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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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Phuket plays its part in War on Terror
AO MAKHAM: An unremarkable, privately-owned ship carrying thousands of tons of military hardware and humanitarian aid sailed quietly into Phuket waters last week, slipping away virtually unnoticed a few days later as the cargo vessel went on to play a supporting role in regional SEACAT (South East Asian Co-operation Against Terrorism) exercises.The privately owned Danish-built ship Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr…
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Navy to beef up regional security
CAPE PANWA: Royal Thai Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm Sathiraphan Keyanon yesterday paid a visit to the Third Naval Area Command, where he announced the Third Fleet will on October 1 begin joint patrol missions in the Malacca Strait with strategic partners Singapore and Malaysia. The patrols, which will have air and land-based radar support, are intended to boost security in regional…
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Software anti-piracy agency doubles reward
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is preparing to double its rewards for people who report illegal software use at the corporate level, from 250,000 baht to 500,000 baht. From today to September 30, 2008, concerned software users who call the BSA hotline to provide information that leads to successful action against business organizations using pirated or unlicensed software will be…
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South Africans confident of ‘Monkey Island’ Plan
PHUKET: Two South African conservationists who hope to open a Monkey Island primate sanctuary off Phuket paid a visit to Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit, but their goal to open the center as a new tourist attraction by the end of next year still has a lot of red tape to clear before becoming a reality.Zambian-born Tony Blignaut, CEO of Primates…
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Tsunami warning system improvements stalled
PHUKET: Plans for Thailand to launch two more “tsunameters” off the Andaman coastline to improve its tsunami warning system capability have become bogged down by red tape and technical problems, leaving only one direct detection unit in place as the fourth anniversary of the 2004 disaster nears. Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, who chairs the committee that directs the Nonthaburi-based National Disaster…
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Suan Luang fish killers caught
PHUKET CITY: Scores of municipal workers have been working since Saturday morning to remove thousands of rotting fish from the main pond at Suan Luang Park, after a group of fishermen were caught using poison to kill and capture them on Friday night.An officer from Phuket City Municipality, who asked not to be named, told the Gazette that the municipal…
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Man killed in Samkong shooting
PHUKET CITY: Police are investigating the murder of a man killed by two shotgun blasts near his shack in Samkong early yesterday morning.Pol Maj Pitakpol Sompong of the Phuket City Police told the Gazette that the wife of 40-year-old Rungroj Saekui reported finding her husband dead outside their unnumbered shack off Soi Samkong 1 at about 2 am yesterday.The wife, whose…
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British tourist recovering after fall at Phuket resort
PHUKET: British tourist Dominic Chadwick who suffered neck injuries after a nasty fall at his hotel in Phuket is recovering nicely and is in good spirits.According to his Malaysian traveling companion, Dominic fell about eight feet when he was walking up a ramp towards an entrance to the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa after a night out. As he fell,…
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B20m CCTV system for Rawai
RAWAI: As part of a bid to crack down on crime in the area, Rawai Municipality has been granted 20 million baht in central government funding for the installation of 32 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos made the announcement at an August 15 ceremony held to announce a range of crime-fighting initiatives in Rawai. Camera installation…
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Tourism steady despite economic woes
PHUKET CITY: Despite global economic problems, tourism in Phuket continues to grow, with 4.79 million tourists having passed through Phuket International Airport since the beginning of the fiscal 2008, up 600,000 from the same period a year earlier. Anoma Thongyai, deputy director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 4 Office in Phuket, revealed the figures at the…
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Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2008 breaks records before it begins
BANG TAO: With more than three months still to go until the Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2008 on December 7, the “Race of Legends” has already sold out.Some 750 athletes and about 50 teams of participants rushed to secure their places through online bookings for the 15th annual Laguna Phuket Triathlon after dates for the international competition were announced.The event comprises…
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Death truck driver’s confession halves 12-year jail sentence
RANONG: The driver of the truck in which 54 illegal Burmese immigrants suffocated while they were being transported from Ranong to Phuket on April 9 has been sentenced to a six-year jail term by Ranong Criminal Court. Phuket Police Commander Maj Gen Apirak Hongthong told the Gazette that the driver’s jail sentence was reduced from 12 to six years because…
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Heartsick firefigher found hanged
PHUKET CITY: Police on August 14 discovered the decomposing corpse of a municipal firefighter who apparently hanged himself several days earlier. Phuket City Police Duty Officer Pol Lt Tada Sodarak identified the deceased as Apirat Sararat, a 30-year-old native of Pattani. Police were informed of Khun Apirat’s death by a 191 call placed by fellow residents of the firefighter’s dormitory…
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Phuket to host “Cleanest Toilet” awards
PHUKET CITY: The Department of Public Health has chosen Royal Phuket City Hotel as the venue to present “The Cleanest Toilet in the South Awards”. Privvies are being polished around the south as 13 regional branches of the Public Health Ministry prepare to enter their public conveniences into the contest. The award event on August 20 will start with a…
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Heirlooms for sale: 89,000,001 baht
PHUKET CITY: Pattani-native Rozita Hazan, who owns a busy restaurant in front of Phuket Rajabhat University, is hoping to sell a pair of family heirlooms, passed down through five generations, for a little more than 89 million baht. K. Rozita aims to find a new home for her ring and bracelet, but rather than adhering to a regular auction she…
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More flights added to weekend Bangkok-Phuket service
PHUKET: Bangkok Airways has added more flights to its weekend Bangkok-Phuket service starting Friday August 15.The airline already operates a twice daily Bangkok-Phuket service; departing from Bangkok at 11.45am and 5.30pm and departing from Phuket at 1.50pm and 7.40pm.Flights PG 273 and PG 274 ( Airbus 320 with 162 seats ) have been added to the service and will fly…
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Weapons cache discovered on Frenchman’s yacht
PHUKET: A man piloting a luxury yacht has been arrested by Phuket Marine Police officers after several guns and ammunition were found stashed aboard the boat he was operating.Investigating Marine Police officer Deputy Superintendent Lt Col Prasert Srikunrat told a press conference that the arrest came at 8 pm on Monday, after Thalang district volunteer police noticed people getting off…
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Bikini shop bust nets B10m in counterfeit stash
PHUKET CITY: A bikini is normally donned to cover up a woman’s private parts, but a bikini-vending operation in downtown Phuket was found concealing something much larger, and with a different kind of value: a stash of more than 90,000 counterfeit T-shirts.Officers from the Police Region 8 Investigation Center raided a secret warehouse in the center of Phuket City Saturday…
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Supalai Resort to install swim dock
PHUKET CITY: The provincial committee on waterways has approved a request by Best Western Premier Supalai Resort & Spa in Pa Khlok to construct a 200-meter floating dock to give resort guests access to the sea. The committee, chaired by Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima, met at Phuket Provincial Hall on August 7 to discuss the license application. Its members include…
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Rawai mayor bullish on property picture
RAWAI: Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos estimates that investment in property projects in Rawai could reach as much as 2 billion baht this year.Mayor Aroon recently met with four prospective investors at Rawai Municipality Office to “clarify construction laws with regards to building new properties in Rawai”.The meeting is part of an initiative to boost tourism in places like Laem Phromthep,…
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Patrols help curb illegal trawling
PHUKET CITY: The number of fishing boats illegally trawling within Phuket’s three-kilometer exclusion zone has been greatly reduced thanks to stepped up patrols by authorities and good co-operation from local fishermen, the local Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) office has announced. Paitoon Panchaiyapoom, chief of the DMCR Region 4 Office in Phuket, said there have been just three…
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Sugar daddies duped by pretended pregnancies
UBON RATCHATHANI: Attractive women having relationships with much older and considerably less attractive men for financial benefit is certainly nothing new. In Isarn, however, some girls have allegedly started using an ingenious method to extract more money from their stingy sugar daddies: having their stomachs injected with chemicals to make them appear pregnant. Pukki, a 20-year-old college student from Ubon…
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Hundreds of turtles released in Mothers’ Day ceremony
CAPE PANWA: More than 300 baby green sea turtles were released into the sea at the Third Naval Area Command, Cape Panwa today (August 12) as a way of celebrating the birthday of HM Queen Sirikit, which is also Mothers’ Day in Thailand. Students from schools in the Panwa area helped naval officers, municipality officers and staff from local resorts…
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Kathu bars get green light for Mothers’ Day
PATONG: Despite widespread belief among bar owners that they will not be allowed to operate tomorrow night because of Mothers’ Day, the head of Kathu Police has confirmed that nightlife entertainment venues in the Kathu Police District will be allowed to operate as normal.“I haven’t received any orders to enforce a ban on alcohol sales tomorrow, so all bars can open…
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Bangkok prisoner’s cell phone orders prompt Phuket drug raid
PHUKET: A man incarcerated on drug charges at Klong Prem Central prison in Bangkok managed to order a bus to transport 3,000 ya bah (methamphetamines) pills to his son in Phuket from his prison cell. However, not everything went according to plan for the father-son duo.The Phuket Provincial Police drug suppression unit discovered 2,893 of the pills when they raided three…
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OrBorJor targets bus service, hotel tax issue
PHUKET CITY: New projects launched by the new Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) include persuading more hotel owners to pay the controversial 1% hotel room tax and improving the OrBorJor bus service in and around Phuket City. OrBorJor President Paiboon Upatising told the Gazette the initiatives fall under the OrBorJor policy to improve public services and promote tourism in the…
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Truck crash on Patong Hill
PATONG: This 6-wheel Hino flatbed truck, which lost control on Phrabarami Rd in Patong at about 4 pm Wednesday afternoon, finally came to rest when it hit an electric power pylon.Under questioning at Kathu Police Station, the uninjured driver said his brakes failed.Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark was first at the scene, directing traffic by himself while a tow…
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Southern singer injured in Phang Nga
PHUKET CITY: Southern Thai country singer Jeab Benjaporn is recovering in Bangkok Phuket Hospital today after being injured in a road accident in Phang Nga last night while on her way to Phuket to give a concert. The popular 29-year-old singer was traveling through Thap Put District when a dog darted in front of the car she was in, which…
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Labor camp raided near Mai Khao
TAH CHAT CHAI: Some 50 police and local villagers raided a laborers’ camp beside a construction site near Mai Khao Beach Tuesday morning, taking into custody 82 male workers on charges of illegal entry into the Kingdom. As is commonly the case when such raids take place in Phuket, no employer was found or charged. Pol Lt Col Jamroon Plaiduong…
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OrBorJor back in charge at Chalong Pier
CHALONG: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) was on August 1 back at the helm running operations at Chalong Pier after cutting ties with Chokaree Tour Co Ltd, the company previously enlisted to collect berthing fees and run the pier on the OrBorJor‘s behalf. A team led by OrBorJor Vice-President Chaowalit Na Nakorn visited the pier on August 1 to…
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