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Breaking News: Phuket land verification center to end national park encroachment
PHUKET: A land legality verification center will be established on Thursday to help investors be assured that the property they are purchasing is not encroaching on national park land or Phuket’s famed beaches. “We will set up a center where prospective investors can establish that the land documents, as well as the land they are looking to acquire, are legal,…
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Migrant worker registration drive continues
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Migrant worker registration drive continues The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Officials from Thailand and Myanmar will meet next week to try to resolve problems in registering migrant workers, Lt-General Thanchaiyan Srisuwan, chief of the Supreme Command’s Directorate of Operations, said yesterday. In a video conference…
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Ministry looks into Cambodia kidney scandal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ministry looks into Cambodia kidney scandal The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Thai Public Health Ministry is looking into a report published in The Cambodia Daily about a Cambodian woman allegedly running an organ-transplant racket in which she reportedly persuades people to sell their kidney…
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Girl, 14, raped, body dumped from train
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Girl, 14, raped, body dumped from train The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The body of a 14-year-old Kochakorn “Kaem” Pitakjumnong, who disappeared from an overnight train from Surat Thani to Bangkok on Sunday, was found among bushes about two metres from the tracks in the…
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Sihasak to brief UN’s Ban Ki-moon on Thailand’s post-coup status
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sihasak waiting to brief UN chief The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A delegation led by Foreign Ministry’s permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow was, as of yesterday, still waiting for a meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to be confirmed. They hope to update UN…
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Israel launches military offensive against Gaza
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel launches military offensive against Gaza Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israel launched an aerial offensive in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, bombing more than 30 targets including homes and calling it part of a campaign named “Operation Protective Edge” targeting Hamas Islamist militants firing rockets…
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Phuket Airport Immigration denies “express lane’ corruption
PHUKET: Royal Thai Navy officers today called into question alleged corrupt practices by immigration officials at Phuket International Airport, such as soliciting cash payments from tourists. “We have heard that many immigration counters are not open when tourists arrive on international flights, so officers are supposedly soliciting money from them to use a ‘VIP’ lane to avoid the long queues,”…
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Coup leaders invite corruption complaints from Phuket
PHUKET: The island’s representatives of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) are inviting residents and tourists to file anonymous complaints of suspected corruption, as well as suggestions for coup leaders on how to improve the country. Any complaints filed as highly confidential will be treated as such, the island’s leading authorities have assured. “You can report any trouble…
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Phuket begins fight against slavery on fishing boats
PHUKET: The nationwide push to eradicate slavery in Thailand’s fishing industry started in Phuket today as the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) began to receive lists of migrant workers employed in the field. Following the order by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), fishing boat operators have until July 21 to report the names of their migrant workers…
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Phuket Provincial Hall smoked out during parlor fire
PHUKET: A fire erupted in a private reception room at Phuket Provincial Hall after an air-conditioning unit short-circuited this afternoon, causing about 30,000 baht in damage. “We were notified by an officer in Provincial Hall at about 4pm that a second-storey parlor had caught fire,” said Lt Col Kritsana Jannit of the Phuket City Police. “Firefighters from Phuket City Municipality…
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Italian tourist in Hong Kong graft trial under Phuket Police protection
PHUKET: The Italian tourist stabbed in a random gang attack in Phuket last week has been placed under 24-hour police protection. Antonio Papaleo, 44, was stabbed twice in the abdomen during a bungled bag snatch at 3am last Thursday. At last report, police had arrested seven of the nine suspects, most of them teenagers (story here). Mr Papaleo arrived in…
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Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek just around the corner
PHUKET: Phuket is ready to host the award-winning Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek from July 16 to 20 off the Island’s southeast coast. The season-opening event of the prestigious 2014/15 Asian Yachting Grand Prix – a series of 12 of the best regattas in Asia – Raceweek is set to welcome one of the most competitive fleets in the Regatta’s…
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No typhoon, but heavy rain and big waves lead to Phuket boat warning
PHUKET: Heavy rain and wave heights that could reach four meters have led Phuket authorities to issue a small boat warning in effect through Thursday. “We are monitoring the waves, which are expected to be about 2-4 meters high,” said Santhad Panbanpeaw, director of the Thai Meteorological Department’s Phuket Office. “Small boat operators must be cautious and check the weather…
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Crackdown on Thai fishing fleet ‘slave labour’ underway
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Crackdown on ‘slave labour’ underway The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Gen Ake Angsananont, the deputy national police chief in charge of suppressing human trafficking, yesterday vowed to crack down on “slave labour” in the fisheries industry and among foreign beggar gangs. The registration of migrant…
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Turkish tourist ignores red flags, drowns
PHUKET: A Turkish man yesterday became the sixth person to drown in Phuket waters this year. Yalcin Dagdelen, 45, a guest at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, had been warned by hotel beach guards not to go swimming, but entered the water anyway, Kata-Karon lifeguard chief Uten Singsom told the Phuket Gazette. “The waves were very strong. Mr Dagdelen was…
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Phuket police welcome stricter traffic law regulations
PHUKET: Phuket police have voiced their support for the recently announced national clampdown on traffic scofflaws. Announced by Bangkok’s Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Adul Narongsak on June 25, the clampdown would mean tougher measures against those who ignored traffic tickets and repeat violators of traffic laws (story here). Electronic tickets would be issued, allowing police and land transport offices to…
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Volume of missing rice climbs to 290k tonnes
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community More rice missing from storage The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Military officials yesterday continued to inspect state rice stockpiles stored in provincial granaries and again found evidence that large quantities were missing or in poor condition. The rice inspection follows the junta’s order two weeks…
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Six Jewish suspects arrested over death of Palestinian teenager
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six Jewish suspects arrested over death of Palestinian teenager Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israel has arrested six Jewish suspects in the abduction and killing of a Palestinian teenager whose death sparked violent protests in Jerusalem and Israeli Arab towns, a security source said on Sunday.…
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Australia says 41 asylum seekers handed back to Sri Lanka at sea
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia says 41 asylum seekers handed back to Sri Lanka at sea Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Australia said on Monday 41 asylum seekers had been handed to Sri Lankan authorities at sea, another step that has galvanised opposition to the government’s hardline policy against illegal…
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Miss Myanmar finalists tour Phuket
PHUKET: Finalists of Miss Universe Myanmar 2014 landed in Phuket yesterday and will spend the next four days exploring the island and engaging in pre-training activities for the international beauty pageant. The 20 women are preparing for the pageant final, which will be held at the National Theater in Yangon on July 26. Today, the women did batik painting in…
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House robbed, car stolen while Phuket resident sleeps
PHUKET: Police are trying to track down a thief who robbed a house in Pa Khlok while the home owner was asleep, then stole his car and dumped it on a quiet street in Phuket Old Town early this morning. A resident on Bangkok Road notified Phuket City Police of an abandoned Toyota Fortuner parked in front of his house…
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Slithering World Cup spectator makes unwelcome appearance in Phuket
PHUKET: A three-meter long python’s attempt to crash a World Cup viewing party in Phuket early this morning was foiled when the owner of the house called rescue workers to relocate the reptile. “I was watching the Brazil-Columbia match at about 4:30am when I heard a sound in front of my house,” said Boonrit Jitkeaw, owner of the house in…
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Counterfeit goods worth B495mn destroyed in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Nearly half a billion baht of counterfeit goods that were seized last year in Phuket and other provinces in Southern Thailand were torched at the incinerator in Phuket Town yesterday. The 86,803 destroyed items, valued at 495 million baht, included bootlegged copies of DVDs, CDs, brand-name watches, bags, clothing, wallets and shoes. “This is the standard, final step in…
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Phuket protest wins Thai guides promise of Chinese national ouster
PHUKET: The return of a mob of about 100 Thai-national Chinese tour guides outside the office of a major tour company in Phuket Town yesterday won them a promise that the company will stop hiring Chinese nationals as guides. Led by fellow tour guide Choochart Rungrattanapaiboon, the protesters massed outside Tranlee Travel Co Ltd, brandishing signs and voicing allegations of…
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Weaker Hurricane Arthur takes aim at Nantucket, Cape Cod
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Weaker Hurricane Arthur takes aim at Nantucket, Cape Cod Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A weakened but fast-moving Hurricane Arthur swept into southern New England on Friday night, wielding tropical storm-force winds, after an earlier landfall in North Carolina that caused only slight damage. The Massachusetts…
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Making Phuket conservation profitable
PHUKET: Most boaters and divers are sensitive about coral reef areas and try to do the right thing. However, now, with many corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects recognizing the importance of our coral reefs worldwide, a possible alliance between conservationists and businesses in Phuket could be forming to find a profit-oriented solution to the problem of boaters anchoring in coral…
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Junta did right thing: Myanmar chief
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Junta did right thing: Myanmar chief The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief General Min Aung Hlaing yesterday praised Thailand’s ruling junta, saying it was right to seize power to protect national security and people’s safety. During a meeting in Bangkok with Supreme Commander General…
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World Cup: Neymar out of Cup as Brazil and Germany make semis
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Neymar out of Cup as Brazil and Germany make semis Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Hosts Brazil suffered a huge blow when they lost leading forward Neymar for the rest of the World Cup through injury on Friday as they set up an epic-looking semi-final against…
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Patong one-way streets not changing direction just yet
PHUKET: The plan to change the direction of one-way traffic in Patong is still on the books, but is on hold until other transportation issues are sorted out. “I intend to follow through with the direction-change initiated by the former mayor, but first I want to organize public parking and taxi stands,” said Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsab. The current traffic…
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Tiger Disco inferno trial to begin April 2015
PHUKET: The long-awaited manslaughter trial over the deaths of four people in Patong’s Tiger Disco inferno, in August 2012, will begin with its first witness testimony in April 2015, confirmed the case public prosecutor. Tiger Group CEO Piya Isaramalai and Sara Entertainment Co Ltd each face one charge of causing death through negligence under Section 291 of the Thai Criminal…
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