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Fire scare at Phuket student dormitory
PHUKET: Smoke pouring from a second-floor window at a girls’ student dormitory late yesterday afternoon prompted no fewer than three fire trucks to rush to the scene to extinguish the blaze. Phuket City Police received a report of the fire, at the Phuket Rajabhat University dormitory on Rassada-anusorn Road (map here), at 5pm. Firefighters arrived promptly and took about 20…
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Phuket luminaries attend revered Abbot’s cremation
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Maitri Inthusut, all three Phuket Vice Governors and both of Phuket’s members of parliament were present at the cremation ceremony yesterday of the former abbot of Wat Chalong, Phra Ajarn Udomwetchakit Uttamuyano. Also in attendance were local leaders and the general public, bringing the total number to about 2,000. The Abbot – Phra Ajarn Lim…
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Thai Football: Phuket FC sink Thai Navy in added time
PHUKET: Surakul Stadium erupted in celebration after Phuket FC’s “super sub” Chana Sonwiset scored in added time to secure his side three points in a league match against the Royal Navy football club in Phuket Town last night. The match was evenly poised at 0-0 going into the final minutes of added time, until Chana – whose name literally means…
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Phuket Gazette World News: China rebukes North Korea; Cairo clashes; Ukraine’s Lutsenko freed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China rebukes North Korea, says no state should sow chaos Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: China’s leaders issued thinly veiled rebukes to North Korea for raising regional tensions, with the president saying no country should throw the world into chaos and the foreign minister warning that Beijing…
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Phuket Gazette Queer News: Woman delivers egg-straordinary baby
PHUKET: A woman in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province claims to have given birth to an egg. Sopharat Phantharak, 36, from Village 5 in Mokhlan Subdistrict, has placed the miraculous object on a pedestal lined with white cloth and is inviting local villagers to come and pay their respects to it. Mrs Sopharat, who is already a mother of four, claims…
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Phuket Opinion: Forever at the mafia’s mercy
PHUKET: The proposal by the chief of the Phuket Marine Office to launch a “sea taxi” to ferry passengers between Patong and Phuket International Airport deserves credit for innovation, but appears somewhat impractical. There can be no doubt that visiting tourists need – and fully deserve – better public transport options between Phuket Airport and west coast resort destinations. The…
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Phuket on alert for H7N9 bird flu virus
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) has set up rapid-response teams and alerted all hospitals on the island to monitor patients for any signs of the H7N9 bird-flu virus. The move follows Chinese officials finding traces of the new strain of bird flu in more areas in Shanghai and in the nearby city of Hangzhou, as authorities slaughtered birds…
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DSI: Aerial photos may save Phuket sea gypsy village
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has obtained historical aerial photographs of the Rawai beachfront dating back as far back as 1950, which may prove to be the evidence needed to save the village from being plundered by private investors. Lt Col Prawuth Wongsinil, chief of the DSI’s Consumer and Environment Protection Office, inspected the village on Friday as…
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Battle lines drawn over new Phuket bus service
PHUKET: Tuk-tuk and taxi drivers in the southern beach resort areas of Kata and Karon yesterday vowed to stage protests if the new Phuket bus service from the airport is launched. Local police, however, said plainly that road blockades would not be tolerated. The news came at a two-hour meeting held to resolve the conflict between the local drivers and…
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DSI, AMLO join Phuket park probe
PHUKET: Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) have been called in to assist in the investigation into corrupt officials illegally issuing land titles for plots in Phuket’s Sirinath National ParkLt Col Prawuth Wongsinil, chief of the DSI’s Consumer and Environment Protection Office, joined AMLO’s Charnchai Pongpassorn to announce the joint effort on Thursday.AMLO will pursue…
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India travel delegation arrives on inaugural Mumbai flight
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket hosted a welcome lunch for Indian travel agents, media, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) executives and airline representatives who traveled on the inaugural Thai Smiles flight from Mumbai on Thursday (April 4). The lunch at Banyan Tree was hosted by Ziya Birkan, deputy managing director of Laguna Phuket. The travel agents later attended a business-to-business conference organized…
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Phuket FC takes aim at Thai Navy
PHUKET: Phuket FC’s Southern Sea Warriors will be hoping to keep their unbeaten start to the Yamaha League One season going when they face Royal Navy tomorrow at Surakul Stadium. In the two games the teams played against each other in the league last season, Phuket FC lost 2-0 at Royal Navy Stadium, Chonburi, and won 1-0 at Surakul Stadium.…
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Gazette office closed on April 6, Chakri Day
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew will be closed tomorrow in observance of Chakri Day. Chakri Day commemorates the founding of the royal Chakri Dynasty of which the present Thai monarch, HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the ninth king (Rama IX). As Chakri Day this year falls on…
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Phuket Governor to call in Bangkok crew to pave way for B450mn Provincial Hall
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday announced he would call in officers from Bangkok to help verify – or discredit – claims made by opponents to Phuket’s proposed new 450-million-baht Provincial Hall. The debate over whether or not the new five-story building should be built at Sanam Chai (map here) continued yesterday with hundreds of local residents turning out at…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Grand National must stay unique
PHUKET: Safety and welfare should always be a priority in jumps racing but the Grand National must remain a test of horse and jockey and not lose its unique character, according to Aintree racecourse chief John Baker. The deaths of two horses during last year’s race and two in 2011 brought equine safety into focus and prompted an official inquiry…
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Phuket Sports: Season of action for Jackson
PHUKET: The standout player of futsal’s Phuket United, Brazilian Jackson Santos, finished last season as the league’s second top scorer, and his goals helped the Andaman Pearl achieve their pre-season aim of a top five finish. Now the season has come to a close and Jackson has headed back to Brazil to recuperate and take care of his pregnant wife.…
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Royal flame at cremation to honor revered Phuket Abbot
PHUKET: The cremation of the former abbot of Wat Chalong, Phra Ajarn Udomwetchakit Uttamuyano, will take place on Sunday using a ceremonial lamp given by His Majesty the King, which will arrive by plane on Phuket.The funeral service, which began on Wednesday and culminates on Sunday, is being held at the special crematory in Wat Chalong and is open to…
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Phuket’s TSLC a swimming success
PHUKET: Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) hosted some of Asia’s most prolific rising sport stars from Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and mainland China to compete alongside local swimmers in the 2013 Thanyapura Long Course Swim Championships, held March 30-31. With 17 teams and 215 competing athletes; this event, part of a Rocket Science Sports Swim Championship series of…
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Phuket Sports: AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 venue chosen
PHUKET: Singapore and Vietnam will jointly host the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, the ASEAN Football Federation said on Wednesday (April 3). Speaking at the press conference before the start of the 2013 AFF Awards in Pahang, Malaysia, Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Tengku Abdullah ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah, the deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia and vice-president of the…
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Phuket Sports: TrueVisions prepares for life after EPL
PHUKET: With the English Premier League (EPL) no longer on its program list, TrueVisions, a leading subscription-based television operator, has earmarked more than 1.5 billion baht for new content and technology, offering more high-definition (HD) channels and a fee discount for existing customers to retain them. The audio and visual broadcasting rights to the EPL soccer matches for the next…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Bird flu toll hits 6; Argentina floods; Nobel Peace Prize stolen; Dancer Ruby riles Berlusconi
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China readies to fight new bird flu; Japan, HK on guard Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: China said it was mobilising resources nationwide to combat a new strain of bird flu that has killed six people, as Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance and the United…
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Victim of vicious Phuket pit bull attack in fight to save leg
PHUKET: The Phuket resident savaged by a neighbor’s pit bull terriers in February – after he ran out of his house to help a woman who was being attacked by the dogs – is still in hospital fighting to save his right leg, which sustained a deep wound in the attack.Tiensak Aikpaiboon, 33, underwent another operation on his leg Wednesday…
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Villagers appeal to Prime Minister’s Office over Phuket land claim
PHUKET: Villagers fighting a land claim to 83 rai near an old tin mine in Chalong say they have turned to the Prime Minister’s Office to settle the dispute, in which they claim to have lived at the site for nearly a decade. The move to appeal to the Prime Minister’s Office follows more than 50 villagers turning out in…
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Phuket Immigration task force targetting foreigners nabs Russian
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration officers yesterday arrested a Russian woman caught without a passport and working illegally selling tours at a kiosk in Kata.Officers led by Capt Angkarn Yasanop arrested Natalia Nikiforova, 30, after an officer pretended to be interested in some of the tours on offer at the Rus Info tour counter on Kata Road.“She explained the tours to us…
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Phuket joins Royal project to turn aluminum trash into prosthetic legs
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Environment Office is calling for all donations of aluminum to donate to a nationwide project that seeks to recycle at least 80 tons of aluminum into prosthetic legs. The project, initiated by the Prostheses Foundation of HRH The Princess Mother (click here), aims to reduce the volume of garbage and make prosthetic legs more…
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Phuket motorcyclist survives slide under chicken truck
PHUKET: A motorcyclist riding the wrong way on Thepkrasattri Road ended up under a pickup loaded with fresh chicken meat last night, bruised and scratched but without major injuries. Wang Promma, 38, was riding his motorcycle north in the southbound section of Thepkrasattri Road, about 500 meters north of the Heroines Monument (map here), said Capt Narong Muangdoung of the…
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Laguna return to form in Phuket cricket league
PHUKET: As Phuket’s Jones Lang LaSalle cricket league nears completion of its round robin matches, teams are still fighting for a finals spot. Laguna returned to the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) after suffering a comprehensive defeat against league leaders Patong the previous week, hoping to get back on track against the Village, who were also defeated by Patong in their…
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Phuket Opinion: Toothless, but no fairy
PHUKET: The other day I had the unpleasant middle-aged experience of breaking a tooth. Not just any tooth, but the right incisor tooth. Alfred E Neuman, eat your heart out. By some amazing stroke of luck, the tooth had broken off but the root stayed intact, which made my experience relatively painless and gave me the chance to consider my…
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Eastern European tourists inject 35bn into Phuket
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community East Europeans help drive Phuket’s tourism boom Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Thailand’s current tourism bull-run is being underscored by a watershed of Eastern European travellers, a soaring source of business that delivered 1.6 million visitors last year, led by Russia with an 82-per-cent share,…
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Phuket Sports: Barton in trouble with ‘ladyboy’ tweet
PSG threaten action against Barton for ‘ladyboy’ tweets Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Paris St Germain (PSG) threatened action against Joey Barton yesterday after the Olympique Marseille midfielder likened Brazilian defender Thiago Silva to a transsexual and called him an “overweight ladyboy”. “These attacks are serious and go beyond a simple verbal clash,” the Ligue 1 leaders said in a…
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