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How much is Thai health insurance?
Health insurance in Thailand is essential for expats and locals, providing financial protection and access to quality care. Costs depend on age, health, and coverage level, with basic plans being cheaper but limited and comprehensive plans offering more benefits at...
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Coral trafficker arrested
PHUKET TOWN: A local sorng taew driver was arrested at 7 am today when police officers caught him loading boxes of protected coral valued at 100,000 baht onto a van bound for Surat Thani. Acting on a tip-off, officers arrived at the Montri Rd terminus where vans bound for Surat Thani gather, as Phuket native Weerayuth Taodaeng, 41, was loading…
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Fast visas and permits for IT experts
PHUKET TOWN: In a bid to make Phuket more attractive as a Cyber Paradise, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is pushing for visas and work permits to be processed in one day for “knowledge workers”. Dr Surapong Suebwonglee, Minister for ICT, announced after a seminar in Phuket yesterday, “We will push for work permits and visas to…
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Villagers seek justice for slain council member
CHERNG TALAY: About 200 Cherng Talay villagers carried the casket of a murdered village council member to the Cherng Talay Police Station yesterday to demand justice for his death. The victim, 33-year-old Sommit Kongtin, was allegedly clubbed to death by a gang of young thugs outside the Chok E-sarn Karaoke Bar on Srisoonthorn Rd at about 2 am on June…
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Jilted lover commits murder-suicide
WICHIT: A rubber plantation worker on Saturday shot dead his ex-fiancée after discovering that she had been living with a new boyfriend. He then turned the gun on himself, shooting himself in the head. Lt Col Chartchai Nicrodhanon, Deputy Superintendent (Suppression) of Phuket Town Police Station, today told the Gazette that he and other officers arrived at the scene of…
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A very dry “wet’ season forecast
PHUKET TOWN: A meteorologist from the Southwestern Regional Meteorological Center has forecast that Phuket will continue to receive less rainfall than normal this rainy season and is urging Phuket residents to strictly conserve water and augment domestic supplies by collecting rainwater. Tawat Tantham-Nu, director of the Southwestern Regional Meteorological Center, told the Gazette, “Much of Bang Wad Reservoir is now…
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Phang Nga resorts slash room rates
PHANG NGA: In a bid to beat the low-season blight, 14 Phang Nga hotels and resorts are offering half-price rooms for Thai nationals until September 15. The promotion, called Unseen Price, aims to promote Phang Nga tourist attractions being touted in the Unseen in Thailand travel campaign launched recently by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). To claim the discount…
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Dancing the doctor away
PHUKET TOWN: More than 2,000 residents from across the island joined Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan and leading Phuket figures at Saphan Hin on Thursday to “dance the doctor away”. The mass workout was organized as part of a Health Ministry fitness initiative to encourage people to exercise for at least 15 minutes a day. At the front of the…
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Boost for Phuket’s environment
PATONG: Community environmental projects should get a boost following a three-day seminar at the Royal Paradise Hotel organized by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor). The seminar reviewed Phuket’s environmental plans, providing impetus for local officials and groups. Somchai Duangkae, Chairman of the Provincial Council, told the Gazette that Tambon Pa Khlok has been chosen as a pilot community because…
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Investigators swoop on Land Reform Office
PHUKET TOWN: Crime Suppression officers and Forestry Police today descended on the Phuket Provincial Agriculture Land Reform Office (ALRO) as part of investigations into the SorPorKor land use scandal. During the afternoon investigators also visited five pieces of land that are among those pinpointed in the massive land probe launched by the government. During a tense two-hour visit in the…
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Gov targets influential people
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has fired a shot across the bows of “influential people” in Phuket, vowing to act against them and against local officials who help them. He told the Gazette that he plans to target two groups of influential people – those who infringe on government land, and those who run the sunbed and umbrella businesses that…
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Bilateral talks boost health tourism
MAI KHAO: Thailand and Malaysia have agreed in bilateral talks to cooperate in boosting health-based tourism and developing traditional medicines. The deal came today in the first of three days of talks between Thai Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan and her Malaysian counterpart, Dato Chua Jui Meng, at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa. Other topics that will be…
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Phuket to get B20 million facelift
PHUKET: Phuket will have a 20-million-baht facelift before the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in September. Seven central government organizations will provide the bulk of the funding for the makeover but the island’s 13 OrBorTors will also contribute 200,000 baht apiece. Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit, who heads the project, said work had been underway since last month. The budget covers…
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Mega-dog-pound plan criticized
PHUKET: A plan to house all of Phuket’s estimated 11,500 stray dogs in a huge central pound until they die has been criticized by the leader of a group that is attempting to control the animal population with sterilization. Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi says the proposal, costing 2 million baht, would solve the problem of “soi” dogs and would,…
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Curbside garbage bins banned
PHUKET TOWN: In a bid to keep Phuket Town streets clean, from July 1 residents living along four main roads in town will no longer be allowed to leave their garbage bins on the street. Phuket Town Councilor Somjai Suwansupana announced today, “Thepkrasattri Rd [from the City Hotel to Wat Kosit], Rassada Rd, Phang Nga Rd and Thalang Rd will…
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Land paper probe begins
PHUKET: Thirty officers from the Agriculture Land Reform Deoartment (ALRD) in Bangkok started checking SorPorKor 4-01 land occupation papers this morning, and are expected to take about a week to compile a summary of their findings. Adisak Srisappakij, Permanent Secretary of the ALRD, told the Gazette after meeting with Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi that the 30 officers would check all…
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Influential people “definitely in Phuket’ – Gov
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has slammed newspaper reports that Phuket has no “influential people” of the kind currently being targeted by the government of PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Several newspapers had reported that Phuket was among some 30 provinces that had stated they had no influential people. “I read these reports,” Gov Pongpayome said, “and I didn’t understand why they…
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Phuket “facing foreign labor shortage’
PHUKET TOWN: Although the number of unemployed people has risen dramatically as a result of the tourism downturn, local Thai Rak Thai party leader Dr Yada Palimapan believes Phuket’s industries now need an extra 5,000 more laborers from other countries to kick-start the local economy. Dr Yada told a media conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday that…
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Scramble to find more water
PHUKET: If you don’t already have an auxiliary water storage tank for your home now might be a good time to buy one: visiting Royal Irrigation Department Director General Samart Chockkanapitak confirmed yesterday that Phuket’s water supplies are running dangerously low. K. Samart urged all Phuket residents connected to municipal supplies to strictly conserve water. He estimated that under current…
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Tour submarine arrives in Phuket
AO MAKHAM: Phuket’s first tourist submarine arrived at the Phuket Deep Sea Port last night after a one-month journey on a cargo ship from Florida. The DS-48 submarine, bought by Phuket Submarine Co Ltd, is the first tourist submarine in Thailand. It will be ready to carry passengers on underwater tours around Koh Dok Mai around the end of this…
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Traffic campaign aims to “end the pain’
PHUKET TOWN: Some 900 people attended a Traffic Accident Prevention Fair in Saphan Hin yesterday, marking the start of a province-wide effort to improve road safety through education and law enforcement. Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit, who is leading the campaign, said at the opening ceremony at the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office, “Phuket has the highest rate of death from traffic accidents…
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Cook’s killing baffles police
CHERNG TALAY: Days have passed but police admit they are still baffled by the murder of a young cook from a stylish new upmarket restaurant in Cherng Talay. A fellow worker from the new Red Room restaurant found the body of 23-year-old Amporn Changthong lying beside Sri Soonthorn Rd, some 200 meters from the venue, about 3:30 am last Friday.…
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Nai Yang vendors told to move
NAI YANG: Vendors on Nai Yang Beach have been ordered by Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi to move from public land. The 47 vendors have been offered alternative accommodation about 600 meters away but at least 22 are resisting the move and are fighting it through the courts. Tanapong Apaiso, Chief of Sirinat Marine National Park, said that 14 tricycle vendors…
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Goods worth B3m stolen in yacht break-ins
AO CHALONG: Electronic and other equipment valued at more than 3 million baht was stolen in a series of robberies from yachts moored in Ao Chalong on Friday, May 30. Australian Brian Ritchie told the Gazette that about noon he discovered that his yacht, Beyond Rotto, had been broken into and that equipment worth about 1 million baht was missing.…
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Boat driver caught for robbing HK tourists
PHUKET: Six Hong Kong tourists had over 32,000 baht stolen as they were snorkelling near Phi Phi Island yesterday, but police managed to arrest the thief yesterday morning and recover the money. The thief, 22-year-old Wachira Thongsarng, is an employee of PP Adventure, which runs speedboat day-trips out of the Boat Lagoon. Wachira was taken into custody by Phuket Tourist…
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Rawai beach stalls to be moved
RAWAI: About 40 stall vendors selling food along the Rawai seafront have been ordered to vacate by the end of June in preparation for developments at the resort beach. Sixteen of the vendors will move to a new site as part of a 600,000-baht building project that will house them about 500 meters from the old location, near the Rawai…
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Municipality appeals for water conservation
PHUKET TOWN: Acting Phuket Town Mayor Pairoj Kaykina today asked Phuket Town residents to use water sparingly in the hope of avoiding water supply rationing. The appeal comes after a Phuket Town Waterworks Authority (PTWA) report confirmed that water supply from dwindling tin mine reserves will need to be restricted unless there is a sharp increase in rainfall soon. “If…
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Poor turnout for SorPorKor meeting
PHUKET TOWN: Only 67 people of the 515 people in Phuket holding SorPorKor 4-01 land occupation papers registered at a meeting with Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday. With the central government about to send dozens of investigators to Phuket to check all SorPorKor papers, Gov Pongpayome had asked SorPorKor holders to a one-hour meeting at the Phuket Provincial Meeting…
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Man drowns at Nai Harn
NAI HARN: Beach vendors yesterday discovered the body of a 19-year-old man who was swept off the rocks by a large wave at Nai Harn Beach on Sunday. Suriya Lannoi, a gas station attendant in Rawai, was standing on rocks with five friends at about 4 pm when they were all knocked into the sea by a large wave, Pol…
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New crackdown on traffic offenses
PHUKET: Police began a crackdown on traffic offenders from yesterday, as part of a fresh offensive aimed at reducing road deaths and injuries. Announcing the crackdown, which he said will continue indefinitely, Metha Mekarath of the Provincial Defense Office said that government employees caught breaking the rules of the road will face special punishment and could even lose their jobs.…
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Tourist vanishes at Bang Tao Beach
CHERNG TALAY: A 30-year-old Hong Kong man is missing, believed drowned, after he and his friends ignored advice and went swimming at Bang Tao Beach yesterday. Police named the man as Law Chun Lung. He disappeared while swimming with three companions at about 6 pm. Pol Lt Prakob Boonsan of Cherng Talay Police Station said that staff at the Laguna…
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