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BREAKING NEWS: Bangkok on full alert for inundation tonight
PHUKET: Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra warned the capital’s city dwellers in all 50 districts to brace for flooding as a significant portion of the backed-up floodwater from the North will hit across the city tonight.The governor made the announcement as he inspected the water level in the Chao Phraya River, which he said is likely to be at 2.40 metres…
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Phuket Breaking News: Bus crash on Patong Hill; many injured
PHUKET: A bus carrying 37 Russian tourists from Phuket International Airport has crashed on Patong Hill, injuring many passengers in the second such incident in four days in Phuket. A Russian passenger told the Phuket Gazette that the bus ā emblazoned with the company name “J-Siam Holiday Phuket Co” ā was carrying 37 Russians, and four Thais: two tour guides,…
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Floods force Nok Air to cancel Bangkok-Phuket flights
PHUKET: Flood waters have inundated the runway at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, forcing Nok Air to cancel all flights between Phuket and the Thai capital until at least October 31. The immediate cancellation is only temporary, said Prathuang Sornkham, who returned to his position of director at Phuket International Airport about a week ago. “However, if the water does…
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Phuket Town thieves stealing water meters – again
PHUKET: Officers at Phuket City Municipality are urging residents to beware water meter thieves running amok in the town. They are also calling for all scrap metal merchants to be on the lookout for any scrap being sold that suspiciously looks like the ramps used to allow vehicles to ascend curbs and be parked in inner-city garages. The warnings come…
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Ex-cop caught smuggling 4.5kg of marijuana into Phuket
PHUKET: Police at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint ā the northern tip of the island ā yesterday arrested a retired policeman trying to smuggle 4.5 kilograms of marijuana into Phuket.Also arrested was a man who says he was just getting a ride from Ranong to Phuket with the former officer.Police stopped Natthawut Nuengklang, 61, at 2pm to conduct a standard inspection…
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Thai property: Food for thought for Phuket expats
Phuket NEWS Hound ā World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket readers PHUKET: An item on the BBC website last week caught the attention of Phuket News Hound. Grand in its simplicity and purpose, and unassailable as a means to improve a troubled nation’s economy, a proposal by two United States senators to woo foreign property buyers ā yes,…
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Phuket dispatches more flood relief for Bangkok
PHUKET: As Bangkok braces for more floods, which some experts say may last up to a month, Phuket officials yesterday dispatched a second convoy loaded with flood-relief items to help those affected by the disaster. A total of 18 trucks left the Phuket Red Cross center at Saphan Hin. They are expected to arrive in Bangkok tomorrow morning. There to…
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Korean tourist in Phuket ICU after tour van slams into tree
PHUKET: One Korean tourist remains in intensive care and another in general recovery in hospital after the tour van they were traveling in left the road and slammed into a tree in northern Phuket on Saturday. The tourists were returning to Phuket after a day trip to Phang Nga. Lt Col Prakob Boonkwan of the Tah Chat Chai Police reported…
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Phuket residents reclaim robbers’ loot
PHUKET: Residents in Phuket’s Thung Thong subdistrict have been trickling into the local police station over the past few days in the hope of reclaiming household goods stolen from their home. Officers at Thung Thong police on Thursday revealed more than 30 items seized as evidence in the arrests of three men charged with conducting a recent spate of break-ins…
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Patong residents win with landslide victory
PHUKET: Residents living in the Kok Makham community in Patong, on Phuket’s west coast, were blessed when the developer of a nearby construction project on Wednesday agreed to pay for damages to their homes and to clean up their streets. Chaianan Ananthanawat, 62, registered with Patong Municipality as the “project owner” of the site, also vowed to have retaining walls…
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Solar boat’s Phuket arrival captures the fancy of local lensman
PHUKET: Having seen the Phuket Gazette‘s report yesterday about the imminent visit of the solar-powered Turanor to Phuket, local expat resident Mark Branson was inspired to watch the vessel’s arrival this morning. With the boat’s arrival at Phuket’s Ao Por marina estimated at 0730, Mr Branson left home at 6am to see the creation that had caught his imagination. He…
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Phuket election canvasser dies in high-speed collision
PHUKET: A man helping to post campaign posters for the upcoming local election in Mai Khao died in a high-speed motorcycle accident yesterday afternoon.Tah Chat Chai Police Lt Col Prakob Boonkwan received a report at 2pm saying that a motorcycle had slammed into a 10-wheeled truck on the road that runs alongside the runway at Phuket International Airport.“Witnesses reported the…
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Joker in the pack for French rugby
PHUKET: “They have their reasons for being confident. Now maybe it is our turn to play our cards.”Vincent Clerc, France’s rugby winger implies that his team can upset host nation New Zealand in today’s Rugby World Cup (RWC) final to be played at 3pm Phuket time.True, France in the past have thrown a spanner in the works, notably in 1999…
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Phuket medical staff assist Ayutthaya flood victims
PHUKET: Emergency medical staff from Phuket have joined the flood-relief efforts in the devastated province of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok. Led by Dr Weerasak Lorthongkham, the first Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) from the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) reached the disaster zone on October 5 for a 10-day assignment, said PPHO deputy director Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch. They arrived as…
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World’s largest solar-powered boat to arrive in Phuket
PHUKET: The Turanor, the first solar-powered boat to attempt a circumnavigation of the globe, is scheduled to moor at Phuket’s Ao Po Marina, on Phuket’s east coast, at about 7:30am tomorrow. The stunning piece of technology and craftmanship, will remain in Phuket until Wednesday and will be visited by a delegation from the Swiss embassy in Thailand on Tuesday. The…
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Road reopens after Phuket bus crash
PHUKET: Police have reopened one traffic lane on a section of Patak Road where a Phuket tour bus overturned on the Chalong-Kata Hill earlier this morning, killing at least one person. “They are allowing traffic to pass in one direction at a time to ease the tailbacks on the hill,” said one bystander. “Emergency workers are trying to recover the…
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Massive earthquake strikes the South Pacific Ocean, no tsunami warning
Phuket NEWS Houndā World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket readers PHUKET: A major earthquake struck off the Kermadec Islands in the South Pacific Ocean early this morning, seismologists report, but no tsunami warning was issued. The 7.6-magnitude quake at 5.57am local time (about 1am Phuket time) was centered about 180 kilometers (112 miles) east of Raoul Island, which…
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Matthieu Ricard in Phuket for Buddhist talk tomorrow
PHUKET: The Thanyapura Mind Centre (TMC) is welcoming back world-renowned academic-turned-Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard for an exclusive visit and discussion tomorrow. Venerable Matthieu Ricard will deliver a talk entitled “Towards an education based on co-operation and the cultivation of fundamental human values”. The French-born academic left his distinguished scientific career in 1972 to concentrate on Buddhist contemplative practice. He has…
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Phuket tourist stabbed at Phi Phi beach party
PHUKET: A British backpacker is recovering in Bangkok Hospital Phuket tonight after being stabbed at a beach party on Phi Phi Island. Nicholas Palmer, 22, was rushed to Phuket by speedboat at about 1am today after he was stabbed twice in the middle of a crowded party at Ton Sai Bay. Mr Palmer, from Worcestershire in England, underwent an operation…
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Officials fear Phuket kids “eating themselves dumb’
PHUKET: Poor diet is hampering Phuket children’s mental development, a seminar attended by Phuket school directors and health officials was told this week. “According to research by the Department of Mental Health, poor diet is already causing problems, with many children suffering stunted growth or being under- or overweight,” said Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Chaiwat Taephee. “And it…
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Phuket Rotary joins flood relief efforts
PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach staged a collection walk along Phuket’s renowned Soi Bangla on Tuesday night, raising money to help provide aid to victims of the floods in and around Bangkok. “We raised 30,000 baht during the collection drive on Bangla Road. We had four different teams of people out collecting donations,” said former Club President Mark…
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Weird World News: Grrrrrrrrrreat escape in Ohio, monster mistake for giant slipper man and tears for loveable crocodile Pocho
PHUKET: Animals leaped into the world’s news headlines this week with scary, silly and sad stories to report. The great Ohio escape: Monkey still AWOL, feared eaten by lion A FUGITIVE monkey who has been on the run from Ohio police since Tuesday night is presumed dead, eaten by one his “big cat” accomplices. One of the 18 tigers or…
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Phuket cricket round-up
PHUKET: Cricket may not be a sport familiar to many Thais, or expats for that matter, but local school children in Phuket have taken to this skilful pursuit thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers from the Phuket Cricket Group. The youth development officer for the Phuket Cricket Group, Bill Stahmer, and his coaching unit visit local schools around Phuket…
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Kiteboarding lifts off at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
PHUKET: Organizer’s of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta have announced that the 2011 event will include an invitation-only exhibition of kiteboarding hosted by Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA). The introduction of such an exciting sport to this year’s event is part of the Regatta’s 25th anniversary celebrations and in recognition of kiteboarding’s development and popularity as a sailing discipline. Kevin Whitcraft,…
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Please, Sir, can I have a trial?
PHUKET: “The dream of making it at United isn’t over.” Max Lonsdale, an 18-year-old from Macclesfield, decided to knock on Sir Alex Ferguson’s door to ask for a trial, and was accepted by the Manchester United manager. Lonsdale had just been released by his former club and after three unsuccessful visits to the Ferguson household, Sir Alex opened the door…
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Phuket flood aid bound for Bangkok
PHUKET: Phuket’s first main shipment of flood relief supplies left the island this afternoon, bound for Bangkok, where warnings of imminent flood disaster dominate the news tonight. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at the Phuket Red Cross center waved forward 16 trucks bound for the flood-relief disaster response headquarters set up at Don Mueang Airport. Each truck, made available by local…
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Phuket resort wins one, loses one
PHUKET: A 98-room resort in Phuket will face legal action for building an access road over a small waterway ā even though the resort had written permission from the Patong Mayor. Yet the same Phuket resort has been given a reprieve for operating without a hotel license. The news came during an inspection visit to the APK Resort & Spa…
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ĆĀngel at Amari
PHUKET: One of Spain’s greatest sports heroes, Ćngel Nieto, was in Phuket recently enjoying a break and a good meal at La Gritta at the Amari Coral Beach in Patong before traveling to commentate for Spanish TV on the Sepang Moto GP in Kuala Lumpur. Ćngel is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with 13 Grand…
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Swiftlet sorrow in Phuket Town
PHUKET: The tenant of a building in Phuket Town has been given 15 days to remove an illegally added fourth floor built as an aviary for swiftlets, the birds that cough up the key ingredient for bird’s nest soup. Phuket officials yesterday investigated an anonymous complaint filed last month about a commercial building located behind the DTAC office on Montri…
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Call for Phuket beauties to join AirAsia pageant
PHUKET: AirAsia is calling for all Phuket maidens to join its “Miss Noppamas” traditional Thai beauty pageant as part of the International Horticultural Exposition Ratchaphruek 2011 that starts in Chiang Mai next month. The Miss AirAsia Noppamas International Beauty Competition 2011 will be held in conjunction with the annual flower show, also called the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek. Prospective contestants will…
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