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Phuket’s One-Two-Go air crash a disaster “not to be remembered’: airport officials
PHUKET: There was no official memorial service today, September 16, to remember the 89 people who died in the crash landing of One-Two-Go Flight OG269 at Phuket International Airport seven years ago. “We do not want to perpetuate horrible memories of the incident. It was a tragedy and not a day to remember,” Phuket Airport Director Prathuang Sornkham told the…
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Phuket preps for 2014 Vegetarian Festivals – both of them
PHUKET: Yellow and red flags are popping up around the island ahead of the world-renowned Phuket Vegetarian Festival, which will kick off on September 24 at shrines across the island. The much anticipated annual festival, which will run until October 2, will begin with a ceremonial raising of go teng poles to allow the Jade Emperor and the Nine Emperor…
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Three suspects questioned about murder of British tourists on Koh Tao
PHUKET: Three Myanmar workers were detained on Tuesday to be questioned about the murder of two Britons on Koh Tao, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said today. The bodies of David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found early Monday morning with severe head wounds. A bloody hoe was found 35 meters from the murder scene. Police will question…
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Phuket Governor nominated for Interior Ministry promotion, successor revealed
PHUKET: Maitri Inthusut has been nominated for promotion from his current position as Governor of Phuket to Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Interior, effective October 1. Governor Maitri was among more than 30 high-ranking officials nominated by the Ministry of Interior for promotion or transfer in a list to be presented to the Cabinet today, reported The Nation. Any…
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Sixteen corrupt officials to be charged for B100bn national park land scandal
PHUKET: Sixteen officials will face negligence charges for their alleged involvement in causing more than 100 billion baht of damage by illegally issuing land documents in Phuket, the Royal Forestry Department revealed in Bangkok yesterday. The accused officials had been involved in issuance of illegitimate land deeds and documents since 1987, department head Theerapat Prayurasiddhi said. Eight of the officials…
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Phuket driver escapes injury as storm fells tree onto pickup truck
PHUKET: Police are urging motorists to exercise caution on Phuket’s roads today after strong winds felled a tree that landed on a pickup truck in Kamala this morning. Rescue workers were called to the scene, on the road between Patong and Kamala, on Phuket’s west coast, at about 8:30am. “The pickup driver had left Patong and was on his way…
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Phuket fisherman drowns after returning to port for safety
PHUKET: A fisherman who returned to port due to rough seas collapsed and fell into the water at the fishing port area in Rassada, on the east side of Phuket Town, yesterday, and was found dead two hours later. Witnesses told police that Songyot Choophol, 39, fell from the fishing boat Sor Narongrit 1 while he was casting out mooring…
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Phuket local finds cobra curled up in bathroom sink
PHUKET: A Phuket villager was shocked to find a cobra curled up in his bathroom sink when he went to hang up his underwear to dry last night. The startled man called Ruamjai Rescue Foundation workers to the scene to have the reptile removed. “The home owner said that he had gone into the bathroom to hang up his clothes…
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Phuket startup to launch Formula 1 simulators
PHUKET: Calling all speed freaks and racing fanatics, the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 simulator is nearly within reach at the soon-to-be-unveiled GR Phuket Racing Center in Patong. Slated for an October 1 grand opening, the venue is in the process of preparing the simulators and staff for hordes of eager enthusiasts. The eight simulators…
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Two foreigners brutally murdered on Koh Tao
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two foreigners brutally murdered on Koh Tao The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police are hunting for the killers of a foreign man and woman who were found brutally murdered on Koh Tao, in the Pha-ngan district of Surat Thani province. Surat Thani police chief Lt…
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Naked man found murdered, washed up on Phuket beach
PHUKET: The naked body of a man with his feet and hands bound was found washed up on a Phuket beach on Saturday morning. “We received a call at about 8am from a local villager, saying that the body of a man had been washed up on Tah Nun Beach, about half a kilometer from the Sarasin Bridge,” Capt Terdsak…
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Phuket storms prompt warning for boat operators to put tourists’ safety before profits
PHUKET: Small boat and landslide warnings have been issued from today through Thursday due to high waves and heavy rains caused by the annual southwesterly monsoon weather. San Jantharawong, chief of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office, said the anticipated poor conditions should prompt boat operators to put the safety of tourists before their businesses. Beach-goers…
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Phuket yachts brave 25-knot gusts for weekend regatta
PHUKET: A brave few challenged the windy and wet conditions on Chalong Bay yesterday for Race 4 of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) Series 2 2014 weekend regatta. Catamarans Galeforce and Shiraz accompanied by monohull Sansiri started the course with a downwind run. Even though Kirril Stashevskiy’s Galeforce crossed the start line some 10 minutes after “Capt Ron” Ellis’s…
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Workers injured in Rayong building collapse
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Workers injured in Rayong building collapse The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A commercial building under construction in Rayong province partially collapsed yesterday, injuring four workers. General Jatuwat Khingbualung, head of Klaeng district police, said a concrete balcony of the two-storey commercial building collapsed and fell…
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Govt warned of ‘fishy’ deals, like microphones for the Cabinet
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt warned of ‘fishy’ deals, like microphones for the Cabinet The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Almost half the local leaders from 600 communities surveyed by Master Poll wanted the government to cancel a plan to buy 89 high-tech microphones for the Cabinet room that cost…
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Phuket police or caprice?
PHUKET: The arrest of former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin (story here), his scion “Prab” and the younger heir to Pian’s Pisona Group empire, Mr Pattawee, offers a priceless opportunity for Phuket’s future. Why don’t we take the under-the-table money for “extra services” tacitly – and corruptly – permitted by officials, and use it to bolster the salaries of government officers,…
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Phuket Hotel Association to be the voice of island’s tourism industry
PHUKET: Speakers at the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) forum yesterday proceeded to create a private enterprise council composed of leaders in the tourism industry in order to develop a single voice and brand identity for Phuket. “[It] all starts with the initiation from us here… People will not listen to just one single person,” said Wichit Na-Ranong, owner and…
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Making education a top Phuket priority
Chalam Attatham, 55, is the director of the Phuket Primary Educational Service Area Office. He received a master’s in education from Srinakharinwirot University and a master’s in educational administration from Thaksin University. Before taking up his post in Phuket two years ago, Mr Chalam held the same position, but in Phattalung. Here, he discusses the importance of education, its funding…
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Phuket “ya ice butcher’ facing murder charges for meat-cleaver attack
PHUKET: A Phuket man, who in a drug-crazed fit killed his friend, injured his girlfriend and tried to commit suicide, is facing serious charges for the horrific August 14 attack. Niwat Sampoosri, 25, who later tested positive for ya ice (crystal methamphetamine), is facing charges for murder, assault with a deadly weapon and use of an illegal drug, confirmed Capt…
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Time to build a Phuket bus culture
PHUKET: Efforts by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to rid Phuket of its notorious transport syndicates and establish safe, reasonably-priced public transport took another big step forward with the recent introduction of real metered taxis. The term “real metered taxis” refers to those allowed to pick up and drop off passengers anywhere, as is normal in Bangkok…
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Maimed sea turtle found tangled in net on Phuket beach
PHUKET: A maimed sea turtle tangled in a fishing net washed up on Phuket’s popular Kamala Beach yesterday afternoon. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene by locals, and brought the badly injured Olive Ridley sea turtle to the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) at Cape Panwa. “The turtle had grown tired from dealing with the big waves…
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Motorbike crashes into group of Chinese tourists in Phuket
PHUKET: A motorbike driver plowed into a group of five Chinese tourist standing at the Thalang-Bandon intersection in Phuket last night. Two tourists, Xuxlao Qlano, 32, and Xiaomei Kang, 29, both received minor injuries after the motorbike struck them – three of their companions managed to avoid being hit. “The 21-year-old driver, Peerapong Soisai, told us that it was very…
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Men charged for B12mn land grab near Phuket’s Freedom Beach
PHUKET: A Phuket man was slapped with a second land encroachment charge yesterday for the same multi-million baht plot of land in a protected forest near Freedom Beach. Parin Ruangrattanawanit, who owns “about three rai” of the land along the border of Patong and Karon, explained to Royal Forest Department (RFD), Navy and local officials that he was in the…
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Lucky escape as foreigner dives out of path Phuket tour bus
PHUKET: A foreigner escaped being run over by a Phuket tour bus loaded with Chinese tourists in Rawai this afternoon as he dumped his motorbike and dived to safety. The foreigner, who asked not to be named, was waiting to turn right at the intersection in front of the Rawai Municipality offices. “The tour bus crossed the center of the…
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Phuket workers save Polish man from hanging
PHUKET: Two workers wiring up an internet connection inside a house in Chalong yesterday came outside to find a foreigner, who lived in the house they were working in, hanging from a tree in the front yard. “We saw him walking around the yard when we went in to the house,” said one of the 3BB Internet workers, who asked…
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Phuket Classic Bodybuilding Event 2014 aims to promote healthy lifestyle (video)
PHUKET: Last year’s “Phuket Classic”, an annual bodybuilding and modeling competition and the first of its kind in the south of Thailand, was held at Central Festival. The event was heralded as an outstanding success with the numbers of participants and audience in excess of expectations. According to Wilaiporn Wannaklang, President of the Phuket Bodybuilding Club, organizer of the event,…
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Five Phuket names to be sent to Bangkok today for NRC selection
PHUKET: The Phuket Election Commission (PEC) yesterday released the names of candidates vying for a chance to represent the island on the yet-to-be created National Reform Council (NRC). “A special provincial committee will submit the names of five final candidates from the list to the Election Commission [EC] in Bangkok,” PEC Director Kitipong Thiengkunakrit told the Phuket Gazette. The five…
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Phuket dive tour boat ablaze, sinks in Chalong Bay
PHUKET: Phuket boat Chok Somboon 15, of local dive tour company Andaman Ocean Safari, caught fire and sank in Chalong Bay before dawn this morning. Marine Police were notified of the fire at about 2am, and responded by dispatching a boat and eight officers to douse the blaze. “While trying to put the fire out, we dragged it away from…
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Dutch national quarantined for suspected Ebola
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dutch national quarantined for suspected Ebola The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Public Health Ministry has quarantined a 52-year-old Dutch national, who had high fever after returning from a business trip to Ebola-hit Nigeria, said Dr Sophon Mekthon, director general of the Disease Control Department.…
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Army palms off reports of Phuket massage parlor crackdown
PHUKET: The island’s leading Army officer today debunked reports that soldiers in Phuket were raiding massage parlors in Patong. “We have no intention of cracking down on massage parlors or any other service businesses at the moment,” assured Col Somchai Ponatong of the 41st Military Circle. “Officers from the Revenue Department were carrying out inspections to ensure that massage parlors…
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