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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Lucky escape from injury as Phuket tuk-tuk flips
PHUKET: A pickup driver, a tuk-tuk driver and a motorbike rider all escaped serious injury yesterday when they piled into one another after the pickup driver slammed on the brakes to avoid a huge pothole on Kata Hill.“The accident occurred near the sharp Sator Curve at about 12:20pm,” said Ruamjai Rescue Foundation emergency responder Sayan Thammaphan, who was among the…
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Body of Russian tourist washes ashore on Phuket beach
PHUKET: The body of a Russian man last seen spearfishing a few hundred meters offshore from Kata Beach on Friday was found washed ashore at the same beach (map here) this morning. The body, still dressed in a wet suit and sporting flippers, was identified as that of 43-year-old Oleg Udaloi, Karon Police Deputy Superintendent Pachai Matthayan confirmed to the…
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CB500x gets new Phuket wings
PHUKET: Bike lovers are anticipating the new Honda BigWing motorbike dealership and showroom, set to open its doors in Phuket on Thursday (March 28). A Honda sales representative told the Phuket Gazette that the dealership has already received many inquiries and reservations. “Since the beginning of the year CB500X has been the talk of the town not only amongst the…
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Gazette office closed tomorrow (Tuesday)
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew will be closed tomorrow due to a scheduled, all-day blackout in the area to upgrade power lines. The blackout will affect Soi Harn Farang and Soi Koh Kaew 33, and may affect adjoining areas that are supplied electricity from power cables along…
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Phuket Business: You can run, but you can’t hide
PHUKET: In light of the ongoing ‘federal fiscal fiasco’ in Washington DC, the US tax regime is looking to grow its global revenue pool, with American expats residing in places like Phuket high on the list to be scrutinized. Recently a group of American taxpayers gathered in Phuket for an informative yet dreaded update seminar about the latest income reporting…
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Phuket Gazette World News: British PM Cameron unveils sweeping immigration crackdown
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community British PM Cameron unveils sweeping immigration crackdown Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prime Minister David Cameron will unveil a sweeping immigration crackdown today aimed at discouraging migrants from Romania and Bulgaria from moving to Britain when EU restrictions on their right to travel and work there…
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Bank employee surrenders over Phuket hit-and-run
PHUKET: The bank employee involved in a lethal hit-and-run in central Phuket late last month has surrendered himself to police. Chaowarot Jantarak, 38, was wanted by police after witnesses saw his car hit security guard Jarin Weenada, 21, who died at the scene (story here). Officers arrived at Mr Chaowarot’s house in the Neramit Housing Estate in Pa Khlok within…
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Greenpeace goes over the edge to protest Krabi coal plant
PHUKET: Hanging from the cliffs of Railay Bay in Krabi (view here), east of Phuket, Greenpeace activists staged a dramatic protest against the Thai government’s plan to build coal power plants across Thailand, including an 800 Megawatt plant in Krabi. The protest, held last Thursday, follows that of 500 Krabi villagers on February 11 (story here) who claimed that a…
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Phuket Sports: PTT Rayong ‘Fire Power’ douses Phuket FC in league cup match
PHUKET: A late added-time goal, was enough for the PTT Rayong “Fire Power” to douse Phuket FC’s Toyota League Cup ambitions in a closely fought match last night in Phuket Town. Played in front of about 4,700 fans at Phuket’s Surakul Stadium, the cup match between the two Yamaha One League (YL1) teams yielded the same score-line the last time…
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Phuket Opinion: Stray dog ‘final solution’ should take a pounding
John Dalley is Phuket’s well-known founder of the Soi Dog Foundation, a not-for-profit, legally registered charitable organization in Thailand, the United States, Australia, the UK, France and Holland. Here, Mr Dalley replies to Phuket Livestock Chief Weerasit Putthipairoj’s public policy that strays should be rounded up from Phuket’s streets and impounded. PHUKET: In response to the comments made by Weerasit…
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After India, Phuket Rohingya face deportation from Thailand
PHUKET: The boatload of 91 Rohingya forced to land yesterday on Koh Lone, off the south end of Phuket, have been taken into custody and will face yet another deportation, this time from Thailand. The group, who were forced to land on Koh Lone because their boat engine seized, told reporters they were taken into custody by Indian authorities on…
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Phuket turned off for Happy Earth Hour
PHUKET: Although there will be no official event tonight to mark Earth Hour 2013, the chief of the Phuket office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) is urging people to join the global event to show their support for conserving energy. “It is a very good campaign that everyone can join. It is easy to do at home, just turn…
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Phuket sets safety plans for Songkran
PHUKET: Police checkpoints and water-play zones will be set up to increase safety on Phuket during the Seven Days of Danger for Songkran, April 11 to April 17. “Police checkpoints will be set up around the clock during the period in order to check on drivers,” says San Jantharawong, chief of the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: England hammer eight as Spain stutter; World Cup qualifiers
Spain stumbles as England, Germany and France win Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: World champions Spain were held by lowly Finland but there were wins for England, Germany, France and Netherlands as Europe’s top teams returned to the task of qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals yesterday. The first of this month’s two rounds of qualifiers – with another…
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Phuket Opinion: Draining Phuket turtle power
PHUKET: It would be difficult to find a more depressing issue than the plight of the various sea turtle species that face extinction in local waters, some of which are also at risk of disappearing from the planet completely (story here). Sea turtles are an integral, but fast disappearing, part of Phuket’s natural heritage. Older generations of Thais will remember…
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Phuket park rangers to step up patrols to stave off tree bandits
PHUKET: Officers at the Khao Phra Thaew wildlife sanctuary in Thalang have vowed to step up their efforts to keep bandits from cutting down valuable eaglewood trees in the park. Eaglewood trees are wanted for the aromatic resin they produce, which is also known as agarwood. The resin is used in making incense and perfumes. The news follows Phuket Governor…
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Phuket Sports: England hit the buffers
PHUKET: The most unpredictable Six Nations Championship of recent years ended with yet more surprises: Wales as champions and France, tipped at the start as possible winners, holders of the ‘wooden spoon’. On the final, decisive Saturday, the shocks continued as Italy, this year’s surprise packet, beat a lack-luster Ireland, clearly hampered by an appalling run of injuries and three…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Myanmar violence spreads; tourists hostage in Egypt; Aus Labor in turmoil; Iran preps for polls; Atheists abandoned
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Myanmar riots stoke fears of widening sectarian violence Reuters /Phuket GazettePHUKET: Unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in central Myanmar has reduced neighbourhoods to ashes and stoked fears that last year’s sectarian bloodshed is spreading into the country’s heartland in a test of Asia’s newest democracy.Buildings in Meikhtila…
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Officials scramble as illegal tanker sinks, spills oil into Phuket canal
PHUKET: Marine Police scrambled this morning to contain an oil spill from an abandoned illegal tanker that sank in the Tah Jeen Canal on the east side of Phuket Town last night. The sunken boat, modified into an illegal tanker with the capacity to hold an estimated 20,000 liters of diesel oil, was spotted by local villagers at about 7:30am.…
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Phuket Sports: Trouble on the terraces
PHUKET: THE Thai Premier League Co Ltd (TPL) – the mother company of the Yamaha One league (Division 1, or YL1) – collected a total of 230,000 baht in fines in the first two weeks of the YL1 2013 season. Of this amount, Phuket FC were fined 5,000 baht for only having one ambulance at its first home match against…
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Archers set their sights on Phuket
PHUKET: The front lawn of the Blue Elephant restaurant in Phuket Town hosted a press conference held by the Phuket Archery Club on March 16, to announce the 3rd Phuket Archery Open, to be held April 6. The organizer of the competition, Montree Thammakij, outlined the event saying: “We have 11 types of competition and 57 trophies, along with medals…
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Phuket Sports: Patong pull clear at the top; Round 2 Junior league
PHUKET: After securing a first win of the season in their last match, the Village were confident of another successful outing against Phuket’s senior cricket league leaders, Patong, who loss in their last match to Jabudays (ICC). With only 3 points separating the top four teams, a win for the Village, last seasonfs runners up, would put them back in…
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Phuket sea gypsies unearth human bone under home
PHUKET: Sea gypsies in the southern Phuket beach area of Rawai panicked after discovering a bone believed to be human buried underneath a house.The bone could be up to 100 years old, said Panuwat Uasamal, an archaeologist at the Fine Arts Department Office in Phuket, who was contacted by the sea gypsies.The bone was discovered under Waek Lakkoh’s house while…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Senators walk on Charter change; Korn calls B2tn bluff; Baht dips; Yingluck wants quality
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six senators withdraw support for charter amendment bills The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Six senators have withdrawn their names supporting three bills for Constitution amendment submitted to Parliament on Wednesday.Some said the content of the amendment in the submitted bills had been changed after Pheu Thai MPs…
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Cops confused by drug-free vision of youth
PHUKET: A group of Bangkok teenagers were so scared by an apparition they claim they saw in an abandoned house that police officers thought they were on drugs. But when the results of urine tests came in, all four 13-year-olds turned out to have nothing in their systems – leaving the cops scratching their heads. On February 16, Bukkhalo Police…
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Phuket Opinion: Hi-so holidays harder for tourists to afford
PHUKET: Over the years, a number of my friends have made the journey from England to visit Phuket and enjoy a well-earned holiday. The recurring theme of their time here used to be how cheap the island was compared to the UK, but that has now changed. When I first moved to Phuket, years ago, the exchange rate from baht…
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Phuket Tourist Police shootout cop loses leg to gunfight injury
PHUKET: The Phuket Tourist Police officer injured in a shootout yesterday morning has had his right leg amputated in order to save his life. Sen Sgt Maj Pinchai Piyadilok, 34, was quickly transferred to the Prince of Songkla University Hospital in Haad Yai yesterday after he was shot in the leg and in the stomach in a gunfight at a…
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Body washes ashore near Phuket Town
PHUKET: Police are trying to determine the identity of a man whose body was found this morning washed ashore at Laem Tukkae, on the east side of Phuket Town. The man was likely a Burmese crewman aboard one of the many vessels operating out of Phuket, said Phuket City Police Duty Officer Chaleaw Taihoo. “He may have had an argument…
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‘Deep Throat’ porn star Harry Reems dies
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Deep Throat’ porn star Harry Reems dies at 65 Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Harry Reems, who earned just $100 to have sex with Linda Lovelace in the enormously successful 1972 hardcore pornography film “Deep Throat,” died in Salt Lake City this week after a…
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Phuket’s international boat show comes of age
PHUKET: The 10th Anniversary Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) opened today to a large gathering of island dignitaries, VIPs, exhibitors, visitors and media. While the traditional boating markets of Europe and the USA continue to struggle in the current economic climate, Phuket is driving Asia’s growth and continues to attract top international boat brands and marine products to exhibit. Pivotal…
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