Search Results for: cat
- Phuket News
Manhunt launched for karaoke killer
PHUKET: Police are hunting for the murderer of a man who was stabbed outside a karaoke bar in Thalang yesterday. “We found the body of Chaiyuth Innsathorn, 35, outside Panan karaoke bar in Thalang at about 3:20am. His throat was slashed and there was blood on his head and clothes,” confirmed Thalang Police Lt Suporn Muangkai. “Another man named Rachane…
- Phuket News
Tour boats warned to steer clear of dolphins off Phuket
PHUKET: Officials have warned tour guides and boat operators to stay at a safe distance from marine life, after a large pod of dolphins was spotted near Koh Mai Thon off the southeast coast of Phuket. Suchat Rattanaruengsri, head of the Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Division Region 6, was joined by marine experts and officials as they looked into…
- Phuket News
First Pracharat Marine Protection Institute opens in Phuket
PHUKET: General Surasak Kanjanarat, head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, chaired the opening ceremony of the first marine protection institute in Thailand on May 15. The Pracharat Marine Protection Institute, located in Sirinat National Park, is based on the ‘Pracharat’ ideology of economic partnerships among the people, the government and the private sector. “The institute is located…
- Thai Life
Phuket International Academy to join global United World College network
PHUKET: Phuket International Academy (PIA), located within the grounds of Thanyapura, in the north of Phuket, is set to become the first and only United World College (UWC) in Thailand, after two years of preparations and discussions with the London-based organization. With an alumni represented by more than 55,000 graduates from all around the globe, UWC has gained a worldwide…
- Thai Life
Blazing Saddles: Tackling angling and cycling
PHUKET: My passion for cycling evolved at about the same time as my passion for fishing, when I was a slip of a lad of around ten summers. I was lucky enough to find myself in a family of keen anglers and spent many happy boyhood hours with my grandfather, father and sundry Scottish uncles trying to entice trout onto…
- Phuket News
EXCLUSIVE: Phuket Prison’s female inmates talk about their lost lives
PHUKET: Behind the walls of Phuket Provincial Prison are more than 2,000 inmates. About 350 of them are women; most of them doing time for drug dealing. The Gazette takes you behind the bars of Phuket’s cramped prison for exclusive insights into the lives and circumstances of two women, ‘Wan’ and ‘Bee’, locked up for drug-related crimes in a facility…
- Opinion
Opinion: Young lives forever ruined by drugs
PHUKET: Despite the recent effort to ‘restart’ Thailand as a more civil and corruption-free society, continued reports of drug-related arrests indicate that our nation still has a long way to go in curbing the chronic problems of illicit drugs. The reflections of two female inmates serving lengthy sentences at the dangerously overcrowded Phuket Provincial Prison should serve as cautionary tales…
- Property
Across the land: Dealing with water scarcity
PHUKET: Every April, the weather is blistering hot in Thailand, and it’s been no exception this year if not hotter. According to reports, it has not been as hot as this in Thailand for 65 years. Intense heat, attributed to the El Nino weather phenomenon, is causing a severe drought and water shortage throughout the region. No exception for Phuket…
- Phuket News
Severe coral bleaching threatens popular Phi Phi dive spots
PHUKET: Coral bleaching is rife in Phi Phi national park – the worst ever recorded in Thailand – alarmed conservation officials reported yesterday. Many varieties of coral have been affected by the bleaching, which is due to the sea temperature rising to between 31 to 35 degrees Celsius, said an official from the Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant…
- Phuket News
BREAKING: Tattooed body washes up on Karon Beach
PHUKET: The body of a man wearing only underpants washed up on Karon Beach last night. A foreign tourist was shocked to discover the body while walking along the beach at 7:30pm and contacted the police. The deceased was aged 35-40 and was about 165-170cm tall. He has a bald head and appears, by the dark color of his skin,…
- Phuket News
Weather men predict rain over Phuket by weekend
PHUKET: As many Phuketians run low on water following an extended period of drought this year, the heavens are predicted to open by the end of the week and bring forth a long-awaited downpour or two. The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has promised rain as early as Thursday, according to an announcement on the TMD’s website today. Phuket is among…
- Phuket News
Russian deputy consul for Phuket dies in crash
PHUKET: The Russian Federation’s Deputy Honorary Consul for Phuket died in a car crash early this morning in the Wichit sub-district. Authorities believe Santi Udomkiratak, 50, fell asleep at the wheel after they found no signs of attempted braking on the roadway. Police say the crash between Mr Santi’s Mercedes and a six-wheel truck occurred near the Jor Soo Kong…
- Business News
Biz Chat: Tips for establishing a start-up
PHUKET: The island is filled with business people who invest millions on large business prospects, but no one ever talks about the little guy. What if you have 100,000 baht and want to play around with it? Here’s a guide to investing in a small business, just to see if it works. Let’s take it step by step – the…
- Pattaya News
On Deck: Lessons from the Top of the Gulf Regatta
PHUKET: I’ve spent the last week in Pattaya at the Ocean Marina Yacht Club, reporting on the 12th Top of the Gulf Regatta. I find it’s always good to look outside your ‘home’ town to learn, get some new ideas and a fresh perspective, and the Top of the Gulf Regatta can provide some great lessons for all. Firstly, it…
- Phuket News
Thousands pawn valuables to cover back to school costs
PHUKET: Phuket’s pawn brokers said transactions on May 10 totalled nearly 12 million baht, as families pawned valuables to cover their children’s school costs. Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop representative Apirat Chaiyakul said transactions between May and June are expected to increase by as much as 30 per cent over last year. Mr Apirat said his store will do around 180mn…
- Opinion
Opinion: Tourism’s impact on Phuket’s sea gypsies
Nirund Yangpan, a fisherman by profession and father of four sons, was born and raised in Rawai’s sea gypsy community. His family has been fishing for generations, but times have changed and now he fears the worst. Here, he talks about how tourism and new fishing regulations have impacted their traditional way of life, making it harder to earn a…
- Property
Airport completion fails again – this time mooted for December
PHUKET: Completion of construction work on the new international terminal at Phuket Airport has been pushed back to September, admits Airports of Thailand Plc President Nitinai Sirismatthakarn in an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette last week. Mr Nitinai was in Phuket to ‘assess progress’ with the new terminal but could not give a fixed date for the opening. “We…
- Phuket News
Aussie life savers support Phuket lifeguard training
PHUKET: About 60 volunteers took part in a training seminar on emergency life-saving techniques at Phuket’s Air Traffic Control Center May 10-14. The annual lifeguard training was sponsored by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO), and was supported by members of the non-profit organization Surf Life Saving Australia. “Our trainers included personnel from the Third Naval Area Command and the…
- Phuket News
Environmental damage shutters Ta Chai island indefinitely
PHUKET: Ta Chai Island and the surrounding waters were today closed to tourists and members of the public with no scheduled reopening date. Officials say the island, located some 70 kilometers north of Phuket, was closed in order to allow marine life a chance to restore itself. “Normally, islands in Mu Koh Similan National Park, including Ta Chai and Similan,…
- Opinion
Island View: Wherefore art thou coffee?
PHUKET: A great part of my excitement upon learning I’d be moving to Phuket was due to the island’s proximity to Sumatra and Java, arguably the world’s most renowned coffee-growing regions. Imagine my dread at realizing that here, like much of the world, the market is dominated by instant coffee. Thailand’s consumption of instant coffee is so ubiquitous that the…
- Business News
Finance: Take financial opinions with a pinch of salt
PHUKET: It’s very easy to get confused in the era of 24-hour media with regards to what’s going on in the world economy. To make matters worse financial opinions are often reported as facts. Many times there are hidden agendas behind these, so it’s important to take any opinions with a grain of salt. The idea for this article came…
- Thai Life
Looking Back: A brief history of Thongdee
PHUKET: During the late Ayutthaya period, around the year 1750, there lived a boy named Joi in the district of Pichai. His father was a farmer and often tasked him with taking care of the family’s buffalo. Joi was intelligent and fearless. Although slightly small in stature, he was not easily intimidated and often got into fights with bigger kids.…
- Phuket News
Maya Bay tourist ban proposed to save marine life
PHUKET: Maya Bay could be closed next month to help save marine life. The closure of the popular tourist spot in Phi Phi National Park was proposed by marine experts as a preventative measure to help restore bleached coral and other marine life. “Currently, sea temperature is very high, and it’s expected to continue increasing from about 30.5 to about…
- Phuket News
Fossils found in Krabi
KRABI: Fossilized bones, possibly those of a dinosaur, have been discovered in a stream bed in Krabi. Locals stumbled across the fossils half-buried in the bank of Khlong Paklao in Na Nuea, a sub-district Ao Luek District, after the water level in the stream dropped to about half a meter following an extended period of drought. The petrified bones are…
- Thai Life
Keep It Green: Beware of chemical pesticides
PHUKET: Readers can be immensely helpful, especially when they know more than you do. Come in, Victor Alvarez, who emailed me after I had sounded off about Roundup, the world’s most popular herbicide. I had recommended it in these pages for removing grass and weeds from the cracks in a local mountain road. In fairness, I did suggest that Paraquat…
- Phuket News
Krabi school builders to be charged for deaths of five women
KRABI: Police announced that they will be pressing charges against the construction company involved in a building collapse that killed five female workers at the Institute of Physical Education’s Krabi Campus in March. The workers were killed when fresh poured cement brought down the upper story of the building, crushing them. (story here). “Police investigators have concluded their investigation into…
- Thai Life
Phuket cyclists bag numerous trophies in Tour of Friendship
PHUKET: Siam Bike Tours and Z-Coaching Phuket joined forces to produce a team of eight strapping cyclists, ready to take on the Tour of Friendship (TOF) five-day race from April 30-May 4. The event took place in Bangkok and Kanchanaburi, where the recent heat wave has been even more intense than in Phuket. Now in it’s 28th year, the event…
- Phuket News
Paradise Beach venue threatened with demolition
PHUKET: Patong Municipality is to serve a demolition notice to Paradise Beach Phuket next week, giving the party venue in Patong 30 days to move off the land it allegedly occupies illegally. Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup said Paradise Beach Management Co Ltd, which operates the beach club near Tri Trang Beach, will be formally told to remove the buildings said…
- Phuket News
Canadian crash victim’s father appeals for more A-negative blood
PHUKET: Dennis Connelly, the father of Canadian crash victim David Lee Connelly, 40, has appealed for more donations of A-negative blood to help save his son. David Connelly is currently at Bangkok Hospital Phuket waiting for blood platelets to be flown in to Phuket from Bangkok so that doctors at Bangkok Hospital Phuket can perform an operation today. The blood…
- Phuket News
Decomposing body discovered in Kathu pond
PHUKET: Police are trying to identify the decomposing body of a man found floating in a pond near Kathu Wittaya School this afternoon. “A staff member from ‘Jungle Bungy Jump’ company discovered the body, saying it was causing a very bad smell in the area,” said Lt Sawanya Eiadtrong of the Thung Thong Police. Police said the man was naked…
