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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Counterfeit goods worth B495mn destroyed in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Nearly half a billion baht of counterfeit goods that were seized last year in Phuket and other provinces in Southern Thailand were torched at the incinerator in Phuket Town yesterday. The 86,803 destroyed items, valued at 495 million baht, included bootlegged copies of DVDs, CDs, brand-name watches, bags, clothing, wallets and shoes. “This is the standard, final step in…
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Phuket protest wins Thai guides promise of Chinese national ouster
PHUKET: The return of a mob of about 100 Thai-national Chinese tour guides outside the office of a major tour company in Phuket Town yesterday won them a promise that the company will stop hiring Chinese nationals as guides. Led by fellow tour guide Choochart Rungrattanapaiboon, the protesters massed outside Tranlee Travel Co Ltd, brandishing signs and voicing allegations of…
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Seven arrested for stabbing theft attacks on Phuket tourists
PHUKET: Seven suspects have been arrested and charged with theft and attempted murder for the stabbing of two tourists, one in Kata and one in Karon, early Thursday morning. Police arrested Ekkawat Ninpoo, 20, at his house on Koh Sireh yesterday. He confessed to the stabbings and accepted charges of theft and attempted murder. Police withheld the names of the…
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Weaker Hurricane Arthur takes aim at Nantucket, Cape Cod
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Weaker Hurricane Arthur takes aim at Nantucket, Cape Cod Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A weakened but fast-moving Hurricane Arthur swept into southern New England on Friday night, wielding tropical storm-force winds, after an earlier landfall in North Carolina that caused only slight damage. The Massachusetts…
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Junta did right thing: Myanmar chief
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Junta did right thing: Myanmar chief The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief General Min Aung Hlaing yesterday praised Thailand’s ruling junta, saying it was right to seize power to protect national security and people’s safety. During a meeting in Bangkok with Supreme Commander General…
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World Cup: Neymar out of Cup as Brazil and Germany make semis
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Neymar out of Cup as Brazil and Germany make semis Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Hosts Brazil suffered a huge blow when they lost leading forward Neymar for the rest of the World Cup through injury on Friday as they set up an epic-looking semi-final against…
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DSI digs deep into land records to recover Sirinath National Park
PHUKET: The new Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today announced that his officers will order the Land Office to hand over records and copies of land titles for plots along the border of – or allegedly in – Phuket’s Sirinath National Park. The Land Office had repeatedly refused to hand over land register documents to Department of…
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Patong one-way streets not changing direction just yet
PHUKET: The plan to change the direction of one-way traffic in Patong is still on the books, but is on hold until other transportation issues are sorted out. “I intend to follow through with the direction-change initiated by the former mayor, but first I want to organize public parking and taxi stands,” said Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsab. The current traffic…
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Dodging the dengue fever bullet
Special Report Phuket consistently has among the highest number of dengue sufferers in the country, and the disease has killed one 24-year-old woman in Patong and hospitalized hundreds of others on the island already this year. Yet hope is on the horizon. French company Sanofi Pasteur has a vaccine in the works that may be ready for deployment by late…
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No island is immune
PHUKET: I once lived for a short time on another island, a tiny speck of volcanic rock, surrounded by seemingly endless ocean, more than 500 kilometers south of Java and almost 2,600km northwest of Perth. Christmas Island, as it is known, is the epitome of the remote, exotic, island paradise; difficult and expensive to get to and only rarely visited…
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Upgrade service to lure quality Phuket tourists
Anoma Wongyai, 44, a Phuket native, has been the Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket and Phang Nga Office since March. She has a master’s degree in Tourism from the James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, and has been working for the TAT since she was 21 years old. Here, she talks about how quality service must…
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Changes in Phuket: Make them last
PHUKET: Even as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) continues to roll on with its unprecedented and long overdue law-enforcement campaign, pressure inevitably continues to rise – both within the country and internationally – over when new elections will be held and democracy restored. “Branding” a military coup is never an easy task, but images of a pristine…
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Driver escapes serious injury in Phuket pick-up truck flip
PHUKET: A man escaped serious injury yesterday when the pick-up truck he was driving flipped over on Thepkrasattri Road. Worawit Jawaort, 32, was crawling out of the vehicle when police arrived at the scene, a few hundred meters from the Baan Hongyok School in northern Thalang, at 9am. “Mr Worawit didn’t appear to have any serious injuries, just a few…
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Phuket is ready to host 2014 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek
Phuket Island is ready to host the award-winning Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek from July 16 to 20 off the Island’s southeast coast. The season-opening event of the prestigious 2014/15 Asian Yachting Grand Prix – a series of 12 of the best regattas in Asia – Raceweek is set to welcome one of the most competitive fleets in the Regatta’s…
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Thai banks to report B500k transactions to counter money laundering
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai banks to report B500k transactions to counter money laundering The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Financial institutions are ready to cooperate with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in reporting cash transactions exceeding Bt500,000 per transaction and property transactions by politicians and government offices that exceed…
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Confiscated supercars auctioned in Klong Toei
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Confiscated supercars auctioned in Klong Toei The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Customs Department yesterday hosted an event at its head office in Bangkok’s Klong Toei district to auction off 357 confiscated cars, including a Lamborghini Aventador, two Ferraris, seven Audis, 15 Jaguars and 31…
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First sentence for anti-coup defiance
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community First sentence for anti-coup defiance The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Pathum wan sub-district court yesterday issued the first sentence on charges of violating martial law and ignoring an order of the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The court sentenced Weerayut Kongkanatan…
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Court upholds term for former anti-narcotics agent
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Court upholds term for former anti-narcotics agent The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the 41-year jail term and Bt3-million fine imposed on a former military undercover anti-narcotics agent for trafficking a large quantity of “ice” and ecstasy tablets. The court also…
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Overpass collapses in World Cup city, crushes vehicles
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Overpass collapses in World Cup city, crushes vehicles Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An unfinished overpass collapsed in the Brazilian World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte on Thursday, leaving at least one person dead and casting a shadow over a tournament that has suffered repeated…
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German parliament approves dual citizenship
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community German parliament approves dual citizenship Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Germany’s lower house of parliament passed new citizenship laws on Thursday, relaxing some of the strictest rules in Europe to allow young Germans of foreign origin to hold two passports – a move that benefits the…
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Phuket shortcuts proposed to bypass the bypass
PHUKET: A new shortcut from the Heroines’ Monument to Kathu has been proposed to alleviate congestion at Koh Kaew, Ban Khu and Tesco Lotus intersections. The road would start about 300 meters west of the Heroines’ Monument on Srisoonthorn Road and run south 1.3 kilometers to join Route 3004, which connects to Soi Han Farang and passes the British International…
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Phuket hospital praised for earthquake emergency-response drill
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut hailed the annual emergency evacuation drill at Vachira Phuket Hospital yesterday an “impressive” success. The afternoon drill featured an earthquake simulation in which participants pretended that the building was shaking and items were falling off the shelves. They also carried out a fire drill and recreated the scenario of staff losing track of patients in the…
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Phuket’s Bang Jo Prison declared ‘white’
PHUKET: An early morning raid of Bang Jo Prison turned up no drugs or contraband today. More than 90 officers, led by Phuket Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon, began the search at 5:30am. Each of the 68 inmates was searched, as were their lockers, sleeping quarters, the infirmary and other areas where officers believed contraband could be hidden. “The facility was…
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AMLO silent on progress in Phuket taxi-mafia probe
PHUKET: The investigating officers who raided the primary office of Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham at the Kata-Karon Municipality building yesterday are keeping quiet about their progress in the case. About 50 officers raided the municipality building to search for evidence of the popular tourist town’s mayor and handpicked deputy mayors’ involvement in the Phuket taxi mafia (story here). Officers from…
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Phuket boy, 14, drowns in heavy surf at Karon Beach
PHUKET: A boy who was to turn 15 years old in five days drowned at Karon Beach this morning. Kunakorn Saetiaw was seen swimming with friends at about 6am. His body washed ashore about 30 minutes later. “The boys went into the surf even though there were red flags along the beach marking the area as dangerous for swimming,” Kata-Karon…
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Army bolsters order to evict all businesses from Karon Beach by Saturday
PHUKET: Armed soldiers were present yesterday as eviction notices ordering all businesses to vacate Karon Beach by Saturday were delivered. Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham walked the length of the beach to issue the notices to each vendor operating on the sand. He was joined by Maj Gen Paween Pongisirin of Region 8 Police, soldiers from the 41st Military Circle and…
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Hotel investment in Thailand likely to decline on AEC opening
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hotel investment in Thailand likely to decline on AEC opening The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Investment in new hotels in Thailand is expected to slow next year as many key players concentrate on newly opened markets to cash in on the opening of the Asean…
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Thailand blasted for horrific rise in ivory trade
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand blasted for horrific rise in ivory trade The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Despite Thailand’s professed reverence for elephants, the country has failed to rein in the illegal ivory trade. Partly to blame for the current poaching crisis is Thai domestic legislation. It permits trade…
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Four-day weekend gets nod to boost tourism
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Four-day weekend gets nod to boost tourism The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: August 11 has been approved as an extra public holiday in a bid to boost tourism and stimulate public spending, the National Council for Peace and Order’s spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvari announced yesterday.…
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Malaysia to send diplomat to New Zealand to face sex charges
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Malaysia to send diplomat to New Zealand to face sex charges Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Malaysia will send a diplomat facing sexual assault charges back to New Zealand, where the alleged incident occurred in May, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, a day after it…
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