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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Monks make complaint about stray dogs
PHUKET TOWN: A committee of monks from Wat Langsarn on Narisorn Rd, behind the Provincial Court House, have written a letter to the Muang Municipality complaining about nearly 30 stray dogs living in the wat’s compound. Udom Tansakul, an official at the Municipality, said that the letter, received yesterday, requested that his office remove the dogs. “The main problem is…
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Dolphin rescued at Nai Harn Beach
NAI HARN: Villagers at Nai Harn Beach found two striped dolphins trapped in shallow waters this morning. One dolphin was lying on the beach in obvious distress. Its body was covered with wounds from scraping on the rocks. The other dolphin was swimming in shallow water nearby. The villagers contacted a biologist at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), Kongkiet…
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Pavena raid fails to free sex slaves
TUB LAMU: Politician Pavena Hongsakul, champion of abused women in Thailand, yesterday accompanied police on a raid on a brothel in this Phang Nga village in a bid to free women believed to have been forced into prostitution. But she and the police came away empty-handed, the owner of the brothel having apparently been tipped off minutes before they arrived.…
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Two held on fake gold charges
PHUKET TOWN: Two women were arrested on Saturday night for pawning fake gold in order to get money to gamble at a casino near Kathu. Pol Maj Sermpan Sirikong, Chief of the Special Duties Division of the Phuket Provincial Police Department, said that he received a complaint from Paisarn Vechawanichsanong, a pawnbroker, that he had paid 90,000 baht to vegetable…
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Still no sign of fugitive mayor
PHUKET: Almost a year after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of involvement in a murder, the former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, is still being sought by police. Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Deputy Superintendent of Investigation at Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that a team of Provincial Special Duty Squad officers had…
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Flyers A win Patong 7s soccer
PATONG: Patong Flyers A won the 2nd Annual Patong Sevens soccer championship yesterday, beating their opponents 3-1. The win, however, came at the expense of their good friends on the Patong Flyers B squad – both teams are sponsored and managed by Peter Koch, owner of the Austrian Restaurant in Patong. Organizers were considering canceling the final game of the…
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Deadly rat disease “found in Phuket’
PHUKET TOWN: Health authorities in Phuket are waiting for the results of lab tests being performed in Bangkok to confirm a doctor’s diagnosis that a Phuket Town man has contracted the potentially deadly disease, leptospirosis. The victim is Thaweeporn Thongterm, 24. He reported to Phuket International Hospital on Monday evening suffering from symptoms which, said Dr Ekachai Singtiraj, were strongly…
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Police raid clothing warehouse
PATONG: Phuket Tourist Police yesterday evening raided a warehouse allegedly used to store forged brand-name shoes and clothing. Pol Capt Sanya Poachsalee, Sub-Inspector Section 14 of the Phuket Tourist Police, said that officers were tipped off by an informant that the warehouse, at 179/11 Soi Talad Nud Patong, off Rat-U-Thit Rd, was being used to store the counterfeit goods. The…
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Power company schedules blackouts
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced scheduled blackouts for the month of September. The PPEA will be clearing tree branches and installing orange insulating covers on power lines in these areas. The blackouts will last from 9 am to 4 pm. September 12: from Kwang Rd to Chalong Circle, including Chaofa Nai Rd, Moo Baan Tiwarathanee, Baan…
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Laced-drink robbers using killer drug
PHUKET TOWN: The Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, today issued a warning to residents and tourists not to accept drinks from friendly strangers. He said that the police have recently had reports of a number of cases of people being drugged with laced soft drinks before being robbed. But in a sinister new twist to…
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Phuket police launch websites
PHUKET: Two police departments in Phuket have created websites to improve communication with the public. The Phuket Immigration Police have set up a website at https://www.phuketimmigration.com“>https://www.phuketimmigration.com. There, anyone may report aliens who break the law, appear to present a security threat, or are “behaving strangely”, the Superintendent of Phuket Immigration Police, Col Apilak Hongtong, explained. The Phuket Provincial Police website…
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Money row halts airport road construction
PHUKET: The long-drawn-out project to complete the highway from Phuket Town to the Sarasin Bridge has once again been brought to a standstill by disputes over compensation to land-owners. Visut Maiwatana, chief of the Phuket Highway Sub-district Office, and the civil servant in charge of the highway, explained that the billion-baht, 38-kilometer project was originally due to be completed by…
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Danish tourist dies at waterfall
THALANG: Mrs Dorthe Malakiassen, a 41-year-old Danish tourist, died at the Ton Sai waterfall on Friday. Pol Capt Surat Muagsri of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the victim, a guest at the Thara Patong Hotel, went to the waterfall in Thalang with her husband and two friends around 2:30 pm. “After arriving, they went swimming and were…
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Police swoop on canoe tour, arrest 12
PHANG NGA: Tourists on a canoe trip in Phang Nga Bay on Thursday watched astonished as police, accompanied by local villagers, swooped on their tour boat, the Andaman Queen, and arrested 12 Burmese crewmen. The raid followed complaints from the villagers of Tambon Klong Kian in Takua Thung district that the Burmese were working illegally with the tour company. Officers,…
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House burns on Mae Luan Rd
PHUKET TOWN: Police are investigating the cause of a fire in a house on Mae Luan Rd last night. The case investigator, Pol Capt Surat Moangsri of the Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette he was alerted at about 6:30 pm that the house, number 17/27 on Mae Luan Rd, behind the Tessaban Plook Panya School, was on fire.…
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Four to run in Patong by-election
PATONG: Four candidates are to run in a by-election on September 24 to fill a vacant seat in the Patong Municipality. The contenders are Weerasak Kaminthong of the Rak Patong Party – which currently holds the majority in the council – and three independents: Jamrak Eamsaad, Samran Ponkaew and Peerapan Suwannachart. As with the upcoming by-election in Phuket’s Provincial Administration…
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Thief stabs store manager in neck
PHUKET TOWN: A manager of a Kata jewelry store is lying in the Bangkok Phuket Hospital tonight after being stabbed in the neck during a struggle with a thief at his Sam Kong home yesterday. Police said that Prasit Rattanakultontip, 40, a manager of P James Jewelry in Kata, was stabbed by an unidentified man while he was cleaning his…
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Thaksin to be next PM: poll
BANGKOK (AFP): Tycoon-turned-politician Thaksin Shinawatra is leading rivals in the race to be Thailand’s next prime minister, according to a new survey of Bangkok residents released today. The Bangkok University poll found Thaksin commanded 39.2% support, ahead of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, who drew 31.7%. Since Thaksin set aside his telecommunications empire to establish the Thai Rak Thai party two…
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Illegal immigrants top crime stats
PHUKET: Illegal immigration cases overtook gambling to top the list of crimes committed during the month of August, according to statistics released today by the Phuket Provincial Police. The figures show that 170 illegal immigrants were arrested in Phuket between August 1 and 25. In the same period, narcotics possession and trafficking cases came in second with a total of…
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Stats show business is booming
PHUKET: Business in Phuket is booming this year, if the latest figures from the Provincial Revenue Office and the Commercial Registration Office are any guide. Statistics covering the tax collected in the first 10 months of the 1999/2000 tax year show that the number of businesses paying tax has risen by 10.91% and that they are making money – the…
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Bangladeshi murdered by gangsters
PHUKET TOWN: A Bangladeshi man was murdered on Monday near the Ta & Yai restaurant on Soi Taringchan, allegedly by a member of a Burmese gang. Pol Maj Pissanu Poonwongs of the Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that officers received a phone call yesterday around 3 pm, informing them that somebody had been murdered next to the restaurant.…
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Ill health led to suicide
PHUKET: A 67-year-old Thai man committed suicide by hanging himself on Sunday morning, just before a scheduled health check-up. Pol Lt Col Amnuan Kriwutthinant, of the Phuket Town police station, said Chanai Tulek, hung himself in his kitchen on 8/2 Baan Kuku, Moo 3, Rassadanusorn Rd. K. Chanai’s family told police that he had been worried about his health. He…
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19 die in traffic accidents
PHUKET: Nineteen people died in traffic accidents between June 20 and July 20, according to statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn of the Phuket Provincial Health Office reports that 18 of the victims died while on motorcycles, while one was in a car. In the same period, 57 people were injured in car accidents, while…
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Phang Nga counts storm damage
PHANG NGA: Provincial officials have been counting the cost of damage caused by Tropical Storm Kaemi after it hit Southern Thailand last week. Deputy Provincial Governor Wut Sitthisurat yesterday submitted a report on damage caused by the storm to officials at the Ministry of Interior, in which he estimated damage in six districts at 1.1 million baht. He added in…
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Police station wins top prize again
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Police Station has beaten 60 other police stations in seven southern provinces to win first prize in the “Police Station for People” competition for the second year in a row. Pol Col Chalit Thinthanee, the police station’s superintendent, explained that the competition covered police stations across Region 8, which comprises Surat Thani, Chumphon, Ranong, Phuket, Nakhon…
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Burmese man stabbed to death
PHUKET TOWN: A Burmese fisherman was found murdered near Rassada Port on Sri Sena Rd early yesterday morning. Pol Lt Col Weerawat Jantarawichit of the Phuket Town Police told the Gazette that at around 10 am yesterday, officers received a phone call from someone living in the area informing them that the body of a man had been found near…
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Crime statistics for July released
PHUKET: District patrolmen and crime suppression officers arrested more than 300 people for various crimes during the month of July. Gambling once again topped the monthly crime statistics released today by Phuket Provincial Police. 202 people were arrested for gambling in the course of 109 raids. Narcotics arrests were next on the list, with 129 defendants arrested in 106 cases.…
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Storms contribute to fatal traffic accident
PHUKET TOWN: Two people were killed in a weather-related traffic accident on the bypass road Saturday night. Pol Maj Pitsanoo Poolwong of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the deaths occurred when a Toyota pick-up truck was involved in a collision with a bus coming in the opposite direction around midnight. Maj Pitsanoo said that the accident occurred…
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Live grenade found at Karon Beach
KARON: A grenade with the trigger held locked only by a rusty wire was found behind Wat Karon near Karon Beach on Saturday. Chalong police informed officers from the provincial Special Duties Squad just after midnight that an M-67 grenade had been discovered behind Wat Karon, which is on the Karon Beach road. Pol Sgt Maj Thongsook Thongchang, leader of…
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Torso found on Kamala Beach
KAMALA: The torso of an unidentified man was found on the beach in front of the Muslim cemetery in Kamala this morning. Pol Capt Boonlert Onklang of Kathu Police station said police were summoned by a villager who owns a restaurant in the area, and who found the torso. “The body was completely rotten and the arms, legs, and head…
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