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  • Phuket pessimistic about ‘Safety Zone’ plan: poll

    Phuket pessimistic about ‘Safety Zone’ plan: poll

    PHUKET: Pessimism reigns over a plan by the Royal Thai Police to set up a “Safety Zone” in Patong, with more than four-fifths of people taking part in a recent Phuket Gazette online poll thinking the initiative would have “little or no effect”. A total of 1,640 people took part in the two-week poll, which was launched on July 13.…

  • Phuket Gazette: Euro area jobless rate unchanged | Thaiger

    Phuket Gazette: Euro area jobless rate unchanged

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Euro area jobless rate unchanged at 11.2 percent in June Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: The euro area (EA17) unemployment rate remained at 11.2 per cent in June, unchanged when compared to the month of May, the European Union (EU) said yesterday.According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical…

  • Olympics Update: Phuket’s Jongjit out; Chatuphum’s agony; Chatchai fights today

    Olympics Update: Phuket’s Jongjit out; Chatuphum’s agony; Chatchai fights today

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community High-flying Thai shuttlers shot down in QF Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Bodin Isara and Maneepong Jongjit’s dazzling Olympic odyssey came to a disappointing end yesterday when the Thai duo lost to Malaysia’s Kien Keat Koo and Boon Heong Tan in the quarter-finals. The Games…

  • Justice Minister eyes new billion-baht Phuket Prison

    Justice Minister eyes new billion-baht Phuket Prison

    PHUKET: Justice Minister Pracha Promnok today reviewed plans to close the 115-year-old and heavily overcrowded Phuket Provincial Prison in Phuket Town and establish a 3,000-person capacity prison in Thalang. Pol Gen Pracha announced details of the new prison, which is set to be established on 108 rai of government land near the Bang Jo detention center in Srisoonthorn, Thalang. However,…

  • Man found dead in tin mine lagoon

    Man found dead in tin mine lagoon

    PHUKET: Police are attempting to identify the body of a man found floating in an old tin mine lagoon in Chalong yesterday afternoon. Phuket Ruamjai Foundation rescue workers and Lt Col Boonlert Onklang arrived along with officers from the Chalong Police to find a large crowd of people gathered at the scene on Luang Por Chuang Road. The man was…

  • Flood of candidates register for OrBorJor election

    Flood of candidates register for OrBorJor election

    PHUKET: Scores of people arrived at Phuket Community Hall on Tuesday as candidate registration for the August 26 Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) council election opened. A total of 24 council seats are up for grabs, with 15 for Muang district, six for Thalang district and three for Kathu. OrBorJor Chief Administrative Officer Manop Leelasuthanon told the Phuket Gazette that…

  • Foreigners urged to give blood at Phuket Immigration

    Foreigners urged to give blood at Phuket Immigration

    PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) will host a special blood donation drive at Phuket Immigration Headquarters on August 9 to honor the 80th birthday of HM The Queen three days later. PRBC Director Pornthip Rattajak told the Gazette her agency hopes the drive will help the center stock up its supply of rare Rhesus negative (Rh-) blood types…

  • Phuket Sports: Badminton scandal rocks London Olympics

    Phuket Sports: Badminton scandal rocks London Olympics

    PHUKET: The badminton scandal that has rocked the London Olympics not only reflects badly on the players involved, but also on the sport as a whole. Speaking to iSportconnect, before the eight players were disqualified from the women’s doubles, President of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Dr Kang Young-Joong was confident the sport would be successful at the Olympics, and…

  • Breaking News – Thailand: Three shot dead in Pattani; Chalerm to take control

    Breaking News – Thailand: Three shot dead in Pattani; Chalerm to take control

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Three shot dead this morning Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Insurgents launched two shooting attacks in this southern border province this morning, killing three and injuring four people. Police said two insurgents on a motorcycle shot dead Doloh Yusoh, 44, an assistant village headman in Thapong…

  • Two-day booze ban in effect in Phuket from tomorrow

    Two-day booze ban in effect in Phuket from tomorrow

    PHUKET: Retail sales of alcohol will banned in Phuket tomorrow and Friday, when Buddhists will celebrate Asarnha Bucha Day and Khao Pansa Day, the start of Buddhist Lent. Provincial Police Deputy Commander Peerayut Karajedee confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today that alcohol sales will be banned on both days under the Prohibition of Alcoholic Beverage Sales Act of 2009. “Thursday…

  • World News: Heads rolling at Deutsche Bank; 1,900 to be laid off | Thaiger

    World News: Heads rolling at Deutsche Bank; 1,900 to be laid off

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Deutsche Bank to cut 1,900 jobs after profits drop 46 percent Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Deutsche Bank said yesterday that it plans to cut 1,900 jobs, most of them at its investment bank, as part of an effort to save approximately 3 billion euros ($3.69 billion).…

  • More problems for the London Olympics | Thaiger

    More problems for the London Olympics

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Swiss Olympian kicked off team after racist tweet Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: A Swiss football star was kicked off the men’s Olympic team Monday after sending out a tweet deemed to be racist, sports officials said. It comes just days after a Greek triple jumper was…

  • World News: UN says violence in Syria has affected nearly 2 million people

    World News: UN says violence in Syria has affected nearly 2 million people

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UN says violence in Syria has affected close to 2 million civilians Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged an end to the violence in Syria, where as many as two million people are now believed to have been affected…

  • Thailand News: More bomb blasts; Opposition to file motion on South; Yingluck in censure debate

    Thailand News: More bomb blasts; Opposition to file motion on South; Yingluck in censure debate

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two major blasts hit Pattani Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: A car-bomb exploded behind the CS Pattani Hotel late last night and was followed by a blast at a power station which plunged several areas into darkness for several hours.The blast at the hotel damaged a wall…

  • TAT Phuket Director steps up to Bangkok

    TAT Phuket Director steps up to Bangkok

    PHUKET: Bangonrat Shinaprayoon, Director of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), bade her final farewell to Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning before her move to Bangkok.Ms Bangonrat leaves the island on August 1 to take up her new position in Bangkok as Director of Attractions Promotion Division.“My new department is responsible for…

  • Phuket expat Dokset murder trial: all charges denied

    Phuket expat Dokset murder trial: all charges denied

    PHUKET: In a day for denying criminal charges at Phuket Provincial Court, Norwegian national and long-term Phuket expat Stein Havard Dokset yesterday denied all charges against him for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Rungnapa Suktong. Dokset was arrested in a police raid on his luxury villa in Kata on February 28. Officers searching the house found the remains of a…

  • Thailand News: Death sentences for police who murdered youth

    Thailand News: Death sentences for police who murdered youth

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death terms for police guilty of murdering youth Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: The Criminal Court yesterday handed down a guilty verdict to five former Kalasin-based policemen for their involvement in the extrajudicial killing of a 17-year-old boy in 2004. Three of them were sentenced to death,…

  • Intellectual Property: Dildos, porn and sex pills seized in massive haul

    Intellectual Property: Dildos, porn and sex pills seized in massive haul

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Members of Thailand’s largest ring of traders in aphrodisiacs and sex toys were apprehended in Bangkok with goods worth more than 100 million baht, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief said yesterday. DSI Director-General Tharit Pengdit and Pol Lt-Col Chinnachot Daengsurisri, commander of the Intellectual…

  • Michelle Smith “killers’ reject confession

    Michelle Smith “killers’ reject confession

    PHUKET: The two men charged with the death of Australian travel agent Michelle Smith, who died from a stab wound inflicted in a bag-snatch in June, yesterday denied all charges against them. Surasak Suwannachote, 26, and Surin Tadthong, 37, were presented at Phuket Provincial Court to enter pleas to the charges, which collectively accuse the men of murder and gang…

  • Murder suspect arrested in Phuket flown to Bangkok

    Murder suspect arrested in Phuket flown to Bangkok

    PHUKET: A murder suspect arrested in Phuket yesterday was flown to Bangkok* last night, flying out of Phuket at 9pm. Chalong Police Superintendent Sirisak Wasasiri told the Phuket Gazette that 57-year-old Marc De Schutter was arrested at a home on Soi Samakee 2 in Rawai, where he was living with his Thai girlfriend. Phuket Immigration Police and Chalong Police both…

  • Belgian ‘Most Wanted’ arrested in Phuket

    Belgian ‘Most Wanted’ arrested in Phuket

    PHUKET: A top-secret investigation has led to the arrest of one of Belgium’s most-wanted criminals in Phuket. The suspect, named as Marc de Schutter, was reportedly wanted for murder, money laundering and economic crimes in his native Belgium. His arrest by some 30 officers of the Crime Suppression Division and Chalong Police followed a one-month investigation launched at the request…

  • Phuket Gazette: Four sentenced to death in Iran’s biggest bank fraud case

    Phuket Gazette: Four sentenced to death in Iran’s biggest bank fraud case

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Four sentenced to death in Iran’s biggest ever bank fraud case Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: A court in Iran has sentenced four people to be executed for their role in what has been described as the country’s largest ever bank fraud case, judicial officials said yestersday.…

  • Election alcohol bans to cost Patong venues B5mn a night

    Election alcohol bans to cost Patong venues B5mn a night

    PHUKET: The mandatory ban on the sale of alcohol for upcoming elections at the end of this month will cost Patong’s nightlife industry at least 5 million baht a night, the Phuket Gazette has been told. The sale of alcohol will be banned across Phuket on August 26 and again in Patong on September 2 as voters go to the…

  • Olympic: Shooter Sutiya misfires; Thai lifts silver; Phuket’s Maneepong progresses

    Olympic: Shooter Sutiya misfires; Thai lifts silver; Phuket’s Maneepong progresses

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Phuket’s Maneepong progresses to knockout stagesPhuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Despite bitter disappointment for world No 22 Boonsak Ponsana, Thailand’s badminton team have kept the flag flying in the 30th Olympic Games, with the men’s duo of Bodin Isara and Phuket’s Maneepong Jongjit storming their…

  • Krabi drug rehab school owner called to answer police inquiry

    Krabi drug rehab school owner called to answer police inquiry

    PHUKET: Following the reported drowning of a runaway student, the owner of the Por Noh Klong Gom School during a video-conference with Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner-General Adul Saengsingkaew admitted that “improvements” to the school’s management were urgently needed. The video conference, at Krabi Provincial Hall on Saturday, was in reaction to the drowning and subsequent mass-walkout by hundreds of…

  • Restaurant, resort ordered removed from Phuket protected forests

    Restaurant, resort ordered removed from Phuket protected forests

    PHUKET: More than 150 officers from the Royal Forest Department (RFD) led raids on three sites in Phuket on Saturday.In Thalang, officers discovered a resort under construction within the boundaries of the protected Bang Kanoon Forest.“We found buildings that looked like a resort under construction on land inside the forest. However, there was no one at the site to declare…

  • Boonthaworn Phuket showroom to open by October 1

    Boonthaworn Phuket showroom to open by October 1

    PHUKET: After years of delay, Bangkok-based construction materials retailer Boonthavorn is moving forward with its plans to enter the Phuket market with the opening of a “mini-showroom”.The new facility will be located between Songkhla and Yaowarat roads, near the Tesco-Lotus junction in Rassada.Speaking to the Gazette at the project site, Boonthavorn architect Jiravut Kararun said the company is currently renovating…

  • Yamaha Division One: Phuket 0 – 1 PTT Rayong

    Yamaha Division One: Phuket 0 – 1 PTT Rayong

    PHUKET: A single goal was all that PTT Rayong FC needed to prevail over Phuket FC on Saturday night at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town. It was the second time the two sides met this season; exactly two weeks earlier Phuket endured a 6-0 thrashing at Rayong. It was the last straw for former coach Milos Josic of Serbia, who…

  • Bone fragment of Lord Buddha installed at Phuket temple

    Bone fragment of Lord Buddha installed at Phuket temple

    PHUKET: A bone-fragment relic of Lord Buddha was respectfully installed at Chedi Dok Bua Kaew “Crystal Lotus Pagoda” in Nakaram Temple, Wichit, during a ceremony on Friday. The ceremony was led by Phra Thepsitthimunee, Deputy Monk Dean of Region 16 from Dusidaram Warrawiharn Temple in Bangkok, along with 108 Buddhist monks from the greater Phuket area. “The relic of the…

  • Phuket man rescued from dire drunk dozing decision

    Phuket man rescued from dire drunk dozing decision

    PHUKET: A drunken man chose an exceptionally bad place to sleep off the effects of alcohol over the weekend: in the middle of the busiest and most deadly road in Phuket.A good citizen called the Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation at 6:45pm yesterday to report that a man was asleep in the left lane of Thepkrasattri Road outbound in Srisoonthorn, opposite the…