Citing indelible memories and people, the Phuket Gazette bows out in a nostalgic farewell
PHUKET: Times change and old media continue to bow to the new. With great regret, the Phuket Gazette is retiring from the field and will cease operations with effect from the end of this month – midnight, July 31.
Other than our office, owned by a shareholder (not the Gazette itself), our primary asset has long been the Gazette Online. It has now been sold to a well-funded and rapidly expanding tech-based company in Hong Kong. The sale and the buyer’s plans for the site will be announced shortly.
Meanwhile, we continue to wind down in a process that started in November last year with an advisory to our staff. We announced the stoppage of the newspaper in May and have since been in direct communication with all of our stakeholders to ensure that no one would be caught short.
All freelancers, of which there were 28, have been notified.
As of August 1, just six staff will remain as our ‘closing team’. All others have either resigned or departed with agreed termination packages. All subscribers have received refunds for the unused portions of their subscriptions, and refunds are in process for any unused commercial ads under contracts expiring beyond the end of this month.
All accounts payable are current and will likewise be settled in full at the end of this month.