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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Phuket Gazette Sports: Swimming great wants life bans
Fraser wants life ban for Australian 4x100m swimmers Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Swimming great Dawn Fraser wants life bans imposed on members of the Australian men’s 4x100m freestyle relay squad who admitted using a banned sedative in a bonding session before last year’s London Olympics. James Magnussen and team mates Matt Targett, Eamon Sullivan, Cameron McEvoy and Tommaso DOrsogna…
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Man dies in second Phuket hit-and-run in two days
PHUKET: A 21-year-old security guard from Phattalung has died after the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a car on the road from the Heroines’ Monument (map here) to Pa Khlok late last night. He was the second person to be struck down in a hit-and-run in Phuket in two days (see story here). Thalang Police Duty Officer Chatree…
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Phuket Gazette office closed today
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew had to be closed today, Thursday, February 28, due to yet another all-day blackout in the area to upgrade power lines. The blackout affects Soi Harn Farang and Soi Koh Kaew 33, and may affect adjoining areas that are supplied electricity from…
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Thailand News: Thais score lowest in English; Money laundering blacklist; Bangkok Flood Center opens
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thais score lowest in TOEFL Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: With TOEFL scores averaging at 450, Thai students’ proficiency in the English language appears to be the lowest in the Asean region. In order to overcome this, academics are urging universities to seriously start strengthening students’ English-language…
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DSI raids Phuket building supplies operator
PHUKET: Officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today raided a local construction supply company suspected of stealing sand from a National Forest to sell for use in Phuket’s booming property industry.The DSI made headlines last week for investigating illegal land title deeds in Sirinart National Park, on Phuket’s west coast.The raid started at 8am today when DSI chief…
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French family saved from speedboat adrift
PHUKET: A French man and his family were rescued on Tuesday night after their speedboat broke down about two nautical miles from Koh Sirae. Phuket Marine Police received a distress call from Patick Legros, 58, at about 8:30pm informing them that he, his wife and his 7-year-old daughter were in need of help. Chatchai Sakdee of the Marine Police led…
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All safe after Phuket tour boat hits mooring, sinks in Chalong Bay
PHUKET: A tour boat carrying 15 tourists collided with a concrete mooring and sank during its approach to Chalong Pier during low tide yesterday afternoon. All 15 tourists on board, and the skipper, were safely rescued. The accident occurred when the tourist boat Darunee, skippered by Suthip Kasathit, 50, was returning with about 15 passengers from a snorkeling trip to…
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Police suspect Chevy driver in Phuket hit-and-run
PHUKET: Police are searching for the driver of a Chevrolet vehicle believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run in Phuket Town last night. Phuket City Police duty officer Akaradech Phongprom received a report that a man riding a motorcycle had been struck down on Narisorn Road, near Phuket Provincial Hall (map here), at about 10:30pm. Officers arrived at the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: NACC freezes B65mn of general’s assets in corruption probe
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) yesterday froze 65 million baht of assets belonging to retired General Satien Permthong-in pending a judicial review, on suspicion that they are ill-gotten gains.Well-known Thammasat University Professor Sombat Chantarawong’s name has surfaced in relation to the case, as Satien’s adopted daughter asked…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Egypt balloon crash kills 19; Vatican scrambles in Pope vote; Iran nuclear talks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt balloon crash kills 19, mostly foreign tourists Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: At least 19 people, most of them Asian and European tourists, died yesterday when a hot air balloon crashed near the ancient Egyptian town of Luxor after a mid-air gas explosion, officials said.The balloon came…
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2013 ACYC Keel Boat and Multihull Club Championship Race Series 2 announced
PHUKET: Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) has announced the 2013 ACYC Keel Boat and Multihull Club Championship Race Series 2 – FCI Watermaker Series. The first race will be on March 3. Eligibility and entry: The series is open to all keel yachts and multihulls with an overall length of greater than six meters. Eligible boats may enter by completing…
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Vicious Pit Bull Attack: Phuket mother files for compensation
PHUKET: A compensation complaint for a hospital bill totalling nearly 700,000 baht was filed with Wichit Police yesterday after a man was savaged in a vicious pit bull attack.Benjarat Ekpaiboon’s 33-year-old son, Tiensak Ekpaiboon, was attacked by three of their neighbor’s five pit bulls around 8am on February 6.“He’s been in hospital for almost three weeks now. Some of the…
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Phuket Live Wire: Anatomy of a land line meltdown
PHUKET: As I continued my pursuit of a decent internet connection in Phuket for the house I’m moving into, a funny thing happened. That’s funny as in strange, not funny as in hilarious. Depending on where you lived in Thailand, at about 2am on Friday morning, February 15, if you had internet service from TOT your line went down. Again,…
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Major hotels prepare for blackouts next month
PHUKET: Major retailers, hotels and other businesses are planning strategies to cope with a possible electricity crisis in April, preparing to reduce power consumption to prevent blackouts and losses in revenue. A large supply of natural gas from Myanmar will be disrupted from April 4-12 as two drilling rigs in the Andaman Sea are shut down for repairs. Other fuel…
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Phuket Finance: The many laws of averaging
PHUKET: Averaging is a word that has many meanings when it comes to investing. The investment world is full of conflicting opinions and advice, and a very common mistake people make is following advice that may be intended for short term speculative money and applying it to long term investment money, or money that is meant to be generating a…
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Phuket Business: Expats rank Thailand highly in global survey
PHUKET: One of the largest ‘expat living’ surveys conducted last year ranked Thailand second in terms of experience and quality of life, while ranking the Kingdom third in economics. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) recently published the results of its 2012 Expat Explorer Survey, which encompassed responses from more than 5,000 expats residing in thirty countries.The same…
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Phuket Business: Fill “er up with gasohol please
PHUKET: Due to the discontinuation of the supply of pure Benzine (91-octane) petrol nationwide, the consumption of gasohol in Phuket this year is expected to increase by at least 50%.Rattakorn Klinchan, head of research at the Phuket Energy Office, affirmed that supplies of pure Benzine 91 were discontinued nationwide on January 1, with most Phuket stocks already drying out this…
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Six injured on merit making trip to Phuket’s renowned Big Buddha image
PHUKET: A bus carrying 26 Burmese, en route to make merit at Phuket’s renowned Big Buddha image, swerved off the road yesterday injuring six passengers. The po thong, a six-wheeled “bus” with two planks for passenger seats, was driven by Abdollah Sairaya, 54. “I was contacted by the workers at about 5pm. They asked me to pick them up from…
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Thailand News: Former insurgent urges plea-bargaining scheme to be extended
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Insurgent’s life ‘a sunny day’ after plea-bargain Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: A former insurgent has urged the government to extend the plea-bargaining scheme to cover the entire southern border areas in order to attract more militants to surrender. Rawyalee Bueraheng, who has been released…
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AMCHAM taxation seminar for Americans
PHUKET: If you are an American and are baffled by the US tax regime on overseas residents, then you do not want to miss an AMCHAM – the American Chamber of Commerce – seminar on March 8 at the Holiday Inn Patong. John Andes, tax partner at KPMG Thailand, will provide an overview of US taxpayers’ 2012 US income tax…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Myanmar banks given green light by US Treasury
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. gives banking green light to Myanmar tycoons Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two banks owned by tycoons associated with Myanmar’s former military regime will start to do business with U.S. companies and investors in the latest reward for the Southeast Asian country’s rapid political transformation.…
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New multi-million baht Chalong dam plagued with problems
PHUKET: Construction issues plague the Klong Pee dam project in Chalong less than a year after it was completed at a cost of over 10 million baht.Villagers complained to the Irrigation Project of Phuket, but after nine months of silence have turned to the Phuket Governor and the Phuket Press Club for help.“On February 15 of this year, we filed…
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Three Phuket residents die on journey to make merit
PHUKET: Three Phuket residents died and two were injured on their way to make merit for Makha Bucha Day when their car went off the road and landed in a pond in Phang Nga today. One of the passengers, a five-year-old girl, was thrown from the car and was found dead in the pond water. “At about 8am this morning,…
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New Zealanders make Phuket flight despite multi-vehicle crash
PHUKET: Three tourists from New Zealand made their flight out of Phuket today despite a concrete truck hitting their limousine and sending it careening under the bed of a parked 10-wheeled truck on Thepkrasattri Road. “The limousine driver, Worrathat Chaikajorn, 47, had picked up the three tourists in Patong and was taking them to Phuket International Airport shortly before 11am…
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Alcohol banned tonight for Makha Bucha
PHUKET: A nationwide ban on the sale and purchase of alcohol is in effect today, Makha Bucha Day, one of the four annual religious holidays in Thailand.“Alcohol is banned in Phuket and across the country out of respect for the holy day,” Peerayuth Karajedee, Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “We have sent out…
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Phuket Opinion: Drivers’ carelessness causes traffic jams
PHUKET: Phuket City traffic policeman Pol Sen Sgt Maj Boonliang Maneewong, 53, is from Sisaket province in the Northeast. He graduated from the Provincial Police Training Center Region 2 in Chon Buri province in 1984 and has been working with the Thalang Police since 1985. He has been a traffic officer for 20 years, and for the last three years…
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Phuket officials squelch Dengue fever rumors
PHUKET: Residents must do their part in controlling dengue fever by not allowing water to stand in containers around their homes, officials have told the Phuket Gazette as rumors started to grow last week of an outbreak in Karon. In response to a complaint from a reader living on Patak Road Soi 24 in Karon that at least nine people…
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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United back on track with away victory
PHUKET: Five different Phuket United players scored the goals that contributed to the team’s away-victory (2-6) against Samut Songkhram on Sunday afternoon in Bangkok. Played at Bangkok’s Fashion Island Futsal Arena, the match was both side’s 24th of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier League (TFPL) 2012-2013 season. Phuket United’s goals were scored by Brazilian Jardel, who scored both…
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Phuket Opinion: Time to rein in rogue cops
PHUKET: Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavalviwat should be applauded for getting personally involved in the investigation into the attack on a teenage couple who claim to have been assaulted by two sons of a Thalang Police officer on St Valentine’s Day (story here). Reports of assault involving minors are all too common in Thalang, which has a history of teenage…
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Mangrove flyover given start date, plans tweaked
PHUKET: A May start date for the long awaited 170-million-baht Klong Koh Pee flyover project, which will now traverse 700 meters of protected mangrove forest, was announced yesterday by the Phuket Governor. “The people of Phuket have been waiting for this project to start for almost 20 years,” Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut said. “The project is important, as it provides…
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