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Phuket Governor calls for public transport to resolve traffic jams
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut has called for officials to ramp up efforts to develop Phuket’s pitiful public transport options as the top way of beating the island’s ever-increasing traffic congestion. Speaking at a public seminar at the Pearl Hotel in Phuket Town last Saturday, held by the Phuket Real Estate Association specifically to discuss Phuket’s growing traffic jams, Governor…
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Irish tourist “bottled’ within 24 hours on Phuket
PHUKET: Patong Police are trying to identify the culprit who split open an Irishman’s head with a bottle within 24 hours of the tourist landing in Phuket.Lt Col Jongserm Preecha told the Phuket Gazette that the incident occurred at about 1:30am yesterday.“By the time we arrived at the scene, in front of The Pizza Company restaurant on Soi Bangla, a…
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Phuket’s Prab says Sydictive New Year Party can ‘move it, move it’ to Patong
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette was told today that Patong Municipality sent Preechavude “Prab” Keesin, son of Patong Mayor Pian Keesin and head of the largest taxi driver association in Patong, to Bangkok to discuss with party organizers Sydictive Element about moving the controversial Sydictive party from Surin Beach to Patong Beach at Loma Park.However, Thai Beverage has for years used…
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World News: Activists say more than 60 killed in Syrian airstrike
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Airstrike on bakery in central Syria kills more than 60, activists say Phuket Gazette PHUKET: More than 60 people are believed to have been killed yesterday when a government airstrike hit a bakery in Syria’s central Hamas province where a crowd was queuing for bread, activists…
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Phuket Opinion: Santa says a smile is the best Christmas gift of all
ON DECEMBER 25, Santa Claus will be attending a plethora of activities being held across Phuket, among them will be the annual Christmas celebrations at Bangkok Hospital Phuket. Here, the jolly “Hospital Santa” explains what Christmas in Phuket truly means to him.There are many foreigners living in and visiting Phuket, and I am sure that they are going to celebrate…
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International Sports: Queen goes 3D; Clarke to miss Boxing Day test; Messi gets another
Queen Elizabeth goes 3D for Olympics tribute Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Queen Elizabeth will use her traditional Christmas Day message, filmed in 3D for the first time, to pay tribute to the world’s athletes for delivering a “splendid summer of sport” at the London Olympics.In her personal address to the nation, the monarch will pay tribute to the competitors’ “skill,…
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World News: Somali pirates release hostages after 33 months in captivity
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Somali pirates release longest-held hostages after 33 months Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A ship and its crew of 22 sailors held by Somali pirates for almost three years have been freed by maritime police after a two-week-long siege, the government of the breakaway region of Puntland said…
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EPL: Chelsea give Villa a blue Christmas
Chelsea hit Villa for eight, leaders United held Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Chelsea, playing with a swagger missing for much of the season, routed Aston Villa 8-0 yesterday as Premier League leaders Manchester United wasted the chance to move six points clear after a 1-1 draw at Swansea City.Chelsea striker Fernando Torres began the goal glut after three minutes at…
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Phuket child-exploitation gangs put in the spotlight
PHUKET: A 12-year-old girl fleeing her captors to the safety of officials on Soi Bangla last week, has raised the ugly specter of Phuket becoming a prime human-trafficking and child-exploitation destination, according an international children’s rights agency. The girl, nicknamed “Aoi” to protect her identity, ran up to Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban and about 10 other officers on night…
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Phuket Opinion: Family, the best defense against technology risks
PHUKET: With the holiday season upon us, we would like to encourage all of our readers to take a few moments to pause and reflect on how lucky we are to live in this incredible age of technology. Technology is perhaps the most notorious of double-edged swords. Shakespeare wrote famously in Hamlet that “…there is nothing either good or bad,…
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Fresh ATM action prompts hope for finding missing Phuket expat
PHUKET: Police investigating the disappearance of American Brett Bean, last seen on Phuket on November 25, are now searching for a man who used Mr Bean’s debit card to withdraw cash from a Phuket ATM on Monday. “We were informed by Mrs Bean [Brett’s mother] that on December 17 someone used Mr Bean’s debit card to take the money out…
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No Phuket tsunami alert after Sumatra earthquake
PHUKET: No tsunami alert has been issued for Phuket or other provinces along the Andaman Coast following a 5.2 earthquake off the northern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia, at 10:50am today, the head of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office has confirmed. “The National Disaster Warning Center has not issued a tsunami warning alert. We expect that the…
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Tsunami Memorial Wall ready for remembrance
PHUKET: The Phuket chapter of the US Navy League has announced that the Tsunami Memorial Wall, which in years past has fallen into a deplorable state, has been readied for this year’s tsunami remembrance service on December 26. The Navy League volunteered for the role of caretaker for the remembrance site last year, and the volunteers organized a community project…
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Phuket Sports: Man Utd get Real in last 16 of Champions League
Ronaldo returns to Man United in Champions League Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Cristiano Ronaldo will return with nine-time winners Real Madrid to Manchester United, where he developed into one of the world’s greatest forwards, and Lionel Messi’s Barcelona take on AC Milan in the Champions League last 16.Bayern Munich, last season’s beaten finalists, play Arsenal and Juventus take on surprise…
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Phuket Finance: Understanding your fund’s “duration’
PHUKET: As I have written extensively about the dangers of bond funds in the current environment, it is worth mentioning a standard measurement used to determine approximately how sensitive a bond portfolio or fund is to interest rate increases. Don’t let the word duration fool you; what the measurement actually means is, the approximate decrease in value for a 1%…
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Phuket Sports: Fergie scoffs at talk of retirement for trio
Ferguson scoffs at talk of Scholes retirement Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has dismissed media reports that his long-serving trio of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand will leave the Premier League leaders at the end of the season.After newspaper headlines had declared the end of an era, with reports that 38-year-old Scholes had told…
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Ladyboy survivor sole link to lethal Phuket motorbike crash mystery
PHUKET: Police have released the name of the man who died in a motorbike accident near Chalong Circle just after midnight on Wednesday as 51-year-old American tourist Theodore Paul Roe. Chalong Police Capt Thada Sodarak told the Phuket Gazette that he was notified of the accident, near the base of the hill near Friendship Beach, at 12:30am. “Mr Roe was…
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Stranded Air Berlin travellers airlifted from Phuket
PHUKET: All 249 Air Berlin passengers stranded in Phuket after their plane was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff last night have been airlifted off the island and are currently en route to their original destination: Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Prathuang Sornkham, Director at Phuket International Airport, told the Phuket Gazette that Air Berlin…
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Sydictive Party: One night without Paris
PHUKET: Global celebrity Paris Hilton will not be attending the three-day New Year beach party originally slated to be held on Surin Beach from December 30 to sunrise on January 1. The news of Ms Hilton’s imminent no-show at the event came in an email from her lawyer sent to the Phuket Gazette clarifying that Ms Hilton’s name was not…
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Phuket yachties to honor Stafford Steer tonight
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) will honor the memory of well-known Phuket expat Stafford Steer, who died of cancer on December 8, with a memorial this evening. “He was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer about four weeks ago in Brisbane hospital [in Queensland, Australia]. Tonight at the ACYC we will have a memorial get-together to honor him,” said…
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Phuket blood center needs donors for New Year
PHUKET: A New Year blood drive will start tapping veins to save lives on December 24, and will run to January 6 at the Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC). With the national road safety campaign of the deadly “Seven Days of Danger” just around the corner, anyone who wants to boost their karma as they head into the new year…
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Live Wire: Stumbling at high speeds
PHUKET: People frequently ask me, what’s the best internet connection in Phuket? The short answer is… there’s no way to know for sure. Much depends on your exact location, and luck. Over the years I have run a free speed reporting site, PhuketInternetSpeed.com, which is an attempt at quantifying the real-world internet international download speeds here in Phuket. For quite…
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Engine fire forces emergency landing at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: An engine fire shortly after takeoff forced an Air Berlin flight to make an emergency landing at Phuket International Airport earlier tonight.All flights were diverted away from Phuket’s critical tourism portal while emergency crews evacuated the 247 passengers on board and attended to the disabled aircraft left stranded on the runway.The Air Berlin Airbus A330-200, serving flight AB-7425 from…
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Phuket artificial reef project continues off Kata, Karon bays
PHUKET: The ongoing project to develop artificial reefs off the west coast of Phuket continued today as the process of dropping 1,880 concrete frames to the sea floor began off Karon Beach. Over the next several days, the concrete frames will be dropped in clusters over a total area of 24 square kilometers, stretching from the north end of Karon…
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Wife missing after husband found stabbed
PHUKET: Police are searching for the wife of Baan Don villager Boonsri Kummongkhun after he was found stabbed in the stomach at his central Phuket home last night. Thalang Police were notified of the incident by Baan Don village headman Sirichat Junthawat at about 9:30pm, after neighbors heard Mr Boonsri’s cries for help. Rushing to Mr Boonsri’s assistance, neighbors found…
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Andaman Pearl stung by Killer Bees
PHUKET: Phuket United suffered a 3-1 defeat to the Nonthaburi “KillerBees” FC in last night’s Thai Futsal Premier League (TFPL) match at their temporary home stadium at Fashion Island, Bangkok Andaman Pearl’s assistant coach, Mr Patt Srivijit, told the Phuket Gazette that confidence within the team was high before this game, after two successive wins against Prachin Futsul Club and…
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Arson blamed for Phuket beach blaze
PHUKET: A fire engulfed a small beachfront minimart at Surin Beach and spread to four other shops early this morning. Shop owner Man Thonglor, 41, suspects arson. Mr Man told the Phuket Gazette that he opened his store little over a year ago, but this was the second time his shop had caught afire. “I believe it was set on…
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Phuket 7-Eleven scythe robber arrested
PHUKET: A man nabbed by police for snatching a Frenchwoman’s bag on Tuesday confessed to having also robbed a Phuket 7-Eleven with a scythe multiple times this year. The suspect, Winai Soimuea, 26, was presented to the press at Phuket City Police Station in Phuket Town on Tuesday. Mr Winai was arrested shortly after grabbing the woman’s bag near Wat…
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Thailand Sports: War Elephants mauled by the Lions
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand’s title hopes in balance Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Singapore took a big step to a record fourth Suzuki Cup title after deservedly beating Thailand 3-1 at home in a niggly first leg of the Southeast Asian Championships last night. Defender Baihakki Khaizan smashed home…
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World News: White House outlines plans to “get the guns”
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community White House readies gun-control plan as more children laid to rest Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The White House was set to reveal the first steps of a gun-control plan yesterday as the United States grieved for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in…
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