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Finance: A formula for prosperity
PHUKET: There is a fantastic equation that can be used in almost any decision you make in life. I learned this from the supplement company that I work with but it also applies to financial planning, life planning, and many other areas in life. The equation is simply X=Y. In the equation we can substitute any action for X so…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Time of service delivery
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Opinion: Reconsidering our stance on plastic marine pollution
PHUKET: The current government has made a commendable effort in convincing the European Union (EU) and other international observers that it will impose some order over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) practices in the Thai fishing industry. The fact remains, however, that bureaucrats from Brussels to Bangkok have little to no control over the commercial forces that are turning our…
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Thai businesses gearing up for Myanmar investment
PHUKET: Before a crowd of around 100 Thai business people, General Chetta Thanajaro, a former commander in the Royal Thai Army, urged Thai’s to band together with bellicose rhetoric. “Let’s drive our country forward,” Gen Chetta told the congregation at Boat Lagoon. “Our nation has been abandoned for too long. We, the Thai people, were fighting each other. I believe…
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Election Commission encourages turnout for referendum
PHUKET: A government-backed campaign is trying to raise public awareness in Phuket ahead of the August 7 vote on a new draft constitution. Phuket Election Commission (PEC) director Kittipong Thiengkunagrit said this week that his office is encouraging an estimated 297,000 voter turnout for the referendum, put forward by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) through the Constitution…
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Opinion: New highways chief talks improvement plans
PHUKET: Patiwetwottisak Sookhii, originally from Nonthaburi, is the new director of the Phuket Highways Office. He assumed his position last month and was director of the Prachuap Khiri Khan Highways Office before that. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Prince of Songkla University and a Master’s degree in transport from Kasetsart University. Here, he talks about…
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Bike crash at Bang Khu construction site
PHUKET: A Thai man is unconscious in Vachira Hospital after crashing his motorbike into a guardrail at the Bang Khu underpass in the early hours of the morning. Maj Somchai Nuboon of the Phuket City Police reported that officers received calls from locals about a motorbike that had fallen into a three-meter-deep ditch at 5:20am. Police found the driver, Kittikorn…
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Tourist Police Chief: job well done
PHUKET: Tourist Police Commander Surechet Hakpan and Phuket Provincial Police Commander Teeraphol Thipjaroen inspected officers and held a press conference to discuss the tourism situation on the island yesterday. “We came here to visit our brothers in the force, the Phuket Tourist Police,” Major General Surachet said. “We are here to support them, and our missions are only completed through…
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True Corp plans Thailand launch of Pokemon Go game in September
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community True Corp plans Thailand launch of Pokemon Go game in September Phuket Gazette / Reuters BANGKOK: Thailand telecoms company True Corp Pcl plans to launch Nintendo Co Ltd’s smash-hit mobile phone game Pokemon GO in the country in September, a top executive at the Thai firm…
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Big lizard surprises swimmers at Kata beach
PHUKET: Swimmers at Kata Beach were shocked when a monitor lizard joined them for a swim yesterday afternoon. Panic soon turned to amusement for the crowd of tourists who gathered to get a glimpse of the native wildlife as they began snapping photos. The lizard complied with their wishes for awhile, but then crawled off to a nearby brook. —…
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How much would you pay for a Phuket pineapple?
PHUKET: Pineapples, batik, goat milk and lobster will be branded and promoted by Pracha Rath Rak Samakkee to help boost the province’s grassroots agricultural economy. Pracha Rath Rak Samakkee Phuket was first launched on March 31, as a government-backed corporation with the aim of developing and promoting the province’s strengths, such as tourism, agriculture and locally-produced goods under the One…
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Beached yacht at Ao Nang refuses to budge
KRABI: Officials and volunteers on Wednesday made another attempt to salvage a yacht that has been grounded at Ao Nang Beach since July 6, after breaking free of its anchoring during a storm. The vessel’s owners, a Russian man and his Ukranian partner, were on the mainland when the boat went adrift. Alexander Travkin, 31, and Julia Mironova, 29, say…
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Motorcyclist dies after rear-ending truck at high speed
PHUKET: A young motorcyclist died after slamming into the back of a truck at high speed and sustaining massive head injuries on Thepkasatri Road this morning. The accident occurred on the southbound lane in the Sapam area. Police named the deceased as Parinya Jansakul, 23, who was riding a pink Scoopy-i scooter. He reportedly hit another scooter being ridden by…
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Broken power pole poses danger to public
PHUKET: A damaged roadside utility pole near the Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket Town is posing a danger to pedestrians. Broken at the base and revealing bent rebars, the power pole is in danger of toppling over. Sirisak Skoonsorutcha, chief of Phuket’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), said yesterday that the Phuket Electricity Authority had been notified and…
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Australian, 30, found dead in Rawai room
PHUKET: The decomposing body of a 30-year-old Australian was found in an apartment room in Rawai yesterday morning after the landlord called police about a bad smell coming from the room. Police entered the room on the second floor of the apartment complex at 10:05am to find the body with a bloody mouth lying on the bed. They also found…
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Phuket marine chief replaced – again
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Office chief Surachai Burapanontachai is to be transferred at the end of July to the Marine Department headquarters in Bangkok. Mr Surachai will be taking up the position as the department’s acting secretary. Mr Surachai is scheduled leave his post here next week after handing over his duties to his replacement, former Samut Prakarn Marine Office chief…
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Karon hit with historic floods
PHUKET: Karon experienced the worst flooding in decades after a heavy downpour this morning, the municipality’s deputy mayor Ittiporn Sangkaew told the Phuket Gazette today. Shops and houses opposite hillside construction sites along Patak Road were inundated with mud and water up to one meter deep. “This is the worst flooding we’ve seen in decades,” said the deputy mayor. The…
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Krabi lawyer charged for speaking out against referendum
KRABI: A Krabi lawyer surrendered himself to the police on Saturday after he became a ‘wanted’ man for breaching the Public Referendum Act via a Facebook post. Chuwong Maneekul, 51, expressed his opposition to the referendum and its authors on his Facebook page about two weeks ago. “I posted the status to express my feelings without any hidden agendas, but…
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Koh Lanta Yai vice president nabbed in B20mn bribery sting
KRABI: Koh Lanta Yai Administration Organization (OrBorTor) vice president Anusorn Wangphon was arrested yesterday in an anti-corruption sting operation. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) allege that the 49 year-old official requested 20 million baht from a businessman in exchange for the issuance of land title deeds. The operation was led by NACC Assistant Secretary-General Colonel Ittiphol Kitsuwan, who said Mr…
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Migrant workers arrested during registration
PHUKET: Officers from the Phuket Provincial Office (PPO) and the Royal Thai Navy arrested 80 migrant laborers during two raids in Thalang on Sunday. The raids came after the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) encouraged illegal laborers to register throughout the month of July, with PPEO officials stating that the government is showing leniency with employers and illegal workers (story…
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Three-day public holiday begins for Buddhist lent
PHUKET: Government offices, along with many private businesses, will be closed over the next three days, as Buddhists across the country mark Asanha Bucha Day and the Khao Phansa Holiday. Alcohol sales are also prohibited during the official public holidays on Tuesday and Wednesday. Asanha Bucha, which falls on Tuesday, commemorates the Lord Buddha’s first teaching of Dhamma (Truth) to…
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Body of missing Royal Thai Army officer found
PHANG NGA: A Royal Thai Navy search and rescue team yesterday recovered the body of a Royal Thai Army officer, who reportedly slid off a rock at Khao Na Yak in Phang Nga and went missing on Friday. Pongsathorn Pakdee, 22, was fishing with his friends when the incident took place, after which Janya Plaimuang, his aunt, reported the incident…
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Penis skinned in shrimp farm accident
PHUKET: A teenage shrimp farm employee had the skin of his penis ripped clean off when he fell onto a spinning mechanical aerator used to oxygenate the water. The victim, a Myanmar national aged 17, suffered severe blood loss. “He was writhing in agony and covered in blood as locals rushed him to Thalang Hospital. He was later moved to…
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Dolphins washing ashore, injured or dead
PHUKET: A dead dolphin was discovered off a Patong Beach and another is recovering at a Royal Thai Navy facility on Koh Lanta. Both were discovered by scuba divers on Saturday. Phuket Marine Biological Center veterinarian Patcharaporn Gaewmong told the Phuket Gazette that she believes recent discoveries of sick, injured or dead cetaceans are likely the result of monsoon season…
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Blaze guts alleyway of shops in Patong [video]
PHUKET: A blaze gutted shops in a narrow alley off Bangla Road in Patong last night. The fire broke out about midnight near Thaweesawong Road (beach road), damaging several shops including a tailor’s and a minimart. Firefighters and six fire trucks took more than an hour to extinguish the inferno, which is estimated to have caused several million baht worth…
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Indonesian busted at Samui airport with 3kg of cocaine in suitcase
KOH SAMUI: An Indonesian man has been detained by police after picking up a suitcase stuffed with 3 kilograms of cocaine at Samui International Airport on Thursday (July 14). The suspect, named by police as Djemmy Petrus Mokodompit, 48, had arrived on Koh Samui a week earlier, on July 8, on a Bangkok Airways flight from Singapore. The unaccompanied suitcase…
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Aussie drunk driver arrested after hit and run
PHUKET: An Australian man is under arrest after he allegedly hit several parked vehicles in what police reported as a drunk driving incident in Cherng Talay early this morning. Police received a report from Somchai Choomrak, 52, at Baan Pa Sak in Cherng Talay at around 4:30am. Mr Somchai stated that the suspect left his Honda Jazz parked in the…
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Government takes back more land, angers locals
PHUKET: Locals are furious after government officers demolished plantations and houses in Thalang on Thursday. “This is incredibly unfair,” said Sorasid Saksuay, a representative of the 200-member community, talking to the press yesterday. “We’ve been living here since before 1998.” A Suan Pa Bang Kanun census in 1998 registered community members and property claims. The area, spread out over some…
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Turkish coup bid crumbles as crowds answer call to streets, Erdogan returns
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Turkish coup bid crumbles as crowds answer call to streets, Erdogan returns Phuket Gazette / Reuters ISTANBUL/ANKARA: An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of this morning after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan’s call to take to the streets to support…
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Analyzing the luxury car industry in Phuket
PHUKET: Behind the closed doors of the glitz and glamor of the luxury car business in Phuket, are a host of complicated market forces at play. Let’s take a closer look at the factors that come together in the day-to-day running of this business. Millennium Auto, located on the Bypass Road, sells some of the most renowned luxury brands in…
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