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Phuket Live Wire: TOTtering along
PHUKET: After a truly terrible week of slow international download speeds and patchy service, TOT’s download speeds have improved across much of the island, although several TOT customers are still reporting problems. Surprisingly, TOT Fiber Optic now appears to be the fastest commercially available Internet package – although it’s quite expensive. We also continue to log truly amazing wireless “3G”…
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The sacred unborn baby of Village 11
SUPHAN BURI: For 10 months now, residents of a village in Suphan Buri province have been wondering when Niphawan Bunjaroen, 35, is going to give birth. Niphawan, who lives in Village 11 in Nong Makha Mong subdistrict, claims to have been pregnant with her fourth child for a rather long time: 19 months, to be precise. Doctors say the maybe-mother-to-be,…
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Phuket Games Mascot: Chinese dragon devours starfish hopes
PHUKET: The humanoid blue starfish unveiled at the beginning of this month as Phuket’s official mascot for the 28th Thailand Youth Games has been laid to rest – to be replaced by a “cute” sea dragon. The news follows a meeting on Tuesday at which Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) Phuket Office Director Wirat Patee confirmed the starfish mascot idea…
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Phuket snatch banditry on the rise
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are urging women to be extra cautious when walking along the street as attacks by young snatch bandits are increasing – and proving hard to catch. Duty Officer Capt Kittiphum Tinthalang told the Phuket Gazette today that bag snatching attacks are becoming more common. “Nowadays, we get reports of bag snatching all the time,” he said.…
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Phuket Poll: How safe is Phuket?
PHUKET: Road accidents, burglaries, drownings, murders, con artists, frauds, drugs… local news junkies might get the impression that crime makes Phuket a pretty dangerous place to live in or visit, but is it really? The latest Phuket Gazette poll asks our esteemed readers how safe the island really is. So have your say in Phuket’s popular online poll by clicking…
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BREAKING NEWS: Teen missing from Phuket found in Songkhla
PHUKET: The teenage girl feared sold to a Phuket brothel has been found alive and well at a fairground in Haad Yai, Songkhla. La-ongda “Tanyong” Narmsra, 14, was reported missing by her family, a clan of fairground attraction operators, on February 9. For the Phuket Gazette‘s previous reports click here and here. Initially fearing abduction, Tanyong’s mother reported the girl’s…
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BREAKING NEWS: UN visits Rohingya refugees in Phuket
PHUKET: The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) visited the 33 Rohingya men in custody at Phuket Immigration today, the Phuket Gazette has confirmed. The UNHCR hopes to determine where the men come from, what their protection needs may be, and whether or not they are seeking refugee status. Originally, 68 men were detained in Phuket after their boat…
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Phuket’s Scott Duncanson wins Bay Regatta
PHUKET: Testing weather and clever course design allowed this year’s Bay Regatta to be hailed as one of the best, with Scott Duncanson and his crew on Quantum Fusion M taking top honors in the Racing class. It was not plain sailing for Ducanson, however. He managed to scramble the last of his crew together only on registration day. Racing…
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Police focus on Phuket youngsters in Valentine’s sweep
PHUKET: More than 100 Phuket police officers and volunteers conducted a sweep of Patong last night in a “Valentine’s Night” crackdown on youth crime. The coordinated raids targeted internet cafes, computer game shops, public parks as well as rented rooms and houses police knew to be occupied by young people. The raids began after a “rallying of the troops” at…
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Phuket teenager dead and five-year-old fighting for life after road crash
PHUKET: A four-motorbike collision left one boy dead and a family of three injured in Phuket this morning. None of the injured were wearing helmets, including a five-year-old girl now fighting for her life in hospital with massive head trauma and broken limbs. The accident took place at about 7:30am on Soi Nanachart Borrae, off Sakdidet Road near Phuket Town.…
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Kiwi bar owner found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: A Phuket bar operator from New Zealand died early Sunday morning from apparent heart failure. Kathu Police duty officer Jongserm Preecha identified the deceased as Paul Allen, 58. Mr Allen’s body was found at his rented home on Nanai Road by his female companion, Usa Kallaya, 32. The couple married two years ago and opened the KP Bar, located…
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Readers not convinced Phuket tourist shelter “a great idea’: Poll
PHUKET: Online readers are dubious about a plan by the Tourist Police to build a temporary shelter for down-on-their-luck foreign tourists, results of a recent Phuket Gazette poll reveal. The poll asked: “The Tourist Police will build a temporary shelter for down-on-their-luck foreign tourists. How do you feel about this project?” Overall, 22.7% of people who took part agreed with…
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German expat found dead in Patong
PHUKET: A retired German man was found dead on the sidewalk in front of his rented home in Patong on Sunday night. Police say the body was discovered by neighbors at about 6:30pm. Harald Rainer, 69, had lived in Phuket for about a year. Police Sub Lt Pattapee Srichay told the Phuket Gazette last night that Mr Rainer was found…
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Phuket Blues Fest artists to stage free concert in Patong
PHUKET: Norwegian blues rock band ‘The Prodigal Sons’ and guest Rich Harper will stage a one-hour free concert in Patong on February 23. The concert, to be held on Patong Beach, will start at 3pm. The event is to highlight to people in Patong the upcoming Phuket International Blues Rock Festival at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa in…
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FC Phuket pick up valuable point in league opener
PHUKET: FC Phuket secured a solid 1-1 draw away from home against Suphanburi FC in their opening fixture in Thai League Division 1 football on Sunday. Following the game, Phuket manager Surachai Jirasirichote said he was “satisfied” with the point picked up on the road but somewhat “disappointed” in the manner in which his side conceded the equalizer after going…
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Power outages to hit southern Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced scheduled blackouts to carry out maintenance on high-voltage power lines, install new lines and move power poles in Chalong. The dates and locations of the operations, which will be carried out from 9am to 5pm, are: February 17 Along Chao Fa West Road, from in front of Chalong Temple to Land…
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Isuzu mechanic dead in Phuket motorbike crash
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are investigating the road death of a young mechanic whose body was found in the central drainage ditch of the bypass road early this morning. Phuket City Police duty inspector Sien Kaewthong was informed of the body’s discovery at about 2am today. Arriving at the scene, the median strip of the bypass road in Rassada, they…
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Phuket Opinion: Beach nipples not naughty
PHUKET: I note there is no space [for a reader to] comment on Blair Christopher’s online story ‘Phuket Nipple Alert: Staying abreast of nude on our beaches’. (See story here.) So [as a Phuket resident] I’d like to comment here on how it is apparently perfectly acceptable for the male walking along the beach in the accompanying picture to have…
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Phuket road decision spells higher risks for Thailand’s mangroves
PHUKET: The long-awaited approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment for the “Klong Koh Phee Road” project comes as great news for all sides and represents a reasonable solution to an infrastructure hurdle that has needlessly wasted thousands of hours of commuter time over the years. For background on the approval, see page 6, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital…
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Phuket Live Wire: International internet speeds are up
PHUKET: International internet speeds in Phuket this week were generally excellent for 3BB, CAT and True, but bad-to-abysmal for TOT. 3BB customers are being upgraded, free, frequently without any notification before or after the upgrade. TOT Fiber Optic was performing horribly – often half as fast as standard ADSL lines, at five times the price – but the speed has…
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PHUKET NIGHTMARE: Missing girl feared sold to Phuket brothel
PHUKET: The girl who vanished from the Chalong Temple Fair on Wednesday was lured away by a teenage boy named “Bow” and taken to Patong, her family has learned. They fear the youth may be planning to sell her to a brothel. La-ongda “Tanyong” Narmsra, 14, was reported missing on Wednesday by her mother. See our earlier report here. La-ongda’s…
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FC Phuket hit the road for league opener
PHUKET: FC Phuket begin their quest for promotion to the Thai League Premier Division tomorrow when they visit Suphanburi FC for their opening fixture in Division 1. Kickoff is at 4:30pm. Phuket secured promotion to the second tier of Thai league football in December and will be looking to get their 2011 campaign off to a winning start. The Phuket…
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Are you ready for the weekend in Phuket?
PHUKET: Today’s Andaman Edition of the hard-copy Phuket Gazette newspaper went on sale late last night and our Nationwide Edition was released in Bangkok and placed aboard the major international airlines serving Phuket early this morning. Both editions contain reams of information not available here in the Gazette Online. NEWS – In-depth reports about the fate of the 68 Rohingya…
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BREAKING NEWS: 33 Rohingya remain detained in Phuket, tell of hardships at home
PHUKET: The whereabouts of the 68 Rohingya refugees who were arrested on January 31 when their boat drifted to Phuket’s shores has been confirmed by the Phuket Gazette. Phuket Immigration late yesterday gave the Gazette access to 33 Rohingya men in custody at the Immigration Detention Center (IDC). The youngest in the cell was only nine years old and the…
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Phuket Reminder: Business law tops agenda for IBAP meeting tonight
PHUKET: The keynote speaker at the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) meeting tonight will be Michael Doyle, a US attorney and partner of the Bangkok-based law firm Seri Manop & Doyle. Mr Doyle, co-author and contributing editor of the recently released book Doyle’s Practical Guide to Business Law in Emerging Countries in Asia, will speak on the issue: Business…
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MISSING CHILD: Girl, 14, vanishes from Phuket temple fair
PHUKET: The mother of a girl who went missing from the Chalong Temple Fair grounds in Phuket on Wednesday is asking the public for help in locating her. Sapsiri Narmsra, 29, reported her 14-year-old daughter La-ongda Narmsra missing to Chalong Police on Wednesday. Mrs Sapsiri, a resident of Ayudhya, said she arrived with her daughter and relatives on January 29…
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Phuket sea gypsies fear losing rights to ancestral burial ground
PHUKET: Phuket sea gypsy villagers at Laem Tukkae are living in fear that access to their ancestral burial ground will be closed permanently. The issue was raised directly today with Somchai Seanglai, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, who led a delegation of officers to the area to hear a variety of complaints from the villagers. The graveyard…
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Hot time in Old Phuket Town tonight
PHUKET: Tonight is the last night of the annual Phuket Old Town Festival, centered in Thalang and Phang Nga Roads and in Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town. Despite being held mid-week, this year’s event has been busier than ever with a wide range of staged entertainments, food and drink, and exhibitions focused on life in the olden days. The…
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German methadone survivor out of Phuket ICU
PHUKET: A German man whose male partner died of an apparent methadone overdose by penile injection last week is out of a coma, staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital have confirmed. The German, in his mid-30s, was transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital from Bangkok International Hospital last Friday. “He was released from the ICU [on Tuesday], but is still under close…
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Thai lawyers urge action over refugees, human trafficking
PHUKET: The Lawyers’ Council of Thailand (LCT) today released a statement demanding the government to “tackle Rohingya trafficking organizations”. The statement comes after 68 Rohingya were arrested in Phuket last week, and 158 in Trang and Satun provinces last month. The status and location of the 226 Rohingya is currently unclear amid conflicting reports of transfers and possible human rights…
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