Search Results for: cat
- Thai Life
Gardening: A shrub with no enemies – allamandas
PHUKET: It’s astonishing what one can learn by watching Mother Nature at work. As readers know, my garden has long been plagued by hawk moth caterpillars, but what is fascinating is that these voracious munchers have a distinct pecking (or should I say munching) order. Their diet, in strict order of preference, is tabernaemontas, then periwinkles, next adeniums and then…
- Phuket News
Krabi coal plant Environmental Impact Assessment rejected
PHUKET: THE Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the Klong Rua coal seaport and coal-fired power plant project in Krabi was rejected last week amid pressure from the Protect Krabi Network. The panel of experts reviewing the report said that it was misleading and incomplete. However, members of the Protect Krabi Network were not pleased with the result, as their…
- Phuket News
Bay Regatta a sailing success – results
PHUKET: The 18th Bay Regatta set sail on the morning of March 5, after an opening night party and buffet the evening before at the Chandara Resort & Spa at Ao Po. The 29 racing yachts, carrying over 200 competitors, flew the flags of 11 nations. Affectionately known as the ‘Fun Regatta’ to all participants, countries represented included Thailand, the…
- Phuket News
Opinion: Phuket – ATM skimmers’ paradise island
PHUKET: Despite efforts nationwide to upgrade automatic teller machine (ATM) card technology to make it more secure, the arrests of three groups of international ATM-card skimmers in Phuket in a week demonstrates that ATM fraud is rampant on the island. ATM users – which includes just about everyone with a bank account – should continue to exercise a great deal…
- Phuket News
Justice team investigates alleged illegal Chanotes, buildings
PHUKET: The Deputy Permanent Secretary of Justice today inspected four of 20 land plots believed to have been obtained through illegal land-title deeds or illegally developed. The plots examined today are on Koh Raet, along Surin Beach and in Kamala, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Justice for the Ministry of Justice Dussadee Arayawuth explained. Col Dussadee was the head investigator for…
- Phuket News
Tourist Police intercept kratom shipment to Phuket
PHUKET: A shipment of 45 kilograms of kratom leaves from Nonthaburi to Phuket was intercepted by Phuket Tourist Police today. “We had been tipped off by a source that a truck with the Bangkok licence plate 61-6211 would be delivering the leaves today,” Tourist Police Division 5 Superintendent Chusawat Janrojanakit said. When police spotted the truck, they pulled it over…
- Thai Life
Excuse Buster: Don’t turn your back on coconuts
PHUKET: This week, I read an article in the Bangkok Post that caught my attention. It was called “Coconut oil, the hype is not healthy: It is apparently the latest wonder food, but medical evidence does not back up the wild claims” (story here). I agree with the featured dietician when she says: “It takes diversity and balance to ensure…
- Phuket News
Teachers visiting Phuket turn in purse full of cash
PHUKET: Police are searching for the owner of a black purse containing 40,000-baht-worth of mixed currency, which was found by a group of teachers inside the women’s restroom at a PTT gas station in Thalang yesterday. “The teachers told Phuket Tourist Police that they found the purse near a sink in the women’s restroom. They opened it and found both…
- Phuket News
Phuket police volunteers return to Bangla beat
PHUKET: Police volunteers are back on the beat in Phuket’s primary party town, following a six-day strike starting on March 5 (story here). Region 8 Police volunteers met yesterday with Patong Police Superintendent Chaiwat Auikam and his two deputy superintendents to table a number of growing concerns that led to the strike. “The meeting went very well today. We will…
- Phuket News
Phuket Police volunteers strike in Patong
PHUKET: Volunteer police officers working the beat in Phuket’s main party town have gone on strike until the Patong Police are able to address a series of issues. “We will have a meeting tomorrow at 10am to explain our frustrations, and also to discuss how the volunteers can continue working with police in assisting foreigners and tourists in need,” Wal…
- Phuket News
Phuket Immigration extortion allegations denied
PHUKET: The Phuket Immigration chief has asked foreigners who believe they have witnessed extortion at the hands of his officers, while applying for address verification letters and other free services, to report such incidents directly to him. “There is no fee for this service or for 90-day reporting. If any foreigner is asked to pay for these services by one…
- Phuket News
Man arrested in possession of meth worth nearly B1mn
PHUKET: Police arrested a man in possession of nearly 1 million baht worth of ya bah (methamphetamine) pills in a sting operation in Phuket Town on Friday. Phuket Provincial Police arrested Somboon Lewplodpai, 33, at about 3:30pm, after receiving a tip-off about him dealing drugs in the area. “An undercover officer set up an appointment with Mr Somboon to meet…
- Phuket News
Video Report: PGTV wins “Best Local TV – News’ at Phuket Reporters Club Awards
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette‘s own PGTV won the “Best Local TV – News” award last night at the first ever Phuket Reporters Awards ceremony, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. PGTV won for a segment on the ‘Phuket Today’ show called ‘The Rubber Tapper’s Lament’, in which Karl Vandenhole investigates the plight of Krabi rubber cropper Sangwien. PGTV won…
- Property
Property Watch: Battle of the properties
PHUKET: I was a big fan of the ideas behind Planet of the Apes and the subsequent movies, even the remakes. “Don’t touch the filthy humans!” had a good ring to it and penetrated straight through our general human – though often misplaced – feeling of superiority. In Phuket, I have witnessed a battle between warring factions of owners within…
- Property
Property: Working a wider Angle
PHUKET: One picture is worth a thousand words. Make it a panoramic picture or a virtual tour, and it becomes even more valuable, especially in the competitive world of property sales. Geoff Whitlie of Panoramas Thailand has proved this formula successful in Koh Samui – now he is expanding to Phuket. Before the internet, the real estate business involved a…
- Thai Life
Gardening: Dealing with dry spells
PHUKET: While we are used to the onset of the dry season in Phuket every November, this year has been a bit different, as the monsoon was more prolonged and the drought, once it did arrive, has been more extreme. Not a drop of rain since New Year’s Day in my bit of the island means that we are having…
- Phuket News
Patong’s bowling puts them on top against ICC
PHUKET: Island Cricket Club (ICC) hosted Patong Cricket Club (PCC) at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) in Thalang last Sunday, kicking off the first game of March. ICC won the toss and sent Patong into bat, in playing conditions that were unexpectedly warm and dry – unusual for this time of year in Phuket. Patong openers Imtiyaz Mustaq and Waseem…
- Phuket News
Opinion: Jessie Vard Fighting for fairy-tale ending
PHUKET: Reaction on social media to pleas for justice from Jessie Vard through a series of recent Facebook videos that went viral, should serve as an interesting case in observing the extent to which social media can impact the Thai criminal justice system. It goes without saying that there are two sides to every story and that what is known…
- Phuket News
Heroines’ Memorial Festival kicks off tomorrow
PHUKET: This year’s Heroines’ Memorial Festival, which kicks off on Saturday, is sure to impress all in attendance with its cultural and historical activities to honor Thao Thepkrasattri and Thao Srisoonthorn. “The purpose of this event is to honor the heroism of Lady Thepkrasattri and Lady Srisoonthorn, who sacrificed their blood and lives for generations to come,” Governor Nisit Jansomwong…
- Phuket News
Phi Phi police hunt gibbon tout after Instagram post
PHUKET: Phi Phi Island Police are investigating the exploitation of animals on the island following former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova posting a photograph of her posing with a gibbon in Ton Sai on Instagram on Monday. The photograph posted on the popular photo-sharing site showed Mr Glebova smiling and holding the baby gibbon, which had been dressed up in a…
- Phuket News
Phuket public urged to donate blood this month
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) has invited all qualified members of the public to donate blood this month in honor of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s 60th birthday on April 2. “While we have enough blood stocks in Phuket, supplies are needed in Bangkok,” said acting PRBC chief Pornthip Rattajak. The Thai Red Cross Society posted a message…
- Phuket News
Phuket runner goes the distance – aiming for 100km race
PHUKET: What were your plans last weekend? Did you see a girl running the 61-kilometer road distance from Rawai to Sarasin Bridge? Rest assured her upcoming plans are fixed as well – she’s preparing for her next long-distance run. Meet Kiranee Narabal, possibly Phuket’s most passionate long-distance runner, whose love for her chosen sport has taken her for a 100km…
- Thai Life
Blazing Saddles: How to stay young for longer
PHUKET: Phuket is one of the globe’s most desirable retirement havens, drawing thousands of retirees to its sandy shores. In addition, the demographics of the local Thai populace indicate that Thailand is a rapidly aging society, with 21 per cent of the population already over the age of 55. While many of us think that the effects of aging are…
- Pattaya News
Making safe property investments in Phuket
PHUKET: At a time of year when many property sales are taking place in hotspot investment destinations, such as Phuket, it seems now is an appropriate time to recap the types of legitimate investment for foreigners interested in property in Thailand, and to note that there are some very straightforward methods of avoiding complicated and cumbersome transactions. Aside from land…
- Property
Phuket Pads: Luxury villa shortage in south
PHUKET: The south of the island is facing a shortage of new upmarket villa developments. There are two main reasons for this: higher land and material costs, and more buyer demand for two-bedroom to three-bedroom villas on smaller plot sizes. However, a home is up for grabs in one of the first upmarket luxury villa developments in the south, Rawai…
- Thai Life
Thinking Green: Protecting our coastlines
PHUKET: “We love our coast and we love the water,” proclaim the founders of the charity organization Sustainable Coastlines, established in New Zealand. “We want to support, protect and be challenged by the sea.” In the past, Phuket’s coastline provided communities with a livelihood from fishing, but this has now moved on to tourism. As a result, today’s great challenge…
- Business News
Generation hospitality
PHUKET: The hospitality industry in Thailand is struggling. Not because there aren’t enough guests, quite the opposite – the number of rooms on the island is multiplying to accommodate year-on-year increases in the number of tourist arrivals. The problem is the lack of skilled workers, explains Patteera Maneesri, Trisara Group director of human resources and a Trisara Academy director. “We…
- Phuket News
Phuket police arrest slow loris tout in Patong
PHUKET: Police arrested a man on Saturday night for illegal possession of a slow loris, which he was letting tourists hold for paid photo opportunities in Patong. “We arrested 23-year-old Natthapol Kensing on Bangla Road at about 7pm. We confiscated the slow loris, as well as his equipment, including the camera,” said Lt Col Sutthichai Thianpho of the Patong Police.…
- Thailand News
NRC panel focused on monks and money
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NRC panel focused on monks and money The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The chairman of the reform committee on the protection of Buddhism has said that the purpose of his committee is to seek an answer on whether monks can spend money, so that the…
- Business News
A very good year for stocks
PHUKET: Each year, I head back to the US to see my mother and meet with clients. It also allows me to see how things are going. I need to do this to see if there’s any truth to the headlines I read. You know the ones I’m talking about – stocks in a bubble, economic slowdown, unemployment and so…
