News
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Sponsored 5 hidden healthcare costs in Thailand and how to avoid them
Thailand's healthcare system is affordable and supported by the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme, offering essential services to most citizens. However, hidden healthcare costs can surprise patients and lead to unexpected expenses. These include specialist fees, insurance gaps, emergency services,...
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Finance: Rising interest rates won’t kill REITs
PHUKET: Many investors looking for yields and exposure to real estate have piled into Real Estate Income Trusts (REITs) despite the prevailing investment wisdom being any eventual rise in interest rates will be a disaster for the sector. After all, REITs rely heavily on borrowing to acquire real estate with interest payments on this debt usually being their biggest expense.…
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Man on the run after shooting father-in-law
PHUKET: Police are searching for a man who allegedly shot his father-in-law on Wednesday at about noon. Thanyawat Matchiwong, 28, is on the run after he allegedly shot and injured his father-in-law Juang Chuayboonchu, 77, at his home. “We had an argument on the phone about an hour beforehand. Thanyawat said he would kill my family and I, and then…
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Kbank services unavailable for 48 hours starting tomorrow
PHUKET: Kasikorn Bank (Kbank) is urging its customers to prepare for a 48-hour suspension of most of its services, which starts tomorrow night. The plan to pause banking services for 48 hours to improve the bank system was announced early last week (story here). “Kasikorn Bank branches will be open per usual on Friday, but we will temporarily close from…
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Phuket lifeguards build bluebottle warning signs after sightings
PHUKET: The Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) is in the process of creating signs to warn tourists about the dangers of bluebottle ‘jellyfish’, which have recently been found on several of the island’s west-coast beaches. Dozens of bluebottles, also known as Portuguese man o’ war, were found at Mai Khao, Nai Thon, Nai Harn and Patong Beach on Tuesday. Though rarely…
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Opinion: Use Article 44 to take down the dolphinarium
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette endorses the recent call by SKAL and several other groups in petitioning Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul to put to an end, once and for all, to the plans to open a “dolphinarium” in Chalong. In their letter to the minister, SKAL makes a succinct yet highly compelling 12-point argument against the dolphinarium, which has…
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Police seize 70kg kratom in two busts
For an in-depth look at kratom culture in Phuket and Thailand, pick up a copy of the Phuket Gazette hard-copy newspaper, available in Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Koh Samui on Saturday. PHUKET: Three suspects were arrested in two separate operations in Phuket Town and Thalang this week for allegedly having a total of 70 kilograms of kratom leaves…
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Alleged Aussie drug dealer netted in Patong
PHUKET: An Australian alleged drug dealer was arrested in Patong on Tuesday in possession of cocaine and marijuana. Named by police as Miki Michael Lee, 48, the Aussie was caught in a rented room on Soi Nanai with 1 gram of cocaine and 29.3g of marijuana. “Our undercover officers informed us that Mr Lee was selling cocaine and marijuana to…
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Muslims gear up for major festival
PHUKET: The sighting of the new moon will signal the end of the Ramadan fasting month and usher in Eid-al Fitr celebrations, as well as the start of Shawwal fasts.Eid-al Fitr is one of the most important days for practicing Muslims, as it marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. “This year all mosques in Phuket, and…
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Turtle found on Mai Khao Beach with severed flipper
PHUKET: An olive ridley sea turtle was found with a severed front flipper on Mai Khao Beach yesterday evening. Officers from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) and rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation went to the scene at about 7pm after being notified of the turtle by a beach guard. “The front left flipper was severed. We believe the…
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Phuket officials probe sewage pipeline project
PHUKET: About 20 disgruntled Koh Sireh residents filed a complaint with Damrongtham Center on Monday urging Governor Nisit Jansomwong to investigate a sewage pipeline project in Rassada. The villagers argued that the construction has narrowed a local road, thus substantially increasing traffic congestion and accident risks. “We knew that this is a Rassada Municipality project and we fully cooperated the…
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International media flock to PhuketWan Computer Crimes Act trial
PHUKET: Members of the international media, including Reporters Without Borders, crammed into the Phuket courthouse today as the trial of Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian, of local news blog PhuketWan, began. The suspects, as well as Big Island Media (PhuketWan), face charges of criminal defamation and violations of the Computer Crimes Act. The four prosecution witnesses that gave their testimony…
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Expat runs to help fight HIV in Phuket
PHUKET: A local English lecturer at Prince of Songkla University (PSU) raised more than 150,000 baht for the Phuket Loves You Club (PLU) during the Laguna International Marathon last month. Colin Gallagher had originally hoped to raise 50,000 baht for PLU, which organizes Phuket Pride Week and raises funds to fight HIV on the island. However, as the campaign picked…
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Five teens hit by out-of-control van
PHUKET: Five teenagers on two motorbikes were injured after a van driver leaving Phuket International Airport lost control of his vehicle on wet roads and crashed into the adolescents yesterday evening. “Teerapong Boonteng, 24, passed over the median and struck the teens who were on their motorbikes,” said Maj Santi Prakobpran of the Tah Chat Chai Police. One teen suffered…
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Dolphin washes ashore in Phang Nga
PHUKET: A female spinner dolphin has been taken to the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) after it was found beached in Phang Nga yesterday morning. At about 8:30am, officers from the PMBC Endangered Species Unit received a call from locals that the marine mammal washed ashore at Ban Tha Noon Beach. When officers arrived, they found villagers holding the dolphin…
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Cape Panwa Hotel Raceweek kicks off tomorrow
PHUKET: The first event of the 2015 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek is set to take place tomorrow. The kick-off event falls in the middle of Phuket’s southwest monsoon season – a time when some of the best sailing and racing conditions can be expected – and will welcome a competitive line-up of IRC racers, cruisers, multihulls and a growing…
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Police consider foul play, reward offered for missing American diver
PHUKET: Police have yet to rule out foul play as the family of an American scuba diver who vanished from a Similans-bound, liveaboard boat in April offers a 170,000-baht reward for any information that will lead to the discovery of his whereabouts. Joshua Michael Devine, 36, a civilian IT operative working at a United States military base in Kuwait, was…
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Illegal wild drugs lead to wild birds in Phuket
PHUKET: A raid on a local kratom dealer in Thalang uncaged a number of wild birds during a series of busts in an effort to combat drugs in the district. Thalang District Chief Veera Kerdsirimongkol and Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Siripong Leeprasit, Civil Defense Volunteers, officers from the Thalang District and officers from the Khao Phra Thaew Wildlife Sanctuary descended…
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Statutory rape fugitive arrested in Thalang
PHUKET: A statuary rape fugitive was arrested after Thalang Police were called to investigate an assault at his family home on Saturday evening. Trirong Dejpongha, 24, was arrested after hitting his stepfather, Veera Bunnarak, 56, multiple times in the head with a brick, Lt Preecha Rakjan of the Thalang Police confirmed. “Mr Trirong was asleep in the house when he…
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Rotary Club of Patong Beach elects new president
PHUKET: Swiss national Walter Wyler was elected president of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach (RCoPB), Phuket’s only English speaking Rotary club, earlier this month. The former Swiss Air Force colonel, and 15-year Rotarian, has set a number of goals for the club for the 2015-2016 year, including attracting more women members and continuing to support the club’s projects, such…
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Breaking News: Unidentified body thought to be last missing crew member
PHUKET: Officers believe that they have found the body of the final missing crew member from the 30-meter barge that sank between Koh Racha and Koh Phi Phi on July 7. The unidentified body was discovered in Trang, the same province that the body of the barge’s captain was discovered Saturday evening (story here). “It looks like the person died…
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A Decade Ago: The wheels on the bus go round and round
PHUKET: Much like 2015, the island was battling a flagging tourism industry and scrambling for solutions in 2005. Though Airports of Thailand (AoT) said it couldn’t bring tourists back ‘alone’, it was looking to slash landing fees for both domestic and international flights to woo crowds to the island – little did they know that the time would come… and…
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Opinion: The lay of the land
Dr Sangdao Wongsai, 35, from Bangkok, is a professor at Prince of Songkhla University’s Phuket campus. She graduated with a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the King Mongkut University of Techonology in Thonburi, before earning a Doctorate in Applied Statistics from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. She now teaches statistics and researches geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.…
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Meth smuggler packs vagina
PHUKET: A woman was arrested in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, following the discovery of 760 pills of ya bah (methamphetamine) hidden inside her vagina. “The pills were packed into three plastic bags before being nestled into two condoms and inserted into the suspect’s vagina,” Takua Pa Police Deputy Superintendent Worawit Yamaree revealed today. The 33-year-old Laos national named by…
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Phuket police arrest member of Navy for drug running
PHUKET: Police arrested a member of the Royal Thai Navy and his companion after the two allegedly attempted to smuggle 120 kilograms of kratom leaves into Patong early this morning. Petty Officer First Class Jamnian Samorhom, 33, and Noppadol Wisetrat, 21, were moving the drugs into Phuket’s party town by using a ‘well-known’ convenience store truck, confirmed Lt Col Sutthichai…
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Opinion: Traffic bubble buster
PHUKET: There is a social glue that seems to be forcing more and more drivers to a complete standstill at red lights in Phuket than ever before. However, it only takes one weak link in the proverbial chain for old habits to kick in, along with first gear. Depending on how long ago you arrived on the island, the significant…
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Finance: Millennium in a league of its own
PHUKET: I have been asked quite a few times by my readers for some of my advice that I actually follow myself, since I often tend to focus in my articles on warnings to stay away from certain asset classes or at least temper exposure to them. With that in mind, I have chosen to write about a few funds…
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Successful fundraiser for Kiwi in coma
PHUKET: The friends and family of 28-year-old New Zealander Paul ‘PJ’ Lupi, who was seriously injured in an accident on Patong Hill, have now received adequate donations from generous helpers willing to fund Mr Lupi’s fight back to health. Mr Lupi was driving over the notorious hill at about 12:30am on July 6 when he fell off his motorbike and…
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Lay Pang Beach getting bike lane, sidewalk
PHUKET: An ocean-view sidewalk and cycling path have been tabled to run along the once encroached-upon Lay Pang Beach, it was announced yesterday by Somchai Chanrod, chief inspector-general of the Ministry of Transport. The paths will run about three kilometers, with the bike lane being three meters wide and the sidewalk four meters wide. “If we receive positive feedback about…
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Rescued boatman rushed to hospital
PHUKET: The fourth survivor of a barge that sank between Koh Racha Yai and Koh Phi Phi on Tuesday is being transferred from Koh Ngai, where he was found this morning in weak condition, to Koh Lanta Hospital. Myanmar national Thar Hlaing, 46, was plucked from the sea and brought to Koh Ngai, southeast of Phuket, by a transport ship…
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Ace condo developers face more charges
PHUKET: The developers behind the unfinished Ace 1 condominium project in Phuket are facing multiple charges after dozens of buyers filed complaints seeking compensation for down payments on the project, which was scheduled to be complete in April this year. The company behind the project, Nine Property (Patong), was given two weeks from June 15 to address compensation to pre-build…
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