News
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Tempest in a longtail
PHUKET: I could feel the Sea Sheperd weekend warrior rising up in me, ready for battle, after reading about the “Yamu Night Fishing Game.” As a sunny-weather marine conservationist, I have no issues with sport fishing competitions. However, I suffered a knee-jerk reaction to seeing “sharks and rays” listed as a category for the Yamu fishing tournament. Glimpses of proud…
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Safeguarding health in a shifting populace
Kajohnsak Kaewjarus, 49, took up the position of chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office on October 1 last year. Phang Nga born and raised, Dr Kajohnsak graduated from Mahidol University with a master’s degree in general surgery. Here, he talks about Phuket’s top health concerns and gives his prognosis on how to treat them. PHUKET: After spending only a…
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Essence of life endangered in Phuket
PHUKET: It is sad, but not surprising, that it took a recent public intervention to finally stop a well-known local Phuket businessman from backfilling an important water storage reservoir on the island. Given our nation’s growing reputation internationally as a hotspot for protests, it is difficult to fathom why so few demonstrations on the island are ever fomented by the…
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Rescuer recovering from fumes that killed Phuket sewer workers last week
PHUKET: The rescue worker who passed out while attempting to save four workers who died in a Phuket Town sewer on March 26 is recovering in the hospital and will be discharged in a week. Jessada Janpen, 25, was one of the first to arrive on the scene, and immediately descended into the sewer to rescue the maintenance workers. Although…
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Foreigners in Phuket: Dive shop blitz clarifies instructors’ work descriptions
PHUKET: Foreign dive instructors’ job descriptions were clarified during an inspection led by Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut in Patong today, as the Public-sector Anti Corruption Commission (PACC) investigates allegations that police were extorting money from them due to ambiguities in work permits (story here). “We only came to check work permits and clarify the information within them to the employees.…
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Phuket Marine Police volunteers’ numbers swell ahead of Songkran
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Police have garnered 97 trained volunteers to bolster their ranks ahead of the Songkran Festival. “Boat captains, crews and tour guides were called to join in safety-training seminars and volunteer to support the Marine Police, as they are the ones who have the best chance of rescuing people in the water,” Phuket Marine Police Superintendent Pumin…
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Another Phuket workplace fatality: Shrimp farm worker found dead in boat
PHUKET: A Myanmar national was found dead this afternoon at the Sri Soonthorn shrimp farm where he worked, marking the fifth work-related death within two weeks in Phuket. The body of Nyi Paing, 25, was found on a boat in one of the farm’s ponds by a co-worker after he did not return from his morning work routine, Lt Col…
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Phuket Gazette sets record with 108-page issue
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette hit the newsstands with a resounding thump today with a record-breaking 108 pages. This week’s issue of the island’s leading English-language newspaper is packed with content, boasting the 32-page China Daily Asia Weekly, a world-class publication built in Hong Kong; the 16-page Russia Beyond The Headlines (RBTH), published by the renowned Moscow-based Rossiskaya Gazetta; and an…
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Phuket lifeguard president threatens to cut number of guards
PHUKET: The president of the island’s lifeguard club is threatening to slash the number of guards on Phuket beaches by 20 per cent, despite a 10 per cent increase in government funding. “We have yet to decide whether we will agree to the 22mn baht contract,” Phuket Lifeguard Club President Prathaiyut Chuayuan told the Phuket Gazette. “If we renew the…
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Two red cards in Phuket’s DNF We Freedive Suunto Series
PHUKET: The Dynamic Without Fins (DNF) event at the We Freedive Suunto Series saw two red cards as contestants pushed to cover as much horizontal distance as possible in the Association Internationale pour le Developpement de l’Apnee (AIDA) event. Malaysian champion Azam Hamid, who holds records in several other freediving disciplines, crossed the marker for the Malaysia National record at…
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Teenagers arrested for Phuket gang execution
PHUKET: Police have arrested nine gang members, including six juveniles, for the murder of a rival teenager who was gunned down and hacked to death in Rassada early yesterday morning. Lt Col Somsak Thongkliang of the Phuket City Police named the adult suspects as Kiat Phanthong, 21; Panumas Ladnalao, 19; and Warawoth Malsu, 18. “We are still searching for Saksit…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Ukraine accuses ex-president over sniper deaths
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine accuses ex-president over sniper deaths Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Ukraine’s prime minister on Thursday blamed ousted President Viktor Yanukovich for the deaths of dozens of anti-government protesters shot by police snipers and urged Russia to hand him over to face charges. Arseny Yatseniuk made…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: WWII bombs found; Red shirts in Bangkok; PDRC warrants revoked
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Authorities warn of more buried WWII bombs The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Live World War II aerial bombs have been excavated at various construction sites, prompting authorities to warn against any attempts to tinker with strange metal objects. One was found during construction of the…
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Bandit betrays drug business buddy in Phuket
PHUKET: Police arrested an armed drug dealer in Pa Khlok this week after an inmate at Phuket Provincial Prison had his girlfriend spill the beans on the prisoner’s former business associate. Officers arrested Surasak Paewparn, 28, at the Promphan housing estate at about 7pm on Tuesday, said Lt Col Jarun Bangprasert of the Phuket Provincial Police. “Officers staked out the…
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Krabi resort closes doors, police seeking arrest warrant
PHUKET: Police are seeking an arrest warrant for the managing director of a Krabi resort that recently turned away 50 guests with prepaid bookings (story here). “An arrest warrant for Managing Director Prateep Kaewnont is imminent,” said Krabi Police Superintendent Phrutthipong Nutchanart said. Nitikorn Pissawong, one of two employees assigned by the owner to look after the Phuphranang Resort, explained…
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Phuket cigarette vendor to receive new leg
PHUKET: The Prostheses Foundation of HRH The Princess Mother has approved a new prosthetic leg for Wilaiwan “Wan” Damnui, a Phuket cigarette vendor born with a deformed leg and no hands. “I was notified by the Prostheses Foundation of HRH The Princess Mother that Ms Wan would indeed receive a new, free prosthesis,” confirmed Pornsri Suthanaruk, Director of the Regional…
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Phuket motorcyclist struck and killed picking up his bike after spill
PHUKET: A 19-year-old fell off his motorbike near Phuket International Airport early this morning and was hit by a car and killed while he was trying to right his bike. Rescuers responded to the call just after midnight and found the body of Atthaphon Prasobsaeng on Route 4026, which joins Thepkrasattri Road to the road to the airport. “The accident…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Suharto family tests Indonesia political comeback on strongman’s legacy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Suharto family tests Indonesia political comeback on strongman’s legacy Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: It was Indonesia’s most ubiquitous smile. Once dubbed the smiling general despite his iron rule of more than three decades, the image of former President Suharto now waves genially from the election…
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Phuket Gazette World News: U.S. calls for end to humanitarian curbs in Myanmar’s Rakhine
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. calls for end to humanitarian curbs in Myanmar’s Rakhine Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The United States called on Myanmar on Wednesday to lift travel restrictions on U.N. and other humanitarian staff to allow them to resume work in the country’s Rakhine State, which has…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Chile assesses damage after massive quake, tsunami
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Chile assesses damage after massive quake, tsunami Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Chilean authorities on Wednesday were assessing the damage from a massive earthquake that struck off the northern coast, causing a small tsunami, but the impact was mostly limited, according to early indications. Thousands of…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: WWII bomb kills seven; Court votes for Yingluck trial; CAPO eyes war rooms for Saturday Bangkok rallies
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community WWII bomb kills seven The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: an explosion ripped through a scrapyard in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district yesterday, killing seven victims and injuring 20 others, after workers unknowingly cut open an aerial bomb from World War II. “Such a bomb usually weighs…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Fatal gunman rampage at Fort Hood US Army base
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Shooting at Fort Hood Army base in Texas, injuries reported Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: One person was killed and 14 wounded in a shooting on Wednesday at a U.S. Army base in Fort Hood, Texas, the site of another rampage in 2009, a U.S. official…
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Video Report: Phuket beach chair mogul pushes solutions to beach space battle
PHUKET: The Nai Harn Beach Chair Club president took to the sand on Saturday in an attempt to dissolve lingering tension between lounge chair operators and a group of expats after a conflict erupted on March 15 over shared beach space. Two weeks ago, during the “Clean the Beach Boot Camp” at Nai Harn Beach, a battle over space flared…
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Chalong top cop out after Phuket divers’ extortion charges
PHUKET: Graft charges levied against Chalong Police officers by the dive community have resulted in the transfer of the Superintendent of the Chalong Police Station to Thalang. “I moved Col Krittapas Dazintharasorn out of Chalong partly because of the extortion charges (story here), but also because he has been there a long time and developed close relationships with his men,…
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Thalang thrash Laguna in Phuket’s JLL League cricket
PHUKET: In the much anticipated JLL League match on March 30, the Thalang Cricket Team defeated Laguna by 90 runs and now have an insurmountable lead in the Jones Lang LaSalle League points championship. Laguna, last year’s champions, haven’t been beaten in a JLL league match in the past two seasons but had no answers to Thalang in this match.…
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Kidnapping of Phuket boy, 4, foiled at bus terminal
PHUKET: Quick action by a Phuket village headman last night stopped a couple about to board a bus to Bangkok with a 4-year-old boy who had been abducted from his home in Koh Kaew. Worried parents of the boy, named by police only as “Nong Ice”, reported their son missing from their home in Koh Kaew Soi 10 at about…
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Phuket Poll: How good is Phuket Airport?
PHUKET: First impressions are critical in how people remember their holidays, and officials at Phuket International Airport are hoping that 12 million travellers judge their facility favorably this year. The sole runway and the main terminal cater to about 210 flights and 32,000 passengers per day. The main terminal can support up to 2,400 passengers per hour, but rush periods…
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No charges yet in Krabi boat collision case
PHUKET: Police have yet to charge anyone involved in the speedboat crash that occurred off the coast of Krabi in February, as they have not been able to determine fault, confirmed Sophon Kongthong of the Krabi City Police. Six people were injured, two of whom were hospitalized, after the Chainartnumchork 8 and the The Pimmasa 5 collided near the popular…
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Phuket Gazette World News: NATO suspends cooperation with Russia over Ukraine crisis
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NATO suspends cooperation with Russia over Ukraine crisis Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia on Tuesday in protest at its annexation of Crimea and ordered military planners to draft measures to strengthen its defences and reassure nervous eastern European countries.…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Massive 8.0 quake off Chile, tsunami alert for South, Central America
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Massive 8.0 quake off Chile sparks tsunami alert for Pacific coast of South, Central America Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A major earthquake of magnitude 8.0 struck off the coast of Chile on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami that hit the northern part of the country and…
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