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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Work begins to make Phuket “death bend’ safer
PHUKET: Work is underway to make safer the deadly bend on the hill road to the Big Buddha. Suporn Vanitchakul, president of the Phra Phuttha Mingmongkol Foundation 45, explained that workmen on Monday began laying out markers and clearing the land. The private road will be broadened to 12 meters along a 100m stretch that includes the notorious bend, which…
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Ayutthaya “sex lottery’ exposed, cops get tough on getting lucky
AYUTTHAYA: An underground lottery in Ayutthaya province has given new meaning to the expression “getting lucky”. Top prize in the draw, which was becoming increasingly popular with male factory workers in the central Thai province before the authorities got wind of it, was a night in bed with a young woman. Early this month Ayutthaya Police made several arrests connected…
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Phuket officials tackle taxi, tuk-tuk blockades
PHUKET: A long-term solution to the repeated blockading of Phuket Deep Sea Port by local taxi drivers is to be in place by mid-May, a meeting of local leaders announced today. This morning marked the first gathering of representatives from 17 government agencies and private sector groups who are to establish a formal committee to deal with tuk-tuk and taxi…
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Phuket tourist forced to pay 180,000 baht in jet-ski repairs
PHUKET: A group of foreign tourists enjoying the Songkran festival in Phuket found out the hard way that the much maligned jet-ski insurance scheme doesn’t cover all repair costs if a jet-ski is badly damaged. After negotiations with police and the jet-ski owner, British national Nicola Ross Morton agreed to pay an astounding 180,000 baht for damages to a jet-ski…
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Don’t forgot the Phuket Punchline – it’s tomorrow!
PHUKET: It’s that time of the month again – no, not that – when Phuket expats head for Patong for an unadulterated dose of one-liners from a trio of comedians. Yes, the Phuket Punchline Comedy is here – well – Wednesday night at the Holiday Inn Patong to be more specific. For more specific specifics, read on. Three very different…
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Thailand vows to get tough on frauds against foreign tourists
PHUKET: Thailand’s deputy prime minister in charge of national security has vowed to prevent foreign tourists from being cheated during their visits to the country, including, specifically, Phuket. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said after attending meetings with the Tourist Fraud Prevention Committee that the problem needs to be eliminated. He said that there are many forms of cheating, starting…
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Phuket navy base assists Krabi flood victims
PHUKET: Officers from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command in Phuket distributed relief packages to people suffering from floods and landslides in parts of Krabi earlier this month. Group Capitan Parinyatham Pulpitaktham, head of the Disaster Mitigation Center’s civilian affairs and public relations department, led the effort to badly hit locales from April 12 to 17. Areas receiving assistance…
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FC Phuket trounce Chiang Mai, 4-0
PHUKET: FC Phuket rebounded from two tough road losses to demolish Chiang Mai FC by a score of 4-0 at Surakul Stadium yesterday. Crowd favorite Sarach Yooyen, just returning to play after suspension, got the scoring underway at seven minutes, finishing a good delivery from Rapeepan Poonsawat. Just before the end of the first half, Nirun Phunthong set up Nene…
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Brake failure, overloading cause Phuket hill crash: DDPM
PHUKET: An official report issued by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office in Phuket (DDPM-Phuket) stated that the cause of yesterday’s crash that killed six people in the Chalong hills was brake failure and overloading. A total of 14 people were injured, seven severely. The names of the dead were listed as the driver, 41-year-old Thongdaeng Piwjun, and…
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Phuket Big Buddha crash update: 5 dead, 15 injured
PHUKET: Rescue workers at Phuket Ruamjai Kupai Foundation have confirmed that at least five people died in the head-on collision on Phuket’s Big Buddha hill this morning. Among the dead was a baby girl estimated at only two to three years old. The other deceased were two men and two women. Fifteen others have been taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital,…
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Head-on smash on Phuket’s Big Buddha hill leaves at least three dead
PHUKET: Eyewitnesses to a head-on smash between a pickup carrying about 20 people and a safari bus carrying tourists up Big Buddha hill say the accident has left at least three people dead, including one baby. Australian tourist Alessia Nuccitelli, 19, told the Phuket Gazette that she saw a pickup carrying about 20 Burmese people speeding downhill from the Big…
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FC Phuket play Chiang Mai tomorrow
PHUKET: Former league leaders FC Phuket will take on Chiang Mai at Surakul Stadium tomorrow night, hoping to find the winning touch again after two tough road losses that have seen them slide from first to sixth in the 18-team Thai League Division 1. They are coming off consecutive losses at Bangkok United and PTT Rayong. FC Phuket went into…
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Another Phuket Suicide: Man found hanged from tree in Chalong
PHUKET: Family are accepting as suicide the death of a man found hanged in a dense patch of jungle off Soi Nakok in Chalong, south of Phuket Town, this morning. Duty officer Chianchai Duangsuwan of Chalong Police arrived at the scene at 10:30am to find the body of 47-year-old Samer Wongmuang hanging from a tree. Tied around his neck was…
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Welfare ‘gift’ from Bangkok to include Phuket taxi drivers
PHUKET: Phuket taxi drivers, not universally popular with the island’s residents and legions of foreign tourists, will soon be among the beneficiaries of billions of baht in central government welfare funds. It was announced earlier this month that the government is expanding its ‘Pracha Wiwat’ welfare program from Bangkok to ten provinces, including Phuket. The program focuses on providing support…
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Phuket rides high as Songkran road deaths remain at zero
PHUKET: With just over two days to go in the Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road-safety campaign, Phuket still has yet to record a single death.“It’s better than last year. There have been fewer accidents,” said Lt Col Narong Kittipongwiwat, chief of the Phuket City Traffic Police. Most accidents involved motorcycles, he said. “The roads have been wet and slippery…
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Soldier faces court martial over Phuket pub shooting
PHUKET: The man who opened fire in a Phuket pub early this morning, killing one person and injuring four others, is a soldier and will be handed over to the Military Police to face a court martial in Narathiwat tomorrow morning. The news was confirmed by Deputy Commissioner of Region 8 Police Pisan Chuldilok, who arrived in Phuket this afternoon…
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Asean meet rescheduled for Phuket
PHUKET: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit with dialogue partner countries, delayed following anti-government protests in April last year, has been tentatively rescheduled to take place in Phuket in June this year, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has announced. PM Abhisit said Thailand would first consult with the countries involved to confirm whether their leaders would be free to…
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Phuket tourist catches a thief
PHUKET: German tourist Damian Skrzypietz didn’t start Songkran this morning dousing fellow revellers in water fights. He started his Thai New Year chasing a burglar who had just robbed his rented house in Cherng Talay, tearing down the street after him barefoot and dressed only in his boxer shorts. “I was sleeping in the bedroom when my girlfriend woke me…
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Phuket celebrates Songkran with “Icy Road’ and Pod of Modern Dog
PHUKET: The Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is celebrating Songkran (Thai New Year) with a host of activities and stage performances in front of the TAT office at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town. The celebrations, from today through Friday, are part of an island-wide program of events expected to draw an estimated 60,000 tourists to…
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Phuket Songkran road fatalities still on zero
PHUKET: After two days of the Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign, not a single person has died in a road accident in Phuket, but that hasn’t stopped drunk drivers from spilling onto the roads and into the hospitals. According to the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), which is compiling road-toll statistics…
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Phuket father of three claims malpractice left wife in coma
PHUKET: A distraught husband has complained to the local media that his wife is now in a coma following complications after a Cesarean-section childbirth operation at a well-known private hospital on the island. Arthit Boonnark, 47, told reporters gathered at Bangkok Hospital Phuket yesterday that his wife, 38-year-old Pariporn Jantarothai, fell into a coma not long after giving birth to…
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Phuket kicks off Songkran with Patong parade
PHUKET: Tourists from all parts of Phuket will be “heading over the hill” this evening to enjoy a special Songkran Parade to mark the arrival of the Thai New Year tomorrow. Featuring entrants representing 28 different groups and organizations, the Patong parade will set off from Phang Muang Sai Kor Road, behind Jungceylon, at 5pm. The parade will head south…
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Phuket raises B12.6mn for Japan, flooded South
PHUKET: The Phuket provincial fund-raising effort for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the flooding in the South totaled nearly 13 million baht. The handover ceremony, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday night, was chaired jointly by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr, Secretary-General to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Among the many…
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Songkran takes to the sky over Phuket
PHUKET: PHUKET is in for a spectacular treat this afternoon and tomorrow (April 13) when the island’s first “Sky High” show occurs over Patong Beach – weather permitting. The highlight of the show will see world renowned stunt pilot Les Vorosmarthy performing breathtaking aerobatcs in his 350 horsepower, Extra 300L stunt plane. Les will be performing spins, stalls, slips, slides,…
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Brit arrested in Phuket coke bust
PHUKET: A 43-year-old British man was arrested for possession of cocaine at his Phuket home earlier today. The man was caught at 4:45am with 33 packages of cocaine weighing 0.9 gram each at a house on Nanai Road in Patong. The arrest followed a police complaint by a Thai woman claiming to be his wife. She told Patong Police he…
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Warehouse gutted in Phuket Town blaze
PHUKET: A warehouse blaze took Phuket firefighters about 30 minutes to extinguish early this morning. Phuket City Police at 2:30am received a report of a fire on Wirat Hongyok Road, a few doors down from the Lotus Express shop. By the time Phuket City and Wichit Municipality firefighters arrived, there was little they could do to save the warehouse, which…
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FC Phuket vs PTT Rayong live on TV tonight
PHUKET: FC Phuket coach Surachai Jirasirichote has expressed confidence that his team can pick up its first road win of the season at PTT Rayong tonight in a football match that will reportedly be televised live on the Internet. Coach Surachai said he thought his players stood a good chance of winning at Rayong because Phuket is well aware of…
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Phuket Bike Week rolls on
PHUKET: The official festivities for Phuket Bike Week 2011 draw to a close in Patong tonight after another full day of big bike fun and games, live music and road trips around the island. At 4pm today, a convoy of riders will leave Loma Park on Patong Beach, the main rallying point and concert venue for Phuket Bike Week this…
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Cambodia outlaws ‘sham’ marriages – is Phuket next?
PHUKET: If you are a non-Khmer male and over the age of 50, or make less than US$2,500 a month – and you’re seeking a bride – roughly five million women of marrying age have now been put off-limits for you. If you’re a Khmer woman, you have, as of this month, effectively been denied the right to freely choose…
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Sick dolphin dies in Phuket
PHUKET: Despite the best efforts of veterinarians, the bottle-nose dolphin rescued off Phuket on Saturday died earlier today. Patcharaporn Kaewmong of the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the Phuket Marine Biological Center confirmed that the two-meter-long cetacean took its last breath at around 3am, following five days of intensive treatment at the facility. An initial examination of the body was…
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