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    Moving with family? Here’s how to cut health costs in Thailand

    Relocating to Thailand with your family brings exciting new opportunities, but it also comes with the challenge of managing healthcare costs in a new system. Thailand has both public and private healthcare options, each offering different prices and quality of...

  • Phuket Gazette Sports: Man Utd out as Ronaldo scores winner

    Phuket Gazette Sports: Man Utd out as Ronaldo scores winner

    Ronaldo returns to knock out United Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner against his old club to give Real Madrid a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals last night. United, 1-0 up in the game after Real defender Sergio Ramos put through his own goal…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Venezeula’s Hugo Chavez loses battle with cancer

    Phuket Gazette World News: Venezeula’s Hugo Chavez loses battle with cancer

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obituary: Hugo Chavez – socialist showman who transformed Venezuela Reuters/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: At two defining moments of his rule, Venezuela’s theatrical leader Hugo Chavez took a small silver crucifix from his pocket and held it above his head. Both marked a quasi-religious “return” for the…

  • Police to make alleged karaoke killers sing | Thaiger

    Police to make alleged karaoke killers sing

    PHUKET: Police have arrested two men for stabbing a man to death early Saturday morning outside a karaoke bar in the port area of Phuket Town. Aphichet Janpradit, 33, and Phusithi Phaosuparp, 43, were both arrested on Sunday at their rented room on Koh Sireh for the murder of 28-year-old Surasit Sukhum, Lt Col Prawit Engchua of the Phuket City…

  • Phuket Gazette World Sports: Preview of Champions league clash – round 2

    Phuket Gazette World Sports: Preview of Champions league clash – round 2

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Sports news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Manchester United’s Jones ruled out of Real match Reuters/ Phuket GazettePHUKET: Manchester United’s Phil Jones will miss the Champions League last 16 second leg at home to Real Madrid after failing to recover from an ankle injury, manager Alex Ferguson said.The versatile defender or midfielder suffered the…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Baby cured of HIV; Girl miraculously survives plane crash; UK Queen leaves hospital

    Phuket Gazette World News: Baby cured of HIV; Girl miraculously survives plane crash; UK Queen leaves hospital

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community US baby’s cure from HIV raises hope, new questions Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The remarkable case of a baby being cured of HIV infection in the United States using readily available drugs has raised new hope for eradicating the infection in infants worldwide, but scientists…

  • Phuket residents protest new B465mn provincial hall

    Phuket residents protest new B465mn provincial hall

    PHUKET: More than 200 Phuket residents protested today against the construction of the new provincial hall. The protesters gathered this morning at Sanam Chai in Phuket Town, opposite the current provincial Hall (map here), to express their concerns that the proposed new hall will negatively affect the lifestyle of people in the area. Former Rassada Mayor Suratin Lianudom and former…

  • Phuket Gazette office to be closed tomorrow

    Phuket Gazette office to be closed tomorrow

    PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, March 5, due to yet another all-day blackout in the area to upgrade power lines. The blackout affects Soi Harn Farang and Soi Koh Kaew 33, and may affect adjoining areas that are supplied electricity from power…

  • Phuket United shock Lightning Shrimp with hat trick

    Phuket United shock Lightning Shrimp with hat trick

    PHUKET: With the Thailand futsal season rapidly winding down, Phuket United maintained their good run of form, winning their third match in a row by defeating Southern rivals, Surat Thani 4-2 in a tense yet thrilling match on Saturday night in Phuket Town.Played at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the game was Phuket’s 26th and Surat Thani’s 25th match…

  • Phuket mob surrounds British expat who hit motorcyclist

    Phuket mob surrounds British expat who hit motorcyclist

    Correction: The original story yesterday named the driver, as repeatedly confirmed and spelled out to our reporters by Thalang Police Sub Lt Niphon Temsang, as “Martin Ian Potter”. His reports of the surname were incorrect. The driver charged over the incident was Martin Ian Foster, who reportedly works in the hotel industry on Koh Maphrao. The Gazette obtained the correction…

  • Phuket Police raid cockfight

    Phuket Police raid cockfight

    PHUKET: Police broke up a cockfighting match near a rubber plantation in central Phuket yesterday, arresting 16 men and confiscating two roosters and 220 baht found at the scene. The number of men attending the matches had grown steadily over the past few weeks, causing local residents to complain to police, who sent an undercover agent to discover the time…

  • Phuket blood bank launches March mobile donation drive

    Phuket blood bank launches March mobile donation drive

    PHUKET: The Phuket Chapter of the Red Cross Society has announced its schedule of mobile donation clinics for the month of March. The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners, is low on stocks of blood type A. “We need to maintain a daily minimum stock of 200 units of A,…

  • Phuket Charity Event Sets Record

    Phuket Charity Event Sets Record

    PHUKET: The Phuket Family & Gourmet Festival, held at Royal Phuket Marina on January 26, raised a whopping one million baht for children’s charities, it was announced this morning by the Bangkok-based food wholesaler Jagota Brothers, the creator and driving force behind the event. The record-breaking sum for a single-event fundraising effort on the island followed a cash donation of…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Kenya elections; Pope vote; Borneo violence; QEII cancels Welsh appearances

    Phuket Gazette World News: Kenya elections; Pope vote; Borneo violence; QEII cancels Welsh appearances

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kenyans to vote in tense head-to-head presidential race Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Kenyans vote today in a presidential election that will test whether the east African nation can restore its reputation as one of Africa’s more stable democracies after a lethal ethnic rampage erupted following the 2007…

  • Breaking News: Democrats win Bangkok election, Yingluck concedes defeat

    Breaking News: Democrats win Bangkok election, Yingluck concedes defeat

    PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has conceded defeat in the election today for Bangkok Governor, handing the election win over to Democrat candidate Sukhamband Parabitra.PM Yingluck publicly announced the defeat at 6:15pm after the ongoing count of votes at the polls showed that Sukhamband had amassed more than a million votes while leading Pheu Thai rival Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen…

  • Under Investigation: Phuket villagers foraging for turtle eggs

    Under Investigation: Phuket villagers foraging for turtle eggs

    PHUKET: The safety of turtle eggs in a protected nesting ground at the northern tip of Phuket is under investigation by the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation. The Phuket Gazette contacted the foundation after a reader reported seeing turtle tracks and people probing for eggs in the area between Maikhao Dream Villa Resort and Spa and Maikhao Beach Bungalows (map…

  • World Sports: Review of Six Nations

    World Sports: Review of Six Nations

    PHUKET: Before the Six Nations began the pundits were, as usual, making their predictions about the destiny of the championship. After their stunning autumn victory over Australia, France was strongly fancied to win “Le Grand Slam”. Wales, despite being current Six Nations champions, had lost seven games on the bounce and seemed to be out of contention. Ireland, so strong…

  • Phuket Sports: TNT blown away in a flash by Gordon

    Phuket Sports: TNT blown away in a flash by Gordon

    PHUKET: In the first match of the second round, the Village took on the TNT at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) last Sunday. The Village, last season’s runners up, were desperate to record their first win of the season, while TNT were looking to progress further up the ladder to challenge the top teams of Patong Cricket Club and Laguna.In…

  • Phuket Sports: Southern Sea Warriors reinforced ahead of season start

    Phuket Sports: Southern Sea Warriors reinforced ahead of season start

    PHUKET: In their first fixture, Phuket FC, taking on the new nickname this year as the “Southern Sea Warriors” are set to play Big Bang Chula United (BBCU), a team relegated last year from the TPL. The match will kick off today at 6pm at the Army Stadium in Bangkok, BBCU’s home pitch. The Southern Sea Warriors’ first home match…

  • DNP outlines conservation issues to be presented to CITES

    DNP outlines conservation issues to be presented to CITES

    PHUKET: In town yesterday for the investigation into encroachment on Phuket’s Sirinath National Park (story here), Manopat Huamuangkaew, the director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP), took time to hand out pro-conservation pamphlets to tourists at Phuket International Airport. The pamphlets also advertise the 16th annual Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna…

  • Phuket Gazette Sports: Boas bounce back; Benitez’s plea; Giggs signs – again | Thaiger

    Phuket Gazette Sports: Boas bounce back; Benitez’s plea; Giggs signs – again

    Spurs driven by last season’s stumble, says Villas-Boas Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: One year after his axing by Chelsea left a dent in his ego, Andre Villas-Boas finds his reputation soaring again as high-flying Tottenham Hotspur prepare to host north London rivals Arsenal in a match of huge significance.Win it and Tottenham would move seven points clear of their arch-rivals…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: China execution parade; Italy unravels; Syrian scuds; Cardinals pick new Pope

    Phuket Gazette World News: China execution parade; Italy unravels; Syrian scuds; Cardinals pick new Pope

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Execution parade’ of four behind Mekong murders angers Chinese Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: An “execution parade” on China’s state television of four foreign men sentenced to death for killing 13 sailors on the Mekong River caused anger in China on Friday, with many people saying it was…

  • Phuket Police hunt continues for Jintana killers

    Phuket Police hunt continues for Jintana killers

    PHUKET: Police are continuing to question individuals over the murder of Jintana Mahattanapak as they await the results of CCTV-footage analysis being conducted in Bangkok (story here). “Experts in Bangkok are still trying to extract information, that will lead to the arrests of the killers, from the CCTV footage we sent them. However, we have yet to be able to…

  • DNP chief bolsters support for Phuket park probe

    DNP chief bolsters support for Phuket park probe

    PHUKET: The recently installed Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) Director-General Manopat Huamuangkaew arrived in Phuket yesterday to hear firsthand the update on the investigation into 14 plots allegedly encroaching on Sirinat National Park on Phuket’s west coast. “So far we have investigated the land documents of 14 plots of land and found that all were issued…

  • School girls scream with high “Scarlet Letter fever’ | Thaiger

    School girls scream with high “Scarlet Letter fever’

    PHUKET: Bizarre events surround a school in Samut Prakan after eight young female students were possessed by a ghost while practicing their cheerleading moves – or so reports claim. About 20 girls from Had Amara Aksornlap School had gone to Pikka Fort Park in the Taiban area of the province to practice their dance moves. Things started to get weird…

  • Thailand Futsal: Andaman Pearl clamp down on Killer Bees

    Thailand Futsal: Andaman Pearl clamp down on Killer Bees

    PHUKET: The Andaman Pearl are floating high following back-to-back wins in the past week. Topping off Sunday’s away win to Samut Songkhram (2-6), Phuket’s latest victory was earned at home on Wednesday night against Nonthaburi FC (5-3). Played at Phuket’s Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the match was both sides’ 25th match of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier…

  • Mother of savaged pit bull victim presses criminal charges

    Mother of savaged pit bull victim presses criminal charges

    PHUKET: Criminal negligence charges were filed this week against the owners of the three pit bull terriers that mauled a man outside his own Phuket home in early February. Tiansak Aikpaiboon, 33, was savaged by three of his neighbor’s five pit bulls right in front of his home in Suan Thai Village, behind Wichit Songkram School near Central Festival, at…

  • Phuket Opinion: Fluctuating prices hard to swallow

    Phuket Opinion: Fluctuating prices hard to swallow

    PHUKET: No one likes being ripped off. Phuket, like many popular tourist destinations, has its fair share of scams, so living here year-round can be frustrating unless you have mastered the language. During my daily lunch break I often drive to a nearby shopping center to order a quick and filling meal at the food court there. I usually order…

  • Phuket Opinion: Playing by all the rules

    Phuket Opinion: Playing by all the rules

    PHUKET: Saphan Hin’s 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex is where Phuket United play their Thai Futsal Premier league home games in front of a vocal crowd of around 1,000 supporters. In addition to being the home of the Andaman Pearl, the stadium was also used for several different sporting events over the past few months, including Thailand’s most significant international basketball…

  • Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Thailand agrees to talk peace with southern insurgent group

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Thailand agrees to talk peace with southern insurgent group

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand agrees to talk peace with southern Muslim rebel group The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thai security officials on Thursday signed a deal to start peace talks with a Muslim rebel group involved in escalating violence in the southern provinces that has killed more than…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: 4 dead in Swiss shooting; Pope farewell; Jihad Jane extradition; Syria aid

    Phuket Gazette World News: 4 dead in Swiss shooting; Pope farewell; Jihad Jane extradition; Syria aid

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death toll from Swiss shooting rises to four Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A fourth person has died in hospital from injuries sustained in a shooting at a Swiss wood processing plant near the city of Lucerne, police said on Thursday. A 42-year-old factory worker opened…