News
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Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Phuket’s one-stop yacht center trial period hits first software snag
PHUKET: The long-awaited, 70-million-baht one-stop yacht center at Chalong Pier opened on Monday only to see system bugs force officers to register all inbound yachts and crews by hand. “Monday was our first trial day for the center, and we had a lot of tourists come to Chalong Pier,” explained Phuket Provincial Administration Office Transportation Division Chief Prasit Yotharak. “We…
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Phuket Police brutality at heart of mega-blockade
PHUKET: Four police officers were removed from active duty last night to bring an eight-hour blockade of Phuket’s critical Thepkrasattri Road to an end at about 11:30pm. The officers – Lt Akarapol Siwilai, Sub Lt Manus Faipetch, Sgt Maj Sansak Choti and Sgt Yongyuth Ritplud, all of the Tah Chat Chai Police Station – were transferred to Phuket Provincial Hall…
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Thailand News: Recession looms; Red shirt slain; Officer dies in helicopter plunge; Outrage over Chao Praya drownings
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Recesssion looms as MPC to further trim growth forecast in June The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee will lower its forecast for the Kingdom’s 2014 economic growth at its next meeting in June. Paiboon Kittisrikangwan, secretary of the Monetary…
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Body of Korean boy who raised alarm on sinking ferry believed found
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Body of Korean boy who raised alarm on sinking ferry believed found Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The body of a South Korean boy whose shaking voice first raised the alarm that a passenger ferry with hundreds on board was in trouble has been found, his…
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Angry Phuket mob stages blockade over twin teen rape suspects
PHUKET: A mob of angry residents this afternoon blockaded Phuket’s critical main artery, Thepkrasattri Road, amid outrage over the twin teenagers who raped a pregnant woman in the area on Sunday night. The blockade, just north of the turnoff to Phuket International Airport, formed at about 2pm after villagers realized that police would not be bringing the twin brothers to…
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Anything to declare? Airport officials asked to target bags of undisclosed cash
PHUKET: Officers at Phuket International Airport have been asked to target people carrying large amounts of undisclosed cash in the ongoing battle to crack down on transnational crime. The request comes from Glenn Tankard of the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Mr Tankard was in Phuket early this month in his role as head of the Thai Transnational Crime Coordination Network…
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Revamped Tesco Lotus Extra fully open from today
PHUKET: Renovations on the Tesco Lotus Extra Phuket mall, located off the bypass road in Sam Kong, were recently completed and the revamped mall is now fully open for business as of today. Tesco says that more shops, famous brands, and a new food court have been added to the mall, including Starbucks, Fuji, Giordano, Air Asia, as well as…
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Phuket airport health officials ramp up MERS surveillance
PHUKET: Health officials at Phuket International Airport have ramped up efforts to identify any travellers arriving in Phuket who are suspected of carrying the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (Mers-CoV). The news follows the death of a Malaysian man from complications caused by MERS after returning from Saudi Arabia, in what appears to be the first fatal case of the disease…
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Yingluck offers to quit; Park chief probe over missing activist; Four dead from swine flu
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yingluck to leave politics if country wants it; hasn’t raised issue with Thaksin The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday she is ready to step down if the people want her out, but added that she had not discussed the…
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First sign of South Korea ferry disaster was call from a frightened boy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community First sign of South Korea ferry disaster was call from a frightened boy Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The first distress call from a sinking South Korean ferry was made by a boy with a shaking voice to a fire station, three minutes after the vessel…
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Teens confess to rape of pregnant Phuket woman
PHUKET: Twin brothers confessed yesterday to the rape, sexual assault, assault and robbery of a 25-year-old pregnant woman along a dark stretch of road in northern Phuket on Sunday. “The suspects face all four charges, including ‘use of a vehicle, in a robbery and evasion of police,'” Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Peerayut Karajedee told the Phuket Gazette. “They claim…
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Manchester United’s manager canned
PHUKET: David Moyes’s troubled reign at Old Trafford came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when the Scot was sacked after a hugely disappointing 10-month spell as manager after replacing Alex Ferguson last July. Announcing his departure in a terse, two line statement, United thanked Moyes for, “the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role”. Veteran midfielder…
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Phuket residents approve north-south Chalong underpass
PHUKET: Local residents yesterday voted to approve a route for the Chalong underpass: a two-way underpass stretching one kilometer long that joins Chao Fa West Road and Wiset Road. The selected route was chosen at the second public hearing for the project, held at The Metropole Hotel in Phuket Town. The chosen route was among four options presented yesterday. The…
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Twin brothers arrested for rape of pregnant Phuket woman
PHUKET: Police are questioning 17-year-old twin brothers suspected of raping a pregnant woman along a dark stretch of road in northern Phuket on Sunday night. Tah Chat Chai Police have the pair in custody and are currently questioning them over the incident. The brothers are suspected of kicking a 25-year-old woman who is five months pregnant off her motorcycle, causing…
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Kuwait’s MG7 Cricket Club take out Cup Final; CBBs win Plate Final
The 11th Annual Phuket International Cricket Sixes Tournament 2014 wrapped up on Sunday after eleven hard-fought matches. Match oneThe final play-off match one saw Wild Men From Borneo (WMFB) against the Southern Stars. The Wild Men went out and scored 33 runs with Scarface retiring hurt on 11. The Southern Stars won. Match twoThe first semi-final in the Plate division…
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PACC to dive in on Phuket corruption case on Monday
PHUKET: A Public-sector Anti Corruption Commission (PACC) team will begin its investigation on Monday into extortion charges lodged last month by 41 members of the Phuket dive community (story here). “At least nine PACC officers will form the investigation team. They will stay for as long as it takes to ensure that we have enough information to proceed with the…
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Search for MH370: Seabed scans draw blanks, cyclone nears
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cyclone threatens to disrupt search for missing Malaysian plane Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A tropical cyclone was threatening to hamper the search for a missing Malaysian jetliner in a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean on Monday, as a submarine drone neared the end of…
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Saudi Arabia sentences eight to death for 2003 attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Saudi Arabia sentences eight to death for 2003 attacks Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Saudi Arabian court on Monday sentenced three more men to death, raising the number of people condemned for their involvement in a suicide attack on expatriate residential compounds in Riyadh in…
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U.S. force in Afghanistan may be cut to less than 10,000 troops
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. force in Afghanistan may be cut to less than 10,000 troops Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan may drop well below 10,000 – the minimum demanded by the U.S. military to train Afghan forces – as the longest war…
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South Korean ferry crew’s desertion ‘tantamount to murder’: Park
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South Korean ferry crew’s desertion ‘tantamount to murder’: Park Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Monday the actions of some crew of a ferry that sank with hundreds feared dead were tantamount to murder, as a four-year-old video transcript showed…
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Disappearance of Karen activist prompts concern; NACC denies bias; Teacher exam cheating probe begins
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Disappearance of Karen activist prompts concern The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Several organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International Thailand, are pressing Thai authorities to speed up investigation into the disappearance of a leading Karen activist. Por Cha Lee Rakchongcharoen, also known as “Billy”,…
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Thaksin ready to sacrifice family; Triple murder in Yala; and more…
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thaksin ‘ready to sacrifice family’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to “sacrifice his family” by ending its political roles so the country can emerge from the ongoing political impasse and move forward, his close aide said yesterday. However,…
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Ukraine peace deal falters as rebels show no sign of surrender
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine peace deal falters as rebels show no sign of surrender Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An international agreement to avert wider conflict in Ukraine was faltering on Monday, with pro-Moscow separatist gunmen showing no sign of surrendering government buildings they have seized. U.S. and European…
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Police believe French national killed during robbery
PHUKET: Police believe a French national found dead in his rented Phuket bungalow on Friday was killed in the midst of a robbery. Officers are now working on identifying two suspects recorded by the resort’s CCTV cameras. The body of Fabrice Boigeol, 37, was found lying in a pool of blood partially under a stripped mattress in a room at…
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Chinese tourist drowns while snorkelling, prompts life jacket warning
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) has issued a warning over the improper use of life jackets following a Chinese tourist drowning while snorkelling off Racha Yai Island on Saturday. Chalong Police were notified of the tourist’s death at about 3pm after the body of Ting Hong, 29, had been transferred from Racha Yai Island to…
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Tattooed body found off Phuket beach, believed to be foreigner
PHUKET: Police are trying to establish the identity of a body, believed to be of a foreign man, found floating off Pansea Beach this morning. The gruesome discovery was made by Santisuk Patkhim, a beach guard at the upscale Amanpuri Resort. Mr Santisuk secured the body then called Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers to help bring it to shore. “So far…
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Governor orders probe into “reckless’ bungy-jump operators
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut has ordered police to investigate the illegal construction site of the Phuket bungy-jump tower where two men died and one was seriously injured on Friday (story here). “I received a report that the bungy-jump tower was illegal. The owners were issued a permit to construct a building 12 meters tall, but they erected a structure reaching…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Prosecutors extend Korea ferry captain’s detention as death toll mounts
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prosecutors extend Korea ferry captain’s detention as death toll mounts Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Korean prosecutors investigating a ferry disaster said on Sunday they would seek to extend the detention of the ship’s captain and two other crew by 10 days as they tried…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Malaysian plane lands safely after landing gear scare
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Malaysian plane lands safely after landing gear scare Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane with 166 people on board landed safely at Kuala Lumpur airport early this morning after being forced to abandon a flight to Bangalore because of problems with its…
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Phuket officials order a halt to deadly bungy jump
PHUKET: Officers have ordered a halt to any further development of the illegal bungy-jumping site in Phuket where two men died and one was seriously injured Friday night. “It was built more than four times higher than had been approved,” said Chalong Mayor Samran Jindapol. The Chalong Municipality had approved construction of a 12-meter jump tower. However, the final construction,…
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