News
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Five injured in Central Festival Samui bomb blast
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Four Thais, one foreigner injured in Samui car bomb blast The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A bomb hidden in a car parked at the Central Festival Samui exploded late last night, injuring five people, including a foreigner. The five injured were identified as Sudarat Deepenkaew,…
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Pre-Songkran road-safety blitz nets bus driver on drugs
PHUKET: A bus driver was fined for driving under the influence today during a Songkran road-safety blitz at the bottom of Patong Hill in Kathu. Thung Thong Police and the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) set up a checkpoint from 9am-11am to randomly check vehicles passing through, said Jaturong Kaewkasi, the chief policy adviser at PLTO. One bus driver, who…
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Finance: Paying for education
PHUKET: By far the biggest potential financial-headache for a young expatriate family is paying for the cost of an expat child’s education. After all, even large multinationals are increasingly scoffing at hiring expatriates with children or offering pay packages that include paying the full costs of international school fees, which can easily top 325,000 baht to 650,000 baht or more…
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Opinion: Practice Songkran Phuketiquette
PHUKET: As the Songkran holiday nears, we are continually reminded of the dangers on the road during the Thai New Year festival. Drivers fight traffic on wet, slippery roads while simultaneously getting pummelled in the face with ice water. Officials have made it clear that this year they are determined to make the holiday more about tradition and less about…
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Phuket Immigration, other government offices to close for Songkran
PHUKET: The Phuket Immigration Office, as well as other government offices on the island, will be closed starting tomorrow in celebration of the Songkran holiday. Doors will re-open on April 16, confirmed Phuket Immigration Chief Sunchai Chokkajaykij. “Our office and the Patong Immigration Office will both be closed for five days, starting tomorrow,” he told the Phuket Gazette today. “Any…
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Survivors of Phuket ferry inferno start flying home
PHUKET: Ten of the tourists who survived the lethal ferry blaze that killed 12-year-old Israeli girl Shani Manil on Wednesday (story here) have flown home, police confirmed. “The 10 people who flew out of Phuket yesterday said that they needed to get back home,” said Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Samarn Chainarong. “We have their statements already, so there was…
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Triathlon Superkidz take charge in Phuket
PHUKET: More than 180 kids took part in the Thanyapura Superkidz Triathlon 2015 event on April 4. The event pulled young athletes from around the world – Sweden, New Zealand, Netherland, American, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Australia, UK, Germany – as many of them prepare for the International Junior Challenge slated for later this year. The triathlon was broken…
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Phuket Bike Week riders mount up for charity (video)
PHUKET: Riders joining the Phuket Bike Week 2015 festivities, which get underway at Loma Park in Patong today have their hearts and their helmets set on doing more than just showing off the best motorbikes in the region. Among the activities this year is a mass release of sea animals at the Royal Thai Navy base at Cape Panwa to…
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British, Australian expats arrested for ATM card fraud
PHUKET: An Australian and a British expat have been arrested for using data from skimmed ATM cards to withdraw cash in Phuket. British national Jamie Steven McKee, 31, and Australian Darrin John Williams, 48, were arrested near Karon Circle on Wednesday night after police received a tip-off. “Our officers identified the men from the description given, and approached them at…
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Shotgun, drugs seized in pre-Songkran raids
PHUKET: Patong Police arrested seven suspects in possession of an illegal weapon and drugs yesterday as part of a series of raids to be carried out through the Songkran holiday. Police first arrested Songchai Warisayakorn, 37, at his rental room in Patong, after being tipped off by nearby locals. “We found a Remington shotgun and a 9mm Glock pistol, as…
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Thalang stumps ICC in cricket face-off
PHUKET: The Thalang Cricket Team defeated Island Cricket Club in baking 35บC conditions at the Alan Cooke Ground in Thalang last weekend. Thalang entered the match without their captain Bill Stahmer and key run scorer Justin Thomatos, while the ICC were without medium pace bowler Pir Sami. TCT’s stand-in captain Andrew McMillan won the toss and chose to field first.…
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Songkran revellers warned of fines, jail for high-pressure water guns
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Songkran revellers warned of fines, jail for high-pressure water guns The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police Consumer Protection Division yesterday warned that people caught selling high-pressure water guns could be jailed for up to five years and/or fined 500,000 baht. People who…
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North hit by destructive hailstorm
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North hit by destructive hailstorm The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Local officials yesterday inspected the damage at more than 1,000 homes following a hailstorm that hit parts of Chiang Rai on Wednesday night. In hardest-hit Wiang Chiang Rung district, Singkham Jomsawan, president of the Thung…
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Huge oil reserve found at Gatwick, near London
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Huge oil reserve found at Gatwick, near London Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A small British oil producer said it had discovered a possible world class oil resource in the countryside to the south of London that could contain billions of barrels of oil. The London-listed…
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Phuket’s “death lagoon’ roped off for Songkran safety
PHUKET: As the busy Thai New Year Songkran holidays approach this weekend, Rawai Municipality has installed floating markers to rope off the beach side of the sluice gate at Phuket’s Nai Harn Lagoon. The estuary is subject to strong tidal flows between the lagoon and the sea, which trapped and drowned 9-year-old Sarun Srisongkram on March 30 (story here). “Swimmers…
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Phuket FC whale on Dolphins
PHUKET: Phuket FC’s 2-0 victory over the Pattaya Dolphins at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town last Saturday elevated the home side move from 10th to sixth place on the Yamaha League One table. Phuket FC striker Andre Louis Rodrigues Lopez of Brazil opened the scoring in the 59th minute, with fellow forward Berlin Nlome Ndebi sealing the match with a…
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Police recover body of Israeli girl, ferry fire victim Shani,12
PHUKET: The Krabi Marine Police have confirmed that they have recovered the body of Israeli girl, Sani Manil, 12. Shani was the sole victim in the fire that gutted and sank the Ao Nang Princess 5 ferry while en route from Krabi to Phuket on Wednesday (click here). Rescue workers recovered the girl’s remains from the sunken wreck at about…
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Israeli girl missing after tour boat catches fire and sinks near Krabi
FILE PHOTO: Identical vessel to the one that caught and sank yesterday A 12 year old Israeli girl remains missing from a tourist boat incident, whilst travelling to Phuket from Krabi. The boat caught fire and eventually sank yesterday afternoon (Monday) around 3.30pm. About 100 other foreign tourists were safely rescued. The ferry belongs to Ao Nang Travel Tour Company. The boat, named Ao Nang…
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Phuket gamers spared as car slams shopfront power pole
PHUKET: A woman has been charged for reckless driving after her car slammed into an SUV parked in front of an internet and online gaming cafe, then wiped out two motorcycles in Pa Khlok last night. The car, a Krabi-registered Toyota Vios, came to a stop only after hitting a power pole in front of the cafe, reported Lt Suporn…
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Tourists rescued from blazing Phuket ferry
PHUKET: More than 80 passengers, including tourists, and five crew were safely evacuated from a ferry that caught fire while en route from Krabi to Phuket this afternoon. Maj Anurak Parinyasathiragul of the Krabi Marine Police confirmed that he received a report that the Ao Nang Princess 5 was in distress at 4pm. Staff at Ao Nang Travel and Tour…
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Billionaire seeks police help for alleged extortion
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Billionaire seeks police help for alleged extortion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A billionaire businessman lodged a complaint yesterday against a former board member of the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel for alleged detention, extortion and intimidation. “Several times…
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Exhumation of Tikrit mass graves begins
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Exhumation of Tikrit mass graves begins Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Iraqi forensic teams began on Monday excavating 12 suspected mass grave sites thought to hold the corpses of as many as 1,700 soldiers massacred last summer by Islamic State militants as they swept across northern…
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Amazon founder’s rocket company to begin suborbital test flights
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Amazon founder’s rocket company to begin suborbital test flights Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A space company owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has finished work on a rocket engine for a suborbital spaceship and expects to begin flight tests this year, Blue Origin officials said…
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Senior transport officials to discuss aviation crisis with ICAO, Germany and Australia
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Senior transport officials to discuss aviation crisis with ICAO, Germany and Australia The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: In a bid to ease the country’s current aviation woes, the Transport Ministry is seeking help from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and preparing a team to…
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Pattani men slain by officers were not linked to insurgency: panel
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pattani men slain by officers were not linked to insurgency: panel The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: the fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the killings of four suspected insurgents in Pattani’s Thung Yang Daeng district last month, said yesterday that the four men were not connected…
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Foreign diplomats told Article 44 ‘inspired by France’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Foreign diplomats told Article 44 ‘inspired by France’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The provision for the use of absolute power is not without precedent and the current Article 44 of the interim charter was partly inspired by Article 16 of the French constitution of…
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PM wants world to accept the new charter
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM wants world to accept the new charter The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The new charter must be accepted by the international community, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday. After the Cabinet meeting yesterday at Government House, PM Prayut said he was not worried…
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Tourism rebound rise in spending expected to hike GDP by 3.5%
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tourism rebound rise in spending expected to hike GDP by 3.5% The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking still believes that gross domestic product can expand by 3.5% this year, as the rebound of tourism and the expected…
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Phuket taxi drivers fight bus terminal eviction
PHUKET: A sortie of about 30 taxi drivers arrived at Provincial Hall today to plea for intervention into an eviction order forcing them to cease operations at Phuket’s main bus terminal in Rassada. The drivers, led by Yod Sae-Lee, carried banners saying: “We formed a legal taxi co-operative more than 10 years ago. We are forced to leave by Rassada…
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Phuket golfers set golf cart world record for charity
PHUKET: Avid Phuket golfers Mark Cameron and Graham Haslam have completed a world-record golf cart drive from Pattaya to Phuket, and are hoping to raise even more money for charity with an auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in Patong tomorrow night. “The cart will be up for auction at a starting bid of 200,000 baht, ‘slightly used’,” Mr Cameron…
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