PHUKET: Confirmed to take part in the Laguna Phuket International Marathon on Sunday is Australia’s renowned “Marathon Man” Trent Morrow, the Phuket Gazette has learned.
PHUKET: Driving rain and strong winds continue to lash Phuket today as small flash floods blocked roads this morning, causing long traffic tailbacks across the island. In the 24 hours preceding 7am, the weather monitoring station in Phuket Town recorded 58.8mm of rainfall, while the monitoring station at Phuket International Airport recorded 56.
SPECIAL REPORT The Phuket Gazette investigates a reader’s inquiry into why much of the sand at Laem Panwa Beach is black – and why it sticks to anything metal. The Gazette’s Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai, Stephen Fein and Chutharat Plerin report. PHUKET: The west coast beaches of Phuket attract millions of tourists annually, but there is only one beach on the island that is truly magnetic: the black sands that line Makham Bay, off Cape Panwa in Wichit.
PHUKET: The Phuket Election Commission (PEC) has confirmed the results of elections in Rawai Municipality last month, but has yet to set a date for the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) council election because restructuring of constituency boundaries is still underway. PEC Director Kittipong Thiengkunakrit updated the public on several electoral affairs during a ‘Government Meets the Media’ event at Phuket Provincial Hall on Friday. Mr Kittipong confirmed the May 13 victory of incumbent Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos, as well as several other members of Mr Solos‘ Pattana Rawai (Develop Rawai) Group.
PHUKET: The 28th National Youth Games, dubbed the “Phuket Games”, officially closed yesterday with a full-scale closing ceremony at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town. Thousands turned out to brave the wind and rain, which somehow miraculously mostly missed the venue, allowing the onlookers and performers to enjoy the event. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Maha Sarakham Governor Chuen Warin, Sports Authority of Thailand Governor Kanokphand Chulakasem, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising, Government Spokesperson Prompong Nopparit were there to close the ceremony.
PHUKET: An earthquake registering 4.0 on the Richter scale struck Ranong province, just north of Phuket, at about 1pm today, shaking houses along the coast and scattering villagers in fear. Ranong is best known among Phuket expats and long-stay tourists as the jump-off point for “visa runs” to Myanmar.
PHUKET: The young athlete injured in a motorbike accident that claimed the life of his
PHUKET: A Krabi FC football player has denied allegations that he raped a 23-year-old American exchange student near Krabi Town, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, last Thursday night.
PHUKET: Phuket’s Bussarin Raktaengam won the final of the girls‘ singles tennis event of the Phuket Games 2012 this morning with a 6-4, 6-3 straight-sets victory over Rongrong Linbanjong of Bangkok.
PHUKET: THE pair of powerful earthquakes that struck off the coast of Sumatra on April 11 served as the perfect ‘live test’ of Thailand’s preparedness to conduct emergency evacuation of tsunami risk areas, exposing, once again, serious shortcomings in the government’s ability to relay important information to the public in a timely fashion.