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Happy Birthday Your Majesty
PHUKET: Today, August 12, Thais throughout the country and the world celebrate the birthday of their beloved Queen and Mother of the Nation – Her Majesty Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara, who turns 82 this year. The day is also celebrated in the Kingdom as National Mother’s Day. Born in Bangkok in 1932, Queen Sirikit is the eldest daughter and the third…
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Radwanska eases past Venus Williams to win Rogers Cup
PHUKET: Agnieszka Radwanska tamed Venus Williams 6-4 6-2 to win the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Sunday, the third seeded Pole setting herself up as a player to watch at the U.S. Open. The first win of the season for Radwanska, it provided a timely jolt of confidence going into Flushing Meadows and the year’s final grand slam with 11…
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McIlroy wins PGA Championship, claims fourth major
PHUKET: Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy recovered from a stumbling start to overcome a series of challengers and clinch his fourth major title by a shot at the PGA Championship on Sunday. A stroke in front of the chasing pack overnight, the Northern Irish world number one lost the lead but regained control after the turn, signing off with a three-under-par…
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Phuket beach vendors to appeal to NCPO to return to the sands
PHUKET: More than 500 Phuket beach vendors put out of work by the massive beach cleanup campaign spoke up on Saturday about the importance of restarting their seaside businesses. The complaints and proposals were heard at a public forum led by a team of professors and researchers at the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Phuket campus in Kathu. The meeting…
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Five to face charges for illegally claiming Phuket national park land
PHUKET: Deputy Director-General of the Land Department Thammasak Chana has publicly vowed to pursue legal action over five cases of attempting to use SorKor 1 land documents to claim 445 rai of land in Phuket’s Sirinath National Park. In all five cases, the claimants applied for their SorKor 1 documents to be upgraded to full Chanote land titles, Mr Thammasak…
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Marine office to battle Phuket tar balls on beaches
PHUKET: Officials are set to re-launch a campaign to control used oil being dumped from boats off Phuket’s shore after balls of black tar appeared on the island’s beaches late last month (story here). “I have seen the photos of the substance myself, and can confirm that they are balls of tar,” Phuket Marine Office chief Phuriphat Theerakulpisut told the…
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Treasury Dept challenges claim only 100 Bt10 coins minted in 1990
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Treasury Dept challenges claim only 100 Bt10 coins minted in 1990 The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Treasury Department has denied a claim that just 100 Bt10 coins were minted in 1990.The department’s director general, Naris Chaiyasoot, spoke yesterday shortly after there was a Bt100,000…
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Udomdej favoured to take over as the next Army chief
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Udomdej favoured to take over as the next Army chief The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Deputy Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr appears the front runner candidate to succeed General Prayuth Chan-ocha as the head of the Army. Prayuth, who is in charge of the ruling…
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Over 100 Thai surrogates may be carrying babies for Aust couples
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Probe into ‘baby clinic for Aussies’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Health Service Support Department is investigating a Bangkok clinic that provided surrogacy services to more than 100 clients, including the Australian couple linked to the baby Gammy controversy and probably many other Australians.…
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NLA to vote on next PM set for August 21, 22
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NLA vote on next PM set for August 21, 22 The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Legislative Assembly will call a vote on the next prime minister on August 21 or 22, its deputy chairman said yesterday. Surachai Liengboonlertchai said he supports General Prayuth…
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Israel, Palestinians launch new three-day truce
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel, Palestinians launch new three-day truce Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israel and the Palestinians held their fire early on Monday at the start of a new 72-hour ceasefire proposed by Egypt that took effect at 2100 GMT (2200 BST). There were no immediate reports of…
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Phuket’s road nightmare gets worse: Italian man dies in crash
PHUKET: The death of an Italian man in a Ducati motorbike accident in Karon before dawn today has brought the number of road fatalities in Phuket to six dead in less than 24 hours. The man, whose name is being withheld, lost control of his motorbike on a curve in the hills to north of Karon at about 5:30am. “He…
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Myanmar fishing boat slaves freed north of Phuket, return home
PHUKET: Eighteen Myanmar victims of a human-trafficking group, including four children, have returned home, after being rescued by Thai authorities. Several of the now-freed slaves were sold to fishing boats off Kawthaung, the township across the water from Ranong, which for more than a decade has been a popular “visa run” destination for foreigners in Phuket. Saw Win Tin, 55,…
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Teenagers among five dead in horror day on Phuket’s roads
PHUKET: Three Phuket teenagers are dead and two more are in hospital after a high-speed crash in Thung Thong just before midnight last night. The accident was the culmination of road fatalities that saw five dead in less than 24 hours on Phuket’s notorious roads. Police and rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation were called to the scene, on Phra…
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Playing the role of manager and mum in Phuket
Sumontha Urvois, 37, from Suphan Buri, is the Executive Assistant Manager of the Grand Mercure Phuket Patong. She has a master’s degree in hospitality management and more than 14 years’ experience in the industry with the Accor Group. Before coming to Phuket, she worked for two years as Rooms Division Manager at the Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square. Here, she…
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Feelin’ fat like a Phuket expat
PHUKET: Living in Phuket as a Western-born woman could prove dicey for the faint of heart, even more so for those who suffer from the occasional lack of self-confidence. Once you settle into life on the island, it doesn’t take long to tune in to the stark differences in cultural norms, especially when it comes to discussing body weight. Making…
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Beach cleanup D-day set for Phuket, Andaman-coast provinces
PHUKET: Military leaders have launched a beach overhaul project with an August 14 deadline by which all remaining illegal structures must be removed from beaches in Phuket and five other Andaman-coast provinces. Owners who disobey will be fined and face encroachment charges. “We are following an official order handed down from the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO]. We…
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Lao woman with Bt30 million held at border
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Lao woman with Bt30 million held at border The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 42-year-old Laotian was detained in the border province of Mukdahan yesterday for allegedly trying to smuggle Bt30 million in cash out of the country. The woman who was identified only as…
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Probe into Japanese ‘dad’ eyes baby trafficking intent
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Probe into Japanese ‘dad’ eyes baby trafficking intent The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police are looking into whether the 13 babies purportedly linked to surrogacy services were meant to be trafficked, as evidence suggests a Japanese man fathered at least nine infants via surrogate mothers.…
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U.S. air strikes begin as Obama calls to prevent Iraq genocide
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. air strikes begin as Obama calls to prevent Iraq genocide Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: U.S. warplanes bombed Islamist fighters marching on Iraq’s Kurdish capital on Friday after President Barack Obama said Washington must act to prevent “genocide”. Islamic State fighters, who have beheaded and…
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Phuket’s Club Med to cough up public land, but will stay
PHUKET: Negotiations between Club Med management and the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO), which owns the land the resort sits on, concluded late this afternoon with the news that the resort will stay. “Club Med has agreed to make three rai available as public land to be used as the local residents see fit, and with that we will renew…
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Landslide fears prompt stop-work order high in the Phuket hills
PHUKET: Work was ordered to stop at a construction site high on the hills overlooking Patong yesterday after it was found to be above the legal limit for building – and amid fears of a landslide smothering the residents below. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak led an inspection of the site – eight rai of land with unobstructed views of…
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United ready for Van Gaal lift off but dangers lurk
PHUKET: On paper it appears a match made in heaven. Serial winner Louis van Gaal at the helm of 20-times English champions Manchester United with a mission to steer the chastened giants back to the Premier League summit. When United kick off the new season next Saturday lunchtime at home to Swansea City, however, reputations will count for precious little…
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New-look Arsenal have the taste for trophies
PHUKET: Having finally treated their long-empty trophy cabinet to some FA Cup silverware last season, Arsenal have splashed the cash ahead of the new Premier League campaign to improve a squad that could now be capable of pushing for loftier titles. Rapid forward Alexis Sanchez, a 35 million pound signing from Barcelona, leads a band of new recruits that also…
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Phuket prison raid turns up box cutters, inmate tests drug positive
PHUKET: Despite an early morning search of Phuket Provincial Prison turning up a slew of contraband items and one inmate testing positive for drugs, the facility’s “White Prison” certification remains intact. “We have come out of many searches like this empty-handed. This is just one during which we found contraband items and only one inmate tested positive for drugs,” said…
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CAS start appeal into Suarez biting ban
PHUKET: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) began its hearing on Friday into Uruguay forward Luis Suarez’s appeal against his ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup match. Suarez, wearing a checked shirt, brushed aside photographers and refused to make any comment as he arrived by taxi at the CAS headquarters in a Lausanne suburb.…
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Phuket “mega meth mule’ shipped millions, say police
PHUKET: A mother arrested at a school car park in Phuket Town yesterday led to the “accidental” arrest of man who has since confessed to shipping millions of ya bah (methamphetamine) pills and kilograms of ya ice (crystal methamphatime) throughout Thailand, say police. The string of arrests began on Monday, when officers took into custody Uten Wanthong for possession of…
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Katathani Phuket rocks eyed for encroachment
PHUKET: A team of officials descended on Kata Noi Bay late yesterday afternoon to inspect a battery of rocks in front of the Katathani Phuket Beach Resort that were alleged to be encroaching on public beach land. The inspection, led by Suthee Sirianan, the Chief Administrative Officer of Muang District Office, was launched after local villagers filed a complaint through…
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How will markets react to end of stimulus?
PHUKET: The Fed has finally announced a specific month to mark the end of their stimulus program which has been running since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008. In the minutes of their most recent meeting, they have announced their intention to continue scaling back monthly bond purchases, which had run at US$85 billion per month, and to…
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Nepal ends search for landslide survivors, declares 156 dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nepal ends search for landslide survivors, declares 156 dead Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nepal on Wednesday called off a search for survivors and declared 156 people dead after a landslide at the weekend, making it the deadliest to hit the Himalayan nation in three decades.…
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