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Woman killed by truck in Phuket
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: A young woman died instantly on Tuesday afternoon when a pickup truck slammed into her motorbike as she tried to cross the busy Thepkrasattri Road. Sirintip Jongjalern, 26, was on her way home from work at Blue Canyon Country Club (BCCC) when she pulled onto Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang and into the path of a fast-moving Toyota…
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Phuket university student becomes first swine flu fatality
PHUKET CITY: A university student who died of pneumonia at Vachira Phuket Hospital on Thursday was infected with the A(H1N1) virus that causes swine flu, lab results have confirmed.Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) chief Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang said the student was a 19-year-old in his first year of the engineering program at Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Phuket campus.He was…
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Phuket Governor marks Asarnha Bucha Day
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop this morning attended a Buddhist merit-making ceremony at Wichit Sankharaam Temple on Suthat Road. The ceremony was held to mark Asarnha Bucha Day, which commemorates the Lord Buddha’s first sermon. The governor and about 500 others took part in the traditional ceremony, which involves circling a chedi at the temple three times before placing…
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Fish die mysteriously in Phuket City
PHUKET CITY: Local people were surprised to find large numbers of dead fish floating in the pond in front of Prince of Songkla University’s Saphan Hin campus yesterday morning. When officials from Phuket City Municipality went to investigate, they found excited residents pulling dead grouper, red snapper and sea mullet from the water. While locals bagged fish with dinner in…
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Govt to help Phuket sea gypsies rebuild
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The central government is preparing to build temporary housing for the 17 sea gypsy families whose modest homes were destroyed by fire on the afternoon of June 29. Social Development and Human Security Minister Issara Somchai visited what remains of the Ban Hin Look Diow sea gypsy village early on Saturday morning. For our initial report about…
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Kajonkietsuksa School issues statement on swine flu
PHUKET CITY: Kajonkietsuksa School has had two cases of swine flu and no deaths, the school management has said. School Manager Permkiat Ketkul said the school closed for a “big cleaning” on Friday after the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) confirmed a kindergarten student as having the A(H1N1) virus two days earlier. The PPHO inspected the entire school, which comprises…
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Successful salvage of Chrysalis-T, yacht returns to Phuket
PHUKET: The 77-foot yacht the Chrysalis-T, which was left floundering on the sands of Maya Bay last month after the yacht owner’s 21-year-old son ran it aground during a joy-sail with friends, was successfully re-floated on June 30.The US$2 million yacht is now back in Phuket and is being repaired at the Boat lagoon.Trouble began for the young yachtsmen when…
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Thieving teens victimize blind masseuse in Phuket City
PHUKET CITY: Two teenagers ran off with a blind masseuse’s handbag on Friday night as she was sitting in front of the small massage parlor where she works in Phuket City. Kainapa Jeenapueng, who operates the six-bed Nong Neuy traditional Thai massage parlor in Phuket Villa 1, said the thieves struck at 7.40pm. The victim, 43-year-old Wilawan Maikhong, was sitting…
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Phuket health officials pay surprise visit to Laguna
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: The Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) yesterday morning conducted a surprise inspection tour of the Laguna Phuket resort complex, which will host the upcoming 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers Meetings.The inspection was to ensure that water supplies, food preparation areas and hotel staff are free of disease-causing microbes during the proceedings to be held July 17 to 23,…
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Bt1m in damages from Phuket furniture shop fire
WICHIT, PHUKET : The owners of a furniture shop on Chao Fa West Road have vowed to remain in business, despite a fire that reduced half the store to ashes and caused an estimated 1 million baht in damages. The blaze broke out at the Touch Wood Furniture & Thai Advanced Solar Power Co Ltd store on Chao Fa West…
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Confusion reigns in Phuket over alcohol ban
PHUKET: Following a Cabinet resolution late last month banning alcohol sales on Buddhist holidays, the province is “asking for co-operation” from nightlife entertainment operators in closing on July 7 and 8 – but local leaders say they have yet to receive any formal orders making closure an official requirement. Tuesday, July 7 is Asarnha Bucha Day, and July 8 the…
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Phuket’s illegal immigrants given 30 days to register
PHUKET: Foreign laborers currently working illegally in the fishing industry in the Andaman region have been given 30 days to register with the Labor Department and Immigration in order for them to work legally in and around Phuket.Those who do not register during the grace period from July 1 to July 30 face deportation if they are caught working illegally…
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Phuket school blamed for spoiled milk
PHUKET CITY: Following lab tests of spoiled milk from a school in Phuket City that saw 16 children hospitalized last month, the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) has blamed the school for storing the milk improperly. PPHO chief Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang said Piboonsawaddee School in Phuket City over-stacked cartons of the UHT milk, causing some of them to split and their contents to…
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Phuket chikungunya outbreak worsens in June
PHUKET: While much attention has been placed on the fight against the spread of swine flu in Phuket, the island is still suffering from a chikungunya outbreak and has the highest per capita infection rate of any province in Thailand. According to recently-released figures from the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO), there have been 2,155 confirmed cases of the disease…
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Phuket swine flu update: 25 cases, no deaths
PHUKET CITY: There have been 25 confirmed cases of swine flu in Phuket, according to figures released by the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) yesterday.In addition to the seven cases reported in the last update, there have been 18 additional cases: nine hotel employees and nine students at four different schools, all in Muang District.PPHO deputy director Dr Wiwat Keetamanoj…
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New-look Phuket FC return to action Sunday
PHUKET CITY: After a much needed six-week mid-season break, the new-look Phuket Sea Dragons football club return to action at Surakul Stadium on Sunday, July 5. The home side has added 15 new players to its squad since its last fixture and coach Somsak Waijarean is determined to make amends for their dismal start to the season. Only two players remain…
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Cabbages and condoms, literally
SONGKHLA: In Bangkok there is a popular restaurant chain known as Cabbages and Condoms, brainchild of well-known activist Mechai Viravaidya (aka “Mr Condom”), who has been internationally lauded for his efforts to promote condom use as a way of stopping HIV/Aids. At the restaurant, condoms, rather than mints, are served after meals. The efforts to bring together vegetables and prophylactics…
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Asean meeting: Internal Security Act to be imposed for 15 days
PHUKET CITY: Phuket will for the first time fall under the Internal Security Act (ISA) when it hosts the 42nd Asean Ministerial Meeting and related activities to be held at Laguna Phuket from July 17 to 23. Cabinet yesterday approved the strict measure for 15 days, from July 10 to 24, for an area covering the entire island and extending…
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Tragedy strikes Phuket sea gypsy village – again
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Less than five years after it was damaged by the 2004 tsunami, the Ban Hin Look Diow sea gypsy community has suffered another disaster – this time by fire.At about 1:30pm on Monday a fire broke out in one of the homes and quickly spread to sixteen others, destroying more than half of the village and leaving…
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Asean meetings in Phuket: Security Act to be enforced
PHUKET CITY: Thailand will enforce its Internal Security Act in Phuket during the upcoming 42nd Asean Ministerial Meeting and related activities to be held at Laguna Phuket July 17 to 23. Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, who met with other top military brass and local leaders at Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket yesterday, said today that all preparations for the event…
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TAT bullish on Phuket tourism for 2010
PHUKET CITY: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects 14 million foreign tourists to visit Thailand next year. It also expects an additional 90 million trips by domestic holidaymakers – to Phuket, Chiangmai, Pattaya, Koh Samui and other key tourist destinations – and total revenue of 960 billion baht. If achieved, the number of inbound tourists will represent a 5.6%…
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Phuket may face draconian Internal Security Act
PHUKET: The Cabinet will today consider a proposal to apply Thailand’s Internal Security Act to Phuket during the upcoming Asean ministerial meeting which will be attended by the US Secretary of State. An informed source said this morning that the Act, if approved, would task the nation’s powerful Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), which is chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit…
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Munchies, ornaments and much more at Phuket Four Regions Festival
PHUKET: An inexpensive array of eye-catching handmade ornamental products from around the region and a wide range of locally-made “blue-flag” edible products are currently on sale at Saphan Hin in Southern Phuket until July 2.The rows of colorful stalls were set up over the weekend for the first ‘Good Food, 4 Regions & Blue Flag Festival’, which has been organized…
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Phuket Impact: British couple fights Bangkok airport extortionists
BANGKOK / PHUKET: A British couple who were falsely accused of shoplifting at Bangkok’s Suvarnaphumi airport and were forced to pay £8,000 (approx 450,000 baht) in bribes to secure their release, are to take legal action for compensation. London’s Times Online reported today that the couple were the victims of an extortion racket that has ensnared other foreign travelers at…
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Phuket Airport staff sing for victory against swine flu
PHUKET CITY: Sing “Happy Birthday” to combat swine flu. Bizarre as it may sound, this was one of many pieces of advice given by public health officials during Phuket International Airport’s (PIA’s) “Big Clean Day” [sic] yesterday. But there is, in fact, method in the apparent madness. As one Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) officer explained to PIA staff, the…
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12 donate land for new Phuket Airport Road project
PHUKET CITY: A provincial plan to build a second airport road took a small step forward earlier this week, thanks to 12 private landowners who donated land for the project. The handover took place on Monday night at the Ban Prujumpha School in Tambon Thepkrasattri, where the landowners personally handed over land title deeds and related documents to Phuket Governor…
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Phuket’s tourist population swells with American seamen
PHUKET: The unprecedented arrival in Phuket of five US Navy ships at the same time has given a boost to the island’s tourism industry and local economy, with about 5,700 US sailors and marines enjoying R&R on Phuket over the next few days. The USS Boxer has returned to Phuket while on an extended tour of duty that will have…
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Phuket exit strategy: German youth to plead guilty
PHUKET CITY: The German teenager arrested in Phuket in March on child sex charges will plead guilty when he appears in court next month, the Gazette has learned. German Honorary Consul Dirk Naumann said the German mission has looked at the young man’s legal situation “from all angles”. They now believe the Thai legal system does not permit someone in…
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Phuket may benefit, but free visas backfire on honorary consulates
PHUKET CITY: The future of honorary Thai consulates around the world is in doubt following the Thai government’s move to waive tourist visa fees until March 2010. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday announced that as of today all foreigners applying for single-entry tourist visas at Thai embassies, consulates and honorary consulates will be exempt from fees. Some…
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Fire in Kata after vigilante smoke-out
PHUKET: Wasteland opposite Kata Night Bazaar was ablaze last night following attempts to smoke out a suspected thief on the run. At 7.30pm, eyewitnesses reported seeing a Burmese man snatch a mobile phone from another Burmese male outside a tailor’s shop on the busy Thai Na Road in Kata. The man then ran off in the direction of Kata Beach.…
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