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 Gazette Thailand News: Teen slays own family; Yingluck faces protest murder charge; Pattaya tourism falls
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Teen suspect ‘confesses’ to shooting his family The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 19-year-old boy has allegedly confessed to shooting dead his parents and younger brother after he tried and failed to pass the blame on to the dead sibling, according to police. Pol Colonel…
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Tourist Police confirm round up of Phuket dive instructors
PHUKET: Tourist Police joined forces with the Chalong Police yesterday afternoon and took into custody more than 20 dive instructors as they disembarked from their respective dive tour boats at Chalong Pier. “I don’t think the Chalong Police pressed charges. To my knowledge, the dive shop staffers were taken to Chalong Police Station to have their work permits checked,” Urumporn…
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Thai Navy relaunches search for missing Malaysian plane off Phuket
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that it will continue its search-and-rescue mission for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the Malacca Strait. The news follows the revelation late this afternoon that Flight MH370 had diverted from its scheduled course and crossed the Malay peninsula toward the busy shipping lanes southwest of Phuket.…
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Unidentified body found off Phuket beach
PHUKET: Lifeguards stationed at the Karon Rescue Center, on Phuket’s west coast, recovered an unidentified body near Yanui Beach this afternoon. “The body was discovered a few kilometers offshore,” Kata-Karon chief lifeguard Uten Singsom told the Phuket Gazette. The remains had deteriorated extensively due to exposure in the sea, Mr Uten explained. “From the remains, our lifeguards believe it was…
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Third Naval Area Command calls off search for MH370
PHUKET: After three days of fruitless searching, the Third Naval Area Command, based in Phuket, will stop looking for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 this evening. “We’ve been working with navies from other countries since March 8, when the aircraft was reported missing,” Third Naval Area Commander Vice Admiral Tharathorn Khajitsuwan said this morning. “We were asked to search the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Stolen Austrian passport used by Iranian teenage migrant
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: One of the two passengers who boarded the missing Malaysia Airlines plane Flight MH370 on stolen passports was an Iranian man seeking to relocate to Germany, Malaysian police said Tuesday. Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, 19, was travelling on an Austrian passport earlier declared stolen in Thailand,…
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Phuket Police hunt for suspects involved in decapitation
PHUKET: Police are hunting for five men who allegedly beheaded their co-worker and dropped the severed head and body in the jungle near the San Chao Phor Suea Shrine on Patong Hill on Sunday night. The head of 21-year-old Myanmar national Wai Phyo Kyaw was found near a clump of banana trees. His decapitated body was discovered about two meters…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: CMPO considers lifting emergency decree; PDRC holds forum; Corruption now worse, says poll
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community CMPO considers lifting emergency decree The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: It is believed that the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO) will seek government approval to lift the state of emergency and replace it with the Internal Security Act (ISA) this week. National Security…
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Phuket officials combat Karon wastewater, put heat on hotels
PHUKET: Phuket officials yesterday suggested threatening hotels in Karon with having their licenses revoked if they failed to adequately treat wastewater before releasing it. The meeting between officers of the Karon Municipality and Regional Environmental Office 15 follows reports last month of rank black water pouring out of Nong Harn Canal into the ocean at Karon (story here). “Karon Municipality…
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Phuket Sports: The BMW Golf Cup International teed off today
PHUKET: Today marks the beginning of the BMW Golf Cup International at the Blue Canyon Country Club in Thalang. Amateur golf finalists from 50 countries will battle for international glory at the five-day tournament, which plays out from March 10 to 15. The contest is the culmination of about 100,000 players having teed off at 800 tournaments throughout 50 different…
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Eight candidates enter race for Phuket senator, one rejected
PHUKET: Eight candidates have registered to contest Phuket’s sole seat in the Senate in the national election for the upper house to be held on March 30. However, one application to enter the senatorial race was rejected by the Phuket Election Commission (PEC). “The application filed by Siripong Luangchawee was rejected because he resigned as a member of the Pheu…
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Phuket Police arrest drug mule with crystal meth, dealer escapes
PHUKET: Phuket Police on Friday arrested a drug courier with 950 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and began a search for a drug dealer who fled from officers, leaving behind one kilogram of ya ice and a motorbike near Srisoonthorn Temple. A Nakhon Sri Thammarat inmate, Kee Honzaitong, tipped police off about members of a drug network transporting ya…
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Phuket stolen passports may unravel missing Malaysian flight mystery
PHUKET: Police are investigating how two passports reported stolen in Phuket were used by persons unknown to board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared over the South China Sea on Saturday (story here). The probe was announced yesterday after two tourists who visited Phuket on holiday were found alive and well after being listed among the 239 passengers on board…
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Phuket Gazette World News: FBI not in on Malaysia crash probe; other U.S. agencies to arrive today
PHUKET: The FBI has not sent agents to Kuala Lumpur to assist in the investigation of a Malaysian Airlines plane that went missing on Saturday, according to a senior U.S. law-enforcement official, though representatives from other U.S. agencies and plane-maker Boeing are expected to arrive on Monday. The plane, a 777-200ER, disappeared suddenly, and though no wreckage has been found,…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Interpol says use of stolen passports on Malaysian flight ‘of great concern’
PHUKET: Interpol is investigating more suspect passports used to board a missing Malaysia Airlines flight, in addition to two European ones that were falsely used by unidentified passengers, the global police agency said on Sunday. An Italian man and an Austrian man were falsely listed as passengers on Beijing-bound flight MH370, which disappeared after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur early on…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Krabi coal plant fight heats up; Senate election nears; Issara assures innocence
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fights at hearings over Krabi coal plant The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Villagers in the southern province of Krabi have come out in strong opposition to a coal-fired power plant and coal seaport, saying the planned project would cause pollution and damage eco-tourism industries which…
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Phuket expat volunteers back on beat after misunderstanding, says Patong’s new top cop
PHUKET: Striking Region 8 International Volunteers are back to work after negotiations with police, announced Acting Patong Police Superintendent Sakchai Limcharoen. Col Sakchai told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that the entire issue had stemmed from a misunderstanding. “They are all back on the force. Patong Police and the expat volunteers were patrolling together last night,” Col Sakchaisaid. “Even the…
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Video Report: Uninsured Phuket ship sunk by fire, owners estimate 5mn in losses
PHUKET: The wooden cargo ship that caught fire yesterday off Phuket’s east coast in Phang Nga Bay was not insured and represents a 5-million-baht loss, its owners said. One of the owners, Sompong Maikhaew, and three other men were on the ship when it caught fire, but jumped overboard and were safely rescued by a passing speedboat. “We left Koh…
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Phuket Opinion: Changing the way we see with photos
PHUKET: My friends abroad have been writing to urge me to be careful and take care in light of the anti-government protests. If they thought for a moment, they might remember that Phuket is quite far from Bangkok. It’s the photos that get to them, I think. Photos, valuable documenters of the truth, can sometimes mislead – as any user…
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Phuket Opinion: Road safety: what we’re doing wrong
Thanapong Jinvong, 50, is Director of the Academy of Road Safety at the National Health Foundation and also works at the Department of Disease Control. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University with a specialization in epidemiology. Here, he talks about three ways to improve road safety in Thailand, which ranks third in the world…
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Murder investigation launched after discovery of body in Phuket drainpipe
PHUKET: Police launched a murder investigation after the decomposed body of a woman was found yesterday by a medical worker who stopped by the side of the road to urinate. Police believe the body is that of Kanya Yoongnoo, 47, who was reported missing in Cherng Talay in January, but are waiting for DNA test results. Two Paklok Emergency Medical…
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Malaysia Airlines loses contact with plane carrying 239 people
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Malaysia Airlines loses contact with plane carrying 239 people Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing lost contact with air traffic controllers early on Saturday, with the plane likely missing in Vietnamese airspace,…
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Frenchman steals testosterone from Phuket pharmacy in his underpants
PHUKET: Phuket Police arrested two French nationals Wednesday night after one shoplifted 9,000 baht worth of testosterone injections in his underwear while the other created a diversion. Patong Police were informed of the theft at the Health and Herb pharmacy on Soi Bangla at about 4:50pm and rushed to the scene. “A man and a woman came into the shop,”…
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Patong Mayor Pian guilty of vote fraud, but will run for re-election
PHUKET: Deposed Patong Mayor Pian Keesin yesterday was found guilty of electoral fraud in the September 2012 council election, but is free to run for re-election to head Phuket’s key resort town. Also found guilty for their roles in importing voters specifically to cast votes in the election were Jaroern Khwanyeun, Prasarn Noochet, Prasit Phatkor, Mana Phanchalad and Narong Cheuayuan.…
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Log caused Phuket speedboat accident
PHUKET: A log punched a hole in the hull of a speedboat that was rescued yesterday afternoon (story here), said the managing director of Andavaree, the company that owns the boat. “I was notified by our captain that the 47-foot boat, powered by three engines, struck a log near Koh Gai as it was taking 52 people to Phi Phi…
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Krabi villagers build bamboo barriers to protect the coast
PHUKET: After enduring huge waves and strong winds for several years, residents of a seaside village in the province of Krabi have adapted to the effects of climate change by using bamboo to build temporary barriers to prevent coastal erosion. The barriers were built along a 500-meter stretch of coastal area in the fishing community in Klong Prasong, Muang district,…
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Phuket Sport: To carb or not to carb
PHUKET: If you were to take a poll here in Phuket of the types of sports people do for fun or competition, chances are some form of endurance sport would rank number one. Our roads are constantly being utilized by cyclists or runners and our beaches have people going for long runs or swims to stay in shape. No matter…
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Concerns grow over Krabi’s proposed coal projects
PHUKET: Fossilized shells at a beach dating back 75 million years and over 10,000 rai of the country’s second-largest seagrass area in Krabi would be destroyed if the coal seaport and coal-fired power-plant project go ahead, an environmental watch agency warned on March 6. Adding to the concerns over the project, the local tourism association in Koh Lanta is worried…
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Breaking News: Ship bursts into flames off Phuket
PHUKET: A ship carrying cargo was engulfed by flames near Koh Naka, off Phuket’s east coast this afternoon. Phuket Marine Police were notified of the incident at about 4pm by a speedboat captain. First reports are that all on board the ship were safely rescued by the passing speedboat. — Chutharat Plerin
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Phuket Gazette International Sports: Birmingham City FC boss busted for money laundering
PHUKET: Birmingham City Football Club boss Carson Yeung was sentenced to six years in jail on Friday for laundering $93 million following a high-profile trial that cast a spotlight on how the barber-turned-businessman made his fortune. Yeung, 54, was found guilty by a Hong Kong court on Monday of five counts of money-laundering. He had denied the charges. The businessman…
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