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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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Motorcycle injury stats keep breaking records
PHUKET: The number of people injured in traffic accidents involving motorcycles continues to reach new heights, according to the latest statistics released by the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. Between September 20 and October 20, 958 people were injured in motorcycle accidents, boosting the year’s total to 9,481 – a 12% rise on the 8,434 injured in the same…
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Meeting slams illegal Korean tour guides
PHUKET TOWN: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi today spearheaded an attack on the problem of illegal Korean tour guides at a high-level political meeting. The meeting, at the Phuket Provincial Hall, brought together MPs from the Parliamentary Tourism Committee and local tourism officials. “Thai guides have complained that Koreans have become the real guides, Gov Pongpayome said, “while the Thai guides…
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Australia road show “a big success’
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Road Show in Australia earlier this month was a great success, Panu Massirat, a member of the Phuket Tourism Association and organizer of the road show, said today. “As soon as I got back to Phuket, I got more than 10 phone calls from tour agencies in Australia asking me about tourism in Phuket, and the…
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Teenagers reenact Ao Nang killing
KRABI: The three teenagers accused of the murder of German tourist Petra Sack on Ao Nang Beach two weeks ago took part yesterday in a reenactment of the crime. But despite one of them retracing his flight from the scene, during which, he told police, he had lost the knife used to stab Ms Sack, police were unable to find…
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Islander stings “black money’ con man
BANGKOK: Utter the phrases “West African” and “black money” in the same breath, and, surely, most people will sniff one of the oldest con-tricks in the book. Yet it seems that there are still some people out there whose greed makes them blind to their own gullibility. Granted, in the latest case to come to light, the con men carefully…
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Three confess to Ao Nang murder – police
KRABI: Police have arrested three construction workers from Amphur Chaoud, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, who, they say, have confessed to stabbing 33-year-old German tourist Petra Sack on Ao Nang Beach on November 28 at Ao Nang. Miss Sack died four hours after the stabbing. Two of the three were arrested on Sunday. One, a 16-year-old, was found in Songkhla, where he…
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Police seek better photos of mob leaders
THALANG: Police have been unable to issue warrants for the arrests of people suspected of being involved in a mob three weeks ago at the Yacht Haven marina because the pictures they have are not clear enough for positive identification. The mob beat up Kent Michalick, a member of the crew of the superyacht Yanneke Too and trashed the pick-up…
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Regatta ends on windless note
KATA: The 15th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta ended with a whimper rather than a bang when the final day’s racing was canceled for lack of wind – the second such windless day in the six-day event. As a result, the seven class awards were made on the basis of races completed by the end of Friday, as follows: Racing: 1.…
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Slow going in Krabi murder probe
KRABI: Police have released one suspect held during investigations into the November 29 murder of German tourist Petra Sack, after it was found that the man, Santi “Neng” Sagnakul, was in Phang Nga at the time of the murder. Another man, Somchai “Ann” Samartjit, 22, is still being questioned, though police say they are now more inclined to believe that…
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Deputy PM calls for traffic-free Bangla
PATONG: Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawitayanunt, who is also Minister for Tourism, conducted an inspection tour of Patong on foot last night to investigate the possibility of converting part of the beach road and all of Soi Bangla into a pedestrian zone at weekends. The proposed L-shaped zone would cover about 1.5 kilometers of road, starting from the Phuket Cabana…
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Casino boss gambles on nudists
BANGKOK (AFP): Senator Vikrom Isiri, the entrepreneur who built the Andaman Club casino and hotel on Myanmar’s Son island, close to Ranong, now plans to build a nudist colony on the nearby island of St Luke’s. The Nation newspaper reported that the resort will cater to Europeans who “like to take their clothes off in public”. “Everybody [guests] will have…
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Panellists announced for Phuket Seminar
The hosts of the 14 December seminar on “The Prospects for Land Resource Management and Tourism in Phuket” have announced speakers from both the public and private sectors. Travelling from Bangkok for the occasion will be: – Rajatin Syamananda, Director-General, Town & Country Planning Dept – Thasanee Chantadisal, Director of the Urban & Environmental Planning Division,    Office of Environmental Policy…
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Traffic drive nets 1,000 offenders in 5 days
KATHU: Police here have been showing that they are serious about their crackdown on traffic violations. Between December 1 and yesterday, they fined nearly 1,000 people for a variety of offenses. In many cases, people were cited for more than one violation. A total of 914 people were charged with riding a motorcycle without a helmet and were fined 100…
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Tuna boat burns and sinks
KOH HEY: A Taiwanese-owned tuna fishing boat, the KM Vaninda 34, caught fire yesterday about nine nautical miles off Koh Hey and sank after burning fiercely for about an hour. The Taiwanese skipper and engineer, along with the seven other crew members – one Malaysian and six Indonesians – jumped overboard and were rescued by a passing dive boat, the…
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Nightclub owners reminded to close tonight
PHUKET TOWN: The chief of police in Muang District, Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, yesterday chaired a meeting attended by 75 owners of entertainment venues, at which he reminded them that no one may sell alcohol today, HM The King’s Birthday, and that the only evening venues that may open are restaurants. Col Paween, the Superintendent of the Phuket Town Police…
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Foreign musicians to be hunted down
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand pledged Monday to crack down on overseas singers and musicians as part of a wider plan to cut the number of illegal migrant workers here by up to 30 percent, a senior official said. While there were some 200 mostly Filipino singers, musicians and artists working legally in hotels and bars in Thailand, many more had entered…
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Prison bulging with narcotics offenders
PHUKET: More than half of the people currently incarcerated in Phuket’s overcrowded provincial prison have either been convicted of narcotics offenses or are awaiting trial on such charges. According to the latest statistics released by the prison, 636 people – more than half the total – are currently incarcerated on narcotics-related convictions or charges. Of these, 505 are men and…
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Customs officials seize armadillos
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai customs officials seized a truck carrying nearly 500 legally protected armadillos destined for the stewpots of Chinese restaurants across Asia, an official said this afternoon. Manit Wityatem, customs chief in Thailand’s southern Chumphon province, said his officers had intercepted 483 armadillos believed to have been smuggled in from Malaysia. They were worth about a million baht (22,800…
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Burmese fisherman found murdered
PHUKET TOWN: A man believed to have been a Burmese fisherman was found murdered on Thursday in deep grass near Sri Sena fishing port. Pol Maj. Pissanu Poolwong of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the man, as yet unidentified, had died from 14 stab wounds to the forehead, neck, chest, stomach and right side. He added that…
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Ya bah seized in raids doubles
PHUKET: The number of ya bah (methamphetamine) pills seized by police between November 1 and 25 is more than double the amount netted during the same period in October, according to the latest statistics released by police. During November, police seized 7,435 ya bah pills, compared with the 3,327 tablets of the drug netted in the previous month. The jump…
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Four gibbons released in the forest
THALANG: Four gibbons from the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) were released into the forest this morning. The gibbons – Fish, Bamboo and Mai, all four years old, and six-year old Tara, the only female – were set free about three and a half kilometers away from the Bang Pae waterfall. Upon release, Tara was the first gibbon to venture out…
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Another tourist murdered in Krabi
KRABI: A tourist from Germany died here early this morning of multiple stab wounds she received during what police believe was a rape attempt by three local men. Petra Sabine Sack, 33, was found unconscious on Ao Nang beach by a guard at TK Mansion, where she was staying. The guard heard screams from the beach nearby at about 10…
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“UFOs’ seen over Phuket Town
PHUKET TOWN: Mobile phone systems were jammed last night as people phoned friends all over town to tell them about mysterious white lights zooming around the sky to the north of Phuket Town between 8 and 9 pm. Niyompong Torwong, Public Relations Officer of the Bangkok Phuket Hospital, told the Gazette that he saw a star moving very fast around…
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Two boys, 13, arrested for motorbike theft
PHUKET: Police who raided an old tin mine off Chaofa Nok Rd, following a tip-off, found two 13-year-old boys in the act of dropping a motorbike engine block into the mine. Pol Maj Thanet Puangmanee and his men raided the old mine beside Wat Naka on Monday and found the two boys, one from Chalong and the other from Karon,…
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Police home in on mob members
THALANG: Police have compiled, from criminal records, a list of some 50 people they suspect may have been involved in the mob that beat up a New Zealand yachtsman on November 18, then trashed the pick-up truck he had been driving. The mob, from Baan Kor-Ane, attacked Kent Michalick, from the superyacht “Yanneke Too”, and smashed up the truck, after…
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Rajabhat students scoop arts contest
PHUKET TOWN: Students from Rajabhat Institute Phuket scooped the top six prizes in the “King, Regatta and Phuket” drawing and essay writing competition, which drew some 230 entrants. The competition was aimed at involving the local community more closely in the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, which takes place early next month. The students received their prizes on Sunday at the…
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Help us eradicate sex tours – TAT boss
PHUKET: Anupharp Thirarath, the Director of the local office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), has appealed for information about any person or company involved in promoting sex for sale in Phuket. The appeal comes after TAT officers discovered websites offering child sex as part of package tours. One website offered three days and two nights’ stay, including sex…
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Yacht skipper blasts mob violence
THALANG: The skipper of a 30-meter superyacht has blasted villagers in the north of Phuket for “lawlessness” after a member of his crew was beaten up by a mob on Sunday evening, and was then forced to apologize to them for driving through their village too fast. After brushing aside security staff at the Yacht Haven marina, the mob of…
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Governor moves Muang District Chief
PHUKET TOWN: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has ordered the replacement of Muang District Chief Somsak Sanyanuphap with Wirachai Chanpen of Phang Nga province. The transfer order, issued on Friday, is the first demonstration of the new power of the Governor CEO, granted as part of Thailand’s experiment in giving provincial governments more autonomy. Under the new system, the Governor CEO…
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Mystery over fire-gutted car
KATHU: Police here are mystified as to how a saloon car rented by a Kathu resident ended up outside Dulwich International College, completely gutted by fire. Pol Lt Col Sanguan Muangtham told the Gazette, “Around 3 am on Saturday I received a phone call from a man who reported that the car, which he had rented, had disappeared.” Col Sanguan…
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