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  • Krabi Police not to investigate British “sex attack’ claims – for now

    Krabi Police not to investigate British “sex attack’ claims – for now

    PHUKET: The police officer investigating the vicious gang attack in Krabi last Monday night has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that – at this stage – he is not investigating any allegations of an attempted rape . The news follows British tourist Jack Daniel Cole being reported as saying that “he feared the gang – mostly young men with perhaps…

  • Experts say don’t panic over supernova, superior conjunction

    Experts say don’t panic over supernova, superior conjunction

    PHUKET: Scientists at the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Narit) have dismissed fears of any devastating effects of the Saturn-Sun-Earth constellation alignment, which began on Thursday and is expected to affect the Earth for the next four weeks. “This is a simple phenomenon called a ‘superior conjunction’. It happens every 378 days,” explained Dr Utane Sawangwit, of Narit’s Research…

  • First female double World Champion to race at Laguna Phuket’s Ironman

    First female double World Champion to race at Laguna Phuket’s Ironman

    PHUKET: Leanda Cave, the recently-crowned 2012 Ironman and Ironman 70.3 triathlon double World Champion, has confirmed that she will compete in the Ironman 70.3 Laguna Phuket on December 2. Ms Cave of Great Britain, is the first woman, and only the second triathlete, to win both World Championship titles in the same year. She sits atop a stellar line-up of…

  • Smooth sailing in Phuket Dinghy Series second race

    Smooth sailing in Phuket Dinghy Series second race

    PHUKET: The second race of the 2012 Phuket Dinghy Series took place this weekend off Bang Tao Beach’s Bliss Beach Club. Organized by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, the event featured 16 Optimists and four Lasers competing for the Act II title, with the boats amassing points in the three-event series. Stunning blue skies and calm seas set the scene…

  • Phuket FC prevails: 4-0 win over JW Rangsit ensures division survival

    Phuket FC prevails: 4-0 win over JW Rangsit ensures division survival

    PHUKET: The Islanders ended their season in great form, sealing their Thai Division 1 status with a 4-0 win over JW Rangsit FC on Saturday night. Going into the final match of the season, 13th-placed Phuket were under pressure to win in order to avoid relegation. Meanwhile, their 16th-placed opponents — third from bottom of the 18-team table — had…

  • U.S. Election campaign heats up in eye of the storm

    U.S. Election campaign heats up in eye of the storm

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney campaigned feverishly in closely contested battleground states yesterday but changed travel plans to avoid Hurricane Sandy, the massive storm approaching the U.S. East Coast. With just 10 days before Election Day and polls showing the national race a dead…

  • ‘Mentally unstable’ man found dead with knife in neck

    ‘Mentally unstable’ man found dead with knife in neck

    PHUKET: A man was found with a knife in his neck after witnesses claimed to have seen him pouring petrol around his rented one-room house and attempting to light it on fire today.Thalang Police duty officer Somkit Kaosung received a report at about 10:30am of a “mentally unstable” man pouring petrol around the house, north of Phuket Town.Arriving at the…

  • Power to the Phuket people

    Power to the Phuket people

    PHUKET: The official launch of the Koh Kaew transformer station on Friday marked a much needed power boost, said Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sungkaosuthirak at the opening ceremony.The station opened by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is looking to almost double the megawatts the Phuket power system is currently handling, EGAT director Sutad Pattamasiriwat announced.“The main objective is…

  • Fireworks row ignites corruption scandal

    Fireworks row ignites corruption scandal

    PHUKET: Winai Chidchiew, the chief of Karon Subdistrict (Kamnan), has found himself amid another corruption scandal, this time over allegedly threatening municipal officers into allowing firework displays to be held late at night, while facing allegations of paying bribes to the Chalong Police.Kamnan Winai found himself in the center of corruption allegations involving the Chalong Police last year, when he…

  • National anti-drug campaign targets three high-risk Phuket areas

    National anti-drug campaign targets three high-risk Phuket areas

    PHUKET: The national anti-drug initiative “X-ray every inch over a 90-day period” will take hold of Phuket starting November 1, Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada announced at Provincial Hall on Thursday.The aims of the project are to get treatment for existing drug addicts, solve family issues associated with drug addiction, and prevent people from becoming criminals to feed their drug habit,…

  • Patong gambling den raid fails to come up trumps

    Patong gambling den raid fails to come up trumps

    PHUKET: Patong Police and about 50 Kathu Territorial Defense volunteers stormed a venue thought to be a “huge” casino in Phuket’s main tourist town only to “go bust” and be forced to leave the premises without a single chip.Acting on information received though the Prime Minister’s Office’s Complaint Center from anonymous local residents, police and Territorial Defense Volunteers descended on…

  • Phuket Sports: Futsal World Cup

    Phuket Sports: Futsal World Cup

    PHUKET: The War Elephants charge into the Futsal World Cup hoping to restore some pride after the embarrassment of Thailand’s failure to adequately prepare for the event. The sport’s most prestigious tournament starts November 1 with the host nation’s first game against Costa Rica, but it won’t be at the new indoor futsal arena. The center piece 12,000-seat stadium in…

  • Phuket Sports: Olympic medalist comes to Phuket

    Phuket Sports: Olympic medalist comes to Phuket

    PHUKET: Two-time Olympic medalist David Davies spoke to the Phuket Gazette about his upcoming trip to Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club to teach a Swimming Stroke Clinic tomorrow.Phuket Gazette: What brings you to Phuket and will this be your first time in Thailand?David Davies: It will be my first time in Thailand. Following my third consecutive Olympics, I thought I’d…

  • Phuket Sports: F1 – change, crowds and customs

    Phuket Sports: F1 – change, crowds and customs

    PHUKET: Sebastian Vettel’s victory in the Korean Grand Prix allowed him to take the Drivers’ Championship lead from Fernando Alonso. Vettel now has a six-point lead and is on track for his third consecutive title. Korea was Vettel’s third successive victory and he is the first driver to win four races this season. His teammate Mark Webber was second in…

  • Phuket FC Season finale: all or nothing

    Phuket FC Season finale: all or nothing

    PHUKET: The Islander’s Head Coach Anurak Srikerd has vowed to fans that he will run nine circles around the main ordination hall of Wat Chalong on Sunday morning if Phuket FC prevail in their final match of the season this evening.He did not say, however, what he would do if the Islanders don’t prevail in the match, a home-fixture to…

  • Sydictive “super new year Phuket beach bash’ still to jump bureaucratic hoops

    Sydictive “super new year Phuket beach bash’ still to jump bureaucratic hoops

    PHUKET: Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Administration Organization (OrBorTor), today expressed uncertainty as to whether the new year’s extravaganza would take place as promoted. The event received much publicity by the arrival of Paris Hilton in Bangkok this week to promote the high-profile ‘beach bash’ to take place at Surin Beach from December 30 to January 1. Mr…

  • Krabi teens claim stabbing of British tourist was a “misunderstanding’

    Krabi teens claim stabbing of British tourist was a “misunderstanding’

    PHUKET: Two teenagers who confessed to attacking a British tourist in Krabi on Monday have claimed that they “misunderstood” the foreigner’s actions and thought he was insulting them.The victim, Daniel Cole, 21, has already undergone surgery for the cut wounds to his temple, chest, right shoulder and right arm and is recovering at Bangkok Hospital Phuket.Anusorn Kullak, 18, and his…

  • Phuket Rotary Fair to mark 35 years

    Phuket Rotary Fair to mark 35 years

    PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Phuket will mark its 35th anniversary by holding a Rotary Fair at Saphan Hin on November 3 to 9. “The objective of the fair is to promote the community development projects and activities that the Rotary Club members and volunteers contribute to the local community. We will also have fund-raising activities to help support our…

  • Phuket tour van flips in rush hour

    Phuket tour van flips in rush hour

    PHUKET: A Phuket tour van flipped onto its side in rush hour traffic this evening while swerving to avoid a cement truck that cut across its lane.Luckily, the van was empty of passengers and the driver escaped injury.“The van driver said he was driving northbound along Thepkrasattri Road, heading toward the airport, when a cement truck cut into his lane,”…

  • Chinese Consul-General raises tourist safety concerns with Phuket Governor

    Chinese Consul-General raises tourist safety concerns with Phuket Governor

    PHUKET: Chinese Consul-General Xu Mingliang yesterday raised the issue of tourist safety with Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut while personally welcoming the recently installed governor to office. Xu Mingliang, a regular visitor to Phuket, heads the Chinese Consulate in Songkhla, which is also responsible for Chinese nationals in Phuket and the other Andaman provinces. “Thailand and China have a long history…

  • Similan Islands to undergo ‘spring cleaning’ before re-opening

    Similan Islands to undergo ‘spring cleaning’ before re-opening

    PHUKET: National Park officers, private business operators and locals are set to join forces for a two day beach and reef cleanup at the Similan Islands before the national park re-opens for the tourism high season on November 1.“We want people to realize the importance of preserving the marine ecosystem and feel that it is truly their responsibility to protect…

  • Phuket Business: Property executives heed warning

    Phuket Business: Property executives heed warning

    PHUKET: The island’s property market continues to grow with a high number of new apartments, condominiums and small hotels in line for approval.This “rising boom” sets the stage for the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community), which will come into effect in 2015. The Phuket Real Estate Association (PREA) recently held an “Executive Dinner Talk” at the Boat Lagoon Resort, inviting Songkran…

  • Phuket Business: Food and energy inflation soaring

    Phuket Business: Food and energy inflation soaring

    PHUKET: Once again, raw data from the Commerce Ministry has affirmed that the South, and particularly Phuket, continues to be “hotter” – in terms of the cost of living – than elsewhere in the Kingdom. The Phuket Commerce Office, in conjunction with the Commerce Ministry’s Bureau of Trade and Economic Indices, recently published the Provincial Consumer Price Index (CPI-P) for…

  • Phuket’s largest readership base brought to bear on expat forum

    Phuket’s largest readership base brought to bear on expat forum

    PHUKET: Phuket’s largest online community just got bigger this morning with its merger into the newly launched Phuket Forum Dot Net. Powered by the Gazette Online, Google’s top-ranked website for Phuket (Source: Google Analytics), the new forum draws from a current daily readership base greater than all other local news outlets combined. All stories appearing in the Gazette Online appear…

  • Local input “critical’ to public awareness campaigns: Online Poll

    Local input “critical’ to public awareness campaigns: Online Poll

    PHUKET: Having local residents and local Thai officials involved in public-awareness campaigns, such as the Go Eco Phuket’s “Dive Against Debris” underwater cleanup last month, is critical to their success, according to a recent online poll by the Phuket Gazette. Following the “Dive Against Debris” reef cleanup, which set a record as the largest single simultaneous dive “cleanup” event in…

  • Phuket Vegetarian Festival ends with a bang

    Phuket Vegetarian Festival ends with a bang

    PHUKET: Thousands of people lined the streets of Phuket Town last night as the Vegetarian Festival drew to a close with street processions arriving at Saphan Hin for the midnight finale.Devotees from all participating Chinese shrines in Phuket carried images of the Jade Emperor and the Nine Emperor Gods on palanquins as firecrackers blazed a protected path for the esteemed…

  • Three dead as family car returning from Vegetarian Festival slams into tree

    Three dead as family car returning from Vegetarian Festival slams into tree

    PHUKET: Three people are dead and a mother and her two children are in hospital after the car they were traveling home in from the Phuket Vegetarian Festival slammed into a tree late yesterday afternoon.Duty officer Eakkaphob Phoothong of the Takua Thung Police in Phang Nga received a report of the accident at about 4pm.At the scene, about 500 meters…

  • Phuket mother returns to nurse abandoned newborn

    Phuket mother returns to nurse abandoned newborn

    PHUKET: The mother who abandoned her newborn girl, delivered into the world at Thalang Hospital last Friday, has returned to the hospital to nurse her child. However, she has yet to decide whether she will keep the baby. “The mother’s still sick – very tired,’ said Phuket Provincial Health Office Deputy Director Wiwat Seetamonotch this afternoon. “She has had no…

  • Paris Hilton hails Phuket New Year’s beach party

    Paris Hilton hails Phuket New Year’s beach party

    PHUKET: Hotel heiress Paris Hilton dropped into Bangkok for her first visit to the Kingdom yesterday to publicly endorse the Sydictive Element New Year’s party set for Phuket’s Surin Beach. The New Year’s Eve bash will run from December 30 to the first sunrise of 2013, and has already booked a number of world-class artists and DJs, including Basement Jaxx,…

  • Delegation pitches Phuket ICEC review to PM Yingluck in Samui

    Delegation pitches Phuket ICEC review to PM Yingluck in Samui

    PHUKET: A delegation from Phuket yesterday lobbied Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to review the decision by Cabinet to shelve the 2.6-billion-baht project to build an international convention and exhibition center (ICEC) in Phuket. As PM Yingluck arrived to attend the mobile Cabinet meeting on Koh Samui this morning, Boonsupaa Tanthai, president of the Rak Phuket Club (“We Love Phuket Club”),…