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Is tap water in Thailand safe to consume?
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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Drug Rehab: Phuket ‘camp’ for first-time offenders
PHUKET: Arrested under the ongoing nationwide police crackdown on drugs, 82 first-time offenders in Phuket last week began a voluntary rehab program as part of their suspended sentences. The five-day “camp”, run by the Phuket Heath Office, aims to help first-time offenders kick their habits before they become repeat offenders or get involved in serious drug crimes. “All of them…
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FC Phuket take on Chula tonight
PHUKET: FC Phuket will have a chance to take down top-of-the-table Big Bang Chulalongkorn University FC (BBCU FC) when the two sides take the field at Surakul Stadium tonight in the third weekend of Thai League Division 1 play. BBCU FC are in first with six points, while FC sit two points behind following their being awarded a 2-0 victory…
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Phuket Opinion: Keeping the cops out of the drug business
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette wishes the new City police superintendent the best of luck in his effort to rid Phuket of illegal drug use and police corruption. He is certainly going to need it. It is normal for newly-appointed government officers taking up key posts to state policy objectives, and those of Pol Col Chote Chitchai are irrefutably noble. Col…
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Woman arrested after stashing ya bah pills near Phuket school
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested a woman who stashed close to 2,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills on top of a phone booth in front of a primary school in Phuket Town. At a press conference at Phuket City Police Station today, officers asked the press not to release the identity of the woman as doing so could compromise the ongoing investigation…
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Phuket travelers heading for Japan advised to continue to Bangkok
PHUKET: Following the devastating series of earthquakes and the tsunami that struck Japan’s main island of Honshu earlier today, travelers heading from Phuket to Japan are advised to at least continue their journey to Bangkok, an officer at Phuket International Airport told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon. “All flights [from Phuket] to Bangkok are continuing as scheduled. There are no…
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Phuket caveman to speak at IBAP meeting tonight
PHUKET: Eco-tourism advocate John Gray will be the keynote speaker at tonight’s meeting of the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP). Known as “The Caveman” for his pioneer kayak explorations into the unique karst formations of Phang Nga Bay, Mr Gray has spent 22 years in Phuket, most of it as owner of John Gray Sea Canoe. The Californian is…
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Japan hit by 8.8 earthquake; tsunami strikes coast
TOKYO (BNO NEWS): A series of enormous earthquakes struck off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan early this afternoon, seismologists said, generating large tsunamis that devastated coastlines with warnings for multiple countries. The 8.8-magnitude earthquake at 2:46pm local time (0546 GMT, 12:46 Phuket time) was centered about 179 kilometers east of Sendai in Japan. It struck about 10 kilometers deep,…
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Royal Paradise chosen as Phuket “landmark’ for Earth Hour
PHUKET: THE Royal Paradise Hotel and surrounding businesses in Patong will be plunged into darkness for one hour from 8:30pm on March 26 to mark Earth Hour 2011. About 500 people in Patong will hand out pamphlets promoting Earth Hour on March 24 to raise awareness of the event, said Meena Panun, who is coordinating the public campaign for Patong…
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Man dies in Phuket high-speed collision
PHUKET: A 31-year-old man died instantly in a high-speed collision north of Phuket Town early this morning as he rode his motorbike across Thepkrasattri Road but into the path of an oncoming car. Lt Patiwat Yodkhuan of Thalang Police reported that Meknoi Seekaew, originally from Phrae province, was riding northbound along Thepkrasattri Road about 2:20am when the accident occurred. However,…
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Blackouts: Phuket to enjoy obligatory Earth Hours
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced scheduled blackouts to carry out maintenance on high-voltage power lines, install new lines and move power poles. The dates and locations of the operations, which will be carried out from 9am to 5pm, are: March 15 – Chalong Along Luang Por Chuang Road, from the TOT office on Chao Fa West…
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Phuket serial thieves nabbed
PHUKET: Police today announced the arrest of three teenagers being charged with breaking and entering, and theft from, at least 20 Phuket homes. Chalong Police arrested the trio – aged 17, 16 and 14 – at about 4.30pm yesterday. The arrests followed Chalong Police officers on patrol in Soi Thanuthep spotting a young boy riding a motorbike that had been…
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Air Bagan launches direct flights to Burma from Phuket
PHUKET: Burmese airline Air Bagan will launch twice-a-week, direct fights between Phuket and Yangon on April 11. “The round-trip tickets for the flights, operating Mondays and Fridays, will cost around 10,900 baht and include in-flight food and drink,” said PB Travel Agency Center Managing Director Suranat Taweesap. Air Bagan will open an office in Phuket Town this month, but the…
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Phuket special needs center facing crisis
PHUKET: The Center for Special Education in Phuket is facing a budgetary and staffing crisis because the number of disabled children on the island is going up every year, its director says. Wanida Suraban said the center, in Kathu, now looks looked after 191 children with problems including blindness, learning disabilities, communication problems, deafness, autism and other conditions. The center…
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Confessed Phuket murderer Fanelli on the inside
PHUKET: Murder suspect Ronald Fanelli has yet to enter a plea with the Phuket Provincial Court and the American says his detention at Phuket Provincial Prison is making him physically ill. Speaking through a telephone in the visitors’ center on March 1, Mr Fanelli said a court appearance scheduled for February 24 had to be postponed after “a timing mix-up”…
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Phuket ITB delegation Czechs out parliament
PRAGUE: The ITB 2011 delegation from Phuket visited the Czech Parliament yesterday morning and learned more about Czech advances in wastewater treatment technology. The tour of the parliament building followed a request by Phuket Provincial Organization Administration (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising, who is leading the delegation jointly with Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha. Also attending were Phuket Chamber of Commerce Chairman…
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Phuket land grab sparks full investigation
PHUKET: The hasty construction of a handful of shelters and houses on an undeveloped plot north of Phuket Town has sparked a full investigation by the Phuket Land Office into who legally owns the land. The issue came to a flash-point on February 22 when Pasinpon Sabtamrongkan arrived at the site to find about 40 local residents – and a…
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Extradition of Phuket “kickbox killer’ suspect “may take years’
PHUKET: The City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London has told the Gazette that the extradition hearing of British national Lee Aldhouse “can take months or years”. Aldhouse remains wanted in Thailand for the stabbing murder of American Dashawn Longfellow in Rawai in August last year. However, court official Russel Sykes said the former kickboxer remains remanded in custody at…
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One man dead in Phuket bus tragedy
PHUKET: One man has been confirmed dead as a result of a tour-bus accident on Patong Hill this morning. Patong motorcycle taxi driver Warin Yongyut, 51, died from chest injuries caused when the Patong Municipality bus overturned on Phra Barami road at about 8:30am, a Patong Hospital official said. Mr Warin was among 53 Patong Municipality volunteers on board the…
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ITB Berlin: Phuket officials ponder Czech waste-water solution
PRAGUE: In Europe for the upcoming ITB Berlin tourism and travel show, the Phuket delegation took time out of their agenda to talk waste-water. Led by Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising, the delegation met with the heads of two companies that installed and operate 13 waste-water treatment plants in the Czech Republic. CEO of Prague Diamond Invest…
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BREAKING NEWS: Phuket bus overturns on Patong Hill, many injured
PHUKET: Many people were injured and one man is feared dead after a Patong Municipality bus returning from a funeral overturned on Patong Hill this morning. Rescue foundation volunteers, municipality officers and rescue workers from various agencies continue to pull people from the wreckage of the bus, which came to rest about 10 meters off the road near the Sea…
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Phuket music fans: Mango House Festival kicks off in Koh Lanta, Krabi
PHUKET: Lovers of house music in Phuket may want to take a trip to Krabi this week, as the Lanta Lanta Festival in Lanta Old Town will feature five great nights of music, all free of charge. The Mango House Festival sessions run from 9pm to 1am nightly, starting tonight. The highlight will be sessions on Thursday and Friday by…
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Phuket blood center seeks Songkran stocks
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center run by the Thai Red Cross has announced the dates and locations of its mobile blood donation clinics in Phuket and the Andaman Coast region this month. Center director Pornthip Rattajak thanked those who responded to an emergency call for negative blood types last month. There are currently no shortages, but the center wants…
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Phuket tour tragedy “Raging bull’ retired
PHUKET: The male elephant that went berserk and killed a Phuket tourist at Khao Sok National Park on February 22 has been released into a wildlife sanctuary and will no longer be used in the tourism industry, the Phuket Gazette has learned. One of the survivors, Helen Gothe of Australia, said she was told by the general manager of Siam…
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Phuket Promise: The beach guards ‘will be back’
PHUKET: Lifeguards will soon be back on the beaches in greater numbers and with more new lifesaving equipment, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. The news follows the February 26 expiration of the contract for the Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) to guard the beaches, leaving no organization officially responsible for saving swimmers.…
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British man, 37, dies in Phuket suicide plunge
PHUKET: A 37-year-old British man died in Phuket yesterday after falling from a five-storey apartment block in what police believe was an intentional suicide leap. Thung Thong Police duty inspector Sakchai Chuyong received a report of the apparent suicide at 7:30am. The name of the deceased was widely reported in the Thai media, but is being held by the Phuket…
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Phuket Police target ladyboy meth users
PHUKET: Almost 50 per cent of the ladyboys rounded up in a sweep of Phuket’s Soi Bangla area last night tested positive for methamphetamines, Patong Police say. The random testing, led by drug suppression division inspector Akanit Danphithuksdart, targeted transsexuals along Soi Bangla and surrounding areas, including the beach road and Soi Joreoernsup. Of 40 tested for drug use, 17…
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Football Legends of Liverpool to play in Phuket
PHUKET: Liverpool Football Club fans on Phuket are set for a huge treat this June when a Legends of Liverpool team swing into town to take on a Legends of Thailand side at Surakul Stadium. A squad that includes 15 Anfield greats will don the famous red shirt in Phuket on June 18 as part of their tour of Thailand,…
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Phuket road rape victim still in ICU
PHUKET: Police are still searching for the two suspects wanted for the brutal roadside assault of a Phuket woman last week. The victim, 58, was set upon by two men just before dawn Thursday morning as she rode her motorbike to a local market. She was left unconscious by the roadside with blood running from a wound to her head,…
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What’s in this week’s Phuket Gazette?
PHUKET: This week’s Andaman Edition of the Phuket Gazette went on sale yesterday and 20,000 copies of our Nationwide Edition were delivered early this morning to all Star Alliance airlines for placement aboard all of their flights serving Thailand. Both editions contain extensive content not available here in the Gazette Online. However, digital subscribers may click here to download their…
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Phuket roads claim more lives
PHUKET: High-season mayhem continues on Phuket roadways, with one man dead and two others in ICU in separate road accidents in recent days. Yesterday morning, 31-year-old Apiwan Wongcheu sustained severe head trauma, a broken wrist and other injuries when the motorbike she was riding along Chao Fa West Road northbound in Chalong was struck by a southbound truck turning across…
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