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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Purachai orders Surasak out of office
PATONG: In one of his last acts as Interior Minister, Purachai Piemsomboon signed an order instructing Patong Mayor Surasak Maneesri and one of his two deputies to step down because of allegations of disreputable behavior. The order, signed on Wednesday, K. Purachai’s last day at the Interior Ministry before taking up his new post as Minister of Justice, was delivered…
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Weekend of carnival for Patong
PATONG: The annual Patong Carnival, the opener for the tourism high season, will be extended to three days this year from November 1. Until now a one-day affair, the carnival is to grow and take in new attractions that will set Patong Municipality back about 2 million baht. Details of the 17th carnival, which will start on November 1, were…
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Truck overturns at busy intersection
PHUKET TOWN: A large truck with failed brakes crashed and overturned at the busy Tesco-Lotus Supercenter bypass intersection today. Driver Manat Boonma, 30, felt the truck’s brakes go as he approached the intersection down the bypass road about 9:30 am. “I was nearly at the junction and could not stop the truck so I decided to turn left, the road…
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Seafront plans win support
PHUKET TOWN: The powerful Department of Town and Country Planning has backed a scheme to develop Saphan Hin as a sophisticated waterfront area, the first major step towards making Phuket Town an “international city.” A firm that specializes in constructing bayfront regions is now undertaking a feasibility study but feedback from residents will be sought before any proposal is formally…
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Phuket adopts harvest festival
PHUKET TOWN: The Sart Festival, a one-day traditional celebration of the harvest, is to have official support in Phuket for the first time this year. Usually low-key and held at the end of September, this year’s event will be on Sunday, October 6, coinciding with the Vegetarian Festival. Today Dr Prasit Koeysiripong, president of the Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) announced…
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“Garden Village’ plan for Karon
PHUKET TOWN: A new town plan will transform Karon into a “Garden Village”, officials revealed yesterday. Anawath Suwannaded, Chief of the Provincial Town and Country Planning Office, said the Karon project would cover 20 square kilometers. A committee had suggested that Karon should be “an ideal place with green views, where the height of buildings was limited and building colors…
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Phuket’s power to dive underground
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s power supply is to be moved underground to beautify the island by removing eyesore electricity poles and lines. Prasoot Ruengjiratian, Marketing Manager of the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA), told a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall today that burying the lines would make the island a more attractive place for tourists. Patong’s seafront and Phuket Town’s most…
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Big cash boost for ‘villages&’
PHUKET TOWN: The central government will probably increase its loans to “villages” to three million or five million baht soon, a local government official said today. A million baht has already been distributed to each of 114 “villages” on Phuket, fulfilling an election promise made by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Revealing the details today, Suthep Wuthisak of Phuket Provincial Development…
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Non-stop singer sets world record
PHUKET TOWN: He sang for his supper. He sang for his breakfast. He sang for his lunch. And Issarakul “DJ Dedduang” Thamangraksat eventually sang his way into the record books in a 24-hour marathon that ended today at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. The 28-year-old has earned a place in Ripley’s Believe it Or Not! by singing almost 500 songs…
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Police upgrade special skills
PHUKET TOWN: About 60 police graduated today from a three-week course designed to improve their ability to deal with VIP visits, security breaches and a variety of other situations. Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi told the officers that increased crime and marine accidents were byproducts of the growth in tourism and related industries. “Phuket has to prevent crimes and disasters of…
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Gov lobbies for lower import duty on yachts
PHUKET TOWN: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday urged a panel of central government financial experts to reduce the import duty on yachts. “Import taxes on yachts are too high. If charges and taxes were lower, more investors would import boats legally,” he said. The governor made his comments at a meeting to discuss provincial financial relations with the central government…
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New work permit fees in force
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette today confirmed that new work permit fees are in operation. Acting on a tip-off, the Gazette visited the offices of the Phuket Provincial Labor and Social Welfare Office, on Sakdidet Rd Soi 1, where the new fees are posted – in Thai only. The new charges, which came into force quietly on September 18, are as…
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4,000 invited to mayor’s campaign party
PATONG: Invitations have been sent to 4,000 Patong people to attend the launch of Mayor Surasak Maneesri’s municipal election campaign on Saturday. Festivities, set for the field next to Patong beach, will included a free buffet and drinks and performances on two stages, including sets by popular Look Thoong singers. Mayor Surasak’s Patong Gao-na (Patong Progress) group is running against…
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Seized yacht fails to sell at auction
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Customs sold an impounded dinghy at auction today but retained a yacht that failed to bring a satisfactory bid. The yacht, “Silachai”, was seized at the Boat Lagoon on March 7 last year and sent for auction after the case was closed. Only one bid of 480,000 baht was received today. A new auction date will be…
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“One Tambon’ project earns B87 million
PHUKET TOWN: The “One Tambon, One Product” project has earned 87 million baht for Phuket in eight months, a provincial community forum was told yesterday. Suthep Wuthisak, of the Phuket Provincial Development Office, told 80 representatives from government and private industry, including local shops and department stores, that it was important for suppliers and dealers to get together. More products…
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Anti-foreigner sentiment runs high at local chamber meeting
PHUKET: Just when foreigners in Phuket were beginning to regain confidence in Thailand as a place in which to invest, a Member of Parliament has once again clouded the skies by suggesting a massive rise in the fees for an initial work permit, from the current 300 baht to as much as 300,000 baht. The astonishing announcement was made today…
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Large turnout tipped for King’s Cup
PHUKET TOWN: Organizers expect about 80 yachts and up to 700 sailors from 20 countries to take part in this year’s Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. The event dates of November 30 to December 7 were confirmed today at a meeting between regatta officials and Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi. He said the 16th annual regatta would also form a part of…
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Green fuel puts smugglers out of business
PHUKET: Lateral thinking by authorities appears to have won the day with official Green Fuel far outselling smuggled fuel in the Andaman Sea. The green-dyed diesel fuel is sold free of excise tax and VAT to Thai fishing boats as a way to stop them buying cheap fuel in international waters, or smuggled fuel in Thai waters. Pol Maj Prasert…
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Crackdown on cough syrup abuse
PHUKET: Authorities have begun a campaign to fight the abuse by Phuket teenagers of cough syrup containing codeine. More than 1,000 bottles of the syrup have been seized since August 19. The cough syrup, the latest “in” drug among Phuket teenagers, is commonly mixed with alcoholic drinks or soft drinks. Dr Wanchai Sattayawutthipong, chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office,…
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84 fined for after-hours drinking
PHUKET TOWN: Vice-Governor Manit Wattanasen led raids at the weekend on two nightspots in Phuket Town, netting 84 revelers who were fined 500 baht each for after-hours drinking. During the raids on Variety on Rassada Rd and Mondo on Yaowarat Rd, the urine of three women and two men tested positive for illegal drugs. Samples have been sent to Bangkok…
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B10m log cargo floats free
PHANG NGA: Heavy monsoon seas unleashed a 10-million-baht cargo of Indonesian logs and scattered them across waters off Phang Nga at the weekend. Now the company that owns the cargo is offering a 500-baht reward for each of 532 logs and has asked police to prevent Thai villagers “salvaging” them. On Friday evening, the logs were being towed on a…
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Unhappy workers blamed for boss’s murder
RAWAI: Police believe that the murder of a man at the wheel of his pick-up early yesterday morning was probably carried out by his disgruntled employees. Kongsin Wongpran, 40, a builder, was found slumped over the wheel with the driver’s door open on Wiset Rd, some half a kilometer from Chalong Circle, about 12:15 am on Friday. Two men on…
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Two held for mobile phone scam
PHUKET TOWN: Police have arrested a Briton and his Burmese partner and accused them of an international mobile telephone scam that was netting them thousands of baht each day. Police named the men as Gaser Jaba, 35, and Lux Chuman, 18. The pair were arrested at a house in Moo Baan Jom Thong on Kwang Rd yesterday afternoon. Police confiscated…
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Revenge&’ motive for stabbing murder
PHUKET TOWN: Police believe a Thai was murdered in a stabbing frenzy by a group of Burmese bent on revenge. Crewmen discovered the body of Pairat Singkam, 39, in the engine room of the “Sinnumchai 5” on Wednesday afternoon, while the boat was berthed in Rassada Port. Pol Capt Watcharin Jiratthikarn, of Phuket Town Police Station, said K. Pairat, a…
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Road rage over Thepkrasattri name change
PHUKET: In response to public backlash, the Phuket Provincial Highways Office (PPHO) has removed its signs along the northern section of Thepkrasattri Rd indicating the road’s original and official name, Sathienthapanakij Rd. The new signs were posted as part of a Highways Office national program to have all highways marked clearly with their proper names. PPHO Chief Visute Maiwattana today…
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Cloud seeding brings 80 mm of rain
PHUKET: A week of rainmaking to increase Phuket’s water supply has so far produced 80.3 millimeters of rain, Sanae Varit, Consultant to the Royal Bureau of Rainmaking and Agriculture Aviation in Bangkok, said at Phuket International Airport yesterday. The program to use chemical drops from airplanes to “seed” clouds and induce rain started on September 9 after Governor CEO Pongpayome…
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Hillside houses limited to 150 sqm
PHUKET: The head of the National Environment Board committee set up to evaluate construction laws in Phuket announced yesterday that, if the law restricting construction above 80 meters is to be repealed, the size of buildings should be limited to a maximum interior size of 150 square meters. Prasong Iam-anun made the announcement after a two-day public hearing about the…
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Veggie Fest fun to be closely watched
PHUKET TOWN: The Deputy-Commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8 has ordered Phuket’s police force to strengthen security, especially during the Vegetarian Festival from October 5-15 when there will be many tourists, both foreign and Thai, visiting the island. Pol Maj Gen Pramote Pansakul warned yesterday that Phuket police would be vigorously enforcing the law, and would pay particular attention to…
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Aerothai inks deal with China
PHUKET: Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (Aerothai), the regulatory body for the air traffic industry in Thailand, has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to boost Thailand’s chance of becoming regional air transport hub. The deal was signed at Aerothai’s office at Phuket International Airport, in recognition of Phuket’s importance to tourism in Thailand. Aerothai President Capt Padet Limpisavasti announced the…
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Phuket to launch a world-first
PHUKET: The Phuket yachting community stands to make history later this year with the launch of the Phuket Sports 8 racing/recreational yacht designed especially for local conditions. Mark Horwood of Phuket-based yacht builder Latitude 8 Yachting told the Gazette the first models ever built would be assembled in Phuket. “We expect the parts to arrive in about five weeks and…
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