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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Blaze damages eight shophouses
KARON: Eight shophouses near the Central Waterfront Tower in Karon were damaged yesterday afternoon in a fire that caused damage estimated at around 10 million baht.Some of the three-story buildings in the row were still under construction and the fire is believed to have started when electricians welding steel in one of the houses dropped sparks into a can of…
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Storm turns into damp squib
PHUKET: Tropical Storm Muifa, which killed some 65 people in the Philippines and was expected to hit Surat Thani, bringing wet and windy weather to Phuket, veered to the north yesterday evening and made landfall in Chumphon.The storm, which had weakened to a tropical depression by the time it hit the Thai coast, dumped heavy rain on the east coast…
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Blood tests to confirm identity of body
PATONG: Police are to use blood tests to try to identify a man whose body was found yesterday near Laem Daeng Beach, halfway between Patong and Kamala.An identity card in the name of Boonsong Sulaopa was found in one of the pockets of the clothes on the victim’s body, but the face was too decomposed to be matched with the picture on…
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Burmese found with throat slashed
PHUKET CITY: The body of a Burmese fisherman with a three-inch gash across his throat was found in the Rassada Port area on Tuesday.Pol Maj Watcharin Jirattikarn, Inspector of Phuket City Police Station, said he received a phone call from local Thai residents informing him that a body had been discovered near the fishing port.Police officers arrived at the scene…
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Tropical storm may bring heavy weather
PHUKET: Tropical storm Muifa, which took the lives of at least 65 people when it passed over the Philippines last weekend, is in the Gulf of Thailand and the storm center is expected to make landfall around Surat Thani or Nakhon Sri Thammarat early tomorrow morning. Vichit Phuangsombat, Director of the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) told the Gazette that…
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Spas rally against 10% excise tax
PHUKET CITY: Pakin Raktae-Ngam, Chaiman of the Phuket Spa Business Club, today lashed out at the 10% excise tax levied on spas, saying that if his spa is forced to pay the tax, he would register it as a massage parlor.K. Pakin’s strong comments were made at a protest against the tax by some 200 owners and managers of spa…
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Move to open up historic arcades
PHUKET CITY: Residents of Thalang Road, in the old part of Phuket City, have been asked to consider opening up the Ngo Kha Khee arcades in front of their historic Sino-Portuguese houses for use as public walkways.Around 20 residents attended a meeting of the Old Phuket Foundation on Sunday at Thai Hua Phuket School, Thalang Rd to hear about the…
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Deputy PM nixes underpasses plan
PHUKET: Two underpasses on the bypass road will not be built in the immediate future, Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop has announced.During his recent visit to Phuket, K. Suwat said the proposals for the underpasses – at the notorious Samkong and Darasamut School intersections – will not even be considered until the widening of the bypass road is completed in September…
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Patong Tower apartments up for auction
PATONG: Eighty apartments in the tallest building by far in Phuket, Patong Tower, will come under the auctioneer’s hammer on December 12, some 13 years after planning permission for the 32-story block on Thaweewong Rd was first given. Siripong Chechang, chief of the Public Works Department of Patong Municipality, today addressed concerns by some potential buyers that the building was…
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Murdered tourists’ parents in disbelief
BANGKOK (The Nation): The parents of British backpackers Vanessa Arscott and Adam Lloyd, who were murdered by an off-duty police sergeant in Kanchanaburi province in September, have reacted with fury at the “secret” release of the policeman on bail.They now plan to fly to Bnagkok to meet with, among others, the Ministry of Justice and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.A…
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Australians dominate Laguna triathlon
CHERNG TALAY: Australians dominated the Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2004 this morning, taking the top three places in the men’s professional competition, and winning first place in the women’s professional category.2002 winner Craig Alexander, from Sydney, crossed the finish line first, completing the course in 2 hours 33 minutes 7 seconds. Hot on his heels was last year’s winner Simon “Tommo”…
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Expo Center dithering continues
NAI YANG: A meeting called yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop shed little new light on the continuing saga of where Phuket’s proposed International Conference and Exhibition Center (ICEC) will be sited.The Deputy PM chaired the meeting, at the Pearl Village Hotel at Nai Yang Beach, held to discuss the progress of various government policies on the island.At the…
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Gunfight gangsters charged
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police have charged four youths in connection with a gunflight in Phuket City centre two weeks ago.The fight took place outside Phuket Grocery Co, near Robinson department store in the early hours of October 31.After a tip-off from an informant, police arrested Natee Srisamut, 20, and Niwat Sae-tan, 19, along with two youths aged 16 and…
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500 pray for peace in troubled South
PHUKET CITY: About 500 people, including local leaders of the major faiths in Thailand, held a mass session yesterday to pray for peace to return to the troubled provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.The congregation gathered at Phuket Provincial Hall in support of the government’s call for mass prayer, which Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura explained was inspired by HM Queen Sirikit’s…
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Jet-ski operators vow to fight ban
CHERNG TALAY: Veerachai Thonghom, chairman of the Phuket Jet-Ski Club, yesterday vowed to appeal to the central government in Bangkok to allow jet-ski operators to continue renting out their machines on Phuket’s beaches.K. Veerchai announced his intention yesterday after Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura refused to budge on his stated policy of reducing jet-skis in Phuket to zero by March 1,…
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US donates anti-terror gear
PHUKET CITY: As part of its fight against terrorism, the US Department of Defense has donated anti-terrorism equipment worth about 2 million baht to Royal Thai Police Region 8, which includes Phuket.In a ceremony at Phuket Provincial Police Headquarters this morning, David Turner, Chief of the US Defense Department’s Force Protection Detachment at the US Embassy in Bangkok, presented the…
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New twist in expo center saga
KATA: The saga over the site for the proposed Phuket International Conference and Exhibition Center (ICEC) took a new turn yesterday morning when Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Region 4 Director Suwalai Pinpradab said she planned to recommend both Saphan Hin and the Phuket International Night Bazaar (PINB) off Chao Fa West Rd to the government as possible sites for…
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Another fine mess
BANGKOK: Unscrupulous police officers extorting money from the public hardly constitutes news in Thailand – but it is noteworthy when the police themselves become victims of malfeasance. Between March and October this year, Pol Sgt Tarntip Preak-kratok managed to skim off nearly 3 million baht in fines collected by the Nongkam Police Station, where she was employed as a desk…
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Chalermlak “chained” by election rules
PHUKET: The rules imposed by the Office of the Election Commission of Thailand (OECT) governing what MPs may do during the run-up to the election campaign period have, according to Chalermlak Kebsup, Democrat MP for Phuket District 2, obstructed her.“I feel chained by the rules,” K. Chalermlak said. “The OECT has said that MPs must not conduct any campaigning or…
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B66m in deals inked at Hong Kong property show
HONG KONG: Exhibitors at the Phuket & Samui Property Exhibition say they were pleased with the quality of visitors to the show, and the general organization of it.The event featured mostly property developers from Phuket and Koh Samui, but also attracted one developer from Bangkok and another, South Thailand Homes, looking to sell a development on Koh Lanta.Although none of the…
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Three injured in “visa run’ smash
RANONG: One man had a leg amputated and two others required hospitalization after a minivan taking passengers from Phuket on a “visa run” collided with a water truck on November 12.Pol Sub Lt Chatchai Pongsingto, of Ranong Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the accident happened on Paknam-Ranong Rd at about 12:20 pm.The van, which is owned by Andaman…
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Pa Khlok still without OrBorTor president
PA KHLOK: More than three months after the election for the posts, Pa Khlok Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) is still without a president.Soonthorn Suebkhajorn, the lawyer for the Phuket Electoral Commission (PEC), yesterday told the Gazette that the PEC is still waiting for the Central Election Commission in Bangkok to order the PEC to uphold the results or to take…
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B1.5m damage in Patong blaze
PATONG: One man is seriously ill in Phuket International Hospital after being badly burned during a fire that destroyed two houses in Phisit Gorani Soi 1 late last night.After evacuating his family from the house, Chalermporn Jikpipaksit, 46, ran back into the blaze to remove a gas cylinder from his cooker so it would not explode. He suffered severe burns…
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Cabinet approves B300m improvements at fishing port
PHUKET CITY: The Cabinet has approved a plan to spend more than 300 million baht to improve Phuket Fishing Port in Tambon Rassada, and to build a seafood processing plant there.The proposal, drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, was approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives told the Cabinet that improvements would make…
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Governor to appeal for homes to stay on state land
PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura will ask the Cabinet to allow residents in Soi Kingkaew, near Koh Sireh, to keep their homes, even though government offices have long claimed that the houses have been built on state land.The Governor visited the soi on Tuesday with Phuket Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment chief Thongchai Saowapong. The inspection came after…
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Thinner can be a blast
SAMUT SAKHON: As any drug-taker driven to extremes by the government’s War on Drugs Part III can tell you, taking a few deep breaths of paint thinner can give you a buzz. The downside of breathing in thinners is that it may also knock your judgment a teeny bit off kilter, to the point where you forget that it can…
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The final upshot
BANGKOK: Police arrested a 27-year-old man after he was caught taking photos up a girl’s skirt at a motor show at Central Plaza on Phra Ram III Rd last month. Worakarn Jaruphat was collared by security guards after “Amp”, a young woman taking part in the Miss Motorshow Contest, grabbed his wrist when she felt something touch her legs. When…
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B95m Ao Por marina plan unveiled
PHUKET: Thailand’s largest construction company, Italian-Thai Development (ITD), is to invest 95 million baht in its first project in Phuket, a marina at Ao Por.The project will be handled by the Ao Por Pattana Co, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITD.Project manager Akaraphan Suwanchot said the marina would be built near Ao Por pier, which is itself about to undergo complete…
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WTO helps develop sustainable tourism
PHUKET CITY: Developing tourism as a sustainable industry for Phuket was the topic discussed by World Tourism Organisation (WTO) adviser Hans Carl Jacobsen and local officials at a meeting today at Phuket Provincial Hall.Joining Mr Jacobsen at the seminar were representatives of the Office of Tourism Development and the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, as well as Phuket Governor Udomsak…
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Thai AirAsia launches Phuket-Singapore service
PHUKET: Low-cost carrier Thai AirAsia, an associate carrier of Malaysian low-fare airline AirAsia, yesterday launched a daily, direct flight service between Phuket and Singapore, offering promotional fares as low as 1,200 baht for advanced ticket purchases made over the Internet.Flight FD 3028 departs Phuket at 9:30 am and arrives in Singapore at 12:10 pm local time. The return leg, Flight…
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