News
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PDRC allows Phuket Provincial Hall to re-open
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Hall officially re-opened yesterday after being closed by anti-government protests for four and a half months. The opening followed an order from People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) leader Suthep Thaugsuban. Mr Suthep called protest co-ordinators from every province to a meeting in Bangkok on Saturday, Phuket protest co-ordinator Amnuay Kumban explained to the Phuket Gazette today. “Mr…
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Naked Canadian arrested after putting on a show for shoppers
PHUKET: As women screamed and shouted, a man identified by police only as “David” walked, danced and jumped on a wall next to Jungceylon last night – buck naked. When police arrived, Mr David was scaling a wall next to the mall. He resisted arrest, leading officers to handcuff him. His evening ended soberly. “We smelled alcohol on him, so…
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Irishman among three arrested for drug dealing in Phuket
PHUKET: Police made three more arrests last night, including that of an Irish national, in their continued effort to rid Patong of drug dealers. Officers arrested Irishman Jim Joseph Brady along with Parinya Sornloy and Sumalee Saenkhampa, all of whom were found in possession of either ya bah (methamphetamine) or ya ice (crystal methamphetamine), or both. “The first suspect arrested…
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Phuket officials prepare for Songkran with alcohol-free play zones
PHUKET: With Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut’s announcement today of designated water-play zones for this year’s Songkran celebrations, Phuket water-players may start making plans to party. The announcement made it clear that the sale, purchase and consumption of alcohol will be banned within the Phuket water play zones and there will be no exception for any famous area, including, of course,…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Indonesian election underway for new parliament
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Indonesians vote for new parliament, stage set for presidential poll Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Indonesians began voting for a new parliament on Wednesday in an election likely to be dominated by the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), which it turn should give a further boost…
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Phuket FC look to hold their place in the Thaicom FA Cup
PHUKET: Tonight, Phuket FC look to hold their place in the Thaicom FA Cup 2014 as they travel to Khao Plong Stadium in Chainat. They will kickoff at 6pm against the Wang Mun Tambon Administration Office. Organized by the Football Association of Thailand, The Thaicom FA Cup is a knockout football tournament now into its 19th year. The cup winner…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Yala bomb suspects on CCTV; Govt in legal fightback; Toxic landfill fire reignites; Storm slams Buri Ram
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police spot Yala bomb suspects on CCTV The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police are on a hunt for a group suspected in bombing attacks that caused several casualties and massive damage in Yala last weekend. These suspects have been seen in images captured by closed-circuit…
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Six dodge jail terms for Phuket beach land encroachment
PHUKET: Six people have received suspended jail sentences and immediate fines for building and operating small beachside shops on protected land at Nai Yang Beach, revealed the Chief Administrative Officer of Sakoo Tambon Administrative Organization (OrBorTor) today. Of the six, two are still operating their shops, three have had their shops demolished and one has closed shop, but the building…
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Sting operation nets Nigerian for dealing cocaine
PHUKET: A series of small drug busts led to a sting operation last night that concluded with the arrest of a Nigerian man for dealing cocaine. “Last night, we were informed that Somkid ‘Waew’ Kwanngern, 30, was in possession of cocaine so we went to her apartment behind Patong Municipality Fire Department,” said Lt Col Sutthichai Thianpho of the Patong…
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Video Report: Phuket’s Suunto Series – seeing in red and white
PHUKET: The first two white cards handed out for “points” in the Phuket We Free Dive Suunto Series have highlighted the unique format of the competition, which ranks the control, safety and beauty of the dive above time and distance. “I value any clean dive far above a longer or deeper one that ends with a barely conscious diver,” explained…
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Motorbike rental passport leads to Phuket arrest of Spanish nunchuk mugger
PHUKET: A passport left as collateral for a motorbike rental has led to the arrest of a Spaniard for the nunchuk mugging of a Russian in Kata early yesterday morning. Karon Police arrested Spanish tourist Mario Arturo Tovar Ferras, 23, at the Bonus Bungalow resort in Soi Ta-iad, Chalong, at about 7:30pm last night. “Police seized a motorbike, a seven-inch…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Pro-Moscow protesters declare republic, Kiev fears invasion
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pro-Moscow protesters declare republic, Kiev fears invasion Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pro-Moscow protesters in eastern Ukraine seized arms in one city and declared a separatist republic in another, in moves Kiev described on Monday as part of a Russian-orchestrated plan to justify an invasion to…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: South alert after blasts; Army targets 4 triggers; PDRC denies coup; Killer claims gold
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South on alert after deadly bombings The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Security has been beefed up in the restive deep South ahead of the long Songkran holiday next week, following destructive bombing attacks in Yala over the past two days. Yesterday’s bomb explosion at a…
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Phuket police station blockade yields B900k cash compensation
PHUKET: An angry family ransomed the Chalong Police Station for 900,000 baht in compensation for failure to apprehend the suspect of deadly hit-and-run nine months ago. The three vehicles blocking anyone from entering the police station were not moved until the owner of the pickup truck that struck the man dead offered cash compensation (story here). “I want to end…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Pistorius retches during graphic forensic testimony
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pistorius retches during graphic forensic testimony Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South African track star Oscar Pistorius wept and retched into a bucket in court on Monday during graphic forensic testimony about the death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, whom he is accused of murdering on…
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Phuket Airport taxi driver faces inquest for drunk nap behind the wheel
PHUKET: The Phuket Airport taxi driver who was found asleep behind the wheel and smelling of alcohol early yesterday morning will be called in for questioning by the Phuket Land Transportation Office (PLTO). The news follows Thalang Police being called to Baan Lipon, between Thalang Town and the Heroines Monument, at 5:30am to find a registered taxi pulled over in…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Syria’s Assad secure, will seek re-election, says Hezbollah leader
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Syria’s Assad secure, will seek re-election, says Hezbollah leader Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will stand for re-election this year and no longer faces a threat of being overthrown, the head of his Lebanese Shi’ite ally Hezbollah said in an interview published…
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Video Report: Airport Customs snare Phuket drug mule with B7mn of crystal meth
PHUKET: A Thai woman was arrested at Phuket International Airport yesterday after she tried to smuggle 2.5kg of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) from China into Phuket. Customs officers valued the drugs at about 7 million baht. “Buachompoo Pattanapiyawach, 39, was caught with drugs in her luggage after it was scanned by an x-ray machine,” Phuket Airport Customs Director Montira Cherdchoo…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Australia says new ‘pings’ best lead yet in Malaysia jet search
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia says new ‘pings’ best lead yet in Malaysia jet search Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An Australian ship searching for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner has picked up signals consistent with the beacons from aircraft black box recorders, in what search officials said on Monday…
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Phuket Business Development Office holds Foreign Business Act seminar in English for the first time
PHUKET: The Phuket Business Development Office (BDO) has announced that it will be hosting a seminar aimed at educating foreign business operators about the provisions of Thailand’s Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542. Topics addressed during the seminar will include whether it is necessary to set up a company to do business in the Kingdom, avoiding red tape and issues surrounding…
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Phuket official loses B4mn Benz in chicken run wipeout
PHUKET: A six-wheeled truck hauling a battery of chickens bound for Krabi crushed a brand-new, 4-million-baht Mercedes-Benz belonging to a local official in Mai Khao, in the north of Phuket, on Saturday. The accident took place at 11am on Thepkrassatri Road northbound, about 300 meters from the entrance to Sai Kaew Beach. “I came to check on a construction site,”…
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Still no extradition request for Phuket fugitive arrested a month ago
PHUKET: One month after his arrest in the Philippines, the extradition of British fugitive Michael John Taylor, also known as “Mick the Pom”, wanted in Phuket on murder charges, appears to be at a standstill. Phuket’s top cop Maj Gen Ong-art Phiewruangnont says he has no knowledge of the case, and the officer in charge of it, Lt Col Danprai…
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Road death inaction sparks blockade of Phuket police station
PHUKET: The angry son of a man killed in a road accident at Chalong Circle eight months ago this morning staged a blockade of Chalong Police Station, accusing officers of supporting murder. The man parked his minivan along with two other vehicles at the entrance of the station, preventing anyone from getting in and out. Posters were plastered over billboards…
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Phuket FC slaughter BKK Iron Bulls
PHUKET: As the Phuket FC Ronins sharpened their blades in preparation for their battle against the Bangkok FC Iron Bulls last Saturday, nearly 5,000 fired-up fans braved the roads to Surakul Stadium under unsettled skies. Fans were on their feet from the beginning, cheering on their hometown team, and jeering at the Iron Bulls. They had two reasons for their…
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Stabbing in Phuket attributed to red-shirt, PDRC divide
PHUKET: An argument over the political divisions being played out in Bangkok ended with a red-shirt supporter from Isarn, Northeastern Thailand, stabbing two Southern Thai fruit vendors in Patong on Saturday night. One eyewitness told the Phuket Gazette that the argument erupted while seven vendors – who all sell fruit on Patong Beach for the same employer – were drinking…
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BISP Flying Fish storm the pool at Thanyapura
With temperatures soaring close to 40 degrees Celsius, 312 energetic six-to-18-year-old swimmers and their many supporters packed the grandstands at the Thanyapura Invitational Swim Meet presented by Rocket Science Sports, on March 29 and 30. Thanyapura’s Olympic standard aquatic center played host to a total of 17 teams, and swimmers from eight countries joined the meet from as far afield…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: NSC fears Bangkok street battles; Bombs rock Yala; Son hires hit on parents
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NSC fears civil strife if protesters take to the streets The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Security Council (NSC) is not confident that it will be able to fully control civil unrest when anti-government and pro-government demonstrators take to the streets. “With so many…
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Phuket to be “unaffected’ during 28-day power disruptions
The Provincial Energy Office has assured that Phuket and other tourism provinces along the Andaman coast will remain unaffected as a major natural gas supply line that feeds the national grid goes offline for 28 days in June and July. The news follows the announcement that the supply of natural gas from field A-18 in the Joint Development Area (JDA)…
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Officials stunned as B15bn Andaman Bridge rumors resurface
PHUKET: A stunned Governor of Satun Province has denounced reports that plans were afoot to build a four-lane motorway over the Andaman Sea to join Satun Town in Southern Thailand with Perlis in northwestern Malaysia. Governor Nuachai Jiraapirak dispelled the rumors this week after news reports began circulating online early last month, unofficially calling the supposed joint Thailand-Malaysia initiative the…
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Phuket Lake Filling: A sneak behind the watershed
Special Report A housing developer faces legal action if he continues filling in a lake north of Samkong. Soil-dumping as part of an anti-erosion project may continue as long as health issues are addressed. The Phuket Gazette‘s Irfarn Jamdukor reports. PHUKET: Rassada Municipality is preparing to file a police complaint if the lake filling at the Srisuchart Grandview housing estate,…
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