News
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Phuket officials vote to halt dredging of marina canal
PHUKET: The dredging of the Koh Kaew Canal, which provides access to two key marinas on the east coast of Phuket, has stopped due to environmental concerns. Sasorn Sassadeekul of the Marine Office Region 5 headquarters in Phuket agreed to halt the dredging of the canal at the request of Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak at a meeting at Provincial…
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Running after dark – Thanyapura Neon Night Run
PHUKET: Grab your glow sticks and get ready for the inaugural Neon Night Run, a glow-in-the-dark family fun run at Thanyapura Phuket. Entrance to the five-hour neon-themed races and festivities costs 300 baht and will kick off at 5pm on May 31. The fun run is stacked with events with four fun-run categories for kids, ranging from 500 meters up…
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Thai visa-van ban at Malaysian border not part of recent crackdown
PHUKET: The blockade preventing Thai visa-run vans from entering Malaysia on their way to Penang is not linked to the recent crackdown on visa runs in Thailand, confirmed a KBV Phuket Visa Run staffer. “Thai visa-run drivers and vehicles have not been allowed to cross the Malaysian border for more than a week now due to a small protest of…
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Wanted: Phuket home for Chinese Consulate
PHUKET: Unable to find a suitable property for the new Chinese Consulate in Phuket, officials from the Chinese embassy sought advice from Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa on Thursday. “We will certainly have a consulate in Phuket, and it will be open as soon as possible,” said Vice-Consul Wang Huijian, who will head the new consular office. “We have four…
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Serial sunscreen shoplifter snagged in sunny Phuket
PHUKET: A sunscreen shoplifter was arrested with over 20 bottles of the lotion by Phuket Police yesterday afternoon. Daoruang Budda, 31, was identified by police from CCTV footage at a Family Mart convenience store in Patong. “After we got the description out, one of our officers spotted her riding a motorbike in Patong. We followed and approached her at the…
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Rescued snorkeller stabilized, returns to Canada by air ambulance
PHUKET: After a tragic snorkelling accident that left him in the ICU for nearly a month, Canadian national Mike Reynolds and his medical team departed from Phuket Thursday afternoon and landed safely in Canada last night. Mr Reynolds, 73, suffered a drowning-induced heart attack while snorkelling off the coast of Phi Phi Island on April 22. After about 30 minutes…
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Mayor to tackle Patong corruption
Chalermluck Kebsup, 50, was voted in as Patong Mayor in the polls on April 26 (story here). She has a master’s degree in political science from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University and was Phuket Member of Parliament for 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. She is also a Patong native and a prominent businesswoman. Ms Chalermluck has also received the state…
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Save the living dead: put down the smartphones
PHUKET: Having recently become addicted to the American TV show The Walking Dead, where the survivors of a zombie-virus plague battle for survival in the post-apocalyptic landscape of America, I couldn’t help but think about a more insidious zombie plague that is slowly taking over the world. The zombies are all around us, everywhere… they could be your best friend,…
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Tourist visa runs are not dead: Immigration boss
PHUKET: Tourists who can prove that they are genuinely staying only short-term while travelling in Thailand will be allowed to leave on “visa-runs” and re-enter the country, Immigration Commissioner Pharnu Kerdlarpphon confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. “Genuine tourists are fine. All they have to do is prove to the immigration officer at the border checkpoint that they really are tourists…
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Phuket woman gunned down in Chalong
PHUKET: A woman was gunned down at the Saraphan Pleng Pub in Chalong early this morning. Nuchsika Klasuek, 35, was shot in the head after leaving the popular live-music pub at about 4am by an unidentified suspect inside a pick-up truck. “Eyewitnesses said the pick-up truck was heading toward Chalong Circle on Patak Road when one shot was fired directly…
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Interpol, Russia notified of Phuket murder-kidnap suspects
PHUKET: Police have notified Interpol and the Russian authorities to be on the lookout for the two men wanted for the murder and kidnapping of Russian national Alexey Slabinskiy in Phuket in March. Prime suspects Oleksandr Boychuk, 44, and Aleksandr Novichkov, 58, both Russian nationals, are now believed to have fled Thailand by boat. “We have not been able to…
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Phuket TOT internet outages are over, but hiccups to continue
PHUKET: Staff at TOT Phuket have confirmed that a broken fiber-optic cable in Nakhon Sri Thammarat has been repaired, restoring internet access for thousands of TOT customers throughout Southern Thailand. The cable went down at 10am on Wednesday, Wiraporn Kumied, a technician at TOT Phuket, told the Phuket Gazette.“We were inundated with calls from customers in Phuket who could not…
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Brazilians protest World Cup spending, call for better services
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Brazilians protest World Cup spending, call for better services Reuters/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Road blocks and marches hit Brazilian cities on Thursday as disparate groups criticized spending on the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament and sought to revive a call for better public services that swept…
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Phuket protesters safe after fatal attack in Bangkok
PHUKET: No Phuket protesters were injured in the grenade and assault rifle attack at Democracy Monument in Bangkok early this morning. The attack injured 22 protesters and killed two (story here). “It took place about 100 meters from our protesters’ tents at about 2:30am,” said Amnuay Kumban, a People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protest coordinator in Phuket. “Someone fired an…
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Phuket Tourist Police in fender bender on slippery road
PHUKET: A Tourist Police officer injured his back and damaged a tuk-tuk and two other cars when he lost control of his patrol car on a wet Thepkrasattri Road on Tuesday night. Local residents notified authorities of the accident near Baan Sapam Mongol Wittaya School at about 9pm. “When we arrived at the scene we saw a damaged white Toyota…
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Turkey in mourning after 274 die in mine disaster
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Furious Turks heckle Erdogan after at least 274 die in mine disaster Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Furious Turks heckled Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and jostled his entourage on Wednesday as protests erupted in several cities over a coal mine disaster in which at least 274…
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Bomb attacks force suspension of Deep South train services
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bomb attacks force suspension of train services The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Fourteen local trains were forced to suspend services for three days after insurgents bombed the southern railway track in Narathiwat’s Joh I Rong and Rangae districts yesterday. Nobody was harmed in the bombings.…
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South Korea indicts four ferry crew members for homicide
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South Korea indicts four ferry crew members for homicide Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The captain and three senior crew members of a South Korean ferry that capsized in April killing more than 280 passengers, many of them school children, were indicted for homicide on Thursday,…
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Acting PM flees election meeting after venue stormed by protesters
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Acting PM flees eleciton meeting after venue stormed by protesters The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary general of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, led protesters to besiege the venue where the Election Commission and the government were due to meet, prompting it to…
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More than 20 dead as anti-China riots spread in Vietnam
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community More than 20 dead as anti-China riots spread in Vietnam Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: More than 20 people were killed and rioters attacked Vietnam’s biggest steel plant overnight as violent anti-China protests spread to the centre of the country a day after arson and looting…
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Fingerprint scans to debut at Immigration to catch known criminals
PHUKET: Thai Immigration aims to begin scanning fingerprints of all foreigners arriving in the Kingdom by the end of the year under a project costing 342 million baht. “The budget has yet to be approved, but we hope to introduce fingerprint-scanning machines by the end of 2014,” Immigration Commissioner Pharnu Kerdlarpphon confirmed to the Phuket Gazette yesterday. The scanners, to…
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Police seize drugs, rifle in Phuket encroachment raid
PHUKET: Officers acting on a tip-off raided four shacks built in a protected Karon forest near Freedom Beach, south of Patong, yesterday and discovered a rifle, marijuana and wood-cutting equipment, but no people. “It looks like the people staying there knew we were coming and ran away,” said Karon Village Chief (Kamnan) Winai Chidchiew. “We found eggs that had just…
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Bangkok protesters killed, 22 injured in grenade, gun attack
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two killed, 22 others injured in grenade, gun attack at Democracy Monument The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two people were fatally shot and 22 others were injured when assailants on a pick-up truck fired an M79 grenade at anti-government protesters and fired at guards of…
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Fire ravages Phuket workers’ camp
PHUKET: Flames ripped through a workers’ camp in Chalong this morning, completely destroying half of the houses and leaving the other half badly burned. Firefighters and trucks from three municipalities – Chalong, Rawai and Wichit – were called to the scene at about 10am, a firefighter told the Phuket Gazette. “It took us about 30 minutes to subdue the flames.…
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Relief on its way for Saiyuan blackout
PHUKET: A utility pole that was damaged several days ago after being hit by a car gave up the ghost today, causing a blackout in Phuket areas south of Mangosteen Resort & Spa in Rawai. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority Operations Chief Yongyuth Podbutr told the Phuket Gazette today. “The blackout…
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Adam Kable inspires Thai, Southeast Asian swim coaches
PHUKET: Adam Kable, High Performance Squad Coach from the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center (SOPAC) Swim Club, was the keynote speaker at the recent 2014 Swimming Sport Science South East Asia Conference in Bangkok from April 26-27, an event attended by more than 100 swim coaches from across Thailand and Southeast Asia. The conference was held to highlight the Australian…
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Tesco Lotus steps up its ‘no plastic bag’ campaign in Phuket
PHUKET: After successfully removing plastic bags from one of its stores, Tesco Lotus plans to stop using them in two others, thereby reducing plastic bag use in Phuket by 10,000 bags per week. On May 16, Tesco Lotus branches in Rawai and Surin will stop using plastic bags, said Charkrit Direkwattanachai, Head of Public Affairs for the chain in Thailand.…
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Philippines says China appears to be building airstrip on disputed reef
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Philippines says China is building airstrip on disputed reef Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Philippine foreign ministry on Wednesday accused China of reclaiming land on a disputed reef in the South China Sea and said it appeared to be building an airstrip. Foreign ministry spokesman…
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Turkish coal mine explosion kills over 150, hundreds trapped
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Turkish coal mine explosion kills over 150, hundreds trapped Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An explosion and fire in a coal mine in western Turkey killed at least 151 miners and trapped hundreds more on Tuesday, with the death toll expected to rise in the country’s…
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Ozone treatment proposed for some of Phuket’s stinking wastewater
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa is pushing to install ozone generators throughout Rassada as a long term solution to wastewater problems in the area. The vice governor yesterday afternoon inspected the new ozone generator used to treat water at Soi Paniang to determine whether the same machine could be used in Rassada. “This machine was developed at Kasetsart University…
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