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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Top official dispells Phuket tsunami rumors
PHUKET: The director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), the agency in Thailand that issues tsunami warnings, yesterday called on people to ignore rumors that a tsunami will strike Thailand. NDWC Director Somsak Khaosuwan was in Phuket to lead public information seminars about natural disasters. The seminars were held at Wat Suwan Kiriwong School in Patong. Mr Somsak said…
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Phuket Butti murder: Italian business partner charged, hitman still at large
PHUKET: Police have arrested the alleged Italian “mastermind” and three others in connection with the shooting murder of resort owner Luciano Butti, 61. Mr Butti, also Italian, was gunned down while riding a rented motorbike in Pa Khlok on Tuesday night. Lt Gen Kokiat Wongvorachart, Commissioner of Region 8 Provincial Police, presented the four suspects at a press conference at…
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Phuket parents seek return of runaway girl, 14
PHUKET: The parents of a 14-year-old Phuket girl who ran off with her young boyfriend are asking the public for help in securing her safe return. Jintana Wangnurat and her English husband Huwy Williams came to the offices of the Phuket Gazette this morning with a picture of their daughter Grissana “Green” Wangnurat, age 14. Mr Williams, a nine-year Phuket…
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Breaking News: Suspects arrested for Butti murder
PHUKET: Police have arrested at least four people in connection with the shooting murder of Italian resort owner Luciano Butti, 61. Mr Butti was gunned down while riding a rented motorbike in Pa Khlok on Tuesday night. Takuapa District Police Inspector Wannarat Mahachode and his team of investigators arrested 23-year-old Rachanon Saowaree at the Takuapa Bus Station yesterday, according to…
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Phuket police nab Chinese ‘stopover thieves’
PHUKET: Chalong Police have arrested three mainland Chinese they think are part of a gang who specialize in burglarizing guests at luxury hotels the world over. Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Narong Laksanawimol identified the three suspects at a press conference today as: Liu Shuiping, 45; Liu Jianhua, 39; and Liu Shuidong, 40. All are listed as residents of Jiangxi, China.…
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PHUKET REMINDER: FC Phuket at home against JW Rangsit tomorrow
PHUKET: FC Phuket will be going all-out for three points tomorrow at Surakul Stadium, where they take on JW Rangsit FC in a Thai League Division 1 match starting at 6pm. The Southern Sea Kirin, who sit in sixth place after the third week of the season, will be trying for their second win. Both sides are playing in their…
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Phuket, Pattaya police earn big thanks from Germany
PHUKET: The German Embassy in Bangkok has issued an official letter of commendation to the Royal Thai Police Immigration Bureau praising the efforts of officers in Phuket and Pattaya in helping to track down, arrest and deport three Germans found hiding in Thailand over the past 12 months. The letter, from German Ambassador Dr Hanns H. Schumacher to Royal Thai…
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Phuket home to UN marine management project
PHUKET: Getting eight culturally diverse countries with varying systems of government and historically contentious relationships to co-operate on environmental management is a mammoth task. That is precisely what the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem project (BOBLME) hopes to facilitate over the next four years with nations in the Bay of Bengal region. BOBLME, covering about 6.2 million square kilometers…
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“LOVE AID – To Japan From Phuket With Love’ benefit concert scheduled
PHUKET: A benefit concert entitled “LOVE AID – To Japan From Phuket With Love” has been scheduled for April 2 on Karon Beach, with 100 per cent of proceeds going to help victims of the Japan earthquake, tsunami and subsequent explosions at a nuclear power plant. The event was originally scheduled for next Thursday, but has been changed to Saturday,…
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Phuket heeds Japan’s call for aid
PHUKET: The Phuket Tsunami Relief Center for Japan has been set up at Provincial Hall as a collection point for donations to aid survivors of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11. The center was established on Tuesday following talks between Phuket Japanese Association President Kazushi Miyashita and Governor Tri Augkaradacha. “Seven years ago when the tsunami…
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Free anti-radiation tablets for Phuket travelers to Japan
PHUKET: Passengers traveling to areas in Japan where they may be exposed to radiation are being offered free Potassium Iodide tablets at Phuket International Airport. The anti-radiation tablets are available at a Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) booth set up today on the second floor of Terminal 1. The booth is open from 6:30am to 9:30pm daily until further…
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Phuket honors respected civil servant
PHUKET: A Royal Cremation ceremony was held in Phuket today for Wannapreuk Sukyiran, who died of natural causes on Thursday at the age of 79. Mr Wannapreuk, father of Phuket deputy chief prosecutor Tawan Sukyiran, had a distinguished career in civil service as a member of the Phuket Public Health Office. More than 300 people attended the service, including Phuket…
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Phuket raid nets Bt100k in smoking contraband
PHUKET: Officials from the Phuket Excise Office yesterday seized 956 packs of illegally imported cigarettes and packs of tobacco with a total street value of about 100,000 baht. Most of the contraband was imported by post, said Excise officer Chingchai Borwornthanasan. Three people were arrested in the raid: Yusaree Yun from Pattani, and Ussamarn Wangdee and Je-padeemoh Yun, both Phuket…
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Italian man gunned down in Phuket
PHUKET: An Italian man in his 40s was shot dead while riding from the Heroines Monument to Pa Khlok at about 10pm last night. Police know the identity of the man but the Gazette is withholding publication pending notice of next of kin. The man’s body was found lying on the road about 200 meters from the entrance to the…
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Phuket Punchline Comedy sends in the April fools
PHUKET: ‘Exciting, eccentric and experienced’ describes the three acts appearing on April 20 at the Holiday Inn Resort Patong for the second Phuket Punchline Comedy Club show of 2011. Three very different acts from the highly respected UK comedy circuit are set to amuse and entertain with their own inimitable comedy styles. Compere for the evening is the high energy,…
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Big stink at Phuket fish factory
PHUKET: Following complaints from a neighboring hotel, the management of a seafood packaging plant in Phuket Town has been given three months to get the stink out. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiat Sangkaosuttirak and a team of government officers inspected the Phuket Union Foods facility yesterday afternoon. Among those present were representatives from the Phuket Provincial Industry Office (PPIO), Phuket City…
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Phuket Swindle: Romanians charged in Bt100mn ATM scam
PHUKET: Four Romanians were arrested by Phuket police yesterday and charged with running an ATM card scam that is claimed to have stolen 100 million baht. The four were named by police as Gavrila Florin Eugen, 33; Ene Bogdan Constantin, 23; Vilvoi Claudiu Constantin, 36; and Gavrila Alexandra, 26. All four suspects were arrested at their rented room at the…
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Phuket’s Heroines Festival hoped to attract record crowds
PHUKET: The “Thalang Historical Drama”, being performed nightly at Phuket’s annual Heroines’ Festival currently underway in Thalang, is expected to attract more than 2,000 people each night to watch the show. “The show last night went very well. Governor Tri Augkaradacha played the part of Rama I, but that was the only performance he will act in during the festival,”…
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Warrant issued for driver of overturned Phuket tour bus
PHUKET: Police have confirmed that an arrest warrant has been issued for the driver of the tour bus that overturned in Phuket last week. Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao told the Phuket Gazette the warrant was issued today. The double-deck tour bus overturned on Patong Hill just two kilometers short of its final destination. The 53 people on board were…
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Lady Pie is off to the Hong Kong Sevens
PHUKET: It will be the life of pie for hungry rugby fanatics later this month when a popular Phuket eatery sends 8,500 “scrummy” pastries to Hong Kong for the world-renowned Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Rugby Sevens tournament. A bulging crowd of 120,000 people are expected to descend on Hong Kong Park over three days, starting on March 25, to see which…
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FC Phuket draws even with “Big Bang’
PHUKET: Despite some excellent chances by both sides, FC Phuket and Division One leaders Big Bang Chulalongkorn University (BBCU FC) FC played to a scoreless draw last night before a record crowd at Surakul Stadium. The final tally barely reflected the intensity of the exciting match. One of the best opportunities for FC Phuket came at 75 minutes, when Sarach…
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Man becomes dogs’ dinner
PHITSANULOK: A man who lived alone in a wooden shack on a fruit farm in Phitsanulok fell to his death and was half-eaten by the 20 dogs he kept to guard his orchards. When villagers living nearby noticed that Mai Khongthong, 66, wasn’t out watering his fruit trees as usual February 25, they called out to him but heard no…
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Phuket Taxi Fares: Motorcycle meters on tap
PHUKET: Meters for motorcycle taxis will hit the streets of Bangkok this month in an effort to regulate fares and reduce accidents – a scheme which will soon be tested in Phuket as well. Visitors to the Central World shopping complex in the Pathum Wan district of Bangkok will be the first to witness the meters in operation. Approximately 24…
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Drug Rehab: Phuket ‘camp’ for first-time offenders
PHUKET: Arrested under the ongoing nationwide police crackdown on drugs, 82 first-time offenders in Phuket last week began a voluntary rehab program as part of their suspended sentences. The five-day “camp”, run by the Phuket Heath Office, aims to help first-time offenders kick their habits before they become repeat offenders or get involved in serious drug crimes. “All of them…
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Phuket Opinion: Keeping the cops out of the drug business
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette wishes the new City police superintendent the best of luck in his effort to rid Phuket of illegal drug use and police corruption. He is certainly going to need it. It is normal for newly-appointed government officers taking up key posts to state policy objectives, and those of Pol Col Chote Chitchai are irrefutably noble. Col…
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Woman arrested after stashing ya bah pills near Phuket school
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested a woman who stashed close to 2,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills on top of a phone booth in front of a primary school in Phuket Town. At a press conference at Phuket City Police Station today, officers asked the press not to release the identity of the woman as doing so could compromise the ongoing investigation…
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Phuket Crime: Swede arrested for major mobile phone theft
PHUKET: A Swedish tourist is in police custody in Phuket for the alleged theft of 85 Nokia mobile phones from a delivery vehicle in Patong. Patong Police duty officer Weerapong Rakkittoo identified the suspect as John Redling, age 38. The devices were reported stolen from a delivery vehicle in the basement parking lot of the Jungceylon shopping complex on March…
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Phuket travelers heading for Japan advised to continue to Bangkok
PHUKET: Following the devastating series of earthquakes and the tsunami that struck Japan’s main island of Honshu earlier today, travelers heading from Phuket to Japan are advised to at least continue their journey to Bangkok, an officer at Phuket International Airport told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon. “All flights [from Phuket] to Bangkok are continuing as scheduled. There are no…
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Japan hit by 8.8 earthquake; tsunami strikes coast
TOKYO (BNO NEWS): A series of enormous earthquakes struck off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan early this afternoon, seismologists said, generating large tsunamis that devastated coastlines with warnings for multiple countries. The 8.8-magnitude earthquake at 2:46pm local time (0546 GMT, 12:46 Phuket time) was centered about 179 kilometers east of Sendai in Japan. It struck about 10 kilometers deep,…
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Royal Paradise chosen as Phuket “landmark’ for Earth Hour
PHUKET: THE Royal Paradise Hotel and surrounding businesses in Patong will be plunged into darkness for one hour from 8:30pm on March 26 to mark Earth Hour 2011. About 500 people in Patong will hand out pamphlets promoting Earth Hour on March 24 to raise awareness of the event, said Meena Panun, who is coordinating the public campaign for Patong…
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