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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Phuket Air stops Bangkok-Bali service
THAILAND: Phuket Air has stopped its Bangkok-Bali service after passenger numbers slumped following banishment of the airline from Amsterdam and London airports earlier this month for breaches of safety standards.Sribenja Semmeesook, Communication Consultant of Aziam Burson-Marsteller, which handles public relations for Phuket Air, told the Gazette today, “Many customers from the Netherlands and the rest of Europe used Phuket Air to fly to Bangkok,…
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Patong police get new “beach busters’
PATONG: Officers from Kathu Police Station will find it easier to patrol the sands of Patong Beach with the new 4×4 off-road vehicles presented to them yesterday by the US Embassy in Thailand.The vehicles, called ST 4×4, were donated by E-Z-Go Company, which is owned by Textron, well-known for its Bell Helicopter and Cessna Aircraft brands.Two of the vehicles, which…
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B10m tsunami archive to be established
NAI YANG: Some 200 government officers from Bangkok and the six tsunami-affected provinces gathered at the Pearl Village Hotel yesterday to offer suggestions of what data should be included in the Tsunami Information Center (TIC), which will be built in Bangkok at a cost of 10 million baht.The hearing was organized by the National Archives of Thailand (NAT), operated under…
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Tour of beauty
PHUKET: Picturesque Phuket provided the perfect backdrop for a visit by 81 of the world’s most beautiful young women today.The competitors in the Miss Universe 2005 beauty contest came to Phuket to boost post-tsunami tourism, and they received a warm welcome from residents and tourists.After lunch at FantaSea, Kamala, and seeing the “Amazing Kamala” show, one group of contestants went…
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Entertainment license fees finally arrive
PHUKET: More than 14 months after all entertainment licenses were declared statutorily void, a list of fees for entertainment licenses has been announced, paving the way for provincial authorities to start processing applications.Wisut Romin, Deputy Secretary of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Office, told the Gazette that he received the list of fees today, although it was ratified by the Ministry…
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Bypass expansion stems water supply
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Water Supply (PPWS) has announced that its customers living in areas to the south of the bypass road expansion project will experience reductions in flow rate until about May 25. The reduced flow, about 50% on average, will result from a PPWS project to move water mains to accommodate the road expansion now underway by the…
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Phuket hosts Asia-Pacific Marine conference
PHUKET: Some 80 delegates from 21 countries, all members of Asia and Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) working groups, are in Phuket for a convention on Marine Resource Conservation and Fisheries, which is taking place at the Novotel Coralia Phuket resort until May 20.The event, organized by the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning Office of Thailand’s Department of Marine…
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Navel neglect
NAKHON NAYOK: The recent spate of incidents involving insects laying their eggs in human orifices took a new and disturbing turn on May 8, when the mother of a newborn found 10 maggots living inside the bellybutton of her two-day-old son. Mother-to-be Chananthida Kusonsarng, 25, was admitted to Nakhon Nayok Hospital on May 3 when her waters broke earlier than…
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Employment Office launches English-language web pages
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) has created several English-language web pages on its website to help foreigners understand the complexities of obtaining and extending a work permit. The pages include translations of the 1978 Working of Aliens Act, the 1979 Royal Decree listing professions that aliens are prohibited from engaging in, and other information useful for those looking to work in the Kingdom.…
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Police blitz late-night entertainment venues
PHUKET CITY: Police and provincial government officers are raiding entertainment venues around the island up to 20 times a month to ensure they are not trading past the 1 am deadline for closing, Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Vichan Busapavanich said today. Speaking at a press conference at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, Palad Vichan said, “The law says that…
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Miss Universe beauties to visit Phuket
PHUKET: Miss Universe 2005 contestants will visit tourist attractions and hospitals, and learn about “Phuket culture”, when they visit the island on May 19 on a tour designed to boost Phuket’s tourism industry.The 82 young women from around the world will spend a day in the province during the run-up to the competition, which will take place in Bangkok on…
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Time for Phuket “to learn from mistakes’
PHUKET: Phuket should learn from the mistakes of the past while rebuilding after the December 26 tsunami, according to a world expert in sustainable tourism.Gabor Vereczi, who analyzes sustainable tourism for the World Tourism Organization (WTO), told a tourism conference at the Pearl Village Hotel: “This is an important opportunity for Phuket and other destinations on the Andaman coast and…
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Bad moon writhing
SURAT THANI: Tourists arriving on the island of Pha-ngan in Surat Thani Province are to be issued with stickers reminding them that “free sex” is illegal, following government concern over visitors having sexual intercourse in public places. The decision follows pleas by Khon Kaen Senator Rabiabrat Pongpanit to stop tourists on the island from humping in public during the island’s…
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Going Coconuts
RAWAI: A young welder from Nakorn Sri Thammarat died of a broken neck on April 27 after he fell from a coconut tree in Rawai. Sompoj Petcharat, 23, was part of a team working at a bungalow colony off Yanui Rd. Being thirsty, he decided to scale one of the many coconut trees in the area to quench his thirst.…
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Dulwich divorce is final
PHUKET: The divorce is final. Dr Arthit Ourairath, CEO and Founder of Dulwich International College, has announced that ties between Dulwich College in London (DCL) and Phuket’s top international school have been severed.Dulwich International College will, from June 24, be known as the British International College of Thailand, unless agreement can be reached with another school willing to replace DCL’s…
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Dengue fever cases up sharply
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) is urging the public to take steps to eradicate mosquitoes around their premises in an effort to prevent the spread of dengue fever. Despite efforts by the PPHO to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne disease after the tsunami, there have been 68 reported cases of the disease since the beginning of the…
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968 businesses still await aid
PHUKET: Nearly five months after the tsunami, some 968 small business owners in Phuket are still awaiting 20,000 baht in financial aid packages from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to re-start their businesses.A group comprising mostly small-scale vendors and beach massage business operators contacted the Phuket Office of the MoI’s Department of Local Administration (DOLA) recently to see why their…
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MICE tourism gets a boost
PHUKET: The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) has launched its “Think Meeting, Think Phuket” discounted air fares and hotel rates promotion in a bid to boost the number of MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) travelers to the island.The aim of the promotion, which will end on October 31, is to attract an average 1,250 people a day to Phuket. Assuming…
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Phang Nga airport plan put on hold
PHUKET CITY: Plans to build an airport in Phang Nga have been put on ice because of the tsunami.Deputy Transport Minister Vichet Kasemthongsria last year backed a proposal to build an airport on Koh Kho Khao, an island just north of Baan Nam Khem, in Takuapa District, to serve the province’s then-booming tourist industry.But Takuapa District Chief Administration Assistant Kanitsorn…
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OrBorJor promotes Phuket in UAE
PHUKET: A 22-member delegation from the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) have returned from the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, where for three days they promoted the delights of Phuket – and studied the way the city, famed for being duty-free, operates.OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr, who headed the delegation, said that the Phuket booth got good feedback from visitors, though…
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Off to the movies? Click before you go!
PHUKET: Movie-goers in Thailand are familiar with the vagaries of screening schedules; the phenomenon of sudden, unannounced cancellations; and the difficulties in getting through to box office telephone recordings. For foreigners, these problems are often compounded by communication difficulties. It was against this background that the SFX Coliseum cinema at Central Festival and the Phuket Gazette teamed up two months…
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Weather warning for Andaman Sea coast
PHUKET: Heavy rains and widespread thunderstorms swept across the island over the weekend and there is the likelihood of more to come, marking the beginning of Phuket’s annual monsoon season.Staff at the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast), Phuket, told the Gazette that southwesterly winds of between 20 and 40 kilometers per hour – approximately Force 4 to 5 on the…
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Glut of housing for tsunami survivors
PHANG NGA: This province, the hardest hit in Thailand when the tsunami struck on December 26, may end up with twice as many houses as it needs to accommodate peole rendered homeless by the disaster, Provincial Governor Anuwat Metheeviboonwut said on Saturday.Speaking at his residence in the province, Gov Anuwat said that so many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals, from within…
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Phuket Air quietly barred from UK
LONDON: Just days before being banned from flying to the Netherlands, Phuket Air was also quietly barred from flying to the UK, it has emerged. One of its aircraft has also been seized for non-payment of landing fees at London’s Gatwick Airport.The website of the UK Department for Transport (DFT) says that “the Secretary of State has suspended the permit…
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Ghost-busting monks return on PM’s orders
PHUKET: Monks from Taiwan and Japan are due to perform a ceremony for tsunami victims in Patong on Monday, on the orders of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – 40 days after Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura ordered an end to rituals to appease ghosts.Napasorn Kakai, Assistant Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Region 4, said PM Thaksin had declared that…
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New Labor chief aims for one-day work permits
PHUKET: The new head of the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office (PESO) has instructed his staff to issue work permits to qualified foreigners on the same day they apply.Boonchock Maneechot, 53, told the Gazette he would try to implement new technology and shake up the “old style” bureaucratic mentality at the offices, which in the past has left some applicants…
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B7 million earmarked for sports complex study
PHUKET CITY: The proposal to build an international-standard sports training complex in Phuket appears to be limping ahead with 7 million baht being earmarked by the Ministry of Sports and Tourism for a feasibility study.Confirmation that the study is to receive funding was given today by Promchote Traivate, Head of the Phuket Office of Sports and Recreation Development (POSRD). The…
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Phuket “badly needs a plan’
PHUKET CITY: Phuket desperately needs a long-term development strategy following the tsunami, a Phuket Chamber of Commerce (PCC) seminar entitled “Phuket Alert” was told yesterday. The PCC is considering development issues facing the province and will make recommendations within two months so that they can be included in a development plan for Phuket now being drafted by the National Economic and…
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Meridien chain close to new ownership
PHUKET: Plans are on the table for recapitalization of debt-ridden Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, which operates four hotels in Southern Thailand.Two of the hotels, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort and Le Meridien Khao Lak, are to reopen later this year after being severely damaged by the catastrophic events of December 26.Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club at Nai Harn…
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Phuket Air in trouble again
THAILAND: Phuket Air expects to resume its Bangkok-Amsterdam service within days, following a ban of the service by the Dutch civil aviation authorities after it was discovered that an aircraft serving the route had a faulty emergency lighting system and a Phuket Air pilot was found not to have a necessary medical certificate.Sribenja Semmeesook, Communication Consultant of Aziam Burson-Marsteller, the…
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