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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Angry woman makes bomb threat at Phuket airport
PHUKET: An angry passenger boarding a Thai Air Asia flight to Bangkok told employees that her bag had a bomb in it, after being forbidden from taking a water bottle on board this morning. All passengers on flight FD 3002* were evacuated, and the plane was moved to an emergency parking area for inspection, confirmed Monrudee Gettuphan, director of Phuket…
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Jet-skis wrangle more Patong sand space with new zones
PHUKET: Two jet-ski and parasailing zones and two swimming zones have been added to Patong Beach to fulfill the needs of tourists, Governor Nisit Jansomwong told the Phuket Gazette yesterday. When the zones were first established last year (story here), there were three swimming areas, each 500 meters wide and extending 150 meters offshore, and two jet-ski zones each about…
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Phang Nga newborn found dead in canal
PHUKET: Police are hunting for the mother of a newborn girl who was found dead in a canal in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, yesterday morning. “When we arrived we found the baby’s body inside a well-tied plastic bag,” said Lt Sarawut Phanpan of the Thung Ka Ngok Police. “Inside the bag we also found an umbilical cord and three…
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Thailand U-23 squad mashes Myanmar
PHUKET: Thailand’s national football team’s under-23 squad enjoyed their warm-up match on Tuesday night against their arch rival Myanmar. The squad walked away from Ratchamangkala Stadium in Bangkok with a 4-0 win. In this friendly warm-up match, all four goals came in the second half after multiple chances to score were spoiled in the beginning of the game. Thailand made…
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Start-up property portal prepares to “transform’ market
PHUKET: A start-up technology company created by the same team that built the LivePhuket real-estate company says it’s ready to ‘transform’ Thailand’s property market with a ‘data-driven’ property portal. The portal, launched in Phuket on April 24, provides instant and easy access to the largest selection of newly-built condominiums, all on a platform that aims to simplify the process of…
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Witness spots Phuket arson suspects
PHUKET: A witness told police that he saw two people set fire to a Phuket restaurant in the early hours of yesterday morning. “It was dark, so the witness wasn’t able to give us any details to help identify the suspects. However, he saw two people park a car a good distance from the restaurant and then return with cans…
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Fishing net catches blame for Krabi manatee death
PHUKET: Fishery Department officers believe that a fishing net was to blame for the death of a 300-kilogram manatee found dead near Koh Kurong in Krabi yesterday. “There were scratch marks on its body and a deep cut along its neck. We believe it died just hours before it was spotted by a local fisherman,” said Prawet Awirutphanit, head of…
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Finance: Investment ideals for new oil and gas realities
PHUKET: Late last year, legendary oil and gas entrepreneur Thomas Boone Pickens said during a CNBC interview: “Energy is cheap in America. We still have the cheapest energy in the world…Take advantage of it, play the demand side.” Since then, Pickens has repeatedly stated in public appearances that he believes oil will rise to US$70 a barrel this year and…
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Opinion: Goodbye, Phuket
PHUKET: In 1997, we travelled to Thailand for the first time – to Bangkok and Hua Hin. It was love at first sight. We fell in love with this beautiful, wonderful country, the warm and heartfelt people, the beautiful beach and the food. The sun and heat made us so happy, as we are used to being in the cold.…
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Fire on Patong’s Soi Bangla guts hotel room
PHUKET: Tourists on Soi Bangla panicked after a hotel room along the popular party road burst into flames last night. Three fire trucks spent about 20 minutes dousing the flames coming from a fourth-floor rental room above Rico’s Restaurant*. No one was injured in the incident, confirmed police. However, the blaze completely destroyed the room and its contents, causing an…
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No resolution on horizon for Phuket lifeguard conundrum
PHUKET: There is no solution in sight for the Phuket lifeguard contract conundrum, which leaves the island’s beaches without essential life-saving services as the annual southwest monsoon season stirs up dangerous seas on the west coast, confirmed officials to the Phuket Gazette yesterday. However, the president of the Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) proposed two solutions. “One option would be for…
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Rohingya “help-on’ policy announced in Phuket
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan explained to the press in Phuket that Thailand would be proceeding with a clear ‘help-on’ policy when dealing with Rohingya and Bangladeshi entering the country. “We will never push away these people. However, if they do land in Thailand they will have to face the same laws that apply to anyone illegally entering…
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Lifeguards return to Phuket beaches tomorrow
PHUKET: After almost two months and a number of deaths at Phuket’s beaches, lifeguards will resume their posts tomorrow. Guards left the sands at sunset on March 26 and returned their equipment to the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, following what has become an annual contract debacle. At that point no company, including the Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) had stepped forward…
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Family feud leads to fatal Phuket fruit vendor shooting
PHUKET: A gunman who shot his fruit-selling aunt in the head in Phuket Town turned himself into police yesterday. Santipap Kosuk, 28, surrendered to Phuket City Police following the fatal shooting of his 46-year-old aunt, Sriroong Kosuk, yesterday. Mr Santipap stashed his homemade gun and ammunition in a shoe box near Surakul Stadium before he called his father and asked…
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Video Report: Superyacht charter licence floated by Marine Dept
PHUKET: Standardized criteria for foreign-flagged superyacht chartering licences, which are designed to move Phuket and Thailand toward the goal of becoming the regional maritime hub, will be finalized by the end of the month, it was announced last week. The current issuance of such licences is subjective and dealt with case by case, explained Marine Department Director-General Chula Sukmanop. “We…
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Woman killed crossing Phuket road
PHUKET: A 78-year-old woman was killed by a pick-up truck as she attempted to cross Phuket’s busy Thepkasattri Road yesterday. Sian Phetlamul had just disembarked from a local songtaew after visiting relatives and was crossing the road on her way home, her relatives told police. “The truck driver, 27-year-old Sutjaiai Sriphut, was driving from Phuket Town with his mother-in-law to…
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Ghost boat of starving Rohingya recovered, replenished, returned to sea
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy secured a ghost boat full of Rohingya refugees that was adrift off the west side Koh Lipe, south of Phuket, on Thursday. The captain and crew had abandoned the vessel, leaving it to drift in the Andaman. “The ship had more than 300 starving people on board, including women and children. Since they The Royal…
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Unidentified body found floating off Koh Khai
PHUKET: Kusoldham Foundation rescue workers recovered the body of an unidentified man yesterday afternoon, found floating off the coast of Koh Khai, 20km east of Phuket. “We are unable to identify the nationality of the man, but we believe he was 30 to 40 years old and was approximately 160 to 170 centimeters in height,” Lt Col Panya Chaichana of…
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Swiss national killed in Phuket car crash
PHUKET: A Swiss national was killed in a car crash on Kata Hill early this morning. Gaetano Pensovecchio, 39, was removed from his pick-up truck and rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. “The pick-up truck being driven by Mr Pensovecchio was ascending Kata Hill toward Chalong when it collided with a six-wheeled truck,” explained Lt…
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Video Report: Special task force created to combat IUUs
PHUKET: A ‘Special Navy Team’ was put into action in Phuket last week to combat the severe economic and ecological damage caused by illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing vessels (IUU) that are taking advantage of legal loop holes and poor enforcement in the region. The joint task force will be operating 12 boats and one helicopter, as they attempt to…
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Chalong songtaew turf war goes nowhere
PHUKET: Two songtaew operators were called to a meeting at Chalong Police Station on Thursday after the Chalong-Phuket Town operator filed a complaint against the Kata-Karon-Phuket Town service for breaking an agreement regarding pick-up points. Somchai Kongsamret, a representative from the Chalong-Phuket Town songtaew co-operative, told the police that the Kata-Karon-Phuket Town songtaew had been picking up passengers where they…
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One killed, 31 injured in Krabi bus crash
PHUKET: A bus en route from Phuket to Narathiwat flipped on a wet road in Krabi last night, killing one passenger and injuring 31 others. The body of 26-year-old Marina Sama-ae, a nurse from Narathiwat, was trapped inside the bus when police arrived just after midnight, said Capt Prasan Khongkaew of the Ao Luek Police. “The bus was turned over…
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Finnish man killed in Phuket
PHUKET: A Finnish man was hit by a car and killed while crossing Patak Road near Chalong Circle early this morning. A damaged Honda CRV was parked in the road, and the body of a 26-year-old man, named by police as Joonas Hotti, was found nearby when police and rescue workers arrived at the scene. “The Honda driver was heading…
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20 injured in Deep South bomb attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two more injured in further small blasts in Yala town Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Bomb attacks continued to erupt in Yala’s Muang district yesterday, raising the number of injured over the past two days to 20. Despite that, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister…
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Phuket Gov, Vice Gov return lost wallet to doctor
PHUKET: Governor Nisit Jansomwong and Vice Governor Suthee Thongyam teamed up to return a lost wallet to a Phuket doctor today. “Vice Governor Suthee’s friend, Sorachai Sirichoti, along with two other friends, found the wallet at Rang Hill yesterday,” Prapan Kanprasang, chief of the Damrongtham Center (ombudsman’s office) said. “However, they ended up handing over the wallet to the vice…
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Woman dies in car crash on slippery Krabi road
PHUKET: A woman died yesterday when she lost control of her pick-up truck on a wet road in Krabi and slammed into a pole. Police arrived at the scene on Petchkasem Road in Khlong Thom district at about 10am to find a pick-up truck wrapped around a sign pole in the median of the road. “Phonphan Khongyot, 31, died instantly…
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Opinion: Road improvements to relieve Phuket’s traffic congestion
Samak Luedwonghad, 48, is the director of the Phuket Highways Office, under the Department of Highways. Originally from Nakhon Sri Thammarat province, he graduated from Mahanakorn University of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He has been the director of the Phuket Highways Office since 2012. Here, he talks about the ever-worsening traffic congestion on the island and…
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BISP swim team racks up records, 2016 Summer Olympics qualifiers
PHUKET: When the JSA Swim Academy at British International School Phuket first took to the pool in August 2013, the team had five international swimmers on scholarship, four swimmers from the school’s Flying Fish club team and high hopes. During the August to December 2014 swim season, the team’s nine swimmers (five girls and four boys) competed in the Thailand…
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106 suspected Rohingya found on Koh Ree, northwest of Phuket
PHUKET: More than 100 suspected Rohingya were found last night on Koh Ree in Mu Koh Surin National Marine Park, northwest of Phuket. The group – consisting of 89 men, 15 women and two children – was searching for food in the sea when they were spotted by local sea gypsies, who then notified park officers. “Yesterday evening I received…
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Marine officials clamp down on IUU fishing in Phuket
PHUKET: Local maritime officers and fishing operators gathered yesterday to discuss measures launched to shut down illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities in the region. The push for solutions follows the EU putting Thailand on formal notice on April 21 for not taking sufficient measures in the international fight against IUUs (story here). Thailand was given six months to…
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