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Phuket official assures Patong kingpin not above the law
PHUKET: Kathu District Chief Sayan Chanachaiwong has vowed that the sandbags in front of the Patong Bay Garden Resort will be removed from the beach, or resort owner and Patong kingpin Preechavude “Prab” Keesin, son of former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, will have to answer to the military. Mr Sayan, accompanied by Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, Patong Mayor Chalermluck…
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Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday raided and suspended obstetrics and gynaecology services at a Lat Phrao clinic for 60 days pending investigation into reports that it provided surrogacy.The clinic allegedly provided services to 1,000 Thai and foreign customers…
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Ukraine, rebels accuse each other of attacking refugee bus convoy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine, rebels accuse each other of attacking refugee bus convoy Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed as they fled fighting in eastern Ukraine on Monday when their convoy of buses was hit by rocket fire, military spokesmen said.…
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Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The two-year-old girl killed by a short-circuit at an ATM in Trang province was buried yesterday, though police say they have yet to charge anybody. The burial ceremony was held at Wat…
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Hotel association believes junta’s beach crackdown will lure tourists back
PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is encouraged to continue improving the public image of attractions across the country in a bid to draw more tourists in the coming high season. “More major tourist destinations such as Pattaya and Bang Saen in Chon Buri, the city of Chiang Mai, Koh Samui in Surat Thani, Koh Chang in…
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Mourinho hopes Cech stays despite losing Chelsea spot
PHUKET: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said he hoped goalkeeper Petr Cech will stay loyal to the club despite losing the starting spot to Belgian Thibaut Courtois. Courtois, 22, who has returned to Chelsea from a successful loan spell with Atletico Madrid, was Mourinho’s choice for the club’s Premier League opener on Monday, a 3-1 win at Burnley. Cech has been…
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Nationwide wheel-locking campaign kicks off
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Wheel-locking campaign kicks off The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday launched a nationwide operation to lock the wheels of cars found violating the law yesterday in a bid to ease traffic congestion. Pol Lt-General Wuthi Liptapallop, an adviser to the Royal Thai Police in…
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Prayuth vows 2015 budget won’t burden country, will boost economy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO aims to avoid budget debt The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told the National Legislative Assembly yesterday the proposed budget would not leave problems or debt for the country in the long run – as he would only be in power…
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Missouri curfew lifted as National Guard called in
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Missouri governor lifts Ferguson curfew as National Guard called in Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Missouri Governor Jay Nixon lifted the curfew for the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson on Monday and began deploying National Guard troops to help quell days of rioting and looting spurred…
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Scores of alleged Phuket mafia taxi drivers shuffle into court
PHUKET: The first 70 of 108 Phuket taxi drivers facing charges for alleged involvement in the taxi mafia appeared in court for their preliminary hearing today. Those unable to fit in the court room were told that they would be seen by the court in early-September. The defendants, some of whom denied the charges, were arrested during a historic, island-wide…
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Phuket weather forecast prompts flood, landslide, tour boat warnings
PHUKET: Blue skies over Phuket this afternoon herald a welcome reprieve to the deluges that doused the island over the weekend and throughout today. By 1pm this afternoon, humidity had reached 98 per cent and more than 47mm of rainfall had been dumped on Phuket Town and the surrounding areas (see report in Thai here). The rainfall is set to…
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Phuket man stabs relative over a bottle of whiskey
PHUKET: A 19-year-old man wanted for stabbing a relative late last night over 500 baht to buy a bottle of whiskey is expected to surrender to police tomorrow, the Phuket Gazette was told today. When Thalang Police arrived at the house near the Heroines’ Monument about 30 minutes past midnight, the stabbing suspect had fled the scene. His relative, however,…
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Chinese tourists receive warm welcome at Phuket International Airport
PHUKET: Phuket officials held an impressive welcoming ceremony this weekend for the first wave of Chinese tourists to visit the island under a free, 90-day visa campaign. The campaign, which will be in effect from August 9 to November 8, was launched in the hopes of recovering from a nationwide 30 per cent decrease in inbound travellers from China and…
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Numbers for Phuket’s popular visa run to Ranong nose dive
PHUKET: Bookings for Phuket’s renowned “Ranong visa run” have plunged by as much as half, a fall that is threatening the once-daily service that has become a hallmark experience for many expats on the island. The number of people attempting to re-enter Thailand at Ranong has dropped by about 50 per cent, popular Phuket visa run companies and Ranong immigration…
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Phuket lottery winners to spend B26mn prize on children’s education
PHUKET: A Phuket couple who won 26 million baht from the national lottery this weekend have set their children’s education as their top priority in spending the windfall prize. Sutin Nuanjan, 46, and his wife, Puangkaew 39, discovered on Saturday that they had won millions of baht. “On Wednesday [August 13], we went to the market in Rawai and asked…
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Phuket’s Club Med giving green to Kata
PHUKET: The five rai of Phuket public land returned to the Kata-Karon community when Club Med was given a new lease on life on August 11 will be developed into a public park. “Representatives of the public and Club Med decided that the best way to use the land will be to develop a green space where everyone can exercise…
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Park wins LPGA Championship in playoff
PHUKET: Park Inbee of South Korea won the LPGA Championship in a sudden death playoff against Catriona Matthew of Britain on Sunday, giving her victories in the first two women’s major championships of the year. Park won on the third hole of the playoff at Locust Hill Country Club outside Rochester, New York, with a birdie on the par-four 18th…
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Federer downs Ferrer to capture sixth Cincinnati title
PHUKET: Roger Federer’s hopes of adding to his record grand slam haul got a boost as he beat Spain’s David Ferrer 6-3 1-6 6-2 to win the Western and Southern Open title in Cincinnati on Sunday in the last key U.S. Open tune-up event. It marked the sixth Cincinnati title for the Swiss second seed and, coming off last week’s…
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22 injured in boiler explosion
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 22 injured after boiler explosion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A five-meter-high boiler exploded at a dyeing plant in Samut Prakan’s Muang district early yesterday, injuring some 22 workers and residents. Several nearby homes were also damaged. Most of the victims – 17 in total…
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Missouri under curfew to stave off more riots after black teen shot by police
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Curfew in Missouri staves off more riots where black teen shot by police Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Authorities on Sunday imposed a midnight curfew for the second night a row in the tense St. Louis suburb where an unarmed black teen was shot to death…
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Phuket woman attempts suicide, ingests insecticides to escape financial woes
PHUKET: A Phuket woman plagued by financial woes was rushed to hospital last night after she tried to commit suicide by ingesting a lethal insecticide. Thalang Police were called to the scene by the woman’s boyfriend, Chamnan Kornsuwan, at about 10pm, but 43 year-old Samrong Rongsab had already been rushed to Thalang Hospital by the time officers arrived. Sen Sgt…
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Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Australian Government has asked Thailand to adopt international standards when it passes a surrogacy law this year. Acting permanent secretary for Justice Charnchao Chaiyanukit said yesterday that Australian Ambassador to Thailand James…
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Phuket, it’s going to be a wet one
PHUKET: Keep your brolly handy this weekend, because the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued a heavy rain and flood warning for Phuket and several southern provinces. The TMD’s warning comes as the Patong Police Station and nearby roads flooded for a second time in two days (story here and here). Additionally, the TMD issued a landslide warning today, following…
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Patong Police Station hit by Phuket flooding, again
PHUKET: Patong Police are scrambling to move everything from the first floor to the second floor as their station is swamped for a second time in two days by Phuket flash floods. “The water is about up to our knees in the station,” said Lt Col Suttichai Tianpho of the Patong Police. “The computers and case files are still on…
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NASCAR tells drivers to stay in cars in wake of fatal weekend crash
A new NASCAR rule announced on Friday forbids drivers from getting out of their cars during caution periods in races, following an on-track fatality last weekend when three-time champion Tony Stewart struck and killed a driver gesturing at him. The most widely followed motorsports organisation in the United States said it would require drivers involved in accidents to must remain…
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Phuket student injured after tree falls into morning traffic
PHUKET: A large tree crashed into Phuket Town traffic this morning, leaving a student with minor injuries. Phuket City Police officers arrived at the scene, Komarabhat Road intersection near Phuket Wittayalai School, at about 11:15am and found a crushed white pick-up truck under the tree. “I was waiting for traffic to move when I felt something slam my truck. I…
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Board game gamblers swept up by Phuket Police, Navy
PHUKET: Navy personnel and Phuket City Police officers netted 37 gamblers in two separate raids last night. The officers rushed a makeshift casino in a meeting room on the second floor of the Town Inn Hotel, and discovered 27 gamblers, gambling paraphernalia and 66,660 baht in cash. “We received a tip-off about the meeting room being used as a gambling…
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Phuket Hard Rock Cafe GM arrested for gruesome ‘cold case’ murder in Australia
PHUKET: Hard Rock Cafe Phuket General Manager Gerard Caleo, 42, was arrested in Australia for his alleged role in the gruesome murder of Rita Caleo, reported the South Sydney Morning Herald today (story here). Mr Caleo was arrested by Homicide Squad detectives after landing in Sydney on a flight from Kuala Lumpur at about 6am. He has been charged with…
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Impiana welcomes new general manager and executive chef
PHUKET: IMPIANA Resort Phuket recently announced the appointment of its new General Manager for all Thailand based Impiana properties David Xavier and new Executive Chef Christoph Lindner. Malaysian national Mr Xavier comes to Phuket following a tenure as resort manager for Impiana in Chaweng Noi Koh Samui, director of food and beverage at Impiana KLCC and banquet and catering manager…
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The fire-powered business of barbecues
PHUKET: In Thailand you’re never far from a barbecue. A massive chunk of the ever-present street food is based on grilling different kinds of meat over an open fire. Still, Brad McElroy felt he wanted a barbecue of his own and decided to import one from his home country, the motherland of barbecue – Australia. That was 18 years ago…
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