Thailand News
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: DNA tests proposed for migrant workers; Rubber farmers fight on; Mahouts fear losing elephants
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Proposal to DNA-test migrant workers panned The Nation/Phuket GazettePHUKET: Prompted by concerns over the ease with which foreigners will be able to travel in and out of Thailand once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) commences in 2015, the Institute for Forensic Medicine (IFM) is calling on the…
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Weird World News: Goody for Guinness 2012
PHUKET: It’s that time of year again, when the book dedicated to all things weird, tall, short, big and bizarre hits the shelves of bookstores around the world this week – it’s time for the next volume of Guinness World Records. Here a few of the 4,000 records – half are new – soon to be turning heads and dropping…
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The Curse of the Police Banyan Tree Shrine
NONTHANURI: A police investigation into the attempted murder-suicide by the wife of a police captain has taken a strange turn as a curse-cleansing ceremony was held at the police station’s banyan tree shrine. Last week, Siripat Kongkla, the wife of Nonthaburi city police officer Kongcham Kongkla, reportedly shot their five-year-old daughter using her husband’s police-issue 9mm handgun before turning the…
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Demon drink: exorcism ends one-man hostage show
PHUKET: A recent incident in Baan Bangjo, in Phuket’s Thalang District, recently highlighted to police and local residents the extent of disorientation alcohol can induce. Police officers and members of the Kusoldharm foundation responded to late-night reports of a public disturbance near a place of worship in Srisoonthorn subdistrict. Arriving at a private residence behind Baan Bangjo Mosque, they found…
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“Croc-o-duo’ free to roam family home
PHITSANULOKE: Municipality Council member Awiroot Natip has shared his family home with a variety of pets over the past decade, two of which are two-meter-long freshwater crocodiles. “I’ve been raising them for almost 10 years,” Mr Awiroot, 45, told Kom Chad Luek. Mr Ariwoot purchased the pair, named Ngern (Silver) and Thong (Gold), from Nakhon Sawan MP Pinyo Nirote for…
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Family keeping killer dog
CHON BURI: The family of Mana Thessarit, a 51-year-old man who died after being viciously attacked by his golden retriever “Peter”, says there’s no question of getting rid of the killer pooch. Mr Mana’s daughter Wassana said the family will continue to look after the dog at the family home, in Sattahip district in the Central Thailand province. Peter attacked…
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Abhisit-loving grandmother kills herself
RAYONG: Dedicated supporters of the Democrat Party across Thailand have taken Yingluck Shinawatra’s sweeping victory over Abhisit Vejjajiva in the July 3 general elections hard, but none more so than Lamian Yusuk, an 80-year-old grandmother from Huay Yang subdistrict in Rayong province. Ms Lamian killed herself by drinking weedkiller six days after her hero Mr Abhisit’s defeat. Nantha Lap-insi, 59,…
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Baby “Cream’ haunts dreams, refuses to sour
VILLAGERS in Nakhon Ratchasima are queueing up to place toys in front of the corpse of a nine-month-old baby on display in a local temple. They say the body of Suphansa Lilaphamonkit, known as “Nong Cream”, has miraculously failed to rot, despite the baby dying four years ago. Nong Cream was born on July 11, 2006, but died on April…
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Mentally ill man guards mother’s body for a week
A MENTALLY ill man in Bangkok spent five days crouched over his mother’s dead body in a Bangkok apartment before the foul smell alerted the landlady. Walisa Amnuaypon, 58, said she knocked on the door but received no response. When she opened the room with her spare key she was shocked to find Somchai Saeju, 59, sitting next to the…
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Ayutthaya “sex lottery’ exposed, cops get tough on getting lucky
AYUTTHAYA: An underground lottery in Ayutthaya province has given new meaning to the expression “getting lucky”. Top prize in the draw, which was becoming increasingly popular with male factory workers in the central Thai province before the authorities got wind of it, was a night in bed with a young woman. Early this month Ayutthaya Police made several arrests connected…
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Dog snatchers terrorizing Khon Kaen
KHON KAEN: A gang of dog snatchers is stealing pampered pooches in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen, leaving a string of dog owners devastated over the loss of their cherished four-legged friends. The gang, whose reign of terror has lasted two years, is targeting pedigree breeds with placid temperaments, such as golden retrievers, Siberian huskies, chihuahuas, Pomeranians and pugs.…
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Jilted boyfriend leaves ex armless
PATHUM THANI: A man allegedly launched a crazed attack on his ex-girlfriend with a sword, severing one of her arms before grabbing the limb and fleeing. Victim Mali Phuangprachang, who works at a beauty salon, is recovering in Viparam Hospital. The 33-year-old has been left without her right arm and had a huge gash in her face that needed 22…
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Man becomes dogs’ dinner
PHITSANULOK: A man who lived alone in a wooden shack on a fruit farm in Phitsanulok fell to his death and was half-eaten by the 20 dogs he kept to guard his orchards. When villagers living nearby noticed that Mai Khongthong, 66, wasn’t out watering his fruit trees as usual February 25, they called out to him but heard no…
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Canine-crazy couple have gone to the dogs
NAKHON PATHOM: Champa Tangsombun is crazy about dogs – so much so that it’s ruining his wife’s retirement. Mr Champa, 74, has been taking stray and injured dogs into his home in Village 9 in Bangchang subdistrict for 15 years. The retired bus station master now has 61 canines to take care of and he has spent his entire life…
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The sacred unborn baby of Village 11
SUPHAN BURI: For 10 months now, residents of a village in Suphan Buri province have been wondering when Niphawan Bunjaroen, 35, is going to give birth. Niphawan, who lives in Village 11 in Nong Makha Mong subdistrict, claims to have been pregnant with her fourth child for a rather long time: 19 months, to be precise. Doctors say the maybe-mother-to-be,…
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Sky-blue robotic cat invades temple
SUPHAN BURI: A Temple in Suphan Buri province has become a national sensation after an unusual character was spotted hiding in its wall paintings: the Japanese cartoon character Doraemon. Noticing Doraemon’s huge popularity with Thai schoolchildren, artist Rakkiat Lertjitsakun added the sky-blue robotic cat to murals at Wat Samp Pa Siew in Muang district. Now Doraemon and his schoolboy friend…
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Worn out woman opts for penal retreat
KHON KAEN: A woman caught shoplifting from a 7-Eleven told police she committed the crime because she was bored with her life and wanted to go to jail. Wipha Chanachuen, 53, said she was tired of working for a living and wanted to rest in an old people’s home – but jail was the next best option. Khon Kaen City…
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Gruesome offering for pig-headed spirits
PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: Villagers tried an usual rain-making method last week after two years of drought ruined their coconut harvests. Instead of appealing for the cloud-seeding techniques famous across the land, they instead decided what was needed was an offering of 249 severed pig heads to the spirits of the land. Despite parts of the country experiencing the worst floods…
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Lucky lizard finds loving home
RATCHABURI: Do huge monitor lizards make strange bedfellows? One family in Ratchaburi doesn’t seem to think so. Bunchoo Rotchum, 75, his wife Somya, 65, and their two-year-old granddaughter Donlaya are sharing their bed with a 2.5-meter water monitor, causing a sensation in their village in tambon Pikunthong. The creature, which the family named “Jaothong”, wandered into their home on November…
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Lotto luck sought from double genital dog
MUKDAHAN: There’s a well known – if slightly crude – expression in the United Kingdom: “As happy as a dog with two dicks”. But how happy is a dog with two vaginas? Anyone wishing to find out should pay a visit to Udorn Battasao, 29, who lives in a village in Mukdahan province. Mr Udorn is the proud owner of…
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Lucky ladyboy in marriage-a-trois
NAKHON SAWAN: A lucky 42-year-old ladyboy is set to marry not one, but two young men in a lavish wedding ceremony in this central Thai province. Somjit Songjaeng has lived with her first husband-to-be, 22-year-old Anurut “Jack” Kraisa, for six years. Not content with one lover, she met her second fiancé, 27-year-old Sathit “Bank” Rawtyoo, at the end of last…
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Grave guidance solves missing person mystery
PHITSANULOKE: In an eerie tale just in time for Halloween, a man was arrested in this northern province after being fingered for murdering his young wife by an unlikely source: her ghost. Four months after her disappearance, the spirit of 21-year-old Ratree Thongdee reportedly appeared to her mother, Somjit Jitprajak, in a dream. The apparition told her that she had…
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Thick thieves, easy investigation
CHONBURI: Bungling thieves abandoned a stolen pickup and their own car after being unable to find the way out of a housing estate in Chonburi October 2. They were soon arrested – after returning to the scene and asking police officers if they could have their car back. Sombat Maithong, 45, reported the theft of his Toyota Vigo pickup to…
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Woman trashes husband’s member
PETCHABOON: A woman in the northern province Phetchaboon was arrested last month for cutting off her husband’s penis and throwing it into a trash can at the local bus station. Buariow Wannarat, 54, was caught at a police checkpoint while on a bus to Bangkok. Police escorted her back to Phetchaboon Town to point out the trash receptacle where she…
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Doubts raised over “eggspecting mother’
LOEI: Villagers in Nong Hin District have been rushing to see a woman who had reportedly given birth to an egg. At last report Chawee Chinchaiphum and her husband, Prayut, both 40, have not let anyone see the egg, but enterprising locals have been selling photos of the recently-arrived object for 10 baht each. Demand has been so strong that…
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Goose torched near Phuket pizza joint
PHUKET: Diners at the popular P Pizza House restaurant in the Samkong area of Phuket Town got a fright recently when a man in an adjacent lot fired up a blowtorch and began searing the flesh of what appeared to be a strange new creature with enormous front claws. Closer inspection revealed that the animal was in fact a goose…
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Lucky numbers take root
An obscenely shaped tree at a police station in the northern province of Phayao has reportedly predicted the winning lottery numbers. The talented tamarind tree is in the yard of Phayao Muang Police Station. The tree has an approximately two-foot-long gash in its trunk with a fist-sized sparkling lump at one end. Villagers say the combination makes the tree look…
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Poisonous potions land Russian tour boss in jail
A RUSSIAN tour company boss is behind bars for allegedly selling bottles of liquor containing the pickled remains of poisonous animals including king cobras, centipedes and scorpions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the concoctions themselves turned out be poisonous. Pattaya Police arrested Andrey Akulov, 40, on July 31 after receiving reports that one man died and others suffered strong allergic reactions from drinking…
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Don’t coax crocs, Thai tourists told
NAKHON RACHASIMA: Authorities at Khao Yai National Park have given a stern warning to tourists, ordering them to stop taunting the park’s pair of two-meter-long crocodiles. The warning came after officials spotted visitors tempting the beasts with their feet. The reptiles first hit the headlines last year when they were seen swimming around a waterhole in the park, which is…
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Chiang Mai cops see red
CHIANG MAI: Police responding to reports of a gathering of hundreds of armed red-shirt demonstrators on June 12 were relieved when the group turned out to be South Korean soccer fans cheering on their team. Residents told police that a group of around 300 people, many wearing red, had gathered in Manna Rim Mae Ping restaurant on the banks of…
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