News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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Patong Hospital ramps up flood defenses
PHUKET: A project costing 16 million baht to better protect Patong Hospital from flooding is expected to be completed by January 7, Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and Pheu Thai Party Government Spokesman Prompong Nopparit were told on Friday. The news follows Patong Hospital flooding during the downpours last week, prompting Governor Tri and MP Prompong to visit the facility to…
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Push for new Patong Road in protected Phuket forest gains ground
PHUKET: Officials are hoping to have enough public support by October to start the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for a 100-million-baht road through protected Phuket forest connecting Patong and Chalong. The EIA will be a critical hurdle for the project as the proposed route will cut through at least one kilometer of protected national forest in the Nakkerd Hills. In…
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Phuket Sports: Dragons still on fire despite the rain
PHUKET: A single goal in the final minutes of the first half was enough for Thai Yamaha 1 runaway league leaders, Ratchaburi FC to prevail over Phuket FC last night. Played on a damp pitch under overcast skies at Surakul Stadium, the match was one of the first for Phuket FC this season to be broadcast live on national cable…
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Phuket Opinion: More disasters guaranteed
PHUKET: The Tiger Discotheque tragedy on August 17 demonstrates yet again that when it comes to “disaster preparedness” Phuket seems to be battling invisible demons, continually hit in the back of the head by obvious threats we had somehow managed to either ignore or even identify as a possibility. The latter is of course best exemplified by the 2004 tsunami.…
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Phuket Police nab serial snatch bandit
PHUKET: Police on Wednesday arrested a serial snatch-and-run thief who allegedly committed at least 12 robberies in Phuket Town over the past month.The suspect was identified as 20-year-old Wuttipong Uonpong, listed as a resident of Ayutthaya.Lt Col Prawit Engchuan of the Phuket City Police told the Gazette that his office had received numerous theft reports from the Samkong area of…
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Loan shark bagman shot in Phang Nga
PHUKET: A debt collector for a local loan shark survived a bullet wound to his back inflicted by a gang of teenagers in Phang Nga yesterday afternoon.The victim, Somchai Chaonalai, arrived by motorbike to Thung Kha Ngok District Police Station after the shooting to ask police there for assistance in getting to hospital. Lt Prajuab Wongthong, who was on duty…
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Thailand’s coral reefs 50% gone: Phuket marine biologist
PHUKET: With coral reef systems in Thai coastal waters at a “crisis” level, the director of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has vowed to step up his department’s efforts to mitigate the damage caused by the fishing industry and other human factors.“Currently, our natural coral reefs are not half of what they used to be – we are in…
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Families of Phuket disco fire accept Bt1mn compensation
PHUKET: Families of the two Thai victims killed in the Tiger Discotheque fire on August 17 accepted compensation cheques of 1 million baht each during a ceremony in Phuket yesterday. The handover ceremony at the Tiger Live Band venue in Patong, not far down Bangla Road from the gutted disco, was shown live on Thai TV Channel 7 as part…
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Poll: Should Phuket be exempted from election-day alcohol bans?
PHUKET: Alcohol sales will be banned island-wide this weekend due to the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization election on Sunday, while Patong will face two consecutive weekends of lost nightlife trade due to municipal council elections, due to take place there next weekend. The alcohol bans will be in effect from 6pm on Saturday through to midnight on Sunday. Retail outlets…
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Phuket Sports: Premiership preview
PHUKET: The Premiership returned last weekend to bring joy and pain back to football fans across Phuket again. The drama and excitement of the world’s most popular football league was played out across England, with all 20 teams playing over Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Saturday saw seven games played with the stand-out result being West Brom’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool.…
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PM Yingluck Shinawatra invited to speak at Phuket Halal Expo
PHUKET: The organizers of the annual Phuket Halal Expo, to take place early next month, have invited Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan to give speeches at the event, which will have special activities in Patong and Phuket Town. Officially entitled “Phuket Andaman Halal for Tourism 2012”, the expo is intended to showcase the island’s Muslim…
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Thailand News: Police kill drug suspect in shoot-out
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Drug pusher shot dead by Bangkok police Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Police shot dead a drug suspect during an operation to stop the distribution of 1.5 million methamphetamine tablets onto Bangkok’s streets yesterday. The shipment could have fetched 450 million baht (approximately US$15,000,000). Suthi Suwanyusiri,…
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Phuket taxi driver presents photo of Tiger Disco ‘ghost’
PHUKET: A Phuket motorcycle taxi driver who entered the charred remains of the Tiger Discotheque the day after the fatal fire claims that photographs he took inside bear images of the spirit of a woman who lost her life there. The motorcycle driver told the Phuket Gazette that he belonged to a group of motorcycle taxi drivers who pick up…
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Phuket Sport: International round up
PHUKET: The following is a round up of international sports news, compiled by the Phuket Gazette for the island’s international community. ATHLETICS: Yohan Blake did the unthinkable at the Lausanne Diamond League meeting: he managed to take the headlines away from Usain Bolt. Blake ran the third fastest 100-meter race of all time, clocking 9.69 seconds. Bolt holds the world…
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Tonight! Phuket Seafood Fiesta in Patong
PHUKET: The Phuket Seafood Fiesta casts its net today in an effort to draw more visitors to the island during the current low season for tourism. The Seafood Fiesta, held in conjunction with the Andaman Hoteliers 2012 event, runs from 3pm to 10pm today and tomorrow at the Jungceylon shopping complex in Patong. “At the festival you can experience all…
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Phuket Business: The ultimate island view
PHUKET: What do you get when you cross a remote controlled helicopter with a camera? A helicam of course. Helicam is also the name of the Phuket-based company that has been hovering over the island for the past eight years. And what do you get when you have eight years of aerial shots of Phuket? An opportunity to create a…
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Thailand News: Sex trade – playing with the devil
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Transvestites, women warned against sex trade in Mideast Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Many Thai male cross-dressers get legitimate jobs in Oman as masseuses but choose to also offer sexual services on the side, a Thai embassy official in Muscat said Panida Somao said the laws…
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Full-scale tsunami rescue drill “freaks out’ Phuket tourists
PHUKET: Two tourists on holiday from Vietnam panicked after witnessing the full-scale tsunami rescue drill being conducted off the east coast of Phuket this afternoon. “Oh my God! My friend and I thought it was some kind of terrorist attack or that a really big accident had happened. We had no clues it was a drill.” said Ms Julie as…
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Phuket Tiger Disco fire: Police identify two Thai women as victims
PHUKET: Forensics experts at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok have officially announced the names of two more victims of the Tiger Discotheque fire in Phuket last Friday. Dr Bhawat Prateepvisrut, a forensic pathologist at the institute, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today that two of the four bodies recovered from the scorched nightclub had been identified as those…
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Dinosaurs heading for Phuket holidays
PHUKET: Dinosaurs are taking a holiday in Phuket, along with all the other old bones on the island, in a travelling museum exhibition open from August 28 to September 16. The free-entry exhibition, with information in Thai and English about paleontological and geological discoveries in Thailand, will be open daily at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) between 8:30am and…
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Phuket Sports: Aspiring Thai futsal squads pitted against Spain
PHUKET: Thailand’s male university futsal team progressed to the quarterfinals in the World University Championships (WUC), set to take on tournament favorites, Spain, later tonight. Meanwhile, the Thailand senior males national squad are also scheduled to take on the world’s top-ranked team, Spain, in two friendly matches in Thailand this weekend. Being hosted at the University of Minho in the…
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Four Tiger Disco victims found “one meter’ from fire exit: rescue workers
PHUKET: Rescue workers who recovered the bodies of the four people who died in the Tiger Discotheque inferno last Friday have revealed that all four bodies were found only “one to two meters” from a fire exit. “All four of the bodies were found in front of the restrooms on the second floor, only one to two meters from a…
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Phuket teenager confesses to slaying stepfather with axe
PHUKET: A 15-year-old boy who confessed to murdering his stepfather with an axe told police yesterday that the attack was motivated by the man’s abusive behavior to his mother. The murder was reported to Chalong Police at 9:30pm on Tuesday. Arriving at the scene, a modest home near the Baan Maneekram housing estate on Kwang Road, police found the body…
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Flood-displaced python prompts panic in Phuket
PHUKET: Rescue workers yesterday captured a huge python they believe was slithering to higher ground to avoid floodwaters that affected much of Phuket yesterday.Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation workers at Baan Kor En, in Mai Khao, were notified of the serpent by nearby villagers, who called for assistance after the legless creature appeared behind an unnumbered rental home in their community.The workers…
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Top police brass calls for public help in making Phuket safer
ROYAL Thai Police Assistant Commissioner-General Chalermkiat Srivorakan has appealed to the people of Phuket to help police in maintaining public safety. The Assistant Commissioner’s plea came at the launch of a publicity campaign in Patong on August 17 to promote the new Patong Safety Zone project to tourists. “Crime is on the rise everywhere these days, especially in tourist areas,…
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Forensics experts: 30 days to identify cause of Phuket’s Tiger Disco blaze
PHUKET: The top forensics police officer in the country yesterday announced it will take 30 days to determine what started the fire that engulfed the Tiger Discotheque last Friday. Four people died and 11 were injured in the blaze. Col Nattapol Samsen, the Superintendent of the national Office of Forensic Science, led a team of 10 investigators in collecting evidence…
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Phuket Sports: The noble art of Muay Chaiya
PHUKET: Muay Chaiya, or Chaiya-styled Thai Boxing, is part of the martial arts that are collectively known as Muay Boran, literally the ancient art of fighting. It’s the ancestor of the ever-popular Thai boxing, Muay Thai, which has been heavily adapted and modified into the fast and furious stage fight that we know today. Originating in Chaiya, a town in…
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Phuket Sports: Thai Futsal season set for October start
PHUKET: Representatives from the 16 teams set to compete in the Thailand Futsal League’s (TFL) 2012-2013 season, including Phuket United, were told to prepare for an unofficial season opener by October. The team representatives recently held a meeting with Tirachai Wuthitham, President of the National Futsal Development council, to discuss the commencement of this year’s season. Initially planned for July,…
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Phuket van driver takes life by hanging
PHUKET: A heartbroken van driver took his own life by hanging in Phuket Town last night after his girlfriend of seven years refused his pleas to get back together. Phuket City Police at 6:30am today received a report of a death by hanging at a rented room on Soi Saensuk, on the west side of town. The man was later…
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Phuket floods delay flight, mudslide confirmed
PHUKET: The floodwater that slowed traffic to a snail’s pace across Phuket this morning resulted in a Thai Airways flight being delayed to ensure passengers caught in traffic jams could get aboard. Staff at the Phuket International Airport Customer Service department confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that Thai Airways flight number TG204, scheduled to depart Phuket at 10:55am, was delayed…
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