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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Korean drowns at Karon
KARON BEACH: A middle-aged Korean woman drowned in heavy surf in front of the Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort just after midnight yesterday. Pol Maj Sanae Panmee, of the Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that the victim, identified as 41-year-old En Seck Sea, entered the dangerous surf with a friend after drinking together at a local bar. The pair were…
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Bus passengers win shelter from sun and rain
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) is to build bus shelters for the comfort of passengers using its public mini-buses, the Vice-President of the OrBorJor, Samroeng Chaisorn, said today. “There are 132 places where our buses stop for passengers,” K. Samroeng said. “The OrBorJor can build 32 shelters but many of the other stops are in front of…
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Marine Dept regional HQ to move to Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Wanchai Sarathulthat, Director-General of the Marine Department, yesterday announced that the Marine Department’s Region 5 headquarters, which includes Phuket, will move from Trang to Phuket, with regional office chief Capt Arnut Sombathiwee at the helm. K. Wanchai made the announcement at a meeting of nearly 100 government officials and members of Phuket’s marine leisure industry at the Royal…
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Water aplenty, says Governor
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has confirmed that Phuket should have no water shortages until at least the end of this year and perhaps beyond. Gov Pongpayome told the Gazette that heavy rain had alleviated the problem, which at one stage saw Patong and Karon with water rationing and the prospect of restrictions also looming for Phuket Town. The completion…
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Not wanted, dead or alive
NO MAN’S LAND: A Thai man working at a casino in the Cambodian border town of Poipet died there after Cambodian officials refused to let his wife, Khun Wanna, take him back to Thailand to seek emergency medical treatment. The victim, 23-year-old Samruay Sukpanao, started working at the Princess Casino as a decorator 15 days before his untimely demise on…
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Wanted: a spy for the AMLO
PHUKET: Always wanted to work for the government but never been keen on a desk job? The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has the role for you – they are looking for spies. But wait, it gets better: no experience is necessary and no qualifications are required. All you have to do is apply by filling in the appropriate form at…
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Raffles to open a resort in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Singapore-based Raffles International Limited and its subsidiary Raffles International Hotels & Resorts (Thailand) Co, Ltd, have announced the signing of an agreement with Andaman Peninsula Company Ltd to develop a five-star luxury resort in Phuket. The Raffles Resort Phuket, to be built on the headland south of Kata Noi Beach, will include 79 luxury hotel rooms, 30 residential…
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2,000 fake CDs seized in Bangla
PATONG: Police this afternoon raided two stores on Soi Bangla and seized more than 2,000 copy CDs and many other imitation brand-name goods with an estimated total street value of at least 2 million baht. Led by Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, officers at 2:30 pm raided the stores and arrested storeowners Kampan Sakornnitikul, 25, and…
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Gov boosts security after Jakarta blast
PHUKET: In response to yesterday’s bomb blast in Jakarta, where at least 14 have been killed and 149 injured, Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has ordered police to boost security at all hotels across the island. Governor Pongpayome today told the Gazette that he ordered a general alert last night, and today ordered police to pay particular attention to security…
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Water deal ends risk of rationing
PHUKET: The island’s immediate water problems appear to be over with the settlement in Bangkok yesterday of a row about who pays for the power for a water pump. At the meeting, the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) agreed on behalf of the Phuket Provincial Waterworks (PPW) to pay 70% of the cost of the electricity required to pump extra water…
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Teen gunned down in Chalong
CHALONG: A teenager was blasted at point-blank range by young hoodlums in Soi Thanuthep yesterday afternoon while on his way to visit a friend. Nattawuth Somanon, 17, from Kata, was riding his motorbike along the soi, with two friends on another motorbike at about 1:30 pm, when two young men rode past in the opposite direction, Pol Maj Jessada Sangsuree,…
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Income boost tipped from film location shoots
PHUKET: A Phuket seminar on making films in Thailand is a step towards doubling the nation’s income from film shoots, according to Dr Sasithara Pichaichannarong, Director-General, Office of Tourism Development. “We see this as a good opportunity to support the film industry,” she told the Gazette. “Next year, we expect to earn double the income we earned last year.” Thailand…
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Rain! But water row stops flow
PHUKET TOWN: Heavy rains have boosted levels in Bang Wad reservoir but a debate over the cost of an electric pump is delaying a large project designed to ease the island’s chronic water shortage. As a result, the rights and wrongs were being thrashed out at a meeting in Bangkok today. The dispute involves two island water bodies, the Phuket…
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Official’s land holdings worth B100 million
PHUKET: Investigators looking into Phuket’s land title scams have discovered that the former Chief of the Kathu District Land Office, Bunchoo Limraksasin, who was caught by police in Ranong on July 21, owns land worth more than 100 million baht. Checks have also revealed that Bunchoo’s former personal secretary has bank account balances in excess of 28 million baht. Pol…
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Governor is moving up
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi is being promoted to the important post of Director-General of the Department of Local Administration (DOLA) after two years running the province, a vice-governor has confirmed. After Gov Pongpayome came to Phuket in October 2000, he became one of five pioneer Governor CEOs in an experiment initiated by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. In…
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Apec on parade in the rain
PHUKET: Processions of up to 60 cars will be seen on Phuket’s roads during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering, the Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, Pol Col Decha Butnampetch, has told the Gazette. He said police will be looking after the security and safety of up to 1,000 visitors during the Apec meetings from August 14-23. The dignitaries from…
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Young at risk on bikes: Governor
PHUKET TOWN: High school students were responsible for more of the 16,000-a-year traffic violations on Phuket’s roads than any other group, according to Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi. He was speaking at the Safety Traffic Control Center at Phuket Town Police Station after talking to senior traffic police on Friday. He urged schools to take a more serious look at the…
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B12m fakes seized in warehouse raid
PATONG: More than 12,000 fake items with a street value of 12 million baht were seized in a raid on a warehouse in Patong yesterday. The haul, one of the largest in Phuket so far, was the latest in a crackdown that now involves police checks on outlets in tourist areas almost every day. Among the imitation items of clothing…
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Traffic survey sparks crackdown
PHUKET TOWN: A two-month survey of moving violation charges has sparked an island-wide crackdown on people breaking traffic laws, a provincial government official announced at a meeting this morning. From June 1 to July 31, eight Phuket police stations tallied traffic law violations in their districts, with Kathu Police Station reporting the most offenders. During the period, 5,728 people were…
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Land for Phuket schools misused
PHUKET TOWN: Land encroachment made the top of Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi’s agenda again on Tuesday, this time involving plots designated for use by government schools in Thalang. The Governor met Prasit Suebchana, Head of the Phuket Treasury Office (PTO), and representatives from the Phuket Primary Education Office (PPEO) to determine an equitable solution to the problem. The eight…
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Phuket’s roads claim 15 more lives
PHUKET: Fifteen people were killed on Phuket’s roads between June 20 and July 20, according to the latest statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. Fourteen of the victims died while riding motorcycles and one was killed in a car crash, Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn of the Phuket Provincial Health Office reported. In the same period, 867 were hurt in…
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Education government’s greatest failure – Abhisit
PHUKET TOWN: The current government’s education policy is hindering the country’s development, says Democrat Party Deputy Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. Following Saturday’s meeting of three top Democrat Party leaders at the Phuket Merlin Hotel, K. Abhisit told the Gazette that he had been assigned to discuss details of the party’s education policy, an issue the opposition Democrats intend to highlight in…
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Democrat leader slams land probe
PHUKET: In Phuket to attend a meeting of Democrat Party leaders at the Phuket Merlin Hotel on Saturday, Party Leader Banyat Banthadtan told the Gazette his visit was intended to show support and encouragement for Phuket residents targeted by the government in its ongoing investigation into land rights on the island. K. Banyat said he wanted to tell those under…
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Farmers demand justice
PHUKET TOWN: More than 200 villagers gathered this morning to complain to Phuket Governer CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi about land problems. The Provincial Administration Organization building was jammed with villagers, including farmers, planters and representatives of many communities who complained that, following the SorPorKor investigation, their land had been declared as encroaching on forest preserve areas – the so-called Zone C…
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Land probe: nine premises raided
PHUKET: Armed with warrants, officers from the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok and police from Phuket made early-morning raids on nine premises in Phuket this morning. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the premises searched belonged to people suspected of being involved with fugitive land official Thawatchai Anukul in falsifying land documents.…
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Police seize mystery powder
PHUKET TOWN: Following a tip-off, police raided a house on Wichit Songkhram Rd yesterday and seized more than 200 tonnes of powdered mineral. Some 10 police officers from the Crime Suppression Division Region 5, led by Pol Col Itti Nantapruksa, Superintendent, and Pol Lt Col Karn Lekhawanich, Deputy Superintendent, raided 64/1-2 Wichit Songkhram Rd about 6:30 pm. Supanee Rojananont, Duty…
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Politics for all, says Purachai
PHUKET TOWN: Thailand’s voters had to be persuaded about the benefits of the political process locally and nationally, Deputy Prime Minister Purachai Piemsomboon said today. He was speaking to about 500 guests at a conference at The Metropole hotel in Phuket Town, with the topic Local Elections and Phuket’s Future. All people, especially the young, needed to be educated about…
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Visa charges: Correction
PHUKET: Due to wrong information supplied to us by the Immigration Department in Bangkok, the Gazette story detailing new visa charges to be imposed contained an error in the date on which the new charges will come into force. The correct date, as supplied to us by the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office, is August 26 this year. All other information…
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SorPorKor probe is unjust – farmers
PHUKET TOWN: Irritated and scared by the ongoing land title investigation, some 200 farmers holding SorPorKor 4-01 land papers assembled at the Phuket Provincial Hall this morning after hearing a rumor that Deputy Minister of Agriculture Newin Chidchob would be there. Prayad Poombua, 59, who farms eight rai of SorPorKor land in Chalong, told the Gazette that he and the…
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Visa hikes “no threat to tourism’
PHUKET TOWN: The tourism industry will be able to absorb increased visa rates and still lift visitor numbers, according to spokespeople for tour operators and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Napasorn Kakai, Deputy Director of the local TAT, told the Gazette that any negative effects would be short-term and would end once tour operators absorbed the cost in their…
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