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Sponsored Siam Paragon celebrates 'A Prosperous Chinese New Year 2025'
Siam Paragon, in collaboration with KASIKORNBANK, is hosting a spectacular Lunar New Year celebration, Siam Paragon A Prosperous Chinese New Year 2025, from today until February 2, at Parc Paragon. This year’s event is inspired by the rich heritage of Dunhuang,...
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Boxing title fight to raise funds for Phuket sea turtle research
PHUKET: A World Boxing Organization (WBO) title fight will take place at Nai Yang Beach next month to raise funds for sea turtle preservation projects in Phuket and other provinces along the Andaman coast.Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Government Spokesman Prompong Nopparit and other dignitaries announced the five-bout card that will take place in Sakoo on July 6.The two-hour event will…
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Land grab probe targets “Ocean View 16′
PHUKET: THE Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) will recommend that legal charges be pressed against 16 current and former Phuket officials, all alleged to have conspired to encroach on state forest land high in the Kamala Hills north of Patong Beach.PACC Secretary-General Dusadee Arayawuth on Monday led his team and members of the media to the disputed site, which covers…
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Tourist fights for life after near-drowning in Phuket
PHUKET: A foreign tourist who was swimming in an area marked by red warning flags was pulled from the water off Nai Harn Beach yesterday afternoon and rushed unconscious to Vachira Phuket Hospital. Jula Nontree, chief lifeguard for Kata, Karon, Nai Harn and Patong Beaches, told the Phuket Gazette that the incident occurred in front of the Phuket Yacht Club…
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Trailer overturns on Phuket Town bypass road
PHUKET: A tractor trailer overturned on the bypass road skirting Phuket Town late this afternoon, leaving the road surface covered in energy drink and creating a tailback. No injuries were reported.Rawin Hangnark, the 42-year-old driver of the cab and flatbed rig, told the Phuket Gazette he was travelling in the left southbound lane en route to Chalong with two other…
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Scrappy Phuket FC beat Bangkok FC, 2-1
PHUKET: Phuket FC recorded their first home win of the season last night with a scrappy 2-1 win over mid-table side Bangkok FC. Despite gorgeous weather, only 1,200 paying fans turned up for the 6:30pm kickoff at Surakul Stadium, which got a number of improvements thanks to its recent hosting of the 28th National Youth Games. The most notable of…
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Somjai re-elected Phuket City Mayor
PHUKET: The preliminary vote count inyesterday’s Phuket City Municipality elections show that SomjaiSuwansupana has been re-elected as Phuket City Mayor, with 11,477votes from the 15,786 voters who showed up at the polls. Ms Somjai, the only candidate in theelection for Phuket City Mayor, received 34.75 per cent of the totalnumber of votes available in the electorate, which is more than…
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Phuket annual Prison Fair underway
PHUKET: The ninth annual Prison Products Fair is underway at Saphan Hin. On display and for sale is a wide range of hand-made products crafted by prison inmates from 14 provincial prisons across the southern region as part of their vocational skills training. “The fair is held to show prisoner’s works to the public. It is made possible by cooperation…
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Phuket Light Rail: All stop at feasibility studies
PHUKET: The Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) will ignore all feasibility studies conducted by companies that have expressed interest in developing a light-rail system in Phuket. Thenews was delivered by Kobkul Motana, the assistant director of the Bureau of Regional Transport and Traffic Promotion under of the Ministry of Transport’s OTP department, on Friday. Ata meeting…
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Phuket Opinion: Corruption and the duality of man
PHUKET: Every now and then, local officials do things that either stun the Phuket Gazette’s readers or slide right past them. The news stories this week about the push to establish a “Chalong Hospital” and the projected opening of the Patong Tunnel both highlight a phenomenon often overlooked – that sometimes officials do have the public interest at heart. Local…
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Phuket FC ready for Bangkok FC tonight
PHUKET: The re-branded Phuket FC “Islanders” hope their new look and a strong fan turnout will help lead them to their first home win of the year this evening against Thai League Division 1 mid-table side Bangkok FC. Phuket FC’s immediate goal is to try to bag three points and begin their climb out of the five-team relegation zone of…
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Canadian sisters found dead in Phi Phi hotel room, poisoning suspected
PHUKET: Police are investigating the cause of death of two Canadian sisters found dead in their hotel room on Phi Phi Island yesterday afternoon. Lt Siwa Saneha of Phi Phi Island Police Station told the Phuket Gazette, “We received a report at about 9pm yesterday, that two tourists’ bodies were found in the same hotel room at the Phi Phi…
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Phuket marks World Blood Donor Day
PHUKET: The Phuket Red Cross this weekend is continuing its donation drive as part of its role in the World Health Organization (WHO) “World Blood Donor Day” campaign. Hundreds of donors turned out at the Phuket Regional Blood Center (RBC), operated by the Phuket Red Cross, on Thursday to mark the WHO international day, observed around the world on June…
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Phuket City top cop transferred
PHUKET: Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai has been transferred to Takua Thung Police Station in Phang Nga province, just north of Phuket.The transfer comes after Col Chote was temporarily suspended from duty on May 5 following allegations of underage staff working in Phuket Town clubs and entertainment venues.Acting Superintendent of Phuket City Police Sakchai Limcharoen also confirmed to the…
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Phuket Health authorities stage airport epidemic control drill
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office, assisted by three airlines, yesterday carried out an exercise aimed at preventing a serious infectious disease spreading among passengers on board an aircraft and then infecting the island’s population.The drill took place in and around Phuket International Airport’s multipurpose building. Personnel and equipment from Business Air, Thai Airways and AirAsia airlines played a part…
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Phuket City Police issue reminder: election alcohol ban in Phuket Town tonight
PHUKET: Phuket City Police Superintendent Sakchai Limcharoen this afternoon reminded operators of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and other entertainment venues in Phuket Town that a ban on the sale of alcohol will come into effect within Phuket City limits from 6pm today. “Due to the Phuket City Municipality election tomorrow, alcohol sales will be banned from 6pm tonight until midnight tomorrow…
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Aussie woman jailed for false rape report in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Court today sentenced a 21-year-old Australian woman to 15 days in jail for falsely reporting that she was raped in Patong on Sunday. In her report to Patong Police, 21-year-old Stevie Rochelle Bamford claimed she was attacked by three men while taking a tuk-tuk back to her hotel at about 2am. However, CCTV footage taken at the…
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Phuket parents appeal for help in finding missing daughter
PHUKET: Distressed parents are appealing for any information that may help locate their missing teenage daughter, Mullika “Nong Fah” Suansan, who disappeared from her Phuket school last Friday morning. Security-camera footage at Muslim Wittaya Phuket School in Koh Kaew, north of Phuket Town, shows 15-year-old Mullika arriving at the school on the school bus, but she failed to show up…
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NEWS UPDATE: Phuket Police to order DNA confirmation of Joshua Shane’s body
PHUKET: Phuket Police will ask the Central Institute of Forensic Science in Bangkok to conduct DNA tests to confirm that the body recovered off Patong Beach yesterday afternoon is that of missing American student Joshua Shane. The institute is headed by the well-known Pornthip Rojanasunand, who spearheaded the huge task of identifying victims of the 2004 tsunami. “Although people close…
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Phuket assault victim left for dead at garbage tip
PHUKET: Phuket Police have launched an investigation after a man with severe head injuries was found, apparently left for dead, at a garbage tip before dawn yesterday. The police were notified of the man’s condition by a passer-by who noticed him, unconscious and bleeding profusely from the head, next to a collection of garbage cans on a dark stretch of…
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Phuket Airport security on the agenda
PHUKET: The fence running along the perimeter of Phuket International Airport does not provide adequate security, Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada told a meeting of about 20 officials this morning.“The road should be closed to traffic, except for people living in the area, who must be issued special passes,” he said.Representatives from Airports of Thailand, the public organization that operates Phuket…
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Phuket police take chainsaws to drug problem
PHUKET: Chainsaw-wielding police took a cut out of the drug-supply in Phuket on yesterday, bringing down several enormous kratom trees on Luang Poh Road. Despite kratom trees being native to Southeast Asia, their leaves have been considered a controlled substance, in the same category as cannabis, since promulgation of the Kratom Act in 1943. The law made planting the tree…
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Phuket officials ramp up ‘child protection’ campaign
PHUKET: A series of raids netting underage youths working at entertainment venues in Phuket Town has prompted Phuket authorities to ramp up their child protection campaign. Members of the various organizations involved in children protection met to discuss recent events and related what measures are being taken to curb the rising trend of youth drug-addiction and wayward behavior. The meeting…
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“Bomb’ suitcase at Phuket bus terminal a false alarm
PHUKET: Phuket City Police responding to a report of an unattended suitcase at the new Phuket bus terminal last night considered the threat serious enough to call in the bomb squad. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Jamroon Plaiduang, and bomb-disposal officers from both Phuket and Thung Song District in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, arrived at the scene at about 9pm. After…
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Re-branded Phuket FC lose 2-0 at Navy
PHUKET: Playing their inaugural league match as the “Islanders”, the re-branded Phuket FC succumbed 2-0 against Royal Thai Navy FC last night in Chonburi. Held at the Royal Navy Stadium on the Satthahib Naval Base, the match was played in front of about 800 fans, including a handful of die-hard Phuket “Hulk” fans who endured the long journey to root…
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Body reported recovered in Phuket search for Joshua Shane
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Police have yet to officially confirm whether a human body reported washed ashore at Kalim Beach this morning is that of missing American student Joshua Shane, who disappeared while swimming in Patong on Tuesday night. Lt Jeerayuth Onthong of the Phuket Marine Police, who headed the search mission, told the Gazette he was notified of the discovery…
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Phuket Prison declared all “White’
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Prison has been declared a “White Prison”, with no cell phones and no drugs to be found within its walls. The news follows six months of inmates, wardens and the prison grounds being searched. The searches failed to turn up any drugs or mobile phones, prison chief Rapin Nichanon announced yesterday.The sustained campaign of searches follows a…
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Phuket rescue mission for US student abandoned
PHUKET: Marine Police this afternoon called off a search-and-rescue mission for US university student Joshua Shane, who is missing and presumed drowned after entering the surf with friends at Patong Beach last night. Pol Lt Jeerayuth Onthong told the Gazette that the search-and-rescue mission for the 21-year-old was called off at 1pm today. Lt Col Rittee Paopan of the Marine…
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Police search for American student missing in Phuket surf
PHUKET: A search party of 20 Phuket Marine Police officers are scouring Patong Bay this morning in search of an American student who disappeared in the surf while swimming late last night.The 21-year-old student, whose name police have yet to release, disappeared at about 10pm while swimming with three friends in front of the Phuket Graceland Resort & Spa, where…
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Phuket Governor petitioned to ’empower’ Coconut Island
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha was yesterday called on by villagers and at least one resort owner to instigate action in getting mains power to Koh Maphrao, better known as “Coconut Island”. Families on the island have to pay at least 3,600 baht a month for diesel to power generators, claim village representatives, while The Village Coconut Island resort has…
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Phuket blackout hits unsuspecting residents
PHUKET: The blackout that affected areas in Chalong for at least six hours yesterday was scheduled and should not have taken residents by surprise, the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority said today.“The Provincial Electricity Authority has been installing high-voltage power cables from the substation to the circuit-breaker system for Soi Yodsanae, so they had to temporarily cut off power supply to…
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