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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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Mystery surrounds Korean’s death plunge
PHUKET CITY (Nation, Gazette): South Korean tour guide Kim Kyoung Hoon, 39, fell to his death from the rooftop of The Metropole hotel in downtown Phuket City early this morning.Capt Krerkrit Ritnuang, of Phuket City Police Station, said that a hotel security officer found the body of Mr Kim, who was not a guest at the hotel, lying in the…
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Like maggots from heaven
PATTAYA: Caught out with a full bladder on his way home after a fishing trip, squid fisherman Singha Sangnuam, 26, met an unexpected sight when he stopped to relieve himself against a tree in Banglamung on September 24. Part way through his business, something dropped from the branches and landed with a thud right in front of him. A cloud…
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Holy cow?
SRISAKET: Villagers in Srisaket’s Khun Han district have been flocking to pay their respects to the body of a buffalo calf that not only looked human, but also had the superhuman ability to transmit the winning numbers in the upcoming lottery draw. The calf was born at 2 pm on September 22 to a female buffalo belonging to farmers Yim…
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Police nab prolific thief
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police announced the arrest of suspected thief Somsak Kaewdee, 27, at a press conference on Tuesday.Somsak, a resident of tambon Thepkrasattri, in Thalang district, is accused of robbing homes and small shops throughout Phuket.He was arrested at the entrance of Soi Hone Sai Thong, in Moo 7, Rassada, on Monday at 2:30 am, said Lt Col…
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Thais miss out as FIVB tourney begins
KARON: The world’s top women’s beach volleyball players took to the sands today as part of the Swatch FIVB Beach Volley World Tour 2007.After a closely-fought battle, Thais Manerat Udomchavee and Julaluk Radarong narrowly missed out on a place in the second qualifying round after losing 2-1 (21-16, 19-21, 15-12) to Dutch pairing Sanne Keizer and Mered de Vries.In hot…
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Sarasin Bridge closed
TAH CHAT CHAI: The Sarasin Bridge was closed at 6 am today and traffic is being diverted until tomorrow so that preparations can be made for the opening scene of a Thai romantic comedy to be filmed on the bridge.Northbound traffic now joins the carriageway onto Thepkrasattri Bridge in front of the JW Marriott Phuket & Spa and continues using…
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Police call for Kata Viewpoint streetlights
RAWAI: Chalong Police this morning urged Phuket Governor Niran Kalaynamit to co-ordinate with the Kata-Karon and Rawai municipalities to have more streetlights installed along the dark stretches of road near Kata Viewpoint in order to make the streets safer for nighttime motorists.Speaking at the Phuket Provincial Security Meeting this morning, Lt Col Suwat Kaewprom, deputy superintendent of Chalong Police Station,…
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Probe to investigate Patong landslide
PATONG: Patong Municipality today set up a special committee to investigate the landslide area along Soi Veerakij [Nanai Rd Soi 9] and determine how many homes in the area are at risk of tumbling down the escarpment left behind by the recent landslide.Patong Municipality Chief Administrator (Palad) this morning told the Gazette that the villa and five-story apartment block left…
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Allegations of vote-buying under investigation
THALANG: Accusations of vote-buying in the presidential election in the Srisoonthorn Administration Organization (OrBorTor) council election on October 7 are being investigated, including a vote recount, after official complaints were filed with the Phuket Election Commission (PEC) on October 5.Kraisri Kiewwan, chief administrator (Palad) of Srisoonthorn OrBorTor, told the Gazette that on October 5 a group of Srisoonthorn residents filed…
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Island prepares for major local elections
PHUKET: Elections will be held on November 17 for Wichit, Rassada and Rawai municipalities, which have now been upgraded from tambon administration organization (OrBorTor) to tessbaan tambon status, Phuket Election Commission (PEC) director Supap Akkam told the Gazette today.In the run-up to the elections, 105 candidates will contest the 12 councilor seats per municipality and eight candidates have signed up…
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Incinerator “on hold until after elections’ – Governor
PHUKET: Consideration of approval for funding to build a second garbage incinerator is likely to have to wait until a new government is elected in the national elections slated for December 23, Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit told the Gazette yesterday.“Bearing in mind the current political situation as the government gears up for national elections at the end of this year,…
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Two tourists drown
KATA-KARON: Two foreign tourists who ignored red warning flags and entered heavy surf drowned in separate incidents yesterday afternoon at Kata and Karon beaches.Pol Lt Col Chana Suthimas, duty inspector of Chalong Police Station, identified the victim recovered at Karon Beach as 41-year-old Mesut Yetkin from Turkey. His death was reported about 6:40 pm.A few hours earlier, about 3 pm,…
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Dim bikers shown the light
PHUKET CITY: In a bid to improve road safety, the Phuket Community Foundation (PCF) is launching a project to replace substandard taillights on motorcycles from November 8 to 10.The project will provide 1,200 tail lights and brake lights for a wide range of the most common small-engine scooters and motorcycles made by Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki.The taillights will be…
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Landslide in Patong
PATONG: Scores of residents at the Beverly Hills complex off Nanai Rd Soi 9 were evacuated to safety early yesterday morning after heavy rains caused a landslide that left part of the foundations of a hillside villa and an apartment block hanging perilously in thin air.The slump occurred around 1 am, when exposed earth suddenly slumped down onto a construction…
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Semi-trailer jackknifes, causes 5km tailback
KOH KAEW: A 22-wheel semi-trailer slid out of control on a wet Thepkrasattri Rd early this afternoon and came to rest only after slamming into the footpath.The driver lost control of the vehicle about 1:30 pm after braking hard to avoid hitting a motorcycle that crossed in front of the truck.The driver, Vinai Lekpetch, 45, told the Gazette, “I was…
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Police arrest Phuket City “serial thieves’
KATHU: Two men have been arrested for a series of robberies after they were caught on video by CCTV breaking into an apartment, Pol Lt Col Thitirat Asakit of Tung Tong Police announced this morning.On September 29 about 11 am, Tung Tong Police Station received a call from a female student who said her laptop computer and mobile phone had…
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Roadworks delay for “death bend’
THALANG: Road construction to straighten the notoriously dangerous Kho En “death bend” on Thepkrasattri Rd has been delayed, with just 2% of the roadwork finished on the project that began June 28 and was scheduled for completion by December 24.The Phuket Highway District contracted Chaiyakorn Co Lt to expand the 440-meter section of the four lane road and decrease the…
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Rawai attacks continue; Man survives machete attack
RAWAI: The late-night road attacks on motorcyclists in the south end of the island continue unabated, with two more reports of attacks in the last 24 hours and several others earlier this month continuing to pour in to the Gazette news desk. Last night a 24-year-old Norwegian man, staying in Phuket on disability pension because he is officially registered as…
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Construction of controversial Tesco continues
THALANG: The ongoing dispute between some Cheng Talay residents and mega-retailer Tesco Lotus is no closer to being solved, as construction continues on the fiercely-opposed Tesco Lotus Express Store in Bang Tao. At a meeting yesterday between Thalang District chief Chaivat Tapee and representatives from Cherng Talay Municipality, the newly-elected Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) and a group of…
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Phaya Thai hospital plan comes under fire
PHUKET (Nation): The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) project to revamp the old Phyathai Hospital on the east side of Phuket City has come under criticism by Health Ministry officials, who claim it will lure qualified staff away from already short-staffed medical facilities.Ministry policy and strategy bureau director Dr Supakit Sirilak said state hospitals outside Bangkok already had too few…
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Haze shrouds Phuket, neighboring provinces
PHUKET: Unusually hazy conditions over the island today are normal and not the result of any forest fires in the region, Phuket’s top meteorologist says. Wiwat Intarapanich, Chief of Weather Forecasting at the Meteorological Department’s Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast), told the Gazette this afternoon that the haze is normal for the southern region at this time of year and…
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Monks give the breast medicine
TAK: When modern medicine fails, people often turn to what has, in the West, come to be known as “alternative medicine”. Phuket has a large market for such treatments, such as acupuncture clinics and herbal spas offering cures for a wide variety ailments, both real and perceived. These more familiar forms of “alternative” medicine are not all Thailand has to…
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Police hunt fish-paste five
CHONBURI: One might think that armed robbery follows a fairly formulaic process: just grab a weapon, threaten someone and, if everything goes to plan, flee with the loot.However, as with other professions, there are also cultural aspects involved in the choice of equipment. An Amazon Indian might use a blowpipe in a hold-up, whereas a Zulu would more naturally opt…
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Film Fest gets underway
PATONG: The first Phuket Film Festival gets underway at the new SF Cinema City on the 3rd Floor of Jungceylon at 6 pm tonight. The week-long festival will kick off with a star-studded gala event before the screening of Dance Machine, a quirky comedy by Spanish director Oscar Aibar, who won Best Director award for his 1995 film Atolladero at…
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Four Chinese arrested for smuggling fuel
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Police yesterday arrested four Chinese sailors near Koh Hei after they were caught with 20,000 liters of illegal fuel on board, Pol Lt Col Prasert Srikunnarat told the Gazette.“We were informed about 2 pm of an odd-looking boat about three miles from Chalong. We went there and found an old, unregistered boat flying orange cloth as a…
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Rawai crackdown nets two “road robbery’ suspects
CHALONG: Chalong Police have charged two suspects for armed robbery following a spate of violent robberies on roads in Rawai in recent weeks, but the pair are not suspects in the killing of Norwegian Simen Knudsen last month.The two suspects, identified as Itthipol “Ron” Chudam, 21, from Songkhla, and Boonkiet Chuchao, 18, of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, have denied any involvement…
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One dead, two missing as Phang Nga ferry sinks
PHANG NGA: A ferry overloaded with construction material capsized and sank off Koh Prathong in Kuraburi district about 1 am Tuesday, claiming the life of the captain. Two others survived, but a woman and her granddaughter are missing presumed dead.Pol Maj Nirat Chuayjit of the Marine Police office in Kuraburi identified the sunken ferry as the Jern Jern, a flat-topped…
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Man attacked outside 7-Eleven in Rassada
RASSADA: A man was hospitalized Monday after being attacked by a gang of three men outside a 7-Eleven store on Srisuthat Rd in Rassada.Phuket City Police Investigations Inspector Lt Col Adul Nirapai said the three men set upon Sommaai Jindapol, 22, at about 10 pm.A 7-Eleven employee told police that the attack began outside the store, but spilled inside and…
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Govt-assessed land prices skyrocket
BANGKOK: Over the past four years, Phuket has recorded the highest land-price increase in Thailand, according to unofficial results of a nationwide land appraisal conducted by the Treasury Department.A source in the Treasury Department told a Prachachart Turakij reporter that on average, land prices in Phuket had increased 157.7% due to sustained growth in the tourism, real estate and retail…
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Body of boat sinking victim found
SATUN: The body of a man missing at sea for 17 days after the boat he was on sunk off Koh Racha Yai was recovered by Marine Police yesterday at Koh Tarutao in Satun.Phuthong Tirawattana, an employee of the Tai Lee Yong seafood restaurant in Saphan Hin, was one of five co-workers left floating through the night in stormy seas…
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