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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Night Bazaar opening postponed by a year
PHUKET: Construction of the Phuket International Night Bazaar (PINB) has been put back by a year and the number of shops it will include has been slashed by 80%, because of the tsunami.Buildiers should have started work on the 170-rai site off Chao Fa West Rd in March, and the Bazaar should have been completed by November, ready for the…
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Princess to visit tsunami survivors
PHUKET CITY: HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is due to tour Phuket, Ranong and Phang Nga on May 12 and 13 to visit victims of the tsunami.The Princess is scheduled to be in Phuket on May 13, when she will visit Baan Bang Rong in Thalang to donate fishing boats, kitchen equipment and scarves and caps to Muslim residents.HRH is…
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PM to attend evacuation drill in Patong
PHUKET CITY: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and ambassadors from some 40 nations are expected to be on hand to witness tomorrow’s evacuation drill in Patong. At a meeting held yesterday morning at The Metropole hotel, Pongpow Ketthong, Deputy Director-General of the national Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DPMD), said Patong’s evacuation plan was now 95% complete and that it would…
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Still no decision on ICEC site
PHUKET: After four years of wrangling, the location of Phuket’s much-touted International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) is still very much up in the air.In response to an enquiry from the Gazette about how the ICEC project is progressing, the director of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Suwalai Pinpradab, said the decision on where the…
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Prince Andrew says thanks to Thailand
PHUKET: HRH Prince Andrew of Britain toured Phuket today to thank Thai people and the local British community for their assistance to UK citizens in the aftermath of the December 26 tsunami.He made three public appearances. The first was this morning at the Bangkok Phuket Hospital where he met staff who assisted tsunami victims.In the afternoon he went to Nai Yang…
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Dulwich London takes tough stance in talks
BANGKOK: The Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Dulwich International College (DIC) today lifted the lid on negotiations between his organization and Dulwich College in London, at which attempts are being made to heal a major rift between the two sides.At stake in the talks is whether DIC will be allowed to continue using the Dulwich name.In a letter emailed…
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Chain of tsunami lookout towers planned
PHUKET CITY: Three beach guard stations – out of 50 being built along the coasts of Phuket and the other Andaman provinces – will be in place in Patong before the end of July. A further 16 will be built in Phuket later.The stations will enable beach guards to monitor the sea for signs of tsunamis, as well as watch…
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Fired deputies call for Mayor to quit
PHUKET CITY: Ayuth Tansiriroj, one of three Deputy Mayors recently fired by Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwannasuppana, yesterday called for the Mayor herself to resign.Mayor Somjai dismissed her three deputies – K. Ayuth, Niwate Aroonrat and Piya Siamhan – on April 8. K. Niwate was, however, given another position on the Mayor’s administrative team.K. Ayuth and K. Piya yesterday held…
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Official held in B2m aid theft case
PHUKET CITY: Police this evening arrested the Chief of the Finance Division of the Phuket Provincial Financial Office, Apichart Nooprod, as the ringleader in the theft of more than 2 million baht of tsunami aid money, which was reported missing on February 15.Apichart, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, has denied the charge, and was tonight undergoing questioning at Phuket City Police…
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Hotel worker stabbed to death
PHUKET: A kitchen hand working at JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa has been stabbed to death after refusing to clink glasses with a drunk in a karaoke bar.Pol Capt Saichol Petsuwan of Thalang Police Station told the Gazette 29-year-old Samrid “M” Sirithisak had been having supper and singing with two friends at the Kuenrang Karaoke Restaurant in Baan Kian,…
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Evacuation practice set for April 29
PHUKET: Tourists hitting the sands of Patong Beach early next Friday morning may find themselves in for a bit of a surprise, as the province plans to conduct a tsunami evacuation drill in the area at 10 am on April 29. An “evacuation route map” and a variety of warning signs were presented Wednesday to a seminar at The Metropole…
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Phang Nga Gov raps banks over slow loans
PHANG NGA: Phang Nga Governor Anuwat Metheeviboonwut yesterday criticized banks and other financial institutions for taking too long to process applications for soft loans by business owners affected by the tsunami.Gov Anuwat said, “The problem we have today is that 80% of the business owners are still waiting for loans from financial institutions to be approved.“If the financial institutions were…
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Schoolkids launch tsunami education book
PHUKET: Pupils at Satree Phuket school have unveiled a book they have produced about the tsunami.The book, titled Tsunami Monton Phuket Mahantapai Leuad Yen (Tsunami: Phuket’s Cold-blooded Killer) contains information about tsunamis, how and why they happen, and advice on what to do if another one should hit Phuket.Launching the book on Tuesday morning, school Principal Kiattisak Pillawart said he…
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Free tickets for Fed Cup tennis
PATONG: Free tickets are available for the April 23 and 24 showdown between Thailand and Croatia in Group 2 play of the Federation Cup (Fed Cup) tennis tournament, the woman’s equivalent of the Davis Cup.The Thai team of Tamarine Tanasugarn, Suchanun Viratprasert, Napaporn Tongsalee and Montinee Tangphong arrived in Phuket yesterday morning and went straight to Patong to examine the…
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Britain’s Prince Andrew to visit Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, will arrive in Phuket on Monday evening to thank Thai people and the local British community for their assistance to British citizens in the aftermath of the December 26 tsunami.During his stay on the island, the Prince – younger brother of Prince Charles, heir to the throne of England – will make…
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Police still bamboozled by bomb
THALANG: Police remain bamboozled in their investigation into the mysterious time bomb that was discovered in a quiet residential area of Pa Khlok more than a month ago.Police said the device, which was eventually destroyed in a controlled explosion, consisted of two sticks of C4 plastique wrapped tightly in black insulating tape and connected by wires to a cheap alarm…
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Similans tsunami monitoring station operational
PHUKET: The first of nine tide monitoring stations is now operational on the Similan Islands’ Koh Mieng and the remaining eight should be ready within six months, the head of the Royal Thai Navy announced on April 20.The project was announced this morning by Navy Commander Adm Surin Roengarom, who chaired a meeting with officials from the six tsunami-affected provinces,…
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TTVI center denies deadline for victim IDs
PHUKET: Detective Chief Superintendent Nick Bracken, the Commander of the Information Management Center (IMC) at the Thai Tsunami Victims Identification (TTVI) center, today denied that the TTVI will stop identifying bodies of tsunami victims within two months.An IMC spokeswoman also denied there are any plans to bury bodies that remain unidentified two months from now.The announcement follows one by Phuket…
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Mayor denies machinations
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwannasuppana has denied that political machinations were behind the shock dismissal of her entire deputy mayoral team on April 8 and says the move was merely intended to ensure that the “most suitable people” served under her.The three former Deputy Mayors, Niwas Aroonrat, Ayuth Tansiriroj, and Piya Siamhan, are all members of the “Young…
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Arthit fails to convince Dulwich parents
PHUKET: In a stormy meeting in the Dulwich International College auditorium this afternoon, the school’s CEO and founder, Dr Arthit Urairat, clearly failed to allay parents’ worries about the future of the school.Central to the parents’ concerns is the relationship between Dr Arthit’s team and the franchiser, Dulwich College, London (DCL), with several parents making it quite clear that if…
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New rules for motorbike taxis
PHUKET CITY: Motorcycle taxi drivers in Phuket will have to be registered and fitted with yellow license plates from May 11, it was explained at a public information seminar at The Metropole hotel yesterday.Regulation 13 of the Car Act of 2004, which includes clauses aimed at regulating motorcycle taxis, will come into force on May 11, Phuket Provincial Transportation Office…
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Two-month deadline set for tsunami victims ID
PHUKET CITY: The bodies of 2,370 tsunami victims remain unidentified due to a lack of forensic evidence, but the operation to identify them will be wound up soon, a senior Phuket police officer said yesterday.All those that have not been identified within the coming two months will be buried at the Sea Gypsy cemetery in Mai Khao, Provincial Police Deputy…
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Appeal for info on missing Briton
PHUKET: The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has appealed for anyone who has seen Eddie Gibson, a young British national, to get in touch. Mr Gibson has not had any contact with his family since October 24, when he emailed his mother to say he was planning to return to Britain from Cambodia on a flight due to leave…
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Arthit introduces new Dulwich team
PHUKET: As the crisis over the future of Dulwich International College continues unresolved, the school’s CEO and Founder, Dr Arthit Ourairat, is in Phuket for two meetings, one with teachers this afternoon, and another with parents, scheduled for 2 pm tomorrow.At this afternoon’s meeting he introduced the new Headmaster he has chosen for the school, Canadian Prof Dr George Hickman,…
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Songkran traffic crackdown effective
PHUKET: Two people died in Phuket over the Songkran period, one less than last year. Another 359 were injured between April 8 and 15, compared with 424 injured last year.The deaths occurred on April 10 and 12. Both victims were male.The figures were well below the official target of no more than five dead and 611 injured. This year’s “target”…
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Dulwich school’s fate hangs in balance
PHUKET: Parents and teachers of the island’s best-known private school, Dulwich International College, are waiting with bated breath for confirmation or denial of reports that the board of Dulwich College in London has withdrawn permission for the use of its name.All attempts by the Gazette to obtain information from Dulwich College in London, the Phuket school’s owners, parents’ and teachers’…
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19 hurt as bus overturns in rain
TAH CHAT CHAI: Police are hunting for the driver of a bus which overturned yesterday injuring 19 passengers.It is thought the driver, named so far only as “Kittisak”, lost control of the Bangkok-bound bus in bend in the road near Baan Koh En, during heavy rain.The Phuket Central Tour bus came to a stop upside down in a ditch. All 19 passengers on board…
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Seven-hour ordeal after dive boat sinks
ANDAMAN SEA: Six passengers and seven crew spent around seven hours in the water yesterday morning waiting to be rescued after their liveaboard dive boat sank, apparently without warning and in just six minutes, close to the Surin Islands.The MY Rhapsody, operated by Kata-based Oceanic Divecenter, was anchored 300 meters from the popular Richelieu Rock just after midnight yesterday morning…
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Spaghetti-strap mosquito menace
BANGKOK (TNA, Gazette): Last year the Ministry of Culture tried to bar Thai women from wearing spaghetti-strap tops during Songkran, with a warning from Culture Minister Uraiwan Thienthong that “revealing clothes may induce sexual harassment”.It didn’t work. Apart from anything else, police had no support from the law of Thailand for enforcing a ban on the detestable, damaging-to-Thai-culture spaghetti strap.All…
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Ministry puts Phuket Air under microscope
BANGKOK (TNA, Gazette): The Ministry of Transport has promised to launch a probe into budget airline Phuket Air following a 24-hour delay in a flight from Bangkok to London which left more than 400 passengers stranded on April 11.The seriousness with which the ministry is treating the matter was highlighted by the response of Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham Vejjayachai, who immediately…
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