering well, he now faces many months of physiotherapy to regain the use of…
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More pumps bound for underpass construction site
PHUKET: Flooding caused by routine seasonal rain at the construction site of Phuket’s second underpass this week forced officials to hold an emergency meeting at the Phuket Highways Office (PHO) on Tuesday. “We are planning to install more pumps at the Samkong Intersection site,” confirmed Samak Luedwonghad, director of the PHO. Two of the four pumps used to help clear…
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Officials threaten to close tour company for animal abuse
PHUKET: Officials are threatening to shut down a tour company if it is found allowing tourists to abuse marine animals – again. The news follows tour guide Akung Saewang being caught with a group of tourists who were holding a reef fish trapped in a plastic bag (story here). Mr Akung’s tour guide licence had been suspended pending a meeting…
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Royal Phuket Marina announces 5bn-baht investment plan
PHUKET: Royal Phuket Marina has announced a five billion baht investment plan for the next five years under the lifestyle destinations new campaign #DestinationRPM. “The 5bn baht planned investment over the next five years is part of my vision to make Royal Phuket Marina an iconic waterfront lifestyle destination,” said Gulu Lalvani, Chairman of Royal Phuket Marina. “Under our #DestinationRPM…
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Consumer protection board battles Phuket condo developer
PHUKET: Nine Property (Patong) company was given two weeks yesterday to address compensation to pre-build purchasers in the Ace 1 condominium project in Phuket. More than 30 Thai and foreign customers have sought compensation after making down payments of about 400,000 baht on the project, which was scheduled to be completed in April this year, explained Ampol Wongsiri, Secretary General…
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Light-rail public meeting set for Thursday
PHUKET: Island-dwellers can have their say about the light-rail project in a public hearing at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town on Thursday. The news follows a meeting with Sirigate Apirat of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning yesterday about the light rail. It was decided yesterday that there would be an extra stop added in Mai…
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DDPM queues up flash flood, landslide warning
PHUKET: The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office will issue an official flash flood and landslide warning for Phuket residents today in preparation of worsening weather conditions this week. “According to the Thai Meteorological Department [TMD], we can expect increasingly heavy rains tomorrow, which will run through the weekend,” said Santhawat Riwleung, chief of the DDPM Phuket Office. “We…
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Thanyapura sings silver at SEA Games Singapore
PHUKET: Thanyapura’s top swimmers triumphed at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, winning a bounty of silver medals and breaking three Thai National Records. Peerapat Lertsathapornsuk, Patarawadee Kittiya, Kornkanjana Sapianchai and Tanakrit Kittiya competed in ten races at the 28th SEA Games in Singapore earlier this month. Patarawadee and Kornkanjana returned home to Phuket with two silver medals each, after helping…
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Phuket tour guide silent on catching clown fish
PHUKET: A Thai tour guide caught catching a clown fish so that tourists could hold it at Koh Khai Nai has refused to comment on his behavior after his tour guide licence was temporarily suspended. The clown fish, which has become incredibly popular with some tourist markets following the Pixar animation Finding Nemo, was in a plastic bread bag being…
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Turkish couple rescued after spending hours lost in jungle
PHUKET: A Turkish couple was rescued after spending nearly nine hours on their own in the jungle in Khao Phra Thaew National Park on Saturday. Bulent and Pinar Burak, both 34, were on their way to the Wildlife Sanctuary when they got lost in the park. They then called Palm Beach Hotel in Patong, where they were staying, to ask…
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Phuket study to determine sun lounger fate
PHUKET: A twist of fate may be in the cards for Phuket’s abandoned sun loungers, with island officials aiming to decide by the end of July whether or not to allow them all back on the sands. Governor Nisit Jansomwong revealed to the Phuket Gazette last week that a beach management research team at Prince of Songkhla University (PSU) Phuket…
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Officials seize 100 rai of illegally possessed park land
PHUKET: About 100 rai of illegally possessed land in Sirinath National Park were seized by a team of park officials and Navy personnel on Friday. Seizure notices were posted on the five plots in Sakoo and Cherng Talay, which were being used for rubber plantations, after the owners were unable to present ownership documents for the land. “The owners are…
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Opinon: Life-saving lessons
Prathaiyut Chuayuan, 50, from Phuket, is the president of Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC). He graduated from Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani campus, with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He was involved in exchange programs in England and Australia related to life-saving services. He started his first job as a lifeguard at Le Meridien in Phuket in 1998. He has…
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Construction worker killed in Patong landslide
PHUKET: A landslide at a construction site in Phuket killed one worker and injured five others this morning. Myanmar national Set Lai, 20, was crushed by the dirt and rebar. The other five workers were rushed to Patong Hospital, four have since been discharged, confirmed Lt Col Weerapong Rakhito of the Patong Police. The fifth worker is still in hospital…
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Bangla bouncer files police brutality complaint
PHUKET: The alleged victim of a vicious attack by police in Patong filed a formal complaint against the officer and others in his party yesterday. The bouncer at Hollywood nightclub on the party town’s famed Soi Bangla, 29-year-old Kamolchai Singhakerd, told police that Patong Deputy Superintendent Sorapong Chukaew and a group of his officers attacked him at about 2am on…
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Navy continues Rohingya “helping on’ mission
PHUKET: The mission of ‘helping on’ Rohingya and Bengali migrants by providing medical services and translators, as well as food and water supplies will continue until further notice, confirmed the Royal Thai Navy. The mission was launched with a tentative two-week deadline last month (story here). “Our vessels, HTMS Saiburi and the HTMS Angthong, and aircraft are continuing to search…
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Jet-skis make waves at luxury resort off Phuket
PHUKET: The Naka Island, A Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, based on the small island off the east coast of Phuket, is battling against local jet-ski operators. “The jet-skies are dangerous. They are always coming too close to customers swimming at the beach,” said The Naka Island representative Sureeporn Roongreung. “They have yet to hurt anyone swimming or diving, and…
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Opinion: A stone’s throw
PHUKET: It is imperative that you have excellent defense driving skills in Phuket, especially if you are a daily commuter on some of the island’s busiest roads, such as Thepkrasattri. Drivers stop in front of you and park without warning, and people switch lanes without signaling and open car doors without looking. And, as I found out on my way…
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