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Top 5 luxury villas in Phuket and Koh Samui for your next holiday
Ask people to name the most beautiful places in Thailand, and you'll often hear Phuket and Koh Samui being mentioned. Who would disagree? One is renowned for its bustling nightlife, vibrant culture, and lively beach scene, while the other is...
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Mexican, Malaysian suspects named in Phuket gem heist
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have released the names of two suspects arrested in connection with the theft of 30 million baht of jewelry, diamonds and other gems from a parked car in Phuket yesterday morning. Mexican national Ruben Dario Zapata Gonzalez and Malaysian national Rosulina Binti Abu Bakar were presented at Phuket City Police Station at 10am today. Also present…
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No drugs, no phones, Phuket Prison to gain ‘White’ status
PHUKET: Phuket Prison is to be awarded “White Prison” status after regular inspections of the provincial detention facility declared it free from drugs and illegal mobile phones. Department of Corrections Deputy Director General (Administration) Somsak Rangsiyopas announced the news at Phuket Prison yesterday at the opening ceremony of a scout training program for young inmates. “We have had many inspections…
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Police arrest three foreigners for B30mn jewelry heist
PHUKET: Police have arrested four people in connection with the theft of 30 million baht of jewelry in Phuket yesterday morning while they were heading for the Malaysian border. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that the suspects were arrested by Trang Highway Police officers at a checkpoint in Sikao District, in Trang province. The…
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Phuket Election: Aroon Solos re-elected Rawai Mayor
PHUKET: According to preliminary results of the local election yesterday in Rawai, at the southern end of Phuket, Aroon Solos has been re-elected Mayor of Rawai Municipality. The preliminary count gave Mr Aroon with 3,715 votes, said Kittipong Thiengkunagrit, director of the Phuket Election Commission. Mr Aroon’s only opponent, Yutthana Jundee, garnered 1,972 votes. Just over 60 per cent of…
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Phuket Police dragnet fails to recover B30mn in stolen jewelry
PHUKET: Police are searching vehicles leaving the island and passengers departing via Phuket International Airport are being subjected to more rigorous bag searches following the theft of 30 million baht of jewelry from a parked van near Phuket Town this morning. The theft was discovered at about 9:45am by Thongsak Chintakanroek, whose Toyota Alphard Hybrid had a window smashed and…
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Phuket Red Shirt Village rally just a “test’, says local leader
PHUKET: One of the men named responsible for organizing a red-shirt rally near Nai Yang Beach yesterday has denied any intent of establishing a “red-shirt village” in Phuket. The true aim was to determine how many people would protest against such a rally, said Surin Yotharak, a local village leader in Tambon Sakoo, the subdistrict immediately south of Phuket International…
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BREAKING NEWS: Phuket Police launch manhunt for three foreigners in B30mn jewelry heist
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has received confirmed reports that police have launched a manhunt for three foreign men who carried out a smash-and-grab robbery of about 30 million baht in jewelry this morning. The three men allegedly smashed the windows of a Toyota Avanza parked behind the Big C supercenter on the bypass road at 9:45am with an umbrella and…
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Phuket discount products fair to counter rising prices
PHUKET: In a bid to offer some relief from the spiralling cost of living in Phuket, the Phuket Provincial Cooperatives Office is holding a “discount products fair” in front of its offices in Phuket Town. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak yesterday officiated the opening of the week-long fair on Damrong Road, in the old government quarter of the town around…
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PHUKET OPINION: Few winners in war against the sea
PHUKET: Funding for projects to “combat” erosion along the Andaman coast through construction of seawalls, jetties and similar structures would be better deployed on environmentally-sound projects like sand-dune stabilization, mangrove reforestation and enforcement of laws that regulate shoreline construction. Trying to conquer the forces of time and tide is the quintessential exercise in futility. This is especially true along Phuket’s…
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Phuket joins Andaman fight against coastal erosion
PHUKET: Phuket has joined an Andaman-wide project spearheaded by the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Haad Yai Campus to combat coastal erosion throughout the region. At the recent sea gypsy Loy Reua ceremony at Laem Tukkae last weekend, newly-elected Rassada Mayor Phudit Raksaraj explained to the Phuket Gazette that Rassada Municipality was working with the PSU Haad Yai Campus and…
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Phuket Town power cables going underground
PHUKET: Phase two of the project to remove the unsightly cables that have been obscuring the classic Sino-Portuguese shopfronts along the streets of Old Phuket Town for decades continues today as workers pull down the power poles along Deebuk Road. The removal of the power poles on Deebuk Road today follows the removal of overhead power cables and the corresponding…
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Phuket authorities call for peaceful red-shirt rally on Sunday
PHUKET: With concerns of 500 members arriving to join the red-shirt rally in Phuket on Sunday, and at least 1,500 yellow-shirt supporters staging a mass rally at Phuket Provincial Hall at the same time, Phuket authorities yesterday called for both sides to respect each other group’s democratic rights and to not engage in any conflict. The news came at a…
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Taiwanese airline captain drowns at national park north of Phuket
PHUKET: A Taiwanese airline captain has drowned and his Thai boatman remains unconscious after an accident in Khao Sok National Park, Surat Thani, several hours drive north of Phuket. Col Jarun Uchuphap, Superintendent of Baan Takhun Police Station, told the Phuket Gazette today that the accident occurred yesterday afternoon on the Chiao Lan Reservoir, a popular tourist nature reserve also…
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Pheu Thai’s Prompong guarantees action in Phuket Freedom Beach land title probe
PHUKET: Government Spokesman Prompong Nopparit has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that the investigation into two land titles being illegally issued for 65 rai at Phuket’s pristine Freedom Beach has now been handed over to the Land Department and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for further action. Speaking to the Gazette yesterday, Mr Prompong also confirmed that the Parliamentary Committee…
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Weird World News: When punishment takes an unusual route
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News roundup shatters the foundations laid out by many great nations that claim “cruel and unusual punishments [shall not be] inflicted”, as a hometown speedster has his car turned into a tree house, a horror film clown threatens your child (by request) and a suicide-kit saleswoman’s business gets smothered with a mere US$1,000 fine after…
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Phuket earthquake victims receive government payout
PHUKET: Residents in Phuket’s Srisoonthorn subdistrict whose homes were damaged by the April 16 earthquake received payouts from the government yesterday to assist in repairing their living quarters. Thalang District Chief Naruenart Supattaraprateep led the proceedings in handing out cash cheques provided by the Phuket Provincial Office to 410 residents. The funds were made available through the Provincial Office’s 50-million-baht…
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Phuket Gazette media partner Nation Group inks deal to enter Myanmar market
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette‘s media partner organization Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) Plc has signed a comprehensive agreement of cooperation with Myanmar’s Eleven Media Group Co Ltd. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in Yangon last Friday by Nation Multimedia Group chairman Suthichai Yoon and Eleven Media Group chairman and CEO Dr Than Htut Aung, is a precursor to the formation…
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Brisk business at Phuket City Pawnshop as schools re-open
PHUKET: The Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop is reporting brisk business this week as parents pawn off gold to pay for back-to-school supplies for their children. Mr Boonsong Korecharoen, accountant and acting manager of the shop on Kamoraphat Road, told the Phuket Gazette that recently they had been dealing with a daily volume of about 400 people. About 99 per cent…
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Grounded dive boat back in Phuket
PHUKET: The dive boat forced to ground on Koh Gai island after its hull cracked in stormy weather last weekend was re-floated and towed back to Phuket yesterday. Though frightened, none of the 16 people on board the Parapis 7 during the grounding were reported as suffering any injuries, according to eye-witnesses who carried out the rescue. Narong Chaimo, general…
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Phuket go-go dancer survives suicide plunge
PHUKET: A broken-hearted transgender person is in intensive care at Patong Hospital after surviving a suicide plunge from a Phuket hotel last night. A local media report listed the identity of the survivor as “Nong Yok”, a 33-year-old dancer at a night venue named as the “Russia A-Go-Go” club. According to the report, Nong Yok tried to end her life…
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Police suspect arson in Phuket government building blaze
PHUKET: Phuket Police are seeking a man seen running from the site of a pre-dawn arson attack at the Thalang District Office compound earlier today. Thalang Police, notified of the fire at 4am, raced to the scene with Thalang Municipality firefighters. It took firefighters just 15 minutes to extinguish the blaze, but not before it reduced to ashes a bamboo…
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Phuket offers new twist in War on Drugs
PHUKET: The Koh Kaew Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) has launched a project that may be a precursor to a shift in strategy in the War on Drugs in Phuket. The organization is inviting drug users who wish to turn their lives around to join a rehabilitation camp under the “One Local Administration Organization, One Drug Rehabilitation Camp” project. As part…
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Phuket beach tout turf war targets Cambodians
SPECIAL REPORT A FURIOUS beach brawl between rival groups of migrant Thai and Cambodian beach peddlers in February has led Karon Municipality to draft regulations to register all peddlers and rid the sands of illegal alien workers. Phuket Gazette senior reporter Atchaa Khamlo reports. PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak arrived at the Karon Municipality office in Kata on April…
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Phuket’s poor turn out for annual alms festival
PHUKET: More than 1,000 of Phuket’s poorest people were at the Kusoldharm Foundation headquarters in Phuket Town yesterday to receive donations of food as part of the annual Te Krajard merit-making ceremony. Starting at 2:30pm, Foundation President Benjawan Tamphanuwat led Kusoldham workers in handing out 4,800 packs of rice, each weighing five kilograms, as well as packs of other dry…
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Cop killer caught in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket City Police yesterday arrested an alleged hit-man and cop killer wanted in connection with two murders last year, one in Phuket and one in Trang. Samut “Moot” Keukgong, 44, was arrested by Phuket City Police at about 3:30pm at a snooker hall in Rassada, said the Phuket City Police report. Mr Samut signed a statement denying a charge…
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Weird World News. The unsinkable, unthinkable and unshrinkable
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News roundup is a tribute to the titanic accomplishments of vehicles as a big boat is redesigned to handle icebergs, a new motorized toilet speed record is set and BMW gets a stiff lawsuit for its motorbike allegedly causing a two-year long erection. Unsinkable – isn’t that what they said the first time? An Australian…
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Phuket sports: Saraburi ‘Warlords’ pound FC Phuket, Thai FA Cup commences
PHUKET: FC Phuket suffered their third loss of the season, losing 1-0 to the Saraburi FC “Warlords” on Saturday afternoon at Surakul Stadium. The loss was a disappointment for the Southern Sea Kirin, who hit the road to kick off their Thai FA Cup campaign this week. An early goal by Saraburi’s Panuwat Promyen was all that was needed to…
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Phuket City Police chief transferred amid underage nightlife staff probe
PHUKET: Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai has been removed from active duty pending an investigation into underage staff working at Phuket Town nightclubs. Col Chote told the Phuket Gazette today that he received the instant transfer order on Saturday. “I received the order from Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul on Saturday to transfer to Phuket Provincial Police Station…
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Switzerland appoints Honorary Consul for Phuket
PHUKET: The Swiss Embassy in Bangkok has appointed long-time Swiss resident Andrea Kotas Tammathin as its first honorary consul for Phuket. Mrs Tammathin was formally presented to Phuket officialdom on Friday afternoon, when Swiss Ambassador Christine Schraner Burgener and Head of Chancery Bernhard Bienz met Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa at Provincial Hall. “The consulate is the first contact point…
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Samson Kiplagat Tennai celebrates Phuket Trail Masters win
PHUKET: The second edition of the Columbia Trail Masters event was held at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) on Sunday morning with far larger than expected crowds and participants making it a huge success. There were more than 350 runners of all ages competing in a 3km fun run, a 10 km trail run, and a 21.5km half…
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