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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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Sponsored Moving with family? Here’s how to cut health costs in Thailand
Relocating to Thailand with your family brings exciting new opportunities, but it also comes with the challenge of managing healthcare costs in a new system. Thailand has both public and private healthcare options, each offering different prices and quality of...
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Phuket Games 2012 prepared to open as monsoon winds blow
PHUKET: It’s all systems go for the Thailand National Youth Games 2012, which will officially open with an extravaganza today at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town. The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) held its final rehearsal for the opening ceremony at the stadium, which underwent a major renovation including new spotlights for the event. OrBorJor President Paiboon Upatising, who attended…
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Phuket Poll: Underpass project will worsen traffic
PHUKET: Results of the latest online poll reveal that a majority of Phuket Gazette readers are pessimistic about the 450mn baht underpass to be built at the Bang Khu Intersection in Koh Kaew. By a wide majority, readers in all three demographic groups thought the project would worsen traffic flow in the area rather than improve it. The poll, launched…
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Phuket Gazette: Male pill; No side-effects from nuke disaster; Real men cry
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sperm gene discovery could lead to male contraceptive, infertility treatments Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The discovery of a gene essential for sperm development could eventually lead to the creation of a new type of male contraceptive in the future, Scottish scientists said yesterday. It…
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Prompong suspects “foreigners’ in Phuket illegal land grab
PHUKET: Government Spokesman Prompong Nopparit today announced that he believes foreigners were involved in the illegal acquisition of protected forest land on the headland south of Patong Beach, on Phuket’s west coast. Leading an entourage of about 20 people, Mr Prompong this morning inspected the 20-rai plot of land in question, located near Freedom Beach. He also led the questioning…
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Phuket Island Union takes Evason dispute to Governor
PHUKET: Phuket Island Union members filed a petition with the Phuket Governor’s Office yesterday, requesting that Governor Tri Augkaradacha endorse their plea for a better severance package. The petition was the latest move by the union following an impromptu strike and subsequent sacking of more than 400 staff at the Evason Phuket & Bon Island resort on Tuesday. Union vice…
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Man dies after Thalang car crash
PHUKET: A Phuket Town man died after his pickup slammed into a power pole in Thalang district last night. Thalang Police were informed of the accident, opposite Srisoonthorn Municipality offices on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, at 10:30pm. Rushing to the scene with Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers, they found a badly-damaged Ford pickup off the road a few meters down an…
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Thai, Malaysian navies stage exercises off Phuket
PHUKET: Two Royal Thai Navy warships and one Marine Police patrol boat are taking part in counter-piracy exercises with their Malaysian counterparts off the coast of Phuket. The six-day exercise, which concludes tomorrow, marks the 53rd year that Thailand and Malaysia have conducted their annual “SEAEX Thamal” joint naval drill. Vice Admiral Taratorn Kajitsuwan, Commander of the Third Naval Area…
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Phuket sports: F1 – Gladiators, Glamour and Glitz at Monaco
PHUKET: The Monaco GP is one of the most prestigious races in the world, alongside the Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours. These three races form a Triple Crown which only Graham Hill has won. In an irony devised by some god of madness, the Monaco GP and the Indy are to run on the same day this year!…
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Burmese maid cleans house, gets nabbed by Phuket police
PHUKET: A Burmese maid in Phuket who stole about two million baht in cash, diamonds and jewelry from an ex-employer’s house on Monday was captured by the Phuket Provincial Police early this week. The maid, 32-year-old Sandar Win Wan Dee, was tracked down to room number “666” of an unnamed guest house on Soi Patong Whiskey on Monday afternoon. She…
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Phuket Town ultimate hotel guest Hans Maeter recovering well
PHUKET: Hans Maeter, the 88-year-old German expat who was moved from Phuket’s famed On On Hotel to Patong Hospital on May 8, is reportedly doing well. Mr Maeter had been a permanent resident at the On On Hotel in Phuket Town for the past 20 years. The hotel is famed as the Phuket hotel featured in the Leonardo DiCaprio film…
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Torrential rain, flash flood warning issued for Phuket
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department this afternoon issued a flash flood and strong wave warning for Phuket and the Andaman region.Issued at 4:30pm, the warning reported the “rather strong” southwest monsoon prevailing over the Andaman Sea, causing torrential rain and isolated heavy rain along Thailand’s southwest coast, including Phuket and neighboring provinces.“People in risk areas should beware of severe weather…
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Phuket expat restaurateur dies in motorbike crash
PHUKET: Long-term Phuket expat Pascal Gradolato, 54, owner of La Chaumiere restaurant on Saiyuan Road in Rawai, has died following a fatal head injury sustained in a motorcycle accident.An officer at the Phuket Tourist Rescue Center who responded to the emergency call told the Phuket Gazette he was notified of the accident at 5:30am yesterday.Mr Gradolato suffered a serious head…
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Phuket youth snatch gang targeted holiday tourists
PHUKET: Police have arrested a juvenile gang of bag-snatchers responsible for at least 17 thefts targeting tourists on holiday in Phuket.Chaiprasit ‘Jew’ Boonyok, 20, was identified as the leader of the seven-strong gang by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Pirayut Karajadi at a press conference held at Patong Police Station on Tuesday.The gang members arrested comprised two 15-year-olds, two 16-year-olds,…
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Phuket stages earthquake drill to calm fears
PHUKET: Emergency personnel from across Phuket joined local officials in Thalang District yesterday to conduct an earthquake rescue exercise. The drill was based on possible damages from a hypothetical 5.0 magnitude earthquake centered in the area of Srisoonthorn subdistrict, which sustained the greatest damage on April 16, when a 4.3 Richter quake shook Phuket. “Thalang is in an earthquake-risk zone,…
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Phuket gets a new “Yellow Bus’
PHUKET: A new luxury bus service to Hua Hin, called the “Yellow Bus”, has been launched, departing Phuket daily at 7am.The Roong Reuang Coach (Mukdahan) Company, also known as the “Yellow Bus”, has been in operation since 2005 and has maintained four routes stretching the length and breadth of Thailand.“We launched the first bus on the Phuket to Hua Hin…
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PHUKET AMCHAM seminar ‘Identifying and Marketing Brand Phuket – Sports Tourism’ today
PHUKET: The Phuket PR Network and the Phuket Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) will hold a collaborative event as part of a series exploring Brand Phuket today at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club’s (TSLC) “The View”. Guest speakers include Debbie Dionysius, Assistant Vice President of Destination Marketing at Laguna Phuket, who will discuss how the success…
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Phuket business: Door slams shut on Guernsey
PHUKET: In a move that shocked the entire UK pension transfers industry, British tax authorities have halted future transfers to Guernsey. Apparently this action has been taken as an insult. Indeed, the providers in Guernsey have been held to a different standard than other jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, or Malta. The good news is, that safe,…
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Phuket live wire: Beware the SCB phishermen
PHUKET: I have been saving up accounts of online fraud directed at people in Phuket, and my inbox is groaning under the weight! Here’s my latest crop of scams you should know about. Hopefully, if you realize other people are getting hit, there’s less of a chance that you’ll lose your shirt to one of these charlatans. The most convincing…
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Phuket business: Unplanned losses recovered
PHUKET: I very often come across a syndrome I refer to as “investor paralysis”. Basically this is where a poor investment is made, the value drops suddenly, and now you are too afraid to make any decision at all for fear of making another mistake, possibly a bigger one. Rather than putting yourself in that position, you are in fact…
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Phuket Live Wire: How to handle the next disaster
PHUKET: The “tsunami” scare has come and gone, and I’m still livid. Many news organizations spread enormous layers of misinformation and scared the living daylights out of people worldwide, without the slightest regard for the facts. All they cared about was selling more newspapers or gathering more clicks. At 5:23pm on April 11 – an hour before the “tsunami” was…
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Phuket’s “rescued dolphin’ dead
PHUKET: The striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) rescued off Phuket’s Kata Beach on Sunday has died. Patcharaporn Kaewmong, a veterinarian at the Phuket Marine Biological Center’s Marine Endangered Species Unit, said the dolphin died at 6am yesterday. “We will conduct a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death,” she said. Fears for the young female dolphin surfaced yesterday when it…
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Phuket strike action sees 400 workers laid off
PHUKET: More than 400 employees of the formerly named Evason Phuket & Bon Island resort today staged a protest in front of the hotel in Rawai after learning that they had all been sacked – with immediate effect.Warin Sungkong, who presented himself as vice president of the Phuket Island Union, told the Gazette that the employees first noticed that the…
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Lifeguards back on Phuket beaches on Monday
PHUKET: Phuket’s lifeguards will be back on the beaches on Monday, an officer at the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this afternoon. Kanyarat Senrung, an officer at the Phuket OrBorJor Tourism Department, today said the contract between the OrBorJor and the Phuket Lifeguard Club was signed this morning. “The only delay now is that we…
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Somjai opens canvassing for Phuket City Mayor election
PHUKET: Somjai Suwansupana yesterday was the first to register her candidacy in the upcoming Phuket City Municipal election on June 16, marking her attempt for re-election to her third consecutive term as Phuket City Mayor.Given the favorable voting ballot number 1, Ms Somjai led her Khon Noom “Young Turks” party in registering their candidacies for the 24 council seats up…
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Phuket rescue services to hold earthquake drill
PHUKET: Emergency rescue personnel from across Phuket will join local officials in Thalang district to conduct an earthquake rescue drill tomorrow, starting at 2pm.The drill will be based on damages from a hypothetical 5.0 magnitude earthquake centered in the area of Srisoonthorn subdistrict, which sustained the greatest damage on April 16, when a 4.3 Richter quake shook Phuket.“Thalang is in…
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Weird World News: Packing and products from a “pickle’ to poo
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News roundup is about putting your product out there, whether it’s a poop machine in Australia, aged hardwood lubricant in the United States or a man’s pickle packaged in a mankini for the Olympics. Smells like ‘modern art’ Those who thought Marcel Duchamp’s urinal art was pushing the limits, hold your nose because Australia’s most…
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Sea Gypsy Cultural Center to open in Phuket this year
PHUKET: The long-anticipated Sea Gypsy Cultural Center, or Urak Lawoi Culture Center, is now scheduled to open toward the end of this year.The inauguration of the facility is expected to happen about six months after it is officially transferred from the Phuket Office of Public Works to Rassada Municipality at the end of this month.At a cost of 5.4 million…
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Phuket sports: Formula 1 – 5 races 5 winners
PHUKET: At Catalunya no driver has ever won starting lower than third on the grid, which makes it a boring race, right?Right and wrong.It was McLaren’s race to lose again. And they did – again! Lewis Hamilton keeps winning on the track, and his pit crew keeps losing it for him. This is from a team renowned for its meticulous…
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Dolphin blood-test results reveal serious infection
PHUKET: Blood tests have revealed that the stranded striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) rescued in Phuket waters Sunday morning has a serious infection and only a 10 to 30 per cent chance of survival. The young female dolphin was recovered from the sea after being sighted by staff from Karon Beach Resort, and was transferred to Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC),…
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Phuket’s second drug rehabilitation camp planned for next month
PHUKET: Following the successful drug rehabilitation camp in Koh Kaew at the beginning of this month, organizers are now planning a second one in Wichit for June. “The Koh Kaew drug rehabilitation camp was a success with 67 of a total of 80 subjects participating,” Phuket’s Muang District Chief, Supachai Pochanukul, told the Phuket Gazette on Friday. “The 13 who…
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