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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Unidentified foreigner found hanged in Phuket
PHUKET: An unidentified man was found strangled in a hilly area near Freedom Beach in Phuket yesterday afternoon. Police believe he took his own life by hanging. Chalong Duty Officer Capt Nitikorn Rawang received a report about the body at about 5pm. Police found the body in a sitting position on the ground next to a pond. The body was…
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Man shot, dumped, left for dead – but survives in Phuket
PHUKET: A young Cambodian man who was shot in the chest and claims to have been tossed into the ocean afterwards, is being treated at Vachira Phuket Hospital. Doctors are unable to identify him or contact family members due to a language barrier. A source visiting the hospital yesterday told the Phuket Gazette that the the man was a 23-year-old…
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Phuket gets cooking with Local Food Festival
PHUKET: The 4th annual Phuket Local Food Festival kicked off at Saphan Hin in Phuket Town last night with the preparation of what is purported to have been the world’s largest pot of tom som (sweet and sour soup). The event was officially opened by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, who joined together with Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon…
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FC Phuket face extinction
PHUKET: FC Phuket Director Soranan Sanae has sent out a distress call to all wealthy football fans in Phuket to come to the rescue of the team, which is in urgent need of sponsorship, yet again. “If any football-loving foreigners or expat millionaires would like to support the team, they are more than welcome to step up,” he told the…
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Eighth suspect, school kid, arrested for Phuket Pla-wan attack
PHUKET: Police have arrested an eighth suspect wanted in connection with the stabbing of Vorasit “Pla-wan” Issara, the general manager of the Sri Panwa resort who was attacked by staff at the Rachada pub in Phuket Town earlier this month. Phuket City Police deputy superintendent Jamroon Plaiduang released the name of the suspect but was unsure of his age. However,…
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Phuket hit-and-run driver surrenders, victim still in hospital
PHUKET: The driver of a white sedan that struck a motorbike on Thepkrasattri Road then failed to stop has handed himself in to police, while the victim in the accident remains at Vachira Phuket Hosiptal recovering from serious injury. Motorbike rider Suriya Thathamlay was rushed to hospital by emergency workers after he was thrown to the ground when a car…
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Phuket Local Food Fair starts today
PHUKET: The Phuket Local Food Festival 2012 starts today at the central stage area at Saphan Hin Public Park in Phuket Town. The event, funded and organized by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO), runs through Sunday night with a wide variety of staged entertainment, games and shopping opportunities. Most of the staged entertainment will be by children in schools…
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Work underway on Phuket’s newest police headquarters
PHUKET: Work is underway on the headquarters of Phuket’s newest police station, with some officers already taking up residence in barracks near what will eventually be the Wichit Police Station. The work follows an announcement by Phuket Provincial Police in early 2009 that it planned to establish two new independent police precincts in the south of the island. The move…
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Phuket Police chasing ‘missing money’ from currency exchange haul
PHUKET: Phuket Police are still investigating where the remainder of the two million baht in foreign currencies has disappeared to from the robbery of a currency exchange booth in Karon in November. At a press conference at Chalong Police Station yesterday, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangku said his officers were still investigating where most of the money had gone,…
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House fire leaves Phuket poor homeless
PHUKET: A young girl and her mother lost what few possession they owned to a house fire yesterday, leaving them without money for their monthly motorbike rent or for the girl’s school fees. Prapha Pongkunchorn, 52, and her daughter Mookrin Pongkunchorn, 16, had been living rent-free in the house, which had been converted from a garage and had no address,…
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Phuket fruit vendor died of spider bite: wife
PHUKET: A Phuket fruit vendor died yesterday from a severe allergic reaction to a spider bite, his pregnant wife believes.Mrs Piyanan Boonsri, 30, took her husband Wanchai Wonglakorn from their home in Mai Khao to Thalang Hospital on Sunday evening after he complained of soreness in his arm. Eight month’s pregnant, the young wife said her husband returned from work…
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Henan Acrobatic Troupe dazzles Phuket
PHUKET: Thousands of people who attended a Chinese New Year celebration in Phuket Town last night were spellbound by a performance by one of the world’s top acrobatic troupes. The fun began in the late afternoon, as scores of Thai and foreign tourists dined on a huge variety of local dishes on offer by vendors lined up under a walkway…
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Phuket Live Wire: The best apps for iPad owners on the island
PHUKET: Continuing my series of articles answering questions that I hear most often… it seems like half the people I know have got an iPad recently. The question I’m hearing over and over: What apps should I put on my iPad? There’s no definitive answer because the iPad ecosystem changes faster than a Republican primary. At last count, you had…
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Myanmar Concert 2012 touted in Phuket
PHUKET: Many Burmese residents of Phuket are expected to head north to Phang Nga on Sunday for the first-ever Myanmar Concert 2012, part of the annual Phang Nga Red Cross Festival. Performers will include R Zar Ni, Zaw Paing, Wai Su Khine Thein, Yae Lay, Yae Bakar Win and Chan Chan. Posters publicizing the event have been put up at…
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Phuket Media Watch: British Airways resume flights; New Zealand plane crash
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community British Airways to resume flights to Libyan capital in May Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: British Airways plans to reinstate flights to the Libyan capital of Tripoli later this year, the airline announced yesterday. Flights were suspended in February 2011 as a result of the country’s civil…
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Phuket Media Watch: Chinese New Year fuels flight record at Hong Kong Airport
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hong Kong airport sees single-day record of 1,057 flights Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Hong Kong International Airport, one of the world’s busiest airports, handled a single-day record of 1,057 incoming and outbound flights late last week, aviation authorities announced on yesterday. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation…
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Chinese New Year celebration in Phuket Town tonight
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has organized a Chinese New Year celebration tonight at Sanam Chai to see in the Year of the Dragon. A special appearance at this free event will be the stunning “new style” acrobatic show from China’s Henan province starting at 7:35pm, followed by a fireworks display at 8:35pm After that will be musical…
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Fire breaks out at Phuket official’s residence
PHUKET: Phuket firefighters extinguished a fire at the Thalang District Office compound in the early hours of this morning. The fire was reported to Thalang Police at about 2:15am. Thepkrasattri Municipality firefighters took about half an hour to extinguish the blaze, which gutted a room on the second floor of a wooden home used as the residence of a government…
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Phuket ATM scams: Even professionals get caught out
Special Report: Patong Police report at least four people recently being ripped off by gangs scanning their ATM cards and stealing money from their accounts. The Phuket Gazette reports. PHUKET: Alan Robinson, 71, has been living in Phuket for 17 years. As he is a former vice-president of a Swiss bank’s national branch in Japan, one can only imagine his…
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Phuket land probe: witness found hanged
PHUKET: A security guard questioned by government officials about the ownership of land at Freedom Beach in Patong has died of what appears to be a suicide, a local Phuket newspaper has reported. A report in today’s edition of Siangtai Daily newspaper identified the deceased as 54-year-old Narong Piromrak, a native of Nakhon Sri Thammarat province. The death was reported…
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Phuket Media Watch: 7 adrift in wooden boat rescued after 7 days; fire claims 29 homes in Reno
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Seven Chinese rescued after a week adrift in wooden boat Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Seven Chinese fishermen who went missing in the South China Sea last week have been rescued alive, state-run media reported on yesterday. They were said to be in good condition.…
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Phuket Business: Hotel leaders to confer at Thailand Tourism Forum
PHUKET: Thailand’s hotel leaders and international experts will discuss the state of the hospitality sector at the Thailand Tourism Forum (TTF) 2012, to be held on February 2 at the InterContinental Bangkok. Key event participants include Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer of Dusit Hotels and Resorts, Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of the Minor Hotel Group, and Peter Henley, CEO and president…
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Phuket Projects: ‘Benefits’ at odds with people’s choice
PHUKET: The results of the most recent Phuket Gazette readers’ poll reveal that a clear majority want “airport bus” services to Phuket’s west coast resort towns as the tourism development project to move ahead above all others this year. [See page 11, current issue of the Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.] The results indicate that…
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Phuket Police name “mastermind’ suspect behind “Ae Inside’ murder
PHUKET: Police today announced the name of the man they believe masterminded the assassination of Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn, who was shot dead in rush-hour traffic while driving to Phuket Town on January 12. Maj Gen Chonasit Wattanavrangku, superintendent of Phuket Provincial Police, this morning confirmed that arrest warrants had been issued for Atsadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab (pictured above), 48, and…
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Phuket tourism: China lifts travel warning
PHUKET: Good news for the Phuket tourism industry came yesterday when China removed its travel advisory for Thailand. Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul immediately expressed his appreciation for the move. Mr Surapong attributed China’s decision to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s recent participation in a New Year celebration at the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, during which the issue was discussed…
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Tropical Phuket likely to be caught in center of next El Nino heat wave
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 2011 ninth warmest year in recorded history, NASA says Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since at least 1880 [maybe earlier], according to NASA scientists on Thursday. Nine of the ten warmest years have occurred…
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Phuket’s Patong Immigration office to reopen
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration Office Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that the Immigration Office in Patong will reopen next week. The news comes amid rumors that the Patong Immigration Office, which is located right next door to the Patong Tourist Police Volunteers office, had been closed permanently. “The Patong Immigration Office has not been shut down. It…
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Kamala Festival 2012 underway in Phuket
PHUKET: Kamala Festival 2012 got underway this morning with a fishing competition on Kamala Beach. A wide variety of fun activities throughout the weekend are expected to draw tourists and residents from across Phuket. Organized and funded by the Kamala Tambon Administration Organization (Kamala OrBorTor), the center of activities is Chalermprakiat 100 Pee Park on Kamala Beach, where staged events…
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“Safety boost’ at death bend not working: Village chief
PHUKET: The village headman of Baan Kho En has called for officials to install more safety features at the notorious “death bend” on Thepkrasattri Road where the small community resides in the north of Phuket. Somnuek Patee made his plea on Thursday at a high-powered meeting held to review the slew of safety measures put in place on the lethal…
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Phuket villagers protest land claim via dubious title deed
PHUKET: In the latest land dispute in Phuket, more than 100 residents of the Soi Kingkaew Community in Rassada have protested to the governor over alleged attempts by a private investor to get a Chanote land title deed for a 300-rai plot in the area. Led by 41-year-old Thongchai Kaewthong, the residents of Rassada Village 3 went to see Phuket…
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