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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Three ya bah dealers arrested
PHUKET TOWN: The Office of the Narcotics Control Board scored a hat-trick day on Thursday when it managed to arrest three ya bah dealers, all on Sakdidej Rd. Thirty tablets of the drug were also seized. In the first two cases, undercover officers pretending to be users bought ya bah before identifying themselves and arresting the dealers, Surapong Saradee, 21,…
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Abandoned baby dies
PHUKET: The baby girl found abandoned in grassland off Sakdidet Rd in Moo Baan Muang Thong Thani on February 3, died the same evening, a nurse at the Wachira Phuket Hospital has told the Gazette. The nurse said that the baby was too young to be left in the sun for a prolonged period – she is believed to have…
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Baby born in motorcycle sidecar
PHUKET TOWN: A woman on her way to hospital to pick up the body of her husband, who had died of a heart attack the day before, gave birth early yesterday in a motorcycle sidecar at the edge of the Bypass Rd. “A man called us at around 1:20 am and told us that there was a woman about to…
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Tourist kills himself at shooting range
CHALONG: A 50-year-old Japanese tourist yesterday killed himself with a pistol he rented at the Phuket Shooting Range near Chalong Circle. Pol Capt Chockchai Sutthimek of Chalong Police Station said Yoichi Hashimoto went to the Phuket Shooting Range on Wednesday morning. He looked around and left. He returned the following morning. According to a witness, he hung around until the…
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First cloned Thai calf about to be born
BANGKOK, Feb 9 (AFP): Thai researchers are close to delivering two calves cloned from an adult cow’s ear cells in what would be a breakthrough for Southeast Asian scientists, researchers said Wednesday. “The first cloned cow is expected to be delivered within a month,” said Rangsan Polpai, a researcher at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of Veterinary Science. A second calf is…
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Losing OrBorJor party “will stay neutral’
PHUKET TOWN: The Pattana Tongtin Party, which failed in Saturday’s election to preserve its domination of the Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor), will remain “neutral” and allow the victorious Kao Mai Party to form a majority coalition, Pattana Tontin’s leader, Banlur Tantiwit, told a press conference. Banlur, formerly President of the OrBorJor’s three-man central council, was a shock loser in the…
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Kao Mai likely to dominate new OrBorJor
PHUKET TOWN: Following a meeting today organized by the victorious Kao Mai party, which took nine of the 15 Provincial Administrative Council (OrBorJor) seats allocated to Phuket Town in Saturday’s elections, its appears that the party’s leader, Dr Prasit Koysiripong, will become President of the new council. Kao Mai has put together a coalition that includes the Thalang Group Party,…
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Turtle found slaughtered at Mai Khao
MAIKHAO: A young female sea turtle weighing about 85 kilograms was found dead on Mai Khao beach last Sunday. Cuts and wounds around the sea turtle’s neck and legs were found – possibly made by fishing hooks. There was also a large gash in its stomach; there were no eggs. The Phuket Environment Protection Association believes that the sea turtle…
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Fire razes 40 shanty homes in Pathumwan
BANGKOK (Gazette exclusive): Fifty firemen and 30 fire trucks battled for five hours this morning to put out a blaze in a shanty neighborhood behind Wat Pathum Wanararm and the World Trade Center in Pathumwan. Although no deaths or injuries have yet been reported, the fire left 40 homes gutted over an area of about two rai. One witness told…
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High turnout for OrBorJor elections
PHUKET TOWN: There was a respectable 44% voter turnout for Saturday’s Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) elections, up significantly from the 28% turnout for the last OrBorJor vote four years ago. Commentators said this may have had less to do with a surge in interest in politics, and more to do with the fact that voters in Phuket Town qualified for…
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Baby found dumped, covered in ants
PHUKET: Police are searching for the mother of a baby found dumped in grass in Moo Baan Muang Thong Thani, on Sakdidet Rd, on Thursday. The baby girl was found, covered in ants, by a couple passing by on a motorcycle, who heard her cries. They picked her up and rushed her to Wachira Phuket Hospital. Pol Maj Pissanu Poonwong…
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Australian tourists shot dead, injured in Chiang Mai
BANGKOK (AFP): An Australian man was shot dead and his companion injured when ambushed by a gang of thieves in northern Thailand, police and embassy officials said today. The 24-year-old man died instantly when four armed men pounced on the couple in the mountain-top Aung Kha National Park in Chiang Mai province, 700 kilometers (450 miles) north of Bangkok, late…
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Former mayor still sought on murder charge
PHUKET: The former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, is still being sought by police three months after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of involvement in the murder of an ex-policeman. On October 21 last year, five men were arrested for their part in the killing of ex-Pol Sub-Lt Weerapol Panrod, who was shot dead in…
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Filipino fisherman’s death a “mystery’
PHUKET TOWN: A Filipino crewman was found dead at the fishing port near Phya Thai Hospital on Si Sena Rd, Phuket Town, on Monday evening. Though the body was naked when it was discovered floating in the water, a Taiwanese fishing boat skipper at the port identified it as that of Caderlon Ronelo, 26, who had worked for him. He…
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PM opens Board of Investment Fair
BANGKOK (AFP): Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai was today due to open the two-week Board of Investment Fair 2000, designed to convince the world that the Thai economy has turned the corner and to lure foreign investors to bolster the recovery. The government is touting the fair, which opens to the public tomorrow and is expected to draw between three million…
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One killed, one hurt in head-on collision
KARON: A Thai woman was killed and a Danish tourist hospitalized when their motorcycle was hit by a car on the Karon sea front yesterday. Police said that Chutima Katekae, 21, on the back of the bike, and the driver, named by Phuket International Hospital as Walther Marc, were riding toward Karon from Kata in the early hours of the…
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Top Chinese acrobats to do two shows
PHUKET TOWN: The winners of the 1998 World Acrobatics Championships in Monaco, the 70-strong “Hubei” from the People’s Republic of China, will perform two shows at Saphan Hin on February 19. The first show, from 4:30-6:30 pm, will be for students, with tickets priced at 100 baht apiece. The second show, for the general public, will be from 7:30-9:30 pm,…
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Locals beat TV stars in soccer friendly
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket All Stars’ Anurak In-Ting scored a hat trick and put away a penalty kick for good measure to help his team demolish 168 Hours, a scratch team of visiting TV and entertainment stars. The match, at Surakul Sport Stadium yesterday, drew more than 800 spectators, most of them screaming teenage girls come to see their favorite singers…
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15 arrested for fake passports or visas
PHUKET: Police arrested 15 foreigners carrying fake passports or with fake immigration stamps in Patong, Karon, and Kata over the weekend. Pol Col Apirak Hongthong, recently appointed inspector of Phuket’s Immigration Office, said 12 of the arrests were made when his officers checked people selling clothing and fabrics on Patong beach. The other three were made on the beaches at…
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Three arrested for using fake passports
PHUKET TOWN: Three Indian nationals have been arrested by Phuket’s Immigration Police for using fake passports. The three, who were named as Vijay Kumar, 30, Rajeep Uma Mahajak, 31, and Narendar Agarwal, 26, were charged with using forged papers and with entering the country illegally. The arrests came as part of the continuing national drive to inspect foreign residents in…
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Swede’s death “probably suicide’
KARON: A 36-year-old Swedish tourist was found dead yesterday evening in Karon in what appears to have been a suicide. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan of the Chalong Police Station said the body of the tourist, whom he named as Kauhava Jauko Tapio, was found in the bathroom of his rented house in the soi opposite Karon Post office. He was…
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Ten rebels die as commandos end hospital siege
RATCHABURI (AFP): Thai commandos launched a daring pre-dawn raid today to end a 24-hour hospital siege, killing 10 Burmese rebels and freeing their 500 hostages unharmed, officials said. “We were able to save all the hostages; we had to save them because they were patients,” the commander of the raid, Lt Gen Thaveep Suwannasingh, said. He said nine rebels were…
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Drug dealer shot dead in struggle with police
PHUKET TOWN: A drug dealer was shot dead yesterday in a struggle with narcotics police. A spokesman for Muang District Police Station said that undercover officers Sakarin Pookate and Paiboon Jantarin went to a house on Luang Por Wat Chalong Rd at about 1 am and asked Sarawuth ‘Yao’ Koysomboon, 29, to sell them some ya bah. Once the purchase…
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Myanmar dissidents seize Thai hospital
RATCHABURI (AFP): Heavily armed guerrillas from Myanmar dissident group God’s Army stormed a Thai hospital early this morning and took around 700 patients and staff hostage. Up to 20 fighters from the ethnic-Karen militia, which is led by two twin boys, stormed the hospital in the town of Ratchaburi, 123 kilometres (70 miles) west of Bangkok. Seven hours into the…
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“The Beach”: Paradise lost or a tourism godsend?
BANGKOK (AFP): As environmentalists lament a potential paradise lost, Thailand’s tourism industry is hoping for a shot in the arm from next month’s release of Leonardo DiCaprio’s new movie “The Beach.” Despite a court battle over accusations that a beach was ruined during shooting of the film, authorities hope scenes of turquoise seas and heavenly beaches will spark a tourism…
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Green Peace gets “up close and personal’ at Patong Beach
PATONG: Greenpeace (International) staged another rally today, but this time right on the beach in Patong. The event took place just two hours before the group left Phuket aboard the Rainbow Warrior at 1:00 pm. Others participating in the rally were Greenpeace (Thailand), the Phuket Environmental Protection Group, and the Federation of Southern Fisherfolk. Unlike the demonstration at the incinerator…
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Greenpeace stages demo at incinerator
PHUKET TOWN: Greenpeace (International) and Greenpeace (Thailand) staged a demonstration yesterday in front the incinerator plant at Koh Pii in Phuket Town. The 30 or so placard-carrying protesters started out from the Phuket Merlin Hotel, marching to a spot in front of the incinerator in Saphan Hin. There, they erected banners urging Phuket to shut down the facility. Organizers said…
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Thailand rocked by quake in Laos
BANGKOK (AFP): An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rocked southern Laos and northern Thai provinces early today but no casualties were reported, Thai officials said. The epicentre of the quake was in a sparsely populated rural area of Laos, 160 kilometres (100 miles) to the northeast of Chiang Mai, Thailand’s northern meteorological center said. The tremor was felt…
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Boffins identify source of “yellow rain”
PHUKET: The Provincial Health Office today confirmed that the “yellow rain” that has fallen on a small area along Chao Fah Nok Rd over the past 10 days or so is pollen. Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, chief of the Health Office, told the Gazette that samples of the “rain” were passed to the Phuket branch of the Songkhla Regional Medical Science…
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German tourist found dead in hotel room
NAI HARN: A German tourist was yesterday found dead, sitting in front of the dressing table in his hotel room. Pol Capt Sanae Panmee, Inspector of the Chalong Police Station, named the dead man as Jürgen Roland Preiss, 40. He had arrived in Phuket on January 11 for a two-week holiday and was staying at the Jungle Beach Resort in…
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