News
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Phuket Earthquake: NDWC gives all-clear, removes alert watch
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has removed its “alert watch” order for tsunamis and further earthquakes, the Phuket Gazette has been told.“The NDWC removed the alert watch just before 6pm,” said San Jantharawong, chief of the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket).“The alert was removed because this was a much smaller earthquake than…
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Phuket Earthquake: USGS reports Sumatra quake at depth of 14km
PHUKET: The USGS has reported that the earthquake struck at a depth of 14.7 kilometers, not two kilometers as originally reported. Click here to see the USGS report:https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc00094q0.html
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Phuket Opinion: Take off the gloves
PHUKET: The recent ban on mixed martial arts (MMA) events by the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) is a sad but unsurprising development, and one which will deprive growing numbers of MMA enthusiasts in Thailand from watching these exciting events live, while costing the country millions of baht in lost revenue. (See current issue of the Phuket Gazette.) Thailand is…
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Blazing a trail through Phuket
PHUKET: AN EXHILARATING new event is coming to Phuket in the form of trail running with the first experience being episode two of the Columbia Trail Masters, 2012 Thailand Trail Running Championship. Organized by Active Management Asia, Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club will host the island’s maiden excursion into the world of off road running on May 6 with Khao…
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Breaking News: 5.3 earthquake rattles Phuket
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorologicial Department has reported a 5.3-magnitude earthquake striking off the coast of northern Sumatra at 4:46pm. See here: https://www.tmd.go.th/en/earthquake_report.php The earthquake struck at a depth of only two kilometers. The Gazette has received a report from Patong Beach that some people have left the beach area as a precaution. The Gazette has received no reports of any…
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Breaking News: Reports of earthquake flood across Phuket
PHUKET: Reports of an earthquake being felt across all parts of Phuket are flooding in to the Phuket Gazette. Gazette staff felt the strong shudder at 4:45pm. Reports of other Phuket residents experiencing the same have been coming in from all parts of the island, including Chalong to the south, Phuket Town and Kathu in the center of the island…
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Phuket Police arrest armed drug suspects in Good Friday raids
PHUKET: Phuket Police on Saturday announced the arrest of six drug suspects, two of them in possession of firearms.Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai said the six were arrested on April 13, this year celebrated as Songkran Day (Thai New Year) and as Good Friday.The first suspect named was Pramin Narksuwan, 31, from Nakhon SriThammarat. He was found in possession…
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Phuket’s Patong one-way system to go anti-clockwise from June
PHUKET: A long-awaited plan to reverse the direction of one-way traffic flow in Patong should go into effect in June, as soon public hearings and work to complete a new roundabout at the north end of the beach road is completed, local officials say.Phunsak Naksena, Patong Municipality Chief Administrative Officer, or “Palad”, said the public-hearing process to approve the project…
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Renowned Political Analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak speaks to Phuket
PHUKET: Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University and a former op-ed contributor to the Phuket Gazette, spoke to the island’s International Business Association last week. In an exclusive interview before that talk, he sat down with Phuket Gazette News Editor Stephen Fein and News Manager Chris Husted to discuss several issues…
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Sirotkina celebrates birthday with two Phuket ITF tennis titles
PHUKET: A stylish and gritty performance earned Marta Sirotkina Phuket’s second SAT-Chang ITF Women’s Pro Circuit tennis title after coming from behind to defeat number four seed Claire Feuerstein of France 7-6, 7-6 (8-6) in the singles final today. Played at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC), an expectant crowd were treated to an enthralling finale of the US25,000 tournament…
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8 dead, 69 injured in Yala bomb blasts
PHUKET: At least eight people are dead and 69 injured after three bombs exploded in a busy shopping district in Yala Town at 11:50am today. Yala Governor Decharat Simsiri confirmed to the press that two explosions detonated near the Park View Hotel on the Ruammitr Road in Tambon Sateng of Muang district. While firefighters were trying to contain the blaze,…
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Weird World News: When love is just not enough
PHUKET: Three sad tales of love gone horribly wrong blot this week’s Weird World news line-up, from a husband who shot his wife and dogs over a poop row, to a man who divorced his wife because she’s “annoying”, to a jealous boyfriend who killed his lover over her cyber affair. Husband shoots wife over dog poop row A TEXAS…
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Phuket Gazette: News Watch – Afghanistan and Pakistan
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UN: Fighting in northwestern Pakistan displaces over 100,000 Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Military operations against militant groups in northwestern Pakistan have left more than 100,000 people displaced since the fighting began in late January, the United Nations (UN) said yesterday. The Office of the…
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Phuket Earth Hour – “I will if you will’
PHUKET: With Earth Hour 2012 fast approaching, the chief of the Phuket office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has voiced his support for the global eco-event. Hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world unite each year to support the largest environmental event in history – Earth Hour. Earth Hour calls for people across Phuket to…
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Phuket Sports: World sports news round-up
PHUKET: Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou gave the Blues a huge advantage in their quest to reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with an one-nil away win at Benifca. Kalou made up for a dreadful miss early in the game to side-foot home Fernando Torres’ cross from close range. Juan Mata had a shot come back off the post on the 60th…
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Phuket Sports: Monsoon magic in Malaysia
PHUKET: Formula 1’s second race of the season saw McLaren occupying the front two grid positions again. It was their race to give away again, and they did. Lewis Hamilton held his lead into the first corner, followed by Jenson Button, the two Red Bulls and Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari. Romain Grosjean tagged Michael Schumacher and both drivers dropped…
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Phuket Sports: Patong CC back in the hunt
PHUKET: Last season’s 35 Over Champions Patong CC were in an ‘all or nothing’ situation last Sunday for their Island Furniture League encounter against the Thanyapura Tigers at the ACG, knowing that not only it was necessary to win, but that securing all available bonus points would also be crucial to keeping their title aspirations alive. Patong’s early arrival to…
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Phuket Gazette: Thailand news round-up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Powerful figure’ implicated in scandal over stolen cold pills Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: At least one very powerful figure has been implicated in the embezzlement of pills containing pseudoephedrine from state hospitals, the public health minister’s adviser, Pasit Sakdanarong, said yesterday. An investigation has…
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Phuket’s Tiger Group roars back at MP Chuwit’s allegations
PHUKET: A representative of Phuket’s Tiger Group of entertainment and nightlife venues has publicly lashed out against the allegations made by controversial MP Chuwit Kamolvisit.The entertainment group is even considering legal action, said Thamrongsak Boonrak, legal counselor to the Tiger Group management.The threat of legal action follows Kathu Police yesterday afternoon conducting surprise raids of businesses run by the Tiger…
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Phuket’s new incinerator online “by May’
PHUKET’s second trash incinerator at the Saphan Hin facility is almost fully complete and is expected to be operational by May.Prachum Suriya, chief of the Phuket City Municipality Environment Office, told the Gazette that construction of the second waste incinerator is now 95 per cent complete.“The remaining five percent includes office accommodation and surrounding environment. At present, the staff is…
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Phuket’s Courtyard by Marriott in Kamala to reopen as Swissotel
PHUKET: Global chain Swissotel will reportedly take over management of the former Courtyard Marriott Kamala Beach effective April 1, reports Phuket Gazette Property Watch columnist Bill Barnett. The 180-key, all-suite hotel, which is owned by Destination Properties, is part of a Phuket portfolio that includes former Courtyards in Surin Beach and Patong. The news follows Marriott and Destination Properties announcing…
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Phuket Boat Show seeing robust crowds and developing sales
PHUKET: Asia’s leading consumer Boat Show, the Phuket International Marine Expo (PIMEX), opened with US$250 million (THB 7.5 billion) of boats on display, ranging in price from US$80,000 (THB 2.4 million) up to US$14 million (THB 420 million), the largest being the 92-foot Pershing presented by Ferretti Group. Attending PIMEX for the first time was Robert Braithwaite, Founder and President…
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Thai teen makes a splash in Phuket dive community
PHUKET: A 15-year-old Thai girl has set her sights on becoming one of the youngest Thai Dive Masters in the world, having already completed 55 dives. Nicole Christin-Hartmann attends Satree Phuket School, but in her free time she has been racking up dive experience with Nick Fawcus-Robinson of ScubaNicks. Already she has completed her PADI Openwater, Advanced and Rescue Diver…
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Phuket Gazette: Good news for US economy; Texas executes baby killer; Another dead Russian in a suitcase
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. jobless claims lowest since in four years Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Initial claims for unemployment insurance in the United States dropped to 359,000 in the week ending March 24, which is the lowest in four years, the U.S. Labor Department (DOL) reported yesterday.The DOL report…
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Bob Dwyer calls England rugby coach
PHUKET: “Why would they give the job to anybody else? Stuart has been going great guns since he took over and England has played some of the best rugby I’ve seen them produce in years.” Australia’s rugby World Cup winning coach Bob Dwyer was recently on Phuket and the Gazette asked him about England’s coaching predicament with Lancaster as caretaker…
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US Embassy calls for American expats in Phuket to register to vote
PHUKET: Expat Americans in Phuket and the rest of the world are reminded that it is necessary to re-register for their voting rights. In accordance with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act) it is necessary for American citizens to re-register to prevent themselves from being purged from the voter rolls in their state. “In 2009, the Congress…
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Phuket scam artists boost another 14 cars
PHUKET: Following the recovery of 17 stolen cars from a “car pawn yard” in Nakhon Sri Thammarat earlier this week, a host of Phuket car rental agents gathered late last night to highlight the extent of scam operation. Collectively, the group claim that at least 14 more cars have been stolen by the alleged scam artists, identified as Sukanya Janthanarak…
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Phuket pyre flames B182mn of pirated goods
PHUKET: The Phuket Town incinerator today flamed counterfeit products valued at more than 182 million baht as part of the Intellectual Property Department’s crackdown on copyright infringement across the country.A total of 79,524 items seized by officers of Provincial Police Region 8 and 9, as well as the Regional Customs Bureau 4, were destroyed in the incinerator.“Intellectual property infringement is…
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Phuket International Boat Show launches amid fanfare
PHUKET: The Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) at Royal Phuket Marina was officially launched at 11am today with the cutting of the ribbon by Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa. Joining Vice Governor Sommai in officiating the opening was Bangonrat Shinaprayoon, the director of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and Gulu Lalvani, chairman of Royal Phuket…
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Phuket hookahs feel the squeeze
PHUKET: Police raided three hookah bars Tuesday night as worries mount that flavored tobaccos are becoming a gateway drug for Phuket youths. “Baraku [hookah] smoking is now popular among teenagers, and its use is spreading to more nightlife entertainment venues,” said Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, who led the raids. “This habit must be stopped, so teenagers will not be…
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