News
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Lottery players punt on one-eyed pussy
AYUDHAYA: Gamblers have been rushing to get lucky omens from the corpse of a one-eyed kitten which refuses to rot. The cat’s owner, 60-year-old Wichian Sangchai, said the kitten was the last of a litter of three born early in July in Ayudhaya, but died within minutes of being born. Mr Wichian said the kitten had only one eye and…
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Rassada storms into Masters Cup final in Phuket
RASSADA, PHUKET: A 30-yard thunderbolt from Englishman Dave Iszatt helped set the Rassada Municipality football team on its way to victory against Srisoonthorn in the 2009 Rassada Masters Cup semifinals last Wednesday. Rassada will now face Kan Eng 2, who defeated Kathu in the first semifinal. Iszatt, 51, is the only non-Thai playing in the tournament. The Rassada fullback played…
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Mystery motorcyclist blamed for Phuket pile-up
PHUKET: The erratic behavior of a mystery motorcyclist was the reason the driver of a souped-up Ford Sierra gave for wrecking his car, flattening vegetation and slamming into a pick-up truck in Phuket yesterday. The sporty-looking Sierra spun across two lanes on the road to Patong Hill, slid across the central reservation, collided with an expat-owned pick-up truck heading in…
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Phuket FC determined to win tonight’s game
PHUKET CITY: Phuket FC return to action tonight, determined to get their first-ever home win against last-place Phattalung. In their last match at Yala, the Sea Dragons appeared on course for a second successive away point until Yala pounced in the 88th minute to complete home and away victories against Phuket. According to Phuket FC coach Somsak Waijeran, the two-week…
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Fuel slick havoc on Phuket road
PHUKET: Motorbike riders found Phuket’s busy Thepkrasattri Road even more treacherous than usual this afternoon after a truck crane left a three-kilometer fuel slick down the southbound lane. Several riders crashed and fell off their bikes, although none were seriously injured. The 19-year-old truck driver didn’t notice there was diesel leaking from the truck until it ran out of fuel…
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New luxury hotel for Phuket
PHUKET: Leading global hotel brand Accor have signed an agreement to manage the 280-room Pullman Phuket Arcadia at Nai Thon Beach which is scheduled to open in 2012.The new hotel is aimed at the luxury market and is currently under development by the owners of the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort.Despite the economic downturn, investment in hospitality assets is on the rise…
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Townhouse demolition goes ahead for Phuket road expansion
PHUKET: Two townhouses which have been at the center of a court battle for 20 years are finally being torn down to allow road expansion in Phuket City to go ahead.The townhouses, located on a 500 meter stretch of Phunpol Road, have held up expansion of the road from two lanes to four.A number of restaurants, houses and businesses that line the…
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New tsunami buoys on the Phuket horizon
PHUKET CITY: Phuket could soon get more tsunami direct detection buoys similar to those installed along the Indian coastline earlier this year. The president of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), Surawong Tientong, was on the island this week and met with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop to discuss the proposal. The first tsunami direct detection buoy in the Indian Ocean, funded by the US government’s USAID…
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Trash not welcome on Phuket’s walking street
PATONG / PHUKET: The eyesore of trash in Patong, particularly Soi Bangla, has prompted a new zero-tolerance clean up policy.A ‘clean up or pay the price’ message has been sent out to Patong businesses, with hotels, bars and restaurants coming under fire for allowing garbage to pile up outside their premises.Patong Mayor Pian Keesin is working with Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnnark…
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Accused teen set to fly home
PHUKET CITY: After spending more than five months in a Phuket jail, the German teenager arrested along with 43-year-old Briton Dax Young on child sex abuse charges in March is set to fly home next month. The 18-year-old, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty at the Phuket juvenile court today and was handed a four-year suspended sentence and fined 17,000 baht. He…
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Phuket to host shuttle launch
PHUKET: Phuket is set to give badminton a boost next month when it hosts the first Dunlop Phuket Open at the Saphan Hin sports center from August 5 to 9.The event is expected to attract Thailand’s top badminton players, who will battle it out with their rackets and shuttlecocks for prize money totaling 750,000 baht.The five-day event has been jointly…
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Missing American could be in Phuket
PHUKET: Police throughout the country have been asked to help find a 29-year-old American university student who is missing in Thailand.The student, Michael Griffin Harrie, 29, a second year veterinary medicine student who was studying for a month at Iwate University in Morioka, Japan, was last seen on July 14 while on a sightseeing trip in Thailand.He traveled to Bangkok…
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Phuket rescuers recover body of drowning victim
PHUKET: Rescuers this morning recovered the body of a 15-year-old boy who on Sunday became caught in an undertow at Karon Beach and drowned. The rescue volunteers from the Phuket Ruamjai Foundation discovered the body of Pattharadanai ‘Ooad’ Kampong at 4am, less than one kilometer from the spot the boy was last seen. The boy’s father said on Monday that…
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Father killed in bid to save couple wired for death
PHUKET: A Phuket man was killed while trying to revive his son and his son’s girlfriend who were electrocuted in what police say may have been a bizarre ‘murder-suicide’. Police in Phuket Town said Jitti Choowong arrived home last Friday night to find his son Ekalak and his girlfriend dead on the floor of the home they shared in Rassada.…
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Water World set to make waves in Phuket
West Sands Water World in Mai Khao is the latest tourist attraction currently under construction in Phuket.Construction began last year and is expected to be complete by December.The water park is part of the West Sands five-star resort complex and was designed by Whitewater Industries, a world leader in water park design and a major player in the US water…
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Flower power for Phuket
PHUKET: Flowers of all kinds and colors have temporarily taken root at Saphan Hin in Phuket for the 17th Annual Ornamental Plants & Flowers Fair Phuket, which began on Friday and runs until Sunday.The flower fair’s covered market-stall area boasts more than 130 stalls of colorful flora and other ornamental items for gardens of any size.Among the items on offer…
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Boy missing, feared drowned
A 16-year-old boy is missing, feared drowned, after disappearing from Karon Beach about 6pm last night (Sunday night).The teenager, from Pijit Province, is a Phuket resident and went swimming with friends who said he went into the water about 6pm, but did not return.Chalong police and rescue teams using a jet boat searched for him, but have so far been unable to…
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Suspected Phuket ‘gangster’ jumps bail
PHUKET CITY: An arrest warrant has been issued for a Pakistani man who failed to make a mandatory court appearance while on bail for attempted murder of a compatriot in Rawai in 2007, police say. The suspect, identified as Imran Ahmed “Munna” Qureshi, was arrested by the Phuket Tourist Police in October 2007 for the attempted murder of fellow Pakistani…
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Phuket Tourism: Patong performs best
PHUKET CITY: Patong is outperforming the rest of Phuket in a low-season that many local hotel industry experts describe as dismal.Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Somboon Jirayus said current average occupancy rates are about 30-40% in most parts of the island, down about 30% year-on-year, on average.Revenue is down even further because of all the discounts and promotions hotels are…
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Asean ends, troops leave Phuket
PHUKET: As of midnight last night, the tight security surrounding the Asean venue for the past two weeks in Phuket was relaxed.Troops began packing up at midnight last night as the Asean Foreign Ministers Meetings officially ended and the Internal Security Act was lifted.The Internal Security Act was enforced for the very first time in Phuket from July 10 to 24…
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June tourist arrivals down almost 22.9%
PHUKET CITY: The number of international tourists arriving at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in June was down almost 23% year-on-year, according to the Thai Immigration Bureau. Figures for June arrivals into Phuket from abroad are not yet available. June’s international arrivals into Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport were 642,732, down 29.7% from the 833,678 arrivals in June 2008. Arrivals from East Asian countries…
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Olive branch offered to Burma during Phuket Asean talks
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: Members of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) in Phuket yesterday offered to help Burma promote democracy, human rights and well-being among its people, but avoided mentioning the controversy over pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. “Asean, as well as members of the ARF, would like to work with Myanmar [Burma] and are ready to assist in its…
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Good gusts on first day of Six Senses Phuket Raceweek
PHUKET SIX SENSES RACEWEEK: Ray Roberts drew first blood in the race to become the 2009-10 Asian Yachting Grand Prix Champion.Racing on Evolution Sails, formerly known as Quantum Racing, he claimed first place in both races in the IRC Racing class.The 2008-09 winner, Neil Pryde, finished second and third on Hi Fi with Peter Ahern on Yo! 2, also securing…
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Heavy rains in Phuket cause landslide
PHUKET/PATONG: Torrential rain last night caused a massive landslide in Patong which left 200 meters of Sirirat Road covered in thick mud and debris.The road blockage and flood waters caused traffic jams and long delays.The landslide started from a construction site on Petchakut Road, 150 meters above Sirirat road, opposite Simon Cabaret.Patong Deputy Mayor, Prasarn Yordtor said water from a…
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Hillary Clinton in Phuket: Asean urged to be open about human rights
PHUKET: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her diplomatic entourage flew into Phuket yesterday on two private jets. Mrs Clinton was then whisked off to the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, the Asean Ministers’ Meetings Phuket venue, where she gave a speech that included a call on the Burmese junta to release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been…
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Bomb scare at Laguna Phuket
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: A loud boom reported at Laguna Phuket this morning was caused by security officials who blasted a suspicious motorbike with high-pressure water from a fire hose.Reuters news agency reported that a ‘loud blast’ of unknown origin was heard by witnesses.A source at Laguna Phuket confirmed that security officers at the resort found a suspicious motorbike parked near the Laguna Holiday Club, less than a…
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Phuket City students glimpse eclipse
RASSADA, PHUKET: Despite overcast conditions, students who turned up to view the partial solar eclipse this morning at Rajabhat Phuket University did not go away completely disappointed. “Today we had a lot of clouds, but fortunately we were able to observe the eclipse for about 5 minutes at around 8am,” said Prof Sukchai Petchuay, Assistant Dean of Rajabhat University Phuket.…
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Temporary ICU for Asean talks in Phuket
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: Emergency medical facilities including a temporary intensive care unit (ICU) are in place at Laguna Phuket in case any delegates at the Asean Ministerial Meetings fall seriously ill during the talks. Three medical aid points have been set up specifically for such an event. The most well equipped is ‘Medical Center 1201’, located inside host venue the…
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New Phuket City market to open by year’s end
PHUKET CITY: Structural work on the new municipal market on Ranong Road is complete, but the 167-million-baht facility probably won’t be open for business until the end of the year. Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana said the four-story market building and the 27 shophouse units surrounding it were finished, but interior work would probably take several months to plan and…
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Phuket swine flu infections drop
PHUKET CITY: Phuket appears to be winning the battle against swine flu, but the island’s top public health official is asking the public to maintain vigilance.Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) director Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang said yesterday morning the number of new cases reported daily has fallen to fewer than five, on average.So far there have been 123 reported cases of…
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