Search Results for: Pacific

  • PropertyPhuket Property Watch: A home for the holidays

    Phuket Property Watch: A home for the holidays

    PHUKET: ‘Tis the season, here on the sunny island of Phuket yet again. I’m not quite sure exactly when the vanishing point starts to loom over life’s passage. Could it be 40? That’s well and truly passed like the aftertaste of one of those deadly tequila shooters that often ends a long night of social drinking. You can always recall…

  • World NewsWorld News: Death toll from Hurricane Bopha reaches 900; Many still missing

    World News: Death toll from Hurricane Bopha reaches 900; Many still missing

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Philippines typhoon toll tops 900, hundreds still missing Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has climbed above 900 while hundreds more, many of them tuna fishermen, remain missing and are feared dead, emergency…

  • Phuket NewsMother offers B50k reward for missing Phuket expat Brett Bean

    Mother offers B50k reward for missing Phuket expat Brett Bean

    PHUKET: The mother of an American ski instructor, who was last seen in Phuket, has offered a 50,000-baht reward to find her son. Speaking at Karon Police Station today, 69-year-old Lynne Bean appealed to the public for any information that would help find Brett Bean, her 43-year-old son who failed to make a flight home to Los Angeles on November…

  • Business NewsPhuket Business: AMCHAM’s warnings

    Phuket Business: AMCHAM’s warnings

    PHUKET: “Caution” was a common theme echoed at the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Greater Phuket Chapter’s final meeting of the year, held recently at the Royal Phuket Marina. The evening featured three informative presentations, courtesy of AMCHAM Thailand’s legal council, which provided a wealth of valuable advice to expat business operators – as well as those considering conducting business…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket King’s Cup competitors look to bag every point in light winds

    Phuket King’s Cup competitors look to bag every point in light winds

    PHUKET: With winds easing off slightly during yesterday’s racing, competitors looked to maximize every possible advantage as valuable points were up for grabs.Frank Pong and his Jelik team have been the quickest of the IRC Zero class boats in the last few races, but Kevin Whitcraft’s Won Ma Rang shared class honours yesterday. Won Ma Rang took victory in race…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket King’s Cup Regatta gives spectacular tribute and racing

    Phuket King’s Cup Regatta gives spectacular tribute and racing

    PHUKET: The entire Phuket King’s Cup Regatta fleet took part in an inspiring sail pass close to Nai Harn Bay yesterday, before the start of the third day of racing. Royal Thai Navy yachts led the procession of Regatta boats from around the world, as they sailed past three Royal Thai Navy ships positioned off Nai Harn Bay. This spectacular…

  • Business NewsPhuket Business: HotelTravel – here to stay

    Phuket Business: HotelTravel – here to stay

    PHUKET: After 13 years building his company from the ground up, Phuket expat Blair Speers set a local business benchmark last month when he sold HotelTravel.com (HT) to the Indian based travel and e-commerce group that operates MakeMyTrip.com. Shortly after the US$25 million (760mn baht) acquisition was finalized, executives from the MakeMyTrip Ltd Group (MMT) met with employees at the…

  • World NewsWorld News: U.N. recognises sovereign state of Palestine

    World News: U.N. recognises sovereign state of Palestine

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Palestinians win de facto U.N. recognition of sovereign state Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly yesterday overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its long…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: Sponsors put Dylan on track

    Phuket Sports: Sponsors put Dylan on track

    PHUKET: Locally-based race driver Dylan Young is pleased to announce that Indigo Pearl Resort Phuket has followed in the footsteps of lifestyle venue KU DÉ TA Singapore by becoming a support sponsor for his MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship season. The new MRF Challenge Championships credibility is supported by Indian Formula 1 star Narain Karthikeyan, who is acting as the…

  • Business NewsPhuket Business: Pepsi gets new Andaman arm

    Phuket Business: Pepsi gets new Andaman arm

    PHUKET: Super Cheap Co Ltd has taken over distribution of Pepsi beverage products in Phuket and two other key Andaman coastal provinces, a spokesperson from the local retail giant has confirmed.The development follows the expiration on November 1 of a long-running contract between the Thai subsidiary of Pepsi-Cola (PepsiCo) and local beverage firm Serm Suk.Prior to the split, Bangkok-based Serm…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: Breaking free from the fear of choking

    Phuket Sports: Breaking free from the fear of choking

    PHUKET: It’s been an eventful few weeks with Sumitra “Dear” Basnyat winning the inaugural Sugarpova contest and playing events in Bahrain and Bangkok. Sumitra concluded a major change with her equipment sponsor, which means for the next critical phase of her career we will be using and promoting Pacific racquets/grips and strings. Maria Sharapova launched her Sugarpova candy brand a…

  • PropertyPhuket Property: Looking to expand in Asia

    Phuket Property: Looking to expand in Asia

    PHUKET: After an absence of two and a half years, Regent Hotels & Resorts is setting its sights on finding three properties to manage in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Hua Hin. The company currently manages a property in Phuket which is expected to open in December. Regent Phuket Cape Panwa offers 105 rooms and expects to keep 50 per cent…

  • Phuket NewsGo Eco Phuket aims to maintain momentum

    Go Eco Phuket aims to maintain momentum

    PHUKET: Go Eco Phuket, the local marine conservation group launched last weekend with the world’s biggest reef cleanup, is looking to maintain its momentum by joining the Royal Thai Navy in scuttling a ship to use as an artificial reef. Group members have already held discussions with local Naval officers about the project, which is expected to ease the pressure…

  • Thailand NewsThailand News: Failure to join CLMV could cost millions

    Thailand News: Failure to join CLMV could cost millions

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Reluctance to join single-visa scheme could prove to be costly Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Thailand has to revise its strategy concerning a regional single visa scheme, or it could lose millions of tourists to neighboring countries, which are kicking off the “CLMV Single Visa”…

  • Phuket NewsWeather warning issued as rain soaks Phuket traffic

    Weather warning issued as rain soaks Phuket traffic

    PHUKET: Heavy rain across Phuket this morning has caused minor flooding in some areas and severely hampered traffic flow during the morning rush hour.The Phuket Gazette has received reports of minor flooding in Phuket Town, as well as some parts of Chalong and Patong.The news comes as the Thai Meteorological Department (MD) at 5am today issued its eighth consecutive “heavy…

  • World NewsWorld News: LA hikers find skull and torso; 2nd in 8 months

    World News: LA hikers find skull and torso; 2nd in 8 months

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hikers find human skull, torso near canyon trail in Los Angeles Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Hikers along a canyon trail in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades on Saturday discovered a human skull and a torso, more than eight months after a similar discovery was…

  • Phuket NewsAmerican aircraft carrier to arrive in Phuket

    American aircraft carrier to arrive in Phuket

    PHUKET: The American aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis (CVN-74), dispatched four months ahead of schedule back in August, will arrive in Phuket early next month along with two US warships and 3,500 sailors.The Washington-state-based aircraft carrier’s current mission is to ensure security and stability in the “vital Asia-Pacific region”, according to the ship’s Facebook page. The departure of the…

  • PropertyPhuket Property: GM Christoph Berger stays with Outrigger

    Phuket Property: GM Christoph Berger stays with Outrigger

    PHUKET: Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Asia-Pacific, who announced in July an agreement to buy the Phuket Beach Resort in Laguna, has retained Mr Christoph Berger as the General Manager of the Phuket resort. The beach front property is scheduled to reopen it’s doors on April 1, 2013. When it reopens, the new Outrigger Phuket Beach Resort will include a spa,…

  • Thai LifePhuket Environment: Fishing till the seas run dry

    Phuket Environment: Fishing till the seas run dry

    PHUKET: There are certain indisputable facts about fish. With very few exceptions, they look good, taste good and they do you good. Dietitians recommend at least two fishy portions a week. So-called “oily fish” – herring, mackerel, salmon, tuna and sardines – are especially good for you since they contain omega 3 fatty acids that help keep immune systems healthy…

  • Phuket NewsRound-the-clock treatment fails to save Phuket dolphin

    Round-the-clock treatment fails to save Phuket dolphin

    PHUKET: The ailing striped dolphin that was under treatment at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) died last weekend, two weeks after she washed ashore in Phang Nga. Despite round-the-clock treatment that included the fitting of a harness to help her swim, the female dolphin took her last breath on August 12. Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, who heads the PMBC’s Endangered…

  • Business NewsPhuket Business: Transit investors; Travelmob makes a move

    Phuket Business: Transit investors; Travelmob makes a move

    PHUKET: A Thai-Australian consortium was the latest multi-national delegation to express interest in constructing the Phuket mass-transit, light-rail project which Cabinet gave provisional approval for at the mobile Cabinet meeting in Phuket in March. Thai Rail Tech company representative Sirichai Prasertwaree and Neil Heaton, general manager of the Hong Kong branch of United Group Limited (UGL), on July 10 met…

  • Business NewsPhuket hotel investments surge in 2012

    Phuket hotel investments surge in 2012

    PHUKET: Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is predicting that Phuket will be one of Asia Pacific’s hotel investment hot spots in 2012, following record sales in the first half of the year. Investment in the hotel property sector in Phuket is expected to exceed 10 billion baht (US$315m) for the full year for first time ever in 2012. Mike Batchelor, Managing…

  • Thai LifePhuket Gardening: Taking the pisonia

    Phuket Gardening: Taking the pisonia

    PHUKET: THE Phuket Gazette is certainly living up to its status as an international newspaper. Bernard King from Auckland, New Zealand, no less, wonders if I can send him some pisonia seeds. He writes: “I am a disciple of growing tropical plants in a cool country. I have managed to grow a small mango tree that is bearing fruits. I…

  • Phuket NewsOutrigger to buy Phuket’s Laguna Beach Resort

    Outrigger to buy Phuket’s Laguna Beach Resort

    PHUKET: Outrigger Hotels and Resorts announced today in a press release that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the 254-room Laguna Beach Resort, located on Bang Tao Bay on the northwest coast of Phuket. The transaction is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2013. The press release did not stipulate how much the resort was being…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Live Wire: Faster and closer, but not for us

    Phuket Live Wire: Faster and closer, but not for us

    PHUKET: Investors are lined up, and ground is about to be broken on the Asia Pacific Gateway, the fastest, slickest submarine data cable ever constructed. And it’s coming to Thailand. While most underwater data cables in the Pacific end up in the US, this one’s different. It starts in Malaysia, travels 10,400 kilometers (more than 6,000 miles) to Japan, and…

  • Phuket NewsBangkok again top destination city in Asia

    Bangkok again top destination city in Asia

    PHUKET: Good news for the Phuket tourism industry comes from a recently-released report by MasterCard that has Bangkok nestled into third place on the credit card giant’s list of major cities with the most tourist arrivals. The MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index report by economist Yuwa Hedrick-Wong projected 2012 tourist arrivals in the Thai capital at 12.2 million, behind only…

  • Phuket NewsFiremen scramble as Thai warship catches fire

    Firemen scramble as Thai warship catches fire

    PHUKET: Firefighters this morning scrambled to contain a fire that broke out on the retired warship RTMS Lanta, now a museum and tourist attraction in the heart Krabi Town. Fortunately, no people were injured in the blaze. Lt Col Thongchai Sengrod of the Krabi Town Police said that he received a report at 11am that smoke was billowing out of…

  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette: Sides vying for military support; Nasa plan; Slain nurse’s mum to talk to ICC lawyer

    Phuket Gazette: Sides vying for military support; Nasa plan; Slain nurse’s mum to talk to ICC lawyer

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community All sides vying for military support Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: In the face of a political tug of war, the opposing camps are trying to claim the military as a prize trophy. It is strange but true that the army is a fixture in the…

  • World NewsPhuket Gazette: Discouraging words in UN Forced labor report and US/EU employment trends

    Phuket Gazette: Discouraging words in UN Forced labor report and US/EU employment trends

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket”s international community UN: More than 20 million forced laborers worldwide Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: More than 20 million people around the world are currently victims of forced labor, the United Nations (UN) said on Saturday, but progress has been made in a number of countries to establish or…

  • Business NewsPhuket business: Thailand-UK trade steady; London Olympics to give Thai food exports a boost

    Phuket business: Thailand-UK trade steady; London Olympics to give Thai food exports a boost

    PHUKET: After a moving ceremony handing out IB diplomas to graduating students at the British International school, HE Ambassador Asif Ahmad took time to speak with the Phuket Gazette about the strong links between the two countries. HE Asif Ahmad was made Ambassador to Thailand in late 2010 but had traveled frequently to the Kingdom, first as Director- Asia for…