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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Make Belgium and the Netherlands your next destination with the right visa in hand. Explore the iconic tulip fields, cruise through Amsterdam’s scenic canals, or stroll through the historic streets of Bruges. Don’t forget to enjoy some authentic Belgian chocolate...
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Myanmar Concert 2012 touted in Phuket
PHUKET: Many Burmese residents of Phuket are expected to head north to Phang Nga on Sunday for the first-ever Myanmar Concert 2012, part of the annual Phang Nga Red Cross Festival. Performers will include R Zar Ni, Zaw Paing, Wai Su Khine Thein, Yae Lay, Yae Bakar Win and Chan Chan. Posters publicizing the event have been put up at…
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Phuket Media Watch: British Airways resume flights; New Zealand plane crash
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community British Airways to resume flights to Libyan capital in May Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: British Airways plans to reinstate flights to the Libyan capital of Tripoli later this year, the airline announced yesterday. Flights were suspended in February 2011 as a result of the country’s civil…
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Phuket Media Watch: Chinese New Year fuels flight record at Hong Kong Airport
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hong Kong airport sees single-day record of 1,057 flights Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Hong Kong International Airport, one of the world’s busiest airports, handled a single-day record of 1,057 incoming and outbound flights late last week, aviation authorities announced on yesterday. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation…
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Phuket’s ‘Coconut Island’ gets new pier
PHUKET: The new 10-million-baht pier on Koh Maphrao in Phuket was officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising on Friday. The new concrete pier, 170 meters long and three meters wide, replaces a dilapidated wooden structure, making passage to the island safer and more convenient for residents and tourists.…
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Fire breaks out at Phuket official’s residence
PHUKET: Phuket firefighters extinguished a fire at the Thalang District Office compound in the early hours of this morning. The fire was reported to Thalang Police at about 2:15am. Thepkrasattri Municipality firefighters took about half an hour to extinguish the blaze, which gutted a room on the second floor of a wooden home used as the residence of a government…
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Phuket ATM scams: Even professionals get caught out
Special Report: Patong Police report at least four people recently being ripped off by gangs scanning their ATM cards and stealing money from their accounts. The Phuket Gazette reports. PHUKET: Alan Robinson, 71, has been living in Phuket for 17 years. As he is a former vice-president of a Swiss bank’s national branch in Japan, one can only imagine his…
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Phuket land probe: witness found hanged
PHUKET: A security guard questioned by government officials about the ownership of land at Freedom Beach in Patong has died of what appears to be a suicide, a local Phuket newspaper has reported. A report in today’s edition of Siangtai Daily newspaper identified the deceased as 54-year-old Narong Piromrak, a native of Nakhon Sri Thammarat province. The death was reported…
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Phuket Police nab exchange booth robbery duo
PHUKET: Chalong Police last night arrested two suspects for the armed robbery of a currency exchange booth in Phuket in late November, which has now been revealed as an “inside job”. The first suspect, 25-year-old Kriangsak ‘Jae’ Jintaphakul, was arrested at his home at the Chao Fa Village residential estate on Chao Fa East Road in Wichit at about 9:30pm…
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Phuket Business: Hotel leaders to confer at Thailand Tourism Forum
PHUKET: Thailand’s hotel leaders and international experts will discuss the state of the hospitality sector at the Thailand Tourism Forum (TTF) 2012, to be held on February 2 at the InterContinental Bangkok. Key event participants include Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer of Dusit Hotels and Resorts, Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of the Minor Hotel Group, and Peter Henley, CEO and president…
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Phuket Projects: ‘Benefits’ at odds with people’s choice
PHUKET: The results of the most recent Phuket Gazette readers’ poll reveal that a clear majority want “airport bus” services to Phuket’s west coast resort towns as the tourism development project to move ahead above all others this year. [See page 11, current issue of the Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.] The results indicate that…
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Phuket Police name “mastermind’ suspect behind “Ae Inside’ murder
PHUKET: Police today announced the name of the man they believe masterminded the assassination of Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn, who was shot dead in rush-hour traffic while driving to Phuket Town on January 12. Maj Gen Chonasit Wattanavrangku, superintendent of Phuket Provincial Police, this morning confirmed that arrest warrants had been issued for Atsadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab (pictured above), 48, and…
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Phuket’s Luangpor Daeng passes away, age 79
PHUKET: More than 1,000 people, including the Phuket Governor, attended a memorial service for Luangpor Daeng, the revered abbot of Mai Khao Temple since 1978. Originally from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Luangpor Daeng was ordained at Wat Khunapanangtun Temple in Phattalung in 1967. He was appointed abbot at Mai Khao Temple in 1978, serving as a teaching abbot there until his…
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Tropical Phuket likely to be caught in center of next El Nino heat wave
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 2011 ninth warmest year in recorded history, NASA says Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since at least 1880 [maybe earlier], according to NASA scientists on Thursday. Nine of the ten warmest years have occurred…
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Phuket’s Patong Immigration office to reopen
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration Office Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that the Immigration Office in Patong will reopen next week. The news comes amid rumors that the Patong Immigration Office, which is located right next door to the Patong Tourist Police Volunteers office, had been closed permanently. “The Patong Immigration Office has not been shut down. It…
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Kamala Festival 2012 underway in Phuket
PHUKET: Kamala Festival 2012 got underway this morning with a fishing competition on Kamala Beach. A wide variety of fun activities throughout the weekend are expected to draw tourists and residents from across Phuket. Organized and funded by the Kamala Tambon Administration Organization (Kamala OrBorTor), the center of activities is Chalermprakiat 100 Pee Park on Kamala Beach, where staged events…
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Flirting with the Blues
PHUKET: ‘It’s like flirting with a girl. Perhaps she will resist you at first, but if you continue to ask her out, it always ends well. Never give up.” Zhu Jun describes negotiations with Chelsea to sign striker Didier Drogba for his side, Shanghai Shenhua. Drogba could be joining forces with former team-mate Nicolas Anelka as the Chinese club moves…
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Phuket villagers protest land claim via dubious title deed
PHUKET: In the latest land dispute in Phuket, more than 100 residents of the Soi Kingkaew Community in Rassada have protested to the governor over alleged attempts by a private investor to get a Chanote land title deed for a 300-rai plot in the area. Led by 41-year-old Thongchai Kaewthong, the residents of Rassada Village 3 went to see Phuket…
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Officials warn of “fake monks’ targeting Phuket tourists
PHUKET: The ‘monk police’ of Phuket are warning everyone on the island of con men who are impersonating Buddhist monks and tricking locals and tourists into giving them money. Chatpawit Jinapong, Director of the Phuket branch of the National Office of Buddhism, which operates directly under the Prime Minister’s Office, spoke with the Phuket Gazette about these fraudulent “monks”. “High…
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Phuket dive crew rescues seven from blazing catamaran
PHUKET: Quick action by the crews of a Phuket dive-boat and another vessel saved the lives of seven foreigners when their chartered catamaran caught fire and sunk in the waters off Koh Rok last night. The crew of the Sailing Yacht (SY) Diva Andaman were interrupted during their beach barbecue on Koh Rok, an island about 30 kilometers southwest of…
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Weird World News: Eye on Eastern Europe and Hitler’s lair for rent, the Bulgarian renegade referee and wacky scuba divers in Estonia
PHUKET: Eastern Europe caught the attention of Weird World News this week, with a fine display of odd-ball antics served up by Poland, Bulgaria and Estonia. Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair up for rent HITLER’S massive fortified base, The Wolfe’s Lair, has gone on the rental market in Poland. The site, where the Nazi leader spent most of World War II and…
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Phuket Events: New vehicle for tickets in Phuket
PHUKET: With more and more events gracing Phuket every year, and with the vast majority of them sponsored by the Phuket Gazette, the newspaper’s events promotion team thought it time to do something special for event organizers and attendees alike. Phuket Tickets is now in “business” and doing all it can to help promote the next two ‘tickets required’ events…
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Nong Pin’s mom asks Phuket Governor for help
PHUKET: The desperate mother of Samudchaya “Nong Pin” Yanpunya yesterday met with the Phuket governor to seek high-tech help in tracking down her missing 12-year-old, who vanished without a trace over six weeks Nong Pin’s mom Samruay Saenthaweesuk asked Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha yesterday for help from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in tracing the origin of her…
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Phuket poll: How to steer kids clear of “corruption mindset’?
PHUKET: On the occasion of National Children’s Day celebrated in Phuket and throughout Thailand last weekend, a survey by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University revealed that teachers play a “crucial” role in the development of an “anti-corruption mentality” in children. In the latest Phuket Gazette online poll, we ask readers who plays the most important role in instilling an “anti-corruption” mentality…
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Terror warning does not apply to Phuket: US Embassy
PHUKET: Tourism operators yesterday threatened to march on the US Embassy if the United States refused to withdraw its terrorism warning for Bangkok within two days. However, local tourism operators can rest easy, as the embassy has reiterated that the warning does not apply to Phuket. “Those concerned operators will join forces to submit their demand to US Ambassador Kristie…
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Phuket “fully booked’ for Korean, Chinese New Years
PHUKET: Local tourism representatives are expecting hotel occupancy rates of 90 to 100% across Phuket during the upcoming festive period. Most tourist arrivals to Phuket at the end of January will come by direct flights from China and Korea, said Somboon Jirayus, Presdient of Phuket Tourist Association. “In addition to Seoul, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, there are currently about…
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Phuket Media Watch: Palestine thanks Thailand; News office attacked; Western ships
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Thailand recognizes Palestine as independent state’ Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas thanked the government of Thailand after it apparently decided to recognize Palestine as an independent state. Thai officials were unavailable for comment. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said his office received…
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Red Shirt leader hails Phuket’s ‘Ae Inside’ as ‘brave, fearless’
PHUKET: Friends, family and colleagues paid their final respects to slain reporter Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn during an emotional cremation ceremony at Wat Kosit in Phuket Town this afternoon. Mr Wisut, an investigative reporter and head of the “red shirt” political movement in Phuket, was ambushed and shot dead by two assailants near his Rassada home last Thursday. Mr Wisut’s…
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“Get the gunmen off our streets’: Phuket Governor
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha has told Phuket’s top police officers that he wants a concerted effort by police to arrest the gunmen in recent murder cases in order to restore people’s faith in public safety on the island. The order came at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Police Station yesterday, in the wake of two assassinations on the streets…
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Italian man “stabbed by mistake’ in Phuket
PHUKET: The Italian man who was stabbed at Nai Harn Beach on Monday night has told the Phuket Gazette that he was probably “stabbed by mistake”. Giovanni, 33, who asked for his family name not to be published, is recovering at Bangkok Hospital Phuket, in Phuket Town, where he was released from the hospital’s intensive-care unit (ICU) yesterday. He was…
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Phuket Media Watch: European round-up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UN: Global economy to stumble in 2012 as unemployment and EU’s economic crisis continues Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: With Europe’s sovereign debt crisis continuing to unfold, countries around the world are expected to experience an economic slowdown during the year ahead, according to a United…
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