News
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Phuket Gazette World News: Small Tsunami Hits Solomons After Major Quake
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Small Tsunami Hits Solomons After Major Quake Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A small tsunami hit the Solomon Islands this morning after a major 8.0 magnitude undersea earthquake sparked a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations and placed many more nations including Australia and Indonesia on…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Pacific Islands tsunami alert; Syrian talks, Vatican abuse; Obama in Israel
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Solomon Islands 8.0 quake triggers Pacific tsunami warning Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An earthquake measuring 8.0 magnitude struck southeast of the Solomon Islands on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The shallow quake was only 5.8 km deep and the epicentre was 81 kilometers west…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Andaman erosion; avian flu alert; Poh pardon; polls to please
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Officials eye Andaman coastal erosion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Marine and Coastal Resources Department is formulating plans to tackle coastal erosion in six Andaman Sea provinces. The most severe erosion was found in Tambon Saladan on Krabi’s Koh Lanta, where five meters of…
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Phuket parents join “fight club’
PHUKET: Two parents tired of having their boy picked on by a gang of students at school took matters into their own hands today by turning up at the school and “slapping” the five bullies. They have since been charged with assault. Sgt Paritat Duangkamol of the Thalang Police was called to Muang Thalang School at 8:10am. Outside the principal’s…
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Racha residents call for Phuket officials to fulfill old promises
PHUKET: The ongoing struggle to protect the beauty and environmental health of the tourist-popular Racha Yai Island, about 25 kilometers south of Phuket, continued yesterday in a meeting with Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa. Santi Chandi, representative of Racha Yai residents, asked the vice governor to solve the problems she had promised to solve at a meeting in May 2012. At…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: YouTube sex spoof withdrawn; Saudi case twist; Bangkok polls turn black; Hotels ride high
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Spoof on Thailand removed from YouTube The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Apinand Poshaya-nond, the deputy permanent secretary for culture, has confirmed the removal yesterday of a controversial video posted on YouTube satrizing a computer language-learning program that taught potential toutrists how to negotiate with Thai prostitutes in…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Alabama hostage standoff ends with child freed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Alabama hostage standoff ends with child safe, gunman dead Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The FBI stormed an underground bunker in rural Alabama on Monday, safely rescuing a 5-year-old boy held hostage for nearly a week and leaving his kidnapper, who had also killed a school bus driver,…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Global soccer fixing scam exposed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Investigators expose global match-fixing network Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Hundreds of soccer matches have been fixed in a global betting scam run from Singapore, police said on Monday, in a blow to the image of the world’s most popular sport and a multi-billion dollar industry.…
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Phuket to crack down on businesses using nominee shareholders
PHUKET: An inspection team from Bangkok will be arriving in Phuket to help local officers investigate businesses with foreign owners that are suspected of using nominee shareholders, Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut announced at a meeting this afternoon. About 3,700 “foreign-owned” business are registered in Phuket, explained Department of Business Development Phuket Office chief Nimit Kangkajit at the meeting. “Of course…
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Spiraling Phuket prices blamed on B300 min wage
PHUKET: A market vendor at the busy Kaset Market in Phuket Town yesterday told the Phuket Governor the 300-baht-a-day minimum wage was forcing vendors to pass on price hikes of fresh produce to consumers. Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday morning led officers to inspect food prices at Kaset fresh market, located behind the Robinson department store in Phuket Town (map here).…
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Breaking News: Phuket fugitive Dane “Denny’ Knudsen arrested
PHUKET: Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that wanted Danish national Dennis Mark Knudsen, 24, has been arrested by Phuket Police. Mr Knudsen was wanted for breaking bail conditions after he failed to appear at Phuket Provincial Court on January 22 to resolve a dispute with Australians John Cohen and Adam Shea about a “big…
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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United sunk by Navy
PHUKET: A second-half hat trick from Phuket United’s leading scorer, Jackson Santos, was not enough for his side to beat the Royal Navy FC, who walked away 5-3 winners in a futsal league match on Saturday evening in Bangkok. The match, played at Bangkok’s Fashion Island futsal arena, was both side’s 18th of 30 league matches in the Thailand Futsal…
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Phuket FC silence the Surat Thani ‘Roosters’
PHUKET: The Southern Sea Warriors’ 4-1 preseason friendly win against the Surat Thani FC ‘Roosters’ last night gave a number of trialists the chance to impress the Phuket coaches and fans. Of the try-out players, Japanese midfielder Yone stood out the most. The tall midfielder was an imposing presence in the center of the pitch linking up play well and…
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Russian tourist found dead at Phuket resort, cause unclear
PHUKET: Police are hoping that assistance from forensics investigators will help unravel the cause of death of a Russian tourist whose body was found in his Phuket resort villa yesterday. Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Jumroon Plaiduang was called to a resort in Soi Na Tai in the southern Phuket beach area of Rawai (map here), at about 1:30pm. “We found…
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Teaching Russian-language skills the key to resolving Phuket discord
PHUKET: A solution to the anti-Russian sentiment spreading rapidly in Phuket is Russian-language classes, the Russian Federation’s Deputy Honorary Consul in Phuket, Santi Udomkiratak, has told the Phuket Gazette.“Lack of Russian-language skills is a big part of the Russian issue here, and it’s been a problem for a very long time,” Mr Santi said.“There are very few Thai people who…
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Lucky police traffic stop nets wanted felon, drugs and guns
PHUKET: A random stop of two men at a checkpoint in Phuket Town on Thursday night netted Phuket Police drugs, guns and a man wanted on an attempted murder charge. Police stopped Narongsak Dang-ngam, 36, and Nikom Srisoi, 45, at 11:30pm at Soi Surin 3 in Phuket Town (map here). “Mr Narongsak was driving a pick up truck and Mr…
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Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day to inject B2bn into Phuket economy
PHUKET: More than 300,000 tourists are expected to visit Phuket this month for Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, altogether providing a boost of more than 2 billion baht to the Phuket economy. Chanchai Duangjit, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office, told the Phuket Gazette that tourists from China make up the majority of hotel bookings…
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Phuket Buddha image moved, not lost
PHUKET: A German-speaking resident of Phuket raised an alarm earlier this week when he noticed that a Buddha image had disappeared from the pavilion at Kata Viewpoint (view here). However, Rawai Municipality Chief Administrative Officer Rachen Phuntarakit confirmed to the Gazette that there was no need for concern, as the image had only been moved from the scenic view to…
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Phuket Police Deputy Commander: Gun Control Still Within our Grasp
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Arun Kaewvatee, 52, is originally from Ron Phibun District in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, a province well known throughout Thailand for gun use. Col Arun has been Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police for a year. Here, he talks about illegal guns and gun ownership in Phuket. I do not consider illegal guns to be…
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Phuket Opinion: Stem the growing tide of gun crimes in Phuket
PHUKET: The recent surge in the number of violent crimes involving firearms needs to be addressed by authorities immediately, otherwise Phuket’s self-designated sobriquet “Pearl of the Andaman” risks being inadvertently changed to “Arsenal of the Andaman”. Few regular readers of the Phuket Gazette will have failed to notice an apparent upsurge in gun crime this high season. This is perhaps…
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Phuket van driver rewarded for returning tourist’s lost B124k
PHUKET: A Phuket tour driver has received high praise from the governor for returning 124,000 baht and US$433* that an Indonesian tourist left behind in his tour van.Sarawut Sompan, 24, works for the Sai Lom Club van team in Chalong. On Thursday night, he picked up two tourists, Indonesian and Thai, at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town and…
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Phuket Sports: Fantasia puts the hex on Voodoo in day 2 of the Bay Regatta
PHUKET: Line honors for the Bay Regatta’s second day went to Hans Rahmann’s Firefly Voodoo, but on corrected time the Stransky family’s Fantasia took the Multihull class with fellow Aussie multihull Mojo, a Schionning G Force 15 helmed by Peter Wilcox, finishing third.In Racing Class, placements were as follows: Andrew Marshall’s Judy took first place, Ray Waldron’s Phuket 8 Surf…
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National corruption probe into police housing arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: Royal Thai Police Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Director-General Tharit Pengdit arrived in Phuket yesterday as part of his investigation into the stalled construction of 163 police housing apartment blocks across the country.With him was Government Spokesman Prompong Nopparit, who is also vice president of a parliamentary anti-corruption committee set up by Pheu Thai.“We will be looking at the…
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Phuket Sports: Taekwondo tourney proves a knockout
PHUKET: The inaugural Phuket International Choi Yong Seok Taekwondo Championship was held at the Saphan Indoor Sports Complex last weekend, starting with the mandatory Gangnam Style dance. The event attracted more than 1,500 competitors from Thailand, Korea, Russia, Kuwait and Australia, among others. Traditionally held in Bangkok, the organizer, and Thailand’s national taekwondo coach, Choi Yong Seok, says he wanted…
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Dugong not dying for sex
PHUKET: An endangered-species specialist last week dispelled rumors that the increase in dugong deaths in Southern Thailand last year was due to the mammal being hunted for the alleged aphrodisiac qualities of its body parts.“We have had no reports of the dugong being poached in the Andaman coast region in order to use their body parts to create a sexual…
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German tourist dies after fall on rocks at Khao Lak
PHUKET: A German tourist with a heart condition fell on some rocks and drowned yesterday at Khao Lak.Mr Oberle Ovegov, 57, had spent the morning playing in the water with his wife.At about 2:30pm, as he was walking on some flat rocks that extend into the sea at Khukkhak, he became dizzy and fell, said Khao Lak Police Inspector Anan…
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Phuket absorbs Southern langsat surplus
PHUKET: The island’s supply of langsat (Lansium domesticum) has increased by 10 tonnes over the past few weeks due to a late-season harvest surplus in and near Thailand’s Deep South. Since about mid-January, several agriculture groups from Yala, Songkhla and Phatthalung have travelled to Phuket to sell the fruit wholesale, with the Phuket Office of Commercial Affairs (POCA) serving as…
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Bay Regatta sets sail with blue skies and good wind
PHUKET: Thirty-five boats, sailing in five classes and flying the flags of thirteen nations, set sail yesterday, day one, in the Bay Regatta, affectionately known as the “Fun Regatta” to the participants. Countries represented included Thailand, Malaysia, the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, the Netherlands and Ireland. The 16th annual Bay Regatta kicked off Wednesday…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: African Nations Cup quarters offers a tasty mix
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Last eight offer tasty mix at African Nations Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The right ingredients seem to be in place to make the knockout rounds of the African Nations Cup, which reaches the quarter-finals stage this weekend, a real football feast for fans a…
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Phuket Football: North Koreans drop bomb on Surakul Stadium
PHUKET:Despite fielding six high-quality foreign players in their starting line-up, Phuket FC were not able to gain an advantage over their North Korean opponents, 4.25 Sports Club, who walked away 0-1 winners in a friendly match in Phuket Town last night. A late second half goal by skilled North Korean international, Kim Kum Il, was enough for the 13-time DPK…
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