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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 butterflies to take wings in the wild
PHUKET: Two-thousand butterflies will be released into the wild on November 26 as part of the fifth annual Butterfly Release Charity event put on by Phuket Butterfly Garden and Insect World.The free-admission event will be held from 9am to 2pm at Bang Pae Waterfall in the Khao Phra Thaew Wildlife Reserve in Thalang.At the event’s auction participants will be able…
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Weird World News: Stuck in the middle of a tree, a swing and the Amazon with misguided men and lone alien
PHUKET: Men behaving like children and a little green alien found themselves stuck in some unfamiliar places this week. The alien was the only one who didn’t need to be rescued. Oh to be young again: Man spends night stuck in child’s swing A CALIFORNIA man was stuck in child’s swing for nine hours overnight after taking a US$100 bet…
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Phuket truck crash leaves residents in blackout
PHUKET: A tractor-trailer driver overshot a U-turn on Phuket’s Thepkrasattri Road this morning, crashing into several shops, vehicles and a telephone pole, causing an electricity blackout and effectively shutting down the island’s TOT phone service from the rest of the country. A Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation worker told the Phuket Gazette that the driver of the truck, which was loaded with…
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Phuket’s first ITF tennis tournament heads into finals weekend
PHUKET: The Chang ITF Pro Circuit tennis tournament being held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) saw another surprise exit from the competition on Thursday with number two seed Jimmy Wang form Taipei losing to the unseeded Korean, Song-Jae Cho in two sets 6-2, 7-6. Other singles results went with form, but disappointment for Thailand came when their young…
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Phuket FIVB beach volleyball: Lower teams dig deep for upset wins
PHUKET: Eight teams from six countries remain undefeated at the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT following two rounds of the main draw today. Two teams each from Australia and the Czech Republic advanced along with teams from Brazil, Belgium, China and the United States. Tomorrow’s schedule features 22 matches, ending with the…
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Phuket Tourism VP blasts officials over resort blockade inaction
PHUKET: Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) Vice President Bhuritt Maswongsa has lashed out against local authorities for their failure to stop taxi drivers from dictating to Phuket resorts who can and who cannot pick up guests from their hotels. Mr Bhuritt’s rail against the Phuket regime of “transport cooperatives” comes after a driver was refused entry to the Naithonburi Beach Resort…
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Phuket Games 2012 postponed due to Bangkok floods
PHUKET: The 28th National Youth Games, originally scheduled to be held in Phuket from March 18-28, have been postponed. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha announced the news yesterday at a meeting of the organizing committee, attended by Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising and Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) Phuket Office Director Wirat Patee. Dubbed the “Phuket Games 2012”,…
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Phuket prohibition: Upcoming elections bring alcohol ban
PHUKET: Alcohol will be off the menu as residents go to the polls on November 19 to elect presidents and council members for six Phuket Tambon Administration Organizations (OrBorTor). The ban on alcohol sales, as is policy for every election in Thailand, will begin at 6pm on November 18 and last until midnight on election day. Residents in Koh Kaew,…
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FC Phuket newsflash: Thailand U23 game moved to 5pm
PHUKET: Tonight’s charity match between FC Phuket’s ‘A’ team and Thailand’s U23 national team at Surakul Stadium has been moved forward to 5pm, and not 6pm as previously announced by the organizers. Tickets will be priced at 100 baht for adults, with free entry for young children. A portion of the proceeds will be donated for flood relief efforts in…
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Eight teams advance at Phuket FIVB beach volleyball tourney
PHUKET: Eight teams from six countries advanced from today’s two-round qualification tournament to the 32-team main draw of the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour.This is the sixth time in Thailand has hosted the women’s season-ending US$190,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT at Karon Beach.Filling the final eight main draw spots are…
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“Bar girls’ nabbed for spiking drinks, robbing Phuket tourists
PHUKET: Phuket police last night arrested six women for spiking tourists’ drinks and robbing them after they fell asleep. The women all worked in bars on Patong’s famed Soi Bangla, Phuket’s main center for tourists enjoying the local nightlife. Police named the six women as Saeng Nuansri, 47, from Phuket; Kemporn Pooseedin, 45, from Maha Sarakham; Wanida Yusuk, 36, from…
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Aussie couple in Phuket arrested over fake robbery claim
PHUKET: An Australian couple on holiday in Phuket have been arrested for filing a bogus report of being robbed in Patong with the aim of filing a fake insurance claim. Abdul Karim El Rajab, 31, and Zeidan Nouha, 30, were arrested at the Sunset Beach Resort on Phra Barami Road in Patong yesterday. According to a police statement, the couple…
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Phuket’s tunnel plans stalled pending MoT decision
PHUKET: Progress on the long-awaited Patong tunnel project has stalled, with Patong Municipality still waiting for senior officials in Bangkok to approve the 3.5-billion-baht project, according to Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukbal. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette, Mr Chairat added that at this stage he did not expect any major decisions on the project to be made until the current…
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Patong Cricket make it 3 from 3
PHUKET: The 2011/2012 Island Furniture Cricket League is edging ever closer and the final pre-season friendly was played out at Cherng Talay School between arch rivals Patong CC and Laguna CC – 35 over champions and T20 title holders, respectively. Lijo Hose and Val Guiraud opened the batting for Laguna and looked in control until Guiraud was caught on 18.…
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No gain without the pain – Phuket’s own ironman explains
PHUKET: Emma Bishop speaks to Laguna Phuket’s Jaray ‘Ray’ Jearani after he competed in the Ford Ironman World Championships. Ray’s latest journey on the big island at the biggest triathlon event in the world has given the smiling 31-year-old a lot to think about and a fresh ambition to go faster and inspire more of his countrymen to take up…
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Phuket Sports: Khao Lak charity golf returns to Navy golf course
PHUKET: Following last year’s successful event, the second Khao Lak Charity Golf Tournament is teed up for another great outing on November 19 at the Tab Lamu Navy Golf Course in Phang Nga. Organizers are expecting to draw 100 entries this year, far in excess of participating numbers at the 2010 competition – a testament to the growing popularity of…
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Phuket athletes at the Nakorn Trang Games
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) recently held a small ceremony to send off 50 athletes representing Phuket, who are currently in Trang province competing in the Nakorn Trang Games – the 29th Southern region finals for Thailand’s local youth Olympic games. The Nakorn Trang games began on October 25 and continue for a month, concluding on November 23.…
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Singaporean recovers in Phuket after crash kills friend
PHUKET: Singaporean Anthony Chaw Tat Soon, 39, is recovering at Phuket International Hospital with three broken limbs – a lucky escape from a head-on crash in Phang Nga last Thursday that killed fellow rider and friend Charlene Jade Tay, 31. A hospital staffer today told the Phuket Gazette that Mr Chaw was rushed from Phang Nga Hospital to Phuket on…
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Organizers undaunted as floods cost Phuket FIVB beach volleyball 15 teams
PHUKET: A lack of clarity in understanding which parts of Bangkok were flooded and how travelers could transfer to flights heading to Phuket has resulted in 15 teams pulling out of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour, which starts on Karon Beach tomorrow. However, tournament director Geoffrey Rowe of Pentangle Promotions today pointed out that the teams who have…
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Phuket pedestrian killed on merit-making journey
PHUKET: A Phuket woman was struck by a car and killed yesterday, moments before embarking on a merit-making tour to a temple in Ranong Province. Police received a report at 5:30am that a woman had been hit by a car in the southbound lane of Thepkrasattri Road in front of Thepkrasattri Municipality. At the scene police found Somboon Keawprasert, 60,…
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Phuket retailers scramble to stem flood shortages
PHUKET: Phuket’s major retailers are reeling from the effects of the floods in Bangkok and Central Thailand, which have crippled their distribution networks, sparking shortages of consumer goods and forcing local prices to skyrocket. The Phuket Internal Trade Office (PITO) has launched a blitz against market vendors and retailers gouging customers, saying there is no need for panic as Phuket…
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Thailand U23 outshine Phuket All Stars
PHUKET: In the first of two friendly charity games scheduled for Surakul Stadium, the Thailand U23s annihilated a Phuket All Stars team by a score of 6-1 on Sunday evening.The All Stars team was in fact an FC Phuket ‘B’ team given the opportunity to showcase their abilities against the junior national team preparing for the SEA Games, due to…
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Phuket Tennis: Chang ITF tournament main draw starts today
PHUKET: The first Chang ITF Tournament Pro Circuit to be held in Phuket gets underway in earnest today with both Men’s Singles and Doubles main draw matches gracing the tennis courts of the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club in Thalang. Seven seeded players will face their first test with number four seed Laurent Rochette of France (ranked 374 in the…
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Phuket Opinion: Amid the many bus and van crashes killing tourists in Phuket, it’s time to focus more carefully on responsibility
PHUKET: One of the most startling revelations to arise from the bus crash on Phuket’s Chalong-Kata Hill was a policeman telling the Phuket Gazette that there is no provision in law for police to lay charges against a bus owner and/or management company for vehicle malfunctions, such as brake failure. This is why bus, van and truck drivers who crash…
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Phuket tennis hopes dashed at ITF tennis tournament
PHUKET: Hopes of a Phuket player qualifying for the main draw of the Chang ITF Pro Circuit tournament 2011 being held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) were dampened yesterday with Tachakorn Tonnon exiting the competition in the very first match.Tachakorn, who plays his tennis out of Chalong, lost 6-0, 6-0 to Wing-Lun Lam of Hong Kong in a…
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Phuket All Stars play Thailand’s U23 squad tonight at Surakul
PHUKET: Thailand’s U23 national team has announced schedule changes for their southern tour schedule, moving their friendly charity match against FC Phuket to Friday, November 4 at 6pm, instead of Saturday as initially announced. The change follows a request by 2011 SEA Games host Indonesia to bring forward the starting date of the SEA Games to November 9 from November…
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‘Amateur’ gold thief nabbed by Phuket Police
PHUKET: A 22-year-old Phuket man has been arrested in connection with yesterday’s brazen 950,000-baht gold heist. Dechin Gongsinon was arrested at his home this morning after police followed a trail of clues left by the seemingly hapless thief. Mr Dechin was found in possession of two of the stolen gold chains, police said. “The thief was an amateur,” declared Phuket…
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Stranded Phi Phi tourists towed to Phuket safety
PHUKET: Sixty-six tourists were towed to safety in Phuket last night after spending hours stranded at sea when the speedboat they were on broke down. In addition to the Australian, French, Indian, Spanish and Thai tourists aboard the Kamika speedboat, there were four staff members of the operating company, Phi Phi Island Marine. Tourist Rescue officers in Chalong informed Marine…
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Phuket Governor pulled into appeal to fix deadly hill road
PHUKET: Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukbal today pleaded for Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha to order the damaged road on Patong Hill to be repaired. The road was damaged by a landslide on October 13 after heavy rain fell across Phuket. The road suffered further damage after yet another landslide at the same location on October 19. At a meeting at…
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“Troubled’ lovers plunge from Phuket bridge, whereabouts unknown
PHUKET: A search has been launched for a pair of troubled lovers who were last seen on Thepkrasattri Bridge and are now missing, believed to have leaped into the fast-flowing waters heading out to the Andaman Sea. Tah Chat Chai Police Duty Officer Watcharin Jiratikarnwiwat received a report just after midnight last night that a man and a woman had…
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