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Detention of Rohingya north of Phuket a human rights issue, Minister says
PHUKET: The Minister of Social Development and Human Security declared the detention and trafficking of Rohingya through Thailand to be the subject of clear human rights issues and a national security threat after her visit to the Phang Nga facilities north of Phuket on Saturday. “After listening to senior officials dealing directly with the refugee influx of Rohingya in Phang…
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Phuket car care lasts 10 minutes
PHUKET: A local resident at Nai Yang Beach, on Phuket’s west coast, yesterday spent 20 minutes waiting for a team of car detailers to perfect the shine on his white Toyota Fortuner – only then to roll the vehicle upside-down into a ditch 10 minutes later. Concerned villagers called the Kusoldharm Foundation at 10:45am, reporting a car had crashed into…
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HRH Princess Sirindhorn visits Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn arrived in Phuket yesterday, a day before she is scheduled to officially open a variety of new buildings across the island.In a six hour span, the princess will open six buildings, from Panwa to Kathu. The public is welcome to attend the events, as follows:8.05am: Open the brand-new Islam Phattana School, built by the…
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Police on lookout for Toyota in Phuket shop hit-and-run
PHUKET: Phuket Police are on the lookout for the driver of a Toyota vehicle – make and model unknown – that slammed into a motorbike repair shop in Thalang early yesterday morning.The driver reportedly backed his vehicle out of the shop and fled the scene, leaving behind as evidence his front bumper and the Toyota logo badge usually found fixed…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Thai Gulf oil spill; Special Admin Zone on cards for Deep South; Drug lord extradited; School caught in mudslide
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Legal action sought over oil spill The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Environmental activists are pushing for legal action and compensation against PTT Global Chemical following an oil spill in the Gulf of Thailand, which experts say could cause severe damage to the marine ecosystem.PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC)…
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Phuket head-on collision claims lives of two sisters
PHUKET: Two sisters were killed this morning when a car belonging to the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) collided with the motorbike they were riding. The tragedy occurred on Rassada Nusorn Road, opposite Baan Kuku School, just north of Phuket Town. The motorbike driver, Warangkana Angsakul, a 51-year-old teacher at Muang Phuket Municipal School, died instantly as a result of…
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Phang Nga police closing in on Rohingya traffickers
PHUKET: Immigration Police say they know who was behind the mass escape of 18 Rohingya from the Phang Nga shelter on July 21 and are closing in to arrest them. The news follows Phang Nga Immigration and Ranong Immigration officers taking into custody a Rohingya woman and four children on Wednesday night while they were on a train bound for…
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DSI stops the music, seizes illegal Phuket karaoke machines
PHUKET: Officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani landed on the island last night to raid nine karaoke bars for music rights infringement. Led by DSI Region 8 Director Udom Phetcharakut, the officers raided venues in Phuket Town and Kathu, starting at 8:30pm. Along for the ride were legal representatives of the music…
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Phuket Gazette Queer News: Man snores traffic to a halt
PHUKET: Motorists in Phuket who think traffic is bad here should prepare themselves if they are planning a visit to Pattaya, where a man last week caused a huge tailback on a major road after falling asleep at the wheel of his Jeep. It took other citizens and police officers an hour to awaken the dozing driver, who clung to…
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V-Phuket burns Thaksin’s coffin to mark ex-PM’s birthday
PHUKET: About 100 members of the V-Phuket protest group gathered at the Phuket Town waterfront in Saphan Hin to denounce former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and burn his “coffin” to mark his 64th birthday yesterday. The event was set up like a Thai-style funeral ceremony, which featured a coffin with a wreath in laid in front of it. The makeshift…
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Tourism minister gets tough with Phuket taxi and vehicle-rental cowboys
PHUKET: Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak has blankly called for an end to the age-old Phuket practice of foreigners’ passports being held as a condition of renting motorbikes, cars and jet-skis “We are deeply concerned about this situation. Rental-vehicle operators demand the passports of customers. Strictly speaking, this is illegal – passports simply cannot be handed-over to third-parties,” Minister…
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Phuket Sports: Going from strength to strength – Bodybuilding
PHUKET: In the 21st century, when women increasingly have the same rights as men, body image ideals have also been increasingly questioned and many women in modern society have become more open, and indeed, proud of their individual body characteristics. One thing is now certain, having a muscular body is no longer an ideal sought only by men. Many women…
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Phuket Sports: Hungary, hunters and hunches – F1
PHUKET: The Lions destroyed Australia, England is cruising through a shattered Australia in the Ashes, Andy Murray triumphed at Wimbledon and Chris Froome won the Tour de France. As Britons tower over world sports, Lewis Hamilton must be considering his chance of continuing this newfound tradition, starting with a win in Hungary this weekend. Can he do it? Mercedes has…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Israel blocks EU aid; Snowden won’t be tortured, executed – US; Strauss-Kahn on pimp charges; Pink Panther jailbreak; Tunisia, Syria sectarian divide deepens
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel blocks EU aid in West Bank Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israel has blocked the European Union from aiding tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank in retaliation for Brussels’ ban on financial assistance to Israeli organisations in the occupied territories. An Israeli…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Thaksin makes birthday call; Nenkham family to be probed; BRN behind some Ramadan attacks; Police Station fraud charges loom
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Birthday boy Thaksin calls on Thais to rely on one another The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra may have been in Beijing, but his figure was standing right there next to Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanit as he lit and…
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Russian in lucky Phuket escape as car goes off-road, bursts into flames
PHUKET: A Russian man’s car erupted in flames early this morning after he accidentally veered off a road and hit a concrete water tank in the hills near Phuket’s famed Big Buddha, in Chalong. Maxim Kasutin, 27, was on his way to a friend’s house at about 1:30am when he missed a curve in the darkness, explained Capt Patiwat Yodkwan…
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Phuket FC derail ‘Locomotive’ soccer squad in friendly
PHUKET: The Islanders got a strong injection of confidence this afternoon after making minced meat out of local college outfit, Rajbhat Phuket “Locomotive”, winning 9-0 in a friendly match at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club in Thalang.Scoring for Phuket FC were Chana Sonwiset (4 goals), Luiz “Dudu” Purcino (3) and Giorgi Tsimakuridze and Koset Gerd-Suk, who each scored a goal.…
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Phuket Opinion: Our environment down the drain
Pornsri Suthanarak, 50, is the director of the Phuket Environmental Office. She has a PhD in environmental engineering from Florida International University, and was formerly the director of the Environmental Quality and Laboratory Division at the Pollution Control Department in Bangkok. Here, she explains how all of us can help to protect the environment by making inexpensive changes at home.…
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Phuket Opinion: Bus about face
PHUKET: The quiet launch last week of a new bus to shuttle tourists from the airport to Patong (story here) comes as a small dose of good news for Phuket’s ailing public transport sector, which nevertheless continues to suffer from the chronic and very serious effects of collusion, self-entitlement and a blatant, goon-like disregard for the law, common decency and…
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Phuket airport bus services pared back, full service to resume in August
PHUKET: The operator of the recently launched Airport Express bus has suspended some services, but expects to return to the full schedule next month. The Airport Express bus, operating a “hop on, hop off” service between Phuket International Airport and Patong, launched last Friday to little fanfare (story here). Since then, the dwindling volume of passengers has forced the operator…
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Phuket to get B251mn CCTV camera boost for tourist safety
PHUKET: Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak has approved a 251-million-baht budget to have an additional 2,450 CCTV cameras added to Phuket’s current arsenal of 1,419 cameras monitoring the island. “Phuket is the first place about which I have received complaints concerning security from about 20 foreign diplomats [story here], making it clear that we have to boost our efforts…
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Two arrested as Phuket bus delivers nearly 10kg of kratom
PHUKET: Police arrested two men in Wichit last night after they picked up a box of kratom leaves delivered to Phuket by bus. The box had the sender’s and the recipients’ names clearly written on it.The bust came after an informant tipped off the Phuket Internal Security Office (PISO) that a kratom package would be arriving by bus from Chumphon…
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7-Eleven – Can’t live without it
PHUKET: Love it or hate it, the local 7-Eleven has become an integral part of daily life for most people living in urban Thailand.From its humble beginnings in 1920s Dallas, Texas, where ice factory employee John Jefferson Green began selling milk, eggs and bread from an improvised store in front of the factory, it has grown to be the largest…
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Last Call: A love, loom affair with China
PHUKET: Often, one of the last interview questions to scientists or economic strategists is the ominous, almost motherly line: “What keeps you awake at night?”. In most cases the answer is obtuse and rarely what they call in submarine talk, a direct hit. In my own personal version of Groundhog Day [the blockbuster hit starring Bill Murray] – over and…
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Phuket secures B22mn to fix notorious Patong Hill road
PHUKET: The Phuket Highways Office (PHO) has secured the 22 million baht needed to permanently fix the large section of the notorious Patong Hill road that washed away nearly two years ago, PHO Director Samak Luedwonghad announced yesterday. “Patong Hill Road in undergoing permanent restoration (story here). A contract was signed on May 15 and the repairs are expected to…
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Phuket policeman escapes injury after slippery road slams pickup into tree
PHUKET: A police officer on his way to work early yesterday morning lost control of his pickup truck on the bypass road and crashed into a tree.Though the impact demolished the front end of his pickup, he narrowly missed a nearby light pole and escaped injury.Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers responding to a 5:30am call found a pickup straddling…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Russians charged over biggest fraud in history; Spanish train driver under guard; Tunisia in turmoil; Bo Xilai charged
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hackers indicted in biggest cyber fraud case in US history Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Federal prosecutors have charged five men for a hacking and credit card fraud spree that cost companies more than $300 million. Two of the suspects are in custody in the biggest cyber crime…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Anti-govt rallies; Bus safety under fire; PM beauty smarts TV; Facebook top Thai news source
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anti-govt groups plan street protests The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Anti-government groups are firming up plans for street rallies ahead of the parliamentary deliberation on August 7 of an amnesty bill proposed by a group of MPs from the ruling Pheu Thai Party. The protests…
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Phang Nga Immigration reclaims Rohingya runaways
PHUKET: Phang Nga Immigration Police last night intercepted five Rohingya refugees who were en route to Bangkok by train after disappearing from a government shelter in Phang Nga, north of Phuket. The refugees, a 20-year-old woman and four children aged 5 to 14 years, were taken into custody at 11:30pm. They were among the 18 Rohingya who disappeared from the…
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DSI gives Phuket mafia 15 days to pack up shop
PHUKET: Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tarit Pengdith today leveled a warning at all mafia operating in Phuket: cease and desist within 15 days – or else. Mr Tarit arrived in Phuket this morning with Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak and a team of about 10 DSI officials to launch a crackdown specifically targeting illegal taxi drivers and…
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