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Call for Gov, Phuket to support “Silvy The Star’
PHUKET: All of Phuket will be cheering on Pavida “Silvy” Moriggi this evening when the 15-year-old Kajonkietsuksa School student takes the stage in round three of the nationally-televised reality television series The Star 7. Only six contestants remain in the hugely-popular nationwide talent search; one will be voted off after this evening’s competition. Silvy’s mother and school principal called on…
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TAT targets yachties in new Phuket strategy
PHUKET: Phuket’s world-class marinas and vibrant yachting community are key to the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s new strategy to attract high-end tourists to the island. TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni believes the infrastructure already in place in Phuket means the island has the potential to become a world-class center for marine tourism. Phuket already has a number of marinas suitable for…
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Phuket “Beer’ ride ends in Surat Thani
PHUKET: A 20-year-old man was arrested on Thursday afternoon after taking a brand-new Mazda 2 for a test drive from Phuket Town all the way to Wiangsa in Surat Thani, about 200 kilometers away. Yutthapong “Beer” Malila, originally from Surat Thani, contacted the Anupas Mazda showroom on Ong Sim Phai Road in Phuket Town on Wednesday, asking to take a…
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Body recovered from Phuket ravine
PHUKET: Phuket emergency response volunteers last night struggled in rain and darkness to recover the body of an unknown man from a ravine in Wichit. The body was discovered at about 5:30pm yesterday by local plantation owner Kittidej Jingjit. Mr Kittidej was en route to check construction of a hillside workers’ sala off Soi Anusorn in Wichit Village 3. Noticing…
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Phuket’s Lionel Cleary passes away
PHUKET: A wake for well-known and much loved long-term Phuket resident Lionel Cleary will be held at Nikita’s Beach Restaurant on the Rawai beachfront this Sunday from 3pm. After weeks in hospital due to a fall, he eventually succumbed to organ failure this morning at Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He was 76. Mr Cleary first arrived in Phuket with friends via…
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Phuket police bust drug dealers in Kamala, Mai Khao
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested the young wife of a Phuket Airport taxi driver, catching the woman with a stash of ya bah (methamphetamine) pills and a firearm in the family home where she was caring for her three young children. Thachatchai Police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Sukhon “Bow” Bajongjit, a resident of Phuket. Police obtained a warrant to search…
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Jilted boyfriend leaves ex armless
PATHUM THANI: A man allegedly launched a crazed attack on his ex-girlfriend with a sword, severing one of her arms before grabbing the limb and fleeing. Victim Mali Phuangprachang, who works at a beauty salon, is recovering in Viparam Hospital. The 33-year-old has been left without her right arm and had a huge gash in her face that needed 22…
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Phuket St Patrick’s Day Ball charity event tomorrow
PHUKET: A charity ball marking St Patrick’s Day will be hosted tomorrow evening at the Mövenpick Resort & Spa in Karon. The annual ball is a major fundraising event for the Life Home Project, a local foundation that provides shelter for women and children affected by HIV as well as childcare, vocational training, health education and hospice assistance. The event…
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Dr Robert Thurman to lead Buddhist retreat in Phuket this weekend
PHUKET: World-renowned Buddhist scholar Dr Robert Thurman is in Phuket to give a talk and lead a meditation retreat at the Thanyapura Mind Center at Phuket International Academy this weekend. Dr Thurman, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University in New York City, is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost scholars of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies. A…
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Phuket media coverage takes a leap forward with iApps
PHUKET: Long a leader in online publishing, the Phuket Gazette has taken a leap into the handheld space with crisp and functionally ‘immediate’ new Apps for both the iPad and iPhone. And though only a couple of weeks into these new media, the company is more than pleased with the response. “These were basically R&D-type projects for us. I don’t…
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Phuket relief fund for Japan grows
PHUKET: The local community has so far given more than 750,000 baht to the Phuket Tsunami Relief Center for Japan, which will be accepting donations until noon on March 26. Wasana Soonthornsiri of the Phuket Provincial Comptroller General’s Office announced today that the total monetary donations received thus far totaled 764,123.92 baht. The fund more than doubled after two large…
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Phuket beach vendor found hanged
PHUKET: A 25 year old man was found hanged at his rented house in Phuket this morning. Thalang Police named the deceased as Apichart Aoonkaew, a vendor on Nai Yang and Na Thon beaches. A relative discovered the body at the house in Thalang at about 9:30am when he entered the room to wake Mr Apichart for work, police said.…
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Phuket’s new hospital to open in May
PHUKET: The hunt is on for qualified medical staff to work at the first Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) Hospital, now scheduled to open by the end of May. The hospital, on Sri Sena Road in Phuket Town, will be the first in the country to be administered by a provincial authority. “The outpatient department will open around the end…
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Phuket Tourist Police in the spotlight
PHUKET: Members of a special government working committee were in Phuket earlier this month to gather information for a study on whether Tourist Police nationwide should be transferred out of the Royal Thai Police for administration by a different government agency or agencies. Among those who visited the Tourist Police station in Phuket Town were committee chairman Asst Prof Noppadon…
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Phuket Opinion: ‘No budget’ no excuse for road mayhem
PHUKET: Last year we pointed out the irony of the central government’s nine-million-baht investment in the Patong City welcome sign on the Patong Hill road, at a time when local authorities were telling us it was impossible to come up with the meager funds needed to simply paint lines on that notorious road. Now, five months later, the bizarre sign…
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Murder suspect arrested in Phuket after 17 years in hiding
PHUKET: After 17 years on the lam, a suspect wanted for a 1994 stabbing murder of a man in Uthai Thani province was arrested by Phuket City Police yesterday. The suspect, 44-year-old Pornsak “Nu” Ketkaew, was arrested when he took a 10-wheel dump truck for repairs at a garage off Thepkrasattri Road. Mr Pornsak was arrested by officers who confirmed…
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Phuket hit-and-run: security guard killed
PHUKET: Phuket Police are searching for the driver of a pickup truck that hit and killed an unidentified motorbike driver in Cherng Talay last night. Cherng Talay Police duty officer Somkhit Khawsung was notified of the fatal accident at 7:35pm. At the scene, the road from Koktanode to Layan near the Laguna Phuket Outrigger resort and villa complex, they found…
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Thai Health Minister Jurin in Phuket
PHUKET: Thai Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit was in Phuket today to inspect first hand the anti-radiation tablets being issued free to passengers at Phuket International Airport bound for Japan. “In the past five days, 71 people – 69 Japanese, one American and one Thai – have each collected a 130mg bottle of Potassium Iodide from the booth,” said Minister…
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British pilot dies in Phuket accident
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a 41-year-old British pilot after he came off his bike south of Patong, on Phuket’s west coast, and was run over by an oncoming pickup on Saturday. Capt Weerapong Rakkittoo of Patong Police said that Martin William Wooller was riding northbound to Patong after spending the afternoon swimming at Karon Beach when the…
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Fears of explosion spark Phuket gas shop raid
PHUKET: Fears of a serious explosion at a local store illegally refilling gas cylinders prompted a raid by officials from the Phuket Energy Office this morning. Led by Phuket Energy Office chief Jirasak Tummawetch, the officers arrived at the unnamed gas shop near Kettho Junction on Wichit Songkram Road in Kathu. Energy chief Jirasak said, “Normally, small shops are not…
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One dead as Phuket water truck overshoots curve
PHUKET: A water tanker overshot a dangerous curve in Phuket this morning, leaving the passenger dead and the driver badly injured. The accident happened at about 9:30am on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, along a stretch of road known as the “Bang Duk Curve”. The six-wheeled vehicle, owned and operated by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), was on a routine delivery…
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Phuket rescue drill for upcoming Songkran Festival
PHUKET: Phuket officials and rescue organizations are set to begin road accident drills in preparation for the upcoming Songkran water festival. During the Songkran “seven days of danger” road safety campaign last year, Phuket saw 60 reported traffic accidents resulting in two deaths, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office. The “seven days” this year…
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Phuket Live Wire: CAT runs out of fast wireless receivers
PHUKET: Internet speeds in Phuket continue their roller coaster ride with True and 3BB delivering generally good speeds on international downloads, and TOT’s speeds highly dependent on where you’re located. 3BB had a five-hour outage in the southern part of the island last Thursday. Expensive TOT Fiber Optic service continues to go up and down: when it’s working, it’s fast,…
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Japan tragedy touches Phuket
PHUKET: Earthquakes are a part of daily life in Japan, so are the ensuing tsunami alerts. This is a country that is a product of 15 million years of tectonic movement that ripped it away from mainland Asia. But nothing – not even the Japanese people’s millenia-long struggle with Mother Nature – could have softened the blow that was dealt…
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Top official dispells Phuket tsunami rumors
PHUKET: The director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), the agency in Thailand that issues tsunami warnings, yesterday called on people to ignore rumors that a tsunami will strike Thailand. NDWC Director Somsak Khaosuwan was in Phuket to lead public information seminars about natural disasters. The seminars were held at Wat Suwan Kiriwong School in Patong. Mr Somsak said…
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Phuket Butti murder: Italian business partner charged, hitman still at large
PHUKET: Police have arrested the alleged Italian “mastermind” and three others in connection with the shooting murder of resort owner Luciano Butti, 61. Mr Butti, also Italian, was gunned down while riding a rented motorbike in Pa Khlok on Tuesday night. Lt Gen Kokiat Wongvorachart, Commissioner of Region 8 Provincial Police, presented the four suspects at a press conference at…
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Phuket parents seek return of runaway girl, 14
PHUKET: The parents of a 14-year-old Phuket girl who ran off with her young boyfriend are asking the public for help in securing her safe return. Jintana Wangnurat and her English husband Huwy Williams came to the offices of the Phuket Gazette this morning with a picture of their daughter Grissana “Green” Wangnurat, age 14. Mr Williams, a nine-year Phuket…
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Breaking News: Suspects arrested for Butti murder
PHUKET: Police have arrested at least four people in connection with the shooting murder of Italian resort owner Luciano Butti, 61. Mr Butti was gunned down while riding a rented motorbike in Pa Khlok on Tuesday night. Takuapa District Police Inspector Wannarat Mahachode and his team of investigators arrested 23-year-old Rachanon Saowaree at the Takuapa Bus Station yesterday, according to…
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Phuket police nab Chinese ‘stopover thieves’
PHUKET: Chalong Police have arrested three mainland Chinese they think are part of a gang who specialize in burglarizing guests at luxury hotels the world over. Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Narong Laksanawimol identified the three suspects at a press conference today as: Liu Shuiping, 45; Liu Jianhua, 39; and Liu Shuidong, 40. All are listed as residents of Jiangxi, China.…
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PHUKET REMINDER: FC Phuket at home against JW Rangsit tomorrow
PHUKET: FC Phuket will be going all-out for three points tomorrow at Surakul Stadium, where they take on JW Rangsit FC in a Thai League Division 1 match starting at 6pm. The Southern Sea Kirin, who sit in sixth place after the third week of the season, will be trying for their second win. Both sides are playing in their…
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