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  • Running after dark – Thanyapura Neon Night Run

    Running after dark – Thanyapura Neon Night Run

    PHUKET: Grab your glow sticks and get ready for the inaugural Neon Night Run, a glow-in-the-dark family fun run at Thanyapura Phuket. Entrance to the five-hour neon-themed races and festivities costs 300 baht and will kick off at 5pm on May 31. The fun run is stacked with events with four fun-run categories for kids, ranging from 500 meters up…

  • Thai visa-van ban at Malaysian border not part of recent crackdown

    Thai visa-van ban at Malaysian border not part of recent crackdown

    PHUKET: The blockade preventing Thai visa-run vans from entering Malaysia on their way to Penang is not linked to the recent crackdown on visa runs in Thailand, confirmed a KBV Phuket Visa Run staffer. “Thai visa-run drivers and vehicles have not been allowed to cross the Malaysian border for more than a week now due to a small protest of…

  • Wanted: Phuket home for Chinese Consulate

    Wanted: Phuket home for Chinese Consulate

    PHUKET: Unable to find a suitable property for the new Chinese Consulate in Phuket, officials from the Chinese embassy sought advice from Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa on Thursday. “We will certainly have a consulate in Phuket, and it will be open as soon as possible,” said Vice-Consul Wang Huijian, who will head the new consular office. “We have four…

  • Jungceylon Patong sees first quarter spike in clients

    Jungceylon Patong sees first quarter spike in clients

    PHUKET: Jungceylon Patong has announced a 20 per cent increase in clients for the first quarter this year over its figures during the same period in 2013. The increase has resulted in the daily averages at the Phuket shopping mall jumping from 45,000 – 50,000 visitors a day to 50,000 – 55,000, explained Chief Executive Officer of Jungceylon Patong Phuket…

  • Rescued snorkeller stabilized, returns to Canada by air ambulance

    Rescued snorkeller stabilized, returns to Canada by air ambulance

    PHUKET: After a tragic snorkelling accident that left him in the ICU for nearly a month, Canadian national Mike Reynolds and his medical team departed from Phuket Thursday afternoon and landed safely in Canada last night. Mr Reynolds, 73, suffered a drowning-induced heart attack while snorkelling off the coast of Phi Phi Island on April 22. After about 30 minutes…

  • Mayor to tackle Patong corruption

    Mayor to tackle Patong corruption

    Chalermluck Kebsup, 50, was voted in as Patong Mayor in the polls on April 26 (story here). She has a master’s degree in political science from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University and was Phuket Member of Parliament for 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. She is also a Patong native and a prominent businesswoman. Ms Chalermluck has also received the state…

  • Save the living dead: put down the smartphones

    Save the living dead: put down the smartphones

    PHUKET: Having recently become addicted to the American TV show The Walking Dead, where the survivors of a zombie-virus plague battle for survival in the post-apocalyptic landscape of America, I couldn’t help but think about a more insidious zombie plague that is slowly taking over the world. The zombies are all around us, everywhere… they could be your best friend,…

  • Balancing good and bad in a digital age | Thaiger

    Balancing good and bad in a digital age

    PHUKET: There is an apocryphal “curse” attributed to the ancient Chinese that is typically rendered as: “May you live in interesting times”. While its origins are sketchy at best, its popularity appears to be growing in this new era of digital information overload. The days of a popular culture developed through a limited mainstream media are long gone. Content consumers…

  • Phuket woman gunned down in Chalong

    Phuket woman gunned down in Chalong

    PHUKET: A woman was gunned down at the Saraphan Pleng Pub in Chalong early this morning. Nuchsika Klasuek, 35, was shot in the head after leaving the popular live-music pub at about 4am by an unidentified suspect inside a pick-up truck. “Eyewitnesses said the pick-up truck was heading toward Chalong Circle on Patak Road when one shot was fired directly…

  • Interpol, Russia notified of Phuket murder-kidnap suspects

    Interpol, Russia notified of Phuket murder-kidnap suspects

    PHUKET: Police have notified Interpol and the Russian authorities to be on the lookout for the two men wanted for the murder and kidnapping of Russian national Alexey Slabinskiy in Phuket in March. Prime suspects Oleksandr Boychuk, 44, and Aleksandr Novichkov, 58, both Russian nationals, are now believed to have fled Thailand by boat. “We have not been able to…

  • Phuket TOT internet outages are over, but hiccups to continue

    Phuket TOT internet outages are over, but hiccups to continue

    PHUKET: Staff at TOT Phuket have confirmed that a broken fiber-optic cable in Nakhon Sri Thammarat has been repaired, restoring internet access for thousands of TOT customers throughout Southern Thailand. The cable went down at 10am on Wednesday, Wiraporn Kumied, a technician at TOT Phuket, told the Phuket Gazette.“We were inundated with calls from customers in Phuket who could not…

  • Thailand News: Army warns may use full force; Quake villagers still in fear; Thai Mers cases under watch

    Thailand News: Army warns may use full force; Quake villagers still in fear; Thai Mers cases under watch

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Army warns it will use ‘full force’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The mounting death toll of anti-government protesters has triggered the Army’s strongest reaction, saying it may need to resort to “full military force” if the bloodshed continues. “I want to warn every group,…

  • Phuket protesters safe after fatal attack in Bangkok

    Phuket protesters safe after fatal attack in Bangkok

    PHUKET: No Phuket protesters were injured in the grenade and assault rifle attack at Democracy Monument in Bangkok early this morning. The attack injured 22 protesters and killed two (story here). “It took place about 100 meters from our protesters’ tents at about 2:30am,” said Amnuay Kumban, a People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protest coordinator in Phuket. “Someone fired an…

  • Phuket Tourist Police in fender bender on slippery road

    Phuket Tourist Police in fender bender on slippery road

    PHUKET: A Tourist Police officer injured his back and damaged a tuk-tuk and two other cars when he lost control of his patrol car on a wet Thepkrasattri Road on Tuesday night. Local residents notified authorities of the accident near Baan Sapam Mongol Wittaya School at about 9pm. “When we arrived at the scene we saw a damaged white Toyota…

  • Turkey in mourning after 274 die in mine disaster

    Turkey in mourning after 274 die in mine disaster

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Furious Turks heckle Erdogan after at least 274 die in mine disaster Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Furious Turks heckled Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and jostled his entourage on Wednesday as protests erupted in several cities over a coal mine disaster in which at least 274…

  • Father’s funeral for newborn son brings Patong traffic to a halt

    Father’s funeral for newborn son brings Patong traffic to a halt

    PHUKET: Patong suffered a short traffic jam yesterday afternoon as the grieving man who lost his wife and newborn son earlier this month led a traditional funeral parade through the city streets. “I would like to apologize to everyone for the traffic problems. I had no intention to close the road, only to lead a funeral parade through Patong as…

  • South Korea indicts four ferry crew members for homicide

    South Korea indicts four ferry crew members for homicide

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South Korea indicts four ferry crew members for homicide Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The captain and three senior crew members of a South Korean ferry that capsized in April killing more than 280 passengers, many of them school children, were indicted for homicide on Thursday,…

  • Acting PM flees election meeting after venue stormed by protesters

    Acting PM flees election meeting after venue stormed by protesters

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Acting PM flees eleciton meeting after venue stormed by protesters The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary general of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, led protesters to besiege the venue where the Election Commission and the government were due to meet, prompting it to…

  • More than 20 dead as anti-China riots spread in Vietnam

    More than 20 dead as anti-China riots spread in Vietnam

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community More than 20 dead as anti-China riots spread in Vietnam Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: More than 20 people were killed and rioters attacked Vietnam’s biggest steel plant overnight as violent anti-China protests spread to the centre of the country a day after arson and looting…

  • Army has no plans to crack down on red shirts, says King’s Guard chief

    Army has no plans to crack down on red shirts, says King’s Guard chief

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community No plans to crack down on red shirts: King’s Guard chief The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: the Army’s First Division, King’s guard chief Maj Gen Apirat Kongsompong yesterday denied setting up a taskforce in preparation for a crackdown on red-shirt protesters. This was in response…

  • Police seize drugs, rifle in Phuket encroachment raid

    Police seize drugs, rifle in Phuket encroachment raid

    PHUKET: Officers acting on a tip-off raided four shacks built in a protected Karon forest near Freedom Beach, south of Patong, yesterday and discovered a rifle, marijuana and wood-cutting equipment, but no people. “It looks like the people staying there knew we were coming and ran away,” said Karon Village Chief (Kamnan) Winai Chidchiew. “We found eggs that had just…

  • Bangkok protesters killed, 22 injured in grenade, gun attack | Thaiger

    Bangkok protesters killed, 22 injured in grenade, gun attack

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two killed, 22 others injured in grenade, gun attack at Democracy Monument The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two people were fatally shot and 22 others were injured when assailants on a pick-up truck fired an M79 grenade at anti-government protesters and fired at guards of…

  • Fire ravages Phuket workers’ camp

    Fire ravages Phuket workers’ camp

    PHUKET: Flames ripped through a workers’ camp in Chalong this morning, completely destroying half of the houses and leaving the other half badly burned. Firefighters and trucks from three municipalities – Chalong, Rawai and Wichit – were called to the scene at about 10am, a firefighter told the Phuket Gazette. “It took us about 30 minutes to subdue the flames.…

  • Phuket Police rule out foul play in death of American

    Phuket Police rule out foul play in death of American

    PHUKET: Police today ruled out the possibility of criminal activity in the death of a 57-year-old American tourist whose body was found in his room at a Patong guesthouse on Monday. The body of New Jersey man John Randolph Grieg was discovered partially clothed and lying face down on the floor near his bed by PL House staff at about…

  • Adam Kable inspires Thai, Southeast Asian swim coaches

    Adam Kable inspires Thai, Southeast Asian swim coaches

    PHUKET: Adam Kable, High Performance Squad Coach from the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center (SOPAC) Swim Club, was the keynote speaker at the recent 2014 Swimming Sport Science South East Asia Conference in Bangkok from April 26-27, an event attended by more than 100 swim coaches from across Thailand and Southeast Asia. The conference was held to highlight the Australian…

  • Tesco Lotus steps up its ‘no plastic bag’ campaign in Phuket

    Tesco Lotus steps up its ‘no plastic bag’ campaign in Phuket

    PHUKET: After successfully removing plastic bags from one of its stores, Tesco Lotus plans to stop using them in two others, thereby reducing plastic bag use in Phuket by 10,000 bags per week. On May 16, Tesco Lotus branches in Rawai and Surin will stop using plastic bags, said Charkrit Direkwattanachai, Head of Public Affairs for the chain in Thailand.…

  • Philippines says China appears to be building airstrip on disputed reef

    Philippines says China appears to be building airstrip on disputed reef

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Philippines says China is building airstrip on disputed reef Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Philippine foreign ministry on Wednesday accused China of reclaiming land on a disputed reef in the South China Sea and said it appeared to be building an airstrip. Foreign ministry spokesman…

  • Thailand News: Academics offer plan for interim leader; Bombs at Lumpini; Blue powder probe in elephant death

    Thailand News: Academics offer plan for interim leader; Bombs at Lumpini; Blue powder probe in elephant death

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Group comes up with plan for interim govt leader The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A group of academics and peace advocates yesterday urged rival political camps to forget about appointing a “neutral” prime minister through Article 7 of the Constitution and jointly select an interim…

  • Ozone treatment proposed for some of Phuket’s stinking wastewater

    Ozone treatment proposed for some of Phuket’s stinking wastewater

    PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa is pushing to install ozone generators throughout Rassada as a long term solution to wastewater problems in the area. The vice governor yesterday afternoon inspected the new ozone generator used to treat water at Soi Paniang to determine whether the same machine could be used in Rassada. “This machine was developed at Kasetsart University…

  • Speed key in successful Central Festival Phuket fire drill

    Speed key in successful Central Festival Phuket fire drill

    PHUKET: Emergency services and about 700 Central Festival Phuket staffers took part in the department store’s annual fire drill on Friday morning. Presided over by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Sakchai Limcharoen, the drill succeeded in evacuating the mall in under 10 minutes. Local fire crews also took part in the safety drill, as well as medics from the nearby…