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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Breaking News: Phuket fugitive Dane “Denny’ Knudsen arrested
PHUKET: Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that wanted Danish national Dennis Mark Knudsen, 24, has been arrested by Phuket Police. Mr Knudsen was wanted for breaking bail conditions after he failed to appear at Phuket Provincial Court on January 22 to resolve a dispute with Australians John Cohen and Adam Shea about a “big…
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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United sunk by Navy
PHUKET: A second-half hat trick from Phuket United’s leading scorer, Jackson Santos, was not enough for his side to beat the Royal Navy FC, who walked away 5-3 winners in a futsal league match on Saturday evening in Bangkok. The match, played at Bangkok’s Fashion Island futsal arena, was both side’s 18th of 30 league matches in the Thailand Futsal…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Mexico Pemex blast toll reaches 36
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Mexican rescue workers found three more bodies over the weekend amid the rubble of a deadly blast that tore through state oil firm Pemex’s main office complex, the government said, as search efforts appeared to near a close. The death toll from…
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Phuket FC silence the Surat Thani ‘Roosters’
PHUKET: The Southern Sea Warriors’ 4-1 preseason friendly win against the Surat Thani FC ‘Roosters’ last night gave a number of trialists the chance to impress the Phuket coaches and fans. Of the try-out players, Japanese midfielder Yone stood out the most. The tall midfielder was an imposing presence in the center of the pitch linking up play well and…
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Teaching Russian-language skills the key to resolving Phuket discord
PHUKET: A solution to the anti-Russian sentiment spreading rapidly in Phuket is Russian-language classes, the Russian Federation’s Deputy Honorary Consul in Phuket, Santi Udomkiratak, has told the Phuket Gazette.“Lack of Russian-language skills is a big part of the Russian issue here, and it’s been a problem for a very long time,” Mr Santi said.“There are very few Thai people who…
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Lucky police traffic stop nets wanted felon, drugs and guns
PHUKET: A random stop of two men at a checkpoint in Phuket Town on Thursday night netted Phuket Police drugs, guns and a man wanted on an attempted murder charge. Police stopped Narongsak Dang-ngam, 36, and Nikom Srisoi, 45, at 11:30pm at Soi Surin 3 in Phuket Town (map here). “Mr Narongsak was driving a pick up truck and Mr…
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Phuket Red Cross calls for A, B, Rh- blood donations
PHUKET: The Phuket Red Cross is calling for people across the island to join its Valentine’s Day blood drive to help replenish dwindling stocks at the blood bank in Phuket Town. The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners in urgent need of medical help, is low on stocks of blood…
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Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day to inject B2bn into Phuket economy
PHUKET: More than 300,000 tourists are expected to visit Phuket this month for Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, altogether providing a boost of more than 2 billion baht to the Phuket economy. Chanchai Duangjit, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office, told the Phuket Gazette that tourists from China make up the majority of hotel bookings…
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Phuket Police Deputy Commander: Gun Control Still Within our Grasp
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Arun Kaewvatee, 52, is originally from Ron Phibun District in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, a province well known throughout Thailand for gun use. Col Arun has been Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police for a year. Here, he talks about illegal guns and gun ownership in Phuket. I do not consider illegal guns to be…
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Phuket Opinion: Stem the growing tide of gun crimes in Phuket
PHUKET: The recent surge in the number of violent crimes involving firearms needs to be addressed by authorities immediately, otherwise Phuket’s self-designated sobriquet “Pearl of the Andaman” risks being inadvertently changed to “Arsenal of the Andaman”. Few regular readers of the Phuket Gazette will have failed to notice an apparent upsurge in gun crime this high season. This is perhaps…
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Phuket Sports: New Laguna triathlon
PHUKET: Challenge Family recently announced a partnership with Asia’s longest running triathlon, Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT), and in so doing, revealed its commitment to developing a series of half and full distance events throughout the region. LPT has been attracting the sport’s legends to the stunning tropical island for two decades. In 2013 it will celebrate its 20th anniversary with…
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Phuket van driver rewarded for returning tourist’s lost B124k
PHUKET: A Phuket tour driver has received high praise from the governor for returning 124,000 baht and US$433* that an Indonesian tourist left behind in his tour van.Sarawut Sompan, 24, works for the Sai Lom Club van team in Chalong. On Thursday night, he picked up two tourists, Indonesian and Thai, at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town and…
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National corruption probe into police housing arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: Royal Thai Police Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Director-General Tharit Pengdit arrived in Phuket yesterday as part of his investigation into the stalled construction of 163 police housing apartment blocks across the country.With him was Government Spokesman Prompong Nopparit, who is also vice president of a parliamentary anti-corruption committee set up by Pheu Thai.“We will be looking at the…
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Phuket Sports: Taekwondo tourney proves a knockout
PHUKET: The inaugural Phuket International Choi Yong Seok Taekwondo Championship was held at the Saphan Indoor Sports Complex last weekend, starting with the mandatory Gangnam Style dance. The event attracted more than 1,500 competitors from Thailand, Korea, Russia, Kuwait and Australia, among others. Traditionally held in Bangkok, the organizer, and Thailand’s national taekwondo coach, Choi Yong Seok, says he wanted…
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Thai Navy admiral in Phuket clarifies navy role on Rohingya
PHUKET: The Phuket-based Commander of the Third Naval Area, Vice Admiral Taratorn Kajitsuwan, yesterday publicly affirmed the role of the Royal Thai Navy in handling the huge influx of Rohingya refugees landing along the Andaman coast.Speaking at a public conference at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town, V/Adm Taratorn said the Royal Thai Navy aims to provide humanitarian assistance…
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Dugong not dying for sex
PHUKET: An endangered-species specialist last week dispelled rumors that the increase in dugong deaths in Southern Thailand last year was due to the mammal being hunted for the alleged aphrodisiac qualities of its body parts.“We have had no reports of the dugong being poached in the Andaman coast region in order to use their body parts to create a sexual…
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Phuket absorbs Southern langsat surplus
PHUKET: The island’s supply of langsat (Lansium domesticum) has increased by 10 tonnes over the past few weeks due to a late-season harvest surplus in and near Thailand’s Deep South. Since about mid-January, several agriculture groups from Yala, Songkhla and Phatthalung have travelled to Phuket to sell the fruit wholesale, with the Phuket Office of Commercial Affairs (POCA) serving as…
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Bay Regatta sets sail with blue skies and good wind
PHUKET: Thirty-five boats, sailing in five classes and flying the flags of thirteen nations, set sail yesterday, day one, in the Bay Regatta, affectionately known as the “Fun Regatta” to the participants. Countries represented included Thailand, Malaysia, the USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, the Netherlands and Ireland. The 16th annual Bay Regatta kicked off Wednesday…
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Phuket land grab by villagers, stalled by police, title deed
PHUKET: Plans by local residents to develop over 100 rai of land in Chalong, they claim is theirs, ground to a halt yesterday after more than 60 police officers arrived to support the alleged owner, who produced a title deed as proof of ownership. The alleged owner, Prajit Hongyok, met fierce opposition from villagers as he rebuffed their claims that…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: African Nations Cup quarters offers a tasty mix
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Last eight offer tasty mix at African Nations Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The right ingredients seem to be in place to make the knockout rounds of the African Nations Cup, which reaches the quarter-finals stage this weekend, a real football feast for fans a…
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Phuket Police still hunting for Jintana’s killers
PHUKET: Phuket Police have sent CCTV footage related to the murder of Jintana Mahattanapak to experts in Bangkok in the hopes they can extract fresh information that will lead to the arrest of her killers. Mrs Jintana, the human resources director at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket Resort & Spa in Karon and mother to two young daughters, was executed by…
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Phuket’s Yellow Pages / Business Directory now on sale
PHUKET: The Gazette Guide for 2013, Phuket’s only hard-copy telephone book is now on sale throughout the island and across the Andaman region. A list of the book’s retailers in Phuket, Phang Nga, Khao Lak, Krabi and Koh Samui is available here. With contact details of thousands of businesses, classified into 219 different categories, the 356-page book is priced at…
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Taxi drivers trigger full inquest into all Phuket tour business
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada has ordered the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) to inspect the business licenses of all tourism businesses across Phuket that have foreigners registered as part-owners. The news follows an inspection raid of a single tour operator in Bang Tao, on Phuket’s central western coast, at the request of local taxi drivers yesterday. The taxi…
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Autopsy results unclear about role of head wound in drowned Dutch tourist’s death
PHUKET: Bangkok autopsy results have confirmed that Dutch tourist Stephan Buczynski died from drowning, but were unable to determine the role the serious wound to his head played in the incident. Doctors at Patong Hospital were fairly certain Mr Buczynski, 26, had drowned, but police requested the autopsy because there was also a deep gash on the back of his…
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Phuket Gazette World Sports: Fall guy for an entire sport – Armstrong
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Armstrong feels he is cycling’s “fall guy” Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Lance Armstrong feels he is the scapegoat of a sport that has always been subject to cheating, the disgraced American cyclist said yesterday. Asked whether he felt he was the ‘fall guy for…
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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United lose away match with Si Saket
PHUKET: Despite a hat trick by Phuket’s Brazilian winger Jardel, the island’s pro futsal outfit Phuket United lost 4-6 away to Sri Pathum Sunrise Si Saket Futsal Club last night in Si Saket. Played at the Si Saket Rajbhat University in Isarn, the match was both side’s 17th match of a 30 fixture season. Like their first match in Phuket…
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Phuket News: Rohingya risk births at sea to flee Myanmar
PHUKET: A newborn baby just eight days old was among the boatload of Rohingya refugees who made landfall yesterday in the Surin Islands archipelago, in Phang Nga province, to the north of Phuket. As the boat landed, local people brought food and drinks to the refugees, Khura Buri District Chief Manit Pianthong said. An estimated 110 refugees were on the…
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Phuket Football: Southern Sea Warriors to battle North Korean Army
PHUKET: The new-look Phuket FC – taking on a new nickname this season as the “Southern Sea Warriors” – are set to host DPR Korea League champions, 4.25 Sports Club, in a highly anticipated friendly match tonight in Phuket Town. The match, Phuket’s third 2013 pre-season test, will kickoff at 6pm at Surakul Stadium. Admission is 100 baht, though students…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Israeli warplanes target arms convoy in Syria
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel hits Syria arms convoy to Lebanon -sources Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israeli warplanes bombed a convoy near Syria’s border with Lebanon, sources told Reuters, apparently targeting weapons destined for Hezbollah in what some called a warning to Damascus not to arm Israel’s Lebanese enemy.…
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Runaway wheel from Phuket tour bus narrowly misses policeman
PHUKET: A wheel that had come off a Phuket tour bus raced off on its own down Thepkrasattri Road yesterday morning, narrowly missing a policeman in its path. The bus, displaying a Pegas sign in its front window, had picked up 32 passengers at Phuket Airport and was heading towards a hotel in Kata when it lost a rear wheel…
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