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.
-
Sponsored Limited-time deal: Save 20% on Cigna's expat health plans forever
Starting a new life abroad is exciting—new culture, new lifestyle, and new chances to grow. But living far from home also means taking steps to protect your health in unfamiliar surroundings. Without the right coverage, even small health issues can...
-
Home Buyers Warned To Check Structure Carefully
PHUKET TOWN: A Public Works officer has warned would-be buyers of townhouses that they must be sure the structure of the building is safe before they buy. Khun Nakonthon Kittisittho, chief of the Phuket Provincial Public Works Office, issued the warning following the collapse of a row of townhouses in Bangkok earlier this month. “My advice to would-be home buyers…
-
School Gears Up For Green Certificate
PHUKET TOWN: Stree Phuket School is one of 13 schools in Thailand selected by the Department of Education to apply for international certification that they meet ‘best practices’ for environmental management. To get ISO 14001 certification from the International Standards Organization, the school will have to show that it has an efficient system for managing everything from separation of waste,…
-
Floating Medics Go Back To Sea
PHUKET TOWN: The floating medics of the south are back at work again after a two-month break for their vessel, the Andaman, to undergo a thorough overhaul following nearly five years at sea. Their first job on the refurbished vessel was to help tourists and athletes involved in the 3rd Thailand International Canoe Races at Krabi earlier this month. Dr…
-
South Koreans Top 1998 Arrests League Table
PHUKET: South Koreans headed the list of foreigners arrested last year, according to figures provided the Gazette by Phuket Provincial Police Headquarters yesterday. Of the 38 foreigners arrested in 1998, 15 were Koreans, followed by Germans (six), British (four), Filipinos and Burmese (three each) and Frenchmen and Swedes (two apiece). Arrests for working illegally topped the league, with 22 offenders…
-
190 Illegals Nabbed
PATONG BEACH: Immigration, Marine Police and Tourist Police officers rounded up 190 illegal aliens last week. Of the 190, 164 were from Burma and 26 from Cambodia. Pol Gen Sant Sarutanond, Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, said most of the illegals were arrested in Patong. Tourists want to relax, he said, but the illegal beggars, particularly the children,…
-
Traffic Accidents Kill 20, Injure 1,034
PHUKET TOWN: Twenty people were killed in traffic accidents between January 20 and February 20, and a further 1,034 were injured, according to figures from the three state hospitals, Wachira, Thalang and Patong. Motorcycle accidents were to blame for the vast majority of deaths and injuries. Of the 20 dead, 19 were killed on motorbikes, with only one dying in…
-
Fish Loved El Niño
PHUKET: The weather phenomenon known as El Niño may have brought floods, drought and other forms of misery to many people around the world, but not to fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean – they benefited from it with bumper catches. It seems that with the appearance of El Niño last year, fish from all over the world decided to…
-
Marital Bliss Imperiled In Paradise
PHUKET: If you want a marriage that’s going to last, don’t marry in Phuket, and definitely don’t marry someone from either the hotel or entertainment industry – it could all end in tears. That, at least appears to be the message from Phuket’s latest marriage and divorce statistics. It seems that couples getting hitched in Phuket are more likely to…
-
Two Tourists Drown In Separate Incidents
NAIHARN/PATONG: A 50-year-old German man and a 75-year-old Swiss woman, both tourists, drowned in separate incidents last week. On February 27, the German tourist, Arno Krain, drowned at Naiharn Beach. His body was found on the sand by police in a patrol car. The following day, acting on an anonymous tip-off, police recovered the body of Mrs Rosa Marie Spanibrusin…
-
Police Nab Suspected Serial Murderer
PHUKET TOWN: Police have announced the arrest of a member of a three-man gang believed responsible for a string of murders and vehicle thefts across the southern provinces of Thailand between July and December last year. In custody and charged with murder and theft is Prapai Baupeng, 26, from Krabi. Phuket police allege that he and two others would typically…
-
Anti-rabies Campaign Ready For Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: As part of Thailand’s annual drive to eliminate rabies, the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office is offering free vaccinations for the island’s dogs. Announcing details of this year’s campaign, the Chief of the Office, Niphat Roungruang, said he expects to vaccinate about 8,500 of Phuket’s estimated 11,000 dogs by the end of this month. Dog owners may also ask…
-
Boom Year For Local Pawn Shop
PHUKET TOWN: The economic crisis fueled an increase in the number of loans against valuables at the Phuket Municipal Pawn Shop last year, according to Manager Phuwadon Chin-nupathum The number of customers seeking loans increased by nearly 2,000 in 1998, compared with 1997, while the total amount of money lent rose from 170,292,530 baht in 1997 to 190,659,300 baht last…
-
Witnesses Fail To Appear In Tong Murder Trial
PHUKET TOWN: A court session scheduled to have taken place this morning was postponed when all five prosecution witnesses slated to testify in the Danis Wayne Tong murder trial failed to appear. The witnesses, Meen Klasuk, Arthit Chiyaiya, Wittaya Taweewongsap, Prasarn Lohajareekul and Ramon Alphibare [name transliterated by the prosecution], will now be subpoenaed to appear May 4-5, according to…
-
Boxing Match To Benefit Local Reporters
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Reporters’ Club is organizing a night of Thai boxing at Saphan Hin Stadium on Friday, February 26, to raise money for the club. Mr Yongyod Phruksarak, president of the club, said that Phuket Governor Chadej Insawang will deliver a short opening address as the event’s guest of honor. There will be nine matches, the first of…
-
Mapping Out Coral For Tourism
SATUN: The Royal Thai Navy has lent its support to an environmental marine survey off Ko Tarutao, Ko Adang, Ko Rawi and Ko Lipe in Satun province as part of the Chulabhorn 39 Project. Rear Admiral Suraphon Chandaeng, Chief of Staff of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, has told Rear Admiral Chavalit Isarangkul, the Director of the Chulabhorn 39…
-
Laguna Resorts & Hotels Announces Record Results
BANGKOK: Laguna Resorts & Hotels, Thailand’s second largest public hotel company, which owns Laguna Phuket, announced a record year in 1998 against the background of the regional economic crisis. Revenues climbed to Baht 2.3 billion, up from last year’s 1.6 billion, an increase of 47%. This was largely due to increased revenues at the Laguna Phuket hotels, (Banyan Tree Phuket,…
-
Willing To Serve But Not Service
PHUKET TOWN: Early in the evening on Valentine’s Day, two girls from Lamphun Province near Chiang Mai told police they had narrowly escaped being forced into prostitution. The pair said they were tricked into traveling from their northern homes for work in a Phuket Town red light district by a husband and wife team who told them they would be…
-
A-Go-Go, Then A-Gone-Gone
PATONG: An English tourist celebrating Valentine’s Day with her husband and two friends had her purse stolen as they watched go-go dancers on Patong’s Soi Bangla. Mrs Evin Annerry, 56, lost 1,500 baht, her credit card and other valuables when she, her husband and friends paused for a few minutes to watch the dancers from the sidewalk along the glittering…
-
Metropole Makes Room For Beauty
PHUKET TOWN: Sixty of Thailand’s most beautiful women will be visiting Phuket from March 20-24 in a warm-up for the Miss Thailand beauty pageant. The girls will be taking part in rehearsals for the pageant, which will be held in Bangkok on March 27. The contestants also visited Phuket last year. The trip is sponsored by the Phuket Chamber of…
-
Valentine’s Day Puts People in Marriage Mode
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s marriage registries were working overtime yesterday when 143 couples decided to tie the knot on Valentine’s Day. Muang District office registered the marriages of 118 couples, compared with 88 couples on Valentine’s Day last year. Kathu united 15 couples, up from 10 last year, while Talang had 10 couples completing their nuptials, the same number as Valentine’s…
-
Santi Ho Withdraws From Sunshine
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s latest entry into the local radio market has lost one of its founders to an internal dispute. Sunshine Radio (95 FM) took to the air late last year, and was immediately dogged with technical and personnel problems. Though enthusiastic about its mission and ambitious in its goals, the station was plagued by frequent shutdowns, halting segues and…
-
Swedish Tourist Dies In Bike Accident
CHALONG: A Swedish tourist died from head injuries after he rode his motorbike into a gully near the Arcadia Hotel and Resort on Karon Beach. Mr Bo Christer Elisson, 32, was travelling with a companion on another motorbike when the accident occurred at 4 a.m. on February 10. He was not wearing a helmet. Mr Ellison’s companion, who did not…
-
Phuket Rugby Sevens Date Announced
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament has now been confirmed for July 24-25. The tournament, which will bring to Phuket 24 Thai and international teams, has been delayed because of imminent changes in the administration of the Thai Rugby Union (TRU). The TRU will meet next month to form a new committee which will then be responsible for…
-
Jennings Murder Trial Adjourned
PHUKET TOWN: Suspect Nongnut Tungkaburi failed to appear in court yesterday as the result of an illness which, according to a letter from her doctor, required that she remain at home for two days, February 9-10. Her representative also told the court that she has retained a new, Bangkok-based lawyer who would be able to attend court in Phuket next…
-
Gloomy Forecast For Tourist Spending
PHUKET TOWN: In the Gazette Poll for the week ended yesterday, local residents, Thai and foreign alike, expressed considerable pessimism about the outlook for tourist spending in 1999. An overwhelming 79% of them saw visitor spending dropping from 1998, with 10% predicting that it would remain unchanged from last year’s apparently depressed level. Only 1% of the 290 Phuketians participating…
-
Trade Center To Encourage Business
PHUKET: The Ministry of Industry is to set up a trade center in the vacant Offshore Mining Organisation building in Phuket Town. The purpose of the center is to facilitate marketing of locally produced goods to foreign buyers. “We plan to organize a trade center displaying industrial and consumer goods, and handicrafts,” said Adisorn Naphavaranonth, Chief of the Phuket Provincial…
-
Australian Post Graduate Studies Offered In Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The Rajabhat Phuket Institute has teamed up with Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, to offer post graduate degrees. The institute currently has 25 students studying for Masters Degrees and PhDs through distance learning programs with the Australian university, according to Wannee Wannapruk, Vice President for General Affairs. A total of 16 of students are Rajabhat Phuket…
-
Officials Report 30 New AIDS Cases
PHUKET TOWN: Government health officials recorded 30 new cases of AIDS in Phuket province and two deaths from AIDS-related complications during the one-month reporting period ending January 20. Seven of 240 pregnant women tested during the period were found to be HIV positive. The Phuket Provincial Health Department has recorded 864 cases of AIDS since it began keeping records in…
-
Foreign Biker Killed On Patong-Kamala Rd
KAMALA BEACH: Alexander Payne, a 24-year-old Englishman living in Kamala and working in Patong, died late Friday night or early Saturday morning when the motorcycle he was driving flew off an embankment and into a deep ditch near Nakaburi at the crest of the Patong-Kamala Road. He was alone at the time of the accident. The wreckage was spotted by…
-
Dolphin Deaths Under Investigation
CAPE PANWA: Eleven bottle-nosed dolphins and one dugong were found dead on January 25 in a protected coastal zone off Libong Island in nearby Trang province. Villagers at Koh Libong in Kantang District spotted the dolphins floating in a no-fishing zone around the island and reported the find to Trang Fisheries officials. The dolphins and the dugong were transported to…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.