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If you plan to stay longer in Thailand, having health insurance is now more important than ever. Thai immigration often asks for proof of medical coverage when you apply to extend your visa. This applies to many types of visas,...
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Bypass trees chopped down to ‘ease traffic’, says Phuket highways chief
PHUKET: Officials from the Phuket Highways Office say that the reason for chopping down the more than 20 towering pine trees near the Premium Outlet on the Bypass Road this morning was to provide a ‘better view’ of that road to drivers on both sides. “Due to ‘heavy rain’ these days, it was necessary for us to cut down the…
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Phuket gov to reconsider poor communities’ land issue
PHUKET: Hundreds of people from poor communities in Phuket gathered outside Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday morning to protest an official announcement disqualifying them from attaining ‘community’ status. The sit-in was organized by the ’23 Communities Network’, which comprises of poor and marginalized communities in Phuket. As an officially-labeled ‘community’ the group would be entitled to the use of communal land…
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PEA announces temporary blackout schedule for Phuket
PHUKET: The Provincial Electricity Authority has announced a series of “temporary” blackouts again, this time for “maintenance” in various parts of Phuket, starting tomorrow. The power cuts, which are expected to last from 9am-4:30pm, are scheduled as follows: June 6: Premium Outlet to Biztown and from Siam Niramit to Phuket A&P Trading. June 8: Rock Garden Bypass Housing to Moo…
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Gang of fake gold peddlers arrested in Phuket, Samui
PHUKET: Four men and three women were arrested this weekend for allegedly selling 4 million baht worth of fake gold in several Phuket gold shops over the period of a month. Two suspects are still on the run. Five of the suspects were nabbed at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint, one in Patong, and one in Koh Samui. The suspects are…
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Thousands participate in the 12th Laguna Phuket Marathon
PHUKET: More than 4,000 runners lined-up yesterday morning to run the Marathon and Half Marathon distances at the 12th annual Laguna Phuket Marathon. With a record turnout of almost 7,000 runners during the two-day event, the Marathon and Half Marathon proved to be the most popular. With more than 1,600 athletes competing in the marathon alone, it was the largest…
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Mom Tri’s Villa Royale to host 5-course wine dinner
PHUKET: Mom Tri’s Villa Royale is hosting a five-course wine dinner from 7pm onwards on Tuesday (June 6). Featuring seared tuna; kurobota pork Italian tradition; veal sirloin and cheek ravioli; an Italian cheese collection; and a layered chocolate and coffee cake for dessert; each course is paired with vintage wine especially chosen by Mom Tri’s Wine Director George Ciret. With…
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Phuket woman wanted for allegedly cheating ‘savings group’ out of millions
PHUKET: Police are searching for a woman who allegedly swindled a ‘rotating savings’ group out of millions of baht. ‘Rotating savings’ is a form of combined peer-to-peer banking and lending system wherein a group of individuals agree to contribute a certain amount of money per month in order to save with and borrow from each other. Thirty people yesterday went…
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Vachira Phuket Hospital to conduct free cancer screening for women
PHUKET: Vachira Phuket Hospital will conduct free breast and cervical cancer check-ups every Wednesday from June 14 to August 31, 4:30-8:00pm. Vachira Phuket Hospital social security card holders, both foreign and Thai, as well as 30-baht health insurance card holders, can avail themselves of the free services. The women being tested must be between 30-60 years of age in order…
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Bus driver caught with nearly 1,000 protected marine creatures
PHUKET: A bus driver was arrested in Phang Nga early this morning with nearly one thousand protected marine creatures. He was enroute to Phuket. “We received information from one of our sources that a big delivery of marine creatures would be made by bus today. We monitored the route and finally spotted the bus on Petchkasem Road in Moo 2,…
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Unidentified British man killed in Phuket crash
PHUKET: Police are trying to identify a British man who was killed in an early morning crash in Chalong today. From witnesses’ accounts, police believe the victim lost control of his bike and crashed into a wall at a bend in the road. “The accident occurred at about 2:40am in Soi Ta-Lad about 50 meters from Chao Fa East Road.…
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On Deck: Samui – The unpolished marine jewel of Thailand
PHUKET: Samui is an island of coconuts and a microcosm of Thailand’s modern tourism industry, with facilities geared to backpackers at one end of the scale, right up to five-star resorts at the other, and everything in between. From a marine perspective, it is – to some extent – an unpolished jewel. If Samui Island was on Thailand’s east coast,…
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E-work permits planned for migrant workers in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket officials have announced the launch of an electronic work permit (e-work permit) for migrant workers from Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, to become effective on November 1 this year. The labor department estimates that nearly 50,000 migrant workers from these countries currently work in Phuket. The initiative is part of Thailand 4.0 and intended to cut down on processing…
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Thailand 4.0, Smart City main focus of TCEB conference in Phuket
PHUKET: The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) in cooperation with the ‘Southern Thailand MICE Cluster’ organized the ‘4th Thailand Domestic Mice Mart’ event at Duangjitt Resort & Spa in Patong yesterday. More than 200 participants attended the proceedings, which featured Thai Airways, Thai Smile, Air Asia and Bangkok Airways among the exhibitors. “This is a great opportunity for buyers…
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10kg monitor lizard found in Phuket home
PHUKET: A 10kg monitor lizard was released into a forest after it was found in a foreigner’s house in Thalang yesterday. “We received a request from the owner of the house to help catch the lizard in Baan Suan Neramit 5, Srisoonthorn sub-district. When we arrived, it was hiding somewhere in the house,” said Pongpan Juanan of Kusoldharm Foundation. “It…
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Carcass of 10-meter whale washes up at Phuket beach
PHUKET: The carcass of a 10-meter-long whale in a state of advanced decay washed ashore at Surin Beach yesterday morning. Officers are trying to identify the cause of death and find a place to bury it. “We received reports that the body of an unidentified marine animal had washed up at about 11am. We have identified it to be a…
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Private entrepreneurs reveal plans to launch ‘smart buses’
PHUKET: The shareholders of Phuket City Development Co Ltd (PKCD), a group of private entrepreneurs who came together late last year to form a company to work hand in hand with government departments to boost investment and promote seamless business operations in Phuket (story here), revealed their latest plans on Tuesday. The company announced that six separate “offshoots” would handle…
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Phuket fishermen protest closure of community seafood restaurant
PHUKET: Local fishermen and representatives from fish processing groups yesterday morning gathered at the Damrongdharma Center to ask for help after the Phuket Fisheries Office ordered the closure of the Sarasin Seafood Restaurant in Tah Chat Chai. The group of 30, led by Ronnakorn Hongsa, president of Fish Processing Group Baan Tah Chat Chai, submitted a letter to Damrongdharma Center…
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Three top cops transferred out on alleged corruption charges
PHUKET: Three top-ranking officers of the Phuket City Police were transferred out yesterday following a raid on a large illegal ‘casino’ in Phuket Town. The officers are now under investigation for alleged corruption and malfeasance. A joint team of Army and police raided a house in Phuket Town on Saturday and arrested 63 gamblers with 2 million baht (story here).…
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Phuket City museum officials give 30-day deadline for reopening
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality officials have confirmed that the Peranakannitat Museum launched earlier this month will be ready and open to the public within a month’s time. Last week, officials announced that the museum would temporarily remain closed until exhibitors could return all the items borrowed from Phuket residents to display during the grand opening ceremony, but could not give…
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29-year-old killed in high-speed Phuket crash
PHUKET: A motorbike rider was killed after he lost control of his bike at a bend in the road and crashed into the back of a parked car in Phuket’s Rassada sub-district early this morning. “The accident occurred on Thepkrasattri Road northbound. At the scene, we found the victim lying on the road, covered in blood. His Kawasaki motorbike was…
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Opinion: Need to revise drug laws
PHUKET: The recent arrest by Region 8 Police of two men for posing as officers of the law and trying to extort money from the families of teenage boys found drinking krathom leaf extract is just the latest reminder of the need for Thailand to reconsider and revise its draconian drug control laws. It might strike some as futile to…
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Major Phuket ‘casino’ raid: 63 arrested, B2mn confiscated
PHUKET: A joint team of Army and police raided a large illegal ‘casino’ in Phuket Town and arrested 63 gamblers on Saturday night. Officials also confiscated about 2 million baht in cash, a shotgun, four pistols, 39 bullets, 22 cars, 34 motorbikes and gambling paraphernalia. The joint team included officers from Infantry Division 5 (Artillery 25) and Phuket City Police.…
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Belgians wanted for shoplifting in Phuket
PHUKET: Police are hunting for two foreigners who allegedly stole mobile phone accessories from an electronics store in Phuket on Friday. A Facebook user named Maii-Ly Chaiviriyawong (whose real name is Nichapa-orn Chaiviriyarong and is the owner of the shop) shared pictures and CCTV footage of the incident on social media. Ms Nichapa-orn owns a shop named ‘Remax’ in Samkong.…
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Thailand’s much-debated Computer Crimes Act goes into effect
PHUKET: The newly-amended Computer Crimes Act (No. 2) B.E. 2560 (2017) was put into effect this week, after it was published in the Royal Gazette on January 24. It replaces the Computer Crimes Act B.E. 2550 (2007). One of the most talked about sections of the amended Act states that any person who sends computer data or electronic mail to…
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Phuket City museum “temporarily’ closed after grand opening
PHUKET: Officials have announced that the newly-launched Peranakannitat Museum is temporarily closed until exhibitors return all the items borrowed from Phuket residents to display during the grand opening ceremony held in Phuket City last week. However, they could not give an estimated date as to when that might be. The issue came to light after dozens of people complained on…
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New P-REA president highlights plans for developing Phuket
PHUKET: Boon Yongsakul, Phuket-born businessman and Deputy Managing Director of Boat Development Company, was chosen as the new president of the Phuket Real Estate Association (P-REA) in a ceremony held at the Phuket Boat Lagoon earlier this month. Mr Boon will hold this position for two years. “It is a great honor to be chosen as the president of the…
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Heavy downpours damage property in Phuket
PHUKET: Heavy rain and strong winds caused a large tree to fall over and damage houses in Chalong this week, causing about 100,000 baht worth of damage. “The incident occurred at Soi Bangre, Moo 1 at about 2pm on Wednesday. A fallen tree, about 70cm in diameter, wrecked the wall of a guesthouse and damaged another house and a car…
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Phuket fishing boat rescues sunken Burmese vessel
PHUKET: A Phuket-bound fishing boat rescued 15 crew members of a sunken Burmese vessel yesterday afternoon. The boat was carrying cargo from Penang, Malaysia to Myeik, Burma. The crew left on May 18 and were due to arrive on Saturday, but their boat was wrecked after experiencing stormy weather and strong waves near Racha Noi Island. “The Burmese boat, Aung…
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Patong transport operators protest reduction in taxi stands
PHUKET: Patong public transport operators will continue to utilize 84 taxi stands for now until the Phuket Governor and Army 4 commander announce their final decision about the number of stands on the island. The public transport management committee had announced on May 18 that Patong was to see a 75 per cent reduction in taxi stands (from 84 to…
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Phuket police recapture escaped drug dealers
PHUKET: Police yesterday recaptured two suspects who fled custody after being arrested for possession of drugs on May 2. Suriya Lakpech and Wasurat Malikabutr, both 21, had been found with 7kg of ya ice (cystal methamphetamine) and 10 ya bah pills (methamphetamine) in their possession. On the way to the police station, they had “managed to unlock their hand cuffs”…
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