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Sunday Opinion: Phuket declares support for roadside trash in national elections
PHUKET: As Thailand’s general election draws near, one can only guess what tourists in Phuket might make of it all. So ubiquitous and impressive is the roadside pollution that many visitors will spend their holiday bewildered as to why they are looking at thousands of colorful images of suited monkeys, salivating dogs and fatuous monitor lizards. For many, the preponderance…
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Phuket’s young voters want job security and stronger tourism policies
PHUKET: Students at Phuket Vocational College rate job security and sustainable development of Phuket’s tourism industry among their top criteria in selecting which candidates to vote for in Thailand’s general election next Sunday. About 300 students from the college on Thursday attended a rally at Saphan Hin, where the three candidates contesting Phuket Constituency 1 urged the students to exercise…
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Nice one: FC Phuket sign French goalie Matijas
PHUKET: FC Phuket have signed goalkeeper Jonathan Matijas from France and have their eyes on other foreign players, the team has announced. FC Phuket General Manager Ahsin Arammethapongsa this morning confirmed the club has signed an agreement with Matijas, a tall 21-year-old from Nice who comes from Amiens SC in the French Ligue 2. Matijas will join Phuket at the…
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Phuket Tourist Police volunteers branch out
PHUKET: Phuket’s newest Tourist Police Volunteer Center opened at Chalong Circle this week and is already helping foreigners in need in the south of the island. Within hours of opening their doors on Monday, officers at the center were called on to assist a Russian couple whose rented motorbike was involved in a minor accident at the roundabout. The motorbike…
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Strong winds ground pilots at Phuket Fun Fly
PHUKET: Paragliding enthusiasts assembled in Rawai for Phuket Fun Fly 2011 found the wind too strong this morning for pilots to safely get off the ground, but expect flying conditions to improve over the weekend. “We still cannot glide right now because the wind is too strong. It is too dangerous,” said Sarayut Chinpongsatorn of the Thai National Paragliding Team.…
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School van crash: Police to pursue charges against pickup driver
PHUKET: Police will pursue charges against the driver of a speeding pickup that crashed into a school van on Tuesday morning, killing two and leaving many others injured. The driver, 41-year-old Nikom Kaewmanee, told police he was driving at about 100kmh when he tried to overtake the van, which had 15 occupants, Thalang Police told the Phuket Gazette . The…
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FC Phuket braces for Songkhla stampede
PHUKET: League Division One’s southern derby is sure to bring herds of fans to Surakul Stadium tomorrow, when a resurgent FC Phuket aim to tame the “Fighting Bulls” of Songkhla FC. In addition to those travelling with the team, massive support is expected at the game from a huge population of Phuket residents who hail from Songkhla. The fixture tomorrow…
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Phuket rubber tapper killed by hoe
PHUKET: Phuket Police are questioning the girlfriend of a rubber tapper found bludgeoned to death in the hills behind Layan Beach earlier today. Thalang Police responded to a report of a murder in Cherng Talay Village 6 at 9:20am. At the scene, inside a small hillside shack, they found the body of a 49-year-old man thus far identified only as…
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Police net thief in B100mn Phuket tuna factory haul
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have arrested a man they believe is part of a gang which stole equipment with a reported value of almost 100 million baht from a tuna cold storage facility in Rassada. The management of the Siam Tuna company informed police that the company’s new facility had been broken into repeatedly and equipment worth almost 100 million…
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Bogus timeshare operators under fire in Phuket
PHUKET: A high-powered task force set up by the Phuket Governor yesterday declared war on illegal timeshare operators in Phuket. The focus is on those that use bait and switch and other illegal tactics to bilk up to a billion baht from unsuspecting tourists. “Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha is very serious about solving the problems with timeshare companies and he…
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Swiss son finds mom’s suicide note
PHUKET: A son of 61-year-old Swiss woman Ursula Balzan, whose body was found floating off Phuket’s east coast last week, has confirmed the handwriting in a suicide note as that of his mother, say police. Roman Balzan, 36, one of Mrs Balzan’s two sons, flew to Phuket from Switzerland last Sunday, Phuket City Police duty inspector Sien Keawthong told the…
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Wichit to open first ‘community dialysis center’ in Phuket
PHUKET: The first kidney dialysis center in Phuket to be run by a local administrative body is 80 per cent complete, the Mayor of Wichit has announced. Work on the five-million-baht Wichit Kidney Dialysis Center, located at the Laem Son Public Health Center on Pattana Thongthin Road, began about five months ago, he said. The center will offer dialysis for…
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More bluebottles wash ashore in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket coastline is still not yet clear of Portuguese man o’ war “jellyfish”, with the latest sighting by a sharp-eyed beachcomber at Patong Beach at dusk yesterday. Professional photographer Dan Hartwright was walking along the beach with his young son on his back when he noted the characteristic air bladder of one of the creatures washed up on…
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Vote buying on the rise in Phuket: Governor
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha yesterday ordered all police officers across Phuket to keep an eye on specific communities where vote buying is reportedly taking place, ahead of the July 3 general election. The governor yesterday chaired a meeting of Phuket Election Commission (PEC) and representatives from every police station on the island. “The PEC has received many complaints about…
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Tuk-tuks, ladyboys, sex – no subject too taboo for Phuket Punchline Comedy tonight
PHUKET: “Tonight, tonight: Comedy in Patong, you come, you see, you laugh long time!” If the Phuket Punchline Comedy Club had an announcer roaming the streets of Patong then that’s what they might say. No such luck, so we’ll do it for them. Tonight is the next installment of the Comedy Club at the Holiday Inn Resort in Patong. And…
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Strategic Airlines gets stranded Phuket Aussies home
PHUKET: Australian carrier Strategic Airlines have announced that most of its passengers from Melbourne and Brisbane who were stranded in Phuket for the past week have been flown home. Following a week-long series of flight disruptions, cancellations and delays, the airline’s efforts to fly the growing group out of Phuket paid off. “As far as I know, there are no…
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Phuket Lomas game for UK tour
PHUKET: TEN YOUNG rugby players left Phuket on June 18 for the trip of a lifetime. Pupils from Baan Sai Nam Yen School in association with the Asia Center Foundation and the Phuket Lomas rugby team are in the UK to play in the Manchester Touraid Rugby Festival (Lomas tour blog). An eight-team tournament will be played, and include the…
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Tourist Police launch beach safety campaign
PHUKET: In an effort to minimize the number of drowning deaths in Phuket this monsoon season, the Tourist Police today began distribution of some 10,000 handbills warning beachgoers about the dangers of rip currents — and what to do if caught in one. Garry Halpin, a Tourist Police volunteer from New Zealand, told the Phuket Gazette that the handbills will…
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Phuket Live Wire: True 3G dongles all the way
PHUKET: I dropped by the True office in Phuket Town and discovered a number of changes. If you want “3G” HSPA service in Phuket, here’s what you need to know. In Phuket, 3G service (more accurately, HSPA service) is only available from True. True is in the process of extending 3G service on the island. In spite of what you…
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Phuket Vagabonds develop RSA rugby scholarship
PHUKET: SOUTH African rugby club Kriel Roosters strengthened existing ties with Phuket by inking a deal to develop a scholarship program for promising youth players. The Kriel Roosters, based in Pretoria, have been regular participants at the Phuket International Rugby 10s tournament, winning in 2010 and reaching the finals of this years competition. Many teams remarked on the increase in…
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Phuket bluebottle scare: the coast is clear
PHUKET: The invasion of Portuguese man o’ war “jellyfish” at Phuket beaches over the weekend appears to have ended, but lifeguards are keeping a watchful eye on the situation in order to ensure the safety of swimmers and beachcombers. Vitanya Chuayuan, publicity officer of the Phuket Lifeguard Club, confirmed this morning that there have been no reports of the pseudo-jellies…
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Two dead, many injured in Phuket school van crash
PHUKET: A three-vehicle collision near the Heroines’ Monument in Phuket left two dead and many injured this morning. The two dead were staff members at the well-known Muslim Witthaya School in Koh Kaew. Police identified one the deceased as 54-year-old Phang Nga resident San Thasai, driver of a school van transporting young school students from their homes in Baan Bang…
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Stranded Phuket tourists get strategic in face of flight delays
PHUKET: Passengers grounded by ongoing delays and cancellations by Strategic Airlines are upbeat despite little information from the airline. Following a forced landing in Kuala Lumpur last week, the airline canceled their immediate Brisbane-Phuket services and today delayed their Melbourne-Phuket flights. “About 300 [passengers] all up. They did fly one lot of people out to Melbourne, people with children or…
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Two gunned down in Phuket gangland “misunderstanding’
PHUKET: Phuket police today presented three men charged with the gangland-style slayings of two men in Patong early yesterday morning. Nat “Chit” Nakpetch, 31, from Kathu, Somnuek “Wae” Suwanthanoo and Poochit “Max” Pookham, both 29 and both from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, were presented to media at Patong Police Station today. All three men were charged with planning and carrying out…
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FC Phuket score first away win against Thanayburi
PHUKET: Three wins in seven days has given new FC Phuket coach Sompong Wattana some breathing room after setting his stall out to not lose three on the trot when he joined the club just three weeks ago. A 1-0 win over Thanyaburi Rose Asia United FC in Saturday’s Toyota League Cup first round gave Phuket their first away victory…
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Portrait FC take round eight of Phuket’s AFL
PHUKET: Three absorbing matches dominated interest in round eight of the current Adult Futsal League (AFL), played on Thursday. Top of the table Portrait FC faced an improving Island Boys side with an in-form goalkeeper as the evening’s opening bout. The first half ended goalless as a result of some inspirational shot-stopping and the second half began with Portrait’s attack…
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Westwood a bitter bridesmaid
PHUKET: “It’s amazing he’s only ever won three tournaments the amount of time he gets into contention.” Former world number one Lee Westwood offering a bitter swipe at the eternal efforts of Rory McIlroy’s to win a Major. For the record Rory is 22-years-old and now has a Major to his name. The magnanamous Mr Westwood is 38-years of age…
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40,000 voters in Phuket sign up to cast ballots for other provinces
PHUKET: Shedding a little more light on the size of Phuket’s “hidden population” is the fact that more than 40,000 people have registered for absentee ballots in the upcoming general election. According to information released earlier today by the Phuket Election Commission, a total of 40,680 people registered to vote in other provinces during the registration period that ended on…
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US Open a father’s day gift from McIlroy
PHUKET: NORTHERN Irish golfer Rory McIlroy won the US Open in stunning fashion early this morning, breaking 12 records in the process. The 22-year-old from the small town of Hollywood, County Down, entered the record books as the youngest player to win the title since Bobby Jones in 1923. But McIlroy etched his name in history in more ways than…
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Heartbroken Estonian dies in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of an Estonian business owner found dead in his Phuket Town shophouse last night. Phuket City Police duty officer Yingnucharee Longkaew identified the deceased as 45-year-old Artur Mansurov, who was found dead on the third floor of his shophouse at the Phuket@Town commercial housing estate on Surin Road. According to one local media report,…
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