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PHUKET BUSINESS: Artificial reefs key to mass tourism dive industry
PHUKET: In the tourism game creating memories is everything, explains the Head of Development at Reef Worlds, Dave Taylor. “If you can create a tourism memory then you have won your game. You have won everything, because that’s a memory that never leaves a potential client, and they always come back to it,” Taylor told the Phuket Gazette in an…
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“Phuket Lovers’ to rally on Doomsday Saturday
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Office will hold several special events this Saturday, April 28, to restore confidence among residents and tourists alike and to quash rumors that the island will sink into the sea. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha admitted that recent seismic activity following the initial 4.3 Richter earthquake on April 16 had stirred a sense of apprehension among tourists and…
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Officials to light up notorious Phuket road
PHUKET: Following the high-speed crash on April 13 that killed two local residents on the main road through Pa Khlok, officials are now looking to add street lights along the notorious stretch of dark road, and to add “reflective road studs” to help drivers stay on the road. Theera Prugsanan, chief of the Thalang Electricity Authority Office, told a meeting…
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Phuket residents panic over fish fright
PHUKET: Reports of Phuket Town residents panicking yesterday, fearing that the dead fish found in canal were an omen of an impending tsunami strike, prompted officials to investigate. The brackish water of the mostly dry Klong Saensuk canal, which runs past the Seahorse Circle at the east end of Ong Sim Phai Road, had about 10 kilograms of dead freshwater…
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Phuket Sports: Buriram Utd cling on for AFC title
PHUKET: Thai Premiere League champions Buriram United still have a fighting chance to advance from the group stages of the 2012 AFC Champions League, despite back-to-back losses this month to Korean league champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Now level with the Koreans on six points in Group H – the pot of death, Buriram’s good start in March was highlighted by…
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Weird World News: Pushing buttons for strip searches, sharks and instant drama
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News Round-up hits the “press” as button pushers get dramatic outcomes. Pushed too far, one man initiates his own airport strip search, a “shark-whisper” taps great whites sharks on the nose, and a “drama button” in the middle of your average Flemish square all made headlines this week. ‘Harassed’ man strips down to protest airport…
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Phuket Sports: Cricket sixes ends with new champions
PHUKET: MG7 from Kuwait were crowned Cup champions for the first time of the 9th annual Phuket International Cricket Sixes following their victory in the Cup final over compatriots the Skylarks. Finals day of the 9th Phuket International Cricket Sixes was played under glorious sunshine at the Kata Group Sports Ground in Chalong, Phuket. The twenty-four teams competing in the…
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Phuket tourists, jet-ski operator scramble to stave off dolphin beaching
PHUKET: A pair of dolphins came dangerously close to beaching themselves on Patong Beach, on Phuket’s west coast, yesterday morning, but were successfully herded back out to deeper water. However, biologists from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) still fear for their safety. The dolphins were first spotted in shallow waters opposite the Patong Beach Resort at about 9am. Initial…
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Plans unveiled for new Phuket water purification plant
PHUKET: Patong Municipality has announced a plan to build a 300-million-baht reverse-osmosis (RO) water treatment plant to increase municipal water supply and cut down on the volume of wastewater released into Patong Bay, on Phuket’s west coast. Although still in the initial study stages, a decision to provide Bangkok-based firm ITR Water Solution Co Ltd with 800sqm of municipal land…
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Phuket Raceweek 2012 regatta dates announced
PHUKET: The organizers of the Phuket Raceweek 2012 regatta have confirmed that this year’s event will go ahead, specifically from July 18-22. However, a “home venue” has yet to be confirmed for the annual yachting event, which was voted “Best Asian Regatta of the Year” at the Asia Boating Awards 2011. The five-star Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa in…
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Phuket boy, 12, home alone escapes as blaze engulfs slum
PHUKET: A 12-year-old boy home alone had a lucky escape from his house on Tuesday morning, as fire broke out in the poor Soi Kingkaew community in Rassada, north of Phuket Town, destroying two homes. Suriya Inkaew was home alone while his mother, 56-year-old Gaysorn Yungyeun, was out collecting recyclables from trash to make a living. “I woke up to…
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Phuket guard in coma after arson attack
PHUKET: A security guard at ‘Phuket Healthy Nutriment and Snake Show’ remains unconscious in hospital after being knocked out by attackers and having his workplace being set afire early Monday morning. Anuchit Chaithongngarm, 25, is currently in a coma at Vachira Hospital Phuket after being hit on the back of the head with a heavy object, said Kongpol Phanuek, chief…
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Phuket Customs seize B21mn of illegal diesel
PHUKET: Phuket Customs officials have seized 47,000 liters of smuggled diesel hidden on board two Taiwanese boats off the east coast of Phuket Sunday. Officials estimated the total value of the smuggled diesel seized at 21 million baht. The two boats, the ChingChunFa 168 and the Chi Tsai 16, were seized one to two nautical miles north of Taphao Yai…
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Failed Phuket tsunami warning towers spark full test
PHUKET: After two weeks of waiting for official requests to inspect tsunami warning towers that failed to sound the alarm on April 11, Chutichart Boonchuwit will bypass the bureaucratic hurdle and go ahead and have the towers tested anyway. Mr Chutichart, who is the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry representative tasked with ensuring that the tsunami warning towers in…
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Expert calls for NDWC to revise tsunami warning protocol
PHUKET: Lertsin Raksaskulwong, director of the Environmental Geology and Geohazard Bureau under the Department of Mineral Resources, yesterday called for the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) to revise its procedure for issuing tsunami warnings. Speaking at a meeting at Provincial Hall held to review Phuket’s tsunami-response procedures, Mr Lertsin said, “The events of April 11 were chaos. It seemed they…
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Phuket Gazette Reader’s Poll: How tolerant is Phuket to gay tourists?
PHUKET: A week-long Phuket Pride Festival that officially began yesterday is expected to attract thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) tourists from around the region. In the latest Phuket Gazette online readers poll, we ask how tolerant is Phuket society of LGBT lifestyles compared with other places readers have lived in or visited? To have your say vote…
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Phuket go-go bars in Soi Bangla pass the AHTD test
PHUKET: Officers from the Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) of the Royal Thai Police and Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) on Friday night inspected go-go bars in Soi Sea Dragon, off Soi Bangla in Patong, but failed to uncover any evidence of lewd behavior. Twelve officers from the AHTD Region 5 and ISOC, commanded by AHTD Region 5 Deputy Inspector Pol…
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Phuket officials threaten to swoop down on illegal swiftlet barn owners
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak has warned local authorities that they will suffer written warnings if they do not file updated reports on any swiftlet barns in their respective areas. Speaking at a meeting of high-ranking local officials at Phuket Provincial Hall on Thursday, Vice Governor Somkiet said officers had confirmed there are at least five swiftlet barns in…
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Weird World News: Serving surf ‘n’ turf – from love to six feet under
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News round-up serves up an awkward and dangerous mix of surf ‘n’ turf, taking you from cheap love, to a fishy and possibly untimely death and finally wrapping you up like a filet mignon and burying you. Japanese chefs balloon up over new blowfish laws A NEW law coming into affect in October is cutting…
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Airlines voice confidence in Phuket Airport emergency evacuation measures
PHUKET: Following the evacuation of Phuket International Airport after the 8.6-Richter earthquake on April 11, several airlines on Friday expressed their confidence in how officials handle the emergency exercise. At a press conference at the airport chaired by Airport Director Prathuang Sornkham, Thai Airways representative Jittrapong Narongwanich said all airlines that use Phuket Airport remain confident in the evacuation procedures…
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FC Phuket 0 – 0 Suphanburi FC
PHUKET: FC Phuket played Suphanburi FC to a scoreless draw on soggy pitch at Surakul Stadium yesterday afternoon. Just over 1,700 turned up for the match, including a busload of orange-clad Suphanburi supporers who turned up for the match. FC Phuket’s best chance of the match came at 13 minutes, when Suphanburi keeper Prasit Nuamsala dived to his right to…
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Buses roll out of Phuket Bus Terminal 2
PHUKET: The Phuket Bus Terminal 2 finally went into operation this morning – more than 28 months after the completion of the structure. “I think the first day has gone well so far,” said Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) chief Teerayut Prasertpol. Mr Teerayut estimated that about 70 per cent of the public is already aware that almost all inter-provincial…
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Phuket to be ‘Atlantis of the East’? Not on Gov Tri’s watch
PHUKET: In the face of widespread rumors of Phuket becoming the “Atlantis of the East”, Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha has jokingly declared that he would be happy to resign his position if the island sinks into the Andaman Sea. “Rumors are rumors,” Gov Tri said. “I don’t think Phuket will sink. In fact, I’ll stake my position as a guarantee.…
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FC Phuket ready for Suphanburi elephant charge
PHUKET: FC Phuket are back into action with a tough match against Suphanburi FC this afternoon at Surakul Stadium. The field should be sloppy, as the stadium was hit with heavy rains last night and again this afternoon. Coming into the sixth fixture for the 2012 Thai Yamaha 1 league, Phuket are in 10th place with a win, three draws…
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Phuket Bike Week comes of age
PHUKET: It was postponed for a couple of weeks, but now Phuket Bike Week is on and raring to go. The 18th Phuket Bike Week kicked off today with a shed-load of activities in Patong. The festival started at 3pm at Patong Beach football field where the Motorcycle Exhibition Festival will carry on until midnight. However there’s plenty of other…
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Villagers worry as aftershocks continue to rock Phuket
PHUKET: The fourth and largest tremor of the day hit Phuket at 3:10pm today, a 3.3 magnitude tremor clearly felt across the island with a large sonic boom clearly heard at the offices of the Phuket Gazette, about eight kilometers southeast of the epicenter near the municipal market in Thalang. Other tremors recorded by the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) earthquake…
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Phuket Airport included in B4bn upgrade
PHUKET: Aerothai, the state enterprise that operates air traffic control at airports throughout Thailand, including Suvarnabhumi and Phuket International Airport, will spend 4 billion baht on upgrading its computer and communications network. The upgrade to replace outdated equipment will be privately funded, said Aphinun Vannangkura, Aerothai Vice President for Air Traffic Management. “The upgrade will introduce more computer systems into…
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ICT Ministry plans disaster communications fix for Phuket
PHUKET: A team of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts yesterday consulted with Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha on how to improve communications during future disaster evacuations. The team, led by ICT communications expert Chaiyun Pengkiatpairot, aims to prevent a mobile phone network overload, such as that which hindered communications during the evacuation of tsunami-risk areas on April 11.…
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Tesco Lotus launches “green bag’ campaign in Phuket
PHUKET: Tesco Lotus is gearing up for Earth Day 2012 on Saturday with a special event at its Tesco Thalang mall this afternoon to launch a new campaign to reduce the use of plastic bags at all Tesco stores in Phuket. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak will officially open the event at 2pm. In addition to fun activities promoting “green…
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Fear of recurring earthquake stresses Phuket villagers
PHUKET: A team of mental health professionals on Wednesday visited villagers at Srisoonthorn Moo 2 to provide counselling after the 4.3-Richter earthquake struck fear into their hearts on Monday. Data from the Thai Meteorological Department has identified Thalang as the epicenter of Monday’s earthquake, with the villagers being rattled several times a day since by recurring aftershocks. Leading the team…
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