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This Christmas, give the gift of health: essential options for expats in Thailand
The holiday season is here, bringing warmth, joy, and a chance to reflect on the year gone by. As an expat in Thailand, this Christmas is a great time to invest in something that truly matters: health. Whether for you...
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Jet-ski jamboree’ to restore Phuket’s image
PATONG, PHUKET: Phuket’s jet-ski operators are going all out to mend their industry’s grubby image on Thursday, when a ride on any of the island’s 200-plus jet-skis will be entirely free of charge. The message they hope to send out: Phuket’s jet-skis are no longer a rip-off. The Phuket jet-ski industry made headlines earlier in the year when foreign diplomats…
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Phuket Buddha image thief shot dead
PHUKET CITY: A suspected serial robber was shot dead in an intense shootout between police and alleged thieves earlier today in Rama IX Park.The deceased, identified as 32-year-old Phuket City resident Amnard Rodpradit, was wanted by police in connection with a recent spate of robberies of Buddhist images from stores and homes around Phuket.Police told the Gazette that Mr Amnard…
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HRH Princess Bejaratana birthday celebrations in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Religious ceremonies marking the 84th birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadi will tomorrow be held by Buddhist, Islamic, Christian and Sikh groups around the island. The Muslim ceremony will be held at the Dubai Mosque in Koh Kaew where students at the Muslim Witthaya School, on the same grounds as the mosque, will hear about…
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Phuket Rajabaht student stabbed to death
RASADA, PHUKET: A Phuket Rajabhat University student handed himself in to police after stabbing a fellow student to death early on Saturday morning, Wutiphong Meemai, a first year student from Krabi, confessed to stabbing 20-year-old Kritsana Lao-orn in the chest outside the ‘Wihok’ bar on Rassada Anuson Road in Tambon Rasada earlier that night. When police, including Lt Col Wijak…
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Melee in Chalong rice soup shop
CHALONG, PHUKET: A man smashed a stranger over the head with a bottle, sparking a brawl at a Phuket khao tom (rice soup) restaurant in the early morning hours on Saturday. Worakrit Wisutthitham, 40, lost a lot of blood and needed eight stitches to his head at Vachira Phuket Hospital following the attack. Mr Worakrit was eating with two friends…
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Phuket ladyboy found dead from gunshot wound
WICHIT, PHUKET: Phuket City Police are searching for the killer of a 35-year-old ladyboy found dead on Saturday morning with a single bullet wound to the head. The body of Wanchai Tongwijit, a restaurant employee from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, was found in an abandoned workers’ camp off Sakdidet Road Soi 7 in Tambon Wichit at around 6.45am. Mr Wanchai’s body…
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Phuket Governor treks and checks road project land
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop on Thursday set off on an extensive walking tour of the strip of land he would like to see become the island’s second north-south road artery. The first day of the tour started off on the bypass road, opposite the newly-opened Premium Outlet Mall, and proceeded all the way past the British International School,…
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Belgian beauties smash papaya in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Twenty contestants in the Miss Belgium 2010 beauty pageant took part in a Thai cooking class on Wednesday night. The class, conducted by celebrity chef Nooror Somany-Steppe, was held at the Chin Pracha Mansion in Phuket Town, where the Blue Elephant Phuket will soon open its doors as a royal Thai cusine restaurant and cooking school. The dish…
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Patong floods: no end in sight
PATONG, PHUKET: In the latest developments on the Nanai Road flooding saga, the Patong municipality says a new pump is set to be installed under the road. However, disgruntled local residents will have to wait until next year for the project to be completed. Problems first began in April this year, when heavy rains caused floodwater three-feet deep to collect,…
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Phuket murder suspect collared in coffin shop
CHALONG, PHUKET: Police yesterday morning arrested two suspects for the November 4 shooting murder of 38-year-old Weerathep Kamchan inside a flower shop on Chao Fa East Road. Police initially suspected romantic jealousy as the motive for the murder, as the victim was known to be having a relationship with 36-year-old Boonruen Buasi, a married woman. Mrs Boonruen, who was with…
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Tsunami warning critic to launch new system
PHUKET CITY: Former National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) director and a critic of the current warning system’s administration plans to launch an additional disaster warning system with the aim of better informing the public of impending disasters. The man behind the new warning system, Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, is preparing to launch the ‘parallel’ national tsunami warning system on December 26, the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean…
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Phuket City seeks funding for stadium
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality has applied for 154 million baht in funding to build an international-standard indoor sport stadium at Saphan Hin.Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwanasupana made the announcement at a press conference at Phuket City Hall last week.Funding is being sought from the Ministry of Finance under the central government’s Thai Khem Kaeng (Strong Thailand) national development scheme.Mayor Somjai…
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Phuket acid attack meters from cop shop
PATONG, PHUKET: A man threw acid in the face of a 27-year-old woman just 100 meters from Kathu Police Station in the early hours of this morning. The victim, Sirirat Nankham, is being treated at Vachira Phuket Hospital. Her left eye is swollen shut and she has blisters all over her body. Ms Sirirat, who works as a cashier at…
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Foreign diver found dead in Patong
PATONG, PHUKET: Kathu Police are still trying to determine the identity of a foreign woman found dead in Patong Bay on Tuesday afternoon. The body, presumed to be that of a middle-aged Caucasian woman, was pulled from the water at about 5pm by Kusoldharm Foundation workers. The bloated corpse was discovered floating at 4:30pm about four meters offshore from Paradise…
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Hold outs against jet-ski insurance scheme
PHUKET CITY: The majority of jet-ski operators on the island have applied for compulsory insurance, but five operators are holding out against the new regulation. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop yesterday afternoon held a meeting with 15 jet-ski operators to discuss compliance with a provincial policy requiring all jet-ski operators to apply for policies by the deadline that passed on Monday.…
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Tsunami detection buoy coming soon: NDWC
PHUKET CITY: Phuket will get a new tsunami detection buoy just in time for the fifth anniversary of the 2004 tsunami disaster, the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) says. Group Captain Somsak Khaosuwan, director of the NDWC’s warning system management team, told the Gazette the new buoy is being shipped to Thailand from the US and should arrive by the…
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Canine caper leaves cleric in coma
PITSANULOKE: An errant monk was caught in a compromising position on November 5 after he suffered a stroke while having sex with a temple dog behind Sam Toei Temple in Wat Thong District. Villagers were drawn to the scene by the howls of protest from the dog, which the monk had lashed to a tree. After seeing the monk in…
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Phuket prepares for HRH Princess Bejaratana’s birthday
THALANG, PHUKET: Phuket will join the rest of the nation in celebrating the 84th birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadi on November 24. Tha Rua Temple in Thalang has been chosen as the focal point for the celebrations. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop will open the activities at the temple at 9.30am. Locations for celebrations held by the…
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Fury over flooding in Patong
PATONG / PHUKET: Pedestrians and motorists were struggling through meter-deep floodwater on Nanai Road this evening following heavy rains earlier today. Local residents fed up with the flooding, which they claim has become worse over the past few months, have nicknamed the 50-meter stretch of road ‘Nanai River’. Several local residents who spoke to the Gazette in May predicted severe…
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Phuket man demands justice after cops’ “black bag’ threat
PHUKET CITY: A foreign exchange teller questioned in connection with the theft of 1.8 million baht from a Patong bank claims Kathu Police officers threatened to send him home ‘in a black bag’ unless he confessed to the crime. Samarn Pul-ied, who spent around 24 hours in custody at Kathu Police Station on November 8 and 9, also claims officers…
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Phuket to host Asia-Pacific Ironman Championship
LAGUNA PHUKET: The world’s top Ironman competitors will descend on Laguna Phuket next year following confirmation that the Cherng Talay-based resort complex will host the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship race. The announcement of the season-ending event comes after an agreement to stage the race was signed between Laguna Hotels and Resorts Plc and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The…
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Expectations high for Phuket’s high season
PHUKET CITY: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced that hotel occupancy rates in Phuket should hit 80 percent during the high season. According to the new TAT South Region 4 office director Ms Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, Phuket hotel and tour operators say advance bookings are on the rise. Occupancy rates should climb to 80 percent after the Christmas and New Year…
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Belgian beauties arrive on Phuket
PHUKET: Twenty Miss Belgium 2010 contestants began an eight-day stay on Phuket today with an introduction to the media at the Cape Panwa Hotel and Spa.The beauty pageant finalists are in Phuket by invitation of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and will be taking part in photo and video shoots, kayaking and Thai cooking classes around the island.TAT South…
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Celestial light show over Phuket this week
PHUKET: If the night sky over Phuket remains clear this week stargazers will be treated to the spectacle of hundreds of meteors streaking overhead, early Wednesday morning.The annual celestial show known as The Leonids occurs as the Earth passes through the trail of an ancient comet.Astronomers predict a shower of up to 500 meteors per hour, visible to the naked…
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Readers’ Poll: Will plastic bag scheme help Phuket?
PHUKET CITY: Some said it could never happen, but starting on December 4 most of the island’s major retailers will begin charging customers for plastic bags. Already on board with the project are Central, Big C, Tesco-Lotus, Makro, Supercheap and Jungceylon. Do you think this initiative will cut down significantly on the approximately 500 tonnes of garbage sent to the…
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Race against time on Phuket’s Thalang Road
PHUKET CITY: Work to bury power cables along Thalang Rd is nearing completion and the city is hoping to have the project completely finished in time for the fourth Old Phuket Town Festival next month. Aekapop Patpathom, project engineer with the Provincial Electrical Authority (PEA) office in Phuket, said all of the underground conduits have been installed. He initially expected…
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OPINION: Just missing the locals in Phuket
PHUKET: Now in its fourth year, the Phuket Thailand Open beach volleyball tournament last week was the best and biggest ever, with 66 teams from 28 countries taking part. There was a great deal of excitement during the third-place final, when a large contingent of Russian fans cheered Maria Bratkova and Evgenia Ukolova to an exciting win over Lauren Fendrick…
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Phuket land dispute heats up
PHUKET CITY: The tense standoff at the Panason City construction site heated up this morning when landless villagers set fires to prevent backhoes from covering their modest homes with dirt and warning gunshots were fired by workers. The fires were set at about 10am today and warning shots were fired into the air by backhoe operators around noon, one of…
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Phuket teen nets badminton gold
PHUKET CITY: Phuket badminton star Maneepong Jongjit, 18, helped to secure Thailand’s first-ever gold medal at the Yonex-Sunrise BWF World Junior Championship in Malaysia earlier this month, winning the mixed doubles title with partner Rodjana Chuthabunditkul. Maneepong and Rodjana overcame Indonesian duo Angga Pratama and Destiara Haris Della by two sets to one (21-19, 14-21, 21-17) in 38 minutes to…
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One-Two-Go to launch new Phuket flight
PHUKET CITY: Low-cost carrier One-Two-Go will launch a second daily round-trip flight between Bangkok and Phuket starting on December 3. One-Two-Go Public Relations and Marketing Communications Officer Namon Patisang said fares for the flights begin at 1,750 baht, all inclusive. The new flight will depart Phuket at 1:40pm daily and make the return from Don Meuang at 3:30pm. One-Two-Go already…
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