News
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Phuket Gazette World News: Obama knew of issues; Suicide bombers attack Iranian embassy; Fisherman returned after 40 years
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama was briefed earlier in year on health website problems Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: President Barack Obama, who has portrayed himself as surprised by technical problems with the government’s new health care website, was briefed earlier this year on a consultant’s report that warned of possible widespread…
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Alleged contract killer’s accomplices arrested in Phuket, extradited from Thailand
PHUKET: Five men arrested in Phuket in the same operation that snared the alleged contract killer and US drug dealer Joseph “Rambo” Hunter were extradited to the United States today. Escorted by armed police commandos, Britons Philip David Shackels and Scott Alan Stammer; Slovakian Alexander Lnu; Filipino Allan Kelly Perata; and Taiwanese Ye Tiong Tan Lim were taken from Bangkok’s…
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Prominent Belgian expat among Phuket Immigration arrests
PHUKET: Prominent Belgian expat Georges Sirre, who has lived in Phuket for nine years, was among three foreigners named by Phuket Immigration today to face deportation for previous offenses. Officers arrested Mr Sirre, 56, at his home in Rawai late yesterday afternoon after receiving a request from the Belgian Embassy in Bangkok, Phuket Immigration Superintendent Sunchai Chokkajaykij told a press…
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Phuket Governor inspects Patong ahead of tuk-tuk clearout
PHUKET: Ahead of the December 31 deadline to clear parking spaces along the Patong beach road for tourists, Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusust yesterday inspected the sites where tuk-tuks will no longer be permitted to park after December 31. “The project [story here] can reduce traffic jams in Patong and make the beachfront look more beautiful,” Governor Maitri said. During his…
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Black Eyed Peas rapper highlights Filipino plight with Phuket show
PHUKET: Over 400 people gathered to watch Grammy-award-winning international pop star and rapper from Black Eyed Peas apl.de.ap drop beats at Xana Beach Club to raise funds for the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the central Philippines over a week ago. “I thought we [Filipinos] were tough, until this happened. Like I’ve never seen this magnitude of people…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Real chance for nuke deal; Police hunt gunman in Paris; US Midwest tornado survivors start recovery
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Putin tells Iran’s leader of ‘real chance’ for nuclear deal Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iran’s Hassan Rouhani there was a “real chance” for a nuclear deal, two days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers, hoping to end a decade-long…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Abhisit says he was framed; B1bn ATM skim scam; Krathongs down; Cops want bus lanes; Govt pressure builds
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Abhisit says Tarit framed him, Suthep over 2010 riots Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Department of Special Investigation Director-General Tarit Pengdith skewed the facts in order to frame suspects who are the subject of criminal indictments relating to the 2010 riots, the Democrat Party leader told a…
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Alcohol a factor in fatal head-on collision, police say
PHUKET: Police suspect that alcohol played a critical role in the death of a 27-year-old woman who was in a head-on accident near the Thung Thong Police checkpoint early Saturday morning. Kamontip Seangkuenun was found dead at the scene – the divided road near the entrance to Soi Bangthong (map here) – at about 3:15am. Ms Kamontip slammed head-on into…
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Health concerns boil over French passenger at Phuket airport
PHUKET: A French tourist leaching yellow pus from the back of his neck prompted fears that he might infect other passengers at Phuket International Airport on Friday.Airport authorities removed Michel Dominique Godfroy, 56, from the international departure lounge a little after 11:30pm.“We were called to the airport at 11:45pm,” a Kusoldharm Foundation rescue worker told the Phuket Gazette.The rescue workers…
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German tourist dies in Phuket surf
PHUKET: A German man died at Patong Beach yesterday afternoon after being overwhelmed by the strong surf and two-meter-high waves.Klaus Dieter Hermann, 76, was pulled from the surf at 1:40pm, Capt Nattaya Supanpong of the Patong Police confirmed to the Phuket Gazette.“Lifeguards noticed Mr Hermann was swimming alone when he encountered difficulties in the big waves,” Capt Nattaya explained. “When…
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Phuket Police arrest American fitness instructor for child sex assault
PHUKET: Police arrested an American man wanted for the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in Houston, Texas, earlier this year. Fitness instructor Forrest Wayne, 41, was taken into custody in Patong one day after the Phuket authorities received a notice from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “On Saturday night, we received a notification from the FBI…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Russian plane crash leaves 50 dead; Bachelet leads in Chile; Tornadoes rip Midwest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Boeing airliner crashes in Russian city of Kazan, 50 killed Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A Boeing 737 airliner crashed on Sunday in the Russian city of Kazan, killing all 50 people on board and spotlighting the poor safety record of regional airlines that ply internal routes across…
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Muay Thai legend Buakaw fights in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket fight fans will have an opportunity to watch legendary MuayThai fighter Buakaw Banchamek in action in Patong… tomorrow night (November 18), in a special exhibition match at the Patong Boxing Stadium on Sainamyen Road. Buakaw, a two-time K1 World Max champ with well over 300 fights, is far and away Thailand’s most famous currently-active pugilist. In the Patong…
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Lanterns not cleared for Loy Krathong lift-off in Phuket
PHUKET: Airports of Thailand (AoT) Phuket warned those celebrating Loy Krathong today that releasing lanterns in the Air Safety Zone surrounding the international airport could result in charges carrying a sentence of up 20 years imprisonment or death. The hefty penalty is cited in Thailand Air Navigation Act, BE Section 6(3). “People like to release lanterns during Loy Krathong, especially…
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Phuket Opinion: Who deserves a consul?
PHUKET: I read recently that the South Africans may open a consulate on Phuket (story here), and my first thought was, South Africans? They need a consulate? Apparently about 80,000 come here per year. It’s not that I think they don’t deserve a consulate, let them have one, by all means. But there’s another group of foreigners who live here…
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Phuket Opinion: Preserving the essence of Phuket
General Manager of Business and Network Development at DaimlerChrysler (Thailand) Co Ltd, Pannate Rangsinturat, 36, is a Phuket native. She graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a degree in international relations and has earned a master’s degree in European studies from Cambridge University. Here she talks about the changes she sees when she returns to Phuket and how they can be…
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Phuket Opinion: Level ground
PHUKET: It is astounding to be in a place where so many “haves” and “have-nots” co-exist in such close proximity. We live on an island where trucks packed with rain-soaked illegal migrant workers are such a common sight that many of us have grown impervious to their suffering as we wait and hope for the traffic light ahead to turn…
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Loy Krathong festivities muted in Phuket
PHUKET: There will be muted celebrations for one of Thailand’s largest holidays, Loy Krathong, the “Festival of Light”, tomorrow in respect of the recent passing of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara Somdet Phra Sangharaja.Traditionally, thousands of people across the nation release krathong, lotus-shaped floats traditionally made of banana leaves, with a small offerings of food, flowers, joss…
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Black Eyed Peas’ rapper throws down beats for Philippines charity event this Sunday
PHUKET: Grammy award-winning rapper and member of the Black Eyed Peas, apl.de.ap, will be performing at the Xana Beach Club tomorrow to raise much-needed cash to support victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the central Philippines last week. Celebrities from around the world have expressed their support for those suffering in the Philippines by raising money through charity events.…
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Taxi man “Brother Pom’ plays down DSI allegations of queue jumping
PHUKET: The leader of the Central Festival Phuket taxi group, who stands accused by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) of queue hopping, told officers not to worry about how he runs the shopping mall’s taxi network. “This is not a big thing to focus on… I would like to let the DSI know that they don’t need to worry…
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Chinese charge forward with Phuket consulate
PHUKET: Chinese officials confirmed that a consulate in Phuket will be operational by next year in order to cater for the dramatic increase in Chinese nationals visiting the island.“The plan to establish a Chinese consulate in Phuket has been approved. However, we still need to find a place for it, as well as personnel,” the Chinese Consulate General in Songkhla,…
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Phuket Filipinos rally for typhoon relief
PHUKET: The Filipino community in Phuket will stage a fundraising event this Sunday to collect donations and raise much-needed cash to support victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the central Philippines last week. The event will be held at the Basketball Gymnasium at Saphan Hin (map here), where hundreds of Filipinos working and living in Phuket congregate each week…
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Patong hotel ordered to remove water-runoff pipe from beach
PHUKET: A leading Phuket resort has been ordered to remove a pipe that released runoff rainwater directly onto the sand at Patong Beach. The news came yesterday when officers from the Regional Environmental Office (REO) and Patong Municipality inspected the Impiana Resort, on the Patong beachfront road (map here). “We asked people in the area, and were told that the…
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Norwegian tourist drowns at Karon Beach
PHUKET: A Norwegian tourist drowned after being caught in heavy surf at Karon Beach, on Phuket’s west coast, yesterday. Kata-Karon chief lifeguard Uten Singsom reported his staff seeing the man, named by police as Chris Roger Hangsao, 55, having difficulty coping with the large waves. “There were big waves, up to about two meters high,” Mr Uten told the Phuket…
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Phuket Business: FoodPanda to change eating habits
PHUKET: You didn’t buy this luxury villa to be forced to leave it every time you feel hungry. So if you’re tired of fast food and pizza – the most common delivery foods – there is a new solution for you. Online food delivery company, Foodpanda has just entered Phuket and plans to change islanders’ dining habits. The Phuket Gazette…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Ongoing occupation angers Tamils; Relief efforts gain momentum; Priest kidnapped by gunmen
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Army occupation angers Sri Lankan Tamils four years after war ends Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The threats came by text message, a phone call and a delivery of two cow skulls. The message was clear: stop protesting against the army’s occupation of your land or you will…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Typhoon aid underway; Yingluck to face censure; BOT in good shape; Schools in South strike
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Doctors, medicines heading to Philippines The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The Public Health Ministry is expected to send 60 tonnes of medical supplies on an Air Force plane to the Philippines on Monday (Nov 18), with the government announcing yesterday it would initially provide Bt6 million to…
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Phuket joins Philippines typhoon relief effort
PHUKET: The Phuket chapter of the Red Cross Society has joined the relief effort to provide assistance to victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the central Philippines last Friday. “Right now we can only accept donations of money, which we will send to our head office in Bangkok,” Phuket Red Cross staffer Sarawut Rukkhaw told the Phuket Gazette. “We…
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Man slain by single gunshot in Rawai
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a 28-year-old man who was slain by a single gunshot to the head near Rawai Beach early this morning.Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Jumroon Plaidoung was notified of the murder at about 3:30am.“When we arrived at the scene, an unregistered rental house about 150 meters from the beach, we found the body of Khin…
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Phuket illegal taxis given New Year deadline
PHUKET: Fed up with the delay in illegal taxi drivers complying with the law, Phuket officials have established a December 31 deadline for taxi drivers to become legal. Phuket officials have long been flexible in trying to accommodate local taxi drivers’ concerns, Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada told a provincial transportation committee meeting on Tuesday. “In the past, we kept extending…
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