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Phuket teacher crisis appeal sparks flood of applicants
PHUKET: The Director of the Phuket Primary Educational Office has called for all people wanting to apply for positions as English teachers at government schools in Phuket Town to contact the schools directly. Dr Jian Thongnoon announced the news in the wake of the Phuket Gazette posting online its story about the shortage of English teachers at Phuket schools reaching…
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Johnson quits England rugby post
PHUKET: Rugby fans in Phuket have been informed that Martin Johnson has thrown in the towel as England manager after three-and-a-half years leading the country’s international rugby union side. Several off-field controversies and a wretched performance at the recent World cup in New Zealand, where his charges lost to France in the quarter-final, combined to force Johnson to stand down.…
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FIFA President denies racism in football
PHUKET: “There is no racism [on the field], but maybe there is a word or gesture that is not correct. The one affected by this should say, ‘this is a game’ and shake hands.” FIFA President Sepp Blatter denies racism exists on the pitch during football matches and the odd misplaced comment could easily be forgiven and forgotten with a…
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Official offers homemade fix for Phuket’s water sources
PHUKET: As Phuket enters its tourism high season, the annual period when local water sources are depleted at great rates to cope with the huge influx of people onto the island, one local official has spoken out on Phuket’s water issues and the critical factors in resolving them. Nanyaroon Yadee, 50, of the Pa Khlok Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) Public…
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Rebranded Strategic Airlines continues Phuket flights
PHUKET: Australian Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Strategic Airlines today launched its rebranding as Air Australia, offering special rates to Phuket from AUS$329. The reinvented LCC revealed the news earlier this month, showing off its new-look livery and flight attendant uniforms while emphasizing a commitment to bring Australia a fresh approach to affordable air travel. Strategic Airlines, founded in 2009, has…
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Phuket CCTV: take two
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) is about to install 189 CCTV cameras throughout Koh Kaew and Rassada at a cost of 29 million baht. The roll-out is phase two of the OrBorJor‘s “citizen safety” campaign, which will coordinate with police in providing CCTV footage of traffic accidents and other incidents, explained OrBorJor President Paiboon Upatising. The cameras, some…
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Phuket Live Wire: 3G or not 3G, and what’s 3G+?
PHUKET: First the good news: CAT, like TrueMove-H, is coming out with an HSPA+ service. As you may recall, HSPA+ is the only real “3G” available in Thailand and, at least in theory, it should be substantially faster than other “3G” services currently available – including, confusingly, the service CAT currently calls “3G.” Confused? Yeah, I understand. Let’s start with…
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Another major quake off Indonesia
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Strong earthquake strikes off eastern Indonesia, causing panic Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A strong earthquake struck the Molucca Sea in eastern Indonesia yesterday afternoon, causing panic but no damage or casualties. The 6.4-magnitude quake at 1.05pm local time (11:05am Phuket time) was centered about 69 kilometers (42…
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John Terry wants to come out
PHUKET: “Being captain is about coming out and facing up to it.” England and Chelsea captain John Terry is keen to open up and take it like a man regarding claims he abused Queens Park Ranger player Anton Ferdinand with racist remarks. The query here must be why, after Terry’s last controversy of allegedly having an affair with an England…
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Phuket Red Cross calls for blood donations to help Bangkok flood victims
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) is asking for increased donations for November as parts of Thailand experience the worst flooding in half a century. “Due to the floods in Bangkok, the National Blood Center had a shortage of blood at the beginning of the month. The center normally receives about 1,500 units of blood daily from donors, but…
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Bangkok floods boost Phuket short-term rentals
PHUKET: The hospitality and real estate sectors in Phuket are currently benefiting from one of Thailand’s worst floods in a century. A report released by professional services real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle stated that Bangkok’s housing market has been hit particularly hard by flooding with many major housing areas across the capital are now under water. This has resulted…
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Phuket’s BIS tourney a success
PHUKET: The British International School (BIS) held its10th annual international 7-a-side football tournament in perfect conditions on November 4 and 5. Over 700 players from 25 schools participated in the competition with all teams exhibiting good footballing skills and excellent sportsmanship. Schools, clubs and projects from all over East and South East Asia traveled from as close as Pa Khlok…
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Phuket’s surfing star on the crest of a wave
PHUKET: Local surfing starlet Annissa Tita Flynn is ready to take on the best of Asia in coming weeks as she heads off to Hong Kong and Malaysia for the Reef Cup and the final event of the new Asian Surfing Professional tour at Kuala Terengganu. The Asian tour has been formed not only to promote surfing but also to…
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Phuket’s All Stars bowled over at ACG opener
PHUKET: The eagerly anticipated opening of the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) was launched in thrilling style recently when the Phuket Cricket Group (PCG) “All Stars” took on the oldest cricket club in Asia, Singapore CC, at Thailand’s newest cricket facility. Heavy downpours the night before meant the new synthetic surface was still damp, making batting a treacherous task. Singapore won…
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Phuket Public Transport: The decision to have public buses is ours
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Land Transportation Office has responded admirably to criticism that it has obviously failed over the past 20 years to develop public bus transportation in this province. (See front page, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.) Office Chief Terayout Prasertphol says he has applied to his superiors in…
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Phuket’s “Buffalo Alley’: car overturns, bus damaged in vehicular bovicide
PHUKET: One car overturned, a bus was damaged and two buffaloes were killed on November 11 after a motorbike driver clipped one of the beasts as he drove past, spooking both animals and causing them to run into oncoming traffic. Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation workers received a report at about 12:30am that an accident involving three vehicles and two buffaloes had…
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Phuket expat, wife arrested for M16 assault rifle in car
PHUKET: Phuket police early this morning arrested a long-term expat and his wife after finding what they identified as an M16 automatic assault rifle with a loaded clip in the back of their car.Thung Thong Police Duty Officer Lt Col Chana Suttimard told the Phuket Gazette, “At 4am today, police arrested Ivan Vaclavik, 43, from Slovakia, and 32-year-old Phuket-native Suppasa…
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Phuket Prosecutor may appeal Fanelli sentence
PHUKET: The Phuket Attorney General’s Office is considering filing an appeal over the sentence of 10 years and three months imprisonment handed down to former US Marine Ronald Fanelli for the stabbing murder of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai last year. Fanelli was formally handed down a sentence of 20 years imprisonment for murder and another six months in jail for…
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Phuket officials push for buses from airport to main beaches
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Land Transportation Office (PLTO) Chief Terayout Prasertphol has announced that his office will apply for Phuket to have two new bus routes operating from the airport: one to Rawai and another running through Patong to Kata-Karon. He expects bus services along the new routes to be in operation by February. “The next step is to apply to…
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Phuket Media Watch: Flood Roundup
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community More than 1,000 suicidal following flood crisis The NationPHUKET: More than 1,000 people whose lives have been disrupted by the floods in central Thailand are at risk of committing suicide, Disaster Mitigation Centre director Phanu Yaemsri said Friday. Of more than 1.3 million Thais affected by…
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Bangkok Flood “phishing’ scam sinks hooks into Phuket
PHUKET: A scam email appealing for users’ bank details under the guise of helping to make a flood relief donation of one million dollars for flood victims in Bangkok is finding its way into the in-boxes of many residents in Phuket and probably around the world.“Every disaster brings scammers, and the flooding in Thailand is no exception. We’ve seen several…
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Phuket Poll: How alcohol dependent is Phuket?
PHUKET: The floods in Bangkok and Central Thailand continue to wreak havoc with domestic production of beer and its distribution to Phuket. The disruptions have caused serious shortages, much to the bane of hoteliers, restaurateurs and bar owners across the island. The Phuket Gazette has received many reports of severely inflated prices, up to nearly double for one brand of…
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Phuket’s Patong to transform feces into fertilizer
PHUKET: Patong Municipality will apply for a 65-million-baht loan to build a treatment plant that will convert thousands of tonnes of Phuket’s fecal matter into fertilizer. The Patong Council yesterday carried the motion in favor of building the fertilizer factory, with a plan to profit from the horrendous waste. Residents and tourists in the resort town generate up to 10…
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Three more to be executed in China
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China said to execute thousands annually Phuket Gazette PHUKET: It is unknown how many people are executed in China each year as the government withholds the information as a state secret. But according to an Amnesty International report, the figure is at least “thousands”. Three more…
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Phuket Airport ready for flood-redirected flights
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport (PIA) is ready to take on the role as the Airport Authority of Thailand (AoT) Emergency Operations Center if Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok succumbs to floods.“We held a meeting to discuss the possibility of PIA becoming the alternate [main] airport in case Suvarnabhumi Airport is unable to operate,” said an AoT Phuket spokesperson yesterday.“We are…
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Flood price rises no match for Phuket flower power on Loy Krathong
PHUKET: Floods in Bangkok and Central Thailand forcing the prices of some flowers to double in Phuket have not stopped people from splashing out for the Loy Krathong festival tonight. The krathong, lotus-shaped floats traditionally made of banana leaves, with a small offering of food, flowers, joss sticks and/or candles, are usually adorned with lotus and orchids. Prices of both…
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Phuket models call for votes in Thai Supermodel contest
PHUKET: Two young Phuket models are seeking votes in the Photogenic Model competition, part of the Thai Supermodel Contest 2011. Uraisri “Yim” Watrsang, 16, and Vanessa “Van” Herrmann, 20, have both made it to the final round of the contest to be broadcast on Channel 7. Miss Watrsang attended Phuket’s Plookpanya School before moving on to Srinagarindra, where she is…
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Phuket probe reveals 1,400 meth pills in man’s underpants
PHUKET: The arrests of two low-level Phuket drug users have led to the bust of their suspected methamphetamine dealer, who was allegedly caught with 1,400 ya bah (methamphetamine) stashed in his underwear. Narongrit Metula, Bualin Panachai and Seksan Sritham were presented at a press conference at Chalong Police Station yesterday. Tipped off by an undercover agent, a team of police…
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Phuket Live Wire – Google in English online all the time
PHUKET: How many times have you typed google.com in a browser’s address bar and ended up at google.co.th? Let me show you how to fix Google so it won’t do that any more – and at the same time, show you how to set up your favorite web browser so it brings up the pages you want, whenever you start…
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Phuket officials ordered to crack down on flood price gouging
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiat Sangkaosuttirak today ordered Phuket Provincial Commercial Affairs acting chief Jarus Phetpakdee to conduct price checks on consumer goods in Phuket and to crack down on any irregularities. At a meeting of top officials convened at Provincial Hall this morning expressly to tackle the issue, V/Gov Somkiat said, “We have received many complaints about the rising…
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