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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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AAT warns of Phuket flight delays
PHUKET: The Airports Authority of Thailand (AAT) advised today that, because of increased security, outbound international passengers should make sure they allow three hours to clear processing at Phuket Airport. In some cases, flights have been delayed because tourists – or their agents and guides – have failed to allow enough time for clearing security, customs and immigration. The AAT…
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PM goes walkabout in Patong
PATONG: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra went walking in Patong this afternoon to view its problems first-hand, and later said that the environment, garbage disposal, land encroachment and public transportation were the main issues facing Phuket. He met and talked with tourists and Thais on the beach. At one point, Patong’s ex-mayor, Pian Keesin, approached the PM and gave him a…
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ASEAN pledges joint action on terrorism
PHUKET (AFP): Southeast Asian ministers today pledged a “new era” of cooperation against the global terrorist threat, with plans to link efforts to combat militancy and promote the region as a safe place for tourists and investors. At an informal retreat at the Amanpuri resort, the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers moved to counter a growing…
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Staff believe Shark will reopen
PATONG: Loyal Shark Club staff still camping outside the darkened disco in protest over its closure expect the club will eventually reopen, one of their leaders told the Gazette today. The staff also hope that expelled Canadian manager-shareholder Kevin Radke will return to run the business. The club’s Chief Engineer, Sayan Ongvimonkarn, told the Gazette that he believed the closure…
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Knife-death bouncer surrenders
CHALONG: A bouncer wanted for stabbing a man to death in a brawl in Kata Center on January 20 has turned himself in, police said today. Tanakrit “Bud Easy” Taweesaman allegedly knifed Chaiwut Yodkaew after an altercation near where Tanakrit worked at the Easy Rider pub on Tina Rd. (See also https://thethaiger.com/news/index.asp?Id=1872 .) Police Col Sati Malakanond, Superintendent of Chalong…
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PM to make lightning tour of Phuket
PHUKET: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrives in Phuket tomorrow afternoon for a lightning tour that will take in Phuket Town, Patong and the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ retreat at Amanpuri. The PM’s schedule is as follows: * 1:30 pm – Arrival at Phuket International Airport and then by car to Pa Khlok; * 1:50 pm – Visit “One Tambon, One Product”…
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Bus service “to start April 1′
PHUKET TOWN: The island’s first public buses will arrive on March 20, and full regular services will begin on April 1, the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor) announced today. The announcement was made at the formal signing of an agreement between the OrBorJor and Bangkok-based Thonburi Automotive Assembly, which will build and rent 12 buses to the OrBorJor. Wisut Santikun,…
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Country singer’s crew in bad smash
PHUKET: Four members of the road crew supporting country music star Got Jakraphan were seriously hurt in the early hours of yesterday morning when their 10-wheel truck overturned on the bend next to Pop Cottage in Kata after the brakes failed. While visiting the injured men at Wachira Phuket Hospital, Got told the Gazette, “I’m currently on tour around the…
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Prison drugs check turns up only porn
PHUKET TOWN: A spot check for narcotics at Phuket Provincial Prison by Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi and other senior officials yesterday drew a blank. All that was found was four pornographic magazines. The inspection team, which included Pol Lt Gen Veerasin Kwanseng, Deputy Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, was organized by Prison Director Tanu Maikaew. Warders at the prison were…
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Burning garbage stinks up Patong
PATONG: The stench of burning garbage has brought increasing complaints from tourists in Patong – and so far very little appears to have been done to fix the problem. Wolfgang Meusburger, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Resort, told the Gazette today that his guests had been complaining since December about the trash being burned near the Patong Wastewater Treatment…
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Airport throughput still falling
PHUKET: Year-on-year figures for January show a fall of almost 10% in the number of passengers passing through Phuket International Airport. December’s figures were also lower, down by 3.32% compared with December 2000. Travel in and out of Phuket and to most destinations around the world has continued to decline since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.…
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Italian fugitive caught in Patong
PATONG: Alleged Italian drug trafficker, Massimo Goggi, 47, was arrested by Phuket Immigration Police on Valentine’s Day while walking along Patong Beach. Goggi is wanted in Italy for drug trafficking, and an international warrant was issued for his arrest eight years ago. But it was only 10 days ago that Italian police tracked him down to Phuket and asked local…
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American drowns at Nai Harn
NAIHARN: American resident John Scott, 55, drowned while swimming at Nai Harn Beach early yesterday afternoon. Pol Capt Teerapol Liamsuwan of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette, “I received a report at 1:30 pm that a foreigner had drowned while swimming at Nai Harn beach. “We reported the death to the US Embassy in Bangkok.” Friend Don Battles told the…
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Secret tape sparks corruption probe
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has ordered the Chief of Kathu District to investigate allegations of corruption in the Patong Municipality and has pledged to establish a committee of inquiry if the allegations appear to have foundation. The allegations were made by former mayor Pian Keesin, now in opposition in the Council. On Wednesday, at an extraordinary meeting in the…
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‘Tired’ Jensen to sell Valhalla
PATONG: The owner of V-Plaza on Soi Sunset, better known by its former name, Valhalla, quashed rumors today that he is again in trouble with the authorities. “There’s no problem. No problem at all,” Jan Jensen told the Gazette. Mr Jensen did, however, confirm another rumor that V-Plaza is up for sale, saying that he was “tired of the business”.…
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Guides protest over tour prices
PHUKET: A group of about 70 Japanese-speaking tour guides protested today to Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi about a tour operator who, they claim, is offering tour prices to Japanese that are lower than officially agreed rates. The guides say that the lower prices are quoted in maps in Japanese, distributed in the restricted area at the airport by tour company…
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Wrong-way couple win Valentine’s divorce
PHUKET: One registrar refused to divorce a couple who wanted to split on Valentine’s Day, but another registrar decided that she had to do her duty, so a second couple actually achieved their wish. The Registrar at Muang District Office, Nittaya Chaya-apichart, told the Gazette, “Today is a day of love, so I refused to divorce one couple.” But the…
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Almost a last meal for prisoner
PATONG: A 50-year-old Finn who was arrested on Wednesday evening for gambling, and then left to sleep off the night’s alcohol consumption in the Patong Police Station lockup, probably thought life could not get much worse. But it did. After the man, named by police as Peter James, was put in the cell, his girlfriend brought him some water, some…
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Love is a 19,000-baht bunch of blossoms
PHUKET: Valentine’s Day will be marked by smiling lovers and red roses if today’s informal survey of 10 florists by the Gazette proves accurate. But the biggest smile will probably be seen on the face of a woman who receives a bunch of rare black roses from Holland, this year’s most valuable blossoms at 19,000 baht a bunch. Metha Supasri,…
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Pileup on Patong Hill
PATONG: Police are seeking a bus driver who fled the scene after his vehicle was involved in a collision with a car and a truck on Patong Hill yesterday. The bus, a 24-seater vehicle owned by a Bangkok company, was empty apart for the driver when the crash happened at about 5:15pm, 300 meters west of the Chinese shrine. Pol…
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US command ship visits Phuket
PHUKET: The US Navy’s 7th Fleet command ship, the USS Blue Ridge, arrived here today. While in port, 7th Fleet Commander, V/Adm James Metzger, and his staff will have a series of meetings with Thai military and civilian leaders to discuss regional issues of concern, including the fight against terrorism. They will also discuss holding combined exercises with the Royal…
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OrBorJor denies collapse of bus plan
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) today dismissed rumors that plans to launch a local bus service had been scrapped, insisting that bus services will start next month. Wisut Santikun, Deputy President of the OrBorJor and Chairman of the Public Transportation Board, told the Gazette, “The OrBorJor is 100% sure that Phuket will have a bus service this…
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Valentine’s Day is no D-Day
PHUKET: Hundreds of couples are lining up to marry in Phuket on Valentine’s Day and the message for couples who want to divorce on February 14 is: Please don’t. “I don’t want any couple divorcing on that day because it’s a day of love and happiness,” Sirinee Leelanont, Chief Registrar at the Thalang District Office, told the Gazette. Last year…
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A quieter Chinese New Year
PHUKET: The Chinese New Year may have opened in Phuket with many a bang from strings of firecrackers, but otherwise it’s pretty quiet, an informal survey by the Gazette indicated today. Fresh food sellers, jewelers and other retailers in Phuket responded with much the same bottom-line answer: sales are down. Usually gold, symbolizing wealth and good fortune, is given to…
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Policeman in murder-suicide
PATONG: A policeman stationed at Tungtong Police Station shot his girlfriend dead early yesterday morning, then killed himself with a single bullet to the head. Neighbors of the couple, Pol L/Cpl Chamlong Homkate, 29, and 26-year-old Vanich Meejun, called police just before 2 am to report hearing two gunshots from the couple’s room on Phra Barami Rd. The couple had…
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Prostitution arrests sharply up
PHUKET: Arrests for prostitution rose sharply last month, police statistics for January 1 to 25 show. A total of 53 people were held on prostitution-related charges, about seven times the figure in the same period of December. The number of people arrested on drugs charges also rose, from 120 in December to 144 last month. Ya bah (methamphetamine) was involved…
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Deputy PM launches recycling initiative
PHUKET TOWN: Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawitayanunt launched a government initiative yesterday to sort and recycle trash in Phuket. Participants in a seminar at the Metropole Hotel discussed various ways to effectively dispose of trash to lighten the workload of the overburdened municipal incinerator at Saphan Hin. Khunying Chodchoy Sophonpanit, Chairperson of the Thai Environment & Community Development Association (TECDA),…
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Alien search center lands in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Labor and Social Welfare Office has set up a center to seek out and arrest illegal aliens. The center is located at the office’s premises on Narisorn Rd, Phuket Town. Those who wish to report sightings of, or close encounters with, illegal aliens can call 076-354035 or 076-354036 between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm, or visit…
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Man held over large shark fin haul
PHUKET TOWN: A tip-off led the Marine Police to arrest a Taiwanese fisherman in possession of 115 shark fins today, the second arrest of its kind in just over three weeks. The man, named by police as Chern Whan Yee, 58, left his boat, “Worita”, this morning carrying two large white bags. When the officers asked Chern to open the…
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Fires cause 650,000 baht damage
PHUKET TOWN: A fire at 9.30 pm on Tuesday night destroyed two houses, and a second fire badly damaged a gift shop half a kilometer away, in Phuket Rd, yesterday afternoon. Damage to the houses in Soi Ton Pho was estimated at 400,000 baht, while stock worth 250,000 baht in the gift shop, Baan See Khao, was ruined in the…
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