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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Police appeal for patience in Pongtorn probe
SURAT THANI: A senior officer from Police Region 8 has denied press reports that an arrest has been made for the assassination of Phuket Land Office Deputy Chief Pongtorn Hiranyaburana seven weeks ago, and has appealed for the public to be patient. Pol Col Ronapong Saikaew, Superintendent of Investigation of Surat Thani Provincial Police Region 8, who is heading up…
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Relief loans for tourism businesses
PHUKET: The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank (SME Bank) of Thailand is offering members of the Phuket Eco-tourism Association (PEA) loans of up to 5 million baht, it was announced today. Speaking at a seminar held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel this afternoon, SME Bank Phuket branch manager Adisorn Kittipatanapaiboon said that loans of between 300,000 and 5…
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Manit slams corruption allegations
PHUKET: Vice-Governor Manit Wattanasen has blasted newspapers that alleged he has been moved to Pattani province because of involvement in the ongoing land scandals. V/Gov Manit will take up his new post on June 23. Speaking with the Gazette this morning, he stressed that his transfer had come about because the government needed an urgent replacement for Sanchai Yaisawang, one…
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Coral trafficker arrested
PHUKET TOWN: A local sorng taew driver was arrested at 7 am today when police officers caught him loading boxes of protected coral valued at 100,000 baht onto a van bound for Surat Thani. Acting on a tip-off, officers arrived at the Montri Rd terminus where vans bound for Surat Thani gather, as Phuket native Weerayuth Taodaeng, 41, was loading…
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Villagers seek justice for slain council member
CHERNG TALAY: About 200 Cherng Talay villagers carried the casket of a murdered village council member to the Cherng Talay Police Station yesterday to demand justice for his death. The victim, 33-year-old Sommit Kongtin, was allegedly clubbed to death by a gang of young thugs outside the Chok E-sarn Karaoke Bar on Srisoonthorn Rd at about 2 am on June…
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Jilted lover commits murder-suicide
WICHIT: A rubber plantation worker on Saturday shot dead his ex-fiancée after discovering that she had been living with a new boyfriend. He then turned the gun on himself, shooting himself in the head. Lt Col Chartchai Nicrodhanon, Deputy Superintendent (Suppression) of Phuket Town Police Station, today told the Gazette that he and other officers arrived at the scene of…
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Fake goods worth B1m seized in Patong
PATONG: Almost 3,000 fake items with a street value of 1 million baht were seized in raids on stalls in Soi Kebsab and Thaweewong Rd on Saturday afternoon. The items, mostly leather goods but also including fake brand-name perfumes, clothes and pirated CDs, were seized in raids on nine stalls. The haul, which filled five police pickup trucks, was taken…
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A very dry “wet’ season forecast
PHUKET TOWN: A meteorologist from the Southwestern Regional Meteorological Center has forecast that Phuket will continue to receive less rainfall than normal this rainy season and is urging Phuket residents to strictly conserve water and augment domestic supplies by collecting rainwater. Tawat Tantham-Nu, director of the Southwestern Regional Meteorological Center, told the Gazette, “Much of Bang Wad Reservoir is now…
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Dancing the doctor away
PHUKET TOWN: More than 2,000 residents from across the island joined Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan and leading Phuket figures at Saphan Hin on Thursday to “dance the doctor away”. The mass workout was organized as part of a Health Ministry fitness initiative to encourage people to exercise for at least 15 minutes a day. At the front of the…
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Boost for Phuket’s environment
PATONG: Community environmental projects should get a boost following a three-day seminar at the Royal Paradise Hotel organized by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor). The seminar reviewed Phuket’s environmental plans, providing impetus for local officials and groups. Somchai Duangkae, Chairman of the Provincial Council, told the Gazette that Tambon Pa Khlok has been chosen as a pilot community because…
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Belgian found hanging from tree
CHALONG: A Belgian businessman was found hanging from a tamarind tree at his home in Chalong on Thursday. His younger brother told police that Georges (Jo) Billiet, 43, had recently broken up with his girlfriend and that this had coincided with a downturn in his business. Pol Maj Sanae Panmee, of Chalong Police Station, said Mr Billiet’s body was found…
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Investigators swoop on Land Reform Office
PHUKET TOWN: Crime Suppression officers and Forestry Police today descended on the Phuket Provincial Agriculture Land Reform Office (ALRO) as part of investigations into the SorPorKor land use scandal. During the afternoon investigators also visited five pieces of land that are among those pinpointed in the massive land probe launched by the government. During a tense two-hour visit in the…
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Bilateral talks boost health tourism
MAI KHAO: Thailand and Malaysia have agreed in bilateral talks to cooperate in boosting health-based tourism and developing traditional medicines. The deal came today in the first of three days of talks between Thai Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan and her Malaysian counterpart, Dato Chua Jui Meng, at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa. Other topics that will be…
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Phuket to get B20 million facelift
PHUKET: Phuket will have a 20-million-baht facelift before the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in September. Seven central government organizations will provide the bulk of the funding for the makeover but the island’s 13 OrBorTors will also contribute 200,000 baht apiece. Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit, who heads the project, said work had been underway since last month. The budget covers…
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Second land probe launched
PHUKET: A senior police officer from Bangkok arrived in Phuket today to head up a second investigation into land registration abuses. Pol Maj Gen Pansiri Prapawat, Deputy Commissioner for General Investigation, has been ordered by Deputy Prime Minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to look into cases of encroachment onto government land in Phuket. Gen Pansiri said today, “I’ve come to Phuket…
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Mega-dog-pound plan criticized
PHUKET: A plan to house all of Phuket’s estimated 11,500 stray dogs in a huge central pound until they die has been criticized by the leader of a group that is attempting to control the animal population with sterilization. Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi says the proposal, costing 2 million baht, would solve the problem of “soi” dogs and would,…
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Land paper probe begins
PHUKET: Thirty officers from the Agriculture Land Reform Deoartment (ALRD) in Bangkok started checking SorPorKor 4-01 land occupation papers this morning, and are expected to take about a week to compile a summary of their findings. Adisak Srisappakij, Permanent Secretary of the ALRD, told the Gazette after meeting with Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi that the 30 officers would check all…
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Influential people “definitely in Phuket’ – Gov
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has slammed newspaper reports that Phuket has no “influential people” of the kind currently being targeted by the government of PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Several newspapers had reported that Phuket was among some 30 provinces that had stated they had no influential people. “I read these reports,” Gov Pongpayome said, “and I didn’t understand why they…
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Security fears as police nab aliens
THALANG: Phuket police have nabbed 37 men as they tried to enter the country on fake visas in a breach that has ramifications for national security and posts a question mark over the effectiveness of the Immigration Department. The men, in two large groups, had already passed through airport immigration counters by presenting Bangladeshi passports when police, acting on information…
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Phuket “facing foreign labor shortage’
PHUKET TOWN: Although the number of unemployed people has risen dramatically as a result of the tourism downturn, local Thai Rak Thai party leader Dr Yada Palimapan believes Phuket’s industries now need an extra 5,000 more laborers from other countries to kick-start the local economy. Dr Yada told a media conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday that…
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Tour submarine arrives in Phuket
AO MAKHAM: Phuket’s first tourist submarine arrived at the Phuket Deep Sea Port last night after a one-month journey on a cargo ship from Florida. The DS-48 submarine, bought by Phuket Submarine Co Ltd, is the first tourist submarine in Thailand. It will be ready to carry passengers on underwater tours around Koh Dok Mai around the end of this…
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Traffic campaign aims to “end the pain’
PHUKET TOWN: Some 900 people attended a Traffic Accident Prevention Fair in Saphan Hin yesterday, marking the start of a province-wide effort to improve road safety through education and law enforcement. Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit, who is leading the campaign, said at the opening ceremony at the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office, “Phuket has the highest rate of death from traffic accidents…
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Land officials to be transferred
PHUKET: The Director-General of the Land Department, Banyat Jantasena, has ordered two senior Land Office officials in Phuket to be transferred to other provinces. Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi told the Gazette today that the orders have already been signed for the transfers of the Chief of the Phuket Provincial Land Office (PPLO), Boonsong Namnapol, and the Chief of the…
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Cook’s killing baffles police
CHERNG TALAY: Days have passed but police admit they are still baffled by the murder of a young cook from a stylish new upmarket restaurant in Cherng Talay. A fellow worker from the new Red Room restaurant found the body of 23-year-old Amporn Changthong lying beside Sri Soonthorn Rd, some 200 meters from the venue, about 3:30 am last Friday.…
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Goods worth B3m stolen in yacht break-ins
AO CHALONG: Electronic and other equipment valued at more than 3 million baht was stolen in a series of robberies from yachts moored in Ao Chalong on Friday, May 30. Australian Brian Ritchie told the Gazette that about noon he discovered that his yacht, Beyond Rotto, had been broken into and that equipment worth about 1 million baht was missing.…
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Boat driver caught for robbing HK tourists
PHUKET: Six Hong Kong tourists had over 32,000 baht stolen as they were snorkelling near Phi Phi Island yesterday, but police managed to arrest the thief yesterday morning and recover the money. The thief, 22-year-old Wachira Thongsarng, is an employee of PP Adventure, which runs speedboat day-trips out of the Boat Lagoon. Wachira was taken into custody by Phuket Tourist…
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Singapore Sars alert ends
PHUKET: Tourists from Singapore are now able to enter Phuket and Thailand generally without a Sars health check. The World Health Organization has removed the island nation from its list of Sars-alert countries. Weerasit Raden, Chief of Port Health, Phuket International Airport, told the Gazette that travelers arriving from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China still require a medical check at…
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Rawai beach stalls to be moved
RAWAI: About 40 stall vendors selling food along the Rawai seafront have been ordered to vacate by the end of June in preparation for developments at the resort beach. Sixteen of the vendors will move to a new site as part of a 600,000-baht building project that will house them about 500 meters from the old location, near the Rawai…
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Poor turnout for SorPorKor meeting
PHUKET TOWN: Only 67 people of the 515 people in Phuket holding SorPorKor 4-01 land occupation papers registered at a meeting with Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday. With the central government about to send dozens of investigators to Phuket to check all SorPorKor papers, Gov Pongpayome had asked SorPorKor holders to a one-hour meeting at the Phuket Provincial Meeting…
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Man drowns at Nai Harn
NAI HARN: Beach vendors yesterday discovered the body of a 19-year-old man who was swept off the rocks by a large wave at Nai Harn Beach on Sunday. Suriya Lannoi, a gas station attendant in Rawai, was standing on rocks with five friends at about 4 pm when they were all knocked into the sea by a large wave, Pol…
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