News
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Phuket fishermen save severely injured sea turtle
PHUKET: Local fisherman saved an olive ridley sea turtle that washed onto a Phuket beach missing a flipper today. The fishermen notified Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers, who collected the turtle from Sai Kaew Beach and transported it to the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) at Cape Panwa. “The turtle’s shell was damaged and its front flipper had been cut off.…
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Typhoon churns towards Japan, prompting calls to evacuate
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Typhoon churns towards Japan, prompting calls to evacuate Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Hundreds of flights were cancelled in Japan and more than 500,000 people urged to evacuate as a powerful typhoon brought torrential rain and high winds to southwestern islands and was forecast to reach…
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Myanmar thugs threaten farmers at gunpoint in Phuket land grab
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut led about 50 Army and Navy armed personnel yesterday to investigate claims by villagers in Wichit that a gang of thugs from Myanmar hired by an “influential person” had threatened them at gunpoint to vacate their land. The sortie into the Nakkered Hills National Forest, near the Bang Wad Reservoir, took place after 20 families…
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Nicaragua approves route for $40bn canal linking oceans
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nicaragua approves route for $40bn canal linking oceans Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Nicaraguan committee approved a proposed route on Monday for a $40 billion (129.6bn baht) shipping channel across the Central American country that would compete with the Panama Canal. The committee of government…
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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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Brazil without captain as nation awaits Germany clash
PHUKET WORLD SPORT – World sport selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Brazil without captain as nation awaits Germany clash Reuters/Phuket Gazette Brazil will be without captain Thiago Silva for their World Cup semi-final against Germany after FIFA on Monday rejected an appeal against his yellow card, denting home hopes of lifting the trophy for the sixth time.…
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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 Airport shops given three days to clean up, or get out
PHUKET: Owners of the stores operating inside Phuket International Airport have until Thursday to present official proof from the Airports of Thailand (AoT) that they have permission to operate, or see their shops shut down, a Navy captain has warned. “Any airport shops open past the deadline without the appropriate papers posted at the store, or found selling products not…
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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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Breaking News: Army launches offensive against Phuket Airport taxi drivers
PHUKET: Soldiers, Navy personnel and a battery of local officials arrived in force at Phuket International Airport this morning to launch a campaign to arrest all taxi drivers illegally picking up passengers at the facility. Security personnel barred any taxis from exiting the airport car park without first obtaining permission to leave. “We have a list of all the drivers…
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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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Dazzling Djokovic savours victory over Federer
AFTER almost four hours of mental torture, Novak Djokovic sank to his knees, crouched over the hallowed Wimbledon turf, plucked a blade of grass and put it in his mouth – never before had victory tasted so good. It was a victory that he should have been celebrating almost an hour earlier, it was a victory that almost slipped through…
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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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DNA tests confirm Phuket sea gypsy village “of 100 years’
PHUKET: DNA tests on skeletal remains unearthed at the sea gypsy village in Rawai have confirmed that seafaring nomads have used Phuket’s southern beach to call home for more than 100 years. “The bones were buried deep in the ground at least 60 years ago,” said Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Director Chatchawal Suksomjit. The DNA from the bones matched…
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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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Seven arrested for stabbing theft attacks on Phuket tourists
PHUKET: Seven suspects have been arrested and charged with theft and attempted murder for the stabbing of two tourists, one in Kata and one in Karon, early Thursday morning. Police arrested Ekkawat Ninpoo, 20, at his house on Koh Sireh yesterday. He confessed to the stabbings and accepted charges of theft and attempted murder. Police withheld the names of the…
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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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