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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PIMEX boosts marine-triangle tourism
PHUKET: At the forefront of Asia’s growing marine leisure industry, Phuket island is one of the top five cruising destinations in the world, and lies in the heart of the emerging ‘Andaman Marine Triangle’. Consisting of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi provinces, the Andaman Marine Triangle is home to some of the most stunning sailing grounds in the world. Indeed,…
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QSI Phuket welcomes grrrrrrreat new Tiger Turf
PHUKET: Team Tigers of Quality Schools International (QSI) Phuket are getting ready to unveil their new and improved sports den. The US$120,000 (just over 3.7 million baht) new facilities include a multi-purpose basketball court, a football field enveloped by a 100-meter running track and a new garden and waterfall. In a fitting tribute to the home side, their new football…
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Russian tourists stranded including 340 in Phuket
PHUKET: The bankruptcy of one of the largest tour operators in Russia has left thousands of Russian tourists stranded around the globe, including 340 in Phuket. Soopakij Chearavanont, Russian Honorary Consul for Greater Phuket, said the sudden bankruptcy of Lanta Tour Voyage has cost Phuket resorts from tens to hundreds of thousands of baht. Most of the Russians stranded bought…
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“Spider bite victim’ likely drank himself to death
PHUKET: THE man who died after allegedly being bitten by a spider in Phuket more likely died from complications brought on from excessive drinking, a preliminary examination has revealed. Phuket Public Health Office Deputy Director Wiwat Seetamanotch told the Gazette on Tuesday that the preliminary findings of an autopsy on the body of 30-year-old fruit vendor Wanchai Wonglakorn, revealed that…
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More Phuket school kids caught with meth, krathom
PHUKET: Schoolkids in Phuket are taking pharmaceutical drugs after ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) smoking sessions in an attempt to turn up negative in urine tests for the drug, local officials have revealed Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanakul described the trend of growing drug abuse by schoolchildren in Muang District as “very worrying”. The statement follows a recent round-up of 19…
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Phuket regatta heads home for the awards
PHUKET: Day Four of The Bay Regatta saw sailors greeted with sunny skies and good wind as they left their anchorage off the Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort and headed back to Ao Chalong for the regatta’s final party and awards ceremony at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC). The colourful spinnakers stood out proud as the fleet made the crossing…
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Phuket Gazette: US jobs soar; Russians rally for fair polls; Syrian massacre; Cambodia jails jailer
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. unemployment rate drops to lowest in 3 years PHUKET (News Wires): The United States unemployment rate for the month of January dropped to 8.3 percent, the lowest number in nearly three years, the U.S. Labor Department (DoL) announced. In its January 2012 Employment Situation report,…
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Phuket’s War on Drugs: Why has Bebe gone?
PHUKET: It is sad that Phuket’s two specially-trained drug dogs have been suspended from “active duty” for lack of dedicated handlers, especially given the time invested in their training and the phenomenal results displayed by the beagle Bebe during her first day on the job last July. [See page 6, this week’s issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click…
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Phuket update: Swede horror smash driver surrenders
PHUKET: The reckless truck driver who killed four Swedish holidaymakers in Phuket as well as their Thai driver on Wednesday morning surrendered to police in Phang Nga yesterday. The driver, 27-year-old Muhummadyukee Jehyusoh, was held in a cell at Phang Nga Provincial Court yesterday. He has since been transferred to Phang Nga Provincial Prison. Media access to the Narathiwat native…
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Phuket update: US lifts terror alert
PHUKET: Good news for the Phuket tourism industry has come with the US warning of a possible terrorist threat in Bangkok having been removed from its website, where it had been on the main page. The warning was replaced with a more general alert for East Asia. The new warning does not name any specific countries or places, but 14…
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Phuket Sports: Epic final in Aussie Open
PHUKET: World number one Novak Djokovic retained the Australian Open title in an exhilarating victory over second seed Rafael Nadal. Not only was the encounter the longest-ever Grand Slam final to date, at five hours and 53 minutes, it also gave tennis archivists numerous other records to rewrite. Nadal is the first man to lose three consecutive Grand Slam finals…
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Phuket Sports: Liverpool double down
PHUKET: Liverpool FC progressed to the last sixteen of the FA Cup thanks to a late winner from Dirk Kuyt. In four days the Reds sent both Manchester outfits out of English domestic cup competitions. Kuyt, left unattended by an absent and constantly jeered Patrice Evra, drove home from inside the United box after Andy Caroll flicked on Pepe Reina’s…
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What’s the difference between Terry and Suarez?
PHUKET: “Terry will not captain the England team until the allegations against him are resolved.” Chelsea central defender, John Terry, has lost the England captain’s armband yet again – this time over racial abuse accusations involving Anton Ferdinand of Queen’s Park Rangers. The trial will take place on July 9, 2012 – after the Euopean Championship tournament. Terry lost the…
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Phuket Sports Bag: This week in Sports
PHUKET: Grab your balls, bats and rackets for another nosedive into this week’s world of local and international sports events with the Phuket Gazette. In tennis, read about the final to end all finals that pushed Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to their break points at the Australian Open. Maria Sharapova may need another relaxing visit to Phuket after her…
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Royalists protest Nitirat group in Phuket
PHUKET: A small group of Phuket royalists gathered at Phuket Provincial Hall to show their opposition to efforts by the Nitirat group of scholars in Bangkok to amend Chapter 2 of the Constitution and article 112 of the Criminal Code, which deal with lese majeste. The group of about 20 protesters arrived at 10am with a letter of protest, which…
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Weird World News: Boneheaded bandits starring “Spiderman’ burglar, Mexican go-kart drug smuggler and the glacial ice thief
PHUKET: OUTLAWS are finding more imaginative ways to make a fast buck. This week’s Weird World News is a snapshot of life on the wrong side of the law, and the idiotic ruses bandits around the world are concocting to make money, fast. Go-kart bandito’s drug-smuggling ruse foiled A MEXICAN drug runner tried in vain this week to smuggle marijuana…
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Chevy Phuket to hold ‘Family Rally’, marine life release
PHUKET: The Chevrolet dealership in Phuket is holding a “family car rally” and marine wildlife release ceremony on April 1 to help restore the ocean environment. Organized by Chevrolet Phuket with support from Phuket Marine Biological Center and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket Town, this family event is limited to one hundred cars. Although the event…
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Phuket Gazette: Court sentences killers of lesbian; 74 dead in riot
– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South African court sentences killers of lesbian to 18 years PHUKET (News Wires): Four South African men were sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday for stabbing and stoning 19-year-old lesbian Zoliswa Nkonyana to death in 2006, local media reported yesterday. The men were found to have brutally…
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Laguna Phuket ready for Amway mega-event
PHUKET: The Laguna Phuket resort complex in Cherng Talay is gearing up for its largest-ever incentives event in April and May, when it will host some 16,000 Amway sales representatives from China. Phakwiphoo Tanpradit, project manager for Laguna, said the Amway employee seminars will run from April 15 to May 14. They will arrive in staggered batches, with about four…
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Phuket Gazette: Canadian authorities arrest 60 in child porn bust
– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Canadian authorities arrest 60 in child porn bust PHUKET (News Wires): Canadian authorities have arrested and charged 60 men this week in connection with a major, ongoing investigation into child pornography offenses in Ontario, police announced yesterday. A total of 76 search warrants have been executed so far, resulting…
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Phuket News Wires: Soul Train’s Don Cornelius dead in apparent suicide
– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Soul Train’s Don Cornelius dead in apparent suicide World News: Television host and producer Don Cornelius was found dead at his California home on Wednesday from a gunshot wound to the head in an apparent suicide. He was 75. Cornelius, born Donald Cortez Cornelius in Chicago, Illinois, is famously…
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Phuket to launch anti-AIDS campaign on Valentine’s Day
PHUKET: Public health officials will launch a “Getting to Zero AIDS” campaign on Valentine’s Day to combat HIV/AIDS in Phuket, which has the highest incidence of HIV infection in Thailand, according to government statistics. The campaign will kick-off with a festival on February 14 at Phuket Rajabhat University, said Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) chief Sak Tanchaikul. There will be…
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Phuket medical tourism threatened by taxi thuggery
PHUKET: One of Phuket’s leading hospitals has complained that ‘taxi mafia’ are preventing its drivers from picking up patients staying at certain resort hotels. The complaint was one of many aired at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on the topic of tourists being cheated in Phuket. The meeting was chaired by new Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa. Pareeya Jullaphong,…
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American news round-up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Former LA teacher charged with molesting 23 children Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: U.S. prosecutors have arrested and charged a former Los Angeles teacher with allegedly molesting at least 23 young children over a two-year period, officials said on Tuesday. The allegations have shocked the local…
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Phuket Business: New biz center opens
PHUKET: Kasikorn Bank Group opened Southern Thailand’s first Business Services, Securities and Leasing Center, located on Thepkrasatri road in Phuket Town recently. The center will specialize in investment and lending services for Kasikorn clients in Phuket and the entire southern region. Padermpob Songkroh, Managing Director of Private Fund Management, Kasikorn Securities said, “The center is one of only 12 nationwide…
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Phuket Business: White-collared workers to gain from boom
PHUKET: The local work force and overall economy of Phuket stand to benefit from the ensuing boom in real estate, an executive of a major real estate developer has said. Speaking exclusively with the Phuket Gazette, Suriya Wannabuit, Executive Vice President of the Project Management and Marketing Department of Sansiri Pcl, shared his thoughts about the local economy. “Locals don’t…
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Phuket Business: Hydrofoil pilots
PHUKET: An innovative technology which looks to give a boost to the Andaman coastal region’s sea transport industry, is now being piloted off the shores of Phuket. Benchmarked by the unofficial launch of a hydrofoil sea transport and tour service, swift and seamless day trips from Phuket to distant, offshore havens in Krabi and Phang Nga provinces are not only…
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Phuket Business: Dive center targets “no niche’
PHUKET: THE international appeal of Phuket’s dive industry has seen many dive shops and dive centers on the island honing in on specific niche markets, usually centered around a specific country or nationality. Backed with their well-equipped dive boat and brand new training facilities, Andaman Ocean Safaris’ business model takes niche marketing a step further, by targeting agents, rather than…
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4 Swedes, 1 Thai dead in horror smash near Phuket
PHUKET: Two young Swedish couples and their Thai driver were killed instantly yesterday morning when their rented car was hit head-on by a six-wheel refrigerator truck in Takua Thung District, Phang Nga. The dead were identified by their ID cards as: Elin Marita Hedbris, 21Frida Madeleine Falk, 22Anders Tobias Larsson, 22Johan Olof Nikolas Svensson, 22Wichit Phromluang, 26, from Udon Thani…
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Phuket Business: Save yourself
PHUKET: I am personally a very big fan of Napoleon Hill, and I have just finished re-reading his original work The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons. Each lesson is based on a quality or aspect which was a common denominator amongst all of the various successful men he had studied over a thirty year period, such as Henry Ford…
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