News
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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
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 Heartbreak: Father identifies Gao Yang’s body
PHUKET: The father of Gao Yang underwent the heart-wrenching process of identifying his son’s body today. The 20-year-old Chinese national Gao Yang slipped from the rocks at Promthep Cape and fell into the sea at the iconic promontory last Wednesday. His body was recovered after it was spotted by a passing speedboat on Friday (story here). Gao Haiming, 49, arrived…
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Victory is Sweet for Swiss Olympian at 20th Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: Swiss Olympian Ruedi Wild has triumphed once again at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, successfully defending his title from his debut performance in the iconic endurance event last year. In the women’s field, Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest’s headliner from Australia, Melissa Hauschildt, newly-crowned 2013 ITU Long distance World Championship and 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, who made her LPT debut…
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Six protesters injured in bus crash home, recovering in Phuket
PHUKET: Six of the Phuket protesters injured in a bus crash on Saturday, while en route to anti-government rallies in Bangkok, were transferred to Phuket hospitals last night. “They were transferred from hospitals in Surat Thani and arrived in Phuket at about 9pm,” protest co-ordinator Amnuay Kumban told the Phuket Gazette. The six were admitted to Vachira Phuket Hospital, Provincial…
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Don’t risk tourists’ lives, warns Royal Thai Navy
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy has warned all tour operators to obey orders to stay in port during dangerous weather conditions following navy ships being dispatched to rescue tourists stranded at Koh Racha and the Similan Islands over the weekend.“If the ports are ordered to close due to the weather, please do not launch your vessels. We understand it is…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Iran nuclear breakthrough; Children slain in Syria; AK47 runs riot at Yemeni Gangnam Style wedding; Philippine Maoists on hold for Haiyan
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Breakthrough deal curbs Iran’s nuclear activity Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Iran and six world powers clinched a deal on Sunday to curb the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for initial sanctions relief, signalling the start of a game-changing rapprochement that would reduce the risk of a wider…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bangkok braces for huge protests; Pheu Thai calls emergency meeting; Floods ravage South
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Huge marches to gridlock Bangkok The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Bangkok faces paralysis today as huge crowds of anti-government protesters set out on symbolic marches across the capital in a move that protest leaders are calling an attempt to overthrow the so-called “Thaksin Shinawatra regime”.The enormous crowd…
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Ruedi Wild and Melissa Hauschildt win 20th Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: Preliminary results are in, and it was Ruedi Wild of Switzerland and Melissa Hauschildt of Australia who won this year’s Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT). Mr Wild won the men’s class with a time of 02:34:41, while Ms Hauschildt was the top women finisher in 02:45:24.This year is the 20th edition of the LPT.For full results and pre-coverage of the…
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Storm sinks Phi Phi ferry, ravages longtail, speedboat fleet
PHUKET: Heavy seas at Phi Phi Island this morning sunk a large passenger ferry, beached a cargo boat and heavily damaged at least six speedboats and 20 longtail boats, officials have confirmed. The Andaman Jet Wave ferry, registered to carry 250 passengers, had yet to begin its daily operations of carrying tourists to and from Krabi and Phi Phi, explained…
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Phuket yachties in dramatic boat rescue from sea wall
PHUKET: A handful of brave members at Phuket’s Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) scrambled to save a French expat’s yacht from smashing into the sea wall in front of the clubhouse this morning. The onslaught of strong waves saw the 30-foot yacht break free from its anchor at about 11am, sending the boat pitching dangerously toward the sea wall (map…
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Port closed, yachts beached as storm lashes Phuket
PHUKET: Local authorities this morning ordered Phuket Rassada Port closed as strong wind and waves lashed the coast and driving rain wreaked havoc with motorists across the island.Hundreds of tourists waited dockside as the ban took effect, as Rassada Port, located on the east side of Phuket Town, is a major jump-off point for tourists boarding ferries and tour boats…
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Phuket Gazette World News: World Bank raises Philippine typhoon aid to almost $1bn, death toll exceeds 5,000; Australia-Indonesia spy tensions rise; More dead in Latvia supermarket collapse
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community World Bank raises Philippine typhoon aid package to almost $1 billion Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: World Bank said it raised to almost $1 billion (£616.2 million) its financial aid package to support relief and reconstruction in typhoon-devastated areas in the central Philippines, as the toll of death…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Flood scheme talks turn fracas; Pheu Thai vows tit for tat; Typhoon donation scamsters caught
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tensions boil over at flood scheme hearing The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A melee occurred at a public hearing yesterday in Samut Songkhram on the effects of the government’s Bt350-billion flood-prevention and water-management programme, after a large number of protesting residents angrily pressured government officials in charge…
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Friends fail to identify body of Gao Yang, parents en route to Phuket
PHUKET: The parents of Chinese national and Singaporean student Gao Yang, who slipped from the rocks at Phuket’s Promthep Cape late Wednesday afternoon, are on their way to the island. “We expect them to arrive in Phuket tomorrow or Sunday,” Qin Jian, Vice Consul of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon. A…
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Imprisoned Russian pays B310k for damage to statue of Phuket abbot
PHUKET: The Russian tourist who damaged a statue of a revered Phuket abbot during a drunken spree last month has had relatives wire in 310,000 baht to pay for a new statue to be built. Oleg Fomenko, 31, remains incarcerated at Phuket Prison following his arrest on October 24. He faces charges for damaging a statue of revered historical abbot…
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Phuket Rotary Club continues push for Philippines relief
PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach has collected over 226,000 baht through its Philippines Typhoon Haiyan Disaster Relief Fund. However, the club is pushing for more donations in light of the desperate need of those in the affected areas. Half of the funds raised will be sent directly to the Disaster Fund of Rotary District 3860, based in the…
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Chinese tourists on Phuket ladyboy tour safe after bus dies on Patong Hill
PHUKET: An entire busload of 35 Chinese tourists were quickly and safely evacuated from a tour bus after its engine died while climbing the steep road up Patong Hill last night. The tourists were en route from the Aphrodite ladyboy show on the bypass road to the famed Simon Cabaret ladyboy show in Patong when the bus broke down just…
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Phuket Opinion: Purchasing votes to run the island
Kittipong Thiengkunakrit, 57, has been the Director of the Phuket Election Commission for three years. He has a science degree from Prince of Songkhla University, an advanced diploma from the University of Paris and a master’s degree in public administration from the National Institute of Development Administration. Mr Kittipong is a lecturer on how to run elections, election law and…
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Phuket Opinion: Russian cold warms memories of Phuket
PHUKET: With all the recent talk about the influx of Russian tourists and expats to our island, I jumped at the chance to attend a Phuket Gazette exhibition in Moscow and see how the other half lives, as it were. Moscow, like any other large European city, has a wealth of grand historic architecture, museums, galleries and cultural attractions –…
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Phuket Opinion: Being connected helps save lives
PHUKET: We offer our sincerest condolences to the families of the many victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines last week, and commend the multiple relief efforts still underway here in Phuket to help residents on the islands of Samar and Leyte, the most badly affected areas. Among those who deserve praise are some familiar names, such as…
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British tourist alleges attacker in hotel room before balcony fall
PHUKET: Police are waiting for the results of a toxicology report for British tourist Romany Mitchell after she told them her drink in Phuket was spiked. The tests were ordered after the 21-year-old student from Edinburgh reported to police that she was fleeing an assailant in her hotel room before she plunged from the second-floor balcony of the building on…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Myanmar rejects UN Rohingya resolve; Central Africa on brink of genocide; US-Afghan security deal waylaid; Colorado shooter trial postponed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Myanmar rejects U.N. resolution on Rohingya Muslims Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Myanmar rejected on Thursday a U.N. resolution urging it to grant citizenship to the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority group, and accused the United Nations of impinging on its sovereignty.The U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Scams, accidents place tourism at risk; Pheu Thai blasts court; House accepts censure; Jakkrit’s wife probed over safe deposit; Hollywood set on fire
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Scams, accidents scare away tourists The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Thailand’s attractiveness to foreign tourists is under threat from fraud and poor safety standards.After a recent bus accident in Chon Buri that injured 26 Russian tourists, the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) recently urged Thai authorities…
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Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest – Let the games begin! [VIDEO]
PHUKET: It’s here and it’s going to be big! Laguna Phuket Triathlon schedule. Click here for more details. Challenge Laguna Phuket Press Conference in Bangkok. The much-anticipated Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest 2013 will kick off with the legendary Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) on Sunday (November 24) which is celebrating its 20th anniversary and will finish with the Challenge Laguna Phuket a…
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Runaway Phuket Thai Post truck slams into cars on Patong Hill [Video]
PHUKET: A Thai Post lorry that failed to make the steep climb up Patong Hill yesterday afternoon, faltered then careened backward down the hill, slamming into cars and pickups as it went. “The truck slid down the hill at about 2:15pm. It ended up stopping at almost the same spot as the student bus that rolled backward down the hill…
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Weather dampens spirits, search for missing Singaporean tourist continues
PHUKET: The search resumed today for missing tourist Gao Yang, who slipped from the rocks at Phuket’s Promthep Cape late yesterday afternoon. “We resumed our search this morning,” said Phuket Marine Police Inspector Chatchai Sakdee. “Rawai Municipality officers have joined the mission. They provided one speedboat and one small boat to help conduct the search,” he added. “We have divided…
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Illegal loggers arrested in Phuket, one suspect armed
PHUKET: The battle against illegal loggers in Phuket continued this week as Thung Thong Police arrested six suspects for the illegal possession of more than 50 kilograms of eaglewood with a street value of more than 300,000 baht. One of the men was found with an illegal .45 handgun, fully loaded, under his pillow. Armed with a search warrant, police…
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British tourist drowns after Phuket weather warning issued
PHUKET: A British tourist drowned at Karon Beach yesterday afternoon, hours after a heavy weather warning was issued for Phuket and other areas along the Andaman coast. Police named the victim as Edward Joseph Brookes, 63, from England. Mr Brookes disappeared in the surf in front of Karon Municipality Stadium (map here) at 2:40pm after enjoying lunch with his wife,…
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Phuket King’s Cup Regatta hosts underline support
PHUKET: Kata Group Resorts Thailand is to be the host sponsor of the 27th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, making this the 15th year that the World Luxury Hotel Awards 2013 Nominee has supported the renowned international yachting spectacle. The regatta will be held from November 29 to December 6, 2013. Kata Beach Resort and Spa, one of six properties owned…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Govt reels under court blow; Bt2-tn transport bill approved; Heavy rain across South
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt reels under court blow The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The verdict of the Constitutional Court yesterday striking down a charter amendment for an all-elected Senate has put the ruling Pheu Thai Party and coalition partners under huge pressure as their 312 lawmakers could be subject to…
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Singaporean tourist missing after fall from iconic Phuket cape
PHUKET: A search-and-rescue operation was launched late this afternoon after a Singaporean tourist slipped from the rocks at Phuket’s iconic Promthep Cape and plunged into the waves below. Officers at the Phuket Tourist Rescue Center were notified of the incident at 5:40pm. “Two Singaporean men slipped on the wet rocks and fell from the famous cape in Rawai this afternoon,”…
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