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Rawai staff boost water safety measures at Nai Harn
PHUKET: Rawai staff will be standing watch at Nai Harn lagoon this weekend as part of a move to increase safety measures after the drowning of 9-year-old Sarun Srisongkram last weekend (story here). “School breaks are coming up and I am worried about children drowning in the lagoon,” Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos said. There will be at least one staff…
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Phuket police warn of arrests for breaking Songkran no alcohol, safety rules
PHUKET: Police have warned that drunk revellers and people caught drinking alcohol in water-play zones across Phuket during the Thai New Year Songkran holidays next week will be removed from the zones and may face charges. Phuket Provinical Police Deputy Commander Teeraphol Thipjaroen yesterday pledged that all officers will strictly enforce a zero-tolerance of any people breaking the alcohol ban…
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Iran nuclear deal forged with US, world powers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Iran nuclear deal forged with US, world powers Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Iran and world powers reached a framework agreement on Thursday on curbing Iran’s nuclear program for at least a decade, a step toward a final pact that could end 12 years of brinkmanship,…
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Media seek clarity over ‘peacekeeping’ officers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Media seek clarity over ‘peacekeeping’ officers The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Four media organizations yesterday issued a joint statement asking the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to shed more light on Peace and Order Maintaining (POM) officers in order to ensure that the…
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US, UN envoys voice worrying concerns over Article 44
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New junta order ‘more worrying’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The government may have received some plaudits for lifting martial law from the local business community, notably the tourism sector, but the international community, especially the United States and the United Nations, besides rights groups…
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CDC to go ahead with merging of rights body with ombudsman
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community CDC to go ahead with merging of rights body with ombudsman The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Constitution Drafting Committee yesterday stood by its plan to merge the National Human Rights Commission with the Office of the Ombudsman as stipulated in the new charter’s Article…
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Blasts rock Pattani, power poles felled
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Blasts rock Pattani, power poles felled The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Explosions rocked four locations in Pattani’s Muang district, while five power poles were blown up in separate incidents on Wednesday night, causing heavy property damage and blackouts in a wide area. However, no casualties…
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147 killed in Kenyan university siege
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gulf Arabs silent after Iran interim nuclear deal Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Gunmen from the Islamist militant group al Shabaab stormed a university in Kenya and killed at least 147 people on Thursday, in the worst attack on Kenyan soil since the U.S. embassy was…
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BluAnda dodges mass markets, backs quality tours
PHUKET: For a premium tour company in Phuket, the goal is providing superior services and beating the crowds of a developing mass- tourism market by delivering private experiences at the region’s most well-known destinations. A newcomer to the Andaman island tour market, BluAnda walked onto the scene recognizing exactly that, and within three years has developed a strong client base…
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Business Buzz: Facebook – unlimited sales potential at our fingertips
PHUKET: Marketing 101: to make money you need customers, and to get customers you need a database to market to. The better quality the database, the better the results. But we will come back to that in a minute… These days everyone has heard of Facebook. Most people who are even mildly computer literate have a Facebook profile, no matter…
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Phuket pilots blitz on fishing-boat slaves, trafficking
PHUKET: Department of Fisheries Inspector-General Khemchat Jewprasart arrived in Phuket yesterday to launch a 10-day blitz on inspecting fishing boats in order to crack down on human-trafficking in the area. Phuket, Chumphon, Ranong and Songkhla were the first four provinces in the country to pilot the crackdown, Mr Khemchat explained. “A temporary center has been opened at the main fishing…
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Phuket honors HRH Princess Sirindhorn’s 60th birthday
PHUKET: Leading dignitaries on the island held a special ceremony this morning to honor and celebrate the 60th birthday of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn today. Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong, his wife Nutsaree, and a host of other public officials led the offering of alms to 60 monks as part of a blessing ceremony at the central stage area at…
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Hua Hin offers lessons for Phuket’s developing property market
PHUKET: For Thais, there is little doubt that Hua Hin remains a keen object of desire, be it for a holiday, or a property purchase. Call it legacy, or location, but the magnetic draw of the beach town continues to be a key driver of demand. A few weeks ago I visited the destination and found the extreme makeover movement…
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Island View: Put War on Drugs into rehab
PHUKET: Two major drug busts last week saw about 3.6 million pills of ya bah (methamphetamine) seized in just two raids, but the news has thrown into sharp focus just how ineffective the War on Drugs has become. Together, the two hauls netted an estimated 1.8 billion baht of meth – a clear indication that the War on Drugs is…
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Opinion: Save our trees
Anawut Prapunwong, 41, is a chairman and landscape architect of Oriental Vista Co Ltd, and the president of Phuket’s Big Tree Club, which was established on March 5 last year. He graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and has been president of the club since its inception. The Big Tree Club is a sub-club of…
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Opinion: Propel Phuket to become a global yacht stop
PHUKET: Efforts by Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul to ease restrictions on a wide variety of bureaucratic measures that are preventing the island’s marine tourism industry from going ‘full throttle’ deserve full support. The aim is to further develop the island into its natural role as one of Asia’s premier yachting and cruise ship destinations. While details of the…
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Fists fly over Russian birds on Phuket beach
PHUKET: An out-of-work lifeguard faces a 4,000-baht fine and up to three years in prison for an attack on two Russian women tourists on Karon Beach on Monday. Jaruay Wongkleang, 31, surrendered himself at Karon Police Station on Tuesday night after Marina Panko and Iana Savchenko, both 24, filed a report of the assault in broad daylight on Monday. “One…
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At least 43 dead after Russian trawler sinks in ocean
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community At least 43 dead after Russian trawler sinks in ocean Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: At least 43 people have died and 26 are missing after a Russian trawler sank late on Wednesday in the Western Pacific Ocean near the Kamchatka Peninsula, the TASS news agency…
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Getty oil heir’s death seen as likely accidental or natural
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Getty oil heir’s death seen as likely accidental or natural Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Andrew Getty, the grandson of billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, died from what appears to have been accidental or natural causes, but an autopsy is not expected to be performed…
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UN envoy slams PM’s threat to media
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UN envoy slams PM’s threat to media The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A United Nations expert on freedom of expression, David Kaye, yesterday urged Thailand to distance itself from the prime minister’s intimidating statements against freedom of press, and take immediate measures to allow space…
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Pongpat gets another two and half years in jail
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pongpat gets another two and half years in jail The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced Pongpat Chayapan, former chief of the Central Investigation Bureau, to another two and a half years in jail for failing to report the discovery and acquisition…
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Domestic accuses WHO executive of exploitation
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Domestic accuses WHO executive of exploitation The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Law Society of Thailand has taken up the case of an Ethiopian domestic worker, who has filed a police complaint, accusing her employer – an executive at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in…
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Martial law lifted, as Article 44 leveraged to legitimize PM Prayut’s powers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Martial law lifted, as Article 44 leveraged to legitimize PM Prayut’s powers The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej has signed a royal decree to lift martial law. The news was announced on a nationwide television broadcast last night. While international right groups…
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Phuket’s short-time prisoners to walk first in mass pardon
PHUKET: Convicts serving only short sentences at Phuket Prison have been given priority in being granted freedom in a mass pardon to be honored tomorrow. Prison Director Pichit Wanajit has applied to the Phuket Provincial Court for release warrants for 233 prisoners, including 25 women. The prisoners are to be released in accordance with a royal pardon issued by HM…
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Health office launches campaign to stem child drownings
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) has called on all local administrations on the island to take steps to prevent any further child drownings in their areas. The move to ramp up water safety throughout Phuket follows Public Health Minister Dr Ratchata Ratchatanawin on Monday issuing a nationwide order for all relevant agencies to launch water-safety campaigns. Dr Ratchata…
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Breaking News: Phuket bans beach sand
PHUKET: In the latest and likely final move to clear undesirables from Phuket’s beaches, the island’s local authorities today began a massive operation to remove the sand from key tourist hotspots along the west coast. The beach cleanup campaign that began last year under military protection is expected to be complete by the end of this year, said Kaikun Kluaeyao,…
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Pheu Thai warns impact of Article 44 will be worse than martial law
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pheu Thai warns impact of Article 44 will be worse than martial law The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Pheu Thai Party yesterday tried to dissuade the government from invoking Article 44 of the interim charter, warning of an even more adverse impact than martial…
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Prosecutors want at least 15 years for US couple in Bali suitcase murder
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prosecutors want at least 15 years for US couple in Bali suitcase murder Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prosecutors in the case of a U.S. couple accused of murder on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali on Tuesday called for the pair to be sentenced to…
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Charter flights by five airlines hit amid aviation safety concerns
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Charter flights by five airlines hit amid aviation safety concerns The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: AT least five airlines operating from Thailand to Japan, China and South Korea, and expected to carry about 150,000 passengers, will be affected in the wake of safety concerns expressed…
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Lifting of martial law gets the thumbs up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Lifting of martial law gets the thumbs up The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday sought royal approval for lifting martial law, which was imposed shortly before the coup in May last year, and replacing it with Article 44 of the…
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