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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Smooth travel to Belgium and the Netherlands: Visa tips & tricks!
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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Weird World News: Time for change as Samoa ditches a day; book 123 years overdue found in Britain; and Chinese opt for year-end pillow fights
PHUKET: New Year is always a time of reflection. To cast out the old and usher in the new. This week’s Weird World News features a trio of time-related happenings from around the world. Samoa skips forward a day … so long Friday, December 30 THE South Pacific island nation of Samoa has scrapped its time-zone alliance with the United…
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‘Colorful Phuket Countdown 2012’ now underway
PHUKET: The clock is now ticking at Sanamchai in Phuket Town, where the “Colorful Phuket Countdown 2012” got underway at 8pm last night. The opening ceremony was chaired by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, who took a stroll though a 20-meter-long “under the sea” tunnel of lights and decorations. He was accompanied by Paiboon Upatising, president of the Phuket Provincial Administration…
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Phuket police nab sacrilegious burglar
PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Wednesday arrested a serial thief caught with stolen religious objects, jewelry and other items. Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai said Wichit resident Eakkat Tipmart, 29, confessed to burglarizing the Phuket Town apartment of Saengduan Chaigma. It was just the latest burglary in a string of similar thefts, Col Chote said. Ms Saengduan, 39, reported to police…
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New Phuket Police chief orders holiday crackdown
PHUKET: Newly-installed Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangku has ordered all officers on the island to strictly enforce the law and ensure public safety over the New Year holiday now underway. Chonasit Wattanavrangkul, whose last assignment was as Songkhla Provincial Police Commander, took over the position from Maj Gen Pekad Tantipong in the latest police reshuffle announced on Christmas Day.…
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Khon Kaen crazy nicking knickers
PHUKET: Police in Khon Kaen nabbed a thief with an unusual haul mid-December – more than 1,000 pairs of used women’s underwear. The kinky culprit, Pathanin Kawikul, 26, told officers he used the undergarments – which he stole over a period of more than five years – for sexual gratification. Police were alerted to Mr Pathanin’s bizarre activities when Phornphat…
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Disgraceful strategy
PHUKET: “We have been done in the past – like with Woodgate. We should have surrounded the referee to get him sent off.” Stephen Hunt, Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder, suggests his team mates need to follow the example of other sides by ganging up on officials to encourage correct or even harsher decisions. Hunt was referring to their recent match against…
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Phuket events slated to inject B370mn into local economy
PHUKET: A number of large events being held in Phuket this month are expected to generate as much as 370 million baht in revenue, government officials were told yesterday. The news was announced at a meeting yesterday morning at Phuket Provincial Hall. Phuket Governor Tri Aukaradacha chaired the meeting, which was attended by representatives from various government departments. Buayan Suwanmanee,…
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Snakes in a sack seized on Koh Lanta
PHUKET: A fruit seller has been caught smuggling protected snakes onto Koh Lanta in Krabi province, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket. Pin Sangduk, 43, was found with eight live snakes stuffed into fertilizer sacks in the back of his pickup truck, which was otherwise loaded with fruit. Mr Pin was caught when Sgt Maj Terdsak Rakdaeng of Koh Lanta…
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Let Phuket’s Countdown to the New Year begin
PHUKET: The holiday season kicks into high gear today with the opening of two important annual fairs in Phuket Town and the launch of police checkpoints all over the island as part of the nationwide “Seven Days of Danger” road safety campaign. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha is a busy man today, presiding over the openings of both the Phuket Red…
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Phuket Media Watch: Asian regional round-up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Explosions at Myanmar warehouse kill at least 15 Phuket Gazette / News Wires At least 15 people were killed on early yesterday morning when a fire caused a series of explosions at a government-owned warehouse in the former Myanmar (Burma) capital of Yangon, officials said. Dozens…
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Phuket raids land 15mn baht in pirated goods
PHUKET: Two separate raids in Phuket over the past week have netted pirated copyrighted goods with a combined street value of more than 15 million baht. Prayut Maneechote, director of the Customs Bureau regional head office in Haad Yai, on Monday announced that a team of his officers had traced an illegal importing network of pirated goods to a warehouse…
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Phuket Media Watch: Russian round-up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russia’s first hybrid vehicle to go on sale next year Phuket Gazette / News Wires Russian automobile manufacturer Yo-Auto on Tuesday announced that it will be offering the country’s first hybrid vehicle late next year. The company’s billionaire co-owner Mikhail Prokhorov spoke on national television on…
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Phuket’s annual ‘Best of Phuket’ Awards to be unveiled tomorrow
PHUKET: The winners of the Phuket Gazette‘s ‘Best of Phuket’ awards for 2011 are announced in a special four-page supplement tucked into the newspaper’s December 31 issue, due out on the streets at noon tomorrow. The awards comprise 33 winners in five major categories: Person of the Year (4); Business (4); Service (6); Environment (2); and Restaurants (17). Our winners…
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Brazilian found dead in Phuket guesthouse
PHUKET: A Brazilian tourist was found dead in his Phuket hotel room on Tuesday after he and a male friend brought two Patong bar hostesses back to their room. The body of the deceased, 30-year-old Daniel Rocha Jordan Brasileiro, is under examination at Patong Hospital. A member of the staff at the guest house where the pair were staying said…
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Phuket Business: a collective island soul
PHUKET: Life in the brick house is in full holiday swing. Gargantuan cement trucks ante for position alongside monster buses teeming with an endless array of travelers. Despite a rising urban swell that is pushing development heavenwards, there has to be more to Phuket’s economic success story than bricks, mortar and an endless amount of infinity swimming pools. I tend…
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Phuket Media Watch: Hope for Kashmir; Girl Rescue; Virginity tests
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community India, Pakistan consider demilitarizing Kashmir border Phuket Gazette / News Wires The governments of Pakistan and India are considering a proposal to demilitarize the border of the disputed region of Kashmir, according to media reports yesterday. A senior Pakistani foreign ministry official told The Express Tribune…
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Phuket parade marks New Year road safety campaign
PHUKET: The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket staged a parade at Saphan Hin in Phuket Town today ahead of the nationwide ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign for the New Year holiday. “Phuket has a lot of tourists, and the roads will be busy during the new year. During this time, the number of accidents on…
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FC Phuket’s ‘Ko Lek’ to step down
PHUKET: FC Phuket manager Narubas “Ko Lek” Aryupong revealed today that he will withdraw from running the team next season due to the current financial crisis.“A lot of money is needed to run a football team in Division 1. Yearly expenses reach over 40 million baht and I cannot afford that anymore. I will run a team in Division 2…
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Club Med Phuket sets up swim zone at Kata Beach
PHUKET: A second swim area has been cordoned off at Kata Beach in Phuket, but lifeguards continue to worry about the safety of swimmers and snorkelers who venture outside the float ropes and into the path of speedboats and jet-skis. Safety issues at the popular west coast beach were highlighted earlier this month when Russian tourist Nikolai Nefedov, was hit…
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Phuket Media Watch: Man dressed as Santa kills family members
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Man dressed as Santa kills six family members at Texas home Phuket Gazette A man dressed as Santa Claus shot and killed six of his family members at a home in Texas on Christmas Day, police said yesterday. He then turned the gun on himself. The…
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Phuket Live Wire: Is Phuket cheaper?
PHUKET: Hardly a day passes when somebody doesn’t ask me, “Woody, should I buy a laptop (phone, desktop computer, iPad, printer, camera, TV) here in Phuket, or is it cheaper in the US (or Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Seoul, Europe)?” Once upon a time, it was relatively easy to answer that question. Times have changed. Three or four years…
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Phuket Business: a modern gold rush
PHUKET: As my latest trip to the UK continues, I was thinking “What can I get my dearest for Christmas this year?” I’m not the biggest fan of shopping trips and love nothing more than having a fixed plan in place to minimize the whole experience. Being Christmas, though, I thought I should give this a little more time and…
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Weeding out hype in Phuket’s health-conscious market
PHUKET: Health and environment are two buzzwords that are being heard a lot nowadays across the globe and Phuket is no exception. Health-conscious segments of local markets continue to grow and an increasing number of producers are looking to exploit this consumer base. What was once a niche market has turned into an ‘eco green everything’ fad. Indeed, many consumers,…
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Phuket’s superyacht industry flourishing
PHUKET: Migratory birds aren’t the only ones moving south to escape plummeting temperatures in the northern hemisphere. South Asia is rapidly becoming the preferred winter destination for owners of superyachts – motor yachts in excess of 30 meters or 100 feet. Indeed, an increasing number of these luxurious leisure ships can be sighted off the shores and islands across the…
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Girls saved in Phuket, safely back in France
PHUKET: The two French girls who spent eight months on the streets of Phuket are now back in France, where they are undergoing evaluation by social workers. The girls, 12-year-old Manel and her sister Chaima, 11, have been reunited with their paternal grandmother and are now in the care of French social services. Meanwhile, the Gazette has been informed of…
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Finance Ministry to press for Phuket ICEC
PHUKET: Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala has pledged to accelerate long-delayed property projects run by the Treasury Department, including the Phuket International Convention and Exhibition Center (Phuket ICEC). The Phuket ICEC, slated to be built on 1.5 rai of Treasury Department land in Mai Khao, has 2.6 billion baht in funding approval from the department. However the project is on hold…
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Phuket PDL Darts: Hemingways A down Starfish, 10-3
PHUKET: In Week 10 of the 2011-2012 Patong Darts League, Shakers hosted the hottest dart team in Phuket at the moment: Hemingways A. Shakers titan and daytime schoolteacher Ryan played Big Ronnie in the first match up to get the evening going. With high scoring from both sides, the epic ended in a 1-1 draw. Veteran of the Swedish professional…
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Phuket tsunami memorial service honored by few
PHUKET: A somber air hung over the tsunami memorial service at the Tsunami Memorial Wall in Mai Khao this morning as about 50 people turned up to remember those lost to the killer waves that struck Phuket in 2004. Thai official figures state that the tsunami killed 5,398 people and more than 3,700 disappeared in the waves that day. Hundreds…
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Phuket “anti-Santa’ behind bars
PHUKET: A Russian man was arrested by Kamala Police yesterday on suspicion of robbing several homes during the festive holidays. The 35-year-old, Pavel Zhuravlev, was arrested at 3am at a house where he was staying on Soi Massayid Naka in Kamala. He was found in possession of 800 milligrams of ya ice (methamphetamine) and drug-taking paraphernalia, as well as many…
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Top Muay Thai kickboxer takes the stage
PHUKET: Renowned Muay Thai kickboxer Buakaw Por Pramuk, the holder of three national-title belts, steps into the ring at the Patong Boxing Stadium, Phuket, tonight (December 26). Buakaw, who won his third national title on December 18, is not scheduled to fight at the stadium competitively. However he will spar with a partner to demonstrate his skills and techniques to…
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