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Sponsored Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
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Phuket ladyboy found dead from gunshot wound
WICHIT, PHUKET: Phuket City Police are searching for the killer of a 35-year-old ladyboy found dead on Saturday morning with a single bullet wound to the head. The body of Wanchai Tongwijit, a restaurant employee from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, was found in an abandoned workers’ camp off Sakdidet Road Soi 7 in Tambon Wichit at around 6.45am. Mr Wanchai’s body…
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Phuket Governor treks and checks road project land
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop on Thursday set off on an extensive walking tour of the strip of land he would like to see become the island’s second north-south road artery. The first day of the tour started off on the bypass road, opposite the newly-opened Premium Outlet Mall, and proceeded all the way past the British International School,…
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Belgian beauties smash papaya in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Twenty contestants in the Miss Belgium 2010 beauty pageant took part in a Thai cooking class on Wednesday night. The class, conducted by celebrity chef Nooror Somany-Steppe, was held at the Chin Pracha Mansion in Phuket Town, where the Blue Elephant Phuket will soon open its doors as a royal Thai cusine restaurant and cooking school. The dish…
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Handicraft bargains at Phuket OTOP fair
PHUKET CITY: Carved wooden ornaments, stylish cloth bags and Lanna-style garments are just some of the hundreds of hand-made products from northern Thailand currently on sale at an OTOP market fair at Saphan Hin until tomorrow.Over 100 booths are selling the handicrafts from 10am to 9pm at the fair dubbed ‘OTOP: From Lanna to Andaman Sea’.There’s also plenty to eat…
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Phuket murder suspect collared in coffin shop
CHALONG, PHUKET: Police yesterday morning arrested two suspects for the November 4 shooting murder of 38-year-old Weerathep Kamchan inside a flower shop on Chao Fa East Road. Police initially suspected romantic jealousy as the motive for the murder, as the victim was known to be having a relationship with 36-year-old Boonruen Buasi, a married woman. Mrs Boonruen, who was with…
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Tsunami warning critic to launch new system
PHUKET CITY: Former National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) director and a critic of the current warning system’s administration plans to launch an additional disaster warning system with the aim of better informing the public of impending disasters. The man behind the new warning system, Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, is preparing to launch the ‘parallel’ national tsunami warning system on December 26, the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean…
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Phuket City seeks funding for stadium
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality has applied for 154 million baht in funding to build an international-standard indoor sport stadium at Saphan Hin.Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwanasupana made the announcement at a press conference at Phuket City Hall last week.Funding is being sought from the Ministry of Finance under the central government’s Thai Khem Kaeng (Strong Thailand) national development scheme.Mayor Somjai…
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Middle Way meditation on Sunday
PHUKET CITY: There will be a Middle Way meditation training session at the Phuket Meditation Center from 3pm to 5pm on Sunday. The teaching monk will be Phra Thada Jaranatharou, who has re-arranged his busy schedule and will fly in from Bangkok for the session. Fluent in English, Phra Thada has a bachelors’ degree in industrial electrical technology from King…
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Foreign diver found dead in Patong
PATONG, PHUKET: Kathu Police are still trying to determine the identity of a foreign woman found dead in Patong Bay on Tuesday afternoon. The body, presumed to be that of a middle-aged Caucasian woman, was pulled from the water at about 5pm by Kusoldharm Foundation workers. The bloated corpse was discovered floating at 4:30pm about four meters offshore from Paradise…
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Hold outs against jet-ski insurance scheme
PHUKET CITY: The majority of jet-ski operators on the island have applied for compulsory insurance, but five operators are holding out against the new regulation. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop yesterday afternoon held a meeting with 15 jet-ski operators to discuss compliance with a provincial policy requiring all jet-ski operators to apply for policies by the deadline that passed on Monday.…
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Tsunami detection buoy coming soon: NDWC
PHUKET CITY: Phuket will get a new tsunami detection buoy just in time for the fifth anniversary of the 2004 tsunami disaster, the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) says. Group Captain Somsak Khaosuwan, director of the NDWC’s warning system management team, told the Gazette the new buoy is being shipped to Thailand from the US and should arrive by the…
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Phuket bag charge delayed by two months
PHUKET CITY: The launch of a plastic bag charging scheme which aims to reduce the amount of garbage generated on Phuket has been postponed for more than two months. Phuket Energy Office chief Jirasuk Tummawetch said the slated December 5 launch date did not leave enough time to promote the project sufficiently. The scheme will see major retailers such as…
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Phuket prepares for HRH Princess Bejaratana’s birthday
THALANG, PHUKET: Phuket will join the rest of the nation in celebrating the 84th birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadi on November 24. Tha Rua Temple in Thalang has been chosen as the focal point for the celebrations. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop will open the activities at the temple at 9.30am. Locations for celebrations held by the…
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Fury over flooding in Patong
PATONG / PHUKET: Pedestrians and motorists were struggling through meter-deep floodwater on Nanai Road this evening following heavy rains earlier today. Local residents fed up with the flooding, which they claim has become worse over the past few months, have nicknamed the 50-meter stretch of road ‘Nanai River’. Several local residents who spoke to the Gazette in May predicted severe…
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Phuket man demands justice after cops’ “black bag’ threat
PHUKET CITY: A foreign exchange teller questioned in connection with the theft of 1.8 million baht from a Patong bank claims Kathu Police officers threatened to send him home ‘in a black bag’ unless he confessed to the crime. Samarn Pul-ied, who spent around 24 hours in custody at Kathu Police Station on November 8 and 9, also claims officers…
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Reef relief: Phuket fishermen get massive haul
KARON, PHUKET: An artificial coral reef sunk off Phuket’s Karon Beach two years ago is thought to be responsible for a bumper haul of fish caught by local fishermen earlier this month. Around 400 jacks weighing four to five kilos each were caught in a single day by a small group of fishermen using a local type of net called…
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Expectations high for Phuket’s high season
PHUKET CITY: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced that hotel occupancy rates in Phuket should hit 80 percent during the high season. According to the new TAT South Region 4 office director Ms Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, Phuket hotel and tour operators say advance bookings are on the rise. Occupancy rates should climb to 80 percent after the Christmas and New Year…
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Belgian beauties arrive on Phuket
PHUKET: Twenty Miss Belgium 2010 contestants began an eight-day stay on Phuket today with an introduction to the media at the Cape Panwa Hotel and Spa.The beauty pageant finalists are in Phuket by invitation of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and will be taking part in photo and video shoots, kayaking and Thai cooking classes around the island.TAT South…
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Celestial light show over Phuket this week
PHUKET: If the night sky over Phuket remains clear this week stargazers will be treated to the spectacle of hundreds of meteors streaking overhead, early Wednesday morning.The annual celestial show known as The Leonids occurs as the Earth passes through the trail of an ancient comet.Astronomers predict a shower of up to 500 meteors per hour, visible to the naked…
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Phuket bike bandit leaves Brits broke
PHUKET: Two tourists robbed in Kata were left penniless when a thief snatched a bag containing all their remaining holiday cash from the basket on their rented motorbike last week.The thief, riding another motorbike, snatched the bag on Kata Noi Road early Monday evening.The bag belonging to British holidaymaker 21-year-old Emma Kim Parker, a passenger on the bike driven by a male…
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Race against time on Phuket’s Thalang Road
PHUKET CITY: Work to bury power cables along Thalang Rd is nearing completion and the city is hoping to have the project completely finished in time for the fourth Old Phuket Town Festival next month. Aekapop Patpathom, project engineer with the Provincial Electrical Authority (PEA) office in Phuket, said all of the underground conduits have been installed. He initially expected…
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OPINION: Just missing the locals in Phuket
PHUKET: Now in its fourth year, the Phuket Thailand Open beach volleyball tournament last week was the best and biggest ever, with 66 teams from 28 countries taking part. There was a great deal of excitement during the third-place final, when a large contingent of Russian fans cheered Maria Bratkova and Evgenia Ukolova to an exciting win over Lauren Fendrick…
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Phuket land dispute heats up
PHUKET CITY: The tense standoff at the Panason City construction site heated up this morning when landless villagers set fires to prevent backhoes from covering their modest homes with dirt and warning gunshots were fired by workers. The fires were set at about 10am today and warning shots were fired into the air by backhoe operators around noon, one of…
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Phuket Veg Fest out of control: Readers’ Poll
PHUKET CITY: Almost half of Phuket Gazette readers think the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival is ‘getting out of hand’ in terms of firecrackers and self-mutilation, and that the authorities should step in and impose some order. Of the 330 readers who took part in the poll, 48.8% overall agreed with the statement that: ‘The fireworks and self-mutilation are out of…
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One-Two-Go to launch new Phuket flight
PHUKET CITY: Low-cost carrier One-Two-Go will launch a second daily round-trip flight between Bangkok and Phuket starting on December 3. One-Two-Go Public Relations and Marketing Communications Officer Namon Patisang said fares for the flights begin at 1,750 baht, all inclusive. The new flight will depart Phuket at 1:40pm daily and make the return from Don Meuang at 3:30pm. One-Two-Go already…
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MNRE orders halt to Phuket mangrove destruction
THEPKRASATTRI, PHUKET: After receiving a deluge of complaints, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Suwit Khunkitti has ordered his department to put a stop to the continuing destruction of Phuket’s dwindling mangrove forest reserves. On Wednesday morning, Mr Suwit sent high-ranking officials to a site at Thamaphrao Village in Tambon Thepkrasattri, where more than 50 rai of forest have…
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Award winning DJ makes Phuket debut
PATONG, PHUKET: US DJ and remix artist extraordinaire David Morales will make his long-awaited Phuket debut this Friday at Seduction Beach Club and Disco at Patong Beach.The multi-award winning producer and artist is probably most famous for his 1998 hit single Needin’ U, which was released under the alias The Face.The American ‘superstar DJ’ will bring his own blend of…
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Michael Jackson’s This Is It arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: The Michael Jackson documentary This Is It is now showing at the SFX Coliseum cinema in Central Festival Phuket, an SFX spokesperson has confirmed.The announcement follows news last month that Phuket cinemas could not show the digital version of the movie upon its worldwide release on October 28 as none of the theaters had the digital projection equipment required.However,…
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New coral reef found near Phuket
PHUKET CITY: A new coral reef covering an area almost the size of two soccer fields has been discovered off the coast of Phang Nga. The reef was discovered by fishermen around five nautical miles west of Kho Khao Island in Phang Nga’s Takuapa District. The reef lies at a depth of about 21 meters. Mr Chaimongkol Yaemarunpattana, a coral…
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Phuket reds, yellows ready to roll
PHUKET: Phuket’s yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters and their red-shirted opponents, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), will both be traveling to large gatherings in the near future.The Phuket PAD will be heading to Bangkok to protest former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s appointment to a high-level advisory position by Cambodian premier Hun Sen.The protest will…
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