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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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MoF voices support for Phuket convention center
PHUKET: Ministry of Finance General Inspector Prasit Suebchana met Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkhaosutthirak today to reaffirm that his ministry will fight for Phuket’s convention center to go ahead. The international convention and exhibition center (ICEC) project stalled early this month when the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) announced that the project’s plan had failed its initial environmental…
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Boy, 15, stabbed at Phuket’s Chalong Pier
PHUKET: A 15-year-old boy was stabbed in the back last night while sitting with friends on Chalong Pier, a main departure point for tourists and divers heading out to the islands and reefs off Phuket. One of the security guards at the scene told the Phuket Gazette that the incident happened at about midnight. “Taweechai [Jansamud] probably had a fight…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: DNA tests proposed for migrant workers; Rubber farmers fight on; Mahouts fear losing elephants
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Proposal to DNA-test migrant workers panned The Nation/Phuket GazettePHUKET: Prompted by concerns over the ease with which foreigners will be able to travel in and out of Thailand once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) commences in 2015, the Institute for Forensic Medicine (IFM) is calling on the…
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Hotel supply cap “pointless’ for Phuket
PHUKET: Hotel operators are lukewarm to an effort by the Thai Hotels Association to lobby the government to limit the number of new hotel licenses it issues, saying the real problem is the number of accommodation establishments that operate illegally. Following reports that the association planned to lobby returning Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa to help develop the industry…
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FC Phuket trump Songkhla in deep south battle
PHUKET: FC PHUKET got their second road win of the season last night, with a well-deserved 1-0 win against Songkhla FC in a hard-fought match at Tinsulanond Stadium in Songkhla Town. The lively match was played under clear skies, following light showers earlier in the day. Some 23,000 fans turned out making it the largest crowd Phuket has played in…
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Beach Volleyball: Phuket Thailand Open ready to decide World Number One
PHUKET: Seventeen of the world’s top 20-ranked teams have confirmed their participation in the PTT Phuket Thailand Open, the final round of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour, which will take place on Phuket’s Karon Beach from November 1 to 6. The Phuket tournament is the world’s largest women’s beach volleyball event and will see the teams competing this…
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Phuket Tourism: Miracle Years for ‘Amazing Phuket’?
PHUKET: The latest obstacle in Phuket’s never-ending effort to build a world-class International Conference and Exhibition Center came with the rejection of the project’s Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) by the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONR). Given all the work and money spent on planning and drawing up the design for the Center, to be built…
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Phuket ‘security guard’ confesses to stabbing murder
PHUKET: A security guard has confessed to the murder of a maid at a workers’ guesthouse in Phuket last night. Patong Police duty officer Weerapong Rakkito identified the deceased as 39-year-old Nuanchawee Sarating, until the time of her death the maid at a workers’ guesthouse in Kalim. At about 9:45pm, her body was found face-up outside her room under the…
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Battle for Phuket’s Surin Beach goes on
PHUKET: The saga over the stalled clearing of a restaurant encroaching on Surin Beach continues, with the restaurant owners refusing to remove structures and local authorities planning to file yet another report. Pla Restaurant was spared from a raid on Wednesday morning when a multi-agency task force of no less than 30 officers acting under an order from the Governor…
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Clarification sought over car tax rebate plan: Phuket Excise Office
PHUKET: First-time car buyers should wait until rules regarding the much-publicized tax rebate are clarified before signing off on purchases, Phuket’s Excise Office has advised. Thanongsak Booncluab, Acting Director of the Phuket Excise Office, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that a senior specialist will be arriving on Phuket on Monday to explain the populist program. “Ministry of Finance Inspector General…
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Luang Pu Supha marks 115th birthday
PHUKET: Phuket’s best-known monk Luang Pu Supha marked the grand old age of 115 years yesterday and received an honorary doctorate in Buddhist theology from Chulalongkorn University. Representatives from the Buddhist clergy were joined by Phuket Governor Tri Augkadachara in presiding over the merit-making ceremony at the temple in Chalong that bears Luang Pu Supha’s name. Also in attendance were…
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Road work clogs Phuket’s main artery
PHUKET: Motorists commuting along Phuket’s Thepkrasattri Road northbound should try to avoid rush hour as resurfacing work is causing long tailbacks and dirty conditions. The work is part of a three-month, 42-million-baht contract to improve the road from in front of the Seventh Day Adventist Church near Super Cheap to Srisoonthorn Temple, which is 12 kilometers to the north. The…
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AFL Phuket dishes out another night of thrills
PHUKET: Round three of Phuket’s Adult Futsal League (AFL) season eight presented by Thanachart Bank Premier Division kicked off with much anticipation for an action packed night on Thursday at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club. Reigning champions Portrait FC played Honda in the first match of the evening’s schedule. Portrait’s top scorer Pongsatorn got his team off to the perfect…
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Phuket Police help nab drug kingpin in Krabi
PHUKET: After a gunfight and a chase through a rubber plantation, police on Wednesday arrested two men in connection with a drug-trafficking network that allegedly spanned from Phuket to Malaysia. One of the men was a known kingpin already wanted by police in Bangkok. Police presented the suspects – Krabi resident Songchai “Aied” Chumpon, 51, and alleged associate Paechon Navadej,…
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Call for Phuket Vegetarian Festival “gods’ to carry ID
PHUKET: The organizers of the upcoming Phuket Vegetarian Festival are calling for Chinese shrines taking part in the annual rituals to issue identity cards to their spirit mediums. The move to issue the ID cards to the mediums, called mah song (literally “Horses of the Gods”), is to preserve the integrity of the spirit-medium community and to stop “fakes” from…
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Phuket drug haul: 4 suspects, 4 guns and B13.5mn in drugs seized
PHUKET: A small pier popular for tourists heading out to the islands in Phang Nga Bay was a major drug-trafficking portal, Phuket police revealed today. The news was announced by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong at a press conference to present to the media four suspects arrested for trafficking ya bah (methamphetamine) and ya ice (crystal methamphetamine). On show…
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Tsunami drill on Phuket’s west coast
PHUKET: A tsunami-evacuation drill will be held tomorrow afternoon (September 16) at Baan Kalim School, just north of Patong, on Phuket’s tourist-popular west coast. The drill, organized by Patong Municipality, will involve 191 students and teachers from Baan Kalim School and from Tessaban Baan Sai Nam Yen School, in the heart of Patong. The teachers and students from Baan Sai…
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Angels and Demons
PHUKET: “I ain’t going to say attack don’t let the media make u believe that was terrorist that did it. #OTIS.” Liverpool striker Nathan Eccleston apparently sent out a comment on Twitter indicating his belief that the September 11 attacks on the US were not those of terrorists. Allegedly OTIS is an abbreviation of “Only The Illuminati Succeed.” When not…
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Weird World News: Goody for Guinness 2012
PHUKET: It’s that time of year again, when the book dedicated to all things weird, tall, short, big and bizarre hits the shelves of bookstores around the world this week – it’s time for the next volume of Guinness World Records. Here a few of the 4,000 records – half are new – soon to be turning heads and dropping…
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Aussies, Chinese fuel Phuket’s “green season’: PTA
PHUKET: Tourist arrivals to Phuket during the current “low season” are up year-on-year thanks largely to the increased number of direct flights from Australia and China, according to the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA). PTA President Jirayus Somboon said current hotel occupancy rates in Phuket are higher than for the same period last year. The improved performance was in large part…
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Phuket hosts Thai handicrafts fair
PHUKET: Fans of Thai handicrafts will want to visit Phuket’s Jungceylon shopping complex over the weekend, as the second annual Thai Handicrafts Domestic Roadshow is in town until Monday. Phuket Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen presided over the event opening yesterday. A large and varied selection of the best Thai handicrafts are on sale from 11am to 10pm daily in the…
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Phuket Live Wire: Finding your “True’ internet speed
PHUKET: I’ve received email from all over the world as a result of the ‘Bang for the Baht’ chart that Khun Roger and I put together for the August 27 Live Wire in the Phuket Gazette. The emails I received fall into three broad categories. Some people expect to be in Phuket shortly – either moving here or taking an…
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Korean tourist rescued from Phuket drainage ditch
PHUKET: Phuket rescue workers and local residents came to the aid of a Korean tourist whose leg became wedged between two cement drainage ditch covers on Tuesday night. Phuket Kusoldham Foundation rescue workers were alerted to the man’s plight at about 8:30pm on Tuesday. Racing to the scene, near the Bank of Ayudhya branch on Chao Fa East Road in…
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US Embassy reaches out to Phuket
PHUKET: During a visit to the Phuket Gazette offices last week, US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie A Kenney asked staff to remind readers that there will be an outreach clinic by the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Phuket tomorrow. During her visit, Amb Kenney said that given the current funding problems in the US there was little likelihood…
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Phuket Big Buddha image nears completion, huge ceremony planned
PHUKET: The Big Buddha image in the Nakkerd Hills is scheduled for completion next month, with a nationally-televised prayer ceremony in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej and HM Queen Sirikit to take place in November, its builders say. The Mingmongkol Faith 45 Foundation, set up to construct the Big Buddha, made the announcement at a press conference on September…
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Phuket passenger van crashes in Trang: 1 dead, 4 injured
PHUKET: One person was killed and four badly injured when a Phuket passenger van bound for Haad Yai lost its brakes and crashed into a car in Trang yesterday afternoon. Muang District Police in Trang were notified of the accident at 2pm yesterday. At the scene, a four-way intersection on the Trang bypass road in Nayong subdistrict, they found a…
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Phuket Airport to double car park
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport will open its new car park to vehicles by November, Airport Director Duangchai Condee announced today. “The new car park will be ready to use by this coming high season,” Ms Dungchai told a meeting chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen. The new car park, located in front of the airport cargo buildings just to…
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Phuket’s unsightly roadside signs finally fall
PHUKET: Advertising signs and billboards on public land lining Phuket’s main roads are being removed, the Phuket Highways Office confirmed yesterday. Sathaporn Sornchana, Deputy General Manager of the Phuket Highways Office, announced the news at the second meeting of Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha’s advisory committee, which the governor formed in May to start tackling such issues. The move follows Surin…
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Phuket’s Koh Kaew Market to rise from the ashes
PHUKET: Forensic Police continue to investigate the cause of the fire that ripped through the Koh Kaew Market in Patong last month, raising the distinct possibility that the complex could be rebuilt and open for business before the cause of the blaze is determined. Tossapol Rungruengpawan, president of Patong Retail Business Club, said work cleaning up debris is ongoing and…
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Korean Ambassador says “Farewell, Phuket’
PHUKET: South Korean Ambassador to Thailand Chung Hae-moon today paid a visit to Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Provincial Hall to say farewell before his return home.“I am going back to [South] Korea at the end of this week as I have completed my four-year term in Thailand,” Ambassador Chung told the Phuket Gazette. He encouraged more Korean companies to…
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