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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More Phuket mangroves destroyed
RASSADA, PHUKET: In the latest assault on Phuket’s natural environment, more than 10 rai of mangrove forest has been felled by encroachers. The encroachment was reported to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMRC) Phuket office on Thursday afternoon. Led by office chief Surachat Chararat, DMRC officers visited the site, located near the confluence of the Tha Chine and…
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Phuket shark release to honor HM Queen Sirikit’s birthday
PHUKET CITY: In one of the many ceremonies that took place to mark the birthday of HM Queen Sirikit last week, 39 sharks and more than 10,000 other fish and marine animals were released into the sea off Phuket on Friday morning. The release was organized by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources through its Phuket Marine Biological Center…
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Phuket still in contention for Asean summit: PM
PHUKET CITY: It has not yet been finalized whether the 15th Asean Summit in October will be moved out of Phuket, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a surprise announcement on Saturday. Pending further information from the state agencies concerned, the government would make the decision about the venue later this week, the prime minister said. The comments contradict a…
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Phuket FC record historic first point at Surakul
PHUKET CITY: Phuket FC registered their first ever point at home at Surakul Stadium following a keenly contested match against Krabi on Saturday night that ended 0-0. Phuket enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the first 45 minutes, but it was Krabi who had the best chance to open the scoring when their striker was given time and space…
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Is Phuket challenged in grasping the gist?
(PHUKET): The GAT (General Achievement Test) and PAT (Professional Aptitude Test) results for July, officially released yesterday, have Thai educators scratching their heads over some very grim results. The July tests were the second round for Thai students this year, the first having been in March. The National Institute of Education’s Testing Service (NIETS) is probing the causes of the…
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Phuket City’s Kaset Market gets a hose down
PHUKET CITY: A ‘big cleaning day’ was held at Kaset Market as part of celebrations marking the birthday of HM Queen Sirikit on Wednesday. Municipal workers, shopkeepers and volunteers all got behind the effort, spraying the floors of the market with high-pressure hoses, picking up garbage and scrubbing the filthy floors with detergent. Targeted for extermination by poison as part…
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New swine flu cases down 50% in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The number of new swine flu cases reported in Phuket has been reduced by almost half, with 271 reported cases and the death toll still at two. To help people who contract the type A(H1N1) virus that causes the disease, the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) has signed contracts with 12 private clinics to distribute the the antiviral…
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Phuket’s “little mermaid’ breathing on her own
PHUKET CITY: There have been encouraging signs for the Burmese baby born in Phuket with ‘mermaid syndrome’ last Sunday: the infant has been taken off a respirator and is now breathing on her own. According to the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Hospital in Songkhla, where the baby girl is being treated, she has now been given the name ‘Nichapa’ by…
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Emergency response plan coming for Phuket Airport
PHUKET CITY: A provincial committee will draw up an emergency response plan for Phuket International Airport (PIA), the first of its kind in Thailand.The announcement came at a meeting chaired by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop at Phuket Provincial Hall on Thursday.Representing the airport at the meeting was PIA Deputy Director Sutheep Sansiripan.Governor Wichai said the need for an emergency response…
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Rajabhat Phuket to host science fair
PHUKET: Phuket Rajabhat University will host a science fair from August 18 to 20.The event is aimed at getting youngsters more interested in science and technology.A part of ‘Thailand Science Week’, the fair will be dedicated to the memory of King Mongkut (Rama IV), known as the ‘Father of Thai Science and Technology’.King Mongkut (1804 – 1864) embraced Western science and…
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Vegetable Festival takes the fall for Phuket’s Asean loss
PHUKET: The 15th Asean summit in October will be held in Cha-Am/Hua Hin, a shift from Phuket where it had originally been scheduled to happen. The big loss for Phuket was chalked up to security concerns, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said this afternoon. “After consultation with security agencies, we decided to choose Cha-am/Hua Hin for the summit meeting,” he said,…
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Phuket yellow shirts sue red shirts over petition
PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s yellow shirt leaders have filed police charges against the island’s red shirt organizers for gathering signatures seeking a royal pardon for exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The move echoes similar actions taken by People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders around the country. Led by Phuket PAD coordinator Aparat Chartchutikumjorn, around 30 PAD members filed complaints at…
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September auction of lucky license plates
PHUKET: Lucky license plates will be up for grabs in Phuket next month at the Phuket Department of Land Transport’s 5th Annual License Plate Auction.A total of 301 license plates will go under the hammer in the Prapitak Grand Ballroom at the Metropol Hotel Phuket between September 12 and 13, not August 12 and 13 as had been earlier reported.Some…
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Back surgery success for cliff-jumping belly dancer
PHUKET CITY: Just one week after major spinal surgery following a cliff-jumping accident on Koh Phi Phi, American tourist Melissa Kelman flew home today. Ms Kelman, 28, a dance and English teacher from St Louis, Missouri, shattered three vertebrae in her back when she jumped into the sea from a height of 20 meters as part of a Phi Phi…
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PM supports new Saphan Hin road: Phuket governor
PHUKET CITY: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva supports the controversial plan to build a new road connecting Saphan Hin and Sakdidet Road, according to Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop. Speaking at the project’s opening ceremony held near Chalermprakiat Somdejprasrinakarin Phuket School yesterday, Gov Wichai said he discussed the project with PM Abhisit last month. “The prime minister agreed with my project proposals,”…
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Phuket FC take on Krabi on Saturday
PHUKET CITY: Phuket FC will face Krabi at Surakul Stadium on Saturday in what will be their final chance for a home win this season. In six home matches so far, Phuket FC have failed to accumulate a single point, losing all six encounters – many in heartbreaking fashion. Saturday’s match, which kicks off at 7pm, is the home side’s…
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Korean honeymooners flock to Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Korean couples are flocking to spend their honeymoons in Phuket because of our bargain prices and our beaches, but mainly because they have fun here. According to South Korea’s honorary consul in Phuket, Tossaporn Thepabutr, one in four Korean brides chooses to spend her honeymoon in Phuket. Mr Tossaporn, who is also the wealthiest member of the Thai Parliament, was…
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Afghan judo coach loses to ladyboy
BANGKOK: The coach of the Afghan judo squad attending the Asian Martial Arts Games in the Thai capital was robbed of hundreds of thousands of baht after falling for a ladyboy he met in the notorious Nana Plaza adult entertainment complex. Assaladee Sakala, 43, told police he and his team checked into the Grand Ayudhaya Hotel Bangkok in the Ratchada area and…
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Thick thief returns car
BANGKOK: A car thief was arrested last Thursday after phoning the dealer he had stolen the car from to complain when it broke down. Car dealer Thonchok Singnuwongsa said the thief waited around his showroom until a genuine customer came in to put a deposit on a car. He then persuaded a staff member to hand over the keys to…
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July crime statistics for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Statistics for July released by the Phuket Provincial Police show that gambling was the most common criminal offense, with 177 people arrested in 47 cases. The figure represents a 42.5% increase year-on-year. There were also 23 arrests for involvement in the underground lottery, statistics for which are tabulated separately. There were 137 drug arrests for the period, an…
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Drownings continue in Phuket: Italian, Thai dead
PHUKET CITY: An Italian tourist and a Thai recreational fisherman are Phuket’s two most recent drowning victims. Kathu Police were notified at 5pm on Monday that Italian national Antonio Salvatorebucca, 46, went missing in the surf at Patong Beach, across from the Thara Patong Beach Resort. The report was made by a friend of the deceased, 39-year-old Italian Zanchetta Gianluca.…
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Drug bust at Phuket Airport
PHUKET CITY: A Thai woman was caught at Phuket International Airport on Monday trying to smuggle a large stash of ya bah (methamphetamine) pills onto the island, police say. Pojjanee Thuptim, 31, was caught with 1,330 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills stashed in a thigh support of the type used for sports injuries, a source at the Phuket branch of the…
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Happy Birthday Queen Sirikit
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette joins the nation in celebrating the birthday of HM Queen Sirikit, the world’s longest serving consort of a monarch, who celebrates her 77th birthday today.August 12 is also marked as Mothers’ Day in Thailand.Born in 1932, Queen Sirikit was married to HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej on April 28, 1950, only a week before the coronation of…
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Phuket prays for baby with “mermaid syndrome’
PHUKET CITY: Surgeons are working desperately to save a Burmese baby born in Phuket with a rare birth defect known as ‘mermaid syndrome’, a condition in which both legs are fused together from the torso down. The infant, named Sui, was born at Vachira Phuket Hospital at 8:40pm on Sunday. Vachira Phuket Assistant Director Dr Sirichai Silapa-archa said Sui was…
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New Patong to Chalong road on hold – for now
PHUKET CITY: Work on the new Patong-Chalong road could continue soon, despite the project not having Cabinet approval for a hilltop stretch which cuts through national forest land. The road has long existed as a dirt pathway over the Nakkerd Hills, but its highest parts are only passable by all-terrain vehicles due to its sharp inclines, twisting turns and rough…
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No tsunami warning for Phuket
PHUKET / PHANG NGA: A tsunami warning was issued in Phang Nga’s Ban Nam Khem village last night, but there were no warnings or evacuations in Phuket. About 400 residents of the village in Phang Nga’s Takua Pa district were then evacuated early this morning following further warnings that a tsunami could hit their shore. The warning followed a 7.6…
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Mobile cart vendor severely injured on Phuket bypass road
PHUKET: A mobile peanut vendor was seriously injured and a female car driver miraculously escaped harm when their vehicles collided on the Phuket bypass road this morning, sending the vending cart and its owner tumbling into a deep roadside ditch and the car down an embankment on the opposite side of the highway. When rescue volunteers arrived at the scene…
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Phuket landlord arrested for triple homicide
RAWAI, PHUKET: Police have arrested a suspect for the Saturday night murder of three men who were gunned down as they drank beer together outside their Rawai home. A fourth victim, also shot in the attack, is in stable condition at Vachira Phuket Hospital. Police received a report of the shooting just before midnight on Saturday and were at the…
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Tsunami warning buoy for Phuket now dead in the water
PHUKET CITY: The tsunami direct detection buoy launched from Phuket in 2006 is inoperable because the Thai agency responsible for maintenance has not been able to replace its battery, the Gazette has learned. The Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoy was put into place 600 nautical miles northwest of Phuket early in December 2006. After its deployment, maintenance…
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Budget sought for “monkey viewpoint’ in Phuket
PHUKET: Rassada Municipality is seeking a large central government budget for three tourism development projects in and around the ‘monkey viewpoint’ area on Srisuthat Road. Rassada Mayor Surathin Lianudom said the work, if approved, would include a network of boardwalks through mangrove forest, renovation of the Mali Kaew Dam and Wat Phranon, as well as the construction of a gymnasium,…
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