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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Two dead, many injured in Phuket school van crash
PHUKET: A three-vehicle collision near the Heroines’ Monument in Phuket left two dead and many injured this morning. The two dead were staff members at the well-known Muslim Witthaya School in Koh Kaew. Police identified one the deceased as 54-year-old Phang Nga resident San Thasai, driver of a school van transporting young school students from their homes in Baan Bang…
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Stranded Phuket tourists get strategic in face of flight delays
PHUKET: Passengers grounded by ongoing delays and cancellations by Strategic Airlines are upbeat despite little information from the airline. Following a forced landing in Kuala Lumpur last week, the airline canceled their immediate Brisbane-Phuket services and today delayed their Melbourne-Phuket flights. “About 300 [passengers] all up. They did fly one lot of people out to Melbourne, people with children or…
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Two gunned down in Phuket gangland “misunderstanding’
PHUKET: Phuket police today presented three men charged with the gangland-style slayings of two men in Patong early yesterday morning. Nat “Chit” Nakpetch, 31, from Kathu, Somnuek “Wae” Suwanthanoo and Poochit “Max” Pookham, both 29 and both from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, were presented to media at Patong Police Station today. All three men were charged with planning and carrying out…
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Russian found hanged in Phuket police cell
PHUKET: Phuket Police are investigating the apparent suicide of a Russian tourist while in a detention cell at Patong Police Station on Saturday night. Patong Police duty officer Pattapee Srichay confirmed the identity of the deceased as Evgeny Otrubyannikov, a 26-year-old Russian national. Mr Evgeny apparently took his life at about 10pm by using his shirt to hang himself by…
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Portrait FC take round eight of Phuket’s AFL
PHUKET: Three absorbing matches dominated interest in round eight of the current Adult Futsal League (AFL), played on Thursday. Top of the table Portrait FC faced an improving Island Boys side with an in-form goalkeeper as the evening’s opening bout. The first half ended goalless as a result of some inspirational shot-stopping and the second half began with Portrait’s attack…
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Westwood a bitter bridesmaid
PHUKET: “It’s amazing he’s only ever won three tournaments the amount of time he gets into contention.” Former world number one Lee Westwood offering a bitter swipe at the eternal efforts of Rory McIlroy’s to win a Major. For the record Rory is 22-years-old and now has a Major to his name. The magnanamous Mr Westwood is 38-years of age…
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40,000 voters in Phuket sign up to cast ballots for other provinces
PHUKET: Shedding a little more light on the size of Phuket’s “hidden population” is the fact that more than 40,000 people have registered for absentee ballots in the upcoming general election. According to information released earlier today by the Phuket Election Commission, a total of 40,680 people registered to vote in other provinces during the registration period that ended on…
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Portuguese Man o’ War invade Phuket
PHUKET: As if monsoon-season rip currents weren’t bad enough, the head of the island’s lifeguard association is warning the public of a new threat lurking in the Phuket surf: the dreaded bluebottle “jellyfish”. Vitanya Chuayuan, publicity officer of the Phuket Lifeguard Club, said two of the pseudo-jellies were spotted at Nai Thon Beach on Wednesday. Over the weekend there were…
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Heartbroken Estonian dies in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of an Estonian business owner found dead in his Phuket Town shophouse last night. Phuket City Police duty officer Yingnucharee Longkaew identified the deceased as 45-year-old Artur Mansurov, who was found dead on the third floor of his shophouse at the Phuket@Town commercial housing estate on Surin Road. According to one local media report,…
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Mystery donor gives B1mn for Phuket’s first cricket ground
PHUKET: An anonymous benefactor has stepped up to donate one million baht to the development of the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG), Phuket’s first dedicated cricket ground and clubhouse. Construction of the eagerly anticipated ACG was finally given a green light on May 31. The main financier of the project, Alan Cooke MBE, bought a parcel of land in Thalang specifically…
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Phuket Public Transport: Residents need reality U-turn, but beware the tuk-tuks
PHUKET: After 19 months of delay, it’s time to break the median strip in front of Phuket Provincial Bus Terminal 2 and finally get the buses rolling from there. [See story, front page, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.] Despite its ill-advised location, the site is an improvement over that of…
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FC Phuket through to round two of Toyota Football League Cup
PHUKET: A single goal advanced FC Phuket to the Toyota League Cup second round, defeating their lower league opponents Thanyaburi FC in Pathum Thani on Saturday. Having posted two wins in three games and accruing 12 goals in the process, Phuket’s coach Sompong Watana portrayed confidence in his pre-match comments. “Our first [Toyota League Cup] match with Thanyaburi United is…
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Top cops focused on Phuket gold heist
PHUKET: The region’s top police officer came to Phuket on Thursday to follow up on the investigation into the gold heist reported by the Phuket Gazette earlier this month. The man robbed the family-owned Thong Thanet gold shop near the Slaughterhouse Intersection in Phuket Town. Gold items stolen were valued at over six million baht. Shop owners Jirasak and Chantana…
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Phuket enjoys a fruity affair
PHUKET: Fruit lovers may want to make a trip to Phuket Town over the weekend, as a fair featuring the best produce from Eastern Thailand’s Chanthaburi province is now underway. Seven different types of fruit from the famed fruit-producing region are now on sale at the central stage area at Saphan Hin. The event, which began yesterday, is open daily…
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Phuket expat survives high-speed crash
PHUKET: An expat sales executive at a luxury villa resort complex in Phuket was injured when his car slammed into a power pole on the coastal road to the airport just before midnight last night. Called to the crash site, about 200 meters from Nai Yang Temple, Kusoldharm Foundation workers found a badly-damaged Toyota Vios crashed into a power pole…
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The team in front is FC Phuket
PHUKET: FC Phuket begin their Toyota League Cup campaign this afternoon playing an away fixture to Thanyaburi FC in Pathum Thani. Sixty four teams are entered in the first round with 21 games being played today. A further nine matches are scheduled for tomorrow, June 19 and the remaining two games will be played on Sunday, June 26. Thanyaburi FC…
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Phuket’s honorary consuls top reason tourists call police
PHUKET: Tourists seeking contact details of Phuket’s honorary consuls is the number one reason why they call the Tourist Police hotline 1155. From January 2010 to May 2011, the 1155 hotline received 8,512 calls, with 1,860 of those calls asking for directions to and the location of honorary consuls’ offices, an officer at the Tourist Police hotline center told the…
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Mystery surrounds death of Swiss woman found floating off Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket City Police traveled to Koh Maphrao today to investigate the discovery of a Swiss woman’s body found yesterday in waters off the island’s east coast. The body was identified as 61-year-old Ursula Balzan by her relatives who lived nearby on Koh Maphrao. Her neck was broken and there were bruises around her body and mouth. Officers told the…
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Driver flees scene of lethal Phuket crash
PHUKET: The driver of a pickup truck fled the scene of a fatal crash with a motorcycle on Phuket’s west coast early this morning. The accident, involving a Honda Wave motorbike and an Isuzu D-Max, occurred near a Chinese cemetery on Srisoonthorn Road between Cherng Talay and Bang Tao at 3:30am. The motorcycle was found 15 meters from the truck,…
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Phuket gets cooking for halal food expo
PHUKET: Representatives from 70 halal organizations from 35 countries have been invited to join the ‘Phuket Halal International Forum and Andaman Muslim Expo 2011’, which gets underway at Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa in Patong on June 22. The two-day international forum will focus on halal certification in each respective country, seeking to reach consensus on a standard in order…
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US Open for McIlroy
PHUKET: “I took the experience from Augusta, and I learned a lot from it. I just need to keep it going. I played really good out there, didn’t make any mistakes, which in a US Open is huge.” Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy leads the US Open at Congressional with a 6-under-par first round score. The 22-year-old is 3 shots ahead…
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Taxis, tour agencies ink MoU to end blockades at Phuket Deep Sea Port
PHUKET: An hour of intense negotiations today finally ended with taxi drivers and tour agencies signing an agreement to end blockades at Phuket’s Deep Sea Port. Most, but not all, parties present at the meeting at Provincial Hall today signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was outlined by verbal agreement following the blockade of tourists attempting to disembark the…
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Police rally against vote selling in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket police today held their second rally to encourage people to vote for the candidates they support and not to “sell” their votes to canvassers who come knocking at their doors in the run-up to the July 3 general election. Carrying banners and walking to music played by school marching bands, the crowd paraded south from a market on…
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Russian honeymoon tourist in Phuket dies after dangerous surf rescue
PHUKET: A young Russian tourist on honeymoon in Phuket died earlier today after she was pulled unconscious from dangerous surf at Nai Thon Beach late yesterday afternoon. Irina Tsyz, 24, was swimming with her husband Alexander Ovsov, 25, when she started to flounder in the large waves, Tah Chat Chai police told the Phuket Gazette. “It was windy and she…
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FC Phuket hit a magnificent seven in Thai FA Cup
PHUKET: Bangkok Christian College Football Club (BCCFC) were thrown to the lions in last night’s Thailand FA Cup second round match against a rampant FC Phuket at Surakul Stadium. After a 4-1 win over Chainat FC on Saturday, a buoyant Phuket were certainly in goalscoring form and needed to consolidate their first league victory in six games. A solid win…
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Early vote registration in Phuket ends tomorrow
PHUKET: Tomorrow is the last day for Phuket residents who will be out of town on July 3 to register to vote early on June 26 in the upcoming general election. Phuket Election Commission Director Kitipong Thiengkunakrit is urging all such residents to register at the District Office or subdistrict (tambon or municipality) office where they reside. The early vote…
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Phuket “Miniature World’ expo starts tomorrow
PHUKET: The annual Amazing Thai Miniature World exhibition returns to Phuket tomorrow at the Jungceylon shopping complex in Patong. Set to take place at Silang Boulevardon the ground floor, the exhibition will feature glimpses into the Thai way of life, both past and present, as represented by tiny carvings and other intricate artwork produced by expert craftsmen. The event, going…
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New South Wales take State of Origin to game three
PHUKET: Two years without winning a Rugby League State of Origin game ended for New South Wales last night defeating Queensland to leave the 2011 series balanced with one win each. A victory for the Maroons (Queensland) in yesterday’s match played in Sydney would have sealed the series and taken them to six titles in a row. Hope for a…
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Questions raised over Phuket’s Big Buddha
PHUKET: The management of Phuket’s renowned Big Buddha image has come under scrutiny for slow progress and alleged misuse of land and donated funds. After more than nine years of construction, land officials are now demanding “a clear deadline” as to when construction at the site, high atop a hill in the Nakkerd Range, will finally come to an end.…
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Phuket Live Wire: Internet access really is getting better
PHUKET: It’s fashionable to squawk and groan about our Internet connections here in Phuket, but the fact is that we’re approaching the speeds one would commonly find in the United States and other developing countries. Err, well, you know what I mean. Scandinavia is much faster, as are Hong Kong, Singapore and much of South Korea. Those places recognized the…
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