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.
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Phuket Police bag two as snatch turns snitch
PHUKET: A young Thai woman wanted as a bag-snatcher was placed under arrest by Phuket Police yesterday after she presented herself at Thalang Police Station to seek guidance over being beaten by her boyfriend. Rudeemas “Yaem” Sumeng, 22, reported the whereabouts of her partner to Thalang Police after he allegedly beat her. She walked into the police station apparently unaware…
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Beach north of Phuket crawling with baby turtles
PHUKET: The beach at Khao Lampi – Hat Thai Mueang National Park has been full of life over the past month with 339 baby leatherback turtles hatching from five protected nests in the area.“We are still watching two more nests expected to hatch soon. One nest contains 91 eggs and the other contains 84 eggs,” park chief Witoon Detpramuanphol told…
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Ministry of Justice steps up to help Phuket sea gypsies
PHUKET: Thailand’s Ministry of Justice is spearheading a multi-agency effort to provide assistance to sea gyspies in Phuket.Leaders of the small sea gypsy community in Rawai currently face legal action from investors for allegedly encroaching on private land, despite the previously nomadic people having lived there for decades.Many of the indigenous fisherfolk from Rawai have also been arrested, and released…
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Phuket Business: Tax filing deadline nears
PHUKET: With the peak of the Thai hot season fast approaching, the Personal Income Tax (PIT) filing deadline is also nigh. Usually, the deadline is March 31, but since the last day of March this year falls on a Sunday, income earners in the Kingdom have been given until Monday, April 1 to file their paper returns, or until Tuesday,…
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Phuket Events: Professional Beach Volleyball returns with FIVB Open
PHUKET: The Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Beach Volleyball World Tour event, the ‘Thailand Open’ powered by PTT, is set to return to Karon Beach, Phuket, this year. After staging the event in Phuket for six years, the tournament was moved to Bang Saen, near Pattaya, last year but changes to the regulations by the FIVB have allowed the organizers…
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Sea Warriors hook Blue Marlins
PHUKET: The Southern Sea Warriors won their first Thailand Yamaha One League (YL1) game of the season, beating Suzuki Si Racha FC 3-1 in front of just over 4,200 fans at Surakul Stadium on Saturday. Last season, Phuket had lost both of its YL1 league matches – home and away – against the Suzuki Si Racha ‘Blue Marlins’. Phuket FC…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Winners, losers and rain
Chelsea climb to third as Spurs lose again Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Frank Lampard scored his 200th goal for Chelsea as they beat West Ham United 2-0 to move into third place in the Premier League above Tottenham Hotspur who suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat by Fulham at White Hart Lane yesterday. FA Cup semi-finalists Wigan Athletic remained…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Pheu Thai denies Yaowapa groomed for PM; Monarchy TV review axed; MCOT to rule TrueVisions ads
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pheu Thai denies grooming Yaowapa as PM’s stand-in The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The ruling Pheu Thai Party yesterday accused the Opposition Democrats of being fanciful in their claims that Pheu Thai heavyweight Yaowapa Wongsawat is being prepared as a stand-in should PM Yingluck Shinawatra meet with…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Red Bulls take front row at F1 season opener
Vettel on pole for Red Bull in Melbourne Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: World champion Sebastian Vettel will start the Formula One season-opener from pole position on an all-Red Bull front row later today (1pm Phuket time) after posting the fastest time in the rain-delayed qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. The German, chasing a fourth successive world title this…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Swiss tourist gang-raped in India
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Swiss tourist gang-raped while camping in India – police Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Four men raped a 39-year-old Swiss woman camping with her husband in an Indian forest, police said yesterday, turning the spotlight anew on the security of women in the world’s largest democracy.…
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Tourist Police chief targets Phuket jet-ski rip-offs
PHUKET: A complaint by a senior Chinese consulate official has prompted Tourist Police Commander Roy Ingpairoj to visit Phuket in person to investigate unscrupulous jet-ski operators at Patong Beach.Maj Gen Roy led 22 Tourist Police officers on an inspection of Patong Beach late yesterday afternoon. The visit followed Qin Jian, Vice Consul of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: UNHCR joins call for probe into Rohingya shootings
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UNHCR urges investigation into alleged Rohingya shooting The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The UN’s refugee agency on Friday called on the government to investigate reports that Thai navy men shot at Rohingya boat people fleeing sectarian conflict in Myanmar. The United Nations High Commissioner for…
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Phuket Town gamblers luck out: 22 arrested
PHUKET: A joint police raid on a house in Phuket Town on Thursday night netted 22 gamblers playing the popular “shrimp-fish-giant water bug-flower” [yes] board game. Officers led by Lt Col Prawit Engchuan of Phuket City Police joined teams from the Phuket Provincial Police and Wichit Police in the raid, at the shophouse about 100 meters from Surakul Stadium (map…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Road death toll among highest in the world
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Road death toll in Thailand among highest in the world The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Up to 26,000 people are killed in road accidents every year in Thailand, which puts the country sixth in the world in terms of road casualties. Of those killed, nearly 80%…
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Phuket Sports: Wales play England in decider
PHUKET: Flyhalf Owen Farrell has been passed fit to return to England’s lineup for Saturday’s Six Nations title decider against Wales in Cardiff, and is likely to start despite Toby Flood kicking six out of six penalties in Sunday’s 18-11 victory over Italy. The news was not so good for number eight Ben Morgan, who has lost his fitness battle…
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Phuket Sports: European football roundup
PHUKET: Chelsea came from two goals down at Manchester United to draw 2-2 in a thrilling FA Cup quarterfinal last Sunday that capped a bad week for the Premier League leaders who were knocked out of the Champions League on March 5 by Real Madrid.Manchester United and Chelsea drew 2-2 on Sunday as the quarter-finals of the FA Cup took…
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Phuket Sports: Truth, tyres and tall tales – F1
PHUKET: The 2013 Formula 1 rules are much the same as last year, so slower teams have had a better chance to copy and catch-up in the off-season rather than have faster teams increase their lead with innovations. But the new Pirelli tyres are going to degrade even faster than the 2012 versions. So I expect a very close season.…
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New Phuket buses ready to run the gauntlet
PHUKET Governor Maitri Inthusut confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that he will approve the long-awaited bus service to start serving tourists arriving at Phuket International Airport. The new bus service – to launch with six buses departing the airport to provide a “hop on, hop off” service to the major tourist beaches down the west coast – has one final…
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Phuket Opinion: Awesome Phuket
PHUKET: As I’m sitting with friends on the way to see James Bond Island and Koh Panyee (the floating sea gypsy village), bouncing to and fro in our wave-battered dinghy, a thought occurs to me: living here ain’t half bad.In order to bring our focus back to why we came here in the first place, I offer you just a…
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Russians nabbed touting macaque monkeys off Phuket
PHUKET: A Russian couple were arrested at a tourist sightseeing island off Phuket yesterday afternoon after they were caught charging tourists to have their photos taken with pig-tailed macaques, a protected species in Thailand.Andrey Belov, 31, and Ekaterina Denisovich, 22 were arrested by Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NED) officers led by Lt Col Kongkaj Phunoknium. “We went…
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Record-breaking 96-page Gazette hits the newsstands today
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette readers are urged to make more room in their travel bag for the Phuket Gazette this week as our bumper issue hits a record-breaking 96 pages.Leading the charge is our exclusive front page report on the new airport bus service, which is ready to launch next week and, apparently, prepared to take on the tuk-tuk and taxi…
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Phuket Sports: Fair Play League deciders this weekend
PHUKET: The penultimate round of matches in the 2013 Fair Play League were held last weekend at Phuket’s British International School. The Under-11s started proceedings with a strong Brazil side proving too strong for a weakened England in the opening game, confidently winning 9-3 and picking up two bonus points for conceding zero fouls. At the same time, the top…
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Phuket Opinion: Get on the bus
PHUKET: There is only one way that breakthrough projects such as Phuket’s first airport-to-beaches bus service get up and running, and that is if everyone in the community gets behind it and supports it. That means: use it. Get on the bus and go to work, to the beach, to see a friend, a movie or even spend a night…
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Phuket Sports: TNT reignite their cricket campaign
PHUKET: After a thrilling win against Patong last week, Jabudays (ICC) were looking to continue their good run of form and move to the top of Phuket’s cricket league table by beating a TNT side that has not lived up to expectations this season. At the Alan Cooke Ground (click here for map), on Sunday March 10, TNT cruised to…
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Phuket tour operator turns to drugs to boost baseline profits
PHUKET: Drug Suppression officers last night arrested a former Phuket tour business operator for selling drugs after his business had closed due to hard times. Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanukul told the press today that Siriwat Srisuriyachai, 43, from the northeastern province of Buri Ram, was arrested outside an entertainment venue on Sakdidet Road (map here) in Phuket Town at…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Giving women rights could destroy society – Egypt’s Islamists
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt’s Islamists warn that giving women some rights could destroy society Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood warns that a U.N. declaration on women’s rights could destroy society by allowing a woman to travel, work and use contraception without her husband’s approval, and…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Li voted China premier; Italy election gridlock; Pope cited in ‘dirty war’ book
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China’s Li formally picked for premier Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: China’s legislature elected Li Keqiang as premier today, installing an English-speaking bureaucrat as the man to lead the world’s second-largest economy and combat pressing woes like a frothy housing market and an over-reliance on investment.The largely rubber-stamp…
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Breaking News: One dead as runaway Phuket tour bus wreaks havoc
PHUKET: One person is dead after a Phuket tour bus slammed into eight motorbikes and five cars on Patong Hill this morning. Athiwat Petchsai, 22, died after he was struck by the runaway bus in front of Wat Patong temple (map here) after the vehicles’ brakes failed as it descended Patong Hill at about 7:30am. The bus was en route…
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Phuket dog-lovers livid over ’round up strays’ policy
PHUKET: The current Phuket Gazette online poll asking whether or not stray dogs should be rounded up and taken off Phuket’s streets has stirred the island’s dog-loving community into a frenzy. The poll, launched last Saturday (click here), offered respondents the following options: Yes, get them off the streets; they are a nuisance and dangerous. Yes, but only dogs identified…
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Miss Thailand World contestants stun Phuket beach goers
PHUKET: The 20 Miss Thailand World contestants on a publicity tour in Phuket wowed onlookers yesterday morning when they took part in a swimsuit photo shoot on the beach in front of the Cape Panwa Hotel, where they stayed. Among the 20 beauties is one Phuket native: Nathasinee Wichaidit, 20, from Koh Kaew. After arriving on the island on Tuesday,…
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