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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 Planning to extend your Thai visa? Why health insurance is more important than ever
If you plan to stay longer in Thailand, having health insurance is now more important than ever. Thai immigration often asks for proof of medical coverage when you apply to extend your visa. This applies to many types of visas,...
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Phuket buses, planes resume services to the South
PHUKET: The sun shining on Phuket brought good news for travelers this morning when bus and plane services from Phuket to destinations throughout the South resumed. Nearly 100 foreigners expecting to board flights to Koh Samui and other travelers bound for southern provinces by bus were left stranded this week due to the lethal flooding in the region. Phuket Airport…
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Thai qualifiers bounce out at Phuket Thailand Open
PHUKET: It wasn’t a good round for Thai hopefuls in the qualifying rounds of the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open women’s beach volleyball tournament in Karon, as all three qualifiers bounced out in Round 1 yesterday. The pairing of Phupanee-Numwong went down in straight sets to the Canadian pairing of Valjas-MacTavish in 39 minutes (16-21, 21-23). The Japanese pairing of Ozaki-Kaneda…
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Prayers for stricken FC Phuket star Camara tonight
PHUKET: Players, coaches, fans, friends and family of FC Phuket will hold candlelight prayers tonight for stricken star midfielder Camara Ahmed. Camara, from the Ivory Coast, collapsed on field from a heart attack at Surakul Stadium on Saturday during the FC Phuket match against Chainat FC. He was revived en route to hospital, but has been in a coma since.…
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Phuket hit-and-run: Young couple killed instantly
PHUKET: A young couple on a motorbike died instantly in a head-on collision with a pickup truck in Phuket this morning. Police are now seeking the driver, who abandoned the wrecked vehicle at the scene and fled on foot. Arriving at the scene on Chao Fa East Road in Chalong shortly after 6am, officers found the bodies 28-year-old Prasertsri Panchanan,…
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Phuket donations sought for flood victims nationwide
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office and the Phuket Red Cross are asking for the public to donate items for flood victims nationwide. Donations of cash, clothes and dried or sealed foods will be accepted at the Jamjuri Ballroom at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town on Saturday between 1pm and 5pm. Money transfers can be made to: Account name:…
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Phuket Thailand Open beach volleyball to go ahead on schedule
PHUKET: Organizers of the Phuket Thailand Open have confirmed that qualifying matches for the international beach volleyball event will go ahead as planned from 9am tomorrow on all match courts on Karon Beach. Although organizers are keeping an eye on the weather, only heavy rain will be allowed to delay play, said Kaewjai “Pu” Kaewpratoom of event organizers Pentangle Promotions.…
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Grand ambitions: Phuket teen joins Women’s Tennis Association tour
PHUKET: Local tennis player Helen De Cesare looks set for stardom after winning a place on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour at just 15 years of age. Confident she can advance to the highest echelons of the sport, Miss De Cesare has her sights set on eventually breaking into the world’s top 10. “One day, I want to win…
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Phuket motorcade to support “100% helmet use” campaign
PHUKET: About 500 Phuket motorbike riders are expected to make their way along the beach road in Patong on November 16 to highlight the importance of wearing safety helmets. Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakhao said the motorcade of “safe riders” is part of an island-wide campaign to raise road-safety awareness. The motorcade comes before the January 1 deadline when Kathu…
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UPDATE: FC Phuket star clings to life at Bangkok Hospital
PHUKET: Teammates of FC Phuket player Camara Ahmed were today camped out at Bangkok Hospital Phuket, where the star midfielder remains in intensive care after suffering cardiac arrest during Saturday night’s 1-0 playoff win over Chainat FC. FC Phuket advisor Paitoon Chutimakornkul told the Gazette this afternoon that expert care by staff at the hospital’s Cardiac Care Unit kept the…
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New Kamala – Kathu Road touted for Phuket
PHUKET: Kamala’s top official has proposed construction of a new road linking the West Coast town with Kathu Municipality, bypassing Patong. The five-kilometer road would head directly over the hills behind Phuket FantaSea and join an existing road at Kathu Waterfall. The new road, if approved, would cost more than 17.4 million baht just for the 2.6-kilometer stretch in Kamala.…
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Phuket poll: Ice in beer, yea or nay?
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette readers’ poll has covered some pretty serious topics in recent months, so, to add some lighthearted refreshment, our latest survey asks readers the age-old, simple question: Is it acceptable to put ice in beer? To have your say, click here or on the icon at the top-right corner of this page. We’ll be back to a…
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Phuket in for harsh weather: MET
PHUKET: The Meteorological Department this morning issued an advisory warning of heavy rain with the chance of flooding in Phuket. The warning, also issued for other southern provinces, comes as a tropical depression is passing over the region. The affected provinces were given as Pattani, Songkhla, Phatthalung, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Satun, Trang, Krabi, Phuket and Phang Nga. The warning, issued…
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FC Phuket star fighting for his life
PHUKET: Celebrations of FC Phuket’s crucial 1-0 victory over Chainat last night have been muted by midfielder Camara Ahmed collapsing on field from a heart attack. The Ivory Coast midfielder, on loan from Muangthong United, collapsed during the second half of the game and was resuscitated en route to Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He is now in a coma in intensive…
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Van plunges from expressway, killing eight
BANGKOK (The Nation): A packed transport van plunged from an expressway onto Rama VI road in Bangkok this evening before bursting into flames, killing at least eight. The van swerved and hit the expressway railing near the Rama VI exit before plunging onto the road near Samsen School at about 5pm. The van then burst into flames, police said, killing…
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Phuket Opinion: Making sense of the numbers game
PHUKET: Our story this week about violent crime in Phuket set off a lively, multi-sided discussion in the Gazette readers forum, with several contributors pondering the relationship between police statistics and the actual situation on the ground. Dismissing the report as irrelevant, some pointed to the astonishing number of reported cases of prostitution: 1,692 in the whole province for the…
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Breaking sports news: FC Phuket 1 – 0 Chainat
PHUKET: FC Phuket beat Chainat FC by a score of 1 – 0 tonight in the Thai League playoffs for promotion to Division 1. Chainat FC went into the match at the top of the table with two wins, but they were dominated by FC Phuket in the first half. FC Phuket scored on a brilliant header early in the…
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FC Phuket ready for showdown with Chainat FC
PHUKET: FC Phuket will take on Chainat FC tomorrow in a crunch match that will be crucial to their chances of being promoted to Division 1 of the Thai League. “Chainat FC is currently favorite to win our group in the playoffs. The game tomorrow is expected to be an interesting one – and exciting,” said FC Phuket Coach Ajharn…
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Halloween celebrations underway in Phuket
PHUKET: Although Halloween is not widely celebrated on the island, the resident expat community and their kids had a good time dressing up, trick-or-treating and taking part in other fun activities earlier today. Several schools held Halloween events today, the last school day before the actual celebration on Sunday. At Kajonkietsuksa School, secondary students organized fun activities for their nong…
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Phuket murder suspects arrested in Nongkhai
PHUKET: Two brothers wanted for the murder a man in Patong last month were arrested in their home province of Nongkhai and flown back to Phuket to face charges earlier this week. Suphat “Tu” Tiangnoi, 26, and his younger brother Somchai “Bao Dam”, 23, were presented at a press conference at Kathu Police Station on Wednesday. The pair were arrested…
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Finn dies in Phuket hotel room
PHUKET: A Finnish tourist died in Patong late Tuesday night after a heavy drinking session, police said. Kathu Police duty officer Jakkapong Luang-aon said the Finn, 58, had been in Patong to celebrate the birthday of his Thai girlfriend. At the party that evening he drank a great deal, witnesses said. His girlfriend left him alone in his Patong hotel…
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Phuket Governor warns developers of flood, landslide risks
PHUKET: Governor Tri Augkaradacha has urged officials and local agencies to be vigilant in preventing flooding and landslides near construction sites and at recently completed housing projects. The call followed the Thai Meteorological Department on Wednesday issuing a wet weather warning for 15 provinces in southern Thailand through the end of the month. Heavy rains caused by a monsoon trough…
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Phuket water woes prompt weir construction
PHUKET: A pilot project in the hills of Kathu is aimed at alleviating water supply woes at the Prince of Songkla University campus in Phuket (PSU-Phuket). The project, headed by Bangkok Hospital Phuket (BHP), involves three weirs, or “mini-dams”, being built on hillside streams to trap and divert runoff. The first weir, which is already completed, fills three 6,000-liter tanks…
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Top Buddhist scholar to give workshop in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket International Academy Mind Center (PIAMC) will host a three-day workshop by leading Buddhist scholar Dr Jeffrey Hopkins in December. Taking place over the weekend of December 3-5, the program is based on the Dalai Lama’s enlightening book, How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving Relationships, which provides everyday guidelines for transforming self-centered energy into outwardly…
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American student found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: An American man studying to become an English teacher was found dead in his Phuket Town hotel room last night. Phuket City Police said it appears that Peter Williams, a 39-year-old from New York State, committed suicide in his room at Roongrawee Mansion, near Vachira Phuket Hospital on Yaowarat Road. Yesterday evening at around 11pm, four friends went to…
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Grave guidance solves missing person mystery
PHITSANULOKE: In an eerie tale just in time for Halloween, a man was arrested in this northern province after being fingered for murdering his young wife by an unlikely source: her ghost. Four months after her disappearance, the spirit of 21-year-old Ratree Thongdee reportedly appeared to her mother, Somjit Jitprajak, in a dream. The apparition told her that she had…
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Phuket IT update: ‘Facebook for Business’ seminar on Saturday
PHUKET: Computer guru Woody Leonhard will speak at two upcoming IT seminars in Phuket, starting with an encore of the popular Phuket Software Park seminar Using Facebook to Drive Business in Patong on Saturday morning. PhuketSchool.com director Sitthichai “Mr X” Laoveerakul gave the Facebook presentation last month at a Software Park Phuket meeting. Khun Woody and several Computer Clinic members…
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Culture update: The slow death of the Phuket dialect
PHUKET: Developed over generations in isolation from the mainland, Phuket’s unique version of the southern Thai dialect is dying out, diluted by the huge influx of migrant workers, the tourism boom, mass media and a slew of other factors. The Phuket dialect is unique. Compared with other versions of southern Thai, it tends to be slower and more flowing than…
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Deadline for Phuket ‘yellow pages’
PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2011 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s ‘yellow pages’, have until 6pm on Friday, November 12, to enter (or update) their listings. Entries after that date will appear in the Gazette Guide Online only – not in the hard-copy book for 2011. The 400-page book, with details of more than 4,700 businesses serving the international community…
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New international hospital under construction in Krabi
PHUKET: A new private hospital under construction in Krabi Town has prompted talk among local residents of less reliance on medical facilities in Phuket. The 120-bed facility, under construction by Krabi Nakharin Company, will be located on Pisalpop Road. The management company has links with, but is independent from, the group that runs the 135-bed Nakharin Hospital in Nakhon Sri…
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Increase in violent crime reports in Phuket
PHUKET: There has been a sharp increase in violent crime over the past 12 months, recently-released statistics by the Phuket Provincial Police reveal. The figures compare the numbers of reported crime cases for fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010, which ended on September 30. The statistics show a 72.9% increase in reported cases of “heinous crimes”: group muggings, armed…
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