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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BREAKING NEWS: Swedish duo arrested for Phuket stabbing murder
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that two Swedish men have been arrested in connection with the stabbing murder yesterday of Maksim Schantz. Tommy Viktor Soderlund, 26, and Johan Sebastian Ljung, 25, are both in custody, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. Police are due to hold a press conference this evening when more…
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Phuket police extend manhunt for accomplice in slaying of Swede
PHUKET: Police have stressed to the Phuket Gazette that they have not identified the alleged accomplice of Tommy Viktor Soderlund, the man being sought for the murder of Swedish national Maksim Schantz last night. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Jumroon Playdoung told the Gazette that local media reports identifying a 36-year-old Swedish man as Soderlund’s accomplice in the brutal stabbing…
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Manhunt launched for Swedish suspect in slaying of fellow Swede
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have issued an arrest warrant and appealed to the public to keep an eye out for the prime suspect in last night’s murder of Russian-born Swedish national Maksim Schantz, 25. Police have launched a manhunt for 26-year-old Tommy Viktor Soderlund, also from Sweden, and another white male who are said to have recently rented a home…
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Swedish expat stabbed to death at luxury villa in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Police are investigating the stabbing murder of a Swedish man ambushed and stabbed to death as he returned to his luxury villa in Koh Kaew subdistrict last night. The murder took place in full view of neighbors. The police identified the deceased as a 25-year-old Swedish national. The name of the victim is known to the Phuket Gazette,…
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Phuket daycare teacher charged over child beatings
PHUKET: The Phuket daycare teacher allegedly caught on video beating her students has been charged with child abuse, with the possibility of more charges to come. Meanwhile, Wichit Municipality has taken over the Wat Thepnimit daycare center, where parents and other teachers say the beatings took place regularly. The scandal unfolded on July 24 when teachers from the daycare center…
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New Phuket bridge opens to traffic
PHUKET: The new Thao Srisoonthorn Bridge, unofficially called “Sarasin Bridge 2”, opened to traffic heading northbound off Phuket this morning. The first vehicle to trundle onto the 300-million-baht span was a van carrying Phuket Provincial Highways Office Chief Arun Sanae and his immediate superior, Sakchai Suwanprasert, head of the regional Highways Office. However, Mr Arun warned motorists that the left…
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FC Phuket still waiting for away success
PHUKET: FC Phuket’s match on Sunday against Rajapracha FC in Nakhon Pathom ended in a scoreless draw, irritating Phuket’s winless wound in its eighth away game this season. There were about 1000 spectators that showed up to cheer the Rajpracha “Crowns” at Mahidol University Salaya campus stadium. As expected, Phuket fielded three of their new players: goalkeeper, Jonathan Matijas from…
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Missing Aussie tourist found alive and well in Phuket
PHUKET: Missing Australian tourist Geoffrey Hoffmann has been found alive and well. Mr Hoffmann disappeared while going for a morning walk at the lake at Karon Park on Saturday. His family raised the alarm after he failed to return four hours later. Their concern was heightened by the fact that Mr Hoffmann suffers from short-term memory loss. Mr Hoffmann’s brother-in-law…
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Buried alive in Phuket: How much longer do we need to suffer the landslides?
PHUKET: Another rainy season in Phuket, and yet another death from a landslide. The trench collapse on Monday that killed Burmese laborer Min Hla Thein came just nine days after new workplace ‘health and safety’ legislation came into effect. [See news feature, pages 4-5, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.] Among…
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Van crash kills two Phuket buffalo, tourists safe
PHUKET: Three people were injured early this morning when a Phuket passenger van slammed into two buffalo, killing both. Thalang Police were notified of the accident at 1:30am. At the scene they found a Toyota passenger van with its front smashed in and its three passengers slightly injured. The driver, identified as 43-year-old Suchart Kaow-ian, was taking two foreign tourists…
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Aussie on holiday in Phuket reported missing
PHUKET: A worried Australian family on holiday in Phuket is urging anyone who identifies Geoffrey Hoffmann, 77, to contact them immediately. Mr Hoffman was last seen walking near the lake at Karon Park this morning. Mrs Hoffmann told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that she arrived with her husband, sister and brother-in-law on a family holiday to Phuket on Tuesday.…
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It’s Official: Phuket Town still the worst for drugs
PHUKET: Phuket Town has maintained its place as the top district in upper Southern Thailand for drug crime, an accolade the popular tourist town has held for the past three years, a Bangkok health official was told yesterday. The news was revealed at a meeting of the Phuket Provincial Anti-Drug Committee at Provincial Hall. Regular chiefs on the committee include…
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Weather warning for Phuket
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department has this morning issued a wet weather warning covering much of Thailand due to Tropical Storm “Nock Ten” in the South China Sea. At 5am today, Nock Ten was centered over the west coast of Hainan Island, in China, with sustained winds of about 50 knots, about 90kmh, said the warning. The storm was moving…
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Phuket tourism operators warned to prepare for AFTA
PHUKET: Phuket tourism operators were warned very plainly yesterday that they must become game-changers if they want to stay in business after 2015. The warning was fired at the Phuket Creative Tourism Forum held at Royal Phuket Marina. The forum was organized by the Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) in conjunction with Phuket Rajabhat University’s Faculty of Management Science. Somprasong Khomapat,…
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Phuket parents furious over teacher hitting young children
PHUKET: A Phuket temple’s daycare program is under fire after video footage surfaced allegedly showing a long-time teacher beating her students. About 200 parents and children gathered at Wat Thepnimit daycare center in Wichit today to complain about the teacher and the subsequent firing of four other teachers who parents claim were responsible for exposing the abuse, not inflicting it.…
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FC Phuket to resume league campaign on Sunday
PHUKET: FC Phuket will kick off the second half of the Thai Premier League (TPL) Division One 2011 season this weekend in Nakhon Pathom. Phuket face Rajapracha FC, or the “Crowns”, who sit 7th in the table, two places ahead of Phuket in 9th position. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette this afternoon, club secretary Soranun Sanae, clarified details of this…
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Like father like son
PHUKET: “Low point of the day so far, being called ‘Chris’ by an 8 year-old.” Stuart Broad, England’s opening strike bowler, having just finished coaching kids at the Urban Cricket Center in Nottingham, was not entirely happy when mistaken for his father by one of the children. Stuart was quick with a retort saying his ‘dad’ was terrible in the…
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Anchalee, Raywat confirmed as Phuket MPs
PHUKET: The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) has confirmed Democrat candidates Raywat Areerob and Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr as Phuket’s two Members of Parliament. News that Mrs Anchalee had been confirmed as MP for Phuket 1 constituency broke on Wednesday. However, MP Raywat told the Phuket Gazette that his seat as an MP was endorsed on July 21. “The ECT was…
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New GM appointed for Phuket’s renowned Boathouse
PHUKET: Marie Laure Fleury, formerly the resort manager at the upscale Triasara, Phuket, has been appointed General Manager of the Boathouse, the renowned 37-room boutique resort on Phuket’s Kata Beach. Effective immediately, Ms Fleury will oversee the lead-up to the reopening of the resort in October, the Gazette was told today. The Boathouse resort and its adjacent Oasis Restaurant have…
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House and home expo opens in Phuket
PHUKET: More than 50 exhibitors from across Thailand today unveiled their products for the first time in Phuket at the opening of the Architect & Engineering Exhibition 2011. Products on show at the expo, now in its 11th year, run the gamut from construction materials through to custom-made home decor items. The theme of this year’s A&E expo is “New…
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Phuket rescue drill targets sea safety
PHUKET: Emergency service agencies staged their annual coordinated sea rescue drill off Phuket’s east coast yesterday, simulating a tourist boat catching fire after colliding with a cargo ship. The exercise aimed to improve coordination among a battery of rescue personnel from different agencies, including police, health officials and hospital staff, the Royal Thai Navy, local administration organizations and related departments…
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FC Phuket shatter Glass Rabbits in friendly 2-1 win
PHUKET: FC Phuket proved once again that it can conquer a Premier League team in a deserved victory over Bangkok Glass Football Club (BGFC) on Tuesday in Pathum Thani. Phuket dispatched Thai Premier League (TPL) side Sri Racha in the Toyota Cup earlier this month in a two-leg encounter, 4-3 on aggregate. Tuesday’s outing at Ho Saeng Chai Stadium was…
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Phuket Live Wire: AIS rolls out 3G coverage
PHUKET: Finally, it’s here! 3G has arrived on Phuket and will be available later this month. AIS marketing and sales manager, Paiboon Rinsakul, gave a ground-breaking presentation at the Computer Clinic meeting last Sunday. Mr Paiboon demonstrated AIS’s new HSPA 3G service, with full internet access over AIS’s about-to-be-released wireless network. In front of 50 observers at the meeting, Mr…
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Phuket flight forced back to Bangkok now on the ground in Phuket
PHUKET: The Thai Airways flight that was forced to return to Bangkok this morning due to bad weather has safely landed in Phuket with all 316 passengers on board. “Flight TG301 left Suvarnabhumi Airport at 7:35am and was to land in Phuket at 9am,” said Boonlert Nuanla-or, chief of the Thai Airways critical information unit. “But when the plane arrived…
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Football star Therdsak to coach at Phuket’s Thanyapura
PHUKET: Thailand Premier League midfielder, Therdsak Chaiman, will be in Phuket on Saturday, July 30 to conduct the “Bend It Like Therdsak Football Clinic” at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC). Therdsak, who plays for Chonburi FC and has captained the Thailand national team, will coach players on improving techniques and how to play together on teams more effectively. The…
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‘Surf House’ to promote Phuket surfing
PHUKET: Phuket surfing culture got a boost today with a major retailer opening a “surfing center” at Jungceylon shopping mall in Patong. Quiksilver Surf House opened today to promote the upcoming Quiksilver Thailand Surf Competition 2011 and to grow Phuket’s surfing culture, Quiksilver Retail (Thailand) Ltd General Manager Surached Mungthong said. “I would like to help expand the surfing community…
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Phuket landslide kills Burmese migrant worker
PHUKET: A Burmese migrant worker was buried alive at a Phuket construction site this morning when a large pile of dirt slid into the trench he was working in. Min Hla Thein, 45, was working on a large drainage system at the Phuket Villa 5 project in Wichit when the landslide filled the 2.5-meter ditch, police said. Phuket City Police…
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Dane’s death accidental: Phuket police
PHUKET: The Danish man found dead at a Phuket hotel last Tuesday likely died as a result of diabetes and heavy drinking and smoking, police said. The body of 62-year-old Preben Thamsen Schmidt was found in the gardens of the Print Kamala Resort early in the morning. He had wounds to his face and arms and was last seen drinking…
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Driver “not drinking’ in fatal Phuket crash
PHUKET: Police have confirmed that alcohol was not a factor in a fatal car accident in central Phuket on Friday. The driver of the car, Lithuanian Tamara Latvijas Rabo, 31, died instantly in the crash and Kuwaiti Waleed MHH Alostad, 37, the front-seat passenger, later died at Phuket International Hospital (PIH), Police Duty Officer Kittiphum Tinthalang told the Phuket Gazette.…
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Exciting finale at Phuket Six Senses Raceweek
PHUKET: Neil Pryde and his Team Premiere crew have claimed overall IRC Racing class honors at the Six Senses 2011 Phuket International Raceweek. Final day conditions brought early rains which gave way to good winds and allowed for decent racing. The battle for Racing class boiled down to who would take second. Ricky Pointon’s Jing Jing won both races to…
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