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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Prison stuffed with drug offenders
PHUKET TOWN: Statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Prison this week show that more than half of the prison population consists of narcotics offenders or those awaiting trial on drug-related charges. Among the 1,180 prisoners, 506 men and 109 women are in for narcotics offenses. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of the Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette today,…
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Pollsters intimidated by government
BANGKOK (AFP): A Thai polling organisation accused the government of intimidation this morning, saying police and military swooped on its offices and seized documents after its most recent survey showed flagging support for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. “Special Branch police came here yesterday and warned us that we should inform them in advance both before conducting new surveys and releasing…
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207 arrested in labor crackdown
PHUKET TOWN: More than 200 Burmese have been arrested this week by the Phuket Immigration Police as part of national crackdown on illegal workers launched on February 10. Pol Maj Gen Ukrit Phatchimsawas, Deputy Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), visited officers at the Phuket Immigration Office today to check on local progress in the…
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Gambling again leads arrest stats
PHUKET: Gambling once again topped the arrest statistics this month, with 176 people caught in 82 raids. However, police statistics show that the arrests for illegal gambling between February 1 and 24 were down from the same period in January, when 193 people were arrested in 113 raids. The police also arrested 139 people for drug-related offences, down slightly from…
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“Behave yourselves today,’ citizens told
BANGKOK (AFP): Police enforcing Thaliand’s “social order” campaign aimed at curbing drugs and sleaze, today urged citizens to be on their best behavior to mark Makha Bucha Day. Pol Maj Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen told reporters that officers nationwide would strictly monitor entertainment venues for any activity that violated the spirit of the Buddhist festival. “We ask all entertainment venue owners…
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Govt steps back from fight with FEER
BANGKOK (AFP): The government today demanded that the Hong Kong-based current affairs magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), apologize for an article published in January, or face the expulsion of its two Bangkok-based journalists. FEER’s Rodney Tasker and Shawn Crispin have lodged an appeal against deportation orders served at the weekend, after they were named on Friday in an…
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Woman arrested over protected fish
RAWAI: Phuket Marine Police today arrested a woman for being in possession of protected fish with the intent to ship them to Bangkok for sale. Acting on a tip-off, officers arrested Ammarin Sailuenam, 27, in a raid at about 3:30 pm. They found about 500 fish belonging to protected species in tanks in the back of the house in Moo…
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Green light for walking street project
PHUKET TOWN: Thalang Rd will become a regular “walking street” between 1 pm and 11 pm on Sundays, starting from April 7. The first seven Sundays will have a “Seven Wonders” theme to attract Thais and foreigners with special activities in one of Phuket Town’s oldest and best-known streets. Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok met today with municipal officers and…
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Woman fined for seeking donations
PATONG: A 57-year-old Ukranian woman has been fined 100 baht for soliciting donations from tourists without permission. Police said the woman, whom they named as Nipa Vira Panchuk, had been seeking donations for a religious organization, and told them she did not realize permission was required. Pol Lt Serm Kwannimit, of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that other foreigners…
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Three accused of B1.9m fraud
PHUKET TOWN: The manager of the high-end Prangtong Village housing estate on Kwang Rd, along with two others, has been arrested for misappropriating 1.9 million baht from the estate’s developer. Police named them as Nopparat Tongton, 53, the Manager of Prangtong Village, his wife, Jaruwan Tongton, 56, and his clerk, Arunrat Sa-ngeam, 33. Nopparat is the nephew of Tanakij Tongton,…
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AAT warns of Phuket flight delays
PHUKET: The Airports Authority of Thailand (AAT) advised today that, because of increased security, outbound international passengers should make sure they allow three hours to clear processing at Phuket Airport. In some cases, flights have been delayed because tourists – or their agents and guides – have failed to allow enough time for clearing security, customs and immigration. The AAT…
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PM goes walkabout in Patong
PATONG: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra went walking in Patong this afternoon to view its problems first-hand, and later said that the environment, garbage disposal, land encroachment and public transportation were the main issues facing Phuket. He met and talked with tourists and Thais on the beach. At one point, Patong’s ex-mayor, Pian Keesin, approached the PM and gave him a…
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Staff believe Shark will reopen
PATONG: Loyal Shark Club staff still camping outside the darkened disco in protest over its closure expect the club will eventually reopen, one of their leaders told the Gazette today. The staff also hope that expelled Canadian manager-shareholder Kevin Radke will return to run the business. The club’s Chief Engineer, Sayan Ongvimonkarn, told the Gazette that he believed the closure…
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Police nab naked man
KATHU: Police found a man wandering naked in Kathu about 11 o’clock last night and held him at Thung Thong Sub-District Police Station until his wife arrived to pick him up. Police named the man as Andrew Tang, 31, a Chinese-American. His wife told officers that her husband had a mental condition. She added that credit cards, cash and two…
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Knife-death bouncer surrenders
CHALONG: A bouncer wanted for stabbing a man to death in a brawl in Kata Center on January 20 has turned himself in, police said today. Tanakrit “Bud Easy” Taweesaman allegedly knifed Chaiwut Yodkaew after an altercation near where Tanakrit worked at the Easy Rider pub on Tina Rd. (See also https://thethaiger.com/news/index.asp?Id=1872 .) Police Col Sati Malakanond, Superintendent of Chalong…
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PM to make lightning tour of Phuket
PHUKET: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrives in Phuket tomorrow afternoon for a lightning tour that will take in Phuket Town, Patong and the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ retreat at Amanpuri. The PM’s schedule is as follows: * 1:30 pm – Arrival at Phuket International Airport and then by car to Pa Khlok; * 1:50 pm – Visit “One Tambon, One Product”…
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Country singer’s crew in bad smash
PHUKET: Four members of the road crew supporting country music star Got Jakraphan were seriously hurt in the early hours of yesterday morning when their 10-wheel truck overturned on the bend next to Pop Cottage in Kata after the brakes failed. While visiting the injured men at Wachira Phuket Hospital, Got told the Gazette, “I’m currently on tour around the…
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Shark Club boss kicked out of Thailand
PATONG: Kevin Radke, manager-shareholder of Patong’s Shark Club, was expelled from Thailand on Friday and was told he will not be allowed back into the country, after authorities decided his activities on the island were in conflict with Thai morals. Pol Col Apirak Hongtong, Superintendent of Phuket Immigration Police, told the Gazette that the police cancelled Mr Radke’s visa on…
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Prison drugs check turns up only porn
PHUKET TOWN: A spot check for narcotics at Phuket Provincial Prison by Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi and other senior officials yesterday drew a blank. All that was found was four pornographic magazines. The inspection team, which included Pol Lt Gen Veerasin Kwanseng, Deputy Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, was organized by Prison Director Tanu Maikaew. Warders at the prison were…
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Burning garbage stinks up Patong
PATONG: The stench of burning garbage has brought increasing complaints from tourists in Patong – and so far very little appears to have been done to fix the problem. Wolfgang Meusburger, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Resort, told the Gazette today that his guests had been complaining since December about the trash being burned near the Patong Wastewater Treatment…
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Italian fugitive caught in Patong
PATONG: Alleged Italian drug trafficker, Massimo Goggi, 47, was arrested by Phuket Immigration Police on Valentine’s Day while walking along Patong Beach. Goggi is wanted in Italy for drug trafficking, and an international warrant was issued for his arrest eight years ago. But it was only 10 days ago that Italian police tracked him down to Phuket and asked local…
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90 Burmese arrested at Wat Chalong Fair
CHALONG: Police arrested 90 Burmese at the Wat Chalong Fair on charges of illegal immigration or violating the 8 pm curfew imposed on Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian laborers. Immigration police, together with police from Chalong, swept into the Wat to make the arrests at around midnight on Wednesday. Pol Col Apirak Hongtong, Superintendent of Phuket Immigration Office, said that police…
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American drowns at Nai Harn
NAIHARN: American resident John Scott, 55, drowned while swimming at Nai Harn Beach early yesterday afternoon. Pol Capt Teerapol Liamsuwan of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette, “I received a report at 1:30 pm that a foreigner had drowned while swimming at Nai Harn beach. “We reported the death to the US Embassy in Bangkok.” Friend Don Battles told the…
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Secret tape sparks corruption probe
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has ordered the Chief of Kathu District to investigate allegations of corruption in the Patong Municipality and has pledged to establish a committee of inquiry if the allegations appear to have foundation. The allegations were made by former mayor Pian Keesin, now in opposition in the Council. On Wednesday, at an extraordinary meeting in the…
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Guides protest over tour prices
PHUKET: A group of about 70 Japanese-speaking tour guides protested today to Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi about a tour operator who, they claim, is offering tour prices to Japanese that are lower than officially agreed rates. The guides say that the lower prices are quoted in maps in Japanese, distributed in the restricted area at the airport by tour company…
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Prevention for unwanted Valentine’s gifts
PHUKET TOWN: On a day when love is the traditional gift, the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) has been trying to ensure that no one gets an unwanted byproduct of love. The office chose Valentine’s Day to hand out free condoms to gas stations as part of a campaign to curb the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs). Phuket Vice Governor…
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Wrong-way couple win Valentine’s divorce
PHUKET: One registrar refused to divorce a couple who wanted to split on Valentine’s Day, but another registrar decided that she had to do her duty, so a second couple actually achieved their wish. The Registrar at Muang District Office, Nittaya Chaya-apichart, told the Gazette, “Today is a day of love, so I refused to divorce one couple.” But the…
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Almost a last meal for prisoner
PATONG: A 50-year-old Finn who was arrested on Wednesday evening for gambling, and then left to sleep off the night’s alcohol consumption in the Patong Police Station lockup, probably thought life could not get much worse. But it did. After the man, named by police as Peter James, was put in the cell, his girlfriend brought him some water, some…
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Pileup on Patong Hill
PATONG: Police are seeking a bus driver who fled the scene after his vehicle was involved in a collision with a car and a truck on Patong Hill yesterday. The bus, a 24-seater vehicle owned by a Bangkok company, was empty apart for the driver when the crash happened at about 5:15pm, 300 meters west of the Chinese shrine. Pol…
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Tourist drowns in hotel pool
PATONG: Tourists dived to the rescue of a Taiwanese guest who had sunk to the bottom of a hotel swimming pool on Sunday, but were unable to save his life. Wang Jeng Chuan, 31, arrived at the Merlin Beach Hotel on Thaweewong Rd, Patong, on Sunday morning. He was swimming in the hotel pool around 4 pm that day when,…
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