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 sea gypsies arrested for cyanide fishing
RAWAI, PHUKET: Ten Rawai sea gypsies were arrested by Marine Police late Sunday night and charged with collecting protected species for the illicit trade in tropical fish. The arrests were carried out by Phuket Marine Police and officials from the Phuket Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Center (PMCRCC). Under the direction of PMCRCC Director Paitoon Panchaipum, the officers intercepted two…
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Lots of tourists in Phuket, but they aren’t spending much
PHUKET TOWN: Arrival figures during this high season remain high, but tourists visiting Phuket seem to be spending less, industry insiders say. Bhuritt Maswongsa, vice-president of the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA), said that ‘per head’ expenditure seems to be much lower than in the 2007-2008 high season, the last time Phuket enjoyed a normal high season – the 2008-2009 high…
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TAT to focus on tourist spending, not numbers
PHUKET TOWN: Juthaporn Rerngronasa, The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s returning deputy governor for international marketing, has unveiled several strategies to approach a range of potential markets this year. Mrs Juthaporn was reappointed to head the international marketing department following an internal management reshuffle supervised by new TAT new governor Suraphon Svetserni. “This year, the authority will not aim at luring…
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Phuket Police nab murder suspects
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket City Police have arrested two minors for the stabbing murder of two men during an alcohol-fueled knife fight outside a Phuket Town nightclub on Saturday night. Phuket Provincial Police Superintendent Pekad Tantipong presented the young suspects at a press conference at Phuket City Police Station this morning. They are accused of stabbing to death two members of…
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Phuket Blues Rock Festival is back
PHUKET TOWN: Presented by Thai Airways International, the Phuket International Blues Rock Festival is back with its biggest bang since its inception in 2005. Once again hosted by the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa, the show takes place on February 26 and 27 in Karon, where gates open and beer begins to flow at 5 pm. Music starts at…
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Crackdown on alcohol sales violations in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket health authorities are launching a fresh crackdown on violators of Thai alcohol sales regulations. The 2008 Alcohol Control Act states that alcohol products cannot be sold at places of worship, health centers and hospitals, government offices, educational institutions, gas stations and public parks. For our previous report, click here. Director of the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) Dr…
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Naked intruder gets painful lesson
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A would-be rapist got his comeuppance on January 7, when he climbed naked through the wrong window and met his intended victim’s mother – meat cleaver in hand. Twenty-eight-year-old villager Phongphetch Bunyadisak climbed through the window of a home in his village in Muang District, allegedly after the prize-winning teenage schoolgirl who lived there. When he crawled…
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Murder most foul: infanticide in Phuket
CHALONG, PHUKET: Chalong Police are searching for a Burmese nanny they think was responsible for the murder by suffocation of a four-month-old Thai child left in her care. Police were notified of the death at 8:30am yesterday by the boy’s mother, 32-year-old Palida Phromraksa, a native of Ao Luk District in Krabi. When police led by Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent…
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Rotarians launch Haiti relief fund in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach is accepting donations to provide relief to survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday that killed tens of thousands and left many more without food and shelter. Brad Kenny, chairman of the clubs’ services committee, issued the following statement about the project: ‘The world opened their hearts to us in…
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OPINION: Phuket battered by Baroque booze ‘controls’
PHUKET: After more than a year in power, it’s time for the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to rethink the confusing and ineffectual regulations that apply to the retail sale of alcohol products in Thailand. First to go should be the regulation that limits the sale of alcohol at retail outlets to the hours of 11am to 2pm and…
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Phuket pine tree killers still at-large
PHUKET TOWN: A police investigation into the mysterious felling of eight pine trees near the West Sands resort project in Mai Khao has yet to produce any suspects. Members of a panel set up to investigate the matter met at Phuket Provincial Hall on Wednesday to discuss developments in the case. The felling of the ‘ton son‘ pine trees caused…
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Patong Hospital calls: dead on arrival
PATONG, PHUKET: Other than by email or personal visit, Patong Hospital has been completely out of reach for months. As the result of a telephone exchange fault, the numbers 076-342-633/4, printed in telephone directories and appearing on the first page of the hospital’s website, have been out of service for five months. Calling the numbers does produce a ring tone,…
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Phuket Governor visits Aussie accident victims
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop rushed to Bangkok Hospital Phuket yesterday afternoon to comfort the 26-year-old widow of the young Australian killed in a jeep crash on Big Buddha Hill today. Gov Wichai told Aimee Malonzo, who married her husband Michael just a week ago, how sorry he was for her loss. The governor offered Mrs Malonzo and the other…
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Partial eclipse in Phuket
PHUKET: Thanks to clear skies, the partial solar eclipse predicted by astronomers was clearly visible throughout Phuket yesterdday. The entire event lasted three hours and 34 minutes, with as much as 57 percent of the sun’s surface obscured at its peak at 3:28pm. Because Phuket is the most westerly province of Thailand, it was the first province in the Kingdom…
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Glimmer of hope for Phuket sea turtles
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: In a rare positive development for the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle, an enormous female has laid a clutch of eggs at Mai Khao Beach. Vigilant staff of the Mai Khao Sea Turtle Conservation Group carefully prodded the sands with a sharp iron bar to discover the eggs on Tuesday night following reports by villagers that a…
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Aussie killed in Phuket Land Rover plunge
PHUKET: A driver lost control of a jeep full of tourists heading down Big Buddha Hill, killing a 26-year-old Australian man who was on his honeymoon in Phuket. The deceased’s name is known, but is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Several other tourists were injured in the accident, which happened at about 11am this morning. The condition…
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Danes arrested on work permit violations
PHUKET TOWN: The Thai Hotels Association has sought help for a Patong-based tour company whose Danish employees were arrested for working illegally late last month. Tan Chee Kiong, vice president of the Thai Hotels Association (Southern Chapter), on Tuesday morning went to Phuket Vice Governor Tri Augkaradacha to plead the company’s case. The company, the local affiliate of a large…
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Phuket begins swine flu vaccinations
PHUKET TOWN: Doctors and nurses at Vachira Phuket Hospital on Monday became the first island residents to receive swine flu vaccinations. The hospital has joined others around Thailand in kicking off the nationwide vaccination campaign, which aims to reduce the number of victims of an expected second wave of A(H1N1) influenza. Dr Krit Sakulpat, Head of Community Medicine at Vachira…
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Egat plans third substation for Phuket
PHUKET: The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is preparing to invest 300 million baht to build a high-voltage substation in Koh Kaew. Dr Anuchart Palakawongse Na Ayudhaya, director of Egat’s Natural and Environment Evaluation Department, met with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop on Tuesday to discuss the project. Egat already has Cabinet approval for the project, which is currently under…
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Bars demolished in Kata, Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: Patrons of five small bars in Kata will have to find new watering holes, after police and other security forces yesterday forced the owners to vacate their premises and had them torn down by heavy machinery. Representing landholding firm Yee MR Company Ltd, Attorney Chayapat Boonnak appeared at Chalong Police station at 8:30 yesterday morning with a court-issued…
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Phuket to catch first glimpse of eclipse in Thailand
PHUKET: A partial solar eclipse on Friday will be visible in Phuket before any other province in Thailand, scientists say. Asst Prof Dr Sakshin Bunthawin, head of the Biotechnology of Electromechanics Research Unit at Prince of Songkla University Phuket Campus, said the eclipse will begin at 1:51pm and reach its peak at 3.28pm, at which time 57% of the sun’s…
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Police to tackle Patong traffic woes
PATONG, PHUKET: In a bid to solve the worsening traffic problems in Patong, police are considering establishing a vacant lot behind Jungceylon as a center for the local car hire industry. Many car rental companies are presently based along the heavily congested beach road, occupying much of the public parking spaces there. Col Jakkawat Boonthaweekulsawat, head of the Kathu Police…
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Abandoned baby family flee Phuket
RASSADA, PHUKET: A Burmese couple, recently reunited with their baby daughter after allegedly abandoning her twice, have fled their workers’ camp and are believed to be heading back to Burma. Residents of the camp said the couple and their baby had vanished by Sunday morning. For our previous report, click here. The camp, comprised of corrugated tin shacks, houses workers…
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Phuket mourns Mel Purdue
PHUKET: Friends and family are mourning the loss of Briton Mel Purdue, who died at Phuket International Hospital late Sunday night at the age of 55. Mr Purdue died from organ failure after a year-long battle with Hepatitis C. He is survived by his wife of over 20 years, Elizabeth Purdue, his girlfriend Rowena ‘Vicky’ Nonez and his brother Michael,…
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Phuket mini-marathon on February 7
WICHIT, PHUKET: Wichit Municipality will host its fourth annual ‘mini-marathon’ on February 7, with races over two distances. Wichit Mayor Kreetha Saetan said the event is meant to teach young people how to spend their time productively, support healthy drug-free lifestyles and – of course – support tourism. Races will start in front to the Wichit Municipality offices on Chao…
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Hanged man once a wealthy Phuket expat
PHUKET: The body of a man found hanged in a wooded area of Rawai last Wednesday has been identified as a native of Hamburg, Germany. Police have so far been unable to confirm the exact spelling of his name or his age, as no documents identifying the deceased were found. Officials at the German Embassy told the Gazette today they…
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Phuket plastic bag MOU: Tesco, 7-11 continue hold-out
PHUKET: Tesco-Lotus and 7-Eleven remain among the few major Phuket retailers yet to sign an agreement to begin charging customers a nominal fee for plastic bags, it was announced during a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Friday. The meeting, chaired by Phuket Vice Gov Teerayut Eimtrakul and three of the project leaders, was attended by representatives of island retailers…
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B17m for Andaman Sea Rescue
PHUKET: The Andaman Sea Rescue Service (ASRS) has received a budget of more than 17 million baht to spend on new lifesaving equipment, though officials don’t expect to receive the new gear until the third quarter of this year. The ASRS carries out sea rescues off the coasts of five of Thailand’s six Andaman provinces: Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Ranong…
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OPINION: CCTV expansion in Phuket: Is it warranted?
PHUKET: On the face of it, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization’s (PPAO’s) funding of 53 more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at a cost of 17 million baht seems a wise use of taxpayer money, which could provide a needed boost in security, albeit initially to Phuket Town residents only. Numbers alone justify the increased use of ever-improving CCTV technologies in…
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Phuket kids have their way on Children’s Day
PHUKET: It was a busy day for kids in Phuket today, which is National Children’s Day in Thailand. There were numerous prizes and giveaways all over the island: Jungcyelon, Rajabhat Phuket University, Bangkok Hospital Phuket, Phuket Provincial Hall and the new provincial bus terminal in Rassada, to name just a few. It was mostly fun and games, but there were…
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