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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American found dead in Patong hotel
PATONG: Police are investigating the death of 43-year-old American Chris John Beyer, who was found dead at the Expat Hotel on Thursday with his hands bound and a black garbage bag over his head. Housekeepers discovered the body about two days after noting a rank odor in room 120, where Mr Beyer had been staying since July 9. Expat Hotel…
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New bird ‘flu measures in place
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Livestock office (PPLO) has re-introduced strict measures to protect the island from avian influenza, following new outbreaks in the Northern and Central Thai provinces of Ayudhaya, Ang Thong, Pathum Thani, Sukhothai, Uttaradit, Nakhon Sawan, Suphan Buri and Chiang Rai. The regulations went into effect on Tuesday. Dr Weerapab Termkiatpaisarn, Deputy Chief of the PPLO, said that…
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Free HIV treatment launched
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Social Insurance Office today announced its part in the first publicly-funded scheme to make medicine available free to HIV-positive people following the scheme’s launch on the penultimate day of the XV International Aids Conference in Bangkok. As of August 1, Thais registered as resident in a province or foreigners registered for social security will be able…
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Phummisak offers Chao Fa City as ICEC site
PHUKET: In what appears to be an attempt to break the deadlock over where to site the International Exhibition and Convention Center (ICEC), Phummisak Hongsyok has offered to earmark 200 rai of his recently announced Chao Fa City development for it.K. Phummisak, former Mayor of Phuket City and Managing Director of Anuphas & Sons, which owns the land where Chao…
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Thai Airways extends discount period
BANGKOK: Thai Airways (THAI) has announced that it is extending its “Smile around Thailand” discount fares campaign until September 30 due to keen interest from the travelers. Viset Sontichai, THAI’s District Sales Manager for Upper Southern Thailand, told the Gazette that the price of the tickets is at least 20% cheaper than standard fares. There are, however, conditions attached. Passengers…
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Mystery over Yakuza gangster’s death
KARON: The January 6 death of known Yakuza gangster, Kenji Maehama, 30, (as reported in the Gazette Online the following day) is being investigated by Japanese crime fighters to determine whether he was murdered.Mr Kenji arrived on Phuket with his stepfather and two friends on January 5, staying at the Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort. The following day Mr Kenji reportedly…
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Pig farmer’s matrimonial madness
SURAT THANI: A mentally disturbed pig farmer threatened to hang himself and his baby daughter from a flagpole if the police did not comply with his demands to be locked up in a prison cell for 18 months. It was later learned that the crazed man was desperate to find a retreat from his long-term lovers. The incident occurred just…
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Taking candy from baby
BANGKOK: A daughter delivered her father’s safe, containing over 2 million baht in cash and valuables, to swindlers who called her and told her that her father owed them a lot of money. Rapipat Surapipit, 57, Personnel Manager of Plaza Athenee Hotel in Bangkok, told police that his daughter (name and age unreported) was at home with the family’s 24-year-old…
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Provincial governors “should levy taxes’
BANGKOK: Former Phuket Governor Chadej Insawang, now Secretary of the newly-formed Mahachon Party, which will contest national elections in February, has advocated sweeping devolution of tax-raising powers from Bangkok to the provinces. Speaking with the Gazette in an exclusive intereview, K. Chadej said, “Giving provincial governers the responsibility to set budgets for essential services rather than [only] administer them will…
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Phummisak reveals plan for new town
PHUKET: Phummisak Hongsyok, having stepped down as mayor of one town – Phuket City – is now planning to build his own town: a community glorying in the name of Chao Fah City. The new town will rise on 1,510 rai of currently empty land between the Prince of Songkhla University campus and Kwang Rd. K. Phummisak, Managing Director of…
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Pirate goods seized in Patong
PATONG: Kathu Police seized about 1,000 pirate copies of designer shoes, handbags and clothing on Thursday afternoon and arrested one vendor. Undercover officers posing as customers bought a pair of sport shoes from a vendor operating along Thaweewong Road. She was identified as Pichamon Somji, 25, of Surat Thani. K. Pichamon was arrested and charged with selling goods in violation…
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CAT slashes international call rates
PHUKET: The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) has announced a promotion whereby it has slashed to six baht a minute its charges on international calls to 30 countries, regardless of what time of the day the call is made. The discounted rates apply to calls to: the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Belgium,…
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Stray dog round-up suspended
THALANG: The mass round-up of Phuket’s stray dogs – which began on June 18 – has been suspended amid problems including budget overspending, escaping dogs, and a small number of the 200-plus strays at the pound being “liberated” by their former neighborhood feeders. Veterinarian Dr Weerapab Termkiatpaisarn, the head of round-up program at Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), told the…
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Yanui remains confirmed as missing dive instructor
RAWAI: Autopsy results have confirmed that the skeletal remains recovered at Yanui beach on June 10 are those of missing Dutch dive instructor David Wiewel, who disappeared on March 26 after leaving his Kata home to take a walk. Supatra Wiewel, wife of the deceased, told the Gazette that the bones had been cremated in Phuket after the Police Department’s…
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Duo arrested for snatching
PHUKET CITY: Two young men were arrested yesterday on charges of snatching and receiving stolen property. Police said that Sampan “Ab” Pantunit, 18, and Prakij “Tum” Nariwandee, 20, confessed to snatching a variety of items from their victims but denied receiving stolen goods. Also arrested was the unnamed owner of the SR mobile phone shop on Damrong Rd, who was…
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Investigators check 400 rai of land
Phuket City: Police from Bangkok and Phuket, and officials from the Land Development Department (LDD) today examined 14 plots of land in the Punturat Hills, next to the bypass road, that are suspected of having illegal land documents.The 14 plots, totalling about 400 rai, purportedly belong to members of the Srisansuchart family and their associates. The papers name the owners…
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Frenchman drowns at Karon Beach
KARON: A 45-year-old Frenchman drowned while swimming in heavy seas off Karon Beach this morning. Police named the victim as Michael Marcon. Boona Sritong, Mr Marcon’s girlfriend, told police that she had warned him that the waves looked too heavy to swim in but that he had ignored her warning. Pol Maj Anek Mongkol of Chalong Police Station told the…
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Seven hotels get official star ratings
PHUKET: Seven Phuket hotels have been assigned star ratings under a new classification system set up jointly by the Thai Hotels Association (THA), the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA). The announcement was made by the new certifying body, the zippily-named Foundation of Standards and Human Resource Development in the Service and Tourism Industry,…
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Malaysians arrested for credit card fraud
PHUKET CITY: Police arrested two Malaysians at the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel on Thursday for using fake credit cards and charge cards. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket City Police Station, explained that the American Express office in Bangkok had notified police in Phuket that the men were known to be on the island and that they were wanted…
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Rawai Beach vendors evicted
RAWAI: Provincial officials today evicted some 20 stall owners from the Rawai beachfront in a swift conclusion to a long-drawn-out battle to clean up the view. Using an excavator, the eviction crew, led by Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, took a matter of hours to clear the illegal shops, in stark contrast with almost two years of promises by the Rawai Tambon…
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BGH to take over Bangkok Phuket Hospital
PHUKET: Bangkok Dusit Medical Service Plc, better known by its stock market moniker BGH, is to buy 51% of shares in the privately-owned Bangkok Phuket Hospital (BPH), giving it 100% ownership of the medical facility. The move is part of a grand strategy – BGH is also buying out the remaining 67% of shares in affiliate Samitivej Plc and the…
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Police kill “50-hit’ assassin in shoot-out
TRANG: The fugitive ex-policeman wanted in connection with the murders of Prasert and Thavorn Trairat, the parents of Thepkrasattri Mayor Prasong Trairat, was killed by police in Trang early this morning after a high-speed chase during which a grenade was thrown, followed by a 12-hour manhunt in a forest and a final gun battle. Police, who have been searching for…
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Tourism industry to protest oil pipeline plan
PHUKET: Vice-Governor Vinai Buapradit will represent Phuket at what promises to be a heated meeting on Friday with Ministry of Energy (MoE) officials to discuss a proposed oil pipeline from Tab Lamu in Phnag Nga to Nakhon Sri Thammarat. The proposed 240-kilometer pipeline, known as the Strategic Energy Landbridge, is intended to link oil production sources in the Middle East…
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Friends mourn murdered dive master
PHUKET: Members of the dive community in Kata and friends of dive master Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram, 23, are mourning her loss after she was found stabbed to death in a Pattaya apartment on Friday. Police in Bang Lamung District, Pattaya, have arrested and charged Sam Van Treeck, a 24-year-old Belgian, with her murder. K. Jeab, who came from Buri Ram…
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Cops put squeeze on soccer bookies
PHUKET CITY: Some Phuket residents are burning the midnight oil to watch Euro 2004 matches out of sheer love of the game or their homeland. But those wishing to spice up the action by placing wagers on the results had better beware: the island’s top law enforcement officer has stated that his department will continue its crackdown on gambling throughout…
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Commander “satisfied’ with police reforms
PHUKET CITY: Six months after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called for improvements to police practices nationwide, the Commander of Police Region 8 (which includes Phuket) says he is satisfied with the progress the region’s police have made in their efforts to reform themselves an d improve their public image. Pol Lt Gen Somsak Buppasuwan, Surat Thani-based commander of Police Region…
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16 die on roads in May
PHUKET: Traffic accidents remain the No 1 killer in Phuket, with 16 people dying as the result of accidents on Phuket’s roads in May. Twelve of the 16 who died were riding motorbikes. According to the latest statistics from the three government hospitals in Phuket – Wachira, Thalang and Patong – 1,045 people were injured in road accidents in May.…
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Thank you, 29 million times
PHUKET CITY: Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, yesterday received a bouquet of flowers to show appreciation for his arrest of a postman from Sakhon Nakhon who had stolen 29 million baht. The postal worker, Wirachai Gaiseeta, was in charge of the remittances section of the Sakhon Nakhon Post Office, and diverted money intended for remittances into…
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Democrat roadshow heads for Phuket
PHUKET: Democrat Party Deputy Leader Jurin Laksanavisit will speak to people in Phuket on June 25 and 26 as part of his party’s nationwide Meet The People campaign. The campaign is aimed at increasing support for the main opposition party in the run-up the next general election, scheduled to take place in February next year. Democrat Party MPs Suwit Sa-Ngiamkul…
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Immigration website launched in 10 languages
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has launched its revamped website, which now includes information about Immigration regulations and procedures in 10 languages. The website, found at https://www.phuketimmigration.com , now has Immigration information in Thai, Swedish, Russian, English, German, Norwegian, Japanese, Italian, French and Korean. Besides general immigration information for foreigners wanting to enter or stay in Thailand, the website…
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