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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Fishermen to receive compensation
PHUKET CITY: Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Newin Chidchob arrived on Phuket yesterday afternoon to offer assistance to local fishermen who lost their boats in Sunday’s tsunamiK. Newin said he had received reports of damage to 300 large fishing boats and 2,400 longtail boats. Some 20,000 people employed in coastal fishing in the six affected provinces, such as fish farmers…
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Nai Harn loses a great friend
PHUKET: Phuket, and the Rawai community in particular, lost one of its most dedicated and lovely people to Boxing Day tsunami. Leone Cosens, wife of Tim and friend to many, moved to Phuket from New Zealand some 11 years ago and quickly helped establish the Phuket Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), which, along with other organizations, has helped care for, sterilize,…
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Tourism Council President calls for speedy assistance
PHUKET: Tourism Council of Thailand President Vichit Na Ranong has called for the government to expedite assistance to help in the clean-up effort in the wake of the December 26 tsunami.“It’s too early to estimate the total cost of the damage, but we must begin the clean-up as soon as possible. We can’t afford to wait for three months. The…
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Laguna denies being “totally destroyed’
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket has issued a press statement denying reports broadcast globally on Cable News Network (CNN) that the resort was “totally destroyed” in the Boxing Day tsunami.Laguna Phuket events and Press Relations Manager Michelle Payette told the Gazette, “Not only are we not gone, but we are operational. And we think we will be fully operational within four days.“Anything…
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THAI adds more special flights, bigger planes out of Phuket
PHUKET: Thai Airways has announced a change to larger aircraft and two special flights from Phuket to Bangkok.Mr Kanok Abhiradee, THAI’s President, said that the airline has taken the step to facilitate transportation of the injured and others affected by the natural disaster in the South of Thailand. The special arrangements take effect from today, 27 December, onwards.The special, additional…
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Death toll update: 600-700 killed
PHUKET: Rescue teams searched beaches and remote islands in search of the missing today as Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that up to 700 people died when earthquake-induced tidal waves hit resort areas of southern Thailand.According to Prime Minister Thaksin, about 600 to 700 people died when the waves and flooding devastated the coastal areas of Phuket and surrounding provinces.Maj Gen. Kokiet Wongworachart,…
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Baby boy identifed
PHUKET: A young boy rescued by a couple and taken to Phuket International Hospital has been identified as a 20-month old Swedish boy.Family members in Finland saw the photograph of young Hannes Bergstrom on the Phuket Gazette website and contacted the boy’s uncle, Tim Karkkinen, in Pattaya within an hour of the story going online.Mr Karkkinen told the Gazette that…
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Accommodations prepared in Bangkok for foreign tourists
BANGKOK: The Tourism Ministry has prepared over 1,000 rooms in Bangkok to accommodate foreign tourists whose hotels in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi were destroyed by yesterday’s tidal waves.All domestic airlines will arrange special flights to send foreign tourists from the three provinces to Bangkok. All expenses will be shouldered by the ministry.
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Plea to find missing parents
PHUKET CITY: As the hospitals on the island continue to receive people injured by yesterday’s tidal wave, the number of patients who have been separated from family or friends grows.At Phuket International Hospital, a toddler boy was brought in by ambulance from Tai Muang, in Phang Nga, about 9 pm last night.The boy had been rescued by a couple, but…
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Blood donors and translators needed
PHUKET: Wachira Phuket Hospital is urgently seeking people willing to donate blood. Although all types – A, AB, B and O – are required, need is especially desperate for rhesus negative, or Rh-, types.Anyone interested in donating blood should present themselves at either the fourth floor of Wachira Phuket Hospital, on Yaowarat Rd in Phuket City, or call K. Sri-Rung,…
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Consular support contact numbers released
PHUKET CITY: Throughout this morning many foreign embassies have been busy organizing people at Provincial Hall to be contacted for information about their nationals who may have been caught in yesterday’s deadly tidal wave..The information presented to the Gazette about the countries represented, their representatives and their telephone numbers is as follows:Australia: 076-370672. Belgium: Ronny Elau 01-8339986.Britain: Mel James 01-9157805.Canada: Diego…
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Consular support for foreigners
PHUKET: The official tally for dead and missing in and around Phuket as a result of yesterday’s tsunami now stands at 122 and 355 respectively, according to the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services System (Narenthorn Center) of the Ministry of Public Health. A further 1,027 people are reported as injured, although one local private hospital confirmed that it alone had…
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Tidal wave toll: 35 dead, 355 injured
PHUKET: The tidal wave that hit Phuket this morning has claimed the lives of 35 people and injured some 355, Wisut Romin, Deputy Secretary of the Phuket Provincial Administration Office, has announced.Speaking at the emergency rescue headquarters set up at the Phuket Provincial Office, K. Wisut said that an earlier report had recorded 11 dead at Kata Beach, and nine more at Nai Yang…
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Tourists tell of their tidal wave ordeal
PHUKET: Swedish tourist Kjell Sköld, of Gothenburg, has described how the rising waters of the wave trapped him, his wife Bibi, and their young children in their bungalow at Andaman Bay Resort, at Bang Tao.“The water went out then came back in very, very quickly, taking everything with it,” said Mr Sköld. “When the water came into the bungalow, we…
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Tidal wave toll rises
PHUKET: An unconfirmed 22 people have died and more than 1,000 have sought refuge at the Phuket Provincial Office in Phuket City after Phuket’s coast was swamped by a tidal wave caused by an earthquake off Sumatra this morning.Waters off Phuket surged onto land, washing away homes on the east coast and causing damage at resorts all along the west coast.The Gazette…
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Phuket coast swamped after Sumatra earthquake
PHUKET: Emergency response units have been scrambled after waters off Phuket surged onto land this morning, washing away homes on the east coast and causing damage at resorts all along the west coast.The sea rose after tremors from an earthquake just before 7 am off Sumatra, Indonesia, that measured 8.1 on the Richter scale.At 11 am, Phuket International Hospital confirmed…
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Gas stations to stay open 24 hours
PHUKET: Petrol stations will be allowed to trade around the clock over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, Thongrat Vannuch, the Chief of Phuket Provincial Energy Business Office, told the Gazette today.K. Thongrat said the Energy Ministry announced on December 20 that petrol stations would be allowed to remain open 24 hours from tomorrow (December 25) through to January…
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Police to boost water safety
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Police will be put on 24-hour patrol over the holidays in order to ensure the safety of tour boats, respond to distress calls and thwart any terrorist incursions.The announcement came at a press conference yesterday at the office of the Phuket Marine Police Office at Saphan Hin. Pol Maj Gen Ronnarong Youngyuen, Deputy Commissioner of the…
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Finn drowns at Karon
KARON: A Finnish national drowned off Karon Beach yesterday afternoon.Raikka Ohhi Veikko, 69, was pulled from the water by officers of the Phuket Marine Police and the Phuket Tourist Rescue Center, but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Patong Hospital.An officer working at the Phuket Tourist Rescue Center, who declined to give his name, said it was believed that…
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Panwa aquarium “to re-open in time for Songkran’
CAPE PANWA: Following Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura on Monday announcing that a private aquarium may be built at Surin Beach, Phuket Marine Biology Center (PMBC) director Wannakiat Thubthimsang today told the Gazette that the PMBC aquarium will be open in time for the Songkran holiday period in April 2005.The PMBC aquarium closed more than two years ago for renovations. The work…
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Police bust major gambling ring
PHUKET CITY: Police have arrested the suspected “bankers” of a multi-million-baht gambling operation in Phuket City.Somkid Korkiatiwong, 40, and Somchai Santi-Amorntat, 51, both of Kra Rd, were arrested at a home on Takuatung Rd on Sunday.The arresting officers found a computer, fax, two photocopiers, a bankbook, three large hessian sacks and 10,000 baht in cash, along with “betting slips” relating…
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Governor’s last chance for Ao Phuket approval
PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura is to make a last-ditch attempt to persuade the Cabinet to approve the Ao Phuket development project before Parliament is dissolved for February’s general election.The proposed development concerns more than 3,200 rai of land and a budget of more than 63 billion baht. It would include a convention center, hotels, apartments, shopping centers, entertainment facilities,…
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Phuket aquarium gets new lease of life
THALANG: Representatives of the Phuket Sea Shell Co met Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura yesterday to seek his support for the plan to build an aquarium on a 120-rai site near Surin Beach.The island’s sole aquarium, at Ao Makham and run by Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), closed more than two years ago for renovations, which were supposed to take a year…
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“Target’ Phuket to receive more anti-terrorism equipment
PHUKET CITY: Phuket is to receive two “bomb blankets” worth 500,000 baht each from the US Embassy, to use in the event of a suspected terrorist attack.The blankets would be placed over suspected bombs to catch shrapnel and fragments in the event of an explosion.The blankets are due to be handed over to Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura on December 27 by…
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Phuket gears up for national elections
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Election Committee (PEC) expects a high voter turnout in the province for the upcoming general election, which will be held from 8 am to 3 pm on February 6.PEC Chairman Dr Prapa Kayee said, “There was a low turnout, 74%, in the last general election. This time we think people are more familiar with the voting system,…
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Phuket’s business boom continues
PHUKET: The number of new businesses registered on Phuket so far this year has increased by nearly 50% over the number for the same period last year, according to statistics from the Phuket Provincial Business Development Office (PBDO).Yongyuth Kasetsuntorn, head of the the PBDO, told the Gazette that 1,452 new limited partnerships and limited companies were registered from January 1 to…
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No early closing on New Year’s Eve
PHUKET: Entertainment venues will be allowed to stay open until 6 am on New Year’s morning, the Deputy Secretary of Phuket Provincial Administration Office, Wisut Romin, has told the Gazette.During the latter part of this year, nighttime venues have been the focus of a battle between the government, which has commanded them to close at midnight or 1 am, and…
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Minimum wage set to rise
PHUKET: Phuket’s lowest-paid workers could be in line to receive a New Year present – of an increase in the minimum wage of five baht a day.The Chief of the Provincial Labor Protection and Welfare Office, Patom Phetmanee, told the Gazette today it was likely that the minimum wage in Phuket will rise on January 1, from 168 baht a…
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TAT to put up B60m for F1 boat race
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is set to double its sponsorship of next year’s F1 powerboat Grand Prix, to 60 million baht.Swin Chatsuwan, Managing Director of Paragon Events, which has won the contract to organize the race, said yesterday that the TAT had agreed to his company’s request to provide full sponsorship.He added that the race – the…
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TAT to celebrate B300m high-season bonanza
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects no less than 300 million baht to be injected into the Phuket economy over the upcoming holiday period from December 23 to January 2.TAT Region 4 Director Suwalai Pinpradab told the Gazette today that a recent check of hotel occupancy rates and advanced bookings indicates that most island hotels will be fully-booked,…
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