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 Media Watch: Thai government welcomes Twitter censorship announcement
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai government welcomes Twitter censorship announcement Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The Thai government welcomed an announcement from the social networking website Twitter that it will start censoring controversial content on a country-specific level, local media reported. Jeerawan Boonperm, the permanent secretary at the Information…
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Man, 27, found hanged in Phuket
PHUKET: Thalang Police believe financial woes led a Phuket man to take his life by hanging last night. Shocked relatives of 27-year-old Awut Sakunchit awoke this morning to find his body suspended by the neck from a nylon cord tied attached to a ceiling support beam in his wife’s home in Thepkrasattri subdistrict. When Thalang Police and Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation…
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Phuket “anti plastic bag’ campaign kicks into gear
PHUKET: The provincial government campaign to rid the island of plastic bags will start in earnest on February 27, when retailers across Phuket will start handing out free cloth bags to shoppers over the course of one week. The news was announced on Friday by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak at the signing of the second Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)…
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Phuket tour van in three-way accident on Patong Hill
PHUKET: A van carrying foreign tourists was involved in a three-vehicle accident on Patong Hill road this morning, causing a long traffic tailback into Phuket’s most popular west coast resort town. The accident happened on the hairpin turn descending into Patong where numerous other mishaps have occurred, including the crash of a tour bus full of Russian tourists in October…
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Phuket Sports: Patriots missile the Ravens to contest Superbowl
PHUKET: Fans of the New England Patriots in Phuket got some great news when local media reports out of Boston revealed that the team’s superstar tight end Rob Gronkowsi will play in the Super Bowl XLVI against the red hot New York Giants. Gronkowski went down with what appeared to be a very serious ankle in the AFC championship game,…
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Phuket Police hunting armed gunman after ‘lightning robbery’
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are scouring the streets of Phuket for a man who robbed a Kasikorn Bank branch at gunpoint, making off with 694,000 baht in less than a minute: Police were alerted to the robbery, at the Tesco Lotus Chaofa shopping complex in Wichit, at 6:15pm this evening. “There were a only a few customers waiting in the…
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PHUKET VIOLENCE: Three ways to knock it back
PHUKET: Security issues and their effect on Phuket’s all-important tourism industry have come into sharp focus in recent weeks following two high-profile incidents of violence. Governor Tri Augkaradacha is correct in his reaction to the impacts of the assassination earlier this month of investigative reporter Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn and the inexplicable violence perpetrated against socialite Vorasit “Pla-wan” Issara at…
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Phuket MP joins call for opposition to Nitirat group
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community MP Sathit Wongnongtoey cites danger over ‘distortion of information’ The Nation PHUKET: Opposition mounted yesterday to the Nitirat group of law lecturers and their controversial proposals regarding the monarchy. At a reunion party, a group of Thammasat University law graduates called for the removal of five…
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Patong tunnel project to start ‘within 6 months’: Pian Keesian
PHUKET: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin expects to get Cabinet approval for the multi-billion baht Patong Tunnel project “within six months”. The project is now under review by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said Mayor Pian. “According to our survey, 86.3 per cent of the high-ranking government officers who have seen the project details agree it should commence… so…
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Phuket’s Bebe and Boo Boo on leave from active duty
PHUKET: Two dogs that underwent training to sniff out drugs on Phuket are currently “on leave” from active duty as their owner tries to find new handlers for them. Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanakul, the owner of a beagle named Bebe and a pitbull named Boo Boo, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that the two dogs are “healthy and…
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“We’re not elephant killers’, say Phuket pair
PHUKET: Jaruwan Wathanapumchoo and her brother Prasit yesterday publicly refuted all allegations that they were in any way involved in the trafficking of elephant meat to Phuket to serve as “exotic food” in selected restaurants. The public joint-statement, made at a press conference at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday, follows allegations of elephant meat trading made against them by two national…
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Phuket laborer claims “elephant god’ saves him from shooting
PHUKET: A man shot three times in the abdomen yesterday said a sacred talisman prevented the projectiles from breaking his skin, but police think it was because they were fired by a slingshot — not a gun. Chalong Police Officer duty officer Atthawat Suwanarat received a report of the shooting at 5:30pm. Prepared for the worst, he rushed to the…
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Glimmer of hope for FC Phuket
PHUKET: A new management team has expressed interest in taking over the rights to manage FC Phuket football side. FC Phuket executives opened the table for any potential backers to take over the team by January 31, the “roll call” deadline for 2012 Thai Premier League (TPL) Division 1 clubs. An official announcement was made yesterday at a press conference…
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“Guns at the ready’ over Phuket jet-ski dispute
PHUKET: Officials in Phuket are stepping in to stave off a potentially lethal situation brewing over three unregistered jet-skis being rented out to tourists at Bang Tao Beach, on Phuket’s west coast. Adding to the fury of the other jet-ski operators at the popular tourist beach, all of whom are members of the “Phuket Jet-ski Club”, is the claim that…
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Phuket Police recover human body off Coral Island
PHUKET: Chalong Police are trying to identify the badly decomposed body of a man discovered offshore at a popular Phuket dive site this afternoon. The police were informed of the discovery at about 4:30pm, duty officer Atthawat Suwanarat told the Phuket Gazette. The crew of a fishing boat discovered the body floating face down about 20 meters offshore from Koh…
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Alarm raised over dog-snatching in Phuket
PHUKET: A Phuket expat who lost his dog at Nai Harn Beach last Sunday has raised concerns over dog-snatching at the popular tourist area. Frank Lamine wrote to the Phuket Gazette earlier today reporting that he had heard of one local dog owner paying 3,000 baht to get his dog back. Mr Lamine lost his 10-year-old white Maltese terrier “Micky”…
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Help pours in for homeless fire victims in Phuket
PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach will assist a mother and 16-year-old daughter left homeless after a house fire on Tuesday. Offers of assistance have been pouring in to the Phuket Gazette since the news was posted online. One reader even offered to rent his house out to them for six months for a token price of one baht.…
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Phuket TAT launches 9 Temples Tour
PHUKET: The Phuket “9 Temples Tour” began today as a way to round out the Chinese New Year festivities and to usher in the Phuket Old Town Festival, which gets underway on Sunday. The tour departs the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office on Thalang Road in Phuket Town each day at 9:30am and 10:30am, taking visitors to nine…
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Phuket crowds flock to Chalong Temple Fair
PHUKET: Despite traffic chaos, Phuket residents have been flocking to the annual Chalong Temple Fair that runs through to Sunday. The vibrant fair each year attracts thousands of visitors who come to sample the wide range of food, browse the market stalls and enjoy the variety of activities on offer. Besides the many famous singers and celebrities taking turns on…
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Two rushed to hospital after separate accidents in Phuket
PHUKET: A Phuket Airport employee returning home from work was seriously injured when her motorbike was hit by a passenger van full of tourists returning from a trip to Phang Nga yesterday afternoon. Thalang Police were notified of the accident at 3:35pm. Arriving at the scene, the turnoff to the airport on Thepkrasattri Road, police found 48-year-old Lamphong Losing lying…
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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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