Month: April 2014

  • Phuket News

    Research team collecting Phuket corals mistaken as poachers

    PHUKET: A group of six researchers studying the possibility of corals containing the key to curing cancer were mistaken as coral poachers by recreational divers at the popular Phuket dive spot Koh Dok Mai on Monday. “The divers were using tools to remove hard and soft corals and fans from the wall on the east side of Koh Dok Mai,”…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket residents warned about sewage dumping

    PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut has warned residents and restaurant owners in the Soi Paniang area, north of Phuket Town, that they will be prosecuted if they are caught releasing untreated waste water into the Bang Yai Canal. “If Rassada residents are so concerned about environmental standards, they shouldn’t release untreated waste water into a public waterway,” he told a community…

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  • Thai Life

    H&M fashions arrive at Central Festival Phuket

    PHUKET: Hundreds of shoppers are expected to line up at Central Festival Phuket early this Saturday morning to be among the first to get their hands on the latest threads from global fashion house H&M as it launches its first store in southern Thailand on two floors of the shopping mall. H&M is giving away more than 80,000 baht worth…

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  • Thailand News

    July 20 set for national election

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community July 20 set for national election The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The government and the Election Commission agreed today to set July 20 as the date for the new election. EC chairman Supachai Somcharoen said the atmosphere in the meeting was good and the caretaker…

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  • Phuket News

    We all have the swing in us

    PHUKET: Gilles Duboueix, a professional golf coach and mental trainer, claims that we all have the swing in us, we just need to discover it, and he’s here to help. Having spent the past seven years working both with amateurs and professionals, he shares the secrets of his technique with the Gazette, proving that the most important part of a…

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  • Entertainment

    Soap suds: A sidelong glance at Thai melodrama

    PHUKET: Any “farang” who lives with a Thai partner will be familiar, possibly all too familiar, with the rarefied world of television soap opera. As I watch, I wonder what impact these soaps are having on the Thai psyche. That they are amazingly popular is beyond doubt. Viewing figures are massive; they are watched religiously in most households, and especially…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket woman impaled by her mattress

    PHUKET: Rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation responded to an unusual plea for help yesterday afternoon: a woman had been impaled by her mattress. The rescue team arrived at an unnamed apartment building opposite the Bangkok Bank branch on Thepkrasattri Road, south of Satree Phuket School in Phuket Town, at about 5:30pm. “When we arrived, we heard a woman howling…

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  • World News

    Brunei adopts sharia law, others in region consider it

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Brunei adopts sharia law, others in region consider it Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The sultanate of Brunei this week becomes the first East Asian country to introduce Islamic criminal law, the latest example of a deepening religious conservatism that has also taken root in parts…

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  • World News

    Air France pilots plan daily strikes in May

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Air France pilots plan daily strikes in May Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pilots of Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM plan to strike for several hours per day in May to protest against what they say are limits on their right to strike. Air France said the…

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  • Thailand News

    Thailand News: Police to replace soldiers in Bangkok; EC warms to Abhisit’s reforms; NACC refuses more Yingluck witnesses

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prayuth against use of force to end impasse The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday voiced concerns about some local leaders and political groups opting for violence to end the prolonged political conflict. “There are several groups that talk about violence.…

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  • World News

    Egypt mass death sentences will bring down government, warns Brotherhood

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt’s Brotherhood says mass death sentences will bring down government Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The senior leader of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood said on Tuesday that the mass death sentences against him and other members will cause the government’s downfall. “This ruling is the last…

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  • Thailand News

    Thailand News: Thawil pledges to rethink Deep South policy; Pregnant official slain; Bt2.9mn ATM robbery; Warrants sought for red shirt poet killers

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thawil to review Deep South policy The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri says his first mission will be to review policy on the unrest in the Deep South and national security work there. The guideline of having a peace dialogue…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket ice truck flips, causes massive tailback | Thaiger

    Phuket ice truck flips, causes massive tailback

    PHUKET: An ice truck flipped at the busy Bangkhu Intersection, at the north end of the bypass road, during rush hour this morning, causing massive tailbacks on Phuket’s critical Thepkrasattri Road. The Gazette has not received any reports of injuries in the accident. Traffic remains blocked across both lanes southbound as far back as the Baan Keha public housing estate…

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  • Thailand News

    Driver who mowed down three police officers released on bail

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Driver who mowed down three police officers released on bail The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The driver, who allegedly mowed down three police officers and wounded three others in a car accident in downtown Bangkok on Sunday (story here), was released on bail yesterday after…

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  • World News

    MH370 Search: Firm says finds plane debris in Bay of Bengal

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community MH370 Search: Firm says finds plane debris in Bay of Bengal Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A private company said it had found what it believes is wreckage of a plane in the Bay of Bengal that should be investigated as possible debris from the missing…

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  • Entertainment

    Last Gasp of a humorist

    I used to have high hopes for PJ O’Rourke as the Fresh Prince of American Journalism. If Tom Wolfe had invented the New Journalism in the 1960s, and Hunter S Thompson Gonzo Journalism in the 1970s, PJ O’Rourke broke new ground in the 1980s with Holidays in Hell, fiercely funny dispatches from chaotic hellholes and communist sumps around the world.…

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  • Business News

    What if Phuket’s roads took you?

    PHUKET: Over the last decade the number of well-known, and often very well-liked, expats who have perished on Phuket’s deadly roads seems to have increased at an alarming rate. Indeed, the most recent case has given me cause to revisit a topic nobody likes to speak about, yet the failure to address it could lead to some rather horrible consequences…

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  • Phuket News

    Light-fingered Phuket woman undone by iPhone app

    PHUKET: Phuket Police used a location app today to track down within 10 minutes a woman who had stolen a Danish tourist’s iPhone. Michael Dybdahl, 51, from Denmark, reported that his iPhone was missing to the Patong Police at 11:30am. “He said a woman visited his room at Bangla House last night, but he could not find his phone after…

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  • Thai Life

    Live simple, consume less

    PHUKET: Live simple, consume less. This philosophy is engrained in the business and life of custom surfboard maker David “Mousset” Sautebin. Originally from Bienne, Switzerland, the wiry 36-year-old stood in the entrance of his Nai Harn workshop clad only in Thai fisherman’s pants. A quiver of surfboards lined the doorway which emitted a tinny soundtrack of Bob Marley from within.…

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  • Phuket News

    Local flowboarders head to Singapore

    PHUKET: Phuket’s rising stars are set to depart our sunny shores for another installment in the new sport of flowboarding (surfing on an artificial wave) when they head to Singapore for the the final round of the Asian FlowJam series at Sentosa Island, Singapore. Locals may know that Annissa Flynn, who won the Asian Women’s surfing trophy in 2012 when…

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  • Phuket News

    Chinese tourists, skipper injured in speedboat collision off Phuket

    PHUKET: Four Chinese tourists and one Thai national were injured yesterday after two speedboats collided at the docks on Koh Khai Nok, off the east coast of Phuket. “The Nontasak was heading toward the pier at about 3pm and crashed into the Star Andaman, which was carrying 32 Chinese tourists, as it was reversing from the pier,” said Lt Col…

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  • Thailand News

    Thailand News: Driver runs Bangkok checkpoint, kills 3 police; Storms lash capital; Red shirts set for May rally

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Three police officers killed after young driver loses control of his Pajero SUV The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Three police were killed and three others injured in a crash when a young man drove a sports utility vehicle through a police checkpoint on the outbound…

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  • World News

    Rohingya health crisis in Myanmar after aid groups forced out

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rohingya health crisis in west Myanmar after aid groups forced out Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: As three-month-old Asoma Khatu approached her final, laboured breaths, her neighbour Elia, a 50-year-old former farmer, dug through the strongbox holding some of the last medicines in this camp for…

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  • World NewsDeaths on EU roads halve in a decade | Thaiger

    Deaths on EU roads halve in a decade

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Deaths on EU roads halve in a decade – report Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Car deaths on Europe’s roads have halved over the last decade, but campaigners say tougher EU laws could prevent many more people from dying needlessly. Figures from the European Transport Safety…

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  • World News

    Russia says Marshall Islands’ nuclear lawsuits ‘baseless’

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russia says Marshall Islands’ nuclear lawsuits ‘baseless’ Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Russia said on Monday that lawsuits in which the Marshall Islands accused nine nations with nuclear weapons capability of failing in their obligation to negotiate disarmament are “baseless” and would not help rid the…

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  • World News

    At least 16 killed by tornadoes in American Midwest

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community At least 16 killed by tornadoes in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Rescue workers searched for survivors on Monday in the rubble left by a wave of tornadoes that ripped through the south-central United States a day earlier, killing at least 16…

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  • World News

    Assad seeks re-election as Syrian civil war rages

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Assad seeks re-election as Syrian civil war rages Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared on Monday he would seek re-election in June, defying calls from his opponents to step aside and allow a political solution to the country’s devastating civil war. Assad…

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  • Pattaya News

    Local sailors head to the Top of the Gulf Regatta

    Leading Phuket yachtsmen Scott Duncanson and Alfie Rowson are travelling to Pattaya this week to compete in the 2014 running of the prestigious Coronation Cup. The royally affiliated regatta is held annually at Ocean Marina, Jomtien, in celebration of His Majesty the King’s accession to the throne. Now in its 19th year, the event is unique in that competitors race…

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  • Phuket News

    Short-term solutions underway for perilous Phuket curve

    PHUKET: Short-term safety measures are now being implemented to slow down motorists approaching the dangerous “100 bodies curve” and should be completed within a week, confirmed officials. The construction follows a blockade of Chao Fa West Road between Wang Talang Jewelry and Rolly Tasker Sails that was staged on Sunday by villagers, angry about the conditions of the road and…

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  • Thai Life

    Hoping to heal from Heartbleed

    PHUKET: On April 1, 2014 one of Google’s security team members reported a disturbing discovery. Don’t be misled, what was found to be a very serious security breach affecting half-a-million websites across cyberspace was, in fact, not a computer virus. It was a simple programming code mistake which turned out to have far-reaching implications for, what was thought to be,…

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  • Phuket News

    PACC anti-graft squad begins investigation of Phuket police extortion allegations

    PHUKET: More than 10 officers from the Public-sector Anti Corruption Commission (PACC) are on the island investigating allegations that Chalong Police officers extorted money from the Phuket dive community. The team arrived in Phuket yesterday and have yet to set a date for their departure, the team’s lead investigator, who asked not to be named, told the Phuket Gazette. “We…

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  • Phuket News

    Frenchman murdered in his sleep, confesses suspect

    PHUKET: French tourist Fabrice Boigeol was bludgeoned to death in his sleep, Myanmar national Shwe Oo confessed yesterday. The body of Mr Boigeol, 37, was found in a pool of blood partially under a mattress in a room at the Moragot Resort, located off Saiyuan Road in Rawai, on April 18 (story here). After days scouring the area for clues,…

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  • Thai Life

    Feel-good football

    PHUKET: On April 24, about 40 students from the Good Shepherd Learning Center had the opportunity to visit Phuket FC’s recently completed Republic Phuket football training complex. The event was a cooperative effort between Phuket FC fan club the ‘Mushy Peas’, and the Grumpy Old Man’s Society (GOMS) in conjunction with the Good Shepherd Learning Center and Phuket FC. The…

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  • Phuket News

    Lifeguards walk off Phuket beaches as PPAO drops ball on contract

    PHUKET: Lifeguards abandoned the island’s tourist beaches today after the Phuket Provincial Administration Office (PPAO) failed to break the deadlock surrounding a 22-million-baht lifeguard contract that expired yesterday. “Since the contract has ended, it is no longer our responsibility to patrol the beaches. All 108 lifeguards have quit their jobs,” Phuket Lifeguard Club President Prathaiyut Chuayuan told the Phuket Gazette…

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  • Phuket News

    Phuket blockade over “100 bodies curve’

    PHUKET: A blockade on Chao Fa West Road, lasting nearly three hours, was lifted yesterday afternoon after Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut agreed to have short-term safety measures installed at the dangerous “100 bodies curve” within five days. A temporary barrier, warning lights and safety signs will be erected at the curve, Governor Maitri told the press. “As a long-term solution,…

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  • World News

    Saudi Arabia MERS cases spiral to 339 infected, 10 dead; Egypt marks first

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Saudi Arabia MERS cases spiral to 339 infected, 10 dead; Egypt marks first Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Saudi Arabia confirmed 26 more cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has killed nearly a third of sufferers, and said 10 more people have died from…

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  • World News

    South Korean PM resigns over government response to ferry disaster

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South Korean PM resigns over government response to ferry disaster Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won resigned on Sunday over the government’s response to the April 16 ferry disaster. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port…

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