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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Samui killer ‘may be box jellyfish’
PHUKET: A scientist and a yachtsman today suggested that the seaborne killer responsible for the deaths of two tourists in waters around Koh Pha-ngan may have been a box jellyfish, reputed to be the world’s most venomous marine creature. Two tourists were killed in separate incidents earlier this month at Koh Pha-ngan, near Koh Samui, with one victim’s legs bearing…
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Renewal date reminder for foreign labor
PHUKET: The one-year permits for registration of Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian laborers expire on September 25, the Phuket Employers Club (PEC) reminded members yesterday. The rules have also been tightened, the PEC said. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare will allow only laborers who already have work permits to renew for another year. In addition, this year, freelance foreign…
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Killer jellyfish “unknown in Phuket’
SURAT THANI: A biologist said today that a killer jellyfish blamed for the deaths of two tourists in separate attacks near Koh Samui had never been seen in Phuket’s waters. Supot Chantrapornsyl, Marine Biologist at Phuket’s Marine Biological Center, told the Gazette that the “Portuguese Man of War” which was found in local waters could sting painfully and inflame the…
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New contacts for Customs issues
BANGKOK: The Customs Department has restructured its services to give exporters and importers contact numbers for clear information on specific issues. Callers in need of information are advised to call the following numbers: – Unusual delays in customs procedure or customs clearance, 02-6717895-6; – Valuation appeals, 02-6717383 or 02-6677170; – Tariff appeals, 02-2402311 or 02-2494199; – Consultation on trade and…
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Four nabbed far from home
CHALONG: Three people from a northern hilltribe were arrested on Tuesday for being outside their legal residential area, and one more was charged with foreign currency exchange offenses. Ai-lhu Praiboonserm, a 23-year-old hillsman with Thai citizenship, was arrested in the Phuket Country Home estate where he was allegedly working as a tour guide without a licence. Police say he was…
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Burmese couple “ran Thai ID racket’
PHUKET TOWN: Police say that a Burmese couple arrested for running an illegal lottery also ran a racket creating Thai identities for hundreds of Burmese laborers. The racket extended across four provinces and police investigations are continuing into what officers suspect may have been be a “widespread conspiracy”. The couple, named as Rujikorn Kiawchaay and his wife, Jaidee, are Burmese…
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Housing auction disappointing
PHUKET: The Phuket office of the Government Housing Bank (GHB) sold just 12 of 75 repossessed properties at its most recent auction, a GHB official told the Gazette today. The auction, on July 27, at which bidding for most properties started at 80% of their estimated value, raised 12.4 million baht. The bank had expected to sell all 75 properties,…
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Thief raids police station
PHUKET: Phuket Town police were left scratching their heads over the weekend after a brazen thief apparently made off with cash from under their noses. A donation box belonging to a foundation for underprivileged families was found smashed and empty in the grass behind the Phuket Town Police Station on Saturday morning. Police believe it was one of several charity…
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More blackouts in August
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced more scheduled blackouts for August, in order to continue work on high-voltage power lines. All blackouts will be from 9 am to 4 pm. They are as follows: August 21, Phuket Town: west side of Thepkrasattri Rd from the PPEA substation north of Phuket Town to Moo Baan Permsin Tani, and…
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Appeal for witnesses to attack on mayor
TUNG TONG: Police have made a fresh appeal for witnesses to the unsolved murder attempt on Patong Mayor Surasak Maneesri to come forward. But they believe that fear may be keeping witnesses quiet. Two months have passed since a gunman fired on the mayor’s Mercedes-Benz car at the traffic lights outside Tesco-Lotus. Three shots, fired at close range, went through…
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Dolphin ‘may be victim of epidemic&’
AO MAKHAM: Efforts by villagers, tourists and biologists to save a sick dolphin have been in vain, and a scientist has warned that more of the sick animals may be expected to wash up on Phuket’s shores, the victims of some kind of epidemic. The aging two-meter female striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), which was rescued from the beach at Karon…
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Water saving campaign intensifies
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Municipality and the Provincial Irrigation Office are dredging two tin mines near the town for use as reservoirs, in order to boost water stocks in case of another dry-season shortage. They will also lay pipes to draw water from another two tin mines in Kathu to top up the Bang Wad Reservoir. The reservoir can hold…
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Teenage snatch-and-ride robbers held
PHUKET: Police have arrested six teenagers, including a 14-year-old German-Thai girl, for bag-snatching and stealing motorcycles. They also arrested a 20-year-old man. The arrests follow a two-week police investigation, leading to the arrests last Friday of the 20-year-old, Somchai “Mike”Saewong, and his 16-year-old girlfriend who was three months pregnant (the couple already have two children). On Sunday, two teenage boys…
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Students attend anti-drugs camp
PHUKET TOWN: More than 70 students regarded as being “at risk” have completed a special seven-day camp at Khao Pra Taew Wildlife Conservation Center. The camp, which ended on Monday, concentrated on the dangers of drugs but also dealt with underage sex and aggressive behavior. Students who had seen others fall prey to ya bah (methamphetamine) or misuse cough syrup…
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Nature lays on the fireworks, too
PHUKET: In Saphan Hin the TAT will be firing off fireworks tonight and, if the clouds clear, Phuket residents will also have an excellent opportunity to watch a natural fireworks display, in the form of a meteor shower in the early hours of tomorrow morning. The meteor shower, an annual event known as the Perseids, is expected to be visible…
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Seafood a fresh Phuket drawcard
PHUKET: A new festival, the Phuket International Seafood Festival, is to be held between November 1 and December 6 this year to tempt tourists’ tastebuds. The climax of the festival will be a street stall dine-out in Patong from December 3-6 that is expected to attract the participation of hotels and restaurants from all over the island. Ice carving, bartender…
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Chavalit backs devolution of power
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, today reaffirmed the government’s commitment to devolution of political power from Bangkok to the provinces. In a speech at the Royal Phuket City Hotel to 600 representatives of Provincial Administration Organizations (OrBorJors) from all over Thailand, Gen Chavalit stressed that local administrations are a way of distributing power. Despite…
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Admiral ‘has no political ambitions’
AO MAKHAM: The Third Naval Area Command bade farewell today to Adm Prasert Boonthong, Commissioner of the Royal Thai Navy, in a ceremony involving 300 sailors from five provinces. Adm Prasert, who will retire on September 30 and will be succeeded by Adm Taweesak Somapa. In an exclusive interview, he told the Gazette that he had no formal retirement plans…
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Two fishermen missing, feared drowned
CHALONG: Two crewmen are missing, feared drowned, after their fishing boat sank off Racha Noi, a small island south of Phuket. Six other men from the “Por Paweena 9” were rescued by another fishing vessel. Survivors told of the boat being smashed by rough monsoon seas in darkness about 3 am last Friday (August 2). It sank soon afterwards. Lt…
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Chavalit steps in as Thaksin cancels trip
PHUKET: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has canceled a trip to Phuket tomorrow for a scheduled speech to open the national convention for members of Provincial Administration Organizations (OrBorJor). Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, will stand in for the PM, launching the two-day convention at the Royal Phuket City Hotel at 9:30 am with a speech…
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OrBorTors to become fire fighters
PATONG: In an attempt to improve brush fire control and save money at the same time, Thailand’s Tambon Administration Organizations (OrBorTor) are to be trained to deal with blazes in their areas. The new policy was announced in Phuket today by Sawat Dulyapach, Deputy Director-General of the Royal Forest Department, at the department’s annual seminar. The gathering attracted 148 unit…
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Phuket Town trash fee trebles
PHUKET TOWN: Garbage collection fees have skyrocketed for most homes in Phuket Town, from 10 baht a month to 30 baht a month. The increased rates, introduced on July 11 – nearly two months earlier than expected – have been adopted by Phuket Town Municipality because the old collection fees failed to cover costs. A house with 20 liters of…
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Tourism road show targets neighbors
PHUKET: One of the first activities organized by the newly-elected Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) committee will be a road show to Singapore and Malaysia, aimed at attracting low-season tourists. Pattanapong Aikwanich, the new president of the PTA, told a press conference this afternoon that the “Thailand Southern Paradise Road Show 2002” will run from August 13-17. Panu Massirat, Vice-President of…
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Thaksin to fly in for 1-hour speech
PHUKET TOWN: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will fly from Bangkok on Thursday to make a one-hour speech at a national convention for members of Provincial Administration Organizations (OrBorJor). The PM is scheduled to open the two-day convention at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, starting at 9:30 am, with a speech on provincial government reform. About 800 OrBorJor members are expected…
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Kitchen knife killing: wife on the run
RASSADA: A woman who appears to have been a victim of domestic violence was on the run today after her husband was killed with a kitchen knife. Somsak Thepthong, 37, a laborer, was stabbed once in the stomach at the couple’s home on 12/66 Moo 1, Koh Sireh at the weekend. Pol Capt Sarit Buthnongsan, of Phuket Town Police Station,…
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Village chiefs bitter at ‘no guns&’ decision
PHUKET: Village leaders have protested over an Interior Ministry decision to stop awarding guns to village leaders who are voted provincial Kamnan or Phu Yai Baan of the Year. The Kamnan and Phu Yai Baan traditionally act as mediators in village disputes and are also responsible for security when police are not available. To this end, they are entitled to…
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Ya bah arrests drop by 50pc
PHUKET: The number of people arrested between July1 to July 25 on charges related to ya bah (methamphetamine) was just 28, compared to 56 during the same period in June, according to the latest statistics released by police. Police last month arrested 123 people on narcotics charges in raids that netted 455 ya bah pills, compared with 153 arrests for…
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Star Tour denies cutting back tour groups
PHUKET TOWN: A major Swedish tour organizer says it will continue to send groups to Phuket despite some misgivings it has about child labor, homeless children and child prostitution on the island. At the same time, however, Marie Hallberg – a Swedish researcher who was at the center of an earlier storm over suggestions that the company might boycott Phuket…
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Monk nails black magic curse
PHRAE: Somkiat Jummoh, 20, had been suffering from stomach pains for almost a month. His local doctor diagnosed the problem as hemorrhoids, but when the pains grew worse, Somkiat went to Phra Yuppharach Denchai Hospital where X-rays showed he had four two-inch nails and two fishhooks in his intestines. Somkiat was then taken to Phrae Hospital where doctors said he…
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Fake Dulwich papers “full of mistakes’
PHUKET TOWN: Fake Dulwich International College certificates were part of a recently uncovered Internet scam, but were of poor quality, the Phuket Provincial Education Office said today. Among the mistakes on the imitations were subjects listed that are not taught at the college and a logo that failed to match the real one. The signature on the fakes was that…
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