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Phuket poll: Doctors’ certificates won’t improve road safety
PHUKET: Nearly three-quarters of Phuket Gazette readers believe having to submit a doctor’s certificate when applying for a driving license will make no difference to road safety in Thailand, according to our latest readers’ poll. Under new Transport Ministry regulations, all new license applicants, and those renewing licenses, will have to submit a doctor’s certificate in order to ensure that…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival ends with a ‘boom’ tonight
PHUKET: Tonight marks the end of the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival, which will culminate with shrines holding street processions to Saphan Hin, where the final farewell ceremony for the Nine Chinese Warrior Gods will take place. There will be no “mah song” spirit mediums taking part tonight, but plenty of fireworks. Those who shy away from loud noise would be…
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Phuket politician nabbed in meth bust
PHUKET: The vice president of Kathu Municipality was among three people arrested in Phuket for the sale of ya Ice (crystal methamphetamine) yesterday. Kathu Police Crime Suppression Inspector Akanit Danpitaksat identified the suspect as 44-year-old Somkuan Somboon, arrested in a roadside sting operation in Kathu at about 4am. The successful sting operation followed the arrest, at about 1am the same…
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Phuket sea gypsies prepare for ‘Loy Ruea’ festival
PHUKET: Phuket sea gypsies will pay their respects to the ocean as part of the annual “Boat Floating” festival next week. The event, organized by Rassada Municipality, will take place at Baan Laem Tukkae sea gypsy village on Koh Sireh from October 21 to 23. Rassada Municipality Deputy Mayor Chaolerd Jitjumnong said the festival, known in Thai as “Loy Ruea“,…
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Phuket superyacht event lands major sponsor
PHUKET: The Asia Superyacht Rendezvous has landed premier independent yacht broker Merle Wood & Associates as a co-sponsor for this year’s event, to be held in Phuket in December. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Merle Wood has established solid international yachting relationships throughout the world, including the US, Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, South America and Mexico. The…
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‘My Storage’ opens in Phuket
PHUKET: A new 50-million baht storage facility providing secure, clean and cost effective self-storage has opened in Patong. Located in Jungceylon, this is the first branch in Thailand for the My Storage company. Storage space varies in size from one to 40 square meters. The new facility has a minimum rental period of one month. Managing Director Sukanda Chiaranussati said…
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Funds raised for Phuket boy’s heart surgery
PHUKET: Ten-year-old Rino Vogt, who suffers from a rare cardiac condition requiring immediate open heart surgery, is scheduled to undergo the procedure in mid-November, the Gazette is pleased to announce. Runners from around Phuket who plan to participate in the “Run4Rino Charity Run” at Nai Harn Lake on Sunday will be pleased to know it appears that enough funds have…
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Phuket killer nabbed while selling fish
PHUKET: Six months after gunning down an ex-friend and colleague in Phuket, a former Patong tout is in police custody after his arrest in his home province of Nakhon Sri Thammarat on Monday. Thung Thong Police investigators arrested Viroon “Beer” Sudthue at the Chalermprakiat Market in tambon Kapang, Thung Song district. He was helping his mother, a local fishmonger, at…
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Phuket’s neighbor Krabi needs more flights: tourism chief
PHUKET: The Chairman of the Krabi Tourism Association, Ittirit Kinglake, recently told the TTR Weekly that Krabi needs more airlines to support the hotel industry, a situation similar to that facing Phuket during the early months of this year. Room capacity in Krabi is running ahead of airline seat supply, and there are not enough flights to Krabi for tourists…
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Thick thieves, easy investigation
CHONBURI: Bungling thieves abandoned a stolen pickup and their own car after being unable to find the way out of a housing estate in Chonburi October 2. They were soon arrested – after returning to the scene and asking police officers if they could have their car back. Sombat Maithong, 45, reported the theft of his Toyota Vigo pickup to…
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Bangkok Airways to launch Phuket – Trat flights
PHUKET: Bangkok Airways has announced the launch of its new Phuket – Samui – Trat flight service, which is set to begin on December 2. This extension of the carrier’s existing Phuket – Samui service will make it easier for holidaymakers to travel from Phuket to the resort island of Koh Chang or pass overland into Cambodia. Round-trip flights aboard…
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Huge increase in Phuket vehicle numbers
PHUKET: There has been a nearly 600% increase in the number of new vehicle registrations being made in Phuket each month, according to the Phuket Land Transport Office (LTO). Phuket LTO director Kanok Siripanichkorn told the Gazette that 500 to 600 automobiles are being newly registered on the island each month, compared to just 50-100 per month at the same…
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Stolen Phuket bikes ‘bound for Burma’
PHUKET: A young man arrested for motorcycle theft in Phuket yesterday confessed to police that he was disassembling the vehicles and preparing the parts to be smuggled into his native Burma. At a press conference attended by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Phuket City Police Station yesterday, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong presented five crime suspects to the media.…
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Road record: British fire engine “Martha’ makes it to Phuket
PHUKET: A team of Britons who are attempting to circumnavigate the globe in their fire engine “Martha” rolled into Patong this afternoon. Since setting out from London on July 18, Steve Moore and his “follow that fire engine” team have passed through 20 countries, clocking up over 12,000 miles. By the end of their trip the team will have driven…
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Fire walking at Phuket shrines tonight
PHUKET: Things are really heating up in the 2010 Phuket Vegetarian Festival, with several participating shrines staging their Fire Walking demonstrations this evening and the street procession for Phuket’s most famous Chinese shrine set to take place tomorrow morning. Fire walking takes place at the following locations and times tonight: 8pm: Jui Tui Shrine, held at Saphan Hin Park 8pm:…
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Phuket dive boat goes up in flames
PHUKET: Fire gutted a dive boat operated by a well-known Phuket dive tour operator this morning, leaving one man with serious burns and six others needing hospital treatment. Phuket City Police received a report that the Laddawan 2 liveaboard dive vessel belonging to West Coast Divers was ablaze at Rassada Pier at about 10:30am. Six fire engines were dispatched from…
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Laguna Phuket ready for triathlon, Ironman 70.3
PHUKET: Reigning Ironman 70.3 world champion Michael Raelert of Germany will head a first-class field of professional triathletes coming to Phuket for two exciting competitions in November. Mr Raelert, joined by some 900 competitors, will take on the back-to-back challenge of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) and the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship, all in the space of seven days.…
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Phuket yachties to get ‘Data Center’
PHUKET: As part of a project to set up a ‘data center’ for the local yachting industry, Prince of Songkla University researchers have set up a website intended to serve as a central database and information hub. The new website was unveiled yesterday at a seminar at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town. The “Yachting Seminar on ICT Infrastructure…
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Phuket tourism resilient in the face of strong baht
PHUKET: Thanks to rising tourist arrival figures overall, the Phuket economy has thus far not been too badly affected by the recent surge in the baht against major currencies.However outbound tour operators nationwide expect the strong baht to cause a 13% increase in the number of Thais traveling abroad.Charoen Wangananont, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) that monitors…
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FC Phuket promotion bid starts Sunday
PHUKET: Football fans will be in for a treat over the next few months, as FC Phuket vie against top teams from the AIS Regional League Division 2 for promotion to Division 1 of the Thai League. The “mini-league” fixtures were announced at a meeting of the coaches of the 12 qualifying teams held on September 29 at the Sofitel…
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“Amnesty” mulled for “pseudohotel” operators in Phuket
PHUKET: A provincial standing committee is considering offering “amnesty” to small accommodation establishments on the island as a way of encouraging them to register as “hotels” and raise their standards. The move follows the announcement last month that more than 400 establishments that offer accommodation on Phuket were not properly registered as hotels. Offering a period of “amnesty” was raised…
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Thailand not ready to upgrade English
PHUKET: It’s too soon to declare English as Thailand’s second language for teaching in schools, says Tongthong Chandransu, secretary-general of the Office of the Education Council (OEC). News reports late last week said the Education Ministry planned to declare on October 22 that English is officially the second language for teaching in Thai schools. But Tongthong denied there would be…
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Charity paddle: Father, daughter to circle Phuket by kayak
PHUKET: If there were any father-and-daughter team you would place money on being able to paddle 120 kilometers around Phuket by kayak, it would be Les Bird and his daughter Victoria.Iron-man athlete Les, 59, and seven-time triathlon champion Victoria, 11, plan to circumnavigate Phuket over three days in an effort to raise money for charity.Victoria, a seventh-grade student at the…
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Phuket to welcome Qatar Airways tomorrow
PHUKET: With the high season for tourism fast approaching, international airlines have been launching new – and more – flight services to Phuket, with some starting this month. Phuket International Airport Director Prateung Sornkham confirmed that from tomorrow, October 12, Qatar Airways will operate a new flight from Doha to Phuket, via Kuala Lumpur. Qatar’s new service will see three…
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Puppet haven: Joe Louis Thai Restaurant opens in Phuket
PHUKET: Bangkok’s loss is Phuket’s gain, as the Joe Louis troupe of traditional Thai puppeteers has a new home at the Jungceylon shopping complex in Patong. The troupe, founded by the late grand master puppeteer and National Artist Sakorn “Joe Louis” Yangkhiawsod, remains the sole guardian of the dying art form known as Hun Lakhon Lek, Thai traditional small puppet…
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Phuket remembers Nick Jackson
PHUKET: The final service for Nick Jackson – well-known for founding the popular Katoeys R Us bar in Patong, and more recently for his game fishing tours off Phuket – will be held at the temple across from Loma Park in Patong tomorrow morning. Mr Jackson passed away in his sleep sometime last Friday night or Saturday morning, a family…
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Phuket crime statistics: September 2010
PHUKET: According to the latest crime statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police, crime in September fell year-on-year. The number of crimes reported in most categories last month dropped compared with the number announced for September 2009. The only major increases were in the number of gambling cases reported. Gambling: 160 people arrested in 59 reported cases, a 47.5% increase…
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Climate change: fatal for Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket’s environment will be destroyed and the island “totally ruined” within 10 to 20 years, the senior director of Thailand Environment Institutes (TEI) said yesterday. Chamniern Paul Vorratnchaiphan – who is also the Rockefeller Foundation’s Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) project director for TEI – made the comments at a one-day ACCCRN seminar organized by the TEI…
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Phuket Poll: Will medical certificates improve road safety?
PHUKET: Cabinet recently approved a request by the Ministry of Transport that will make it mandatory for anyone applying for a Thai driving license – or even renewing a Thai driving license – to submit a doctor’s certificate along with their application. For the previous report click here. While some hospitals take the process seriously, some clinics in Phuket have…
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Old Phuket Town project wins Thailand Tourism Industry award
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality has won a Thailand Tourism Industry 2010 “Kinnaree” Award for its Old Phuket Town redevelopment project. Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana collected the prize in person at the awards ceremony, held on September 27 World Tourism Day at the Bangkok Convention Center at the Central World shopping complex. The judges voted to bestow the Phuket project…
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