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- Phuket News
Burglar caught with keys to Phuket police HQ
PHUKET: Police this afternoon presented a man who has allegedly confessed to committing no less than seven break-ins in Phuket Town late last month. One of the houses robbed was the police accommodation home of the Capt Thapakorn Hanumard, who is the assistant to Phuket Police Commander Pekad Tantipong. Maj Gen Pekad is the chief of police for the entire…
- Phuket News
Japanese tourist dies in Phuket boating accident
PHUKET: A Japanese woman on holiday in Phuket died this afternoon after she was struck by the propeller of the dive boat she was on tour with. Chalong Police Duty Officer Attawat Suwannarat told the Gazette the police were notified of the accident at about 4pm. The name of the woman, aged 22, is being withheld pending notification of next…
- Phuket News
Phuket pirate raids net 11 vendors, B6mn in goods
PHUKET: Raids on Phuket shops selling pirated DVDs and CDs this evening ended with 11 arrests and evidence worth up to 6 million baht seized. Led by Pol Lt Gen Krisada Pankongcheun, deputy director of the police Center for Suppression of Intellectual Property Crime, the raids targeted 13 shops in Patong, some along the beach road and others in the…
- Phuket News
Disaster office issues thunderstorm, landslide warning for Phuket
PHUKET: The Director-General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), Viboon Sanguanpong, today issued a warning for 18 provinces ahead of expected heavy thunderstorms. The warning urged people to exercise extra caution tomorrow as heavy rains could cause flash flooding, strong winds, and landslides. The warning was likely issued ahead of a low-pressure system from the South China…
- Phuket News
Call for better pay, conditions for Phuket Burmese
PHUKET: Labor Day in Phuket has been an active one for a group of local laborers demanding special attention from the government. Vice Governor Weerawat Janphen yesterday presided over a job fair themed “Phuket Laborers Unite for the Environment, against Drugs” at the Phuket HomeWorks Supercenter on the bypass road. Many employers took part in the event, accepting applications for…
- Phuket News
Red Cross blood drive in Phuket
PHUKET: To mark World Red Cross Day this Sunday, a nationwide “Discover the Volunteer Within You” blood drive is calling out for blood donors in Phuket and the Andaman region. World Red Cross Day was designated May 8 by the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in memory of Red…
- Phuket News
Osama bin Laden is dead
PHUKET: The people of Phuket woke this morning to an announcement by US President Barack Obama that the world’s most-wanted terrorist, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is dead. He was killed by US forces on Sunday at a compound deep inside Pakistan, President Obama announced during a live nationwide television address at the White House last night (early this…
- Opinion
Phuket Opinion: Captive dolphins pitied, even in the Land of Smiles
PHUKET: The recent announcement that a Canadian investor has sought provincial support for his plan to develop a 900-million-baht aquarium, resort and retail facility in Rawai has generated much debate over the ethics of keeping dolphins in captivity. Soon after the announcement that dolphin performances were slated to be among the attractions at the aquarium, forum comments and letters arguing…
- Phuket News
Phuket Police arrest three for killing of Thalang teen
PHUKET: Police have arrested three young men who have confessed to the stabbing murder of Phuket teen Thawatchai “Ton” Maelanon, whose body was discovered in a rubber plantation in Thalang on March 26. At a press conference at Phuket City Police Station this morning, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong identified one of the three suspects as 23-year-old Apirak “Khao”…
- Phuket News
Phuket Gazette partner Nation Group wins top Asian media awards
PHUKET: The Nation Multimedia Group, of which the Phuket Gazette is a part, won two key prizes at the 10th Asia Media Awards ceremony in Bangkok last night. Photographer Watcharachai Klaipong won gold for his photo of emergency relief being delivered to stranded flood victims. “After seeing all the entries in this award category, I feel very proud of my…
- Phuket News
PHUKET REMINDER: Witness history as Prince William ties the knot with Kate Middleton
PHUKET: The British royal wedding is not to be missed. In fact, it will be almost impossible to miss. With 7,500 registered media providing coverage, an estimated two billion viewers worldwide are expected to watch Prince William and Kate Middleton tie the knot live on TV broadcasts and via the internet today. Here’s how to add your eyeballs to the…
- Phuket News
Phuket plays host in B100bn medical tourism drive
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha this afternoon met representatives from 19 major news agencies from around the world as part of the Thai government’s drive to boost medical tourism revenues to 100 billion baht (US$3.3bn) by year 2015. Among the representatives visiting the governor were journalists, photo-journalists and cameramen from Fox News and Xinhua as well as state-news agencies VNA…
- Phuket News
30-kilo python plucked from Phuket village
PHUKET: Villagers in Thalang who had been trying to catch a pesky python for weeks finally hit pay dirt yesterday, when the serpent slithered into their sleepy Phuket village just before sundown. Residents of Baan Lipon in Srisoonthorn subdistrict Village 8 told the Phuket Gazette that the snake was often seen lurking around the lake near their village and the…
- Phuket News
Phuket Live Wire: Debunking 3G in Phuket
PHUKET: Anyone working in IT in Thailand should try very hard not to use the term “3G”. The scientific-sounding “3G” rates as a marketer’s dream come true. It reeks of sizzle and bling. And, the way it’s being tossed about, it means absolutely nothing. You would presume that 3G is better than 2G and not as good as 4G, yes?…
- Phuket News
Case of the crabs: Phuket expert speaks out
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has identified overfishing as a likely cause of the millions of crab larvae washing ashore on Phuket beaches on Friday. The tiny sea creatures that washed ashore at Kata and Karon Beaches were crabs, not krill as originally reported, explained PMBC Director Wannakiat Thubthimsang, who took live samples from the beach on Friday.…
- Phuket News
Phuket rain blamed for “Saturday night spins’
PHUKET: Heavy rains in Phuket’s Thalang District on Saturday night left a passenger van on its side and a pickup truck badly damaged in separate incidents. All five occupants walked away with only minor injuries. One of the crashes occurred on Route 4027 in Pa Khlok at about 11am. A silver passenger van driven by 31-year-old Suthee Jareornpakdee was transporting…
- Phuket News
Workplace raids to uphold women and child worker rights in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office of Labor Protection and Welfare will lead a campaign, including raids of business places, to ensure the rights of child and women workers are being upheld, it was announced today. The office plans to inspect at least 500 workplaces comprising 16,741 laborers, including 260 known unregistered workers, Phuket Labor Protection and Welfare office chief Kittipong…
- Phuket News
Three girls saved from Phuket rip tide
PHUKET: Three teenage girls were spared the dangers of a strong rip tide at Nai Harn Beach yesterday afternoon. All three were on family trips to the beach, explained the mother of one of the girls. “We were waiting for our somtam on the shore while the three girls went swimming. “A few minutes later, I heard someone blowing a…
- Phuket News
7 dead, 52 injured in Songkran road accidents in Phuket
PHUKET: Seven people died and 52 were seriously injured in a total of 43 reported road accidents in Phuket during the ‘Seven Days Of Danger’ road safety campaign. Six of the dead, a group of Burmese and their Thai driver, perished on Sunday when the overloaded pickup they were in lost control on a curve on the steep access road…
- Phuket News
Head-on smash on Phuket’s Big Buddha hill leaves at least three dead
PHUKET: Eyewitnesses to a head-on smash between a pickup carrying about 20 people and a safari bus carrying tourists up Big Buddha hill say the accident has left at least three people dead, including one baby. Australian tourist Alessia Nuccitelli, 19, told the Phuket Gazette that she saw a pickup carrying about 20 Burmese people speeding downhill from the Big…
- Phuket News
Songkran 2011: Phuket records first road death
PHUKET: Phuket’s dream of keeping the road accident death toll to zero throughout the Songkran holiday’s ‘Seven Days of Danger’ safety campaign came to an abrupt end in Thalang this morning when a van hit a motorbike with a sidecar, killing one man and injuring another. The accident occurred at about 5:30am on the Muangmai-Airport Road, near Thalang Technical College.…
- Phuket News
Another Phuket Suicide: Man found hanged from tree in Chalong
PHUKET: Family are accepting as suicide the death of a man found hanged in a dense patch of jungle off Soi Nakok in Chalong, south of Phuket Town, this morning. Duty officer Chianchai Duangsuwan of Chalong Police arrived at the scene at 10:30am to find the body of 47-year-old Samer Wongmuang hanging from a tree. Tied around his neck was…
- Phuket News
Welfare ‘gift’ from Bangkok to include Phuket taxi drivers
PHUKET: Phuket taxi drivers, not universally popular with the island’s residents and legions of foreign tourists, will soon be among the beneficiaries of billions of baht in central government welfare funds. It was announced earlier this month that the government is expanding its ‘Pracha Wiwat’ welfare program from Bangkok to ten provinces, including Phuket. The program focuses on providing support…
- Thai Life
Phuket Lifestyle: Thai firm aims to be e-book center for Southeast Asia
PHUKET: Dedicated readers of English-language books in Phuket and throughout Southeast Asia can now enjoy carrying a well-stocked bookstore with them wherever they go. Asia Books, the 42-year-old bookstore chain and distributor of English-language books in Thailand, has launched an e-bookstore service for its 150,000 existing members and newcomers. The company, which handles distribution for the Phuket Gazette in Bangkok…
- Thai Life
Phuket’s Home for Life: Now assisting more than 200 women, children with HIV/Aids
PHUKET: There aren’t many places to turn to in Thailand for the many thousands of destitute, HIV-positive women who have been cast out of their home communities due to ignorance, but the Life Home Project (LHP) on Phuket’s Sireh Island accepts such women from all over the nation, warmly welcoming them into their family. Last month, the LHP took in…
- Phuket News
Phuket father of three claims malpractice left wife in coma
PHUKET: A distraught husband has complained to the local media that his wife is now in a coma following complications after a Cesarean-section childbirth operation at a well-known private hospital on the island. Arthit Boonnark, 47, told reporters gathered at Bangkok Hospital Phuket yesterday that his wife, 38-year-old Pariporn Jantarothai, fell into a coma not long after giving birth to…
- Phuket News
Phuket raises B12.6mn for Japan, flooded South
PHUKET: The Phuket provincial fund-raising effort for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the flooding in the South totaled nearly 13 million baht. The handover ceremony, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday night, was chaired jointly by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr, Secretary-General to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Among the many…
- Phuket News
Songkran takes to the sky over Phuket
PHUKET: PHUKET is in for a spectacular treat this afternoon and tomorrow (April 13) when the island’s first “Sky High” show occurs over Patong Beach – weather permitting. The highlight of the show will see world renowned stunt pilot Les Vorosmarthy performing breathtaking aerobatcs in his 350 horsepower, Extra 300L stunt plane. Les will be performing spins, stalls, slips, slides,…
- Phuket News
Warehouse gutted in Phuket Town blaze
PHUKET: A warehouse blaze took Phuket firefighters about 30 minutes to extinguish early this morning. Phuket City Police at 2:30am received a report of a fire on Wirat Hongyok Road, a few doors down from the Lotus Express shop. By the time Phuket City and Wichit Municipality firefighters arrived, there was little they could do to save the warehouse, which…
- Phuket News
Phuket Public Transport: Cartels continue in the driver’s seat
PHUKET: The latest fiasco at Phuket’s Deep Sea Port once again underscores the need for an immediate overhaul of the island’s public transport system, but the results of the talks that ended this latest blockade confirm that reform will not be coming soon. (See front-page story, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full…