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Phuket Sports : Keeper’s ball; France leapfrog into first
PHUKET: Goalkeepers are a breed unto themselves. Both hero and villain, as with any position on the playing field. But one characteristic of a goalkeeper that can never be doubted is that of bravery. The last line of defense, the last hope when all seems lost, that is a goalkeeper. It may sound daunting, but the thrill of making a…
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Paddling Lanta to Phi Phi
PHUKET: Relieved but exhilarated five paddleboarders successfully finished their 32-kilometer paddling challenge from Koh Lanta to Koh Phi Phi earlier this month. In a time of 4 hours and 32 minutes on February 3, the “Stand Up Paddle” (SUP) team successfully laid their boards to rest on Phi Phi Don. Team members were Starboard team rider, Lina Augaitis; Owner of…
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Village go coco-nuts over Patong defeat
PHUKET: In a crucial Phuket Island Furniture League match, Patong and the Village faced each other at the ACG with both teams needing a win to boost their hopes of a showdown with title favorites, Laguna CC. Undefeated so far this season, the Village knew that taking points from Patong would effectively end the reigning champions expectations of at least…
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Five dead, 16 injured in Phang Nga crash
PHUKET: Five people returning from a Phuket cremation ceremony were killed on Saturday night when the crowded pickup they were riding in slammed into a tree in Phang Nga. Sixteen others were seriously injured. A songthaew (pickup modified for passenger transport) was returning Buddhist adherents from the cremation ceremony of Mai Khao Temple Abbot Luangpor Daeng when the accident occurred…
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Goals galore in Phuket Super Six league
PHUKET: The new Phuket Super Six League (PSSL) exploded into action with 41 goals recorded over just four games on its opening night at Football Island. Alberto Mancuso’s Ristorante Rugantino began the net-busting frenzy by knocking Joseph Arimathea’s young Eden FC team out of the park on a 10-0 scoreline. The experienced Italian team took an early lead from a…
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Royal Thai Navy intercepts 27 Phuket-bound Burmese
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command arrested 27 Burmese en route to Phuket aboard a fishing boat off the coast of Ranong on February 10. The group were charged with entering the country illegally and were taken ashore to be prepared for deportation. The arrest was made by the staff of HTMS Chonburi under the supervision of Lt…
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Slapping, spitting, boxing and bottling
PHUKET: “He’s blown his only chance, the last thing you want to do is pick a fight with Vitali.” Adam Booth, the boxing trainer of Britain’s David Haye (former WBA heavyweight champion), said Dereck Chisora lost any hope of beating WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko when he slapped him at Friday’s weigh-in… before their fight. British boxer Chisora, born in…
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Prompong in Phuket to launch tourist safety campaign
PHUKET: Government spokesman Prompong Nopparit was back in Phuket last night to launch a new tourist safety campaign that will see a rapid expansion in the number of closed-circuit television cameras in Patong and other popular tourist destinations. Mr Prompong, a party list MP for the ruling Pheu Thai Party, at 7pm held an informal meeting with the press on…
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Tourism finds Phuket swiftlet aviaries difficult to swallow
SPECIAL REPORT Having caused problems in other regions of Thailand, the growing number of swiftlet barns in Phuket came under scrutiny at Phuket Provincial Hall last week. Officials have decided to set up ‘zones’ for the business – despite the fact that it is illegal. The Phuket Gazette‘s Stephen Fein and Warisa Temram report. PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office will…
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Patong Carnival tops poll as Phuket’s top funfair
PHUKET: The annual Patong Carnival is Phuket’s top free funfair according to a recent readers’ poll by the Phuket Gazette. The two-week poll, launched late last month, asked readers, “Which of the following annually-staged free events do you most enjoy?” Patong Carnival ranked as the top response, garnering 59.7% of votes overall. The Old Phuket Town Festival ranked second with…
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Phuket experts date Krabi relics at 3,000 years old
PHUKET: A trove of ancient artifacts unearthed in Krabi recently could be up to 3,000 years old, experts at the Fine Arts Department Office in Phuket have estimated. Reporters invited by a village headman in Baan Klang subdistrict, Ao Luek, were the among the first to view the items, discovered by residents of Baan Khao Ngam village last week. Ban…
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Jetstar flights to Phuket to airlift stranded Aussies home
Suggested Heading: PHUKET: Jetstar has scheduled an additional ad-hoc service from Phuket to Australia on Sunday in order to assist travellers stranded by the overnight collapse of Air Australia on Thursday. The ad-hoc services will be operated by an A320 aircraft with up to 180 seats and will fly from Phuket to Darwin (via Singapore) with onward connections to Jetstar’s…
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Dozens injured in Phuket resort pool chlorine “blast’
PHUKET: Dozens of tourists and resort workers were rushed to hospital this morning after a mix of pool cleaning agents “exploded” into a cloud of gas beside a pool at a Phuket resort.Staff at the Phuket Orchid Resort in Karon confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that the cloud of gas was formed by a mix of chlorine and other cleaning…
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Weird World News: Fatal feast of “bypass burger’, dumplings and butt crack cocaine
PHUKET: You are what you eat. Diners at “Heart Attack Grill” should remember this. So should competitors in dumpling-eating competitions and anyone else who ingests alien-objects or pain-inducing toxins into their body without thinking about it. This week’s Weird News round-up is a grim reminder to avoid what’s not fit for consumption. Customer has heart attack while scoffing ‘Triple Bypass…
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Phuket forecast: good chance of rain this weekend
PHUKET: The weekend forecast for Phuket calls for “widely scattered to scattered” thundershowers through Monday, with variable winds and temperatures at night reaching as low as 22°C.For the 24-hour period starting at noon today, the forecast by the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) center at Phuket Airport calls for partly cloudy conditions with scattered thundershowers covering 60% of the province.Similar forecasts…
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Phuket kickboxer murder fugitive Lee Aldhouse wins right to appeal extradition
PHUKET: The return to Phuket of fugitive British murder suspect Lee Aldhouse remains on hold, as the kickboxer has won the right to appeal an extradition order, the UK media has reported. Lee Aldhouse, 27, successfully fled Thailand after he allegedly stabbed American Deshawn Longfellow to death in August 2010. He was later arrested at Heathrow Airport on an unrelated…
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Air Australia tourists tired, angry over Phuket ordeal
PHUKET: Australian tourists stranded in Phuket after low-cost carrier Air Australia went bust overnight last night are losing patience with the wait to get home, and some are running out of the cash needed to pay for their flight home. Trevor Moloney, 30, and Caley Wilkinson, 30, arrived Phuket 12 days ago. They were supposed to leave Phuket on board…
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Phuket Gazette: 400 Frankfurt flights cancelled; Pilot dies during flight; Small plane crash
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 400 flights cancelled as ground controllers strike at Frankfurt airport PHUKET (News Wires): More than 400 flights have been canceled at Frankfurt Airport in Germany after ground controllers launched a two-day strike over a wage dispute yesterday, aviation officials said today. Only 16 of the 200…
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Battle to keep Phuket beaches clear continues
PHUKET: The battle to keep Phuket’s beaches free of illegal vendors continues to be a pitched one, with each small advance seemingly followed by a setback.In the latest development, four local residents have set up small restaurants on the sands of Kata Beach with low-to-the-ground Japanese-style dining tables selling grilled and barbecued meats every evening starting at dusk.Orders by Karon…
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Phuket alcohol ban ahead of local elections
PHUKET: A ban on the sale of alcohol goes into effect in Srisoonthorn Municipality at 6pm tonight ahead of local elections tomorrow.Phuket Election Commission Director Kittipong Thiengkunakrit told the Phuket Gazette, “The alcohol ban will be in effect from 6pm Friday night through to midnight Saturday night due to the Srisoonthorn municipal elections on Saturday, February 18.”Mr Kittipong explained that…
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Phuket struggles to airlift stranded Air Australia tourists
PHUKET: Scores of Australian tourists have been left stranded at Phuket International Airport after low-budget carrier Air Australia grounded all flights yesterday due to insolvency. The state-run Australian Broadcasting Commission news quoted a source as saying that Air Australia was even unable to buy fuel at Phuket Airport last night for a flight ready to take tourists home. The directors…
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Violence condemned; drone strike; mass escape; Florida execution
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Reporters Without Borders condemns violence by Israeli forces against journalists PHUKET (News Wires): Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday condemned the alleged violence used by Israeli forces against Palestinian, Israeli and foreign photojournalists covering demonstrations against Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. In a statement, the Paris-based press…
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Blasts hit confidence; Security tightened; Bomb expert trained suspects
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Confidence of tourists will be hit by blasts PHUKET (The Nation): Tourism business operators believe that Tuesday’s bomb blasts in Bangkok will have a slight impact on the industry in the current first quarter of the year, according to a survey by the Center for Economic…
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Phuket coral bounces back from bleaching blight
PHUKET: Considerable improvement in the condition of bleached coral reefs around Phuket and along the Andaman Coast has been noted by government researchers, it was announced at a meeting early this week. Boonchob Sudthamanaswong, Director-General of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources Andaman Coast Group (DMCR-Andaman), chaired a seminar at the Phuket Merlin Hotel on Monday to discuss government…
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Phuket officials set agenda for Cabinet visit
PHUKET: Local government officials and private sector groups will tomorrow finalize which projects will be presented to the Cabinet during the top-level ministerial visit to Phuket on March 19-20. The news comes following a brainstorming session in on Tuesday. “We discussed the monorail project, Patong tunnel project, the Convention and Exhibition Center and the airport expansion,” said Phuket Governor Tri…
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Chinese government eyes interest in Phuket light rail
PHUKET: A state enterprise from the People’s Republic of China is the latest party to express interest in investing in Phuket’s light-rail project.An administration and engineering team from Mashucon Co Ltd announced the news in a meeting with Phuket Governor Tri Augaradacha at Provincial Hall yesterday afternoon.Executive Chairman Nopphon Tansakul told the governor that his team came on behalf of…
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Phuket’s Paiboon resigns in shock move
PHUKET: Paiboon Upatising has resigned his position as president of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor). More details about the shock resignation will be revealed at a press conference this afternoon, the Phuket Gazette has been told. Mr Paiboon was elected to office in April 2008, and was cleared of vote-buying allegations by the Appeals Court in Bangkok on September…
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Phuket Video Report: Alleged contract killer surrenders to Phuket police, claims innocence
PHUKET: Phuket businessman Atsadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab, wanted by police for being the mastermind behind the assassination of Phuket newsman Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn early last month, surrendered to police this morning. “I had nothing to do with it. I knew Ae very well. Even when he joined the red shirt protests in Bangkok, he called and asked me for money…
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Phuket Gazette: Bangkok bomb plot update
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok bomb plot deepens PHUKET (The Nation): Iran and Israel dropped diplomatic bombshells on each other yesterday, accusing one another of being behind Tuesday’s bomb blasts in Bangkok. Israel was quick to implicate Iran in the bomb incidents. “The attempted attack in Bangkok proves once again…
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Phuket Gazette: Fisherman murdered by police; 272 prisoners dead; 54 rhinos poached
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sri Lanka police open fire on protesters, killing one PHUKET (News Wires): One demonstrator was killed yesterday morning when police officers opened fire on fishermen who were protesting against fuel prices in northwestern Sri Lanka, local media reported. Thousands of fishermen clashed with police during the…
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