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  • 999 rare trees to honor Mother’s Day in Phuket

    PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality mark Mother’s Day, which in Thailand is on the August 12 birthday of HM Queen Sirikit, with a variety of public activities at Suan Luang Park on August 9. The activities include the planting of 999 yang na, or “hairy-leafed apitong”, trees. The Kata-Karon Hotel Business Association, together with Krungthai Bank, the Rotary Club of Tungkha…

  • Phuket PAD protest; oil drills defended; Bangkok bombs; economy booms | Thaiger

    Phuket PAD protest; oil drills defended; Bangkok bombs; economy booms

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket PAD adding fuel to temple fire Phuket members of the People‘s Alliance for Democracy are on their way to Bangkok this morning to join a rally at Government House. The Phuket contingent wants to help the…

  • German-Thai couple nabbed for Phuket burglary | Thaiger

    German-Thai couple nabbed for Phuket burglary

    KAMALA: A German and his Thai girlfriend were arrested Wednesday for burglary and possession of stolen goods after the couple’s alleged victim spotted one of them carrying her missing handbag in Kamala, police said. Natthapakin Kuanchaipruek, superintendent at Kamala Police Station, presented Karsten Lange, 45, and his girlfriend Pattranit Morida, 29, at a press conference yesterday. Police said Mr Lange…

  • 2nd Phuket Traditional Costume Contest on Sunday

    PHUKET: The second-annual Phuket Traditional Costumes Contest will be held on August 8 from 2pm to 4pm at the Thalang National Museum, the museum’s director Atchima Nookhong announced August 2. Ms Atchima said the traditional costumes show the cultural identities of Phuket people, displaying the diversity of origins of people co-existing on the island for a long time. “Globalization has…

  • Six confess to drug charges in Phuket | Thaiger

    Six confess to drug charges in Phuket

    PATONG: Kathu Police held a press conference on Tuesday to announce the arrest on Monday of six drug suspects, all of whom confessed to being members of a major drug ring selling ya bah (methamphetamine) and ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) to tourists in Patong. The conference was chaired by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Superintendent Kosol Watrakon and Kathu Police Superintendent…

  • Brit biker sets record for Thai King | Thaiger

    Brit biker sets record for Thai King

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Away from his home in Chiangrai for more than three months, British expat Alan Bate completed his trip around the world in honour of His Majesty the King of Thailand yesterday and set a new record…

  • Phuket Police: ‘Serial suicide’ girl a con artist | Thaiger

    Phuket Police: ‘Serial suicide’ girl a con artist

    PHUKET: The “suicidal” teenage girl who threatened to hurl herself from a pedestrian walkway in Phuket Town yesterday is actually a serial con artist who has tried similar scams in other parts of the country, police say. Phuket City Police Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit told the media today that police left Phuket yesterday to escort 19-year-old Orasa Lapruek back to her…

  • Mother’s Day photo contest by Radio Thailand, Phuket

    PHUKET: The Radio Thailand office in Phuket is holding a digital photo contest with the theme of “The bond between mother and child” in celebration of national Mothers’ Day on August 12, which is the 78th birthday or HM Queen Sirikit. All submissions will be judged on beauty, creativity and how well they express the stated theme. Images must original…

  • Business brisk at Phuket City Pawnshop

    PHUKET: The general state of the economy – not World Cup gambling – is responsible for brisk trade at the Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop, officers say. The shop, on Kamorapat Road in Phuket Town, currently has 480 million baht out on loan to 31,280 customers, according to a release by the municipality. Borrowers appear to be pawning more valuable items,…

  • Phuket crash helmet campaign: fines start July 1, 2011

    PHUKET: The public awareness part of the Phuket City Police “100% motorcycle helmet use” campaign will run another full year before offenders will face fines, it has been announced. The campaign, which began in April, is intended to bring helmet use in Phuket City Police District to 100%, both among operators and their passengers. July 1 this year was initially…

  • Cockfighting a gamble in Phuket | Thaiger

    Cockfighting a gamble in Phuket

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world about Thailand, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Initially reported by the Phuket Gazette on Monday, a raid on a cockfighting ring in Phuket on Sunday has caught the attention of online gambling journal ‘Gaming Zion’, which in a report filed last night looks…

  • Rough seas off Phuket through Thursday

    PHUKET: The Meteorological Department (MET) has issued a weather advisory warning of rough offshore conditions over the next two days. Issued at 4pm today from the MET headquarters in Bangkok, the warning calls for strong monsoonal conditions across the country, causing heavy seas in both the Andaman Ocean and Gulf of Thailand from today through Thursday. All shipping should proceed…

  • FC Phuket 2 – Satun United 1 | Thaiger

    FC Phuket 2 – Satun United 1

    PHUKET: First-place FC Phuket won a key football match on Sunday, with a clutch 2-1 road win over second-place Satun United. Satun United, coming off a 1-0 win over Hatyai FC, were in high spirits for the match against FC Phuket, who won the first encounter played at Surakul Stadium in March by a score of 2-0. In second place…

  • Chinese firm interested in light rail project for Phuket

    PHUKET: Representatives of a mainland Chinese construction conglomerate paid a visit to the Phuket Governor today to discuss the possibility of building a light-rail public transport system for Phuket. Francis Soo of Ershisanye Construction Group met Gov Wichai Phraisa-ngop at Provincial Hall this morning to express his firm’s interest. Founded in 1953, Ershisanye is engaged in construction engineering, mining development…

  • 42 arrested at Phuket cockfight

    PHUKET: Forty-two people were arrested and charged with gambling following a raid at a Phuket cockpit yesterday afternoon. The raid, led by Crime Suppression Division Area 5 Inspector Sitthikiat Srichan, came at 1:30pm at a rubber plantation area off Soi Suanwat in Rawai Village 1, behind Rawai Temple. Among those arrested were two women, one of whom was pregnant. All…

  • ‘Farang’ killed in motorbike crash on Patong Hill, Phuket

    PHUKET: Police are trying to learn the identity of a Caucasian man killed early Sunday morning in a motorcycle accident on Phuket’s infamous Patong Hill road. Kathu Police Duty Officer Nitikorn Rawang received a report of the accident at 4am yesterday. Together with Kusoldharm Foundation workers he rushed to the scene at Kuan Yang curve on Phra Barami Road where…

  • Thai jails swamped with inmates | Thaiger

    Thai jails swamped with inmates

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: The number of prisoners in Thailand’s 143 jails is now well over capacity, with more than 200,000 inmates around the country. About 60 per cent have been jailed for drug offences, Corrections Department chief Chartchai Suthiklom says. In…

  • Phuket beach deaths: Airlines, airport could help cut the toll | Thaiger

    Phuket beach deaths: Airlines, airport could help cut the toll

    PHUKET: The full onset of this year’s monsoon season has brought with it a sadly predictable rise in the number of drowning deaths, most among foreign tourists who ignored not only the red warning flags, but also, in some cases, verbal warnings from lifeguards about the dangers. The latest casualty was a Romanian tourist who, like so many before him,…

  • Phuket to stay green up top | Thaiger

    Phuket to stay green up top

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Phuket’s Natural Resources and Environment department head Ong-art Chanachanmongkol has announced that the 80-metre height limit on new construction will remain in place, according to Property Report magazine. Some had speculated that the limit might be dropped on…

  • PM Abhisit in Phuket for Democrat “Crisis Seminar’

    PHUKET: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva arrived in Phuket yesterday evening ahead of the two-day Democrat Party “Crisis Seminar”, which got underway at the Merlin Beach Resort at Tri Trang Beach this morning. During his opening address, PM Abhisit reminded party members to “perform our duty with efficiency and in accordance with the law and the principles the spirit of the…

  • Phuket “still life’ wins Wichit photo contest

    WICHIT: Chusak Uthaipanumas has won the Wichit Municipality’s “Travel Thai Way in Wichit” photo contest for his outstanding photo Cheewit Haeng Sai Nam Mudong (Life of Mudong Canal). For first prize, Mr Chusak will receive 10,000 baht cash and a certificate of achievement. “I feel delighted. I often go to that area to shoot photos. This photo was taken around…

  • Phuket reservoir projects get green light

    PHUKET: Work is set to go ahead on increasing the capacity of Bang Wad Reservoir by 3 million cubic meters after Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO) Director Weerawat Aungsupanith and Kathu Mayor Chaianan Suthikul yesterday at Phuket Provincial Hall. Mr Weerawat told the Gazette that the 300-million-baht project will be…

  • Phuket eyes “huge’ medical tourism boom

    PHUKET: Medical and healthcare providers on the island can expect to get a large slice of the 402.9 billion baht that the Ministry of Health (MoH) expects Thailand’s medical tourism industry to rake in over the next five years. Phuket Public Health Office Deputy Director Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch said, “Over the past five years, Phuket has enjoyed great success in…

  • Singaporean Ho fails quest for “lucky nuts’ | Thaiger

    Singaporean Ho fails quest for “lucky nuts’

    NAKHON PATHOM: Singaporean businessman Ho Kee Wong, 52, made the journey to Wat Sawang Arom in Nakhon Pathom in central Thailand hoping to rent a lucky peanut with five nuts inside the same pod – but was turned away empty-handed. Ho was hoping to emulate fellow Singaporean construction material trader Lee Yern Wai, 55, who struck it rich after acquiring…

  • Over 7,000 alien workers deported from Phuket this year

    PHUKET: Phuket is on track to set a record number of deportations of illegal workers this year, with at least 7,086 illegals having been deported from the province in 2010, according to the latest statistics from the Phuket Immigration Office. In 2009, 10,790 illegals were deported, preceded by 7,867 in 2008. Announcement of the figures comes on the heels of…

  • Dems to hold “Crisis Seminar’ in Phuket this weekend

    PHUKET: Leading Democrats and rank-and-file party members will attend a “crisis seminar” in Phuket this weekend. Democrat Party official spokesman Dr Buranaj Smutharaks announced the meeting on Tuesday, saying all Democrat party members “without exception” are expected to attend. The seminar, from Friday to Sunday, is entitled “Concentrating Energy to Solve the National Crisis”, Dr Buranaj said. The emphasis will…

  • Phuket Police arrest 15 for alcohol ban violations in Patong | Thaiger

    Phuket Police arrest 15 for alcohol ban violations in Patong

    PHUKET: Fifteen people were arrested for selling alcohol at bars and restaurants in Patong on the Khao Pansa Buddhist holiday on Tuesday. Kathu Police Deputy Superintendent Praya Chansomwong ordered police to be on the lookout for violators of the alcohol ban that was in effect on Monday and Tuesday, according to a report in the local Thai-language press. Violators will…

  • Phuket F&B Show starts Friday

    PHUKET: The Phuket Food and Beverage Show will take place starting on Friday at Central Festival Phuket’s HomeWorks complex on the bypass road. The three-day event will feature a wide variety of events including contests and exhibitions in bartending, cooking, linen folding, wine butlering, ice carving and so on. The event, sponsored by Smirnoff vodka, will run from 11am to…

  • ‘New York City cop’ arrested on drug charges in Phuket

    PHUKET: Police on Monday arrested two men caught smuggling some 8,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills onto the island at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint. Tah Chat Chai Police identified the suspects as 35-year-old Nonthaburi resident Wesarat Ninjamrat and his alleged accomplice Jad Jedklang, a 26-year-old from Nakhon Sri Thammarat. At the time of his arrest, at about 6pm, Mr Wesarat was…

  • Trawler sinks off Phuket after collision with barge

    PHUKET: In the latest marine mishap off Phuket, a crew of 12 fishermen were saved by another fishing boat after their trawler slammed into a sand barge off Wichit last night. Pol Sub-Lt of the Phuket Marine Police received a report of the accident at 7am. The 10-meter trawler Sri Thong Prae 4 from Ranong was cruising about 2 kilometers…