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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Battle over elephant’s death
PHUKET TOWN : Veterinarian Taweepoke Angkawanish of the Lampang-based Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC) has held a press conference at Phuket Provincial Livestock Department to explain his role in the controversial death of an elephant he admits to having treated without its owner’s permission. The pachyderm, a female in her 40s named Phang Wassana, died at about 5 pm on…
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Long-necked Karens banned
PHUKET TOWN: The provincial government has banned businesses from bringing long-necked Karen people to stay in the province following reports that a well-known local businessman was planning to use the refugees to make money in the tourism industry. Lertkiat Vongpuaphan, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Governor’s Office, told the Gazette yesterday that existing regulations make it impossible to employ long-necked…
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Patong beautification an ugly mess
PATONG: Hotels and other businesses in Phuket’s capital of fun, having battled their way through the effects of the Bali bombing and the Sars epidemic, are now viewing with despair another deterrent to tourists. The deterrent this time is of local origin – a “beautification program” which has the beachfront looking like Sarajevo at the height of the Balkans war.…
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Filmmakers looking for extras
PHUKET: German movie company Lisa Film is looking for extras to fill out the cast of a romantic made-for-TV drama it will be shooting in and around Phuket over the next few weeks. The movie, Hotel zum Traumen (Dream Hotel) will run for 90 minutes and will premier on the ARD channel in Germany and ORF in Austria. The drama…
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Date set for car numbers auction
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s first auction of special vehicle registration numbers is due to take place on November 27-28 at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. Bidding will start at 10 am. Teerayuth Prasertphol, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) told the Gazette that refundable deposits must be lodged by bidders. “The size of the deposit depends on the…
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Diving lures more Russians
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is set to open an office in Moscow as Phuket attracts more visitors from Russia – especially for diving vacations. Napasorn Kakai, the Deputy Director of the local TAT office, told the Gazette yesterday, “Phuket is appealing to more and more Russian tourists. We now have 5,000 coming each year, especially between November…
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Breakthrough “soon’ in land scandal killing
PHUKET: A senior policeman in charge of investigating the murder that triggered the Phuket land title deeds scandal believes there will be a breakthrough in the case soon. Pongtorn Hiranyaburana, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Land Office, was shot execution-style on a lonely stretch of road as he drove home to his wife in Surat Thani on April 25. Officers…
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TAT denies move to give foreigners right to own land
BANGKOK: Reports that foreigners who buy the one-million-baht Thai Privilege Card will be able to own land have been denied by a senior official of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) parent of the card issuer, the Thai Privilege Card Co Ltd (TPC). The reports suggested that the government was moving to allow card-holders to buy and own up to…
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Public urged to join bad food crackdown
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Health Office held a press conference at its offices on Narisorn Rd today to announce a major campaign to crack down on unsanitary restaurants and outlets that sell meat and vegetables laced with dangerous chemicals. Speaking at the press conference,Vice-Governor Niran Kalayanamit said the inspection regimen of the Clean Food, Good Taste project would play…
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897 declare wild animal ownership
PHUKET: A total of 897 people in Phuket have been officially registered as having protected wild animals in their possession, Sukree Attaporn, Officer of Protected Area Management Administration 19 at Nakhon Sri Thammarat, has told the Gazette. The 19th area includes Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Nakhon Sri Thammarat). Compilation of the figure came after a 120-day amnesty for people…
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Last call for yellow pages
PHUKET: With an unprecedented volume of listing activity in its online database, the publishers of the Gazette Guide, Phuket’s Business & Entertainment Directory, have extended the deadline for listings in the 2004 hard-copy edition from this Thursday until 6 pm on Friday, November 14. Listings (and any modifications to listings) received after Friday will not appear in the 2004 directory,…
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Report fake border stamps, expats told
BANGKOK: Some expat residents will be required to present a police document at Immigration border checkpoints in the continuing crackdown on illegally-obtained or forged entry-exit stamps in passports. Foreigners with passports containing fake stamps who do not report to police before leaving Thailand and are caught at the border may be arrested for conspiracy to commit forgery. The Gazette understands…
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Island “has water for a year’
PHUKET: Huge amounts of rain in October and a freshly-filled Bangwad reservoir mean that Phuket should have no water shortage problems for at least a year, says Sayan Wareearoonroj, Manager of Phuket Provincial Water Supply. A total of 735.6 millimeters of rain fell as recorded at Phuket International Airport – up from 286.7 mm last October and the heaviest monthly…
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Arms cache seized in Trang
CAPE PANWA: Third Naval Area Command recovered a small cache of assault weapons and ammunition from a small island in Trang’s Kantang district yesterday, and an investigation is now underway to determine if the weapons were intended for insurgents in Sri Lanka or Indonesia. V/Adm Pairoj Theerachai, Commander of Third Naval Area Command, said today that a seven-man navy unit…
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PSU joins French tourism project
KATHU: The Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Phuket Campus has joined a 5.4-million-baht project aimed at developing better ways of catering for tourists visiting France and Thailand. The aim is to improve standards and promote education about tourism, and to exchange knowledge about the cultures of the two countries. PSU will work on the program with the Université de Perpignan…
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Skipper accused of smuggling alcohol
THALANG: Marine Police seized 505 bottes of Champagne, wine and spirits in a raid on a rented house near the Yacht Haven marina this morning and accused a Frenchman of failing to pay import duty on the alcohol. Herve Letouze, 48, a catamaran captain, admitted importing the bottles but told police his intention was to drink the goods himself on…
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“Disgraceful’ swindler jailed
PHUKET TOWN: A Phuket man who swindled tourists from nine countries out of a total of two million baht was a disgrace to Thailand, Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said yesterday. Phuket Provincial Court sentenced Saratthawat Tangsathaporn, 31, who once ran the Rose Diamond jewelry story in Patong, to 81 months in jail after he…
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Pet owners moving out of Kamala
KAMALA: Pet owners have begun moving out of Kamala as poisonings of dogs and cats continue. One refugee is Andrew Scatter, whose 100,000-baht Weimaraner hunting dog, Gendolf, has been poisoned twice. Luckily, on each occasion Gendolf was taken to a vet in time for him to be treated, and he survived. But Mr Scatter says he has had enough and…
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Weapons amnesty until December 15
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket residents in possession of unregistered firearms or explosives have until December 15 to turn them in without risk of prosecution. The amnesty, which actually went into effect two weeks ago, on October 17, was announced today by Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Assistant Visasva Sasismit through a press release. It is not clear whether the amnesty is an…
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Minister discusses trilingual education
PHUKET TOWN: Education Minister Pongpol Adireksarn visited Phuket Technical College on Friday to discuss the relevance of both vocational education and trilingual (Thai-English-Chinese) programs to Phuket schools. “We talked about the importance of vocational education,” he said. “The Ministry would like to adapt the subjects in each institute to be in line with the major businesses in their areas.” K.…
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Bus passes to be launched in December
PHUKET TOWN: In an effort to increase the number of passengers using the Phuket Town Bus service and reduce traffic congestion, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) will begin sale of monthly bus passes starting in December. The passes will allow riders unlimited use of the bus system’s two routes for a month and will be available to Thais and…
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Phuket draft plan completed
PHUKET TOWN: Governor Udomsak Usawarangura held a conference with 100 of the island’s top officials and business leaders yesterday at the Royal Phuket City Hotel to finalize the draft strategic plan for Phuket’s development. The draft plan, which emphasizes tourism development, will be presented to Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak this week, following a meeting of all 75 provincial governors…
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More gamblers nabbed in Phuket
PHUKET: A total of 134 people were arrested between October 1 and 25 for gambling, including betting on soccer and selling illegal lottery tickets – up from 46 in the equivalent period in September, according to the latest statistics from the Phuket Provincial Police. Another 154 people were arrested in Phuket as illegal immigrants, one less than in September. There…
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Osaka-Phuket direct flights begin
PHUKET TOWN: Thai Airways International (THAI) has begun direct flights from Osaka, Japan, to Phuket using a 200-seat Airbus. The thrice-weekly service, on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays service, designated as flight TG-637, leaves Osaka at 1:25 am and arrives in Phuket at 6:35 am local time. The service got underway on October 27, the same day as the new THAI…
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Anti-smoking “cops’ to get tough
PHUKET: To mark the first anniversary of the ban on smoking in public venues, officials from the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) will scour the island from November 8 to purge Phuket of persistent puffers. Acting Chief PPHO Somboon Aiyarak today said that from midnight on November 7, PPHO officers will enforce the ban more stringently than they have during…
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Governor rejects casino idea
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket does not need a legal casino, Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura said today. He told a meeting of officers at Phuket Provincial Hall that it would not deliver benefits to the island but would only create more problems. “Even if we have a legal casino in Phuket, it doesn’t mean that illegal casinos will disappear,” he said. Crime, especially…
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Police return after Bush security detail
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket-based police officials who made up the core of the security detail for US President George Bush during the recent Apec summit in Bangkok are now back on the island. Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Pol Col Decha Butnampetch, who was appointed chief of the “front line command center” to secure the US President, told the Gazette that…
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B1.5m in pirate CDs seized
PATONG: Patrons of Patong’s formerly bustling trade in copy CDs and other pirated goods might have been forgiven for thinking it would be back to business as usual once the Apec delegates left the country, but a raid on a Patong shop last Friday night indicates otherwise. The raid, led by newly-installed Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangura and Phuket Provincial Police…
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New party to contest mayoral poll
PHUKET TOWN: About 500 people turned out for the launch of a new political party this week – the Sangsan Party (Creative Party – CP). The new party will field candidates in Phuket Town municipal elections and seek to topple the Khon Num (Young Turks) Party from the mayoral seat. The new party was officially launched at Phuket Polytechnic College…
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THAI launches Sydney-Phuket service
PHUKET TOWN: Thai Airways International (THAI) will launch thrice-weekly direct flights to Phuket from Sydney via Melbourne on October 27, it was announced yesterday. Viset Sontichai, Upper-Southern Thailand District Sales Manager for THAI, told a press conference that the service, TG-980, will use Boeing 737or 747 aircraft, and will land in Phuket on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays at 5:55 am.…
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