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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B1m reward for US-Thai fugitive
BANGKOK: Thai and US law enforcement officials today announced a 1-million-baht reward for information leading to the capture of Saner Wonggoun, a most-wanted US fugitive believed to be hiding in Thailand. Saner, alias “Shorty” or “Buck”, is wanted in connection with the 1994 murder of his pregnant wife and their eight-month-old unborn child. Saner, born in Nakon Nayok Province in…
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Thousands turn out to mark Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET CITY: More than 10,000 people took part in a parade on Monday as part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. The parade included representatives of 18 shrines, many businesses as well as students from schools around Phuket . The procession started at 4 pm at Queen Sirikit Park on Thalang Road and walked along Phuket Rd to Saphan Hin, where…
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Nominee crackdown halves new company registrations
PHUKET: Only 76 new companies were registered in September – compared with 135 and 132 during the same month in 2005 and 2004, respectively – following the August 15 announcement from the Ministry of Commerce that rules regarding foreign partnerships would be strictly enforced.Veerachai Tantiwathanavallop, Chief of the Phuket Commercial Registrations Office, told the Gazette that the number of new…
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Phuket Carnival to be record-breaker
PATONG: This year’s Phuket Carnival, a celebration held to ring in the official start of the high season for tourism, is being touted to be the biggest ever with a record 3 million baht in funding provided by the Phuket Tourist Association. This year’s activities will be centered along Thaweewong Rd, between Soi Bangla and the Holiday Inn on Soi…
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The party’s over
KATA-KARON: After six ground-breaking Nation parties – four in Singapore and two in Phuket – the gay and lesbian portal Fridae.com drew the curtains in Phuket when the last track of the three-day event, spun by Australian DJ Kate Monroe, trailed off into cheers at around 8 am this morning at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket Resort & Spa.The 1,500-plus revelers,…
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Another man gunned down
RASSADA: A Kathu man was gunned down while riding his motorcycle near Phuket Rajabhat University around 1:30 am on Wednesday.The man, identified by police as Panumas Chusawas, 23, was killed by at least four .38mm bullets while riding, with a friend riding pillion, along the Ban Kuku-Samkong road.The friend was unharmed and notified police. He declined to reveal his name…
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Two nabbed in Patong drug bust
PATONG: Undercover police arrested two ya bah (methamphetamine) dealers in a sting operation on Nanai Rd early Thursday morning, seizing almost 100 pills.Kathu Police Inspector Maj Serm Kwannimit led the arrest, with other officers arranged to buy 95 pills at 25,000 baht at the Blue Sky Residence on Nanai Rd.Somjin Srikwan, 39, and Athen Lenukul, 33, both natives of Songkhla…
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Burial for 422 tsunami victims
PHANG NGA: Three religious ceremonies – one Buddhist, one Christian and one Muslim – were performed October 16 in preparation for burying 422 unidentified tsunami victims in Baan Bang Muang Cemetery.Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, Superintendent of the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification unit, told the Gazette, “These 422 bodies have not been claimed and we have no information about them, so…
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All green for Vegetable Frenzy
PHUKET CITY: Organizers of the annual Vegetarian Festival have announced that all systems are go for the start of this year’s event tomorrow night. Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr said that in celebration of this year’s festival, falling during the 60th anniversary of HM The King’s accession to the throne, the OrBorJor will put on a range…
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More Maneaters wanted”¦
KRABI: Thai Occidental Productions is casting for the next in its series of Maneater feature films being shot in Krabi and Phuket. “We will start filming on Monday, but will be shooting in and around Phuket from November 1 to 4,” Ms Hall told the Gazette. Extras and small-part actors are needed for scenes including a staged crocodile show and…
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Beach Volleyball: Brazilians top seeds at Phuket Open
PHUKET: The World No 1 pairing of Larissa and Juliana from Brazil have been named as No 1 seeds at the Phuket Thailand Open, the final round of the Swatch FIVB Beach Volley World Tour 06. Seeded No 2 are current Olympic and World Champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh from the USA. Two more Brazilian teams – Ana Paula…
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Pongpayome appointed new Ministry of Interior Permanent Secretary
BANGKOK (The Nation; Gazette): Former Phuket Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi has been promoted from Deputy Permanent Secretary to Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior (MoI).K. Pongpayome, 58, governed Phuket from 2000 to 2003 and was one of five pioneer Governor CEOs. After leaving the province, he took up the post of Director-General of the Department of Local Administration (DOLA) and…
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Tsunami orphanage remains open while fraud probe stalls
PHUKET: The Barnhem Thai-Swedish Children’s Foundation home for tsunami orphans in Mai Khao will continue to operate while a provincial investigation into fraud claims has stalled, awaiting the return of the home’s founder Narin Dangtakote.The provincial committee is now coming under intense pressure from the Interior Ministry to produce results following the Swedish Embassy’s dispatch last month of an official…
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Phummisak appointed to NLA
PHUKET: Phummisak Hongsyok, former Mayor of Phuket City and President of the Phuket Real Estate Club, has been appointed to serve in the National Legislative Assembly, a new 242-member body which will serve as the country’s interim parliament while the new constitution is being drafted.K. Phummisak said that he thought he was selected because of his background in business and…
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Price freeze ordered for Veg Festival
PHUKET CITY: To prevent price-gouging in the upcoming Phuket Vegetarian Festival, the Phuket Internal Trade Office (PITO) has announced that they will inspect shops to ensure that prices of vegetables and other festival supplies are not above currently recorded market prices, and that prices are clearly marked on all products.Phuket Commercial Affairs Chief Thada Piyaporn said that more vegetables will…
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Call for donations for flood victims
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office of Disaster Prevention Mitigation (ODPM) is calling for donations to help people who have been affected by the floods in northern and central Thailand.ODPM Chief Aroon Kerdsom yesterday said that 19 provinces have experienced flooding so far this season, with Ang Thong, Sing Buri, Chai Nat and Chanthaburi the hardest hit.In response, foundations, businesses and…
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New Zealander killed in Karon
KARON: New Zealand tourist Warwick Button, 32, died early Thursday morning during a fight with bar owner Wayne Robinson, 40, and his friend Anthony Quinn, 56, both from the UK.Chalong Police Inspector Lt Col Chokchai Sutthimek told the Gazette that he was informed of an altercation among foreigners at the Dimension Bar on the access road to the Karon Whale…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET CITY: The annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival, complete with face-piercing spirit mediums, will be held October 22 to 30 at shrines in and around Phuket City. The traditional Chinese festival emphasizes merit making and ritual cleansing of the body. Participants are invited to wear white clothes and abstain from meat, sex, and foods with strong odors for the duration of…
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Funeral services for John Seebach
CHERNG TALAY: Funeral rights for John Seebach are being held daily until his cremation on Tuesday morning at Wat Cherng Talay, where his body is now resting. Although welcome to pay their respects at the wat anytime, friends and relatives are asked to attend a special memorial service on Monday night, starting at 7:20 pm. A wake in memory of…
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Dive operators fight crackdown in court
PHUKET: Dive operators opposing the new regulations that went into effect October 1 have taken their fight to the Administrative Court, where they are challenging the legality of the new regulations.Pragon Geatgun, Vice-President of the Thai Diving Association (TDA), told the Gazette on Tuesday that the TDA was representing about 60 dive operators in Phuket who have lodged a petition…
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Deadline for local telephone book
PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2007 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s ‘yellow pages’, have until noon on Saturday, 28 October, to enter (or update) their listings. Any entries made after the deadline will not appear in the hard-copy book until January 2008. Business owners are urged to update their listing details now in order to avoid the server outages experienced…
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Carrefour to open at Jungceylon
PATONG: French hypermarket chain Carrefour will open its first branch in Phuket as part of the December 1 soft opening of Jungceylon, putting to rest the speculation that the now-deposed Thaksin government’s efforts to rein in the expansion of large retailers would effect the project.The opening was confirmed during an October 6 press conference at Jungceylon by Prawit Janyasittikul, Deputy…
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Pattani police to bolster Phuket security
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police are to borrow more than 100 officers from strife-torn Pattani Province to reinforce their numbers in the coming high season. Pol Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth, Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, yesterday said, “This high season we will have more tourists because we have new target markets in Russia, Israel and India. “At present we do not…
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Underwater tsunami memorial installed off Phi Phi Island
PHI PHI ISLANDS: Thailand’s first underwater tsunami memorial was laid down on the seabed in Tonsai Bay, off Koh Phi Phi Don, in a ceremony on September 30.The memorial, 1.4 kilometers offshore and at a depth of 20 meters, took about one month to install. The The monument comprises three large granite markers, each 150 centimeters tall and arranged to…
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Local businesses may pony up for security boost
PHUKET: In a bid to increase security on the island, four of the island’s top tourism business associations are planning to establish a fund to help pay for extra police work and equipment.Phuket Tourist Association President Maitree Narukhatpichai told the Gazette that the idea sprang from widespread concerns about the possible effects of an act of terror on the island’s…
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Gambling top vice in September
PHUKET: Statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police again show gambling as the top crime category, with 164 people arrested for gambling-related offenses between September 1 and 30.The second-highest category was drug-related offenses, with 109 arrests.There were two cases of attempted murder, with arrests made in both cases. Two murders were reported during the period, with one case solved. There…
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Seminar on use of nominees in Thai companies
PHUKET CITY: A timely seminar aimed at helping individuals and the business community to understand the Foreign Business Act (FBA) will be held at the Royal Phuket City hotel on October 23. Organized by financial consultants Network Advisory Team and sponsored by the Phuket Gazette, the forum will be in English and moderated by Preecha Hantongtus, Senior Trade Officer at…
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Princess Sirindhorn to visit Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will visit Phuket on October 20 to preside over the official opening of three new centers on the island.In the morning, Princess Sirindhorn will chair the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the new building of the Thai Red Cross Society, Phuket Chapter, on Rattanakosin 200 Pi Rd in Phuket City.After this, Princess…
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Big blackout tomorrow for Chalong
CHALONG: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced its scheduled blackouts for October in order to continue its work on high-voltage power lines.Blackouts, from 9 am to 5 pm daily, will affect the following locales:October 6: West side of Chao Fa West Rd – from the PPEA substation to Chalong Circle, including Soi Nakok, Moo Baan Chaofa Thani, Baan…
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Nation party in Phuket again
PHUKET: Nation VI, billed as Asia’s largest gay and lesbian party, will be held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa from October 20 to 22. Held since 2001, the annual event has grown from a one-night party in a disused theme park in Singapore to an international multi-day festival of gay and lesbian pride. Last year’s party, the…
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