News
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England cricket captain Broad fined for outburst
PHUKET: England captain Stuart Broad has been fined 15 percent of his match fee for criticizing the officials after his side’s rain-affected World Twenty20 defeat to New Zealand, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Sunday. Broad, who admitted a Level 1 charge of publicly criticizing the match officials, said following Saturday’s nine-run defeat that the decision to keep the…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Egypt sentences 529 Muslim Brotherhood members to death
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt sentences 529 Muslim Brotherhood members to death Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death on charges including murder on Monday, a defence lawyer said, in a sharp escalation of a crackdown on the movement.…
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Northern Phuket at full flush as water supply restored
PHUKET: Water supply throughout huge residential areas of northern Phuket returned today after waterworks crews completed repairs to a main that burst in Baan Bang Jo, Cherng Talay, on Saturday (story here). “The burst main left residents in Cherng Talay, Koh Keaw, Rassada, Koh Sireh, Srisoonthorn and Baan Porn, Srisuchart and the Rock Garden housing development without mains supply over…
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Phuket officers investigate fire in driverless car
PHUKET: A car erupted in flames outside an abandoned Phuket house early yesterday morning with its owner nowhere in sight. Nutchanat Thongpan, a neighbor living near the abandoned house, notified police of the blaze at about 1:30am in Neramit Village 3 in Baan Lipon, Capt Narong Muangdoung of the Thalang Police told the Phuket Gazette. “I returned from work that…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: EC prepares for new election; Red Shirts to rally April 5; Illegal loggers threaten last Siamese rosewood forest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community EC starts preparing new general election The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Election Commission (EC) met Monday to prepare for a new general election after the Constitutional Court ruled Friday to annul the February 2 snap poll. The EC hoped to reach a conclusion on…
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Phuket dive companies move to end alleged police corruption
PHUKET: A new consortium of dive operators staged a meeting on Saturday calling for Phuket dive companies to sign up as members in order to present a unified front in combating alleged corruption by the Chalong Police. The meeting, held by the recently formed Association of Thailand for Underwater Sports (ATUS), drew an estimated 50 representatives from dive companies across…
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Phuket Governor calls for better voter turnout after dismal advance polling
PHUKET: The dismal turnout at the Phuket polls yesterday for the advance voting in the national Senate election prompted the Phuket Governor to call on the public to turn out in force at the main polls next weekend. Although about 90 per cent of voters registered in Phuket who said they would advance vote did so, only about 2.19 per…
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No news is good news
PHUKET: It’s an all too common rant, and I’m certainly guilty of it from time to time, that the media just force feeds us negative content. Most of the time, what we read in the news is bad news. Maybe the rant is true, as it is editors who make the choices that determine content. However, those choices reflect what…
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Busted pipe leaves Phuket areas dry
PHUKET: Water supply has been interrupted in parts of Phuket today after a pipe transferring water from Baan Bang Jo exploded. The areas affected are Cherng Talay, Koh Keaw, Rassada, Koh Sireh, Srisoonthorn and Baan Porn, manager of the Phuket Water Authority (PWA) Pisak Chonlayut told the Phuket Gazette today. “High-water pressure caused the issue at about midnight. We are…
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Phone of Russian missing in Phuket used days after girlfriend found
PHUKET: The telephone of missing Russian Alexey Slabinskiy was used on Thursday, four days after his girlfriend was found injured in a Phuket hotel room. Police were able to trace Mr Slabinskiy’s telephone to Chalong, and raced to find him, but came up empty-handed, said Region 8 Police Deputy Commander Wissanu Muangpraesri,. Gen Wissanu was in Phuket yesterday to follow…
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Karon voted 18th best beach in Asia, despite wastewater problems
PHUKET: Despite all the recent reports of waste water, including human waste, flowing across it, Karon Beach was recently named as one of the 25 best beaches in Asia by TripAdvisor. Three other Phuket beaches were among the top 25 in the 2014 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards: Nai Harn, Kata Noi and Freedom. Nai Harn was in fifth place, Kata…
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Outdated laws need overhaul
PHUKET: The recent minor fining of five men who confessed to the illegal felling of protected forest reserves on the island highlights the need for an overhaul of the antiquated Forest Act BE 2484 (1941), the terms of which are sadly out of date in this day and age of substantial monoculture, dwindling biodiversity and ever-increasing human overpopulation. Loud but…
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No tsunami alert issued in Phuket after 6.5 magnitude earthquake off Nicobar Islands
PHUKET: Phuket Officials have confirmed that the 6.5 magnitude earthquake north of Aceh, Sumatra will not result in a tsunami or effect Thailand. Safety concerns were raised earlier today on the popular Facebook page Phuket New Era Expats after Reuters reported the US Geological Survey data of the initial quake, which was at a depth of about 10 kilometers about…
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Migrant laborer dies after tumble from Phuket pick-up truck
PHUKET: A Myanmar national fell off the back of a pick-up truck and died on the road in Mai Khao in front of his wife and son yesterday afternoon. Saw Aung, 42, and four other Myanmar nationals, including his wife and son, were being taken to Takua Pa, Phang Nga to buy supplies when a tyre burst at the front…
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Phuket student slays ex-girlfriend’s new love in knife attack
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for a 22-year-old Phuket student wanted for the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend’s new partner in a frenzied knife attack in Rassada early Thursday morning. Officers were called to an apartment block in Soi Yongkeng Muna-Utit, off Thepkrasattri Road, near Phuket Rajabhat University, at 6:30am. “There was a trail of blood leading from the…
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Phuket man attacked after alleged rape of 14-year-old stepdaughter
PHUKET: A woman attacked her husband with a knife on Thursday after being told that he had repeatedly raped her daughter, who was his stepdaughter. The mother heard that her 14-year-old daughter was raped after the girl became pregnant and sought advice from relatives, said Maj KitthiphumThinthalang of the Thalang Police. “The mother slashed his head outside of a 7-Eleven…
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Russian woman rescued at popular Phuket beach
PHUKET: Hours after finishing a first aid course as part of a “Safer Phuket” (story here) initiative, lifeguards rescued a Russian woman from the shallow surf of Phuket’s popular Nai Harn Beach. “The woman was standing in waist-high water when a large wave crashed into her. She seemed to be in distress, so we immediately ran out to rescue her,”…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: February election declared void; Farmers siege Lottery Office; Grenades tossed at judge’s home
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai court declares February 2 election void Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Friday nullified a February 2 general election in a ruling that will further delay the formation of a new government after months of street protests aimed at bringing down Prime…
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Phuket mangrove squatters make plea for water, electricity
PHUKET: About 200 villagers who live in homes illegally established in a mangrove forest yesterday asked the Chalong mayor to supply them with electricity and water. “We have been living there since 1992,” said Somporn Nookhong, the head of the Klong Mudong Community. We started with 10 families and now there are over 200.” “Most of us earn very little…
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DSI and FDA officers seize B10mn of illegal drugs with fake FDA labels
PHUKET: Illegal hormone drugs worth about 10 million baht targeted at the Chinese tourist market were seized by Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officers yesterday. DSI officers declined to give details of the alleged effects of the traditional Chinese medicines, stating only that they were for “improved sexual performance”. However, at least one drug,…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Popcorn gunman confesses; Senate Speaker indicted; Toxic inferno clues go up in smoke
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PDRC guard Popcorn Gunman confesses The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The so-called “popcorn gunman” yesterday confessed that he worked as a People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) guard and was one of the gunmen involved in the Lak Si shooting incident a day before the February…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Australia resumes ocean search for Flight MH370 black boxes
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia resumes ocean search for Flight MH370 black boxes Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: If two blurred objects photographed from space are confirmed as debris from Flight MH370, scientists will still face a daunting task to find and recover the sensitive recorders containing clues to the…
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Ousted Pian back in the Phuket race for Patong mayor
PHUKET: Former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, recently found guilty of vote fraud, is back on the battlefield for the chance to reclaim his position as leader of Phuket’s premier party town. Registration opened yesterday for Patong Mayor potentials and municipality council members amid a crowd of supporters. So far, Mr Pian has only one opponent, former Phuket MP Chalermluck Kebsab.…
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Wastewater the source of rancid water on Phuket beach
PHUKET: The stinky, black water that blighted Karon Beach last month is the product of a faulty wastewater treatment system, Karon Village Chief (Kamnan) Winai Chidchiew revealed yesterday. Canals blocked by huge berms of soil and broken water pumps are the chief culprits, as they prevent water from being pumped from canals to treatment plants and cause more wastewater than…
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Phuket Cycling: The power of Yao Yai island
PHUKET: New Age guru Eckhart Tolle sold millions of copies of his book The Power of Now which expounded the blindingly obvious premise that we would all be much happier if we lived our lives in the here and now. Tolle tells us over 256 repetitive pages, that rather than worrying about what might happen tomorrow, or regretting our misdeeds…
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Protected Phuket hillside slashed and burned
PHUKET: Four rai of forest on a hillside in Kamala was obliterated on Tuesday night to make room for a rubber plantation. “The area has been ruined – all the trees were cut down and burned,” said Phuket Natural Resources and Environment Office Chief Kasem Sukwaree this morning. “Terracing had already been put up in preparation for establishing a rubber…
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Phuket Police set to launch nationwide manhunt for Patong headhunter killers
PHUKET: Patong Police are preparing to send an alert to every police station in the country in the hopes of apprehending three prime suspects for the murder of Myanmar worker Wai Phyo Kyaw, 22, whose decapitated body was found dumped on Patong Hill on March 9 (story here). “We have learned the names of three of the five men we…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Family anger erupts as Malaysia jet search appears deadlocked
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Family anger erupts as Malaysia jet search appears deadlocked Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Chinese relatives’ anger over sparse information on the fate of their loved ones on board a missing Malaysian airliner sparked chaotic scenes on Wednesday at the headquarters of an increasingly deadlocked search…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bangkok bunkers stay; Yingluck faces NACC probe; Ya bah-heroin drug raises fears; Toxic fire nearly out
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Military to maintain bunkers despite lifting of emergency The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The military will maintain its force and 176 street bunkers across Bangkok, even though the government has lifted the emergency decree.A military source said the reason the government scrapped the state of…
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Video Report: Canal works to boost Phuket marina access
Gulu Lalvani dubbed provincial governor Maitri Inthusut an “action man” while describing his delight that – after ten years of delays – work has finally begun on dredging the channel that leads to Royal Phuket Marina and the Boat Lagoon. Video: PGTV PHUKET: The 12-million-baht project to dredge the Koh Kaew Canal and deepen the existing approach channel from Phang…
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