News
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Sponsored Top 5 luxury villas in Phuket and Koh Samui for your next holiday
Ask people to name the most beautiful places in Thailand, and you'll often hear Phuket and Koh Samui being mentioned. Who would disagree? One is renowned for its bustling nightlife, vibrant culture, and lively beach scene, while the other is...
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Chalong cooks up Phuket favorites at annual food fair
PHUKET: The annual “Chalong Food and Entertainment Festival” kicked off last night opposite Wat Ladthiwanaram (Wat Tai) on Chao Fa East Road. The fair’s opening night boasted a cooking show, dance competition and concerts. “I would like to personally invite everyone to attend the fair,” said Chalong Mayor Samran Jindaphol. After a show from the Elderly Club and a grand…
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French Embassy pushes Phuket Police to find Frenchman’s killer
PHUKET: Officers from the French Embassy are pushing for justice for Frenchman Fabrice Boigel, who was murdered in his sleep on April 18. Embassy officials met with Phuket’s top police officers yesterday to urge them to apprehend the prime suspect. Myanmar national Shwe Oo was arrested last Saturday and confessed to stealing from the murdered Frenchman (story here), but blamed…
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Phuket pawnshop bolstered with B130mn as students head back to school
PHUKET: The state-run Phuket City Municipality pawnshop has been granted a budget of 130 million baht to exchange for goods as poor parents scratch to find the funds to send their children back to school. The budget last year was just 50mn baht, explained Suriya Ngasamun, an assistant at the Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop on Komarapat Road in Phuket Town.…
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Threatened residents rise against temple donation scammers in Phuket
PHUKET: Thalang Police have warned Phuket residents against scammers asking for donations for temple development projects. The statement follows an incident in which Srisoonthorn residents who asked to see donation collection permits were threatened by the collectors. “Collectors often come to the Srisoonthorn market in the mornings to ask for money, claiming donations will go toward a temple development in…
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Phuket marina canal dredging stirs ire
PHUKET: The 12-million-baht project to deepen the Koh Kaew Canal and the existing approach channel from Phang Nga Bay has come under fire by villagers who claim that the method of dredging is endangering mangroves, marine life and residents’ livelihoods. The project, aimed primarily at facilitating large-boat access to two private marinas – Boat Lagoon and Royal Phuket Marina –…
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Air strike on Aleppo school kills 18
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Air strike on Aleppo school kills 18 Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An air strike on a school in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces killed at least 18 people on Wednesday, mainly children, a day after attacks on government-controlled cities killed…
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Research team collecting Phuket corals mistaken as poachers
PHUKET: A group of six researchers studying the possibility of corals containing the key to curing cancer were mistaken as coral poachers by recreational divers at the popular Phuket dive spot Koh Dok Mai on Monday. “The divers were using tools to remove hard and soft corals and fans from the wall on the east side of Koh Dok Mai,”…
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Phuket residents warned about sewage dumping
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut has warned residents and restaurant owners in the Soi Paniang area, north of Phuket Town, that they will be prosecuted if they are caught releasing untreated waste water into the Bang Yai Canal. “If Rassada residents are so concerned about environmental standards, they shouldn’t release untreated waste water into a public waterway,” he told a community…
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We all have the swing in us
PHUKET: Gilles Duboueix, a professional golf coach and mental trainer, claims that we all have the swing in us, we just need to discover it, and he’s here to help. Having spent the past seven years working both with amateurs and professionals, he shares the secrets of his technique with the Gazette, proving that the most important part of a…
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Phuket woman impaled by her mattress
PHUKET: Rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation responded to an unusual plea for help yesterday afternoon: a woman had been impaled by her mattress. The rescue team arrived at an unnamed apartment building opposite the Bangkok Bank branch on Thepkrasattri Road, south of Satree Phuket School in Phuket Town, at about 5:30pm. “When we arrived, we heard a woman howling…
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Brunei adopts sharia law, others in region consider it
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Brunei adopts sharia law, others in region consider it Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The sultanate of Brunei this week becomes the first East Asian country to introduce Islamic criminal law, the latest example of a deepening religious conservatism that has also taken root in parts…
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Air France pilots plan daily strikes in May
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Air France pilots plan daily strikes in May Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pilots of Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM plan to strike for several hours per day in May to protest against what they say are limits on their right to strike. Air France said the…
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Egypt mass death sentences will bring down government, warns Brotherhood
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt’s Brotherhood says mass death sentences will bring down government Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The senior leader of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood said on Tuesday that the mass death sentences against him and other members will cause the government’s downfall. “This ruling is the last…
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Thailand News: Thawil pledges to rethink Deep South policy; Pregnant official slain; Bt2.9mn ATM robbery; Warrants sought for red shirt poet killers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thawil to review Deep South policy The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri says his first mission will be to review policy on the unrest in the Deep South and national security work there. The guideline of having a peace dialogue…
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Phuket ice truck flips, causes massive tailback
PHUKET: An ice truck flipped at the busy Bangkhu Intersection, at the north end of the bypass road, during rush hour this morning, causing massive tailbacks on Phuket’s critical Thepkrasattri Road. The Gazette has not received any reports of injuries in the accident. Traffic remains blocked across both lanes southbound as far back as the Baan Keha public housing estate…
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Driver who mowed down three police officers released on bail
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Driver who mowed down three police officers released on bail The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The driver, who allegedly mowed down three police officers and wounded three others in a car accident in downtown Bangkok on Sunday (story here), was released on bail yesterday after…
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What if Phuket’s roads took you?
PHUKET: Over the last decade the number of well-known, and often very well-liked, expats who have perished on Phuket’s deadly roads seems to have increased at an alarming rate. Indeed, the most recent case has given me cause to revisit a topic nobody likes to speak about, yet the failure to address it could lead to some rather horrible consequences…
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Light-fingered Phuket woman undone by iPhone app
PHUKET: Phuket Police used a location app today to track down within 10 minutes a woman who had stolen a Danish tourist’s iPhone. Michael Dybdahl, 51, from Denmark, reported that his iPhone was missing to the Patong Police at 11:30am. “He said a woman visited his room at Bangla House last night, but he could not find his phone after…
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Local flowboarders head to Singapore
PHUKET: Phuket’s rising stars are set to depart our sunny shores for another installment in the new sport of flowboarding (surfing on an artificial wave) when they head to Singapore for the the final round of the Asian FlowJam series at Sentosa Island, Singapore. Locals may know that Annissa Flynn, who won the Asian Women’s surfing trophy in 2012 when…
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Chinese tourists, skipper injured in speedboat collision off Phuket
PHUKET: Four Chinese tourists and one Thai national were injured yesterday after two speedboats collided at the docks on Koh Khai Nok, off the east coast of Phuket. “The Nontasak was heading toward the pier at about 3pm and crashed into the Star Andaman, which was carrying 32 Chinese tourists, as it was reversing from the pier,” said Lt Col…
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Rohingya health crisis in Myanmar after aid groups forced out
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rohingya health crisis in west Myanmar after aid groups forced out Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: As three-month-old Asoma Khatu approached her final, laboured breaths, her neighbour Elia, a 50-year-old former farmer, dug through the strongbox holding some of the last medicines in this camp for…
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Deaths on EU roads halve in a decade
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Deaths on EU roads halve in a decade – report Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Car deaths on Europe’s roads have halved over the last decade, but campaigners say tougher EU laws could prevent many more people from dying needlessly. Figures from the European Transport Safety…
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Russia says Marshall Islands’ nuclear lawsuits ‘baseless’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russia says Marshall Islands’ nuclear lawsuits ‘baseless’ Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Russia said on Monday that lawsuits in which the Marshall Islands accused nine nations with nuclear weapons capability of failing in their obligation to negotiate disarmament are “baseless” and would not help rid the…
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At least 16 killed by tornadoes in American Midwest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community At least 16 killed by tornadoes in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Rescue workers searched for survivors on Monday in the rubble left by a wave of tornadoes that ripped through the south-central United States a day earlier, killing at least 16…
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Local sailors head to the Top of the Gulf Regatta
Leading Phuket yachtsmen Scott Duncanson and Alfie Rowson are travelling to Pattaya this week to compete in the 2014 running of the prestigious Coronation Cup. The royally affiliated regatta is held annually at Ocean Marina, Jomtien, in celebration of His Majesty the King’s accession to the throne. Now in its 19th year, the event is unique in that competitors race…
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Short-term solutions underway for perilous Phuket curve
PHUKET: Short-term safety measures are now being implemented to slow down motorists approaching the dangerous “100 bodies curve” and should be completed within a week, confirmed officials. The construction follows a blockade of Chao Fa West Road between Wang Talang Jewelry and Rolly Tasker Sails that was staged on Sunday by villagers, angry about the conditions of the road and…
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PACC anti-graft squad begins investigation of Phuket police extortion allegations
PHUKET: More than 10 officers from the Public-sector Anti Corruption Commission (PACC) are on the island investigating allegations that Chalong Police officers extorted money from the Phuket dive community. The team arrived in Phuket yesterday and have yet to set a date for their departure, the team’s lead investigator, who asked not to be named, told the Phuket Gazette. “We…
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Frenchman murdered in his sleep, confesses suspect
PHUKET: French tourist Fabrice Boigeol was bludgeoned to death in his sleep, Myanmar national Shwe Oo confessed yesterday. The body of Mr Boigeol, 37, was found in a pool of blood partially under a mattress in a room at the Moragot Resort, located off Saiyuan Road in Rawai, on April 18 (story here). After days scouring the area for clues,…
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Phuket blockade over “100 bodies curve’
PHUKET: A blockade on Chao Fa West Road, lasting nearly three hours, was lifted yesterday afternoon after Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut agreed to have short-term safety measures installed at the dangerous “100 bodies curve” within five days. A temporary barrier, warning lights and safety signs will be erected at the curve, Governor Maitri told the press. “As a long-term solution,…
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Saudi Arabia MERS cases spiral to 339 infected, 10 dead; Egypt marks first
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Saudi Arabia MERS cases spiral to 339 infected, 10 dead; Egypt marks first Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Saudi Arabia confirmed 26 more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has killed nearly a third of sufferers, and said 10 more people have died from…
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