Hot News
Thailand hot news, breaking stories, crime, politics, tourism, and business—stay updated with in-depth reports and exclusive interviews on the latest events across the country. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Thailand news source.
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Six busted in Vegetarian Fest anti-drug campaign
PHUKET: Six people were arrested on Tuesday as part of an island-wide anti-drug and crime campaign during the Vegetarian Festival. Three Thais and three Russians were apprehended in Patong after officers received separate tip-offs from police sources. Russians Evan Klepinskovski, 29; Nikola Klesko, 30; and Maxim Fedorenko, 27, were each arrested for possession of more than four grams of marijuana,…
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Books: New T. C. Boyle an emotional dud
PHUKET: Since 1982, T. Coraghessan Boyle has written 15 novels, of which I’ve read ten. The first two – Water Music and Budding Prospects – are among the funniest novels ever written. The latter is about marijuana growers in northern California; the former, improbably enough, about 18th Century explorer Mungo Park’s expeditions up the Niger River. Boyle’s tone has since…
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High schoolers use e-cigarettes to vape marijuana – U.S. study
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community High schoolers use e-cigarettes to vape marijuana – U.S. study Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Nearly one in five high school students who said they used electronic cigarettes to vaporize nicotine also used them to vaporize pot, according to a survey of nearly 4,000 Connecticut teens.…
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Post Office continues to deliver illegal drugs to Phuket
PHUKET: Illegal drugs are continuing to be delivered by the Thai Postal Service, despite concern being raised nationally early last month, said the Thalang District Chief last week. The confirmation came on Saturday morning as officers arrested Siriphop Jaitrong, 35, as he was picking up 5.4 kilograms of kratom leaves from the Pa Khlok Post Office. Thalang District Chief Veera…
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National park pot dealer busted with 2.5kg
PHUKET: A Khao Lak-Lamru National Park employee was snagged with more than two kilograms of marijuana during a sting operation on Monday. Kathachai Panboonthong, 36, confessed to police that he had been dealing drugs to international tourists and teens in the area for a ‘long time’, Takuapa District Chief Manit Pianthong explained. “When we searched his motorbike we found 2.5kg…
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Kratom culture
PHUKET: The arrest of a low-ranking Royal Thai Navy officer for smuggling a large shipment of kratom, Mitragyna speciosa, into Phuket’s primary party town of Patong this week is only a flake on the epidermis of a complicated, political and cultural battle against the illegal drug. The use of the substance in a number of wild concoctions has infiltrated many…
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Alleged Aussie drug dealer netted in Patong
PHUKET: An Australian alleged drug dealer was arrested in Patong on Tuesday in possession of cocaine and marijuana. Named by police as Miki Michael Lee, 48, the Aussie was caught in a rented room on Soi Nanai with 1 gram of cocaine and 29.3g of marijuana. “Our undercover officers informed us that Mr Lee was selling cocaine and marijuana to…
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Special Delivery: Drug network uses social media, post office
PHUKET: Enormous quantities of drugs are being shipped to Phuket through the Thai Postal system as island dealers buy in bulk through online social media platforms. “It has become more difficult catching drug dealers after they started using social media applications such as LINE and Facebook to buy and sell their products,” Director of the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) Sithisak…
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Hungarian dope smuggler arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Hungarian national Kocsis Szabolcs Laszlo, 41, was presented to the press in Bangkok by Immigration Bureau commissioner Sakda Chuenpakdee yesterday after his arrest in Phuket on March 15. Mr Laszlo was wanted for allegedly smuggling 35 kilograms of marijuana from the Netherlands to Hungary on seven occasions, Lt Gen Sakda explained. The Immigration Commissioner said that police had arrested…
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Russians and Iranians nabbed in drug raids
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russians and Iranians nabbed in drug raids The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Russian and three Iranians have been arrested along with 496.52 grams of crystal meth worth 1.5 million baht in Bang Lamung district in Chon Buri and Phaya Thai in Bangkok, the Police…
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Arrested ATM skimmers thought to be part of larger network
PHUKET: Police are investigating whether or not two Frenchmen who were arrested in Krabi for skimming ATMs in Krabi and Phang Nga are part of a network that includes five French nationals who were arrested for skimming in Phuket on February 28 (story here). Julien Patrick Alandis, 22, and Adrien Char Baptiste Hemour, 21, were arrested yesterday by Krabi City…
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Russian tourist caught in Phuket cocaine bust
PHUKET: Police have arrested a Russian tourist for selling cocaine at a shopping center car park in southern Phuket after he tried to sell the drugs to an undercover police officer. Officers arrested Anton Rybak, 25, on Friday after a sting operation at the car park of the Makro store in Rawai, said Lt Col Kritsana Yardkham, senior inspector of…
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Police raid nets “unusual’ quantity of cough syrup
PHUKET: Police are investigating a shipment of more than 35,000 bottles of cough syrup, suspicious that at least some of the order was destined to be used in an illegal cocktail made with kratom leaves. At about 2pm on Tuesday, Phuket City Police and officers from the Phuket Custom House suppression unit seized 35,700 bottles of cough syrup to be…
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Phuket police net three in crackdown on illegal drugs, firearms
PHUKET: Patong Police netted three men in two raids yesterday as part of a crackdown on illegal drugs and firearms. Somphon Baankluay, 39, and his 18-year-old son Satit were arrested at their house on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road at about 10:30pm. “We were informed by undercover officers that suspects were spotted carrying weapons to and from the house,” Lt Col…
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Phuket dope peddler nabbed in Patong sewing shop sting
PHUKET: Police arrested a 54-year-old man in Phuket yesterday for possession of 1.5 kilograms of kratom*, which he sold through his sewing shop on Nanai Road. Undercover officers entered the no-name shop in Patong at about 5:30pm and asked Prasert Chookong if he had any kratom for sale. Mr Prasert obliged, and was promptly arrested. “We bought 20 fresh kratom…
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Scores arrested in Beach Games crime crackdown
PHUKET: An island-wide crime sweep during the Asian Beach Games resulted in more than 150 arrests and turned up scores of weapons, illegal drugs and counterfeit items, Phuket’s top cop revealed yesterday. “We must maintain Phuket’s good image and uphold the policies of the Royal Thai Police. It is our job to keep everyone safe and to prevent crime,” Phuket…
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Pre-emptive strike: Phuket Police net drugs, guns ahead of Loy Krathong
PHUKET: A recent crackdown on drugs and guns in Phuket has resulted in mounting concern over muggings during the Loy Krathong Festival this week. “There will be a great number of tourists and locals participating in the festivities, and we know that criminals look to take advantage of people during events like this,” Arayaphan Pukbuakao, a deputy commander of Phuket…
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Police chief orders probe into bribery scandal over Srinakarin resort
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police chief orders probe into bribery scandal over Srinakarin resort The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The national police chief has ordered a probe into an allegation that local and central police were taking kickbacks from a resort on Srinakarin Road, Royal Thai Police spokesman Pol…
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Frenchmen, Nigerian snared in Phuket B1mn cocaine, marijuana busts
PHUKET: Police netted three foreign and three Thai drug suspects, and seized more than 1 million baht of cocaine and marijuana in two separate busts in Phuket over the weekend. Officers made the first arrests on Saturday when they were called to a residence in Sabai Village in Kathu after neighbors reported sounds of a fight. “At 1:40am, police arrived…
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Woman caught smuggling drugs in pumpkins
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Woman caught smuggling drugs in pumpkins The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday caught a woman allegedly trying to smuggle in marijuana and amphetamines stuffed in pumpkins. Kanjana Srijuisai, 37, was arrested at a border checkpoint in Ubon Ratchathani after returning from Laos. Noticing her…
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Dutch pot lord arrested in Pattaya
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dutchman, Thai wife nabbed for trafficking pot The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Dutchman and his Thai wife were arrested yesterday in Pattaya for allegedly conspiring to sell marijuana via a network in the Netherlands that reportedly earned Bt600 million to Bt800 million per year.…
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Nepal ex-prince arrested for drugs in Thailand
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nepal ex-prince arrested for drugs in Thailand The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former Nepalese crown prince Paras Shah has been arrested on drugs charges in Thailand for a second time and could face up to five years in prison, police said Wednesday. Shah was arrested…
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One Phuket post office, seven boxes, two days, eight drug arrests
PHUKET: Police arrested eight men over a two-day period as they collected boxes containing kratom from a Phuket post office. Suspicions were aroused when seven well-wrapped boxes, all the same size and all about the same weight, arrived on the same day from Bangkok. “One of the staff at the Phuket Post Office notified us and we sent plain clothes…
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Patong Police sweep party town for illegal weapons
PHUKET: Only one gun was discovered during a sweep for illegal firearms in Phuket’s premier party town early this morning. The five-team sweep composed of Patong Police officers and Civil Volunteers raided five targets after securing search warrants from the Phuket Provincial Court, Lt Col Suttichai Chairat of Patong Police told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “We received orders to…
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Expat Frenchman arrested for ATM fraud, marijuana
PHUKET: Acting on a tip from a bank, police yesterday arrested an expat Frenchman with counterfeit ATM cards and a stash of marijuana. Jawad Naci, 32, was caught after Siam Commercial Bank in Bangkok called Phuket police to say a counterfeit electronic card had been used at an ATM in Srisoonthorn, in central Phuket. Police went to the ATM in…
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Police seize drugs, rifle in Phuket encroachment raid
PHUKET: Officers acting on a tip-off raided four shacks built in a protected Karon forest near Freedom Beach, south of Patong, yesterday and discovered a rifle, marijuana and wood-cutting equipment, but no people. “It looks like the people staying there knew we were coming and ran away,” said Karon Village Chief (Kamnan) Winai Chidchiew. “We found eggs that had just…
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Putting the ‘I’ in your Phuket garden
PHUKET: You probably hadn’t noticed that I was plowing my way through the botanical alphabet before getting distracted by more alluring prospects, or the pressing horticultural needs of a four-month- long drought. Well, anyway, most of the tropical plants listed under the letter “I” are in the index by virtue of an Indian designation: Indian banyan, Indian cork tree, Indian…
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Sting operation nets Nigerian for dealing cocaine
PHUKET: A series of small drug busts led to a sting operation last night that concluded with the arrest of a Nigerian man for dealing cocaine. “Last night, we were informed that Somkid ‘Waew’ Kwanngern, 30, was in possession of cocaine so we went to her apartment behind Patong Municipality Fire Department,” said Lt Col Sutthichai Thianpho of the Patong…
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Two clipped in Phuket beauty salon with over 90kg of marijuana
PHUKET: Police seized 92kg of marijuana at a beauty salon in Thalang yesterday in a sting operation that netted two men also found in possession of a grenade, an illegal handgun and a cache of ammunition. Netithorn Waddina, 49, from Nakhon Pathom, and Suriya Chuayjuan, 34, from Songkhla, were arrested at about 5pm after undercover police arranged to buy 30kg…
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Police pounce on pot peddler in Phuket
PHUKET: Police arrested a Myanmar national yesterday morning for selling marijuana at the Phuket Fishing Port in Koh Sirey. Min Min, 38, was caught with 295 grams of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and 980 baht in cash by officers from the Region 8 Police Crime Suppression Division.“Undercover officers tipped us off, so we staked out the port,” Maj Roongsak Maichandee said.“We…
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