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Phuket Gazette: ‘Morality Police’ nail Valentines couples; Google gobble of Motorola moving forward
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Malaysian police arrest couples on Valentine’s Day PHUKET (News Wires): Islamic “morality police” have arrested at least five couples in a Malaysian city for being intimate on Valentine’s Day, local media reported last night. It follows similar operations in previous years. The Star, the country’s largest…
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Phuket Gazette: Bomb blasts in Bangkok
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Arab-looking man launches two bomb attacks in Bangkok PHUKET (News Wires): Pol Lt Col Witthaya Poonsin, deputy commander of Klong Tan traffic police, said a foreigner, who has yet to be identified, threw the first bomb at a taxi on Soi Pridi Panomyong. The taxi was…
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Phuket mass wedding goes off – with a hitch
PHUKET: Organizer have confirmed the mass wedding at Phromthep Cape is going ahead today, even though some government agencies wanted it canceled. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak received a letter of complaint claiming that the private sector shouldn’t be allowed to use public land for commercial purposes. Part of the event includes a flower exhibit that would remain on the…
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Phuket Gazette: Reactor temperature rises at Fukushima Daiichi; Schiphol reopened after bomb threat
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nuclear reactor at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant rises to 82°CPHUKET (News Wires): The bottom of one of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in eastern Japan rose to 82 degrees Celsius (179.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday afternoon, the Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said…
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Phuket Business: “Q day’ is fast approaching
PHUKET: Many expatriates in Phuket with UK pensions have held off on transferring them offshore due to the relative infancy of the industry and the fact that there has been little guidance on some of the more technical aspects relating to the transfers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). That is all changing as the new legislation introduced recently in…
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Phuket Live Wire: Yet another PayPal scam
PHUKET: A reader wrote to me, asking if she’s been scammed. Ends up, she’s been taken for a ride, and the scam artist threatened to sue. Here’s how it happened, in her words, with a few minor edits: “Woody, I ran a series of ads in the Phuket Gazette, advertising an item I have for sale. I got an email…
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Phuket Police keep the heat on drug dealers
PHUKET: Phuket Police are searching for a man-and-wife team of alleged major drug dealers who are on the run after officers unearthed a trove of methamphetamines from the ground outside their home in Mai Khao. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul provided details of the operation at a press conference on Monday. Also attending were his deputies Pornsak Nuannu and…
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Trousers to go on at Phuket Village Health Volunteers Fair
PHUKET: For people looking for a cheap night out on Valentine’s Day, the alternative band Kangkeng (Trousers) will take the stage in a free concert at Saphan Hin tonight as part of activities in the Phuket Village Health Volunteers Association Fair. The little-publicized fair, organized by the Phuket Provincial Health Office and Phuket City Municipality, got underway last Tuesday and…
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New shine for old Phuket shrine
PHUKET: Work is currently underway on a new cultural museum and shrine that will showcase the way of life and traditions of Phuket’s ethnic Hainanese community, which date back to Phuket’s tin mining days. Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai was in Phuket last week to preside over a pillar-laying ceremony at Thni Kong Thua Shrine in Wichit. Built over a…
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Phuket News: Sinkholes threaten Krabi rubber plantation
PHUKET: Sinkholes have hit a rubber plantation in Muang District Krabi, east of Phuket. Officials there are urging the landowner to fill them as soon as possible before they enlarge. The sinkholes were first reported to the Mineral Resources Department Region 4 Office in Surat Thani on February 7. On the afternoon of February 10, office director Tawatchai Thepsuwan and…
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Tough love for street beggars in Phuket
PHUKET: Government departments are coordinating a crack down on street beggars in Phuket this Valentine’s Day. Tomorrow at 1:30pm, Governor Tri Augkaradacha will implement policies to remove beggars in all three Phuket districts. This will be done in accordance with the Control of Beggars Act BE 2484 (1941), which requires that provincial officers arrest vagrants. “To solve the problem of…
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Fish truck driver kills five, gets bail
PHUKET: The driver of a truck whose alleged reckless driving killed four young Swedish tourists and their Thai driver in Phang Nga last week has been released on bail, the Phuket Gazette has learned.An officer at Phang Nga Provincial Court told the Gazette last Wednesday that the driver, 27-year-old Muhummadyukee Jehyusoh, requested bail release on February 3.Released three days later…
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Phuket Sports: Asian kiteboarding gets new media deal
PHUKET: Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) and television sailing channel Marine Scene Asia announced recently the signing of a media partnership agreement for the coming season. Marine Scene Asia is a specialist sailing channel that produces programming that covers all aspects of the Asian yachting and boating scene. In particular, it focuses on covering competitive sailing regattas which is an important…
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Phuket Gazette: TV Journalist couple killed; The Sun newspaper staff arrested
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community TV journalist couple murdered in Bangladesh capital PHUKET (News Wires): Two well-known Bangladeshi television journalists were killed at their residence in the capital of Dhaka over the weekend, police said yesterday. The bodies of Golam Mustofa Sarowar and his wife, Meherun Runi, were first discovered on…
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Phuket druggists to restrict sale of ‘Meth Blue’
PHUKET: Phuket pharmacists will restrict the sale of products containing ‘methylene blue’ to minors, following reports of youths taking the compound to avoid testing positive for methamphetamine use during drug tests. The announcement came during a special meeting on Saturday led by Kiattisak Parnrungsri, secretary of the Phuket Pharmacists Club; Duangjai Pasarphan, pharmacist with the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office…
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Phuket Sports: Super six football underway
PHUKET: With a plethora of modern sporting facilities springing up on the island, more and more organized competitions are also appearing to take advantage of the technologies being afforded to the local community. Gone are the days of playing on a hacked out piece of wasteland in the searing afternoon heat because no lighting was available after 6:30pm. A tumble…
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Phuket Sports: Oh Lord, the MCC are coming!
PHUKET: The rise of Phuket in world cricket continues on February 16 with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), from Lords, the home of cricket, starting their Thailand tour with a T20 match at the ACG. Founded in 1787, MCC is the world’s most famous cricket club and its role in the game remains as relevant as ever. The organization is…
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Phuket “Meth blue’ users at risk
PHUKET: Health officials in Phuket have issued a warning to students not to take the chemical “Methylene blue” in an attempt to hide methamphetamine use from authorities in drug testing. Muang district chief Supachai Pochanakul recently described the trend of growing drug abuse by schoolchildren in Muang district as “very worrying”. The statement followed a recent round-up of 19 truant…
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Phuket Gazette: Singer Whitney Houston dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Singer Whitney Houston dies at Beverly Hills hotel PHUKET (News Wires): Grammy Award-winning singer and actress Whitney Houston, one of the world’s best-selling music artists, was found dead in her Beverly Hills hotel room on late Saturday afternoon, police said. She was 48. Beverly Hills Police…
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Tough love: Valentine’s crackdown underway on Phuket youth
PHUKET: The Phuket authorities are cracking down hard on the island’s teenagers in advance of Valentine’s Day, with 16 young people recently detained and tested for drug use. The crackdown comes amid the traditional moral panic over the behavior of Thai youth that accompanies the romantic holiday in the country each year. Of the 16 boys and girls who were…
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BREAKING NEWS: Phuket Beach body thought to be Mark Robson’s
PHUKET: A body found strangled in Phuket late last month is almost certainly that of missing English teacher Mark Robson, who was reported missing by his parents recently. The break in the case came yesterday when Phuket Tourist Police Foreign Volunteers Group Leader Frank Tomenson provided the media an updated photo of Mark sent to him by Keith Robson, Mark’s…
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Phuket’s baby elephants under investigation
PHUKET: Three elephant camps in Phuket are being investigated after concerns were raised about the origins of the baby elephants in their possession. Officers of Central Investigation Bureau of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok investigated Phuthai Souvenir Market in Chalong, ATV Elephant Camp near the Big Buddha image in Karon and Sheraton Camp in Cheng Talay to determine if…
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Phuket resort worker, 20, dies in 4-vehicle hit-and-run
PHUKET: One person died and another was seriously injured in a four-vehicle hit-and-run accident on Patak Road in Karon before dawn today. Just after midnight, Chalong Police received a report that there was an accident on Patak Road involving one truck, one van full of Chinese tourists and two motorbikes. Chalong Police Captain Nitikorn Rawang and Phuket Ruamjai Kupai Foundation…
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Dr Smith warns of tsunami risk in Phuket, Andaman region
PHUKET: The man whose warnings of a possible tsunami disaster along Thailand’s Andaman coast went unheeded years before the 2004 calamity struck was in Phuket recently, urging a national assembly of school administrators to be prepared for more possible disasters in 2012. Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, former Director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), was guest speaker for a gathering…
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‘Ae Inside’ murder suspect prepared to surrender: Phuket Police
PHUKET: Police are in telephone negotiations with murder suspect Atsadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab, a Phuket businessman they believe was the mastermind behind the shocking assassination of Phuket newsman Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn early last month. Mr Atsadakorn, owner of KPP Cable TV and a vice president of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, is demanding immediate bail release in return for his…
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Weekend weather forecast for Phuket
PHUKET: The weekend weather forecast for Phuket calls for good beach weather, with partly-cloudy skies, calm seas and a only a small chance of showers. According to Thai Meteorological Department, there is a chance of widely scattered thundershowers over 10% of the island for today, rising to 20% coverage tomorrow and 30% on Sunday. Seas should be calm, with easterly…
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Phuket officials braced for Valentine wedding blitz
PHUKET: Love is in the air at the Muang District Office, where workers expect to issue marriage certificates to about 150 Phuket couples on Valentine’s Day. Phuket Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanukul told the Phuket Gazette, “We first started paying special attention to how many certificates we issued on Valentine’s Day in 2010, when I started working here.” “We registered…
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Phuket Gazette: India – Leopard kills girl; Student stabs teacher; Bus crash kills 26
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Leopard kills fifth girl in western Nepal PHUKET (News Wires): A teenage girl was killed by a leopard in the district of Baitadi in western Nepal on Wednesday, the fifth such incident in two months, local media reported yesterday. The 14-year-old girl was mauled to death…
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Weird World News: Sightings of a woolly mammoth, a giant river worm and zombies cause concern on planet Earth
PHUKET: The truth is out there. Beasts, monsters and ghouls are lurking in the depths of rivers, skulking in remote wilds and hanging out in town centers in England this week. It’s been a week of strange sightings. We’ll let you decide if they’re hoaxes or the real deal. Iceland has its own Loch Ness Monster IS IT A bird?…
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English teacher reported missing in Phuket
PHUKET: The mother Mark Robson, a 27-year-old with British and South African nationality, is seeking help to find her son who went missing in Phuket last month. Mr Robson arrived in Thailand from Durban on December 5. After short stays in Bangkok, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui in mid-December, he stayed in Phuket. He was in regular email contact with…
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