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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Phuket Veg Fest: human blood needed
PHUKET: The Phuket chapter of the Thai Red Cross Society is asking for more blood donations to meet an expected rise in demand during the upcoming Phuket Vegetarian Festival and high season for tourism that follows. Pornthip Rattajak, acting director of the local Red Cross chapter, said increased stocks are needed during the high season, when the increased number of…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010: a lot of bang for the baht
PHUKET: Phuket Town residents might want to invest in safety goggles and industrial earplugs, as the Phuket Police will not try to control the use of firecrackers and more powerful fireworks during the upcoming Vegetarian Festival. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong said today the use of fireworks is a long-standing spiritual tradition that would be allowed during the nine-day…
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Phuket Police crack motorbike theft gang
PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Sunday night arrested a member of a local motorbike theft gang. Phuket City Police on September 15 received a report from local resident Nawapon Khanom that his Yamaha Fino motorbike was stolen at 3am that day. Discovering a vehicle with no license plate parked in front of an apartment block in Rassada at 9:30pm on…
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Westin Phuket defers taxi decision
PHUKET: Management at the Westin Siray Bay Resort and Spa, a local affiliate with global resort giant Starwood Hotels, has deferred announcing its decision on whether to allow a local taxi counter inside its new luxury resort on Koh Sireh in Phuket. The announcement was made at a meeting on Saturday between the resort management team and representatives of local…
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New Phuket governor meets honorary consuls on first day at work
PHUKET: New Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha began his work this morning by meeting honorary consuls from 11 nations and assuring them that tourism development is his top priority. The meeting took place after Gov Tri performed a traditional ceremony for incoming governors – paying respects at a statue of King Rama V outside Phuket Provincial Hall. He then met and…
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Phuket defence volunteer shoots romantic rival
PHUKET: A Chalong civil defense volunteer has been charged with attempted murder following a jealousy-inspired shooting outside the home of a romantic rival last night. Chalong Police were notified of the shooting at about 11:30pm. Arriving at the scene, in front of a house on Soi Nakok in Chalong, police found a 7.65mm pistol and a bloody sword known in…
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Phuket poll: Vegetarian Festival 2010
PHUKET: Phuket is busy making final preparations for the annual Vegetarian Festival, which officially gets underway with the arrival of the new moon on Friday. A great number of Phuket Town residents dress in white and observe 10 days of physical and spiritual purification by abstaining from meat, alcohol and other things viewed as contaminants by devotees. Those who choose…
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Phuket poll: Price-fixing not the answer to hotel price war
PHUKET: Fewer than 20% of Phuket Gazette readers think setting minimum standard room prices at small hotels and guesthouse in Patong is the answer to the current price-cutting war going on there. In the last Phuket Gazette readers’ poll, participants were asked: Do you think setting minimum standard room prices is the answer to price-cutting wars among small hotel and…
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Phuket nurse in stabbing murder
PHUKET: A nurse at Bangkok Hospital Phuket has confessed to stabbing her husband to death in Rassada last night. Phuket City Police received a call from the 40-year-old nurse, Mrs Rachada Rattanadilok na Phuket, at about 10:30pm yesterday. Phuket City Police Superintendent Col Wanchai Ekpornpit, Inspector Col Wijak Tarom and other investigators raced to the scene, a room in an…
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Six survive after car plunges into Phuket pond
PHUKET: Six people narrowly escaped with their lives early this morning after a young woman drove her new Honda Jazz into the pond at Saphan Hin after a night of clubbing in Phuket. Phuket City Police were notified of the accident at 3am. At the scene they found a white Honda Jazz almost completely submerged in the saltwater pond, not…
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PHUKET OPINION: Opening the door to devastation
PHUKET: A special notification issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) in July to break the impasse over the proposed Klong Koh Pee Road project will no doubt be treated as great news by the vast majority of Phuket people who work, study or relax at Saphan Hin. (See Governor retires, front page, current issue of the…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010 marches on
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand office in Phuket has released the schedule of street processions by participating Chinese temples in the upcoming Vegetarian Festival. The festival will get underway with an opening ceremony near the Tin Mining Monument in Saphan Hin Park at 9am on October 7. The traditional raising of go teng poles to welcome the Chinese gods…
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Phuket agency helps Burmese workers go legit
PHUKET: Many of the Burmese citizens working in the construction industry in Phuket are highly educated and “just as talented as Thai people,” according to the owner of a company specializing in legalizing the island’s foreign laborers. Thanadech Supasuwan, who runs the Noom Broker agency in Rassada, said that the younger generation of Burmese on Phuket aspire to work in…
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Gazette goes national
PHUKET: Now in its 18th year of publication, the Phuket Gazette is delighted to announce the launch of its new Nationwide Edition – today, Saturday, October 2. The new edition makes its debut in style as a stand-alone Phuket Gazette tucked into the fold of its long-term partner newspaper The Nation. Focused entirely on Phuket and the Andaman Region, our…
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Trawler net kills giant Phuket turtle
PHUKET: A 250-kilogram male leatherback turtle was found dead at Phuket’s popular Bang Tao Beach in Cherng Talay yesterday afternoon. “The 2.5-meter-long turtle had died at least two weeks earlier. Its body was tangled up in a large section of trawler fishing net,” Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) biologist Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong told the Gazette. “People found the turtle floating…
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New Phuket Governor to focus on tourism development
PHUKET: Tri Augkaradacha, who today officially became Phuket’s 43rd governor, has announced tourism development as his top-priority in office. Having served as a vice-governor of Phuket since December 2006, Governor Tri is well aware of the many complex issues facing the island. The 58-year-old is a bachelor’s degree graduate in political science from Chiang Mai. He also holds a master’s…
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Thailand plans Phuket bid for Asian Beach Games
PHUKET: Thailand looks likely to bid for Phuket to host the fourth-ever Asian Beach Games in November 2014, following a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Sports and Tourism.The 500-million-baht event would take place between November 15 to 24. Events would include handball, kabaddi, takraw, volleyball, sailing, paragliding, football, water skiing, bodybuilding, windsurfing, jet-skiing, triathlon, woodball, swim marathon, boat racing,…
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Phuket Police pinch pot peddlars
PHUKET: Phuket City Police yesterday arrested two men for possession of eight bars of dried marijuana. Phuket City Police Inspector Wijak “The Magnet” Tarom identified the pair as Iruphan “Heng” Latae, 34, and Worrapoj “Roos” Sairaya, 29. Lt Col Wijak and his team noticed Mr Iruphan acting suspiciously outside an unnamed apartment block on Soi Siangtai, off Thepkrasattri Rd southbound…
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Phuket Blues Fest star tops blues download chart
PHUKET: Phuket International Blues Rock Festival star Rich Harper is now Number 1 on Airplaydirect.com worldwide blues radio downloads for September with his new “LIVE in Scandinavia” CD. “Downloads for Harper’s music last night passed even the mighty Charlie Musselwhite and his new CD ‘The Well‘, which was recorded on the world’s largest blues label, Alligator,” said organizer Andy Anderson.…
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New Phuket incinerator to burn off landfill waste
PHUKET: The days of the landfill behind the Phuket City Incinerator at Saphan Hin may be numbered, following confirmation that a new incinerator now under construction at the site will use any extra burning capacity to reduce the huge stockpiles of trash. Phuket City Deputy Mayor Thaworn Jeeraphat told Gazette that project contractor PJT is contracted to burn at least…
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Phuket businessman and companion die in car crash
PHUKET: Well-known Phuket businessman Pornchai Sawasri and a female companion died in a car accident in Thalang last night when Mr Pornchai lost control of his vehicle and hit a power pole after swerving to avoid a dog. Thalang Police were notified of the crash at 9:30pm. At the scene, on a curved section of Thepkrasattri Road northbound opposite the…
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New Phuket fertility clinic opens tomorrow at PIH
PHUKET: Adding to Phuket’s medical tourism appeal is the fact that now patients not only have the option of getting popular treatments such as dental work or cosmetic surgery, but also the chance to conceive a baby. A 20-million-baht “Safe Fertility Center” officially opens at Phuket International Hospital (PIH) tomorrow. The largest In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Center in southern Thailand,…
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Phuket police identify horror smash victim
PHUKET: Police have identified the victim of yesterday’s horror smash at Tesco-Lotus junction as Miss Orrasa Pethpattana, a 19-year-old native of Nakhon Thai District in Pitsanuloke. Case investigator Capt Kittiphum Tinthalang of the Phuket Provincial Police told the Gazette Miss Orrasa was riding riding pillion on the motorbike driven by her boyfriend, 27-year-old Yutthapong Deepakdee, when they were hit by…
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Thai police pounce on prolific panty perv
PHUKET: A motorbike taxi driver caught red-handed with a bag full of used bras and panties was later found in possession of thousands of women’s undergarments at his home. After arresting 46-year-old Phanu Phloisuwan on September 26, Samut Prakarn City police found a trove of more than 5,000 undergarments, mostly stolen from washing lines over a two-year period. Most of…
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Phuket governor and wife bid farewell
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop and his wife Thaisika left the Governor’s Mansion early this morning, his Mercedez-Benz trailed by a van full of Phuket government officers and members of the media who will travel with him all the way back to his home in Nakhon Pathom. Among the 300 people who got up early to send off Gov Wichai was…
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UNFAO hopes for “Phuket Agreement” on aquaculture
PHUKET: Hot on the heels of the Global Conference On Aquaculture 2010 held in Phuket last week, experts have stayed on for a follow-up conference hoping to hammer out an international agreement on guidelines for the fish farming industry worldwide. The fifth session of the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) opened September 27…
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Phuket blackout: No power in Rawai tomorrow
PHUKET: Residents of Rawai should be reminded that there will be another scheduled power outage from 9am to 4pm tomorrow as the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) continues its work on power lines in the area. The blackout will affect Wiset Road, from Saiyaun Road south to Nai Harn Beach, including Soi Khok Yang, Soi Hua Pru, Soi Khok Makham and…
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Scuba Cat team rakes in marine debris off Phuket
PHUKET: Divers of all ages took the plunge Saturday and Sunday as part of dive tour operator Scuba Cat’s contribution to International Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday. A total of 31 divers volunteered their time dragging trash from the depths of the Andaman at Koh Racha Yai over the weekend. The team included Scuba Cat staff, repeat customers and 14…
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Phuket Town ‘Pink Bus’ project wins ‘innovation’ award
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization’s “Pink Bus” project providing reasonably-priced public transport for Phuket City residents has won a national award for “Local Innovation” from the Prime Minister’s Office. The award was one of 61 awarded to local administration offices by a new Prime Minister’s Office committee on decentralization of power to local administration organizations. A total of 1,003…
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Noisy Phuket teens survive shotgun blast
PHUKET: A teenage couple out joyriding and lighting off firecrackers last night sustained injuries from a shotgun blast that police think was intended as a warning shot. Phuket City Police received a 191 emergency report of the shooting just before midnight. Phuket City Police Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit led officials to the scene in front to the Rachada Pub, located along…
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