News
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The best luxury pool villas in Phuket, Koh Samui, and Bali to book this summer
Phuket, Koh Samui, and Bali share several things in common: vivid blue oceans, beautiful beaches, and lush tropical landscapes. Alongside these natural beauties, they also house luxury pool villas for rent that provide the perfect setting for a dream vacation....
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New ‘Start Up Camp’ visas on offer soon
The Thai government is to offer ‘Start-up Camp’ visas to foreign IT and tech experts, this from the PM’s Office Minister Kobsak Pootrakool. Areas affected will include Phuket, Chiang Mai, Bangkok and the Eastern Economic Corridor. The government will also revamp the tax law to encourage start-ups to stay here instead of later moving to low-tax regime countries such as…
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A PHAB night of Glam, Glitz and Glitter
The Phuket Hotels Association, a nonprofit group of hoteliers focused on promoting a positive image for Phuket while supporting community-based projects, is hosting a benefit gala dinner on Saturday, 28 April 2018 to raise funds for 20 plus hospitality scholarships and traineeships for local residents. The Glam, Glitz and Glitter event will take place at the Latitude Marquee, Laguna Phuket…
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Earth Hour saves power, lowers emissions – Bangkok
Bangkok saved 2,002 megawatts of electricity as a result of observing the 2018 Earth Hour last night (Saturday). Deputy Bangkok Governor Chakkapan Phewngam revealed the results, explaining further that the figures meant savings of 7.9 million baht and the reduction of 1,026 tonnes of carbon monoxide emissions. In the capital, the Earth Hour event was held at Central Plaza Grand…
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35 tourists jump off burning dive boat in Krabi
35 passengers escaped unscathed after a diving boat called ‘Chontara’ they were travelling in caught fire near an island in Krabi province late last night/Sunday morning. No injuries were reported. The diving boat with 35 passengers was on its way back from a diving trip from Lanta Island to Phi Phi Island just after midnight. Fortunately, a nearby boat was…
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3 Women arrested after picking up drugs parcel in Phang Nga
Police Region 8 have arrested three women who picked up a drugs parcel at the Takuapa bus terminal in Phang Nga, which contained drugs with a street value up to 4 million Baht. The investigative team received a report that there would be drugs smuggled via a Bangkok – Takuapa bus. The bus staff delivered the parcel to the bus…
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Animal shows in Phuket. ‘Not in my back yard’!
OPINION by Tim Newton Three years ago the issue came into sharp focus in Phuket when a Ukraine company established ‘Nemo’, the first dolphinarium in Phuket, right next door to the Chalong Zoo. The dolphinarium drew a lot of kick-back from locals who took the NIMBY approach – Not In My Back Yard. They were applying their western values about the…
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Alleged Phuket gunmen arrested
The two gunmen who allegedly shot a local man in Rassada have been arrested but they still deny all charges. The hitmen, including 26 year old Warin ‘M’ Khemma and 26 year old Damrongrit ‘Boat’ Srijaturat, from Udon Thani, are believed to have shot local men Sinchai Kaewlipon and Jakkapan Saluay-Iam. After an investigation police claim that Sinchai owed the…
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Double fatality in Krabi bus crash
PHOTOS: มูลนิธิกระบี่พิทักษ์ประชา (Krabi Rescue) In what’s been a horror week on Thailand’s roads, two people have been killed and another six injured after a tour bus crashed into a pickup at an intersection in Krabi last night around 10pm (March 23). The double-decker bus was heading to Krabi Airport to pick up tourists. The accident happened in the Ao Luek…
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Bus driver admits taking methamphetamine before fatal journey
The 44 year old driver (reported to be 45 in other media) of the bus which crashed in Nakhon Rachasim on Wednesday night, killing 18, was arrested in roadside buses where police found him hiding after he fled the crash-scene as emergency responders dragged the dead bodies from the wreckage. Krissana Juthachuen has admitted that he used methamphetamine to keep…
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Air Asia mea culpa over bike unloading
AirAsia has apologised to cyclists whose bicycles were seen to be poorly handled by ramp staff in a viral video. As a gesture of goodwill the low-cost airline is waiving all fees to transport bicycles for April, said its CEO Riad Asmat. “As a cyclist myself, I was pretty disturbed when I saw the actions of our staff. Rest assured,…
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“US-China trade war will hurt Thai exports” – Economist
By Wichit Chaitrong, The Nation The Government has been urged to brace for the impact from a possible trade war between the United States and China with US President Donald Trump planning to impose tariffs on many Chinese goods and China vowing to retaliate. Sompop Manarungsan, veteran economist and president of the Panyapiwat Institute of Management, yesterday said he was…
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Phuket gets Number Two in list of Top Asian Destinations
The trip advisor list of Asia’s top 25 destinations is in. Good news… Thailand has five locations in the Top 25 reader-voted list. Bad news, Thailand’s not Number One. The Indonesian island of Bali has come in Number One with Phuket in Number Two spot. Hanoi in Vietnam is in Number 3, Cambodia’s Siam Reap Number 5 and the mega-city…
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14 Thai Provinces off Rabies ‘red zone’ list
The Department of Livestock Development (DLD) has taken 14 provinces off its list of rabies outbreak zones. Another 24 provinces remain on the list because they contain areas where rabies is still suspected. Originally, zones in 38 provinces were announced in January, with the observation period expiring on Tuesday (March 20). The DLD Deputy Director-General Jeerasak Pipattanapongsophon says that, as…
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More drug crackdowns in Krabi
Krabi Police held a press conference yesterday (March 22) to announce that two alleged drug mafia gang leaders had been arrested in Krabi with almost 20,000 amphetamine pills and 2 million Baht worth of assets. The two drug dealers, including 43 year old Wirote ‘Bang Lai’ Khaokham and 25 year old Nantanat ‘Fa’ Ratchaniyom, who are Krabi residents, were arrested…
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Livestock Department promises NO “Set Zero”
The Department of Livestock Development (DLD) is giving assurances to the Soi Dog Foundation that the department will not follow a policy of “Set Zero” – wiping out all stray dogs in Thailand. The assurance that there will be no countrywide slaughter came from the DLD’s Director of the Division of Veterinary Quarantine and Inspection, Dr Burin Sorasithisooksakul. It came…
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Governor rolls up his sleeves in a clean-up day at Phuket’s stray dog shelter
Phuket’s Governor, Norapat Plodthong, led a big group of officials and volunteers along with staff from Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation to cleanup, paint and donate their time at Phuket’s Stray Dog Shelter yesterday (March 20). The Governor rolled up his sleeves and worked along with the other volunteers to give the shelter a well-needed publicly-funded home for Phuket’s strays. The…
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Foreign thief captured on video in Patong
A Facebook user named ‘Thep PK’ has posted a video showing footage of a western man at a beer garden in Patong stealing a bag from the tourists sitting next to him. https://www.facebook.com/phuketgazette/videos/1652661594811662/ Facebook/Thep PK The man was looking left and right several times and kept staring at the bag that belonged to a group of four tourists who were…
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Water truck careers off Patong Hill, killing one
There’s been another fatal accident on Patong Hill this morning (March 22). So far there’s been one fatality reported with another critically injured. A fully-loaded water truck has slipped over the side after crashing through the roadside barriers and fallen down the roadside cliff on the Kathu side. Long traffic delays in and out of Patong as a result, particularly…
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Anonymous corpse retrieved floating near Rawai
A dead body, which is believed to be of a western man, has been discovered floating near Koh Kaewpissadan, on the west coast of Rawai yesterday (March 21). Police from Chalong station, Marine Police, Forensic Police and a medical team from Vachira Hospital as well as Phuket Ruamjai rescue team went out to collect the body with a boat belonging…
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Police ban water splashing on main roads for Songkran
The Royal Thai Police are looking to impose a total ban on water splashing activities on main and secondary roads throughout Thailand during from April 11-17, the Songkran holiday break. They are citing road safety as the reason for the drastic plans. In phuket, in the past, Chao Fah east and west, Viset Road in Rawai and parts of Thepkasattri…
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Phuket gives away more than 12,000 shirts to public drivers
Phuket Vice Governor, Sanit Srivihok, chaired a give-away ceremony this morning (March 21), aiming to encourage public transport drivers to dress more professionally. The 12,810 shirts are divided into categories of public transport by color, including a white shirt for taxi, Tuk Tuks with the number plate that begins with 30, bus and van drivers with the plates that begin…
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Soi Dog calls for probe after temple dog poisoning
Soi Dog Foundation (SDF) today called for a full investigation into the poisoning of dogs and puppies in front of children at a school and on temple grounds in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province, and called for an end to such atrocities. Video of the killings has gone viral on Facebook, with more than a million views by today. The SDF…
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Van carrying Swedish tourists smashes into truck in Phang Nga
Just one day after a double fatality in a tour bus in Phang Nga (story HERE) another passenger van has crashed into the back of a 10 wheel truck on the Phetkasem highway in the Takua Thung district, Phang Nga. The truck was carrying seven Swedish tourists, three have been injured. Yesterday, a passenger van carrying Chinese tourists crashed into…
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Krabi finds 6 rabies-infected dogs
Krabi Provincial Public Health Office have announced a warning to local residents after finding 6 dogs with rabies infection yesterday (March 20). Officials are reminding all people that if they are bitten, scratched or licked by stray dog or cat, to seek medical attention and get a rabies PEP vaccine. The Chief of Krabi Provincial Public Health Office, Dr. Apichai…
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Whoops. Billboard faux pas in The Philippines.
It was bound to happen sooner or later. This time someone snapped the OMG moment so we can all share the embarrassment of the Executive Building Centre in The Philippines. A pornographic video was aired on one of the digital billboards flagging the Executive Building Centre in Makati Avenue, Makati City yesterday, around 2 p.m. The spectacle was captured by a…
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Rabies: Genuine outbreak or misinformed panic?
By Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation Over the past few weeks, rabies has dominated social media in Thailand. The debate has been covered – and in some cases inflamed – by the traditional print and broadcast media across the country. Some people are now advocating what has been described as “Set Zero”, a massive country-wide slaughter or impounding of all stray…
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Takuapa hitman bailed up by locals
A 50 year old hitman, Banjong Chaisawad, was caught by local people in Takuapa District, Phang Nga, after shooting two men who were working on a fishing raft at the time. Ban Namkem Police received a report yesterday (March 19) about two men being shot, including 39 year old Sudkhet Samranrat, who was shot in his lower ribs, near his…
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Truck crashes into motorcycle and kills 63 year old
A 10-wheel truck has crashed into a motorcycle and killed a 63 year old woman, Nunoi Kraisat, instantly. After an investigation, Muang Phuket Police found that the motorcyclist was riding with her niece at the back heading to the Piboon Sawaddee School for a graduation ceremony. She stopped to wait to turn right while the truck followed and hit the…
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Australian engineer says he’s ‘found’ MH370 – Malaysian search team says ‘no’.
A report has emerged saying that Malaysia Airlines MH370 has been found. The official MH370 Response Team says the reports are ‘unfounded and baseless’. Malaaysia’s Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, also head of the Malaysian Civil Aviation Authority, say the team has read the stories in a number of junk UK media, Daily Star, The Sun Daily and The Star, express.co.uk and…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, March 20
MH370 has NOT been found | Bar owner in Pattaya bashed unconscious | 10 million baht worth of marijuana seized in Chumpon | Officials concerned over damage on Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao | Nok Air being asked to ‘please explain’ over poor on-time record | 103 ‘practice bombs’ found near Vachira Hospital Bangkok.
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