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Sponsored Planning to extend your Thai visa? Why health insurance is more important than ever
If you plan to stay longer in Thailand, having health insurance is now more important than ever. Thai immigration often asks for proof of medical coverage when you apply to extend your visa. This applies to many types of visas,...
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India travel delegation arrives on inaugural Mumbai flight
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket hosted a welcome lunch for Indian travel agents, media, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) executives and airline representatives who traveled on the inaugural Thai Smiles flight from Mumbai on Thursday (April 4). The lunch at Banyan Tree was hosted by Ziya Birkan, deputy managing director of Laguna Phuket. The travel agents later attended a business-to-business conference organized…
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Phuket FC takes aim at Thai Navy
PHUKET: Phuket FC’s Southern Sea Warriors will be hoping to keep their unbeaten start to the Yamaha League One season going when they face Royal Navy tomorrow at Surakul Stadium. In the two games the teams played against each other in the league last season, Phuket FC lost 2-0 at Royal Navy Stadium, Chonburi, and won 1-0 at Surakul Stadium.…
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Phuket Gazette World News: N Korea warns of war; China bird flu cull; UN broke; Spanish royals exposed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korea moves missiles, calls for embassies to withdraw; markets roiled Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: North Korea has placed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of the country in a move that could threaten Japan or U.S.…
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Gazette office closed on April 6, Chakri Day
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew will be closed tomorrow in observance of Chakri Day. Chakri Day commemorates the founding of the royal Chakri Dynasty of which the present Thai monarch, HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the ninth king (Rama IX). As Chakri Day this year falls on…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Grand National must stay unique
PHUKET: Safety and welfare should always be a priority in jumps racing but the Grand National must remain a test of horse and jockey and not lose its unique character, according to Aintree racecourse chief John Baker. The deaths of two horses during last year’s race and two in 2011 brought equine safety into focus and prompted an official inquiry…
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Phuket Sports: Season of action for Jackson
PHUKET: The standout player of futsal’s Phuket United, Brazilian Jackson Santos, finished last season as the league’s second top scorer, and his goals helped the Andaman Pearl achieve their pre-season aim of a top five finish. Now the season has come to a close and Jackson has headed back to Brazil to recuperate and take care of his pregnant wife.…
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Phuket power to flow despite Myanmar shutdown
PHUKET: Phuket’s electrical supply will remain unaffected from today through April 14 while Myanmar shuts down its natural gas fields to fix drilling rigs, the chief of the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has assured. “Phuket uses about 380 Megawatts of electricity per day from the national grid. I have been approved a reserve of up to 400MW a day,…
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Royal flame at cremation to honor revered Phuket Abbot
PHUKET: The cremation of the former abbot of Wat Chalong, Phra Ajarn Udomwetchakit Uttamuyano, will take place on Sunday using a ceremonial lamp given by His Majesty the King, which will arrive by plane on Phuket.The funeral service, which began on Wednesday and culminates on Sunday, is being held at the special crematory in Wat Chalong and is open to…
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Phuket Sports: AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 venue chosen
PHUKET: Singapore and Vietnam will jointly host the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, the ASEAN Football Federation said on Wednesday (April 3). Speaking at the press conference before the start of the 2013 AFF Awards in Pahang, Malaysia, Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Tengku Abdullah ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah, the deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia and vice-president of the…
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Phuket Sports: TrueVisions prepares for life after EPL
PHUKET: With the English Premier League (EPL) no longer on its program list, TrueVisions, a leading subscription-based television operator, has earmarked more than 1.5 billion baht for new content and technology, offering more high-definition (HD) channels and a fee discount for existing customers to retain them. The audio and visual broadcasting rights to the EPL soccer matches for the next…
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April festivities to generate millions for Phuket
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office expects upcoming festivities this month to generate between 600 and 700 million baht for the local economy. TAT Southern Region 4 Office director Chanchai Doungjit talked about the current tourist situation ahead of the upcoming two-week festive period. He announced that the holiday period officially starts tomorrow, with Chakri Memorial Day,…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Bird flu toll hits 6; Argentina floods; Nobel Peace Prize stolen; Dancer Ruby riles Berlusconi
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China readies to fight new bird flu; Japan, HK on guard Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: China said it was mobilising resources nationwide to combat a new strain of bird flu that has killed six people, as Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance and the United…
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Villagers appeal to Prime Minister’s Office over Phuket land claim
PHUKET: Villagers fighting a land claim to 83 rai near an old tin mine in Chalong say they have turned to the Prime Minister’s Office to settle the dispute, in which they claim to have lived at the site for nearly a decade. The move to appeal to the Prime Minister’s Office follows more than 50 villagers turning out in…
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Phuket Immigration task force targetting foreigners nabs Russian
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration officers yesterday arrested a Russian woman caught without a passport and working illegally selling tours at a kiosk in Kata.Officers led by Capt Angkarn Yasanop arrested Natalia Nikiforova, 30, after an officer pretended to be interested in some of the tours on offer at the Rus Info tour counter on Kata Road.“She explained the tours to us…
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Phuket teacher sacked for performing Hajj reinstated
PHUKET: A Muslim teacher fired from Muslim Wittaya School for taking unapproved leave to join the Hajj has got his job back. Parinya Payadsub was fired after he went on the Hajj three times in five years, breaking a school rule that allows staff to join the Hajj once every five years. Following protests by teachers, students and community leaders…
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Phuket joins Royal project to turn aluminum trash into prosthetic legs
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Environment Office is calling for all donations of aluminum to donate to a nationwide project that seeks to recycle at least 80 tons of aluminum into prosthetic legs. The project, initiated by the Prostheses Foundation of HRH The Princess Mother (click here), aims to reduce the volume of garbage and make prosthetic legs more…
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Laguna return to form in Phuket cricket league
PHUKET: As Phuket’s Jones Lang LaSalle cricket league nears completion of its round robin matches, teams are still fighting for a finals spot. Laguna returned to the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) after suffering a comprehensive defeat against league leaders Patong the previous week, hoping to get back on track against the Village, who were also defeated by Patong in their…
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Phuket Opinion: Toothless, but no fairy
PHUKET: The other day I had the unpleasant middle-aged experience of breaking a tooth. Not just any tooth, but the right incisor tooth. Alfred E Neuman, eat your heart out. By some amazing stroke of luck, the tooth had broken off but the root stayed intact, which made my experience relatively painless and gave me the chance to consider my…
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Phuket Gazette World News: US-Korea standoff deepens; Cuban ballet defectors, China bird flu death toll rises
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. to send missile defenses to Guam over North Korea threat Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The United States said on Wednesday it would soon send a missile defence system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, as the U.S. military adjusts to what Defence…
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Eastern European tourists inject 35bn into Phuket
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community East Europeans help drive Phuket’s tourism boom Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Thailand’s current tourism bull-run is being underscored by a watershed of Eastern European travellers, a soaring source of business that delivered 1.6 million visitors last year, led by Russia with an 82-per-cent share,…
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Phuket booze ban dampens Songkran revelry
PHUKET: Officials may have just thrown a wet blanket on party plans for Phuket residents and locals alike with the announcement that the sale, purchase and consumption of alcohol will be banned on Patong’s famous Soi Bangla on April 12 as part of a slew of new precautions to make Thai New Year festivities safer.Phuket officials today established six main…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Motorcycling – No end in sight for the reign of Spain
Motorcycling – No end in sight for the reign of Spain Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Valentino Rossi is back on a Yamaha but it will take some heroics for the aging Italian great to wrest the MotoGP title from Spanish hands in the season that starts under the Qatar floodlights this weekend.Honda’s Dani Pedrosa lines up as the early favourite,…
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Famous boxer arrested in Phuket for dealing drugs
PHUKET: Karon Police yesterday arrested famous former Muay Thai boxer Sumonchai Mad-adam, better known to his boxing fans as Rungsaknoi Dejrit (“Powerfully Popular”), for dealing ya bah (methamphetamine) in the car park of a Phuket hotel. Maj Theeradet Jiraksa led fellow police officers in a sting operation, during which an undercover officer bought several pills from Sumonchai, 32, who was…
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Phuket Environment: Time for Racha to sink or swim?
SPECIAL REPORT PHUKET: With only two weeks remaining until the deadline set by Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa to have environmental protections in place on Racha Yai Island, questions are being asked about how much has been achieved and what remains to be done to protect the popular tourist island’s pristine environment. A campaign lasting nearly a year asking for…
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How Phuket expats can cut their investment costs
PHUKET: If you are like many expatriates in Phuket, or indeed across Thailand, you have probably failed to realize the impact trading or investment fees can have on your portfolio’s return, as such costs are often hidden and can quickly add up over time. In a rising market, these costs may not be so noticeable; but in a stagnant or…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Korea evacuation plan at the ready; Soldier abducted in South; Charter debate rages on
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korea on Friday issued a new threat to attack the US, reacting to a show of force by two US B-2 stealth bombers that dropped inert munitions on to a South Korean training ground not far from the North’s border. Pyongyang said its targets were…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Korea crisis; UN passes small arms treaty; Israel fires on Syria; Four charged over Brazil nightclub fire
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. deploys warship as tensions over North Korea rise Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Pentagon said on Tuesday that a second U.S. guided-missile destroyer had taken position in the western Pacific on a missile defence mission, as tensions rise over North Korea’s threats of war…
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Phuket doctors unaffected by health care pay reform
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) today confirmed that the introduction of the new P4P “Pay for performance” system of calculating rural doctors’ remuneration will not affect any public health care services in Phuket.The news follows at least 146 doctors – among them 11 specialists –announcing they will resign their positions at public hospitals across the country in protest…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Baseball opening day – a celebration of hope and renewal
Baseball opening day – a celebration of hope and renewal Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The crack of the bat, packed crowds and the smell of hot dogs on the grill signaled Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, a celebration of hope and renewal giving teams and their fans a fresh start to a new season. It is a rite of spring…
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Phuket Sports: The rise of Thailand’s futsal team
PHUKET: Sitting on a weathered white couch in the VIP section of the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, Thailand’s national futsal coach, Vic Hermans looks like he’d rather be on the touchline at the Phuket United vs Surat Thani match instead of watching it from the stands. The Dutchman visited Phuket recently to check out a few members of the…
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