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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Phuket police not worried about checkpoint warnings on social media
PHUKET: Phuket police are not worried about social media users posting warnings for motorists about standard checkpoints on the island, but will consider pressing charges if a post helps street-racing youths avoid authorities. The news follows a report by The Nation this week that police in Bangkok are considering taking legal action against those who post locations of checkpoints online…
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Inaugural Laguna Phuket Junior Golf Tournament tees off this weekend
PHUKET: The newly upgraded Laguna Phuket Golf Club will host the very first Laguna Phuket Junior Golf Tournament on Sunday. Working in partnership with British International School, Phuket (BISP), the event is aimed at growing the game of golf with tomorrow’s future champions. “Both Laguna Phuket Golf Club and BISP are committed to growing the game of golf in Phuket.…
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Video Report: Le Meridien lifeguard training to boost island safety
PHUKET: Lifeguard training recently took place on Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort’s secluded beach to train guards from 11 different properties in Phuket. The day was split into four sections with practical training at the beginning and end, and theory and first-aid training sandwiched in the middle, explained Surf Life Saving Australia Trainer and Assessor David Field, who has been…
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Thousands of mangroves planted for Queen Sirikit
PHUKET: Despite the rainy weather, thousands of mangrove trees were planted in Phuket this week in celebration of HM Queen Sirikit’s 80th birthday on August 12. The planting extravaganza was organized by the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command to honor Thailand’s beloved Queen Sirikit as well as to encourage people to rehabilitate and protect the environment. More than 350…
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Dengue fever spreads in Krabi, Phuket safe
PHUKET: More than 400 people have been diagnosed with dengue fever in Krabi since January as the mosquito-borne disease spreads in the coastal province east of Phuket. “There has been one fatal case in Krabi so far,” confirmed Phuket Provinical Health Office (PPHO) Chief Kajohnsak Kaewjarus. “However, everything is under control in Phuket.” Krabi is currently ranked among the top…
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Fake quake to strike Phuket next week
PHUKET: An imaginary earthquake will strike Phuket next week so that emergency-response personnel, island officials and locals can take part in a full-scale drill in preparation of the real thing. The exercises and subsequent discussions will take place from June 24 to 26 in Thalang, said Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak yesterday. “There will first be a simulation on June 24…
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Phuket tourism official pushes against foreign tour guide registration plan
PHUKET: The island’s top tourism and sports official will ask for Phuket to be excused from the Tourism Department’s plan to allow foreigners to work as ‘tourism coordinators’, if the move is approved. Tourism Department is planning to ask Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to approve its plan to allow foreigners to work as tour guides under the position of…
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Phuket hit-and-runner surrenders
PHUKET: A Phuket hit-and-runner turned himself in to Chalong Police after leaving an unconscious teen motorbiker in his wake last night. Pick-up truck driver Thepsak Jinotan, 42, left Bussakorn Sengsuvann,16, unconscious with a broken leg and other injuries after they crashed on Chao Fa East Road in Chalong at about 7:30pm yesterday. Ms Bussakorn was rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital…
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More pumps bound for underpass construction site
PHUKET: Flooding caused by routine seasonal rain at the construction site of Phuket’s second underpass this week forced officials to hold an emergency meeting at the Phuket Highways Office (PHO) on Tuesday. “We are planning to install more pumps at the Samkong Intersection site,” confirmed Samak Luedwonghad, director of the PHO. Two of the four pumps used to help clear…
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Officials threaten to close tour company for animal abuse
PHUKET: Officials are threatening to shut down a tour company if it is found allowing tourists to abuse marine animals – again. The news follows tour guide Akung Saewang being caught with a group of tourists who were holding a reef fish trapped in a plastic bag (story here). Mr Akung’s tour guide licence had been suspended pending a meeting…
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Royal Phuket Marina announces 5bn-baht investment plan
PHUKET: Royal Phuket Marina has announced a five billion baht investment plan for the next five years under the lifestyle destinations new campaign #DestinationRPM. “The 5bn baht planned investment over the next five years is part of my vision to make Royal Phuket Marina an iconic waterfront lifestyle destination,” said Gulu Lalvani, Chairman of Royal Phuket Marina. “Under our #DestinationRPM…
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Opinion: Phuket poised for superyacht glory
Andy Treadwell was the founder and CEO of Informa Plc’s Sports & Leisure Group (ISLG) and has been working with a number of the world’s most prestigious yachting and sporting industry events from 2007 until 2012. He is now based in Singapore, busy developing a portfolio of events specializing in the leisure marine sector, focusing on unlocking the huge potential…
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Light-rail public meeting set for Thursday
PHUKET: Island-dwellers can have their say about the light-rail project in a public hearing at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town on Thursday. The news follows a meeting with Sirigate Apirat of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning yesterday about the light rail. It was decided yesterday that there would be an extra stop added in Mai…
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DDPM queues up flash flood, landslide warning
PHUKET: The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office will issue an official flash flood and landslide warning for Phuket residents today in preparation of worsening weather conditions this week. “According to the Thai Meteorological Department [TMD], we can expect increasingly heavy rains tomorrow, which will run through the weekend,” said Santhawat Riwleung, chief of the DDPM Phuket Office. “We…
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Thanyapura sings silver at SEA Games Singapore
PHUKET: Thanyapura’s top swimmers triumphed at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, winning a bounty of silver medals and breaking three Thai National Records. Peerapat Lertsathapornsuk, Patarawadee Kittiya, Kornkanjana Sapianchai and Tanakrit Kittiya competed in ten races at the 28th SEA Games in Singapore earlier this month. Patarawadee and Kornkanjana returned home to Phuket with two silver medals each, after helping…
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Superyacht chartering licence meeting delayed
PHUKET: Phuket will hold another public hearing this Friday to standardize criteria for foreign-flagged superyacht chartering licences before the proposal is submitted to the Ministry of Transport. The meeting is set for 1:30pm and aims to move forward legislation to help ensure Thailand becomes the maritime hub for the region. The meeting will be at the Phuket-based Department of Disaster…
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Turkish couple rescued after spending hours lost in jungle
PHUKET: A Turkish couple was rescued after spending nearly nine hours on their own in the jungle in Khao Phra Thaew National Park on Saturday. Bulent and Pinar Burak, both 34, were on their way to the Wildlife Sanctuary when they got lost in the park. They then called Palm Beach Hotel in Patong, where they were staying, to ask…
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Phuket study to determine sun lounger fate
PHUKET: A twist of fate may be in the cards for Phuket’s abandoned sun loungers, with island officials aiming to decide by the end of July whether or not to allow them all back on the sands. Governor Nisit Jansomwong revealed to the Phuket Gazette last week that a beach management research team at Prince of Songkhla University (PSU) Phuket…
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Officials seize 100 rai of illegally possessed park land
PHUKET: About 100 rai of illegally possessed land in Sirinath National Park were seized by a team of park officials and Navy personnel on Friday. Seizure notices were posted on the five plots in Sakoo and Cherng Talay, which were being used for rubber plantations, after the owners were unable to present ownership documents for the land. “The owners are…
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Krabi waterspout excites tourists, fishermen
PHUKET: A waterspout put on a show for tourists and fishermen off Koh Pu in Krabi yesterday morning. “My friends and I were going fishing at Sri Boya Island when the waterspout emerged about 1 kilometer away from us,” said 50-year-old Samart Maikeaw, who was out on a fishing trip with friends. The spout caused sudden heavy rain, but no…
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Construction worker killed in Patong landslide
PHUKET: A landslide at a construction site in Phuket killed one worker and injured five others this morning. Myanmar national Set Lai, 20, was crushed by the dirt and rebar. The other five workers were rushed to Patong Hospital, four have since been discharged, confirmed Lt Col Weerapong Rakhito of the Patong Police. The fifth worker is still in hospital…
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Bangla bouncer files police brutality complaint
PHUKET: The alleged victim of a vicious attack by police in Patong filed a formal complaint against the officer and others in his party yesterday. The bouncer at Hollywood nightclub on the party town’s famed Soi Bangla, 29-year-old Kamolchai Singhakerd, told police that Patong Deputy Superintendent Sorapong Chukaew and a group of his officers attacked him at about 2am on…
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Navy continues Rohingya “helping on’ mission
PHUKET: The mission of ‘helping on’ Rohingya and Bengali migrants by providing medical services and translators, as well as food and water supplies will continue until further notice, confirmed the Royal Thai Navy. The mission was launched with a tentative two-week deadline last month (story here). “Our vessels, HTMS Saiburi and the HTMS Angthong, and aircraft are continuing to search…
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Stash of ID cards found in Kata
PHUKET: The Navy requested that the Karon Police investigate whether or not a bag of legal Thai National ID cards, dirver’s licences and ATM cards found in Kata yesterday had any links to criminal networks. The bag of cards was discovered by a local resident, who then informed the Navy of the find, confirmed Taksin Puklim of the Royal Thai…
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Opinion: A stone’s throw
PHUKET: It is imperative that you have excellent defense driving skills in Phuket, especially if you are a daily commuter on some of the island’s busiest roads, such as Thepkrasattri. Drivers stop in front of you and park without warning, and people switch lanes without signaling and open car doors without looking. And, as I found out on my way…
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Phuket on alert for MERS virus
PHUKET: Phuket Health officials have ramped up efforts this week in order to identify passengers who are possibly carrying the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (Mers-CoV) to the island from South Korea or the Middle East, where the virus is spreading. “We received an order from the Ministry of Public Health in Bangkok to be on alert for the virus,” Phuket…
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Business Buzz: Defining your perfect customer
PHUKET: One of the first things you should be focusing on in business is deciding what your niche is and who your perfect customers will be. Most people, in theory, will have done this as part of the initial planning and deciding what business to go into, but sometimes businesses change and go through significant metamorphosis over time, so it’s…
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Finance: Cycling the bull market
PHUKET: As the bull market in global stocks continues in the worst economic environment for a bull market within my lifetime, I find it reassuring to turn to those with some of the most impressive track records in the world of investing and trading. Have things changed this time? Is the new era of central bank money printing going to…
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Heavy rain floods underpass construction site
PHUKET: Heavy rain today caused the second flash flood this month at Samkong Intersection, the construction site of Phuket’s second underpass. Though the deep waters caused tailbacks in the afternoon, it has since drained, confirmed Chalermpol Wongkiattikun, project manager from the Department of Highways. “I had to order our staff out into the rain with a digger to start clearing…
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Phuket Governor praises English-language media
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong praised the island’s foreign media yesterday during a public forum to raise awareness of the negative effects corruption has on society (story here). “I am glad that we have the media, especially the English-language media. They have a reporting style that is different from Thai media,” said Governor Nisit at the Royal Phuket City Hotel.…
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