News
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Wondering if you can drink the tap water in Thailand? From brushing your teeth to filling up a bottle, it’s helpful to understand a few basics. Tap water safety in Thailand varies by location, and while some people use it...
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Phuket’s baby elephants under investigation
PHUKET: Three elephant camps in Phuket are being investigated after concerns were raised about the origins of the baby elephants in their possession. Officers of Central Investigation Bureau of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok investigated Phuthai Souvenir Market in Chalong, ATV Elephant Camp near the Big Buddha image in Karon and Sheraton Camp in Cheng Talay to determine if…
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Phuket resort worker, 20, dies in 4-vehicle hit-and-run
PHUKET: One person died and another was seriously injured in a four-vehicle hit-and-run accident on Patak Road in Karon before dawn today. Just after midnight, Chalong Police received a report that there was an accident on Patak Road involving one truck, one van full of Chinese tourists and two motorbikes. Chalong Police Captain Nitikorn Rawang and Phuket Ruamjai Kupai Foundation…
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Dr Smith warns of tsunami risk in Phuket, Andaman region
PHUKET: The man whose warnings of a possible tsunami disaster along Thailand’s Andaman coast went unheeded years before the 2004 calamity struck was in Phuket recently, urging a national assembly of school administrators to be prepared for more possible disasters in 2012. Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, former Director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), was guest speaker for a gathering…
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Phuket Civil Defense Volunteer dead at the wheel
PHUKET: A Phuket City Civil Defense Volunteer died at the wheel of his car yesterday, possibly even before he crashed the car into a metalworks shop in Chalong at 3am. Police at the scene suspect the driver, Apinun “Nun” Chaibandit, 48, suffered a heart attack just before the crash. The shop workers escaped harm by jumping out of the way…
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Weekend weather forecast for Phuket
PHUKET: The weekend weather forecast for Phuket calls for good beach weather, with partly-cloudy skies, calm seas and a only a small chance of showers. According to Thai Meteorological Department, there is a chance of widely scattered thundershowers over 10% of the island for today, rising to 20% coverage tomorrow and 30% on Sunday. Seas should be calm, with easterly…
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Phuket officials braced for Valentine wedding blitz
PHUKET: Love is in the air at the Muang District Office, where workers expect to issue marriage certificates to about 150 Phuket couples on Valentine’s Day. Phuket Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanukul told the Phuket Gazette, “We first started paying special attention to how many certificates we issued on Valentine’s Day in 2010, when I started working here.” “We registered…
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Phuket Gazette: India – Leopard kills girl; Student stabs teacher; Bus crash kills 26
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Leopard kills fifth girl in western Nepal PHUKET (News Wires): A teenage girl was killed by a leopard in the district of Baitadi in western Nepal on Wednesday, the fifth such incident in two months, local media reported yesterday. The 14-year-old girl was mauled to death…
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Former monk arrested for drugs in Phuket
PHUKET: A former monk was one of six suspects arrested in drug raids in Kathu, Phuket earlier this week. Following a tip-off that a man living in a hut had been selling drugs to local youths, a Thung Thong Police drug suppression unit on Sunday raided the dwelling, located in a rubber plantation near Bang Wad Reservoir in Kathu. They…
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English teacher reported missing in Phuket
PHUKET: The mother Mark Robson, a 27-year-old with British and South African nationality, is seeking help to find her son who went missing in Phuket last month. Mr Robson arrived in Thailand from Durban on December 5. After short stays in Bangkok, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui in mid-December, he stayed in Phuket. He was in regular email contact with…
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Phuket Gazette: Oracle buys Taleo; PepsiCo cuts 8,700 jobs; Air traffic double; Dreamliner fuels Thai growth
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Oracle to buy Taleo for US$2.9 billion PHUKET (news Wires): Multinational tech company Oracle yesterday announced that it has agreed to acquire Taleo Corporation for approximately US$2.9bn. The Board of Directors of Taleo, a leading provider of cloud-based talent management, unanimously approved the transaction which is…
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Rooney votes Redknapp
PHUKET: “Gutted Capello has quit. Good guy and top coach. Got to be English to replace him. Harry Redknapp for me.” Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney expressed his opinion on Twitter yesterday about the resignation of Fabio Capello as England’s football coach and said that Spurs boss Redknapp is his choice to take over the role. Capello quit on Thursday…
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Phuket Gazette: Ministers without porno?; Toxic bootleg liquor; Fighter jet crashes
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Three Indian ministers resign after porno scandal PHUKET (News Wires): Three ministers in southwestern India resigned yesterday after being accused of watching pornography during a debate in the state’s assembly, local media reported today. Women and child development minister CC Patil and cooperation minister Laxman Savadi,…
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Phuket Police nab alleged pickup thief in Thalang
PHUKET: It took Phuket Police just half an hour to arrest a suspect for the theft of a pickup in Thalang District this morning. They think the man may have been deranged or under the influence of drugs. Cherng Talay Police were notified of the theft of the pickup truck at 10:30am by vehicle owner Sakhon Chalermwanphenyo. Mr Sakhon said…
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Crime and Phuket Tourism: Getting it into context
PHUKET: In an editorial in August last year, the Phuket Gazette asked readers to consider whether or not our island’s tourism industry would die from all the deaths. The deaths referred not only to violent crime but also to more ‘natural’ events such as drowning and road fatalities. But crime was of course the focus amid a wave of murders…
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Phuket Gazette: Military options in Syria; Drone kills 10; Medical TV drama ‘House’ to end
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Report: U.S. reviewing military options in Syria to end conflictPHUKET (News Wires): The U.S. government has begun a preliminary internal review of U.S. military capabilities in Syria in the event U.S. President Barack Obama calls for them, senior administration officials told CNN.The officials, speaking on the condition…
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Phuket update: Volunteers continue sea search for missing Aussie
PHUKET: Friends of an Australian woman who fell overboard from a yacht sailing to Phuket late last week are not giving up hope that she may still be alive and are calling on volunteers to continue the search off the coast of Trang. Australian national Carmel Brooks is known to have fallen overboard from the sailboat Moondancer last Thursday night…
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Phuket Gazette: EU’s aviation agency orders Airbus A380 wing inspection
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community EU’s aviation agency orders Airbus A380 wing inspection PHUKET (News Wires): The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) yesterday issued a mandate to further inspect the wings of all Airbus A380 aircraft currently in service. The published Airworthiness Directive to mandate a so-called High Frequency Eddy Current…
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Contador is beaten by meat
PHUKET: “The simple fact is that anyone who has a prohibited substance in their system is a cheat.” John Fahey, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said that champion Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador should now be considered a “cheat” after being found guilty of doping, having tested positive for clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France. The Spaniard was handed…
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Phuket tour buses: Two hurt in yet another crash
PHUKET: Another Phuket tour bus, this time carrying a group of Chinese tourists, crashed at the base of Patong Hill last night, injuring two people and causing extensive property damage. The single deck bus was carrying about 18 tourists when its braking system failed coming down Phra Barami Road, near Suwankiriwong Temple, at about 7pm. The bus continued straight along…
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Phuket Sports: Cricket ground is bowled over by plaudits
PHUKET: Sport enjoys more than its fair share of ceremony from presentations to event openings and their eventual finales.Every one of these occasions first heralds, then celebrates the victorious and also commiserates with those that will have to try again, in order to achieve that title, trophy or winning time. Leopard attack bowler.One sporting occasion that inspires hope and limitless…
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Samui hideaway secret unveiled
PHUKET: Ready to lift the veil on Koh Samui’s “best-kept secret”, the boutique Akaryn Samui is set to welcome its first guests next month. As the fourth and latest venture by Thailand hospitality pioneer Anchalika Kijkanakorn, the Akaryn Samui looks to redefine the boutique resort experience. The largely undiscovered, Hanuman Bay is a pristine crescent cove with a 500-meter powder…
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Bob Brindley passes away in Phuket
PHUKET: Friends and family of Bob Brindley are mourning his passing in Phuket on Sunday. Grenville Fordham, commodore of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC), informed members of the club of Mr Brindley’s passing with the following announcement: “It is with great regret that I have to inform you that one of ACYC’s staunchest supporters and valued members, Bob Brindley,…
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Search for missing Phuket girl hits two-month mark
PHUKET: The mother of a Phuket girl who went missing after a Facebook session over two months ago continues to devote all her energies to locating her child. Samruay Saenthaweesuk, mother of 12-year-old Samudchaya “Nong Pin” Yanpunya, spoke with the Gazette yesterday. “I went to Bangkok for help. I went to The Mirror Foundation, Pavena Foundation for Children and Women…
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Phuket Gazette: Shark attacks surge; Iran grabs ‘BBC journalists’; Teacher facing death for drugs; Five missing in Japan tunnel collapse
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Study: Shark attack deaths worldwide highest since 1993 PHUKET (News Wires): Sharks killed at least a dozen people worldwide last year, the highest number in nearly two decades, according to statistics released by the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) at the University of Florida on Tuesday.…
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Aussie woman falls overboard from yacht near Phuket
PHUKET: Friends of an Australian woman who fell overboard from a yacht on its way to Phuket last Thursday, and who is still missing, are puzzled as to how such an accident could have occurred. Michelle Black, a friend of the woman, said Dr Gerald Goeden and his partner Carmel Brookes were sailing from Lankawai Island to Phuket aboard the…
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Phuket Gazette: 12,000 tweets per second; Victory for Giants & Madonna; Whales sue SeaWorld
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Twitter users post more than 12,000 tweets per second during Super Bowl PHUKET (News Wires): Twitter users posted more than 12,000 tweets per second during the last moments of the Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, the company said yesterday. It is one of the highest ever…
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Another child drowns at Phuket’s ‘lethal lagoon’
PHUKET: The drowning death of another child at Nai Harn Lagoon in Phuket over the weekend is causing authorities to consider closing the popular recreational area to swimming. The latest victim, six-year-old Supathanwa Choophuek, was reportedly alive when Nai Harn Beach lifeguards pulled him from the water on Sunday, but he died later at Vachira Phuket Hospital. Nai Harn lifeguard…
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Civil servant seeks missing mom in Phuket
PHUKET: A civil servant in Nakhon Ratchasima is appealing to the public for help in finding his mother, last seen in Phuket in early June last year. Kriengsak Muangkod, the Director of Bureau of Rural Roads Region 5 Office in Nakhon Ratchasima, said his 65-year-old mother Boonna Muangkod was last seen at his niece’s home in Karon on June 3…
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Phuket ‘White Prison’ raid reveals rectal stashing of telephones
PHUKET: More than 200 officers conducted a surprise inspection at Phuket Provincial Prison yesterday as part of an effort to gain “White Prison” status, said Phuket Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon. The search for drugs was carried out at 5am by officers drawn from all units of the Phuket police, who also targeted mobile telephones, some of which had been smuggled…
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Swedish tourist drowns across the bay from Phuket
PHUKET: An elderly Swedish woman was found dead in the waters off Ao Nang in Krabi yesterday, one of many recent drownings in Phuket and Krabi.The unnamed 68-year-old, was found face down 10 meters off of Long Beach in Ao Nang at about 1:00pm, said Muang Krabi Police Lt Niwat Timket.“Our tentative investigation revealed that she had been staying in…
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