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Phuket Opinion: Stem the growing tide of gun crimes in Phuket
PHUKET: The recent surge in the number of violent crimes involving firearms needs to be addressed by authorities immediately, otherwise Phuket’s self-designated sobriquet “Pearl of the Andaman” risks being inadvertently changed to “Arsenal of the Andaman”. Few regular readers of the Phuket Gazette will have failed to notice an apparent upsurge in gun crime this high season. This is perhaps…
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Phuket Sports: New Laguna triathlon
PHUKET: Challenge Family recently announced a partnership with Asia’s longest running triathlon, Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT), and in so doing, revealed its commitment to developing a series of half and full distance events throughout the region. LPT has been attracting the sport’s legends to the stunning tropical island for two decades. In 2013 it will celebrate its 20th anniversary with…
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Phuket van driver rewarded for returning tourist’s lost B124k
PHUKET: A Phuket tour driver has received high praise from the governor for returning 124,000 baht and US$433* that an Indonesian tourist left behind in his tour van.Sarawut Sompan, 24, works for the Sai Lom Club van team in Chalong. On Thursday night, he picked up two tourists, Indonesian and Thai, at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town and…
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Phuket Sports: Fantasia puts the hex on Voodoo in day 2 of the Bay Regatta
PHUKET: Line honors for the Bay Regatta’s second day went to Hans Rahmann’s Firefly Voodoo, but on corrected time the Stransky family’s Fantasia took the Multihull class with fellow Aussie multihull Mojo, a Schionning G Force 15 helmed by Peter Wilcox, finishing third.In Racing Class, placements were as follows: Andrew Marshall’s Judy took first place, Ray Waldron’s Phuket 8 Surf…
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Phuket Sports: Taekwondo tourney proves a knockout
PHUKET: The inaugural Phuket International Choi Yong Seok Taekwondo Championship was held at the Saphan Indoor Sports Complex last weekend, starting with the mandatory Gangnam Style dance. The event attracted more than 1,500 competitors from Thailand, Korea, Russia, Kuwait and Australia, among others. Traditionally held in Bangkok, the organizer, and Thailand’s national taekwondo coach, Choi Yong Seok, says he wanted…
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Thai Navy admiral in Phuket clarifies navy role on Rohingya
PHUKET: The Phuket-based Commander of the Third Naval Area, Vice Admiral Taratorn Kajitsuwan, yesterday publicly affirmed the role of the Royal Thai Navy in handling the huge influx of Rohingya refugees landing along the Andaman coast.Speaking at a public conference at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town, V/Adm Taratorn said the Royal Thai Navy aims to provide humanitarian assistance…
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Dugong not dying for sex
PHUKET: An endangered-species specialist last week dispelled rumors that the increase in dugong deaths in Southern Thailand last year was due to the mammal being hunted for the alleged aphrodisiac qualities of its body parts.“We have had no reports of the dugong being poached in the Andaman coast region in order to use their body parts to create a sexual…
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German tourist dies after fall on rocks at Khao Lak
PHUKET: A German tourist with a heart condition fell on some rocks and drowned yesterday at Khao Lak.Mr Oberle Ovegov, 57, had spent the morning playing in the water with his wife.At about 2:30pm, as he was walking on some flat rocks that extend into the sea at Khukkhak, he became dizzy and fell, said Khao Lak Police Inspector Anan…
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Bay Regatta sets sail with blue skies and good wind
PHUKET: Thirty-five boats, sailing in five classes and flying the flags of thirteen nations, set sail yesterday, day one, in the Bay Regatta, affectionately known as the “Fun Regatta” to the participants. Countries represented included Thailand, Malaysia, the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, the Netherlands and Ireland. The 16th annual Bay Regatta kicked off Wednesday…
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Phuket land grab by villagers, stalled by police, title deed
PHUKET: Plans by local residents to develop over 100 rai of land in Chalong, they claim is theirs, ground to a halt yesterday after more than 60 police officers arrived to support the alleged owner, who produced a title deed as proof of ownership. The alleged owner, Prajit Hongyok, met fierce opposition from villagers as he rebuffed their claims that…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: African Nations Cup quarters offers a tasty mix
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Last eight offer tasty mix at African Nations Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The right ingredients seem to be in place to make the knockout rounds of the African Nations Cup, which reaches the quarter-finals stage this weekend, a real football feast for fans a…
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Phuket Football: North Koreans drop bomb on Surakul Stadium
PHUKET:Despite fielding six high-quality foreign players in their starting line-up, Phuket FC were not able to gain an advantage over their North Korean opponents, 4.25 Sports Club, who walked away 0-1 winners in a friendly match in Phuket Town last night. A late second half goal by skilled North Korean international, Kim Kum Il, was enough for the 13-time DPK…
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Phuket’s Yellow Pages / Business Directory now on sale
PHUKET: The Gazette Guide for 2013, Phuket’s only hard-copy telephone book is now on sale throughout the island and across the Andaman region. A list of the book’s retailers in Phuket, Phang Nga, Khao Lak, Krabi and Koh Samui is available here. With contact details of thousands of businesses, classified into 219 different categories, the 356-page book is priced at…
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Taxi drivers trigger full inquest into all Phuket tour business
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada has ordered the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) to inspect the business licenses of all tourism businesses across Phuket that have foreigners registered as part-owners. The news follows an inspection raid of a single tour operator in Bang Tao, on Phuket’s central western coast, at the request of local taxi drivers yesterday. The taxi…
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Autopsy results unclear about role of head wound in drowned Dutch tourist’s death
PHUKET: Bangkok autopsy results have confirmed that Dutch tourist Stephan Buczynski died from drowning, but were unable to determine the role the serious wound to his head played in the incident. Doctors at Patong Hospital were fairly certain Mr Buczynski, 26, had drowned, but police requested the autopsy because there was also a deep gash on the back of his…
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Phuket Gazette World News: NYT targeted; Aussies may face new election; Senator in sex tourism scandal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New York Times says targeted by China hackers after Wen report Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The New York Times said today that Chinese hackers had “persistently” attacked its computers over the past four months since the paper published a story on Premier Wen Jiabao, but…
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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United lose away match with Si Saket
PHUKET: Despite a hat trick by Phuket’s Brazilian winger Jardel, the island’s pro futsal outfit Phuket United lost 4-6 away to Sri Pathum Sunrise Si Saket Futsal Club last night in Si Saket. Played at the Si Saket Rajbhat University in Isarn, the match was both side’s 17th match of a 30 fixture season. Like their first match in Phuket…
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Phuket News: Rohingya risk births at sea to flee Myanmar
PHUKET: A newborn baby just eight days old was among the boatload of Rohingya refugees who made landfall yesterday in the Surin Islands archipelago, in Phang Nga province, to the north of Phuket. As the boat landed, local people brought food and drinks to the refugees, Khura Buri District Chief Manit Pianthong said. An estimated 110 refugees were on the…
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Phuket Football: Southern Sea Warriors to battle North Korean Army
PHUKET: The new-look Phuket FC – taking on a new nickname this season as the “Southern Sea Warriors” – are set to host DPR Korea League champions, 4.25 Sports Club, in a highly anticipated friendly match tonight in Phuket Town. The match, Phuket’s third 2013 pre-season test, will kickoff at 6pm at Surakul Stadium. Admission is 100 baht, though students…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: EPL midweek summary
Pressure on City as United steam ahead in title race Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A midweek slip-up has again left Manchester City needing seven points to draw level with title rivals Manchester United ahead of a weekend encounter with an unpredictable Liverpool side capable of inflicting further pain. A 0-0 stalemate at Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday has left…
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Runaway wheel from Phuket tour bus narrowly misses policeman
PHUKET: A wheel that had come off a Phuket tour bus raced off on its own down Thepkrasattri Road yesterday morning, narrowly missing a policeman in its path. The bus, displaying a Pegas sign in its front window, had picked up 32 passengers at Phuket Airport and was heading towards a hotel in Kata when it lost a rear wheel…
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Phuket Poll: Can Phuket handle the Russians?
PHUKET: Phuket in recent months has suffered a spate of public protests against Russians operating tour services here, including mob action that saw one tour operator in Bang Tao being ordered to close (story here). That minor uprising followed a blockade on the Karon beachfront road by hundreds of tuk-tuk and taxi drivers protesting tour counters along Phuket’s southwest coast…
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Phuket police net dealers in fire hydrant meth bust
PHUKET: Phuket City police yesterday made two arrests and seized more than 2,000 pills of ya bah (methamphetamine) and 102.29 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) after staking out a Phuket Town fire hydrant. Acting on a tip-off from an informant, officers took up positions surrounding a fire hydrant in Soi Kamnan in Phuket Town, and waited for suspicious activity.…
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Phuket Sports: Europe’s best train at TSLC
PHUKET: With thoughts firmly on the upcoming 15th FINA World Championships to be held in Barcelona, Spain from July 19 to August 4, Dutch swimmers, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk, along with Italian swimmers, Federica Pellegrini and Filippo Magnani, are currently training at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC). The Dutch national team coach Jacco Verhaeren explains why the Dutch…
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Phuket Property: Thai hotels benefit from local software
PHUKET: About 1,000 member hotels of the Thai Hotel Association (THA) are benefiting from a locally developed room reservation technology that is changing the way hotels in Thailand do business online, keeping them ahead of the game in the global hospitality industry. The new ‘Software as a Service’ for independent hotels is the result of a recently formed exclusive partnership…
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Overcrowding at Rohingya shelter raises slew of concerns
PHUKET: Overcrowding at the Phang Nga Shelter for Children and Family, which was housing more than 100 Rohingya refugees, has forced the shelter’s director to have more than 50 of them transferred to a welfare center in Surat Thani. A bus with 13 Rohingya women, 19 boys and 20 girls is now en route to the Baan Srisurat shelter (website…
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Murder fugitive ‘Kamnan Poh’ arrested
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fugitive Kamnan Poh arrested Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Somchai Khunplome, alias ‘Kamnan Poh’, father of Thailand’s culture minister, was arrested today in Bangkok after years on the run.His son, Sonthaya, looked tense and grim while talking on the phone about his father’s arrest.Somchai was picked up…
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Phuket Finance: Exploring the theory of Peak Oil
PHUKET: I read a fascinating report recently from a Harvard researcher that shatters the common view of how quickly oil is becoming a scarce resource. It essentially states that – given new technology – the idea of “Peak Oil” is fundamentally flawed. Peak Oil is a theory that at a certain point in history (approaching very quickly), humans will reach…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Football movements, bans and possible prison
Beckham trains with Arsenal to maintain fitness Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former England football captain David Beckham is training with Arsenal in a bid to maintain his fitness, manager Arsene Wenger said. The 37-year-old midfielder is a free agent after leaving LA Galaxy at the end of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season in December. “He has asked to…
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Racha Rohingya “helped on’ by Thai Navy
PHUKET: The group of Rohingya refugees discovered off Koh Racha Noi today – numbering 205 in total – were given food and water before being “helped on” in their southbound journey. On hearing the news of the refugees’ arrival, Rawai Municipality quickly dispatched a speedboat with basic provisions. The boat departed Chalong Pier about midday, and on arriving at Koh…
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