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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Man killed in Sapam car smash
KOH KAEW, PHUKET: A 32-year-old man was killed yesterday when he lost control of his car at a bend on Thepkrasattri Rd in Sapam and crashed into the support pillar of a roadside home. Taweewat Sitti, a 32-year-old engineer from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, was driving along Thepkrassatri Rd towards Phuket City at high speed at the time of the accident,…
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10th Phuket Chinese New Year Festival starts tonight
PHUKET CITY: Chinese New Year will be celebrated with flair in Phuket tonight with a little help from the Chinese cities of Yantai and Hainan. Chinese opera, demonstrations of kung fu, cultural performances from China and Thailand, as well as a host of Chinese snacks and delicacies will all be served up at the 10th Phuket Chinese New Year’s Day…
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Paiboon leads fight against bogus banknotes
PHUKET CITY: Believing the problem of counterfeit banknotes to be serious, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising has spent his own money to buy 1,000 UV flashlights, which he distributed to vendors at two wet markets in Phuket City on January 23. Mr Paiboon gave the devices away free to traders at Kaset Market, the fresh market near…
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Phuket remembers Rex Allen
PHUKET: A cremation service will be held tomorrow for Australian Rex Allen, who died Tuesday in a motorcycle accident in Kalim. He was just 37 years old. A former professional golfer, Mr Allen leaves behind a wife and four children, including two young boys by his Thai wife Root. Rex was on his way home from celebrating Australia Day in…
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Phuket phone book sets record
PHUKET: The 2009 edition of the Gazette Guide, (Phuket’s ‘yellow pages’), goes on sale at noon today. It is the largest in the publication’s 12-year history, providing comprehensive contact details for 4,125 local businesses, up from 3,608 last year. The price of the directory is 120 baht. A list of retailers in Phuket, Phang-nga, Krabi, Koh Samui, Pattaya, Hua Hin…
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Another boatload of Rohingyas arrives in Thailand
BANGKOK / PHUKET : A boat with 78 Rohingyas arrived in Ranong on the southern Andaman coast yesterday amid mounting pressure on the government over ill-treatment of the ethnic minority from Burma. The latest boat people are aged 14 to 55. Some of those found in a rickety boat with a broken engine off the coast of Ranong near the…
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The Year of the Ox is here
PHUKET CITY: Yesterday marked the first day of the first month in the Chinese lunar calender, the beginning of the Year of the Ox. Chinese New Year is celebrated with gusto by Phuket’s ethnic Chinese community and by the many Chinese tourists who travel here during the holiday. Legend has it that Chinese New Year began with a fight against…
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Murder suspect arrested in Koh Kaew
PHUKET, KOH KAEW: An employee of Bangkok Hospital Phuket was hacked and bludgeoned to death behind the deserted Phuket Country Lodge hotel on January 25.Police didn’t need to look far for a suspect – noodle shop employee Winai Kullata, 43, was found asleep, spattered with blood, next to the body of the victim, 33-year-old Somchai Suren.Details of the crime were…
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Finance Ministry resurrects Phuket convention center plan
PHUKET, MAI KHAO: Deputy Minister of Finance Pruttichai Damrongrat on January 23 visited the proposed site for an international convention center in Mai Khao, saying the project would fit in nicely with government plans to help the Andaman region’s ailing tourism economy. Accompanying Mr Pruttichai on the visit were Phuket MP Tossaporn Thepabutr, Phuket Vice-Governor Smith Palawatwichai and Praphat Sriyanaluck,…
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Ukranian arrested in Phuket on child porn charges
PHUKET: Police on Saturday announced the arrest of a Ukrainian man allegedly involved in the international distribution of child pornography over the Internet. The suspect, 31-year-old Maxsim Shynkarenko, was arrested by Tourist Police on Friday at a luxury rented house on Saiyaun Road in Chalong. He has denied the charges.Announcing the arrest were Tourist Police Commander Attakrit Thaneechat, Phuket Provincial Police…
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Eclipse today
PHUKET: The paths of the moon and sun will cross above Thailand later today, causing a solar eclipse that will be visible throughout several provinces, including Phuket. The eclipse, which falls on the first day of the Lunar New Year, is set to begin at 4.05pm and last until 5.53pm.
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Norwegian survives eight-story plunge
PHUKET, PATONG: A young Norwegian tourist who fell from his eighth-story hotel room Tuesday morning miraculously survived with only minor injuries. At about 8 am, Kathu Police were informed that a foreign tourist had fallen from his room on the eighth floor of the Phuket Palace Hotel, at the south end of Patong on the road to Karon. Fearing the…
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Rassada first municipality to microchip pets
RASSADA, PHUKET: To keep the island rabies-free and reduce the number of stray dogs, Rassada Municipality on January 21 held a free clinic during which some 300 pets were either sterilized, vaccinated or implanted with microchips. The event, held at the Rassada Municipal Children’s Playground, was the first of its kind by any of Phuket’s 19 local administrative bodies. Organized…
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Thais vs Danes in King’s Cup final
PHUKET CITY: Thailand will take on a highly favored Denmark side in the finals of the King’s Cup soccer tournament, with kick-off at Surakul Stadium at 7 pm tomorrow. Thailand made it through to the final after beating Lebanon in a game marred by a series of ugly second-half brawls. The match, televised nationwide by Thai TV Channel 7, saw…
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Navy denies human rights violations
PHUKET: In response to allegations regarding the mistreatment of Rohingya boat people trying to gain entry into Thailand, officials from the Third Area Naval Command headquarters in Phang Nga have defended their actions.Chief of Staff Admiral Songkitti Jakabat on Sunday told the Gazette that those attempting to gain unlawful entry must be prohibited from doing so.“Once the refugees are in…
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World’s largest nam prik at food festival
PHUKET CITY (SAPHAN HIN): The four-day “Phuket Local Food Festival” started on Tuesday with the preparation of what the organizers have declared is the largest batch of nam prik (chili dipping sauce) the world has ever seen. The festival, organized by the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor), aims to promote Thai food to holiday makers to demonstrate that Thai cuisine…
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Australian sentenced to 3 years in jail
Bangkok (The Nation): A Thai court sentenced an Australian author to three years imprisonment on a lêse majesté charge this afternoon. Lêse majesté, a French term, is the crime of violating majesty, or offending the dignity of a reigning sovereign. The court’s ruling came as Harry Nicolaides, 41, pleaded guilty to the charge. He wrote a novel in 2005 which…
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Argentine nabbed for motorbike theft
PHUKET CITY: While motorbike theft is a common crime in Phuket, the perpetrators are typically students of local vocational schools – not graphic artists from a country whose people are better known for their skills at soccer than thievery. A press conference at Phuket City Police Station late last week proved once again, however, that when it comes to crime…
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German killed in motorbike crash
PHUKET (KATHU): A German man was killed and a young Thai man seriously injured in a head-on collision between two motorbikes last night. The deceased was identified by Tung Tong Police as German national Peter Baregienda, aged 53. Mr Baregienda died of severe head injuries sustained when he crashed head-on with a motorbike driven by 20-year-old Thaweechai Boonruam, a resident…
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Hundreds attend Phuket Airpark Fly-In
PHUKET (PA KHLOK): Phuket’s first private airport got off to a flying start yesterday, the key day in a three-day Fly-In celebration to mark the opening of Phuket Airpark. Covering 116 rai about six kilometers east of the Heroine’s Monument, the 500-meter airstrip forms the central attraction to what its developers hope will be Phuket’s most unique real estate development…
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Governor orders beach committees to get to work
PHUKET CITY: Expressing dissatisfaction with the current state of popular tourist beaches on the island, Phuket Governor Preecha Ruangjan has ordered working groups responsible for maintaining order and tidiness at the beaches to submit monthly progress reports. Speaking at Phuket Provincial Hall late last week, Gov Preecha said the four groups need to work harder at bringing better order to…
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Phuket not on Bird Flu risk list
BANGKOK / PHUKET (The Nation): The Public Health Ministry has listed 14 provinces as being at risk from a reappearance of the H5N1 bird flu virus. “The cool weather provides a good environment for it,” said Deputy Permanent Secretary Dr Paijit Warachit. He named Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Ayutthaya, Lop Buri, Chai Nat, Prachin Buri, Nakhon Nayok, Suphan Buri, Kanchanaburi,…
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MPs pay respects at Phuket funeral
PHUKET: Dignitaries and VIPs from around the nation, including Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban, gathered at Chalong Temple on January 14 to pay their respects during the funeral of Viroj Areerob, father of Phuket Democrat Member of Parliament Rewat Areerob. The cremation ceremony took place at about 12.30 pm.
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Phuket Airpark ready for grand opening
PHUKET (PA KHLOK): Phuket’s first-ever Fly-in starts tomorrow with ten aircraft scheduled to take part in a weekend of celebrations, games, contests and aerial stunts to mark the grand opening of Phuket Airpark. About 50 pilots from at least a score of nations are expected to be on hand, among them world-renowned American bush pilot Tom Claytor who flew in…
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Phuket’s luxury villa market holding despite global conditions
PHUKET: The upscale luxury villa segment has outperformed the broader Phuket property market for Q4 2008 in spite of the worsening global financial downturn and recent political issues in Bangkok, according to the Phuket Luxury Villa Market Report recently released by the island’s widely respected consulting firm C9 Hotelworks. C9’s Managing Director Bill Barnett said that “while take-up rates are…
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OrBorJor, Nation Group organize free cram sessions
PHUKET: In implicit recognition that the mainstream education system is not sufficiently preparing students for entry into higher education, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has joined with the Phuket Educational Service Office and the Nation Multimedia Group, (of which the Phuket Gazette is a part), to hold the 1st Educational Skills Improvement Seminar at Phuket Rajabhat University. The project,…
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Killer of volunteer cop still at large
PHUKET CITY: A volunteer police officer was shot in the forehead and died in a pool of blood in Phuket City in the early hours of January 11. His alleged killer remains at large.Police believe Teeradet “Boy” Rakwong, 28, was killed by suspect Piyawat “Bang Hem” Pleeta, a member of a rival group, following a fight over a woman.Phuket City…
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Bat-tling the cold, Isarn style
KALASIN: While temperatures of 10 degrees Celsius may not seem so cold to expats from more northerly climes, for poor Thais living in unheated shacks without warm bedding the cold season is still a real trial.Every year charity appeals are launched to find warm clothing for poor families in the North and Northeast.Villagers in the Isarn have developed alternative methods…
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Help sought for tourism sector
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Tourism and Sports Ministry has submitted 13 tourism recovery measures for government approval that include waiving visa fees, cutting air fares and reducing airport charges. Minister Chumpol Silapa-Archa said the measures, compiled from private-sector proposals, were handed to the government’s economic team yesterday. The tourism industry is suffering from the global economic crisis and the after-effects…
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Giant Clam population in danger
CAPE PANWA, PHUKET: With the colorful shell of the giant clam highly prized by aquarium owners, the lucrative but illegal trade in the species is causing the population of this marine mollusk to decrease dramatically and experts fear it may become extinct in its natural habitat. Out of the eight known species of giant clam in the world, five species…
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