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Pullman Phuket Panwa Beach Resort puts sustainability at its heart
The term sustainability is often thrown around as a buzzword in the hospitality industry, but at Pullman Phuket Panwa Beach Resort, it’s genuinely part of their mission. Located in Makham Bay, just south of Phuket Town, the beautiful resort puts...
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Patong Mayor Pian suspended
PHUKET: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin was suspended from office by the Administrative Court Region 8 in Phuket Town yesterday over a vote fraud complaint filed against him by the Election Commission in Bangkok. “We received the court order yesterday instructing Mayor Pian to cease all activities in his capacity as Mayor of Patong,” confirmed an official at Mayor Pian’s office.…
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Phuket sex show raids not coming – yet
PHUKET: The chief of police in Phuket’s premier party town of Patong has confirmed that he has yet to receive any order to launch a crackdown on lewd shows on Soi Bangla. “As soon as we receive such an order, we are willing to do whatever the order demands,” Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan told the Phuket Gazette this morning.…
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Water stoppage to hit parts of Phuket on Monday
PHUKET: The water supply is set to be suspended to parts of Phuket on Monday, September 30. Residences and businesses in Kamala, Cherng Talay, Sri Soonthorn, Koh Kaew and Rassada will be affected. “We have to stop the water supply on Monday to expand the piping network in order to extend our service to Baan Mak Prok, in the Mai…
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Similian National Park to protect swimmers from speedboats
PHUKET: The Similan National Park chief vowed to establish zones to protect swimmers from speedboats* as the park prepares for opening day on November 1.The swimmers will be separated from speedboats by buoys.“This will prevent swimmers and snorkellers from being hit by speeboats. We want to ensure that all visitors feel safe, and can fully enjoy their visit to the…
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No rest for the weary: Man comes home from work, is busted for drugs
PHUKET: A Myanmar native returned home from work on Tuesday only to be arrested for drugs by Phuket Police officers who were lying in wait at his house. Police raided a camp in Chalong after receiving a tip-off that workers at the camp were selling kratom leaves. The workers living in the four houses at the camp fled when they…
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Video Report: Driver trapped in car for 30 minutes after crash
PHUKET: A pickup truck collided with a car on Thepkrasattri Road last night, trapping the driver of the car in her badly mangled vehicle for more than 30 minutes.The pickup truck driver, Rapeeporn Chonlasi, told police that while heading north, she lost control of her vehicle on a curve and crossed the median trip into southbound traffic. When police arrived…
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Light-fingered job-seeker nabbed for Phuket hotel thefts
PHUKET: An out-of-town job-hunter applying for positions in Phuket’s hotel industry has been arrested for stealing from hotel guestrooms.Following a tip-off from a Patong hotel manager, police arrested Teerawat Yordying, 29, from Trang province. “We searched all over Phuket for Mr Teerawat. Finally, at 11:30pm [on Tuesday], we found him in an entertainment venue area on Srisena Road in Phuket…
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NFL Week Two summary: Texans, Dolphins impress
PHUKET: After nine long months of hype and waiting, Phuket fans of American Football can once again indulge themselves in the National Football League, heading into a third week of play this weekend. There are too many games and story lines to cover comprehensively, so we’ll just look at some of the trends that have emerged from the first two…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bangkok floods not critical, says BMA; Dam report scrapped; Constitutional Court accepts complaints; Students split on sexy uniforms
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community No major flooding in capital: BMA The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Despite heavy downpours over the past two weeks, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) still believes the capital should escape floods this rainy season. “Run-offs and rain will not coincide with high tides this year,” an official…
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Phuket Police arrest US drugs fugitive
PHUKET: Officers led by Lt Gen Preawphan Damapong, the assistant police commissioner in charge of national drug suppression, this afternoon moved in and arrested American Joseph Manuel Hunter, 48, at his rented home in Kathu. The squad of officers from Phuket Immigration and the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok arrived at the home, located near the Loch Palm Golf Course,…
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Massive Phuket mystery intensifies, but announcement promised for ‘today’
PHUKET: When Winston Churchill in October of 1939 spoke of “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”, he was referring to Russia, but he might with at least equal validity have been speaking of an event that had captured the imagination of the world two years earlier: the disappearance of Amelia Earhart from the skies over the Western…
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Man gunned down over business negotiation, not love-triangle
PHUKET: The victim of Sunday’s shooting drama in Patong has changed his story about the cause of the attack. When interviewed by the police while recovering from a gunshot wound in his left shoulder, Worrawut Thaweeapideeserm said he was shot because he was suspected of being the third member of a love triangle (story here). But yesterday, the 24-year-old told…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: PM defends her performance; China wants Asean rail-link; BRN demands; Girl swept away in floods; 3 heists
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM defends performance in ‘challenging’ first year The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra finally delivered her administration’s first-year performance declaration to Parliament yesterday, stressing that the period was filled with challenges and problems on many fronts, ranging from politics, society and natural…
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Phuket’s tourist (only) court officially opens
PHUKET: Phuket’s highly anticipated tourist court, the Tourist Protection Section of Phuket Provincial Court, will only serve those visiting the country on a tourist visa, says Phuket Court Chief Judge Parinya Chaowalittawin. The opening ceremony yesterday, chaired by President of the Supreme Court Pairoj Wayuparb, was held at Phuket Provincial Court. The opening makes the court the second tourist court…
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Phuket transport council agrees to 36% jump in taxi fares
PHUKET: The ruling committee for Phuket’s public transportation authorities today agreed to price hikes of up to 36 per cent for metered taxi fares in Phuket. Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, who chaired the meeting of the provincial transportation committee, explained that the proposed increases in taxi fares were the same as those proposed at a meeting on August 29…
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Five-month-old fetus found floating in Phuket Town canal
PHUKET: The body of a fetus thought to be about five months old was found floating in Phuket Town’s Bang Yai canal yesterday.“When we arrived, we found a lot of onlookers trying to get a glimpse of the male fetus in the canal,” said Rattaket Munmuang of the Phuket City Police.Police questioned people in the neighborhood, but nobody was able…
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Patong water-quality test results in – some of them
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) yesterday released the test results for only two out of four water-quality test points along Phuket’s famous beach, Patong. Test results were released for two sites in the tourist-dense midsection of the beach, away from the mouths of the two canals that discharge water into the bay. The testing of Patong Bay water came…
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Stiff penalties for Phuket slow loris touts in wake of Rihanna Instagram
PHUKET: The changing faces of touts in Phuket exploiting the slow loris – a vulnerable and protected species – is a sign that the penalty for the crime is stiff enough, said Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Pratuang Polmana. Police action and determination to re-apply pressure to the issue of animal touts in Phuket follows global celebrity Rihanna posting photos on…
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Phuket expat Gerald Mason in urgent need of help
PHUKET: Expats contribute to Phuket’s well-being in various ways. Some engage in high-profile endeavors, such as setting up environmental campaigns or animal welfare groups. Others benefit the community simply by being all-round good guys, known and loved by a wide circle of friends. Gerry Mason is such a man, a man for all social seasons. An enthusiastic member of the…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Hostages freed in Kenyan mall seige; Merkel looks to rivals; Greek rapper killing puts heat on police
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kenya says all hostages freed in al Shabaab mall siege Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Kenya said its security forces had taken control of the Nairobi shopping mall where Islamist fighters killed at least 62 people, and that police were doing a final sweep of shops early Tuesday…
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Phuket Viral: Rihanna sex show tweets put ball in police court
PHUKET: Officials were lambasted today after Rihanna tweets about Phuket sex shows went viral. From Twitter account @rihanna, Rihanna expressed her surprise over a Patong showgirl’s abilities. The tweets have been re-tweeted more than 1,000 times, reported The Nation. The Rihanna tweets stated: “Either I was phuck wasted lastnight, or I saw a Thai woman pull a live bird,2 turtles,razors,shoot…
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Phuket 7-Eleven teenage shooter claims self-defense
PHUKET: Two teenagers charged yesterday with shooting dead an 18-year-old man outside of a 7-Eleven in Rawai claimed that the gun was fired out of self-defense. Korrawit Sriboonma, a waiter at the popular Sala Loi seafood restaurant on the Rawai beachfront, was gunned down with a homemade gun on the corner of Soi Laem Ka Yai at about 4am on…
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No justice served on Phuket Tourist Court’s opening day
PHUKET: The judge’s gavel will not fall at the Phuket Tourist Court’s official opening tomorrow, as no cases will be heard the day of the formal opening, revealed Phuket Court Chief Judge Parinya Chaowalittawin this afternoon.“Tomorrow we will only hold a ceremony to open our Tourist Protections Section [the official name of the tourist court], as we have yet to…
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Video Report: Phuket rescue worker shoots man over love triangle
PHUKET: A 24-year-old man was shot in Patong over a love-triangle dispute yesterday afternoon. The victim, Worrawut Thaweeapideeserm, was rushed to Patong Hospital with a bullet wound to his shoulder.“After initial treatment, he was transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital to have the bullet removed,” said Pattapee Srichay of the Patong Police.Police named the shooter as Wanchit Sornsaree, also known as…
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Leading candidate as Phuket’s new top cop “open to all’
PHUKET: The man being tipped to become the next top cop in Phuket, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiewruangnont, is a “country person” open to listening to everyone. “Anyone who has a problem is welcome to come and talk to me. I will help you all,” he told the Phuket Gazette. However, Gen Ong-art would neither confirm nor deny that he has…
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Chinese tourists and guide injured in speedboat collision
PHUKET: Four Chinese tourists and their Thai guide were injured yesterday afternoon when two speedboats collided in Phang Nga Bay off Khai Nok island. Witnesses from both boats told police that as the speedboat Nontasak, carrying 31 Chinese tourists, approached the beach at Koh Khai Nok, it was struck by another boat, Sasiyanon.The five people injured in the accident were…
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Phuket teen gang shoots man dead over insults
PHUKET: Police have arrested several youths after an 18-year-old was shot dead in front of a 7-Eleven store in Phuket’s Rawai Beach area early yesterday morning. Chalong Police received a report of the shooting at 4am, and soon arrived at the 7-Eleven store at the entrance to Laem Ka Yai Beach on Wiset Road (map here). Korrawit Sriboonma, originally from…
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Phuket FC in scoreless stalemate with Trat’s White Elephants
PHUKET: Some 1,653 fans who turned out for the Islanders’ Yamaha League One (YL1) match against Trat FC match on Saturday evening in Phuket Town, were given little to cheer about, the match ending in a 0-0 stalemate. Indeed, the crowd, representing Phuket FC’s poorest turn-out all season, found more entertainment in the pre-game cheerleader show, as well as the…
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Phuket Opinion: Tourist Court vs Holiday Justice
PHUKET: The opening of a new court to resolve non-criminal cases involving foreign tourists in Phuket tomorrow is a welcome step in the right direction, but only time will tell if the initiative will achieve its goal of bringing about prompt justice for visitors and improving Thailand’s image as a tourist destination abroad. When the idea of establishing such a…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Merkel wins German election; 1.3 tonnes of cocaine on Air France flight in Paris; Bo Xilai found guilty
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Venezuela arrests three soldiers over 1.3-tonne Air France cocaine haul Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Venezuela has arrested three National Guard officials for alleged involvement in smuggling 1.3 tonnes of cocaine on an Air France flight from Caracas to Paris, the South American nation’s public prosecutor’s office said…
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