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- Phuket News
Throat slash murder in Phuket
PHUKET: A 43-year-old man was found murdered in an apartment in Phuket Town yesterday afternoon. Police believe Pirasak Pongchoo, from Phatthalung, may have been killed in anger by his male partner for sleeping with another man. Mr Pirasak’s body was found wrapped in bedsheets in the toilet of his rented room on Wichit Songkram Road Soi 1 around 2:30pm. His…
- Phuket News
Skating Swedes through Phuket
PHUKET: Two Swedes who are skating almost 5,000 kilometers from Chiang Mai to Singapore rolled in and out of Phuket earlier this month sporting a few road scars – but relishing their long slog south. Education workers Jim Petersson, 25, and his girlfriend Maria Larsson, 29, have skated 30 to 90 kilometers a day through 21 Thai provinces since January.…
- Phuket News
Compromise needed at new Fresh Market
PHUKET: Pressure is mounting on Phuket City Municipality to reach an agreement with 425 market vendors who have been waiting almost three years for completion of the new fresh market on Ranong Rd. (See story in the current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here.) Most of the vendors have been operating at a temporary market on Wirat…
- Phuket News
Phuket to host Asian bike tour
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: SpiceRoads Cycle Tours has launched an epic journey for cyclists – a 3,000 kilometer bicycle tour from Hanoi to Phuket. Riding through Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, the organizers say it will take 39 days to complete this “trip…
- Phuket News
Phuket a super-star for hotel performance
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: According to data compiled by STR Global Hotels and reported by Hotel News Now, the Asia/Pacific region, and most notably Phuket, experienced increases in all three key performance metrics for March 2010. “The Asia/Pacific region is still leading…
- Phuket News
Phuket lifeguards start on Monday
PHUKET: Lifeguards will be back on Phuket beaches from Monday, after the Phuket Lifeguard Club signed a 10-million baht contract with the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) to provide services earlier this week. Club president Prathaiyut Chuayuan inked the agreement on Wednesday, finally putting to rest fears island beaches would be unmanned during the upcoming monsoon season. The club aims…
- Phuket News
Grenade attacks rock Bangkok
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community THE NATIONFive grenades were fired from M-79 launchers at BTS Saladaeng Station and nearby areas last night from unknown launch sites in Bangkok, killing a Thai woman and injuring 75 others including three foreigners, officials said. Ten are in…
- Opinion
OPINION: A Phuket Perspective on the ‘Protests’
PHUKET: The ‘peaceful’ chaos ruling in Bangkok today cannot mask the kaleidoscope of tumbling loyalties or the withering away of any potentially credible justification that this is any longer (if it ever was) about a need for social change or the defense of democracy. The risk is that the gathering acrimony from all sides is superceding ‘protest’ as the event…
- Phuket News
Phuket flights: can Tiger tame THAI?
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Phuket flights: can Tiger tame THAI? Tiger Airways has launched a promotion with special fares for travel from Singapore to Phuket. Asia Travel Tips reports that the deeply discounted tickets, on sale until 21 April, are priced from…
- Phuket News
Serial rapist arrested after day of mayhem in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: A serial rapist has been arrested in Phuket following a Songkran crime spree that left a man fighting for his life in the hospital. Phuket native Sathian ‘Sakai’ Reungjinda, 36, has confessed to raping or attempting to rape 11 women in Phuket in a spate of attacks that began in December last year. Police arrested him at his…
- Phuket News
Patong CCTV units on the blink
PHUKET: The majority of closed-circuit television (CCTV) security cameras in Patong don’t work, the Gazette has learned. There are more than 20 security cameras sited in key locations in Patong, but only eight are still functioning properly. Most of the ten CCTV units provided by Patong Municipality are still in operation, but most of the units provided by the Phuket…
- Phuket News
Increase in flights to Phuket Intl Airport: AOT
PHUKET CITY: The effect of the political turmoil on passenger traffic at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport has thus far been limited, with increased traffic at Phuket International Airport making up for some of the shortfall, Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced. Suvarnabhumi Airport Director Niran Theeranatsin said that before the protests 16 international and domestic carriers had requested an additional…
- Phuket News
Phuket safe, but warnings on ‘Thailand’ vary widely
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Germany advised travelers yesterday to avoid going near large crowds when visiting Thailand. The update to the travel advisory, reported by Earth Times, notes that the Foreign Ministry website says Germans should “stay well away from demonstrations” and…
- Phuket News
A THAI LAMENTS: “Our darkest hour”
PHUKET: The saddest thing is everyone had predicted this and there were so many opportunities to prevent it. In the end, either the curse was too strong or the dark wills of some of those involved to see it happen simply overwhelmed efforts to stop it from happening. A nation that once thought it had matured learned the hardest way…
- Phuket News
‘Normal’ Songkran expected for Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Songkran celebrations in Phuket as well as 13 other Thai provinces are scheduled to take place as planned, despite the current state of emergency and cancellation of official celebrations in Bangkok. Asia One News reports that China has…
- Phuket News
Violence and arson at troubled Phuket project
WICHIT, PHUKET: A violent confrontation and arson attack outside the troubled Phanason City project last night ended when police arrived and fired warning shots, causing those involved to run for cover. The latest skirmish in the months-old battle started at about 9pm. Around 200 men alleged to be project workers tried to destroy and burn some 40 motorbikes and a…
- Phuket News
Ya bah going cheap in Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: The arrest of a volunteer soldier on drug charges on Wednesday may indicate the price of ya bah (methamphetamine) is falling on the island. Kathu Police arrested Sornchai Nop in his room at a small hotel on Ratchaprasong Road in Patong at about 2am. Mr Sornchai, an army scout based in Narathiwat, apparently found selling ya bah in…
- Phuket News
Phuket leatherback eggs fail to hatch
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Hopes that two clutches of eggs could spell a reversal of fortune for Phuket’s endangered leatherback sea turtle population were dashed last month when the eggs failed to hatch. Mai Khao Sea Turtle Conservation Group member Somporn Anupun said the 130 eggs, laid in mid-January, failed to hatch as expected in March. The two clutches, thought to…
- Phuket News
Malaysia gains edge over Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Etihad Holidays, a division of Etihad Airways, has announced a new cooperative agreement with Tourism Malaysia to promote holiday packages to Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi and Kota Kinabalu, giving them a clear advantage over Phuket as a popular tourist destination in…
- Phuket News
Songkran in Phuket: Road safety clampdown coming
PHUKET: The water-splashing riot of the Songkran Festival draws near and with it the Phuket authorities’ annual road safety clampdown. Between April 12 and 18 police are promising to strictly enforce Thailand’s often-neglected traffic laws. In particular, officers will be on the lookout for drink driving, speeding and motorcycle riders without helmets. Twenty-four-hour checkpoints will be erected at the following…
- Thailand News
Trial by ordeal shocks parents
BURIRAM: Parents are up in arms after teachers at a government school tried to use black magic to find out which of their pupils stole money from a staff member on March 2. Children complained they were made to swear they didn’t take the cash, then drink ‘magic water’ from a bottle containing various kinds of garbage. Saithong Khareram, a…
- Phuket News
Phuket Pilot on course to fly again
PHUKET: Cathay Pacific airline pilot Scott McDonald is back on the golf course – and playing better than ever. Mr McDonald, whose right foot and lower leg were sliced off in a freak motorcycle accident two months ago, had a new prosthetic foot fitted on March 14. The American has already played six rounds of his favorite sport at the…
- Phuket News
Cambodia may tweak Phuket property
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Cambodia is trying to encourage international investment by relaxing laws on property ownership by foreigners. The Financial Times reports that Cambodia’s draft law is under discussion at the National Assembly and would allow non-nationals to fully own residential…
- Phuket News
“Mind Centre’ opens in Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: The Phuket International Academy (PIA) is opening its internationally rated Mind Centre for balance and well being with world renowned mentor B. Alan Wallace at the helm. The PIA Mind Centre will be launched a week from today…
- Phuket News
Phuket Airport snubbed
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Bangkok Airways, Thailand’s largest privately owned carrier, plans to turn Samui Airport, rather than Phuket International Airport, into a second international air hub, after Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, in…
- Phuket News
Phuket to benefit from second airport
CHALONG, PHUKET: Plans for a second major Phuket airport, to be situated in Chalong, have been tendered and construction could begin as early as February next year. A 140-million-baht feasibility study and pro forma environmental impact evaluation of the project are nearing completion, according to Jet Terminals Co (JTC) of San Diego, California. “On the basis of the research and…
- Phuket News
Phuket threatened as airfares soar
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: In what might look like an April Fools’ Day joke but isn’t, Thai Airways is increasing its domestic fares tomorrow in hopes that its passengers will be willing…
- Phuket News
Accused Australian bailed tonight
PHUKET: An Australian man accused of sexually assaulting a four-year-old boy at an international school in Phuket is set to be released on bail this evening. Andrew Clements, 51, posted 800,000 baht in bail and will be released from Phuket Provincial Prison. Mr Clements, from northern Tasmania, was arrested at his house in Chalong by Thalang Police at 8:15pm on…
- Phuket News
Phuket protest against prawn farm poisonings
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: Villagers are complaining that shrimp farms in Ban Tha Rua in Phuket are poisoning the canal their livelihoods depend on. Ten residents of Bang La village said last week that shrimp farm operators were letting chemical wastewater flood into Klong Pak Ka, killing marine life. Surasak Wahlum, a 55-year-old fisherman, said, “The wastewater kills shellfish and other…
- Phuket News
Phuket Gazette moves to Koh Kaew
PHUKET: After 17 years in Phuket, the last 13 of them in Phuket Town, the Phuket Gazette moves to Koh Kaew on Wednesday. Located just off the west side (northbound lanes) of Thepkrasattri Rd, the new office complex is roughly midway between the Bypass Rd and the Heroines’ Monument. If traveling north, take a left turn immediately after the large…
