News
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Sponsored Pullman Phuket Panwa Beach Resort puts sustainability at its heart
The term sustainability is often thrown around as a buzzword in the hospitality industry, but at Pullman Phuket Panwa Beach Resort, it’s genuinely part of their mission. Located in Makham Bay, just south of Phuket Town, the beautiful resort puts...
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Local fishermen dish out ‘fishy’ details
PHUKET: Anchovies may be small fry, but they are big business for some fishermen operating out of Phuket’s main fishing port. Known locally as ‘pla ching chang’, anchovies have been a steady source of income for the last 40 years for fishing boat owner Kumnueng Dumead. However, business is not always plain sailing, especially during the rainy season. “During the…
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Neighbors break down door to stop condo fire
PHUKET: Neighbors at a condominium in Phuket Town helped put out a fire, before firefighters arrived to finish the job last night. The fire broke out in one of the units on the tenth floor of Supalai Park condominium on Nakorn Road at about 10:30pm, confirmed Lt Chatree Vetrangsi of the Phuket City Police. The owner of the unit was…
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Pak Khlok residents raise concerns over new marina plans
PHUKET: Pak Khlok residents are worried that a new marina to be built in the area will have a negative impact on the environment and their livelihoods. The Kung Bay Marina is one of four new marinas slated to be built along the Andaman coast as part of a government-supported initiative to develop marine tourism in the region (story here).…
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Governor concerned about failure to arrest Phuket speed demons
PHUKET: With zero arrests made in Phuket for speeding violations by day three of the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road-safety campaign, the Phuket Governor has demanded that officers step up their attempts to catch speed demons in the act. “Zero arrests for speeding is good, if that means nobody is speeding. However, I am not confident that this is the…
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A Decade Ago: Songkran, road-safety and dive regulations
PHUKET: Despite having significantly fewer people, fewer cars, fewer motorbikes and fewer tour buses on the island ten years ago, the Songkran ‘Days of Danger’ safety goals were much more reasonable. As has become the trend over the last few years, Phuket is joining the nation in a ‘Seven Days of Danger’ campaign this year with the unrealistic provincial goal…
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Opinion: Legalizing Phuket’s illegal laborers
Kriengkrai Arpabuthsayapan is the head of the Phuket Provincial Office of Labor Protection and Welfare, a position he has held since May 2015. From Surin Province, Mr Kriengkrai has worked in the field for more than 15 years, serving in many provinces during his career. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Labor and Welfare Development from Thammasat University. Here…
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Police confiscate more 100 vehicles from drunk drivers in Songkran safety blitz
PHUKET: More than 100 drunk drivers in Phuket have had their vehicles confiscated by police in the first three days of the Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road-safety campaign. Impounding vehicles driven by drunk drivers is part of the National Council for Peace and Order’s ‘No Drink Driving’ campaign during the Songkran holiday. It requires that officers hold vehicles seized…
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Earthquake hits Myanmar, no immediate reports of major damage
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Earthquake hits Myanmar, no immediate reports of major damage Phuket Gazette / Reuters YANGON: An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck northwestern Myanmar on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, sending strong tremors through Myanmar, eastern India, Bangladesh and parts of Nepal. There were…
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Island View: Plea to Phuket bikers
PHUKET: I don’t tend to be a conspiracy theorist. However, it is evident that motorbike drivers in Phuket have some sort of LINE or Facebook group in which they plot how to subtly commit suicide and irritate those of us with cars. The only other explanation is the hundredth monkey effect, which is described on Wikipedia as “a purported phenomenon…
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Finance: What is a contrarian investor to do these days?
PHUKET: If you read my columns regularly, you know that I like to try to approach investing from a contrarian viewpoint. This basically means going against the crowd and the current trend, or essentially buying things when they are beaten and battered down and selling when everyone else loves them and thinks the run will last forever. So what does…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Songkranophobia
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: Skewing statistics – the positive and negative
PHUKET: The recent revelation that Phuket has the highest reported incidence of human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/Aids) cases in Thailand should be a cause for concern and increased personal awareness, but not panic. As pointed out by the local Provincial Health Office, Thailand’s province-based statistical reporting of national trends in the global HIV/Aids pandemic has been…
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Two French women injured in Phuket taxi crash
PHUKET: Six people, including two French tourists, were injured after a car slammed into a Phuket taxi yesterday evening. “Witnesses explained that the northbound Honda City flipped over as it hit the median, slamming into the green plated Toyota Altis in front of the PTT petrol station in Baan Muangmai on Thepkrasattri Road,” said Capt Santichai Srimai of the Thalang…
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48 vehicles seized by day two of Phuket road-safety campaign
PHUKET: A total of 48 vehicles were seized during the first two days of the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ safety-road campaign in Phuket, as officers fight to keep the death toll on some of the most dangerous roads in the world at zero. In the first two days of the national campaign, there were 15 accidents and 18 injuries in…
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Untreated wastewater flowing into Patong Bay, allege Phuket beach operators
PHUKET: Patong operators are concerned that untreated wastewater is seeping into the bay after a one- kilometer swath of beachfront water turned brown yesterday. “At this stage, we need to take water samples and conduct some basic tests. However, it is very likely to be the same phenomena as last month – a plankton bloom (story here),” said Suphasit Boonpeinphol…
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Officers hunt for dead whale in Similan National Park
PHUKET: National park officers are searching for a large whale carcass spotted off Koh Bon in the Similan National Park on Saturday. “We have received pictures of the whale, which was reportedly already sunburned and foul-smelling. However, we’ve yet to locate the animal,” said Nut Kongkasorn, chief of Mu Ko Similan National Park. National park officers are hoping to recover…
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TAT sees only small growth in Songkran visitors
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) estimates that only 2.1 per cent more foreign tourists are coming to Thailand to celebrate Songkran this week compared to last year. “It seems that overall tourism during Songkran this year will likely not be as bustling. This could be due to the economic decline, which is a major cause for many people…
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Surge in registrations of new companies
PHUKET: New company registrations in the country set a two-year high last month, which the Commerce Ministry attributed to the government’s investment promotion measures and strong tourism growth. New business registrations reached 6,176 in March – up eight per cent year on year and 10 per cent from February. Pongpun Gearaviriyapun, director-general of the Business Development Department, said yesterday that…
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Britain finds a buyer for one Tata steel plant, saving a third of jobs at risk
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Britain finds a buyer for one Tata steel plant, saving a third of jobs at risk Phuket Gazette / Reuters LONDON: Tata Steel (TISC.NS) agreed to sell one of its main British steelworks to investment firm Greybull Capital for 1 pound on Monday, saving a third…
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Phuket governor tells motorists to ‘play it safe for Songkran’
PHUKET: ‘Play it safe for Songkran’ was the message put out by Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada ahead of the new year festivities, when he made an inspection visit to the main bus terminal on Thepkrasattri Road in Rassada yesterday. “Please don’t drink and drive. Play it safe for Songkran,” urged the governor, who was at the bus terminal to oversee…
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New diversions in place at Samkong intersection
PHUKET: Motorists heading for Kathu and Patong from the bypass road can now turn right at the Samkong intersection, following the preliminary opening of the new underpass on Sunday (story here). However, motorists heading north from Central Festival and wishing to make the turn to Kathu cannot turn left at the intersection, as access is blocked while construction on the…
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Phuket Immigration offices closed for Songkran break
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration offices, as well as other government offices on the island, are closing for the Songkran break from Wednesday April 13 to Sunday April 17. The Phuket Immigration office in Saphan Hin opens again on April 18, confirmed Phuket Immigration Chief Sunchai Chokkajaykij. The Patong Immigration Office on the beach road (Taweewong Road) is also closing for the…
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Propeller kills Phuket fisherman taking a leak
PHUKET: A Myanmar fisherman urinating off the back of a boat was killed after getting caught in the propeller on Saturday. The 30-year-old fisherman, named by police only as Mr Nai, reportedly fell off the edge of the fishing boat, Eakmomgkolchai 111, and into the spinning blades below. “Nitikorn Sangklapo, 43, the captain of the boat, reported that the incident…
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Phuket police prevent violent clash in sea gypsy property dispute
PHUKET: Police and military officers rushed to Rawai this morning to prevent a violent clash between private investors and local sea gypsies in a beachfront property dispute. “Men hired by Baron World Trade Co had gone to the disputed plot to start developing the property, but locals were trying to stop them – filling up holes that were being dug,”…
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Traffic finally flows through Samkong Underpass
PHUKET: The northbound lane of the long-awaited Samkong Underpass was finally opened for traffic yesterday, after being marred with a deluge of problems. “The lane opened up at about 4pm,” said Chalermpol Wongkiattikun, the project engineer from the Department of Highways. “So far, traffic has been moving through it very smoothly.” Construction on the project is now expected to end…
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Brussels bombers had planned new attack in France
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Brussels bombers had planned new attack in France Phuket Gazette / Reuters BRUSSELS: The militant cell behind bombings in Brussels had been plotting to hit France again after carrying out the Paris attacks in November, but was forced to strike closer to home as police closed…
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Philippine troops clash with Muslim rebels; 23 killed, 73 hurt
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Philippine troops clash with Muslim rebels; 23 killed, 73 hurt Phuket Gazette / Reuters MANILA: Philippine soldiers battled a group of about 120 Muslim rebels linked to Islamic State in a ten-hour assault on a southern island that killed 23 people, an army spokesman said on…
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Cold business for Songkran
PHUKET: Songkran can be a lucrative time of year for the island’s ice makers as sales rise with the summer heat. Many revellers load barrels onto pick-up trucks, filling them up with water and a big block of ice. In fact, Songkran ice sales are a good barometer for measuring the state of the tourism industry on the island, according…
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A Decade Ago: Parliamentary elections and cable thieves
PHUKET: In A rare move, the Phuket Gazette dove into politics in the April 8-14, 2006 edition as the Democrat Party announced a boycott of the parliamentary election polls, despite Thaksin Shinawatra announcing that he would step down from the Premiership. “What the PM did last night was for his own benefit; ordinary people who do not understand politics in…
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Tough new laws to help clear Phuket beaches of animal touts
PHUKET: The stakes will be raised for those engaged in the illegal, exotic-animal trade once the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment signs a new law draft, which is expected to take place after the Songkran break. “For more than 20 years we have witnessed the illegal killing and exploitation of endangered and protected wild animals for tourism. Every day,…
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