Phuket News
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Jet-ski races get thumbs-up
PATONG: Despite the Governor’s announced policy to rid Phuket of jet-skis by 2011, Phuket Province has given the green light for Patong to host the first round of the 2006 Jet Ski Thailand Championship, on March 4 and 5.The go-ahead for the event was confirmed yesterday at a meeting between Vice-Governor Niran Kalayanamit and members of the Thai Jet Sports…
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Ranong 12 finally set free
RANONG: “The Ranong 12”, a group of 12 foreign tourists arrested on the morning of February 8 for overstaying their visas, were freed on Sunday. The most that any of the 12 had overstayed was six days. Others were just 24 hours over the limit. During their five-day ordeal they spent the first two nights on dirty police cell floors…
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Second printing of Guide distributed
PHUKET: The second printing of the 2006 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s English-language “Yellow Pages”, is now on the shelves at bookshops, bakeries, coffee shops and other outlets around Phuket, Khao Lak and Krabi. Guestroom copies have already been distributed to Phuket’s leading hotels and resorts. The new Gazette Guide has 3,115 listings in 465 pages – making it 11% larger than…
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Patong porn peddlers pinched
PATONG: An undercover investigation team from Kathu Police Station led by Pol Maj Serm Kwannimitra raided two VCD outlets opposite the Patong Tourist Police office on Thaweewong Rd recently, arresting two people and confiscating some 5,000 obscene VCDs.The alleged offenders were Nattaporn Sornram, 33, and Jirawit Nonthapanthawat, also 33, both Phuket natives. They were found to be in possession of…
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Promthep wind power project stalled
LAEM PROMTHEP: A ban on structures taller than eight meters at Laem Promthep has stalled the construction of three 50m-tall wind turbines, each costing 40 million baht, at Phuket’s premier sunset tourist attraction.Ong-ad Thanachanmongkol, Chief of the Phuket office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said on Tuesday that he must first obtain the go-ahead for the project…
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Jungceylon white knight unmasked
PHUKET CITY: The mystery white knight who has ridden to the rescue of the Jungceylon project was revealed this afternoon as Real Estate Capital Asia Partners (Recap), a private real estate investment fund owned by US and Singaporean interests.Recap is a Cayman Islands-registered 50:50 joint venture between the Baupost Group of Boston, Massachusetts, and Singapore’s City Developments Ltd.It was set…
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Moves to make Patong Beach “more orderly’
PATONG: Vice-Governor Worapot Ratthasima on Tuesday was appointed chairman of a committee charged with cleaning up Patong Beach and ensuring that beach operators are regulated.Committee member and Patong Municipality Chief Administrative Officer Poonsak Naksena said that the known 55 renters of beach chairs and umbrellas have until by February 24 to tidy up the layout of their 2,300-odd umbrellas and…
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Police arrest 12 on Ranong “visa run’
RANONG: Twelve foreign tourists were pulled off a “visa run” bus just 40 miles from Ranong and confined to a jail cell overnight for overstaying their visas. The company that arranged the tour claims that the arresting officers, from the Tourist Police and Highway Police, demanded 5,000 baht from each of the overstayed tourists in exchange for letting them go.…
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Ticket scam accused skips bail
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Court has issued an arrest warrant for 24-year-old Briton Jonathan Duncan after he failed to appear in court on February 6 to face fraud charges.Duncan was arrested on August 30 last year, following complaints by people who had bought cheap air tickets from him.It is alleged that Duncan bought the air tickets by fraudulently using other…
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Thaksin should listen more, says TRT party-list MP
PHUKET CITY: In the wake of anti-Government protests in Bangkok last weekend, Thai Rak Thai party-list MP Dr Premsak Pearyura yesterday called for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to make changes to his leadership style.Visiting Phuket in his capacity as Vice-President of the Parliamentary Natural Resources and Environment Committee, the outspoken MP from Khon Kaen made a vague call for the…
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Nai Harn, Kata Noi to get warning towers
PHUKET: The iTV television network has donated 4.5 million baht for the construction of two tsunami warning towers, one at Nai Harn Beach and one at Kata Noi Beach, neither of which currently has warning towers.Tawee Homhuan, an engineer with the Phuket Public Works and Town and Country Planning Office, told the Gazette yesterday that his office has already received…
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Girl, 16, charged over baby’s death
CHALONG: The 16-year-old mother of a newborn baby found dead in the women’s toilet at Wat Chalong surrendered to the police yesterday evening.The corpse, a 3-kilogram boy with the umbilical cord still attached, was discovered on February 1 in a water tank in the toilet, during Wat Chalong’s annual fair.Pol Maj Chana Sutthimas, an Inspector with the Chalong Police, told…
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PTT, Shell, cut fuel prices by B0.40
THAILAND: Thai petroleum giants Shell and PTT today announced that they have both dropped fuel prices by 40 satang a liter.In a press release, Chaivat Churitti, Senior Executive Vice President of the Oil Business Group of PTT, explained that average prices of oil on world markets had fallen recently, and PTT had therefore decided to lower retail prices of all…
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OrBorJor to help resuscitate abandoned hospital
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) plans to join with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to buy and renovate the abandoned Phya Thai Phuket Hospital on Soi Si Sena, just outside Phuket City. Under the plan, the 190-room facility – providing both inpatient and outpatient services – would be reopened under the name Vachira Phuket Hospital 2. The…
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Experts discuss tsunami damage to coral
PHUKET CITY: Some 13% of reefs inspected after the tsunami had 50% or more of their coral destroyed by the waves, experts from Japan and Thailand, as well as local divers, were told yesterday at a seminar at the Phuket Merlin Hotel. In many other places, however, the coral was undamaged.Spearheading the seminar was Sakanan Plathong. He led a team…
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Driver dies in third limo smash in 12 days
THALANG: The driver of an airport minibus was killed instantly when his vehicle smashed into a water truck on the airport road yesterday morning. This was the third fatal accident involving airport transport vehicles in just 12 days. Pol Lt Col Jamroon Plaiduang, an Inspector at Thalang Police Station, told the Gazette that the white minibus, bearing the logo of…
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Newborn baby found dead in toilet
CHALONG: The corpse of a newborn baby was discovered in a water tank in a toilet at Wat Chalong during the temple’s annual fair. The gruesome discovery occurred just after midnight on Wednesday morning.The baby, a 3-kilogram boy with the umbilical cord still attached, was found naked in an open tank in the woman’s restroom,.Pol Maj Chana Sutthimas, an Inspector…
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Austrian’s extradition sought after jet-ski death
KAMALA: Kathu Police are to seek the extradition of an Austrian in connection with the death of a Thai man, allegedly killed by a jet-ski while spearfishing near Laem Hin on January 25. Kathu Police Superintendent Pol Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen today told the Gazette that the Austrian, a 29-year-old tourist, was questioned after the incident but was released because of…
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Duncanson victorious on Phang Nga Bay
PHANG NGA BAY: Winds of 13 knots gusting to 18 turned today into a day of thrills in the 2006 QBE Phang Nga Bay Regatta, after three days of less exciting breezes.Despite being left behind by the fleet in the lee of Koh Phi Phi Don, Scott Duncanson and crew aboard G4S (also known as Somtam Express) recovered to win…
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Valentine’s Day goes to the dogs
THALANG: Valentine’s Day, traditionally reserved for displays of love between humans, will get a canine twist in the Year of the Dog. On February 14, the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) will stage the official opening of the Mid Road Dog Shelter in a ceremony to be presided over by Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura.Dr Wirapab Termkiatpaisarn, head of the PPLO’s…
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Rang Hill rogues terrorize tourists
PHUKET CITY: Two rogue monkeys are wreaking havoc atop Rang Hill, where they have been terrorizing tourists, stealing food from diners in a hillside restaurant – and even biting people.News of the primate pests was reported to the Kusoldharm Foundation volunteer rescue service by staff at the Tunk-ka Cafe on January 26, months after the monkeys first appeared. Sukontip Kitsubun,…
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Burmese woman found beaten to death
THALANG: A 27-year-old Burmese woman identified only as “Ya” was found beaten to death on January 28 near an abandoned tin mine in Baan Prujampa, Tambon Thepkrasattri. From the condition of her body, investigators believe that she had died about three days earlier.Pol Lt Col Jamroon Plaiduang, Inspector at Thalang Police Station, said that officers visited the house nearby where…
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Phi Phi locals “don’t need Bangkok’s help’
PHI PHI: At a meeting today to discuss the future of the Phi Phi Islands – following the inconclusive talks on January 21 with Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop – local people made it clear that they regard the participation of the Organization for Specific Areas Administration for Sustainable Tourism Promotion (OSAASTP) in future plans and actions as superfluous.After listening…
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THAI adamant on axing Aussie flights
PHUKET: Despite an appeal from Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura, Thai Airways International (THAI) says it will stick to its decision to suspend direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Phuket, effective February 1.Kalayapha Panich, the airline’s Phuket-based District Sales Manager for Upper-Southern Thailand, said that the direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Phuket will be rerouted to Bangkok.She added, “The…
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Princess to attend prayers at Big Buddha site
PHUKET: HRH Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanya will attend a prayer ceremony at the Mingmongkol Buddha project site, in the Nakkerd Hills between Karon and Chalong, at 5 pm on February 11. Suporn Vanichkul, President of the Mingmongkol Faith 45 project committee that is raising funds for the project, told the Gazette that work on the group’s mammoth Phra Puttamingmongkol Akenakkiri…
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Gov steps into battle over yacht recovery fee
PHUKET: Chris Sieber and his wife Surapa Srijutanat – owners of Kilo, the Phuket-based catamaran that was recently recovered off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after going missing in December – have received a promise of help from Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura to try to reduce the massive salvage fee being demanded by the Indian Coast Guard.The 46-foot Kilo went missing from Phuket on…
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B1.4bn sports complex proposed for Mai Khao
MAI KHAO: The province will seek private-sector funding for a proposed 1.4-billion-baht sports complex and exhibition center to be sited on 617 rai of government land at the northern tip of the island.Promchote Traivate, Head of the Phuket Office of Sports and Recreation Development, told the Gazette that a committee formed to study the feasibility of such a project presented…
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Fever kills 138 water buffaloes in Phang Nga
PHUKET: More than 138 water buffaloes in the Thai Muang and Takuapa Districts of Phang Nga Province have died from hemorrhagic septicemia, known locally as “swollen neck fever”. Health officials in the province have declared an epidemic and all cattle and buffalo slaughterhouses in the two districts have been closed for at least 30 days.The disease, which normally occurs at…
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PYC avoids closure
AO YON: An extraordinary meeting of Phuket Yacht Club (PYC) members on January 22 has staved off the threat of the club’s closure due to financial woes.PYC Commodore David Ratcliffe told the Gazette, “The PYC will continue to operate at its current premises for at least another three years.”He explained that the club had suffered a fall in revenue following…
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Big Phi Phi meeting makes small progress
KOH PHI PHI DON: Some 200 local people attended a meeting on Saturday with Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop and a passel of senior government officials. They were hoping for solutions to many tsunami-related problems, especially an end to the ban on building permanent structures, but came away shaking their heads in disappointment at the continuing lack of progress.Phankam Kitithorakul,…
Phuket is a province in the south of Thailand. Phuket's beaches face the Andaman Sea allowing the west coast beaches fantastic sunsets right throughout the year. If you're looking for news in Phuket, go to thethaiger.com/phuket Or follow our instant news in our Facebook pages.
The good news is that Phuket is famous for its foodie scene with an enormously diverse range of local and international foods - Phuket and southern favorites, street food along with international choices catering for the 12 million visitors to the island each year. Thaiger follows Phuket news and information 24 hours a day with regular updates.
Phuket is only 'just' an island with a 300 metre bridge linking it to Thailand's mainland. We're always reporting in the news that the channel beneath is frequently dredged to maintain Phuket's status as an island. On the other side of Sarasin Bridge is the Province of Phang Nga.
Getting to Phuket is easy as the island has land, air and sea connections. Phuket is also used as a take-off point for local island trips as Thailand's largest island is surrounded by over 30 pristine islands. Koh Phi Phi and the famous Maya Bay are always in the news and would be the best known of the island's just off Phuket's shores.
Phuket is an island and a province. It's the largest island in Thailand – 48 km north to south, 21 km east to west.
It's about 20% smaller, in area, than Singapore but much less densely populated. Whilst the island nation of Singapore boasts a population of nearly 6 million, Phuket has a permanent population of around 400-450,000 (but varies a lot with the influx of tourists and a workforce that is always changing). Most of Phuket remains jungle and tropical rainforest despite an acceleration of development over the past 20 years.
Unlike some of Thailand's other popular islands (that are in the Gulf of Thailand), the news is that Phuket is located in the Andaman Sea.
Phuket is 878 km north of the equator.
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