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.
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Lion Air roars into Southern Thailand
PHUKET: Regional low-cost carrier Lion Air has launched services to several new destinations in Thailand, with its Thai subsidiary Thai Lion Air, aiming to establish Hat Yai Airport (HDY) as a second hub in Thailand. Executive Managing Director of Thai Lion Air, Andi Burhan, said that the carrier’s decision to use a 72-seat ATR 72-600 prop plane, the first ATR…
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Phuket Governor prevents anti-curfew rally, whispers curfew repeal coming
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut has vowed to visit Soi Bangla in Patong tonight to personally receive a formal request by nightlife venue operators pleading for the curfew to be lifted. Governor Maitri announced the news after a closed-door meeting with Patong Entertainment Business Association President Weerawit Krueasombut this afternoon. The meeting lasted just a handful of minutes. Mr Weerawit had…
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Breaking News: Furious tour guides protest at Chalong Police Station over arrest
PHUKET: About 100 angry Phuket tour guides descended on Chalong Police Station today to protest the arrest of a legal tour guide. “Police arrested a legal tour guide. Why aren’t they looking for the illegal guides? Why are they targeting us?” asked protest leader Jaifu Sae-lee. An investigation into officers at the Chalong Police Station concluded earlier this year. Shortly…
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Phuket top cop flip-flop: Gen Ong-art gets his marching orders
PHUKET: Phuket’s top-ranking police officer, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiwruangnont, earlier this afternoon received his marching orders to report to the Royal Thai Police Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani – effective immediately. The news comes just hours after Gen Ong-art publicly confirmed that he had not received any transfer orders (story here). However, Gen Ong-art told the Phuket Gazette that…
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Patong nightlife operators to risk assembly ban to plea for curfew to be lifted
PHUKET: About 100 Patong business operators and their staff plan to gather at Phuket Provincial Hall tomorrow to submit a formal request asking for the curfew to be lifted. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut have been informed of the plan, Patong Entertainment Business Association Weerawit Krueasombut told the Phuket Gazette this morning.…
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Only seconds in it on final day of Samui Regatta
PHUKET: The sun and wind greeted sailors with equal measure on the morning of the last day of the Samui Regatta last Saturday, May 31. With the best pressure to the north, Principal Race Officer (PRO) Ross Chisholm headed out to lay a start line with two races planned for all – first a trapezoid course followed by a fast…
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France arrests suspect in Brussels Jewish museum shooting
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community France arrests suspect in Brussels Jewish museum shooting Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: French police have arrested a man suspected of being involved in the shooting deaths last weekend of three people at Brussels’ Jewish Museum, official sources in Belgium and France said on Sunday. The…
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Pele’s son sentenced to 33 years in prison
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pele’s son sentenced to 33 years in prison Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The son of former Brazil striker Pele has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for laundering money earned from drug trafficking, Brazilian media reported. Edinho, who played as a goalkeeper for his…
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Airlines resume Bali flights as ash cloud dissipates
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australian airlines resume flights as ash cloud dissipates Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Australian airlines forced to cancel flights due to a volcanic ash cloud from Indonesia’s Sangeang Api volcano resumed flying on Sunday as the plume cleared. With the threat to Australian airspace now abating,…
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Did you win a private Phuket airplane ride?
PHUKET: Two lucky people out of the more than 500 who took part in the Phuket Gazette’s 2014 Reader Survey have won a free ride over the island in the company’s new airplane. Each person who completed the survey was issued a lucky number. The winning numbers, drawn late yesterday, are 8584 and 7546. Maintaining our promise of anonymity in…
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Navy experts disarm Japanese WWII torpedo in Krabi
PHUKET: The WWII Japanese torpedo brought to Krabi’s shores by fisherman on Tuesday was removed from the beach by experts and disarmed on a nearby island yesterday . “Officers from the Thai Navy Ordinance confirmed that the torpedo was from World War II, and that it was capable of destroying everything within a 1 kilometer radius,” Koh Sriboya Kamnan Samran…
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Irish teacher dies after motorbike crash in Phuket
PHUKET: An Irish teacher at Baan Maireab School in Phuket died today from head injuries sustained in a motorbike accident last night. Denis Bates, 30, was rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital at about 11pm. The Irishman, originally from Dublin, had been in a coma until he succumbed to his head injury at 12:10pm today. “He died of intracerebral hemorrhaging,” confirmed…
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Driving courses to be offered in English, Russian and Burmese for Phuket foreigners
PHUKET: Several educational institutions on the island will soon offer training courses in English, as well as Russian and Burmese, for foreigners wanting to get a driver’s licence. The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with five educational institutions on the island – Rajabhat University, Thalang Technical College, Phuket Technical College, Phuket Polytechnic College and…
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Kick the habit with Vachira Phuket Hospital’s “No Tobacco Day’ event
PHUKET: Vachira Phuket Hospital is holding a “No Tobacco Day” event today to provide advice and strategies for island smokers who want to kick the habit. “The event takes place from 8:30am to 4:30pm. Staff will offer advice to those who want to quit smoking,” Vachira Phuket Hospital Director Jessada Chungpaibulpatana told the Phuket Gazette. “Staff from our International Department…
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Federer, Djokovic struggle as Sharapova blazes through in Paris
PHUKET: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were both put to the test to reach the fourth round of the French Open on Friday while Maria Sharapova continued to blaze through a thinning women’s draw. Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska was knocked out 6-4 6-4 by Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic, becoming the latest victim of a new generation of talent sweeping through…
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Short-circuited incubator burns Phuket baby
PHUKET: A newborn Phuket baby suffered burn wounds after a fire started in its incubator, an accident dubbed “unpreventable” by the hospital director. The baby was two days old when a short-circuit in the incubator’s light bulb set fire to the newborn’s swaddling blanket, explained Thana Bookahoot, director of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) Hospital. “Nurses immediately saved the…
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NCPO to keep Phuket radio stations off air, concerned about rogue DJs
PHUKET: Despite not being under investigation by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), radio stations in Phuket have been ordered to remain off air due to concerns that rogue DJs could cause disharmony, the Phuket Gazette was told. “The private radio stations are to remain off air because we don’t want to chance someone talking on air about…
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Phuket developer concedes B600mn school land grab was a “misunderstanding’
PHUKET: The Phuket developer who earlier this week staked a claim to a huge tract of land belonging to Kathu Wittaya School yesterday admitted that he had “made a mistake”. Named publicly only as “Ko Kim”, the landowner said he would have the Land Office move the boundary markers for his land – which is next to the school –…
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Breaking News: Phuket pirated goods vendors protest paying off officials
PHUKET: Sellers from about 40 pirated goods shops in Phuket took to the streets today in protest of allegedly being forced to pay “too much” money to a variety of government offices in Bangkok. Protesters are currently on the streets holding signs saying, “Closed because we cannot afford paying extortion money”. — Kritsada Mueanhawong
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Phuket FC take on the Navy TC
PHUKET: Seventh place Phuket FC take on fifth place Navy FC at Sattahip Navy Stadium in Chonburi tomorrow evening at 6pm their next Yamaha League One fixture.
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Phuket’s low season saviors: Russians, Chinese and Middle Easterners
PHUKET: The sacred oxen have spoken – the rainy season is upon us – and it will be a year of abundant water and food. The year will also be abundant in Russians, Chinese and Middle Easterners – the financial saviors of Phuket’s low season. Down here on the island, far from the rice-reliant agriculture industry, the Royal Ploughing Ceremony…
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Boycott forces Patong mayor to abandon inaugural council meeting
PHUKET: A boycott by members of Pian Keesin’s Rak Patong Party this morning forced Chalermluck Kebsab to abandon her first council meeting as Patong Mayor. Mayor Chalermluck, a long-standing Phuket Democrat, defeated Mr Pian at the polls by 4,390 votes to 3,330 on April 26 (story here). However, her supporting councilors today failed to form a quorum – the minimum…
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Protect Phuket’s tourism
PHUKET: As the latest edition of the Phuket Gazette hits newsstands this weekend, the nationwide curfew imposed by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has already done considerable harm to Thailand’s all-important tourism sector. Indeed, no province stands to suffer more than Phuket if international confidence in Thailand as a safe tourism destination deteriorates any further. Hence, the…
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Nadal masters young apprentice, Murray hits form
PHUKET: Rafa Nadal provided a claycourt lesson for one of the game’s young apprentices at the French Open when he crushed rising Austrian Dominic Thiem with a masterly display to reach the third round on Thursday. The eight-times champion showed flashes of his intimidating best in a 6-2 6-2 6-3 win that was tougher than the scoreline suggested, but was…
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Lost French tourist rescued from Phuket jungle
PHUKET: A hastily formed search instigated by an expat Phuket Tourist Police Volunteer led to the safe recovery of 25-year-old French tourist Erik Pourier, who became lost in the jungle at the Khao Phra Thaew wildlife sanctuary in Thalang in the dark. On his first trip to Phuket, Mr Pourier had rented a motorbike to explore the island, and decided…
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Junta seeks to block social-media access to ‘inappropriate content’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Junta seeks to block social-media access to ‘inappropriate content’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The junta’s online content monitoring panel will seek cooperation from social-network operators to block accessibility in Thailand to Facebook pages, Line groups and YouTube videos that have inappropriate content, especially those…
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Ukraine separatists down army helicopter, 14 killed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine separatists down army helicopter, 14 killed Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pro-Russian separatists shot down a Ukrainian army helicopter on Thursday, killing 14 soldiers including a general, as government forces pressed ahead with an offensive to crush rebellions in the east swiftly following the election…
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Light-rail proposed to trundle through Phuket Town
PHUKET: Plans proposing that Phuket’s long-awaited light-rail system travel through the heart of Phuket Town will be revealed at a public hearing next Tuesday. The news follows a meeting of high-ranking officials, including Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut, yesterday. Sirigate Apirat of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning told the Phuket Gazette today that the proposed route for…
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Phuket airwaves remain silent
PHUKET: Community radio stations throughout the island remain silent today, four days after orders were handed down from the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO] on May 25. “It is best to contact the navy about the current situation concerning radio broadcasting,” said Sopon Keimkarn, a Public Relations Department (PRD) staffer in Phuket. The navy today confirmed that there…
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Krabi authorities scramble to have unexploded Japanese torpedo removed from beach
PHUKET: Krabi authorities are scrambling to have an explosive torpedo removed from the beach after they were notified by concerned villagers of the washed up wartime weapon on Tuesday. “Koh Jum fisherman left on Tuesday to fish near Koh Sriboya. While they were fishing, they spotted a large metal item about four meters long and 50 centimeters wide floating in…
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