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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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Phuket Business: New biz center opens
PHUKET: Kasikorn Bank Group opened Southern Thailand’s first Business Services, Securities and Leasing Center, located on Thepkrasatri road in Phuket Town recently. The center will specialize in investment and lending services for Kasikorn clients in Phuket and the entire southern region. Padermpob Songkroh, Managing Director of Private Fund Management, Kasikorn Securities said, “The center is one of only 12 nationwide…
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Phuket Business: White-collared workers to gain from boom
PHUKET: The local work force and overall economy of Phuket stand to benefit from the ensuing boom in real estate, an executive of a major real estate developer has said. Speaking exclusively with the Phuket Gazette, Suriya Wannabuit, Executive Vice President of the Project Management and Marketing Department of Sansiri Pcl, shared his thoughts about the local economy. “Locals don’t…
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Phuket Business: Hydrofoil pilots
PHUKET: An innovative technology which looks to give a boost to the Andaman coastal region’s sea transport industry, is now being piloted off the shores of Phuket. Benchmarked by the unofficial launch of a hydrofoil sea transport and tour service, swift and seamless day trips from Phuket to distant, offshore havens in Krabi and Phang Nga provinces are not only…
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Phuket Business: Dive center targets “no niche’
PHUKET: THE international appeal of Phuket’s dive industry has seen many dive shops and dive centers on the island honing in on specific niche markets, usually centered around a specific country or nationality. Backed with their well-equipped dive boat and brand new training facilities, Andaman Ocean Safaris’ business model takes niche marketing a step further, by targeting agents, rather than…
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4 Swedes, 1 Thai dead in horror smash near Phuket
PHUKET: Two young Swedish couples and their Thai driver were killed instantly yesterday morning when their rented car was hit head-on by a six-wheel refrigerator truck in Takua Thung District, Phang Nga. The dead were identified by their ID cards as: Elin Marita Hedbris, 21Frida Madeleine Falk, 22Anders Tobias Larsson, 22Johan Olof Nikolas Svensson, 22Wichit Phromluang, 26, from Udon Thani…
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Phuket Business: Save yourself
PHUKET: I am personally a very big fan of Napoleon Hill, and I have just finished re-reading his original work The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons. Each lesson is based on a quality or aspect which was a common denominator amongst all of the various successful men he had studied over a thirty year period, such as Henry Ford…
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Phuket Live Wire: Protect yourself from ATM skimming
PHUKET: Recently the Gazette ran a story about ATM skimming, describing how two long-term Phuket residents lost hundreds of thousands of baht at the hands of clever thieves. The banks involved came up with good advice: use ATMs either inside or at the front of bank branches; use ATMs from major banks as they have better anti-tamper systems and beware…
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Phuket Sports: PYSC get the cream of Cats
PHUKET: Young sailors from the Phuket Youth Sailing Club (PYSC) were recently afforded the chance to experience the thrill of being aboard a new 32-foot Marstrom Cat (M-32) on the waters of Phuket. The M-32 is a vessel built purely for speed with the same state-of-the-art technology as used in the aircraft industry and Formula 1 car racing. Owner of…
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Phuket Sports: FPL round two
PHUKET: Phuket’s Fair Play League (FPL) moved venues to take advantage of the excellent facility at Youth Football Home in Thalang for the second round of the competition. With two immaculately kept grass pitches at the ground, participating boys and girls enjoyed an afternoon of great football. In the U11 Division, spectators were treated to three hard-fought games with every…
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Phuket Sports: Krabi down the Lomas
PHUKET: KrabiI RFC recently hosted the Phuket Lomas in Ao Luk for their first U17 fifteen-a-side game of 2012. These games act as a warm up to the National Youth Games which will be held in Phuket in May and June. As usual the Lomas were playing above their weight with most of the team aged 14 and 15 years.…
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Phuket Media Watch: Thai PM orders investigation into army shooting of four Muslims
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai PM orders investigation into army shooting of four Muslims Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday ordered an investigation into the shooting deaths of four Muslims by paramilitaries in the restive south on Sunday. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ordered army…
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Phuket and Andaman hotel occupancy at 66.5% in 2011: THA
PHUKET: Hotels in Phuket and other Andaman coast provinces enjoyed the highest occupancy rates in Thailand in 2011, the Thai Hotels Association has announced. Speaking at a forum organized by the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations on Monday, Thai Hotels Association (THA) President Prakit Chinamourphong said there was a chance that Thai hotels could raise room rates by 5-8 per…
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Bangkok squad to tackle illegal taxis
PHUKET: A team of Ministry of Interior (MoI) officials from Bangkok will arrive in Phuket in the coming weeks to tackle the island’s long-standing problems with “black plate” taxis and their drivers, Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha has announced. The move follows a number of serious complaints received by the ministry regarding “black plate” taxis, the local name for regular vehicles…
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Pheu Thai to consider Phuket special administrative zone
PHUKET: A peaceful protest for later closing times on Patong’s renowned Soi Bangla on Saturday may have finally encouraged the government to consider making Patong a special administrative zone. Government Spokesman Prompong Nopparit, in Phuket on Saturday, pledged to take up the issue with Pheu Thai ministers at a meeting in Bangkok today. The outcome of that meeting has yet…
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Phuket school kids busted on meth
PHUKET: Six students in their first year of secondary school have been caught skipping school to get high on ya bah (methamphetamine) in an abandoned disco in the heart of Phuket Town. First year secondary school students (Matthayom 1) are typically 13 years old. The six students, all enrolled at an unspecified school under the administration of Phuket City Municipality,…
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Phuket expat reunited with “best friend’ Micky
PHUKET: Long-term Phuket expat Frank Lamine has been reunited with his lost dog “Micky”, but his fears of dog-nappers operating at Nai Harn Beach remain. Mr Lamine lost Mickey on January 22. After checking with police, he learned that Rawai Municipality has CCTV cameras posted at the beach. “The CCTV footage recorded Micky at the beach at 4:30pm. Then at…
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Parents the cure for corruption curse: Phuket poll
PHUKET: Parents and guardians play the key role in the effort to instill a much-needed “anti-corruption” mentality in our youth, a majority of Phuket Gazette readers feel. In the online poll launched two weeks ago, the Gazette asked readers: “In the effort to instill an ‘anti-corruption’ mentality in our youth, which group do you feel plays the most influential role?”…
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FC Phuket fans to share in team’s survival
PHUKET: FC Phuket could manage to survive at least one more season, but not with the help of any one wealthy benefactor. Executives have agreed to allow a group of fans to help raise funds by selling shares of the team to other fans for 1,000 baht each. The latest development unfolded yesterday at Mai Morn Seafood restaurant in Phuket…
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Phuket Sports: Island cricketers on a high
PHUKET: A battle for mid-table seniority held court at Phuket’s ACG when the Island Cricket Club faced the Thanyapura Tigers in the ninth Island Furniture League match. Sitting in fourth place, Tigers were a solitary point ahead of ICC fifth spot on the table and both teams were very aware that a win was crucial if their league title hopes…
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Phuket hotel CEO says “No more payouts’
PHUKET: The Andaman Beach Suites Hotel in Patong on Phuket’s west coast, has confirmed that it will no longer pay any guest who claim their room was robbed without sufficient evidence, after a recent surge in cases, and a tightening of hotel security. The hotel has paid victims in six of the past eight instances, all since July. In each…
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Alleged mastermind of “Ae Inside’ murder still at large
PHUKET: Atsadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab, 48, the man who police believe ordered the assassination of Phuket newsman Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn earlier this month, remains at large. Phuket City Police Superintendent Col Chote Chidchai confirmed that police were still hunting Atsadakorn and two other suspects for their roles in the murder of Mr Wisut, who was shot dead in broad daylight…
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Phuket Police appeal to public over unidentified body
PHUKET: Chalong Police today appealed to the public for any information that may help identify the body of a man found near Phuket’s iconic Phromthep Cape earlier this month. Chalong Police Duty Officer Boonlert Onklang this afternoon told the Phuket Gazette that the public appeal for help follows the autopsy report received by the police on Friday. The body was…
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Phuket Media Watch: Thai government welcomes Twitter censorship announcement
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai government welcomes Twitter censorship announcement Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The Thai government welcomed an announcement from the social networking website Twitter that it will start censoring controversial content on a country-specific level, local media reported. Jeerawan Boonperm, the permanent secretary at the Information…
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Man, 27, found hanged in Phuket
PHUKET: Thalang Police believe financial woes led a Phuket man to take his life by hanging last night. Shocked relatives of 27-year-old Awut Sakunchit awoke this morning to find his body suspended by the neck from a nylon cord tied attached to a ceiling support beam in his wife’s home in Thepkrasattri subdistrict. When Thalang Police and Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation…
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Phuket tour van in three-way accident on Patong Hill
PHUKET: A van carrying foreign tourists was involved in a three-vehicle accident on Patong Hill road this morning, causing a long traffic tailback into Phuket’s most popular west coast resort town. The accident happened on the hairpin turn descending into Patong where numerous other mishaps have occurred, including the crash of a tour bus full of Russian tourists in October…
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Crowds mass at the Old Phuket Town Festival 2012
PHUKET: The 13th Old Phuket Town Festival was a big hit over the weekend, attracting droves of local residents and tourists to Queen Sirikit Park and all along Thalang Road. The three-day festival, which ends tonight, opened on Saturday night with addresses by local dignitaries including Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana and…
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Phuket Sports: Patriots missile the Ravens to contest Superbowl
PHUKET: Fans of the New England Patriots in Phuket got some great news when local media reports out of Boston revealed that the team’s superstar tight end Rob Gronkowsi will play in the Super Bowl XLVI against the red hot New York Giants. Gronkowski went down with what appeared to be a very serious ankle in the AFC championship game,…
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Phuket Police hunting armed gunman after ‘lightning robbery’
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are scouring the streets of Phuket for a man who robbed a Kasikorn Bank branch at gunpoint, making off with 694,000 baht in less than a minute: Police were alerted to the robbery, at the Tesco Lotus Chaofa shopping complex in Wichit, at 6:15pm this evening. “There were a only a few customers waiting in the…
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Phuket MP joins call for opposition to Nitirat group
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community MP Sathit Wongnongtoey cites danger over ‘distortion of information’ The Nation PHUKET: Opposition mounted yesterday to the Nitirat group of law lecturers and their controversial proposals regarding the monarchy. At a reunion party, a group of Thammasat University law graduates called for the removal of five…
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Phuket tour bus on fire at Patong Hill
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette this morning received reports of yet another bus catching fire – this time on the busy road over Patong Hill, joining the popular tourist town of Patong with Phuket Town. No injuries were reported. Motorists are urged to exercise extreme caution – and patience – while traveling over the steep hill. The Gazette will report more…
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