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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Help sought for tourism sector
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Tourism and Sports Ministry has submitted 13 tourism recovery measures for government approval that include waiving visa fees, cutting air fares and reducing airport charges. Minister Chumpol Silapa-Archa said the measures, compiled from private-sector proposals, were handed to the government’s economic team yesterday. The tourism industry is suffering from the global economic crisis and the after-effects…
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Giant Clam population in danger
CAPE PANWA, PHUKET: With the colorful shell of the giant clam highly prized by aquarium owners, the lucrative but illegal trade in the species is causing the population of this marine mollusk to decrease dramatically and experts fear it may become extinct in its natural habitat. Out of the eight known species of giant clam in the world, five species…
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Gazette Online smashes visitor records
PHUKET: With 82,882 visitors to its news pages in the 24 hours ending at midnight yesterday, the Gazette Online set a record for single-day traffic since the site was launched in September 1997. The statistics are prepared independently and published daily on the home page of the newspaper’s website. In yesterday’s record-breaking log, the leading contributors to the site’s traffic…
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Light-fingered Aussie couple nabbed in Patong
PATONG, PHUKET: An Australian man and his wife were arrested yesterday afternoon for shoplifting gold and diamond jewelry from shops in Patong and other parts of the island. Pol Lt Col Sakhon Bandisak of the Kathu Police identified the couple as 32-year-old Kimberley Clintjames and his wife Tran Anhchi Thi, age 34. The pair were arrested at 4 pm as…
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Angry residents block traffic after fatal accident
KATA, PHUKET: A mob of angry Kata residents last night used their vehicles to block the main road through Kata.The protest followed an accident two days earlier, when a cement truck allegedly speeding through the Kata Yai and Kata Noi intersection collided with a parked van and motorcycle. Two men were injured and one might have to have an arm…
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Tourist found dead after island rave party
KOH SAMUI / KOH PHA-NGAN (The Nation): Police are hunting for the person believed responsible for the death of a German woman at the full-moon party on Ko Pha-ngan, a satellite island off Samui Island, at the weekend. “An investigation suggests she might have been raped and killed,” Maj Pissanu Bia-kaew, a Tourist Police inspector, said. The tourist, in her…
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Cement spill threatens Racha reef
RACHA YAI, PHUKET: A barge loaded with building materials almost capsized in Phlap Phla Bay off Racha Yai island early Thursday afternoon, causing the captain to offload 30 sacks of cement into the sea over an artificial coral reef. Paitoon Praechaiyaphum of the Marine and Coastal Resources Department Region 5 office, who has visited the site, said that officials were mounting…
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The Times: realistic or romantic about Phuket?
PHUKET: In a world-beating feature in the travel section of the New York Times this weekend, Phuket makes the grade as one of the world’s 44 “most compelling” destinations to visit in 2009. See the rankings here. Interesting and encouraging indeed. But local residents may find an agent provocateur lurking just below the surface in an editorial sub-ranking where it’s…
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Second incineration plant to be built at Saphan Hin
PHUKET CITY: A solution to Phuket’s waste disposal crisis appears at hand now that a Malaysian firm has agreed to build a second power-producing incineration plant at Saphan Hin. Ratcharin Khawsuwan, an officer in the municipality’s finance division, said the announcement came at a press conference by Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana, Phuket Vice Governor Worapoj Ratthasima and Dato Tan…
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Children’s day activities round-up
PHUKET CITY: This year’s Children’s Day falls on January 10 – tomorrow – with activities for the whole family all around the island. The Phuket City municipality has arranged a host of events to take place at the Municipal Youth Health Center at Saphan Hin. Local schools and parents’ associations will have their own tents, where presents, sweets, ice cream…
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One man, one game, two holes-in-one in Phuket
PHUKET: Long-term Phuket resident John Connelly, 58, smashed all records Saturday morning when he carded two holes-in-one in a single round of golf at Phuket’s Blue Canyon Country Club. According to an estimate published in Golf Digest magazine, the odds of such an occurrence are about one in 67 million! Connelly, with a handicap of 13, achieved the feat while…
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Golf: Two holes-in-one, one man, one game in Phuket
PHUKET: Long-term Phuket resident John Connelly, 58, smashed all records Saturday morning when he carded two holes-in-one in a single round of golf at Phuket’s Blue Canyon Country Club. According to an estimate published in Golf Digest magazine, the odds of such an occurrence are about one in 67 million! Connelly, with a handicap of 13, achieved the feat while…
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Sirinath Park standoff now in Day 2
SAKOO, PHUKET: Some 100 protesters have roadblocked the entrance to Sirinath Marine National Park, hoping authorities will do away with sharply increased entrance fees that are keeping tourists away and hurting their businesses. The new fees, which took effect about two months ago, have made access to the park much more expensive – prohibitively so for many tourists who used…
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PM says ‘no’ to bullet-proof car
BANGKOK / PHUKET: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday declined an official offer to use a state-owned bullet-proof car, despite having received many death threats in recent days. He refused to change to the bullet-proof model offered by his security team and said that the offer had nothing to do with the assassination threats. The team told him that they did…
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Vigo top prize in Red Cross raffle
SAPHAN HIN: The exciting draw for top prizes in the 2009 Phuket Red Cross Fair at Saphan Hin will be held at 10 pm on January 9, the penultimate day of the event. Those buying 100-baht raffle tickets will have a chance of winning the following prizes: First prize: Toyota Vigo extended cab pickup (1 prize); Second prize: Motorbikes (3);…
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Road accident update: Day 6
PHUKET: The death toll over the first six days of this year’s “7 Days of Danger” road safety campaign is now up to three, following the death early Sunday morning of a worker in the back of a pick-up in Koh Kaew. The Road Safety Center, set up by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket), identified the deceased…
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Italian dies in road accident
PHUKET CITY: Two people, including a foreigner, died in road accidents in Phuket during the first three days of the government’s “7 Days of Danger” road safety campaign that began on December 30. Nattadawan Maneerangsrisuwan, an officer at the provincial Road Safety Center, set up by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket), said the first casualty reported was…
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