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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Civil defence volunteer kills girlfriend in Kathu somtam shop
PHUKET: A civil defence volunteer has confessed to the shooting murder of his girlfriend inside a somtam shop in Phuket last night. Police were called to the scene on Wichit Songkram Road in Thung Thong at about 8:45pm, where they found the body of 46-year-old Yupin Somrak on the floor of the shop’s kitchen. “Ms Yupin suffered fatal gunshot wounds…
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Bangkok water users to pay for what they use
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok water users to pay for what they use The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Residents of Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan provinces will pay for tap water according to what they use from April 1. Rakkecha Chaechai, secretary-general of the Ombudsman’s Office, said yesterday that…
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Crackdown on human trafficking, slave fishing fleet
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Crackdown on human trafficking, slave fishing fleet The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand is cracking down on human trafficking in the fisheries industry under a 180-day international protocol, Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday. He said illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, dubbed…
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Nation Group to sue NBTC over hostile takeover bid
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nation Group to sue NBTC over hostile takeover bid The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) will petition the Administrative Court against three members of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission’s broadcasting committee for alleged dereliction of duty in deciding the legitimacy…
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Cabinet meet in Hua Hin to go ahead, despite explosives found
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cabinet meet in Hua Hin to go ahead, despite explosives found The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The mobile Cabinet meeting scheduled on Friday and Saturday in Prachuap Khiri Khan will go ahead despite the discovery of explosives and assault rifle ammunition about three kilometers from…
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Police seize bumper haul of illegal lumber
PHUKET: Marine Police on Friday seized a truckload of rough-cut planks of wood hewn from protected trees that were bound for Phi Phi Island, where they were to be used to build a restaurant. The truck, bearing Chachoengsao license plates and driven by Janyarat Janput, 34, was stopped near Jianwanich pier in Rassada near Phuket Town during a random check…
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No further safety measures at shooting range after tourist kills self
PHUKET: Officials have confirmed that no further safety measures are to be introduced at the Phuket shooting range where a British tourist took his own life on Saturday. Liam Colven, a 21-year-old from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, arrived at the Thalang Shooting Range on Saturday afternoon. During live-fire target practice, Mr Colven pointed the .11mm handgun he was…
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Anthony Lark takes the reins at Trisara
PHUKET: Widely respected hotelier Anthony Lark has been appointed managing director and general manager of Trisara, a high-end resort of 48 pool villas and 20 privately owned residences on Phuket’s west coast. In his new role, Mr Lark will continue to provide hospitality advisory services to the clients of the Montara Hospitality Group, which operates the resort, and will develop…
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Satree Phuket strides for new sports facilities
PHUKET: Satree Phuket School will hold a mini-marathon this coming Sunday dedicated in honor of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s 60th birthday on April 2. The event, held in association with the Sport Association of Phuket, will also serve as a fundraiser for the school’s new, high-standard sports facility, said Koson Saikao, principal of Satree Phuket School. “The new sports…
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Business Buzz: Social media for profit – passing fad or must-have tool?
PHUKET: No matter where we go, we are surrounded by social media and its influences. Tweet this, like that, share and like this; terms we were not familiar with all that long ago are now in common, daily use. So is this a passing fad or is this social media craze here to stay, and even more importantly, is this…
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Temple assets should be publicly revealed: panel
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Temple assets should be publicly revealed: panel The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Paiboon Nittawan, chairman of the National Reform Council’s committee on protecting Buddhism, said yesterday the NRC would consider the committee’s reform proposals tomorrow. The committee studied the current state of Buddhism affairs and…
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Lee Kuan Yew, modern Singapore’s founding father, dies at 91
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Lee Kuan Yew, modern Singapore’s founding father, dies at 91 Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, died on Monday aged 91, triggering a flood of tributes to the man who oversaw the tiny city-state’s rapid rise from a British colonial…
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Teen dies in motorcycle crash
PHUKET: A teenage boy is dead and one man injured after their motorcycle slammed into a traffic sign near the main intersection north of Thalang town at around 1:15am today. Somjai Tengsomboon, 18, suffered a head injury and died at Thalang Hospital early this morning. “The passenger, Sathaporn Wongwai, 35, received minor injuries and confessed that they had both been…
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Suspects yet to be charged for billion-baht illegal beach rental scheme
PHUKET: The public prosecutor has yet to press formal charges against the Kata-Karon mayor or any of the other suspects allegedly involved in the island’s billion-baht illegal beach rental scheme. At least 15 people, including Kata-Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham, were accused at a press conference in September last year of illegally issuing permits for local beach vendors to use public…
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Police ramp up campaign against illegal ivory trade in Phuket
PHUKET: All people in Phuket trading in ivory have until April 21 to register with the Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) or face legal action, police warned yesterday. The deadline was delivered by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Peerayuth Karajedee at an inspection of the Royal Paragon Phuket store in Chalong. “Several stores in Phuket sell…
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Death sentence for man who had his family killed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death sentence for man who had his family killed The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Bangkok’s Thon Buri Criminal Court yesterday handed down the death sentence to 23-year-old Kittinan Homchong, after finding him guilty of hiring killers to murder his parents and older brother in 2014.…
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Navy probes ATV tour operator, shrimp farms for mangrove encroachment
PHUKET: The deputy commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command in Phuket is spearheading an investigation into an ATV tour company and five shrimp farms for alleged encroachment of more than 200 rai in a mangrove forest in Pa Khlok. Rear Admiral Teansiri Montriwade personally led an inspection of the alleged encroachment site in Baan Pak Chit on…
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Myanmar convicts five over fake rape claim that sparked riots
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Myanmar convicts five over fake rape claim that sparked riots Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Myanmar court convicted five people for spreading fabricated allegations that a Muslim man raped a Buddhist woman, which led to deadly riots last July, a court official said on Friday.…
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Yemen mosque suicide bomb attacks leave 137 dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Suicide bombers slay 137 in Yemen mosque attacks Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Suicide bombers killed at least 137 worshippers and wounded hundreds more during Friday prayers at two mosques in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in coordinated attacks claimed by Islamic State. The attacks on mosques…
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Ex-princess’ family members get five-year jail terms
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ex-princess’ family members get five-year jail terms The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Three relatives of the former Princess Srirasm were given five-and-a-half-year prison terms yesterday for abduction, intimidation and lese majeste – crimes associated with a racketeering gang led by disgraced former crime-buster Maj Gen…
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Pakistani nabbed after B200k hotel theft in Patong
PHUKET: A Pakistani man caught on CCTV robbing nearly 200,000 baht in cash from guests’ safe-deposit boxes at a Patong resort has been arrested in Haad Yai. Officers arrested Paris Azeem, 21, at about 10pm on Wednesday after Patong Police tracked him from Phuket to Bangkok to a rented room in Haad Yai, in the southern border province of Songkhla.…
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Aussie charged for fatal Phuket stabbing in court on Monday
PHUKET: Mark Pendlebury, the Australian expat charged for the fatal stabbing of a Patong nightclub security staffer on March 11, is expected to present himself in court on Monday. Mr Pendlebury was granted bail by the Phuket Provincial Court, confirmed Lt Col Jessada Saengsuree of the Patong Police. “He must present himself to the court on March 23 in order…
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Opinion: Teaching tourists proper footiquette
PHUKET: The fining of a Chinese tourist for washing her feet in a sink in a public restroom on Phi Phi Don hardly comes as earth-shattering news. It does, however, raise several cultural issues in a country which is so dependent on mass tourism, but at the same time famously sensitive to issues regarding the lowest of the lower extremities.…
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Opinion: Need for more speed in court proceedings
Sakun Suanpharn, 53, originally from Uttaradit, took up the position of Chief Judge of Phuket Provincial Court on April 1 last year. Judge Sakun earned a Bachelor’s of Law, Barrister-at-law from Ramkhamhaeng University. Before coming to Phuket, Judge Sakun served as Chief Judge of Yala Juvenile Court, following more than 20 years’ experience after graduating from university. Here, he explains…
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Finance: Invest in your children
PHUKET: I read an article in the BBC recently that I thought was worth sharing with my readers. It was about an investment that actually costs no money, but could yield very large returns to your children in the future. The investment is in their imagination, and the study I read about had some counter-intuitive advice. It actually concluded that…
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One Direction star Zayn Malik flees Phuket, dumps Asian tour
PHUKET: Zayn Malik of One Direction, who was spotted with a woman outside of a Phuket nightclub this week, has dropped out of the band’s Asian tour due to “stress”, confirmed his publicist on Thursday. “Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate. The band wish him well and will continue with…
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Special Report: Thailand’s wine industry at crossroads
SPECIAL REPORT Though many foreigners, and some Thais, often succumb to strong cravings for fermented grape juice, Thailand’s wine industry is metaphorically, and literally, in ferment. The Kingdom produces a limited amount of premium wine, not nearly enough to satisfy demand. In addition, the import business is riddled with taxes, making fine wines all-the-more expensive. In steps Thai ingenuity –…
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Phuket expat sailor Kevin Ashby dies from cancer, age 44
PHUKET: Well-known Phuket expat sailor Kevin Ashby has died after a long battle against colon cancer, staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. Mr Ashby, aged 44, passed away yesterday. Originally from South Africa, Mr Ashby moved to Phuket after the 2004 tsunami and sailed in many Phuket regattas. He became a familiar face at the…
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Supreme Court to try Yingluck in rice case
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Supreme Court to try Yingluck in rice case The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders yesterday ordered former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra to stand trial on May 19 on charges of alleged negligence in failing to stop corruption…
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Claims of torture over court attack materialize
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Claims of torture over court attack materialize The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police will have doctors to re-examine four of the suspects allegedly involved in the hand-grenade attack on the Criminal Court following allegations of physical assault and torture to obtain confessions. Police spokesperson Lt…
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