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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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Work on Phuket’s rival marina in Krabi well underway
PHUKET: Phuket’s rising popularity as a sailing destination is straining the capacity of the island’s four yacht marinas, particularly during high season. Fortunately for the region’s yachting community, work is well underway on a rival facility, Port Takola Marina, under construction across Phang Nga Bay in Krabi. Robert Reynolds, a property consultant working on the project, recently told The New…
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Yantai delegation lobbies fruit, tourism trade links
PHUKET: A delegation from Yantai City in Shandong province, China, met Phuket Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen at Provincial Hall today to discuss commercial exchange in fruit, local products and tourism. Huang Yewen, Deputy Director of the China (Yantai) Asia-Pacific World Trade Center, opened the talks by inviting Phuket officials to attend the 12th International Fruit Vegetable Food Exposition to be…
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Phuket Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign announced
PHUKET: The Interior Ministry has set the “target number” of Phuket road accident deaths at two for the upcoming Songkran Festival, during which police will be under orders to strictly enforce provisions in the Alcohol Control Act. San Jantrawong, who heads the Phuket Office of the Departent of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket), said the Interior Ministry’s national Road Safety…
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Phuket student to represent Thailand in international public speaking competition
PHUKET: Former QSI Phuket student Philip Songkran Upton has won the International Public Speaking Competition (Thailand) 2011. He will represent Thailand in the global finals of the competition in London in May this year. Philip was one of four Stamford International University (STIU) students who competed against 14 other students in the semi-final round of the competition on February 25.…
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Phuket tourism players hold “fire sale’ for flood victims
PHUKET: Representatives from Phuket’s tourism industry will be at Siam Paragon in Bangkok this weekend selling bargain-priced holiday packages to raise money for flood victims. Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Somboon Jirayus said he expected to raise more than 1.5 million baht from the campaign, which aims to sell 1,000 Phuket tour packages. All proceeds will be handed over to…
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Phuket’s sick dolphin now comatose, clinging to life
PHUKET: The future appears grim for the sick bottlenose dolphin rescued by marine biologists off Phuket last week. Paralyzed and comatose, the cetacean is now being kept alive by life support measures provided by staff at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). Fourteen staff at the PMBC Marine Endangered Species Unit are currently working around the clock to keep the…
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Phuket Chinese celebrate Qingming
PHUKET: Phuket families of ethnic Chinese descent have been busy this week tending to the graves of their departed ancestors as part of the traditional Qingming Festival. This year’s Qingming festivities will take place at Chinese burial grounds around the island, where believers tidy up and make offerings they believe will bring them prosperity and good fortune, while helping to…
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Taxis blockade Phuket cruise passengers – again
PHUKET: The latest taxi and tuk-tuk blockade at the Phuket Deep Sea Port led to a victory for the drivers, who from today will be given a “50-50 share” of access to disembarking cruise ship passengers. Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat, Phuket City Police chief Chote Chitchai and local Marine Police brokered the agreement at about noon today, four hours after…
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Canadian seeks support for B900mn Phuket aquarium project
PHUKET: A Canadian expat is seeking support from the Phuket Provincial Office for his plan to develop a 900-million-baht aquarium in Rawai. Accompanied by Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos, businessman Daniel McDaniel today presented his proposal to Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Provincial Hall. As managing director of Phuket Ocean Front Co Ltd, Mr McDaniel said Phuket still possesses huge tourism…
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Phuket’s Thung Thong Walking Street opens
PHUKET: Kathu Municipality is hosting a street fair until tomorrow evening to boost the local Phuket economy, entertain tourists and showcase the area’s unique local history. The event is taking place on Thung Thong Road, located off Wichit Songkram Road westbound between the entrances to Phuket Country Club and Bang Wad Reservoir. Local food stalls, stage performances, handmade local products…
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FC Phuket v Songkhla FC match postponed
PHUKET: FC Phuket’s mid-week home fixture with Songkhla, originally scheduled for tomorrow night, has been postponed indefinitely by the league – presumably due to the recent flooding. A huge contingent was expected to be on hand for the match, as tens of thousands of Phuket residents hail from Songkhla and a number of their supporters were planning to travel to…
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Phuket YouTube girl “not dead’, but another woman’s body found
PHUKET: Phuket authorities have dismissed as inaccurate a video clip posted on You Tube today showing a woman lying beside a road in Rawai – presented by whomever made the clip as if she were dead. The video clip is labelled “Body of a young girl found in Rawai / Phuket on 4th of April” “The woman certainly was not…
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Phuket tailor shop goes up in flames
PHUKET: Fire ravaged a two-storey tailor shop and damaged other units in a row of shophouses on the Patong beach road, on Phuket’s west coast, early this morning. Motorbike taxi driver Wirote Thongthep alerted the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation division of Patong Municipality of the blaze at about 3:45am. Eight fire trucks and 18 officials from the division rushed to…
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Serial rapist confesses to Phuket Police
PHUKET: A serial rapist who preyed on young female members of the Phuket ethnic Nepali community is behind bars tonight after confessing to multiple charges of sexual assault, robbery and impersonating a policeman. The accused, 30-year-old Phakpoom Maneerat, was presented to the media at a press conference at Patong Police Station at 10:30am. The gravity of the case was evidenced…
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Burmese denied basic human rights in Phuket: poll
PHUKET: A majority of Gazette readers think unregistered migrant workers from Burma are denied basic human rights here in Phuket. Overall, more than half of those taking part (56.5%) answered “yes” to the question: ‘Do you think unregistered migrants workers from Burma are denied basic human rights in Phuket?’ This was more than twice the number who answered “no” (20.4%).…
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Phuket experts treating sick dolphin
PHUKET: Experts at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) are nursing a sick bottlenose dolphin back to health after it was found floating in the polluted shallows of Klong Tha Cheen in Rassada yesterday. The dolphin, fully grown at around two metres long, is being looked after by the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the PMBC, located at Cape Panwa.…
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Nepalis protest rape, extortion at Phuket police station
PHUKET: Over 200 ethnic Nepalese converged at Patong Police Station last night to protest the actions of a Thai man they allege raped at least four members of their community and stole and extorted valuables of several other Nepali women. The alleged rapist, 29-year-old Phakpoom Maneerat, was arrested in Phuket Town at about noon yesterday. A native of Nonthaburi province,…
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No landslides in Phuket: Officials
PHUKET: Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat and Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Chief San Jantharawong yesterday dispelled landslide warnings for two areas in the north of Phuket. The two top officials inspected Baan Phru Somparn in Thepkrasattri Subdistrict and Baan Mak Prok in Mai Khao, both in Thalang District, after the government Disaster Relief Committee included the two villages on its…
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Stars join Thai, Japan disaster relief event in Phuket
PHUKET: Guitarist Yuki Masahiko of popular Japanese rock band Lucifer will join a bevy of Thai stars at a “walking street” event on Thalang Road in Phuket Town on April 9 and 10. The event is being held to raise money for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the recent flooding and mudslides in southern…
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Phuket LIve Wire: TOT shuts off international downloads
PHUKET: Out of the blue last week a friend of mine sent a panic message: Suddenly, for no reason he could discern, he was unable to download the security update to Adobe Flash. He was sure he had a virus, and the virus was blocking Flash updates. It’s a reasonable concern – in fact, my first reaction was to run…
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Phuket joins relief efforts for flood, landslide victims
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) today shipped 1,000 medical kits to hard-hit Nakhon Sri Thammarat province as part of its efforts to provide assistance to flood and landslide victims throughout Southern Thailand. Today’s effort follows the PPHO delivering 1,050 first-aid kits to flood-stricken areas yesterday. The kits were shipped to Weingsra Hospital and Phra-saeng Hospital in Surat Thani…
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PM visits, Phuket rescue teams assist in flooded South
PHUKET: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday visited parts of Krabi where rescue teams from Phuket are assisting victims of devastating mudslides and flooding earlier this week. The Thai premier, accompanied by high-ranking military staff including Royal Thai Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Prayut Chan-O-Cha, toured a shelter at Wat Tam Kob in Na Khao subdistrict, offering consolation and encouragement to victims staying…
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Phuket Police arrest snatch thief in Patong
PHUKET: Phuket Police yesterday arrested a man for a snatch-and-ride robbery in Patong the night before. Police identified the suspect as 21-year-old Manop Rakharp. The arrest followed a complaint by Teerawat Pansopa, 23, that a man on a Yamaha Fino motorbike snatched his bag as he walked along Sirirat Road in Patong at about midnight on Wednesday. The white bag…
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Phuket expats to get microchip implants in new surveillance scheme
As of today, all foreigners living permanently in Phuket are to receive mandatory microchip implants in a move designed to keep track of their movements with new GPS technology. Phuket will be the first province to launch such a system, with the rest of the country expected to follow suit in the coming months. Retired expats will be the first…
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Storms smash Phuket fishing boats
PHUKET: This week’s storms have put the livelihoods of many of Phuket fishermen at risk after violent waves damaged more than 30 fishing boats and left fish farming pens washed up onto shoreline rocks. Kawi Saranakhomkun of the Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office yesterday said that villagers from all three districts of Phuket had asked the office for help after their…
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Phuket officials deny “mudslide in paradise’
PHUKET: Authorities have dismissed media reports that an “immediate evacuation” was called for Phuket earlier today due to the risk of landslides. Officials at both the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) in Bangkok and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office in Phuket (DDPM-Phuket) said reports of an evacuation order for Phuket carried on Thai television news programs and…
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Phuket man shoots wife, kills self
PHUKET: A Phuket motorbike taxi driver shot his wife while she was sleeping and then turned the gun on himself this morning – all while the couple’s two children were sitting in the next room. Thung Thong Police led by Superintendent Kraithong Junthongbai were notified of the tragedy at 8:30am. At the scene, a home in the Ketho residential estate,…
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Navy rescues stranded tourists as Phuket storms continue
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command yesterday rescued Thai and foreign holidaymakers, including many bound for Phuket, who were stranded on the Similan and Surin islands due to the heavy seas. HTMS Bangpakong, under the command of Joint Rear Admiral Rangsarit Sattayanukul, at 2pm sailed to the Similans from its port at the navy base in Thap Lamu,…
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Phuket Update: One dead, four injured in Krabi mudslides
PHUKET: Officials in Khao Phanom District, Krabi, have dismissed Phuket-based media reports that “thousands are missing” following two landslides in the district. The confirmed toll this morning is one dead and four injured, two seriously, they say. An officer at the Khao Phanom District Office internal security division in Krabi told the Phuket Gazette, “The first mudslide occurred yesterday in…
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‘Japan crisis won’t hit Phuket tourism’: PTA
PHUKET: The Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) believes the crisis in Japan will not have serious effects on the island’s economy, though it has cautioned that numbers of visitors from affected areas are likely to fall. Somboon Jirayus, president of the PTA, said the 9.0-Richter earthquake and resulting tsunami that have devastated Japan would have psychological effects in the short term.…
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