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  • Car licence plate sells for record Bt25m

    Car licence plate sells for record Bt25m

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Car licence plate sells for record Bt25m The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Car licence plate number 1 Kor Kor 1111 was yesterday passed to a 19-year-old student, who bid Bt25 million for it, making it the most expensive number sold at an auction organised by…

  • Policeman gets 57 years for drunken gun rampage | Thaiger

    Policeman gets 57 years for drunken gun rampage

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Policeman gets 57 years for drunken gun rampage The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Criminal Court yesterday gave a former crowd control policeman a total of 57 years and 10 months in prison for six cases in which he reportedly shot at motorists in Bangkok.…

  • Media, police forensic experts leave Koh Tao | Thaiger

    Media, police forensic experts leave Koh Tao

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Media, police forensic experts leave Koh Tao The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Forensic police yesterday pulled out of Koh Tao after completing their task collecting DNA samples from a large number of men, both Thai and migrant workers, in their hunt for the killers of…

  • New Army chief vows no coup

    New Army chief vows no coup

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New Army chief vows no coup The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Newly appointed Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr vowed yesterday there would be no military coup to oust the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration. “There won’t be [a coup], be it by those [in power] now or…

  • Phuket police chief says “no regrets’, names replacement

    Phuket police chief says “no regrets’, names replacement

    PHUKET: The outgoing commander of the Phuket Provincial Police told the Phuket Gazette today that he had no regrets about his time in Phuket and had complete faith in his replacement. “I did my best,” said Gen Krajang Suwannarat, who left Phuket yesterday to return to his post as one of the seven deputy commanders heading Region 8 Police. “The…

  • Video Report: Krabi Police hunt gibbon tout east of Phuket

    Video Report: Krabi Police hunt gibbon tout east of Phuket

    PHUKET: Krabi Police are looking to pull gibbon touts out from their hiding places after a video surfaced on Facebook showing a man photographing the protected species with tourists. “We haven’t received a complaint about gibbons being used this way in the Ao Nang area yet. However, I’ll put together a task force and deal with it immediately,” Col Witaya…

  • Suicide victim’s mum reveals letter calling for return of Phuket beaches to vendors

    Suicide victim’s mum reveals letter calling for return of Phuket beaches to vendors

    PHUKET: A letter presented at a ceremony commemorating a financially distressed Phuket beach vendor found dead last week implored Thailand’s leaders to return the beachfront to those who used it to make a living. At the memorial service on Patong Beach on Saturday, Jirasak Sae-Koo’s mother, Pranee Piromrit, revealed the letter, and explained that her son had written it before…

  • Breaking News: Army to probe Phuket visa run “cash for clearance’ claims at Sadao

    Breaking News: Army to probe Phuket visa run “cash for clearance’ claims at Sadao

    PHUKET: Reports of foreigners returning from visa runs to Malaysia being asked to pay 200 baht in cash to clear immigration at the Sadao checkpoint are to be directed to the regional Army chief for Southern Thailand, the Phuket Gazette confirmed yesterday. “I was doing a trip with a visa-run company to Penang, Malaysia,” said one British expat, who asked…

  • Myanmar worker saved after Phuket retaining wall collapses

    Myanmar worker saved after Phuket retaining wall collapses

    PHUKET: A Myanmar worker escaped serious injury last night when a retaining wall at a Phuket construction site collapsed, pinning him in a hole and covering him with earth. The accident occurred at a housing estate under construction in Baan Ao Por, near Ao Por pier, at about 9:30pm, Lt Suporn Muangkhai told the Phuket Gazette. “Mr Htat, 22, as…

  • Phuket provides easy access to tech-diving world with PADI Tec Xplor Day

    Phuket provides easy access to tech-diving world with PADI Tec Xplor Day

    PHUKET: All divers in Phuket and the surrounding regions are invited to get a taste of the technical diving world with the PADI “Tec Xplor Day” on October 9. Kiwidiver, Blue Label Diving, Aquamaster and Dive Supply will have rebreathers, sidemounts and twin tank setups available for participants interested in “tech rec”. The technical diving community has a reputation around…

  • Judge kills his wife, himself

    Judge kills his wife, himself

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Judge kills his wife, himself The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Phitsanulok Court judge Chalermpol Butrdee shot dead his wife before turning the gun on himself early yesterday morning at their home in Nakhon Sawan’s Muang district. Following the report of the incident at about 2am,…

  • Koh Tao party zone plan amid security concerns

    Koh Tao party zone plan amid security concerns

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Koh Tao party zone plan amid security concerns The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Designated entertainment and activity areas and a special management team will be implemented on Koh Tao, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said yesterday.The scheme, dubbed the “Koh Tao Model”, is a…

  • Officials catch fishing trawler working in restricted zone east of Phuket

    Officials catch fishing trawler working in restricted zone east of Phuket

    PHUKET: The crews of two fishing boats were arrested for trawling in a restricted fishing area near Koh Sriboya, east of Phuket, yesterday morning. The boats, Chaitakarn 17 and Chaitakarn 15, had already netted 200 kilograms of fish by the time officials arrived. “We received a report from local fisherman that the boats were fishing in waters where trawling is…

  • Giant crab nips at Krabi villagers’ emotions

    Giant crab nips at Krabi villagers’ emotions

    PHUKET: A huge mud crab caught by accident in a canal has stirred a veritable pot of emotions among local villagers in the mangrove-rich Klong Prasong area south of Krabi Town. Sompong Klongrouw, a 33-year-old local fisherman, landed the giant crab last week and brought it home so he could show his neighbors. By Friday, some locals were in a…

  • Body of woman with hands bound washes onto Phuket beach

    Body of woman with hands bound washes onto Phuket beach

    PHUKET: Police are trying to identify a woman whose naked body was found washed onto a Phuket beach with her hands bound behind her back this morning. Local resident Lumyong Kunpai made the gruesome discovery on Surin Beach and quickly called the police. “We believe that the woman was killed about a week ago and that her body was dumped…

  • Phuket men wanted over street shooting

    Phuket men wanted over street shooting

    PHUKET: Police are scouring Phuket for two attackers who gunned down a man in Cherng Talay last night. Officers were called to a home in Pasak Soi 8, where rescue workers were tending to Rattikorn Weeraphruk, 25, from Roi Et, who was bleeding on the kitchen floor after being shot twice. Mr Rattikorn told police that he was riding his…

  • Adrenaline takes the win at Sunday’s ACYC race

    Adrenaline takes the win at Sunday’s ACYC race

    PHUKET: Light winds that built to around 10 knots over the course and a picture postcard sunny day yesterday saw sailors in the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) race series finish within seconds of each other on corrected times. In the multihull division, a 30º wind shift at the start favored Hurricane and Adrenaline, while disadvantaging back-runners Nina and Galeforce,…

  • Man kills daughter, wife, burns bodies

    Man kills daughter, wife, burns bodies

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Man kills daughter, wife, burns bodies The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police have arrested a man with a history of drug use and mental illness after he allegedly stabbed to death his wife and daughter and then burned their bodies in his pickup truck on…

  • Australian tourist stabbed in Patong street fight with Thai teens | Thaiger

    Australian tourist stabbed in Patong street fight with Thai teens

    PHUKET: Police are looking to press charges against an Australian tourist and a Thai teenager after both used broken bottles as weapons in an early-morning fight on the Patong beach road yesterday. Capt Thawatchai Srimai of the Patong Police arrived at the scene at 2am with other officers to find Dwayne House, 23, on the ground in agony. He had…

  • Drinking buddies save Phuket man from drowning

    Drinking buddies save Phuket man from drowning

    PHUKET: A man who went swimming off the east coast of Phuket late last night is in hospital after being saved from drowning by two friends he was drinking on the beach with. Rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation were called to Tala Beach in Pa Khlok at about 11:15pm. “We arrived to see two teenagers trying to help their…

  • Hotels silent on helping out-of-work Patong beach staffers

    Hotels silent on helping out-of-work Patong beach staffers

    PHUKET: Patong hotels have failed to reply to government appeals to provide assistance to the beach business staffers who were made redundant through the Phuket clean-up campaign, say officials. “We have sent letters to many big hotels asking for their co-operation by providing space on their properties where unemployed vendors may work, but we have yet to receive any reply,”…

  • German ‘beggar’ to be deported

    German ‘beggar’ to be deported

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community German ‘beggar’ to be deported The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Immigration Bureau will begin the process of deporting a German who was found enjoying the nightlife in Pattaya after begging for money on Bangkok streets. Benjamin Holse, 29, claimed his passport and cash were…

  • Battle against Phuket land grabbers moves to the hills

    Battle against Phuket land grabbers moves to the hills

    PHUKET: The entire island should give its full support to the ongoing efforts by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to rid public beaches of encroachment in all its forms. The results, which so far have been nothing less than stunning, are sure to go a long way to restoring the island’s attractiveness to tourists, both foreign and…

  • Koh Tao murders prompt Phuket security boost

    Koh Tao murders prompt Phuket security boost

    PHUKET: Region 8 Police chief Panya Mamen has ordered all police stations under his command, including those in Phuket, to investigate their options for improving tourists’ safety following the brutal slaying of two British tourists on Koh Tao earlier this month. “I have ordered every police station in Region 8, especially those in tourist destinations, to establish if they can…

  • Festival looters raid two Phuket restaurants on same day

    Festival looters raid two Phuket restaurants on same day

    PHUKET: Unidentified looters capitalized on the holiday closure of two Phuket restaurants yesterday, breaking in to steal electronics. Capt Wattana Bumrungthin of the Thung Thong Police received a call at about 3pm to investigate a robbery at the Fiesta Cafe in Kathu. “We closed the restaurant after all of the staff left to join the Vegetarian Festival in Phuket Town,”…

  • Phuket’s Irish Times opens doors for captive dolphin debate [video] | Thaiger

    Phuket’s Irish Times opens doors for captive dolphin debate [video]

    PHUKET: Local marine conservationists and animal right activists will be hosting an event at the Irish Times pub at Jungceylon shopping mall in Patong on October 16 to discuss the implications of capturing dolphins in the wild and keeping them in captivity. Dolphin trainer turned animal rights activist Ric O’Barry, well-known for his role in the Academy-award winning documentary The…

  • Laguna Phuket beach fence ruled legal

    Laguna Phuket beach fence ruled legal

    PHUKET: The beachfront land at Bang Tao that was fenced off, before local government officers ordered the fence to be torn down, earlier this week has been ruled to be private property, the Thalang Land Office confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. Officers from the Thalang Land Office re-surveyed the area in question and confirmed that the fence had been…

  • Chinese tourist attacked over tour guide rivalry, suspect police

    Chinese tourist attacked over tour guide rivalry, suspect police

    PHUKET: Police are hunting four men who attacked a Chinese national on the streets of Phuket Town during the annual Vegetarian Festival (story here) last night. Police believe that the men beat Guo Xing, 26 – to the ground with metal bars – under the presumption that he was an illegal Chinese tour guide. The Vegetarian Festival is renown for…

  • Koh Tao Murders: Police pin hopes on DNA test results

    Koh Tao Murders: Police pin hopes on DNA test results

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Koh Tao Murders: Police pin hopes on DNA test results The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nearly two weeks since the gruesome murders of two British backpackers on Koh Tao, the killers are still at large. Worse still, police have pinned all their hopes on the…

  • German beggar faces deportation for charity-paid partying in Pattaya

    German beggar faces deportation for charity-paid partying in Pattaya

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community German beggar faces deportation for charity-paid partying in Pattaya The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: After attracting sympathy and donations from Thais in Bangkok, a German with an excessively swollen leg was seen enjoying drinks and the nightlife in Pattaya on Wednesday night. Tourist police have…