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Roy’s the word at Phuket’s beachside shindig
KARON, PHUKET: Thousands of youngsters converged on Karon Beach last night for the first ever Roy Fest, the island’s new music festival. A hefty dose of Roy – Southern Thai for ‘fun’ – was in the air as a succession of bands and DJs did their thing from an enormous stage erected by the beach road. The rain that had…
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Phuket businesses face software inspection raids
PHUKET: Computers used in Phuket businesses will be targeted in raids by modern bounty hunters on the lookout for unlicensed copies of software from October 26 onwards.Under intellectual property rights legislation, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) will be sending inspectors acting on behalf of copyright holders to search offices, first in Bangkok and then in Phuket, which is a principal…
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Viagra goes to new lengths in Phuket
PHUKET: Viagra will soon be sold in Phuket pharmacies following a decision by Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The drug was previously only available through hospitals or illegally on the black market.The drug, sildenafil citrate, most commonly known under the Pfizer company trade name ‘Viagra’, alleviates erectile dysfunction syndrome (EDS or male impotence).In a bid to stem the illegal sale…
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Phuket Gazette Poll Results: Prevent drownings with better safety campaign
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette readers favor a tourist information campaign as the most effective way to prevent drownings on Phuket’s beaches, according to the last Gazette Poll. Of 806 readers who voted, 34 percent thought a campaign warning of the dangers of swimming in the sea was the best way to prevent more deaths. Thai nationals were only 25 percent in favor…
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Phuket sea gypsies to get Bt2mn culture center
RASSADA, PHUKET: A two-million-baht cultural center at a sea gypsy village close to Phuket City has been given the go-ahead, a spokesman for the Phuket Provincial Culture Office announced on Tuesday.Planning for the Urak Lawoi Culture Center at Ban Tukkae sea gypsy village on Koh Sireh, in Tambon Rassada, is still in its early stages and a contractor has yet…
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Autism treatment success at Phuket hospital
PHUKET CITY: Vachira Phuket Hospital says it is successfully treating children with autism using a treatment known as ‘hyperbaric oxygen therapy’ (HBOT). HBOT patients spend periods inside a ‘hyperbaric chamber’ – the same sort of high-pressure oxygen chamber commonly used by divers for decompression and treatment of the bends. Parents of children who have completed a course of HBOT at…
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Crown Prince arrives in Phuket today
PHUKET: HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, together with Royal Consort HRH Princess Srirasmi and HRH Prince Teepangkorn Rasmichoti, arrives in Phuket today on an unofficial visit.The Crown Prince and his family will leave the island at 3pm on September 29 via Phuket International Airport, where he will grant an audience to the people.Anyone who wants to attend is advised to…
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Bids invited for Phuket jet-ski insurance contract
PHUKET CITY: Insurance companies have 15 days to submit bids for a contract to insure every jet-ski on Phuket, it was announced at the latest ‘jet-ski summit’ at Phuket Provincial Hall today. By November 8 – thirty days after the bid deadline – every operator in Phuket will have to apply for insurance or stop doing business. For our previous…
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Huge contingent of US sailors arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: Almost 7,000 US Navy sailors arrived in Phuket this afternoon on board the enormous aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, as well as the USS Chancellorsville and the USS Gridley.The crew will enjoy five days of R&R on Phuket – though they have been forbidden from using the island’s increasingly infamous jet-skis.Look out for a report from on board the…
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Phuket people wish His Majesty a speedy recovery
PHUKET: Following His Majesty the King’s admission to Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok on Saturday, a book has been placed outside the Phuket Governor’s office at Phuket Provincial Hall for people to sign and wish His Majesty well. According to statements issued by the Royal Household Bureau, His Majesty was admitted to Siriraj Hospital with a high fever and has been…
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OPINION: Let computers deal with Phuket’s jet-skis
PHUKET: Wouldn’t it be better if Phuket’s government were turned over to computers? Surely an application exists whereby, having keyed in the facts, viable results emerge. As it is, local government tends to tip-toe around decision-making until matters are manifestly out-of-hand. Let’s take as a case in point the current eruption involving jet-skis precipitated by a YouTube video-clip showing a…
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Wake for Bill Owen
RAWAI, PHUKET: A wake will be held at Nikitas on the Rawai beach road tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 22) for long term Phuket resident Bill Owen, who died on Tuesday last week. Mr Owen, a popular entrepreneur who made his home on Phuket for more than 20 years, died in a hospital in Swansea, South Wales after a battle with…
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Norwegian tourist drowns in calm waters off Phuket
WICHIT, PHUKET: An elderly Norwegian tourist drowned off Phuket in calm waters yesterday after the lilo she was sunbathing on drifted out to sea. Oslo native Jorunn Olden, 65, was on vacation with her husband in Ao Yon, on Phuket’s east coast, when the tragedy struck. Witnesses told Phuket City Police Inspector Anek Mongkol they saw her drift out at…
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Pedal power proves popular in Phuket
PHUKET: Environmental awareness was given a boost in Phuket on Sunday when about 250 Phuket cyclists took a tour of the island in support of Phuket Car Free Day.The cyclists, all dressed in orange shirts provided by Phuket City Municipality, pushed off from Phuket Provincial Hall at 9am with a send-off from Phuket Provincial Energy Office director Jirasak Thommayet.The cyclists…
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Turtle found dead on Phuket’s Patong Beach
PATONG, PHUKET: A sea turtle was found dead on Patong Beach in front of Impiana Phuket Cabana Resort & Spa about 6am on Saturday. The olive ridley turtle, found by members of the hotel staff, measured about 50cm long by 43cm wide. Marine Biologist Phaothep Cherdsukjai from the Phuket Marine Biological Center at Cape Panwa said he expected “the turtle…
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Phuket gears up for the ‘ultimate beach party’
KARON, PHUKET: Phuket is about to witness the birth of its very own dance music festival – ‘Roy Fest’, which debuts on Karon Beach this weekend. In Southern Thai, ‘roy‘ means ‘fun’, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is hoping the more than 50 international DJs and musicians it has booked for Roy Fest will help the party live…
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Phuket’s reds and yellows rallying today
PHUKET: More than 100 of Phuket’s red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) activists have taken buses to Bangkok to join today’s pro-Thaksin Shinawatra rally in front of Government House. Meanwhile, the island’s yellow-shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) members have headed to Sisaket province to a protest at the Cambodian border, close to the disputed Preah Viharn temple. Around…
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Phuket workshop prepares for disaster
PATONG, PHUKET: “How can communities best prepare themselves for disaster?” was the question posed to participants at an international workshop held earlier this week in Patong.The Sixth Practitioners’ Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia and the Pacific was held over three days, September 15-17, and brought together some 190 “influential people” from 26 countries – representing governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and…
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Phuket jet-skis: agreement reached on insurance scheme
PATONG, PHUKET: Phuket jet-ski operators will have to get accident insurance for their vehicles or cease doing business on Phuket’s beaches, it was agreed at the key ‘jet-ski summit’ in Patong today. Inside the packed meeting hall at Patong Municipality today were Vice Governor Smith Palawatvichai, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong, Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark, Deputy Mayor of…
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Swine flu crisis abating in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Thanks to continuing measures to prevent the spread of swine flu, Phuket’s authorities believe the crisis is abating. Rapid spread this year of the flu, formally identified as ‘novel influenza virus A (H1N1)’, led the World Health Organization (WHO) – for the first time since 1968’s Hong Kong flu – to declare a global pandemic. In Phuket, two…
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Old Phuket’s restoration enters new phase
PHUKET CITY: Work to restore Phuket City’s Thalang Road to its former glory is gathering pace, with the launch of a new project to re-open the disused Chinese-style arcades that line the historic street. The arched corridors, known in Hokkien Chinese as ‘ngorkakee‘, form part of the design of many of Old Phuket Town’s Sino-Portuguese shophouse buildings. In former times…
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World’s oldest man a teenager again
PHUKET: The world’s oldest living man, Luang Pu Supha, a revered abbot who lives in Chalong, Phuket, is celebrating his 113th birthday today. His landmark birthday makes him a teenager for the second time. The festivities are taking place at his Phuket temple, just off Chao Fa Road West in Chalong. Luang Pu Supha is reputed to have been born on…
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Phuket UFOs still a mystery – or are they?
PHUKET CITY: The Department of Medical Sciences in Bangkok continues to puzzle over the small transparent spheres a Phuket family claim ‘dropped from the sky’ onto their roof earlier this month. Spokesperson Wiriya Panwat told the Gazette, “We still don’t know what they are,” adding that the results of the department’s tests on the objects would not be released until…
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One-Two-Go crash remembered on Phuket
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: On the second anniversary of the One-Two-Go air crash at Phuket International Airport [PIA], two survivors of the accident held a private ceremony of remembrance on the island today.Marcel Squinobal and Christoph Salchetti, who were both on the plane when it crashed, flew all the way from Germany to pay their respects to their friends Andreas Adelhard and Sabine Schumacher,…
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Gazette Online tops Google for Phuket
PHUKET: As the result of a recent fine tuning in the way Google ranks the “importance” (popularity) of websites around the world, the Gazette Online is now tie for Number One with Phuket.Com for sites in or about Phuket. With a Google ranking of ‘6’, the two sites share the highest rating Google confers for Phuket, and they are the…
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No ban on Phuket marinas
PHUKET: Asked by a number of readers to check on a report that there is now a ban on further marina and pier development projects in Phuket, the Gazette has today obtained confirmations that such is not the case. According to both the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) and the Office of the Governor of Phuket, with whom…
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A Life Remembered”¦ A tribute to Keith Floyd
PHUKET: Following the death of renowned celebrity chef Keith Floyd in the UK earlier this week, a memorial moment will be held on Thursday evening at Floyd’s Brasserie, Burasari Resort in Patong. The memorial event is scheduled from 5pm to 7pm. Drinks and snacks will be available and there will be a video presentation of the late chef. Guests will…
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Trawling fingered as threat to Phuket dolphins
PHUKET: Trawling by fishermen in the seas off Phuket and other parts of Thailand has led, it is charged, to the deaths of around 20 dolphins since the beginning of this year.Two more turned up dead last week in Satun province, on the southern border with Malaysia, and one was found on Saturday, badly injured in the surf off Nai…
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Phuket coastal developments under scrutiny
PHUKET: Phuket governor Wichai Phraisa-ngob has backed concerns raised in an environmental impact assessment report that claims continued, unchecked development of Phuket coastal areas would destroy marine life and negatively impact local communities.The governor’s comments came after the release of the report last week compiled by a panel of Phuket-based environmental experts, including scientists from the Phuket Marine Biological Center…
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Phuket based celebrity chef Keith Floyd passes away
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has learned that Phuket-based celebrity chef Keith Floyd, owner of Floyd’s Brasserie at Burasari Resort Patong, Phuket, has died following a heart attack on Monday at his home in Dorset in the UK.He was 65 years old. — Gazette Reporters
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