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Phuket FC survive execution by Ayutthaya’s Ancient Warriors
PHUKET: The Islanders failed to beat Ayutthaya FC in their Yamaha League One (YL1) away game on Saturday. The 1-1 draw dropped Phuket FC down to 6th in the table, five points behind top of the table Air Force United. Ayutthaya are third from bottom after 10 games. The home team took the lead in the 36th minute after Phuket’s…
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Not open yet, but Phuket’s Chalong Marina already needs repairs
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Marine Office has appealed to all boat operators to exercise caution while using the still incomplete Chalong Bay Marina to allow passengers – mostly tourists – to board and disembark vessels. The news comes after a Phuket Gazette reader sent in photos of tourists cautiously avoiding a gaping hole in the gangway that joins…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Poll parents oppose school closures; Rice pledging under microscope; Pheu Thai blames Constitutional Court for crisis
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community School mergers unpopular with parents: Poll The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: More than half the parents surveyed by a Dusit Poll opposed the Education Ministry’s plan to merge 17,000 small schools across the country in order to increase efficiency and save costs.Of the total, 60 per cent…
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Phuket Gazette World News: 19 hurt in Mother’s Day shooting; SARS in France; Syria deaths hit 82,000; Mexico volcano alert
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nineteen shot in New Orleans Mother’s Day parade Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Nineteen people including two young children were shot on Sunday when gunfire erupted at a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans, police said.Shots rang out at 1:45 p.m. local time as the second line of…
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Phuket’s Tourist Court given “absolute support’
PHUKET: The move to establish a new series of Tourist Courts in Phuket and at other key holiday destinations in Thailand – including Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phang Nga and Krabi – has received much support on the island. Chanchai Duangjit, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office, gave his “absolute support” for the idea. “This is…
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Phuket serial resort thief confesses
PHUKET: A serial resort thief down on a “holiday crime spree” in Phuket from Bangkok has only confessed to two thefts of high-end resorts on the island, but police believe more confessions will be forthcoming. Ritthimeth Singhaumpai, 33, and his girlfriend Sasithorn Seekam, 22, were arrested on May 1 for robbing guest rooms in five high-end Phuket resorts. “We have…
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Phuket Opinion: Finding life balance through Daodexinxi
Sopin Koaysomboon, a 53-year-old Phuket native, is a vice president of the Phuket Daodexinxi International Club. She has been practicing Daodexinxi for more than three years. Here, she talks about how to improve our lives with exercise, meditation, songs and charity. PHUKET: People in the modern world are making a great deal of unnecessary sacrifices. Youths give up their vital…
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Phuket Opinion: Tourist Court, another pie in the sky
PHUKET: Recent talk of establishing a special court to fast-track legal cases involving foreign visitors raises some interesting issues, but at the end of the day is unlikely to result in little more than that: just talk. The reasons put forward to establish such a court are probably well-intended and certainly easy enough to understand. Thailand’s tourism industry is a…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Programmer denies hacking; River basins protection; Bearly love
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Programmer denies any part The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A man who turned himself in to police yesterday denied having anything to do with hacking into the PM’s Office website or posting rude remarks about Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Meanwhile, the “Unlimited Hack Team”, which was mentioned…
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Patong finish top of Phuket’s cricket league
PHUKET: In the final round robin match before the finals, Patong played TNT on Sunday, May 5 at Phuket’s premier cricketing facility, the ACG. A Patong win would see them finish top of the league, whereas TNT were hoping to secure a confidence boosting end-of-season win. Patong ran out comfortable winners in the end, posting a solid total of 272…
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Phuket Raceweek sails into view
PHUKET: The award-winning Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek, presented by Mount Gay Rum, is set to take place again on July 17-21. The event is celebrating its tenth anniversary and will feature four days of world-class yacht racing and four nights of magical, beach-side parties at the five-star Cape Panwa Hotel Principal Race Officer Simon James is planning a variety…
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Tennis at Phuket’s TSLC
PHUKET: The final of the second International Tennis Federation (ITF) women’s tournament between number six seed Melanie Klaffner from Austria and Serbia’s Eric Doroteja was held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) last weekend. Melanie won the final 3-6, 6-3 and 6-2 to make up for her semifinal defeat in the first ITF women’s tournament by Luksika Kumkhum. Eric,…
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Phuket Governor starts to tame stench of Bang Yai Canal
PHUKET: The stench of Bang Yai Canal that has been wreaking havoc in areas of Phuket Town, making some residents physical ill (story here), was partially tamed today as Phuket’s Governor launched his four-step Bang Yai Canal wastewater project. Local officials, residents and organizations joined Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut in Rassada at the Soi Paneang water pump station to inaugurate…
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Illegal taxi drivers beaten at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: Illegal taxi drivers still attempting to serve passengers at Phuket International Airport filed a complaint with the Phuket Governor today, alleging they have been threatened, beaten and unjustly denied a way to provide for their families. The complaint comes just weeks after the protesting taxi drivers, operating under the Mook Andaman Cooperative, won a reprieve and were allowed to…
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Search for Phuket gold shop killer now covers Southern Thailand
PHUKET: Police have extended their search to the whole of Southern Thailand for the man wanted for a gold shop robbery in Phuket on April 8 during which he gunned down a customer in cold blood (story here). “Police are doing their best to arrest the villain. We cannot be sure about the culprit’s whereabouts. He might or might not…
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Kazakh tourist, 22, killed in Phuket motorbike crash
PHUKET: A tourist from Kazakhstan has died from head injuries after a motorbike accident on the Patong beach road early yesterday morning.Lt Thawatchai Srimai of the Patong Police explained that the tourist, aged 22, was riding his motorcycle at high speed from the Thara Patong Beach Resort & Spa at about 1:30am.“He tried to make a turn [onto Sawatdirak Road]…
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Out of Rh-negative blood, Phuket Blood Bank calls for donors
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners, has no reserves of type O-negative and A-negative blood. The blood bank is also low on stocks of blood types A and B. “We try to maintain a daily minimum stock of 200 units of A, B and O blood types, and…
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VIDEO: Brothers Grimes grill Phuket’s Dylan Young
PHUKET: Young karters Ben and Sam Grimes, who compete in the 125cc Junior Class in the Rotax Asia Max Challenge (AMC) in Malaysia and the Thai Championships, recently interviewed racing driver Dylan Young about his career. The interview was the perfect opportunity for Dylan to pass on some of his experience to the brothers and for Ben and Sam to…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Mass closure of schools branded unconstitutional; PM website hacker surrenders; Army grip on nation still strong
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Closing small schools unconstitutional, say rural teachers The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The Rural Teachers Society’s Northeastern branch yesterday condemned the Education Ministry’s move to close down small schools.“It’s a violation of the 2007 Constitution,” said society vice president Wittaya Panpeng.He was speaking at a teachers’ forum…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Aussie cruise tourists fall overboard; Boston bomber buried; Mega ATM cybercrime ring busted; Olympic sailor dies in America’s Cup mishap
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Aussie cruise liner passengers fall overboard Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Australian emergency crews were searching on Friday for two people who fell overboard from a Carnival Corp cruise liner off the New South Wales coast.Police said surveillance camera footage from the ship showed the 30-year-old man and…
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Phuket one-stop yacht center steers course for 2015 launch
PHUKET: With the long-awaited “one-stop center” for all yachts arriving in Phuket one year overdue, officials have now announced the complex is on track to open in 2015. The 70-million-baht rotunda-style building stands proud in Chalong Bay (map here), but remains to be occupied by the relevant agencies for yacht arrivals to clear immigration, customs and the harbor master. In…
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Phuket raid uncovers illegal logging camp
PHUKET: A team of Phuket officers raided an illegal logging camp in Kathu yesterday evening, seizing hundreds of planks of wood cut from protected species of trees. Kathu District Chief Veera Kerdsirimongkol led officers into the hills behind Wat Kathu (map here) after local residents informed his office of illegal lumberjacks working in the area. “We rushed to the site,…
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Phuket FC sign MoU with famous Brazilian club Cruzeiro
PHUKET: Pamuk Achariyachai, president of Phuket FC, announced that the club will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with famous Brazilian club Cruzeiro Esporte Club, next week. The bilateral agreement means Phuket and Cruzerio will be able to exchange players. The Islanders currently have two Brazilians, Luiz “Dudu” Purcino and Junior “Juninho” Guimaro, in their squad. Pamuk is looking to…
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Saphan Hin teen gang member killed in Phuket drive-by
PHUKET: A series of violent incidents between two teen gangs culminated in one of the members being gunned down in the Saphan Hin area early yesterday morning. Jetsadakorn “Bank” Setnarm, 15, was shot twice in the chest and died while being transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital, explained Wichit Police Inspector Passakorn Sonthikun. “At about 2:30am Mr Jetsadakorn and fellow gang…
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Phuket monks defrocked after being caught with drugs
PHUKET: Four monks and a lay worker at the well-known Wat Kajornrungsan on Ranong Road in Phuket Town were arrested Tuesday night after a tip-off led police to catch them with drugs.“We went to Wat Kajornrungsan after local residents reported to us that they suspected some monks were using drugs,” Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Prawit Engchuan told the Phuket…
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Russian student in Phuket motorbike crash slowly improving
PHUKET: Russian student Sevastan Lukashov, in hospital since March 31 following a serious motorbike accident on the bypass road (story here), is showing signs of recovering from his coma. A source close to the case told the Phuket Gazette, “His school friends go to visit him from time to time.” “The British International School arranged the visa which allows Sevastan’s…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Red shirts call off protest, but the poor stay; Exam cheat teachers to be charged; Plan to close 14,000 schools
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yellows stay as reds head to Parliament The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: After staging a sit-in demonstration for 17 days, the red shirts yesterday announced the end of their protest after a rally motorcade from the Constitutional Court to Parliament to call for the impeachment of five…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Italy ship crash kills 7; $50mn Brussels diamond heist; Ohio captives recount grisly ordeal; Berlusconi jailed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Seven killed, two missing after ship hits tower in Italian port Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Seven people were killed and two were missing after a container ship crashed into a concrete control tower in the northern Italian port of Genoa, rescuers said on Wednesday.The tower, which was…
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Capturing Phuket through Google Glass
PHUKET: By the time the Christmas holidays roll around this year, I’ll have one of the first sets of Google Glass in Thailand. Imagine being able to walk our beautiful beaches here in Phuket and capture the sights, sounds and experiences hands-free. That’s what Google Glass will allow me to do and most people here won’t even realize that my…
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A glass of wheatgrass if you please
PHUKET: Vitality, curative, nutrient-rich, detoxifying, energy – these are some of the most common connotations associated with the plant, Triticum aestivum, more commonly known as ‘wheatgrass’. Another increasingly common association is cancer prevention. “That’s what I like about it. Maybe it’s to do with my age,” says 68 year-old Frank Gunn, an American expat who has lived in Phuket for…
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