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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Provincial governors “should levy taxes’
BANGKOK: Former Phuket Governor Chadej Insawang, now Secretary of the newly-formed Mahachon Party, which will contest national elections in February, has advocated sweeping devolution of tax-raising powers from Bangkok to the provinces. Speaking with the Gazette in an exclusive intereview, K. Chadej said, “Giving provincial governers the responsibility to set budgets for essential services rather than [only] administer them will…
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Phummisak reveals plan for new town
PHUKET: Phummisak Hongsyok, having stepped down as mayor of one town – Phuket City – is now planning to build his own town: a community glorying in the name of Chao Fah City. The new town will rise on 1,510 rai of currently empty land between the Prince of Songkhla University campus and Kwang Rd. K. Phummisak, Managing Director of…
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Pirate goods seized in Patong
PATONG: Kathu Police seized about 1,000 pirate copies of designer shoes, handbags and clothing on Thursday afternoon and arrested one vendor. Undercover officers posing as customers bought a pair of sport shoes from a vendor operating along Thaweewong Road. She was identified as Pichamon Somji, 25, of Surat Thani. K. Pichamon was arrested and charged with selling goods in violation…
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CAT slashes international call rates
PHUKET: The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) has announced a promotion whereby it has slashed to six baht a minute its charges on international calls to 30 countries, regardless of what time of the day the call is made. The discounted rates apply to calls to: the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Belgium,…
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Stray dog round-up suspended
THALANG: The mass round-up of Phuket’s stray dogs – which began on June 18 – has been suspended amid problems including budget overspending, escaping dogs, and a small number of the 200-plus strays at the pound being “liberated” by their former neighborhood feeders. Veterinarian Dr Weerapab Termkiatpaisarn, the head of round-up program at Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), told the…
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Yanui remains confirmed as missing dive instructor
RAWAI: Autopsy results have confirmed that the skeletal remains recovered at Yanui beach on June 10 are those of missing Dutch dive instructor David Wiewel, who disappeared on March 26 after leaving his Kata home to take a walk. Supatra Wiewel, wife of the deceased, told the Gazette that the bones had been cremated in Phuket after the Police Department’s…
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Duo arrested for snatching
PHUKET CITY: Two young men were arrested yesterday on charges of snatching and receiving stolen property. Police said that Sampan “Ab” Pantunit, 18, and Prakij “Tum” Nariwandee, 20, confessed to snatching a variety of items from their victims but denied receiving stolen goods. Also arrested was the unnamed owner of the SR mobile phone shop on Damrong Rd, who was…
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Investigators check 400 rai of land
Phuket City: Police from Bangkok and Phuket, and officials from the Land Development Department (LDD) today examined 14 plots of land in the Punturat Hills, next to the bypass road, that are suspected of having illegal land documents.The 14 plots, totalling about 400 rai, purportedly belong to members of the Srisansuchart family and their associates. The papers name the owners…
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Frenchman drowns at Karon Beach
KARON: A 45-year-old Frenchman drowned while swimming in heavy seas off Karon Beach this morning. Police named the victim as Michael Marcon. Boona Sritong, Mr Marcon’s girlfriend, told police that she had warned him that the waves looked too heavy to swim in but that he had ignored her warning. Pol Maj Anek Mongkol of Chalong Police Station told the…
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Seven hotels get official star ratings
PHUKET: Seven Phuket hotels have been assigned star ratings under a new classification system set up jointly by the Thai Hotels Association (THA), the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA). The announcement was made by the new certifying body, the zippily-named Foundation of Standards and Human Resource Development in the Service and Tourism Industry,…
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Malaysians arrested for credit card fraud
PHUKET CITY: Police arrested two Malaysians at the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel on Thursday for using fake credit cards and charge cards. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket City Police Station, explained that the American Express office in Bangkok had notified police in Phuket that the men were known to be on the island and that they were wanted…
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Rawai Beach vendors evicted
RAWAI: Provincial officials today evicted some 20 stall owners from the Rawai beachfront in a swift conclusion to a long-drawn-out battle to clean up the view. Using an excavator, the eviction crew, led by Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, took a matter of hours to clear the illegal shops, in stark contrast with almost two years of promises by the Rawai Tambon…
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BGH to take over Bangkok Phuket Hospital
PHUKET: Bangkok Dusit Medical Service Plc, better known by its stock market moniker BGH, is to buy 51% of shares in the privately-owned Bangkok Phuket Hospital (BPH), giving it 100% ownership of the medical facility. The move is part of a grand strategy – BGH is also buying out the remaining 67% of shares in affiliate Samitivej Plc and the…
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Police kill “50-hit’ assassin in shoot-out
TRANG: The fugitive ex-policeman wanted in connection with the murders of Prasert and Thavorn Trairat, the parents of Thepkrasattri Mayor Prasong Trairat, was killed by police in Trang early this morning after a high-speed chase during which a grenade was thrown, followed by a 12-hour manhunt in a forest and a final gun battle. Police, who have been searching for…
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Tourism industry to protest oil pipeline plan
PHUKET: Vice-Governor Vinai Buapradit will represent Phuket at what promises to be a heated meeting on Friday with Ministry of Energy (MoE) officials to discuss a proposed oil pipeline from Tab Lamu in Phnag Nga to Nakhon Sri Thammarat. The proposed 240-kilometer pipeline, known as the Strategic Energy Landbridge, is intended to link oil production sources in the Middle East…
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Friends mourn murdered dive master
PHUKET: Members of the dive community in Kata and friends of dive master Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram, 23, are mourning her loss after she was found stabbed to death in a Pattaya apartment on Friday. Police in Bang Lamung District, Pattaya, have arrested and charged Sam Van Treeck, a 24-year-old Belgian, with her murder. K. Jeab, who came from Buri Ram…
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Cops put squeeze on soccer bookies
PHUKET CITY: Some Phuket residents are burning the midnight oil to watch Euro 2004 matches out of sheer love of the game or their homeland. But those wishing to spice up the action by placing wagers on the results had better beware: the island’s top law enforcement officer has stated that his department will continue its crackdown on gambling throughout…
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Commander “satisfied’ with police reforms
PHUKET CITY: Six months after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called for improvements to police practices nationwide, the Commander of Police Region 8 (which includes Phuket) says he is satisfied with the progress the region’s police have made in their efforts to reform themselves an d improve their public image. Pol Lt Gen Somsak Buppasuwan, Surat Thani-based commander of Police Region…
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16 die on roads in May
PHUKET: Traffic accidents remain the No 1 killer in Phuket, with 16 people dying as the result of accidents on Phuket’s roads in May. Twelve of the 16 who died were riding motorbikes. According to the latest statistics from the three government hospitals in Phuket – Wachira, Thalang and Patong – 1,045 people were injured in road accidents in May.…
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Thank you, 29 million times
PHUKET CITY: Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, yesterday received a bouquet of flowers to show appreciation for his arrest of a postman from Sakhon Nakhon who had stolen 29 million baht. The postal worker, Wirachai Gaiseeta, was in charge of the remittances section of the Sakhon Nakhon Post Office, and diverted money intended for remittances into…
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Democrat roadshow heads for Phuket
PHUKET: Democrat Party Deputy Leader Jurin Laksanavisit will speak to people in Phuket on June 25 and 26 as part of his party’s nationwide Meet The People campaign. The campaign is aimed at increasing support for the main opposition party in the run-up the next general election, scheduled to take place in February next year. Democrat Party MPs Suwit Sa-Ngiamkul…
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Immigration website launched in 10 languages
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has launched its revamped website, which now includes information about Immigration regulations and procedures in 10 languages. The website, found at https://www.phuketimmigration.com , now has Immigration information in Thai, Swedish, Russian, English, German, Norwegian, Japanese, Italian, French and Korean. Besides general immigration information for foreigners wanting to enter or stay in Thailand, the website…
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Pian “wins’ Patong election
PATONG: Former mayor Pian Keesin, leader of the Rak Patong Party (RPP), beat rival Songserm Kepsap of the Patong Progress Party (PPP) by just 147 votes in the replay of municipal elections held yesterday. The results have yet to be confirmed by the Central Election Commission, which declared the previous election void. Of the 9,213 Patong residents eligible to vote,…
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Fake visa stamps probe faltering
PHUKET: The investigation into the alleged issue of 20 fake entry permits by a Phuket-based visa service company appears to have stalled at the Sadao Police Station, which is now in charge of the case. Last December Phuket Immigration officers seized 20 passports with forged exit and entry stamps during a raid on the visa and accounting company, but were…
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Adopt-a-highway scheme in the works
PHUKET CITY: The provincial government is to launch two ambitious schemes aimed at beautifying Phuket. The Phuket Provincial Highways Office (PPHO) has already received 2.4 million baht in provincial funds to beautify the five-kilometer stretch of road connecting Phuket International Airport to Thepkrasattri Rd, and is now developing an “adopt-a-highway” scheme intended to spruce up the entire 40-km length of…
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Land official murder case stalled
PHUKET: The investigation into the murder in April last year of land official Pongtorn Hiranyaburana has gone cold and police officials have stopped interrogating witnesses, citing lack of evidence. Pol Col Ronapong Saikaew, Superintendent of Investigation of Police Region 8, told the Gazette today, “We have to investigate more and check to see if the evidence found at the scene…
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Spas get a healthy boost
PHUKET CITY: Jurai Skulpuak, Head of the Health Consumer Protection Division of Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO), yesterday announced that spas that have been approved by the PPHO as “health business” will not be classified as “entertainment” venues. K. Jurai told the Gazette, “Spas will not be forced to comply with the same legal health requirements as massage parlors, and…
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Rawai vendors ordered to leave
RAWAI: Roadside vendors along Rawai Beach, where the issue of illegal vendors has been a persistent irritant for years, have been given eviction notices and have until July 3 to leave. On that date, officers of Rawai Tambon Administration Organization and the Muang District Office will check whether they have moved. If they have not, they will be forcibly removed,…
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Breakout duo recaptured
PHUKET CITY: Two detainees – a Filipino and a Liberian man – who broke out of the Phuket Immigration Office on June 10 while awaiting deportation, were both recaptured within days of their bid for freedom, much to the relief of the officer who was supposedly guarding them. The men – who had just completed sentences in Phuket Provincial Prison…
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New election ordered for Patong
PATONG: Thailand’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has declared the Patong Municipal elections of February 8 void and handed “yellow card” warnings to both parties in the poll. On June 11, the decision was passed to the apparent winners, the Patong Progress Party (PPP) of Songserm Kepsap, and to the rival Rak Patong Party (RPP) of Pian Keesin. A new election…
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