News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
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Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
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Phuket misses out on Miss Tourism World 2012
PHUKET: To give other tourist destinations the chance to promote themselves, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has decided that Phuket will not be on the list of places the bevy of beauties from Miss Tourism World 2012 will be visiting.Taking place from December 2-15, this is the first time Thailand will host the Miss Tourism World pageant, which includes…
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World News: NATO pledges ‘solidarity’ for Turkey
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NATO warns alliance is ready to defend Turkey if necessary Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday called on all parties in the region to avoid an escalation of tensions along the Syria-Turkey border, warning that the military alliance is…
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Phuket scrubs up ahead of Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET: Residents in Phuket’s Srisoonthorn area today staged their “Big Cleaning Day” to prepare for the upcoming Vegetarian Festival, which will get underway on Sunday night. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak led the event this morning, which began with cleaning the area immediately surrounding the island’s famed Heroines Monument. Leading an army of volunteers and officers from Srisoonthorn Municipality was…
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Mayor Pian unveils “14 strategies’ to develop Patong
PHUKET: Pian Keesin, launching into his final term as Patong Mayor, has revealed a grand plan of “14 strategies” to transform Patong into a “Livable and Sustainable Tourist Destination City”.Speaking at a Patong council meeting on Monday, Mayor Pian said, “In order to prepare our town for the beginning of the Asean Economic Community [AEC] in 2015, we will have…
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Phuket Business: AirAsia shift to reap Chinese pie
PHUKET: As part of its latest strategic marketing shift, Low Cost Carrier (LCC) AirAsia recently canceled its Phuket flights to Ubon Ratchathani and Bali, topped off with the cancellation last week of its Thailand-Sri Lanka route. Meanwhile, the leading LCC has reinstated its Phuket-Udon Thani route, while revealing additional plans to shift and expand regional focus to the high-volume, high-growth,…
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Phuket Business: Challenges ahead of ASEAN’s young union
PHUKET: Eliminating tariffs that financially penalize members of ASEAN, is one of the stated long-term goals of the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community).When economic unions were proposed in the United States and Europe, tariffs became a defining factor that would later determine the outcome of those unions.Now that ASEAN has decided to form an economic union – the AEC – in…
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Phuket Business: Calculating the Sharpe ratio
PHUKET: One statistic you will often see when looking at a fund’s performance is the “Sharpe ratio”. This is an attempt to quantify the excess return for a given level of risk. For example, two funds may both return 12%. If one returns a steady 1% every month while the other swings up and down, common sense and our blood…
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US Navy in Phuket to splash out B2mn a day
PHUKET: Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) Vice President Bhurit Maswongsa today estimated that the US Navy sailors currently visiting Phuket are expected to spend 10 million baht during their five-day stay on the island. The USS John C Stennis and USS Mobile Bay dropped anchor in Ao Makham bay, off Phuket’s east coast, on Sunday, to give the 5,350 servicemen and…
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World News: Cameron joins Twitter promising not to tweet too much
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UK Prime Minister David Cameron joins Twitter Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: After famously criticizing Twitter during a radio interview three years ago, British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday evening joined the social networking website, instantly attracting tens of thousands of followers from around…
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Phuket Airport to suffer overcrowding during expansion project
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport director Prathuang Sornkham, speaking at the airport’s 24th anniversary yesterday, offered an advance apology for passenger delays anticipated while the complex undergoes expansion and renovation over the next three years. Mr Prathuang told the media that the already overcrowded airport would be even more jammed than usual as, adding to the 35 regular airlines and eight…
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New Phuket Police chief ramps up island security
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavaviwat today announced that inspections of vehicles passing through the Tah Chat Chai police checkpoint – located on the only road linking Phuket with mainland Thailand – will be subjected to more stringent searches in order to boost security.“The Tah Chat Chai checkpoint is on the only road in and out of Phuket, so…
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Unfinished Bangkok arena forces FIFA to move Futsal World Cup
PHUKET: Organizers of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012 have announced a revision of the match schedule, citing severe weather conditions delaying the construction of the event’s main facility, the 12,000-seat Bangkok Futsal Arena (BFA). Five group matches – mostly involving Thailand’s Group A – initially scheduled to be played at the yet-to-be-completed facility, are now set to be…
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Rescued Phuket dolphin’s health improves
PHUKET: The condition of the injured Spinner dolphin rescued from Mai Khao Beach last month has improved, albeit slightly, thanks to the efforts of staff at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). However, the one-year-old female dolphin still has only a 50:50 chance of surviving, said Dr Patcharaporn Gaewmong, a veterinarian at the PMBC’s Endangered Species Unit (ESU). “We have…
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Rare “hairy leg mountain crab’ spotted in Phuket
PHUKET: A rare type of crab, thought to be extinct on Phuket, was recently found on the island, years after any previous confirmed sightings were reported. An officer at the Phuket Marine National Park Research Center caught a “hairy leg mountain crab” in a mangrove forest at Tah Chat Chai, at the northern tip of Phuket, last Wednesday. “This kind…
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Fire damage to Phuket LPG cargo ship estimated at B400k
PHUKET: Damage to the liquid propane gas (LPG) cargo ship that caught fire off Phuket yesterday may reach up to 400,000 baht, the Phuket Gazette was told today.“The communications room was heavily damaged by the fire. We believe that’s where it started. The radio and radar systems were damaged, as were a storeroom and one room in the crew’s quarters,”…
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USS John C Stennis and USS Mobile Bay docked in Phuket until Thursday
PHUKET: THE USS John C Stennis and USS Mobile Bay have docked in Phuket to give their complement of 5,350 servicemen and women the chance to grab some ‘R and R’ before possibly being re-deployed in the Middle East. Sailors will be rotated off the ship daily in groups of 1,500 to 2,000. The Stennis is the seventh Nimitz-class nuclear-powered…
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World News: Black hole detected in Milky Way
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NASA satellite detects previously unknown black hole in Milky Way Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: NASA on Friday announced that its Swift satellite recently detected the presence of a previously unknown stellar-mass black hole. A rising tide of high-energy X-rays from a source toward the…
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Destination marketing: Heritage experts shed light on Phuket’s cultural identity
PHUKET: The American Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the Phuket PR Network last night to present a fascinating and most entertaining culture-preservation lesson at the Blue Elephant in the heart of Old Phuket Town.The event was headlined by two heritage preservation experts, who gave captivating lectures about the importance of Phuket’s cultural past, present and future.Dr Yongtanit Pimonsathean, a…
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Go Eco Phuket aims to maintain momentum
PHUKET: Go Eco Phuket, the local marine conservation group launched last weekend with the world’s biggest reef cleanup, is looking to maintain its momentum by joining the Royal Thai Navy in scuttling a ship to use as an artificial reef. Group members have already held discussions with local Naval officers about the project, which is expected to ease the pressure…
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Phuket locals taught to fight crime for tourist safety project
PHUKET: About 150 employees in Patong, including rental car operators, motorbike taxi drivers and beach masseuses, attended a seminar this week designed to train them as active members of the Patong Safety Zone project, which has already been hailed as a success by police.“The Patong Safety Zone project has been running for awhile, and we have already noticed a decrease…
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Phuket Police dubious over Russian tourist’s stolen booty
PHUKET: Phuket Police are treating as suspicious claims by a Russian man that the 400,000 baht in foreign currency he buried for safekeeping on Thursday was stolen.Lt Col Boonlert Onklang of the Chalong Police told the Phuket Gazette that the man, who he declined to name, said he buried the booty beside his rental holiday villa where he was staying…
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Phuket village headmen rally against new election law
PHUKET: More than 200 subdistrict chiefs and village headmen gathered at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday morning to protest the amendment of a law dictating the amount of time between their elections.Previously, the law allowed subdistrict chiefs and village headmen to maintain their position until they reached the age of 60. The new amendment changes the length of the “elected term”…
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Phuket worker’s family compensated after electrocution
PHUKET: The Arrow Media advertising company has agreed to pay 100,000 baht compensation to the family of one of its workers who was electrocuted by a bare high-voltage power line at the Darasamuth Intersection on September 28.Wai Hayoung, 32, was killed instantly after being electrocuted by a 115,000 volt (115kv) power line while climbing an advertising board to make repairs.An…
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World News: French Court of Appeal rules teacher can be extradited
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community France to extradite British teacher who ran away with student Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 30-year-old British teacher who was arrested in southwestern France late last month can be extradited to the United Kingdom where he faces allegations of abducting a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was reportedly in…
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Phuket Opinion: Public transportation should take a dive
PHUKET: For all the bandying about of the term “sustainable tourism”, Phuket might just have had the victory it needed in the Go Eco Phuket reef cleanup staged last weekend. That single record-breaking feat has provided a model to follow in breaking the mold of inaction and setting island development off in the right direction.(See story, page 5, current issue…
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Outfall of tropical cyclone expected to hit Phuket
PHUKET: A “tropical cyclone” warning was issued by the Thai Meteorological Department this morning for “Gaemi” which is currently in the middle of the South China Sea, but expected to make landfall today. “Strengthening, it will make landfall over central Vietnam by October 6 [today], then downgrade and move pass the lower Northeast, the East and the Central of Thailand.…
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Thailand News: Thaksin visits Hong Kong amid cabinet reshuffles
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thaksin’s Hong Kong visit ‘not linked’ Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s visit to Hong Kong this weekend has nothing to do with the Cabinet reshuffle or the selection of a new Pheu Thai Party leader, the ex-PM’s legal adviser told the media…
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Phuket gas stations not swayed by news that petrol tax “not new’
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) today refuted claims that they had introduced a “new” tax to be collected on the sale of all fuels in Phuket, including diesel, marine diesel, benzine and gasohol. The “maintenance tax”, levied as a 10 per cent surcharge on the sale of all engine fuels, is the same tax previously collected by the…
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Man with gibbon escapes Bangla loris raids
PHUKET: Environmental crime police and Phuket wildlife conservation officers are on the lookout for a man who escaped arrest with a gibbon last night after a raid on Patong’s Soi Bangla netted five touts charging tourists for taking photos with protected animals. A team of officers led by Awat Nitikul, chief of the Environmental Conservation Unit based at Phuket’s Khao…
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Phuket Sports: Turns, turncoats and turnups
PHUKET: The big news last week was that Lewis Hamilton jumped ship after fourteen years with McLaren. I said a few weeks ago that I would be surprised and disappointed if he did so. I’m disappointed, but was less surprised after watching, with a sense of awful foreboding, as his gearbox blew him from winner to DNF in Singapore. Hamilton…
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