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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Police target teenagers on motorbikes
PHUKET: Police have launched a crackdown on traffic offenses, with particular focus on teenagers on motorbikes, Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, Deputy Commander of the Provincial Police has announced.During the crackdown, which is part of a national road safety campaign that will continue until December 31, police expect to make safety and ownership checks on more than 200,000 vehicles in Phuket…
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Immigration goes online to boost security
PHUKET CITY: The Immigration Police have launched a project in Phuket that will eventually allow hotels and homeowners all over Thailand to report required data about their guests via the Internet. The project is intended to help combat terrorism and monitor the movements of suspicious foreigners visiting Thailand. Following refinement of the pilot project in Phuket, the system will then…
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Gov to talk fast for B2bn
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura will have just 10 minutes to propose development projects costing 2 billion baht to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during a whistle-stop visit by the PM on August 25.Speaking after a meeting this morning to prepare for the PM’s visit to Phuket, Provincial Highways Office (PPHO) Chief Wanchai Wattanasiri told the Gazette that the PPHO plans…
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Not enough “neighbor laborers’ – employers
PHUKET: A total of 31,473 Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian laborers were registered with the government before the August 1 deadline, but local employers say that many more are needed.Khitti Nuisri, the Deputy Chief of the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO), explained today that 21,444 “neighbor laborers” were registered in Phuket City before the deadline, along with 5,399 in Kathu…
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Turk insists he is an FBI agent
PATONG: Police say that Turkish citizen Tuncay Orser, who was arrested on Friday for possession of a fake ID card identifying him as an agent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), continues to insist that he is a genuine FBI operative on a mission to hunt down international terrorists.Orser, 31, was arrested after he showed what he said…
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“13 reasons to kill’ Phang Nga politician
PHANG NGA: Police investigating Friday’s assassination of Nithat Siribenjakul, chairman of the Phang Nga Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), told the Gazette today that Nithat was involved in no fewer than 13 conflicts, any of which might have triggered his murder.Nithat was gunned down by at least three men riding in the back of a black Isuzu pickup as he drove…
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Gambling tops crime figures
PHUKET: Gambling has once again topped the crime statistics in Phuket, with 163 arrests recorded between July 1 and 25.The latest police figures show that other common crimes included possession or use of illegal narcotics, with 72 arrests and 541.05 ya bah (methamphetamine) tablets seized; and illegal immigration, with 43 people arrested.Twenty eight people were arrested on prostitution-related charges while seven…
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Phang Nga politician assassinated
PHANG NGA: Nithat Siribenjakul, the chairman of the Phang Nga Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), was gunned down in a hail of bullets at the Takuapa bus terminus about 8 pm last night.Police officers investigating the murder told the Gazette that K. Nithat was heading home after visiting a fellow OrBorJor member.“K. Nithat drove his Jeep Cherokee into the parking lot…
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FantaSea owner facing smuggling charge
BANGKOK (The Nation): The owner of Safari World and Phuket FantaSea will be charged with illegally importing orangutans, Forestry Police commander Maj Gen Sawek Pinsinchai said yesterday.Safari World and FantaSea managing director and owner Pin Kiewkacha is accused of violating provision 23 of the Wildlife Conservation Law by importing orangutans without permission, and provision 53 for concealing the wildlife. The two…
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Crackdown on peddlers and ladyboys
PATONG: Police yesterday evening arrested about 30 people in a crackdown aimed at reducing the number of street peddlers pestering tourists to buy trinkets, plastic flowers, garlands or, in some cases, sex.Pol Lt Col Boonlert Onklang, of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that Kathu police officers arrested about 30 vendors who annoyed tourists walking along the beach road by…
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Stab victim recovering
PHUKET CITY: Briton Aden Simpson, 21, a teacher at Satree Phuket School who was stabbed on July 16, has been discharged from Wachira Phuket Hospital.Pol Capt Sathit Noorit, of Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette today, “Mr Simpson is still recovering, but he is feeling better and has left the hospital.”Now that Mr Simpson is feeling better, said Capt…
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High-tech cameras to boost security
PHUKET: Provided that the money is forthcoming, 100 security cameras using the latest-generation Internet communications protocol will be installed at 70 points across the island, including the tourist areas of Patong, Karon and Kata, to deter crime and monitor traffic flow.Manoo Ordeedolchest, President of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), told the Gazette, “The idea originally came from the former…
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High-speed bedmakers put to the test
PHUKET CITY: This year’s Hotelex Exhibition Food and Beverage Show, which will be held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel from August 12 to 15, will open with a thrilling “speedy bed-making” contest. The novel competition, with 6,000 baht in prize money up for grabs, will get underway at 1 pm on August 12, marking the start of the four-day…
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New airport proposed for Phang Nga
PHANG NGA: The Deputy–Minister of the Transport Ministry, Vichet Kasemthongsri, has backed a proposal to upgrade a disused World War II airfield into a new airport to serve Phang Nga Province, at a projected cost of 900 million baht. K. Vichet gave his backing during a visit on Saturday to the disused airstrip on Koh Kho Khao, an island off…
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Crackdown after “neighbor labor’ amnesty ends
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha yesterday warned employers of illegal foreign laborers from Burma, Laos or Cambodia that they have until Saturday to register their illegal foreign employees, or face a fine of up to 100,000 baht or up to 10 years in jail, or both.The warning came at a meeting at the Pearl Village Hotel at…
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Downpours prompt flood and landslide warnings
PHUKET: Strong winds and heavy rain along the coasts of the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand have prompted the Meteorological Department to issue warnings of the possibility of flooding and landslides.Vichit Phuangsombat, Director of the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast), which is near Phuket International Airport, today told the Gazette, “The heaviest recorded rainfall in Thailand yesterday was…
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Burmese sought over stabbing murder
KATHU: A Burmese worker is being sought by police after the corpse of a motorbike taxi driver was found last week by villagers near Talay Keeree village, in the foothills around Kathu.The body, with 15 stab wounds in it, was identified as that of 45-year-old Narongsak Bunyalertnimit from Phatthalung, a van driver with the Take-A-Trip travel agency, who worked as…
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Death by aromatherapy
BANGKOK: A woman in Bang-wa District died of asphyxiation after turning her bathroom into a makeshift sauna and aromatherapy chamber in an attempt to shed unwanted flab. Tanakrit Kianthong, a grilled pork vendor, told police he returned home on July 3 to find his wife Pattaporn, 43, lying dead on the floor of the second-story bathroom of the couple’s three-story…
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Businessman ordered off SorPorKor land
PHUKET: The Phuket Appeal Court today overturned a judgment of the Provincial Court and ordered Phuket businessman Narong Nopdara to vacate 21 rai of land in the Nakkerd Hills in Karon.The successful appeal was launched by the Phuket Land Reform Office (ALRO), which argued that Narong was not entitled to occupy land issued under the SorPorKor land reform program, which…
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Push to get tourists to shop till they drop
PHUKET CITY: As part of a drive to get tourists to do more shopping while in Phuket, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will stage an exhibition of Phuket batik designs on July 30 and 31 on the second floor of the Big C supercenter.Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of the local office of the TAT, said that Thailand currently receives income…
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Hotels president slams oil pipeline plan
NAI YANG: Vichit Na Ranong, a former senator and current President of the Thai Hotels Association, yesterday spoke out against the oil pipeline slated to be built in Phang Nga, saying, “It will ruin all tourism here and we will never get it back.”Speaking at the opening of the new convention facilities at his Pearl Village Hotel in Nai Yang,…
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Government plans marina at Chalong
PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has announced that Phuket province plans to build a marina in Chalong Bay. The announcement was made during a seminar at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, attended by about 80 participants from both government and private sectors. Panjit Pissawong, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Commercial Office, told the Gazette that Chalong Bay is the most…
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OrBorJor sets up planning board
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has set up a committee of professional town planners and architects to study ways in which Phuket’s development can be better regulated. The committee, which will work together with the Phuket Public Works and Town Planning Office, will focus initally on architectural issues.At an open meeting of the OrBorJor on July 16,…
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TAT boss raps Phuket’s failings
BANGKOK: Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of the local office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said that the goal of Phuket becoming a truly ‘world-class’ destination is a pipe dream unless a variety of problems are dealt with.These, she said, include high-volume, low-paying tourists; poor service in all sectors of the hospitality industry; and a crumbling natural environment.Speaking with the…
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Giant Buddha gets go-ahead
KARON: Construction of the controversial Mingmongkol Buddha image atop Nakkerd Hill will resume next month, now that the Royal Forest Department (RFD) has issued a paper authorizing work on the project to continue.The authorization stipulates that the project remain in compliance with the original plan and that steps be taken to minimize further erosion at the project site.Work on the…
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Kathu elections won uncontested
KATHU: Prasert Kaokijpaisarn and his 12-member Kathu Pattana (Development) Party won all seats for both Kathu municipality electorates, including the key position of Mayor. It would have been a surprise if they hadn’t – Kathu Pattana was the only party to stand for election. Of the 10,892 Kathu residents eligible to vote, 4,426 (40.64%) turned out for the poll on…
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British teacher stabbed
PHUKET CITY: A young British man is recovering in Wachira Phuket Hospital intensive care unit after being stabbed late on Friday. A motorcycle taxi driver found Aden Simpson, 21, who is a teacher at Satree Phuket School, lying bloody and unconscious at the side of the road near the Mission Hospital at about 5 am on Saturday, hours after the…
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Korean telecoms giant enters Phuket IT market
PHUKET: South Korea’s largest fixed-line telecommunications provider, KT Corp, has entered the Thai IT market with a 98-million-baht deal to install 5,000 ADSL ports, providing broadband Internet access, in Phuket. The contract is part of the TOT’s expansion of Internet services, a key component of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry’s push to make Phuket an “ICT City”. Speaking…
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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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