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 Gazette under investigation
PHUKET TOWN: Investigators from the Tourist Police and the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO) spent this afternoon at the offices of the Phuket Gazette, probing into an allegation that the newspaper employs numerous foreigners without work permits. The allegation was made in a letter to the Tourist Police signed by “Jobless Graduate”. The writer complained that he or she…
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Hotels move to block provincial tax
PHUKET: The Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) and the island’s Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) appeared today to be on a collision course over a proposed new tax on hotel rooms. According to the Provincial Administration Organization Act of 1997, any OrBorJor may collect a tax equivalent to as much as 5% of room revenue from all forms of accommodation in its…
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Robbery gangs stab two
PHUKET TOWN: Two Thai men were stabbed and nearly died in separate robbery attempts by teenage gangsters early yesterday morning. The incidents both occurred between 2 and 3 am, one in Saphan Hin, and the other in Koh Sirei port. Police said that in the first incident Chaiyot Mookdasakulpiman, 18, was walking along the Bangyai canal near his home in…
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Dramatic increase in HIV infection
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket has recorded a horrifying increase in the number of AIDS cases this year. Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office – which has been tracking AIDS infection in Phuket since 1989 – said that between December last year and June this year the number of recorded HIV and AIDS patients in Phuket has risen…
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Swede dies after stabbing
PATONG: Stig Gustaf Mörk, 57, a Swede living in Patong, died on Friday morning of massive blood loss, after being stabbed the evening before. Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu police Station, said that Mr Mörk was stabbed by his girlfriend, Ranthom Namyoo, 37, from Supan Buri. Col Kokiat said that according to a confession Ranthom made to the…
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11 bars face charges after raids
PHUKET TOWN: Eleven pubs and restaurants were today charged with a variety of offenses after raids by 120 Phuket Town police officers early yesterday morning. Four establishments – Kon Tid Din Pub, Kung Ja Restaurant, Studio Pub, and Rong-Tium Pub – were charged with allowing entry to people under the age of 18. Suan Ahan Pae-Tai Restaurant was charged with…
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Police raid bars and clubs
PHUKET TOWN: Police launched a series of raids early this morning, aimed at catching bars and clubs breaking various laws. Pol Lt Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, deputy superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that 120 officers were sent out on the raids, targeting bars and clubs that allow entry to people under 18 years old, that stay open…
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Government pressured to resign after corruption verdict
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s stunned government came under pressure today to call an early election in the wake of the corruption verdict against powerful former interior minister Sanan Kanchornprasart. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai of Sanan’s ruling Democrat Party should quit as prime minister and call new elections to take responsibility for Sanan’s actions, said Adisorn Piangket, an opposition MP. “The Democrats…
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Phuket Tourism Association elects new president
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) has finally elected a new president at a meeting held Tuesday evening at the Phuket Merlin Hotel. Sombat Atiset, managing director of Kata Thani Hotel & Beach Resort, was elected by the majority of eligible voters. K. Sombat said that the first issue the PTA will address is the hotel tax, which will…
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Sanan quits party post after conviction for graft
BANGKOK, Aug 10 (AFP) – Thailand’s former interior minister Sanan Kachornprasart Thursday resigned as secretary general of the ruling Democrat party, hours after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of corruption. “I listened to the court’s verdict with respect, and I do not regret the verdict. I accept the court’s decision,” he said in a statement read out by government…
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Three die in motorcycle accidents
PHUKET TOWN: Three people were killed in three separate motorcycle accidents early this morning. Pol Capt Pairin Jamjumrat of the Phuket Town police station told the Gazette that the accidents all occurred during heavy rains at around 4 am. The first crash occurred in front of the Tourism Authority of Thailand office on Phuket Rd. Sompornrat Pinprasert, 16, and Mala…
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Victim’s friend confesses to Saphan Hin murder
PHUKET: The police have arrested a man in connection with the murder of a long-tail boat driver in Sapan Hin last week. Santi Prachumchai, 29, a construction worker, was arrested for the murder of Chin Lueyot on Sunday at his friend’s home at 8/7 Amphur Rd, Phuket Town. The police made the arrest after speaking with friends of K. Chin…
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Sapan Hin murder victim identified
PHUKET: The identity of a man who was found dead in Saphan Hin on Saturday evening, July 29, has now been established. The murder victim has been identified as Chin Lueyot, 33, a Phuket-based long tail boat driver. Last week, Tanakarn Wareethip, a construction worker from Tambon Rasada and a friend of Khun Chin, saw a picture in a local…
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Air passengers surpass year-ago figure
PHUKET: Heartening news for the low season comes with the latest monthly figures issued by Phuket International Airport. These show an 8.73% rise in passengers using the airport, compared with June 1999. The statistics show that 208,426 passengers went through the airport in June of this year, compared with 191,698 in the same month last year. Due primarily to an…
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Village chief smoked out by police
CHALONG: Sema Adhan, a village headman in Chalong, was arrested for possession of marijuana at his home yesterday. Pol Capt Chana Suthimas of Chalong Police Station said an informer told police yesterday that there was marijuana hidden in a house in Chalong. In the process of acquiring a search warrant, police investigators found that the house belonged to Sema, who…
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Drugs spreading rapidly into southern Thailand
HAT YAI (AFP): Amphetamine addiction, which has caused havoc in Thailand’s cities and been named its top national security threat, has now spread to the rural south, the army says. “I believe that more than 50 percent of the villages in the south already have a drug problem,” said Lieutenant General Narong Denudom, the commander of Thailand’s Fourth Army which…
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Abandoned baby found in field
KATHU: A baby boy, estimated to be only three days old, was found abandoned in a field used by a driver’s training school in Kathu yesterday morning. Pol Capt Theerarat Choychanchaikul, of Thung Thong Sub-District Police Station, said the baby was found wrapped in a towel inside a black leather bag. The bag had been placed on the ground next…
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Beach tar not really a hazard, say officials
NAI YANG: In response to complaints from both tourists and Thais about tar washing up on Phuket’s beaches, a team of local government officials and environmental experts investigated the problem at Nai Yang Beach yesterday. The investigation was led by the Phuket Health Office and the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) at the request of Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut. Phuket…
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Chinese minister to visit Phuket
PHUKET: Chen Changzhi, Vice Minister of the ‘Ministry of Inspection’ of The Peoples Republic of China, will arrive in Phuket tomorrow for a personal visit. Mr Chen and his entourage will stay at the five-star Le Meridien Phuket on Relax Bay. Scheduled excursions for the group include Krabi and Phang Nga Bay National Park. They also plan to visit Phuket…
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Phuket parents don’t want sex bags in schools
PHUKET: Phuket is trying to bolster its defense against AIDS by increasing education and stepping up the distribution of condoms. But the province faces stiff resistance from the local population. According to Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office, the reason Phuket has the second highest rate of AIDS infection in southern Thailand is that both…
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Murder victim found in Saphan Hin
PHUKET: A man was found murdered in Saphan Hin, Phuket Town, on Saturday evening. Police have not yet been able to confirm whether he is Thai or Burmese. Police said the victim died of blood loss from stab wounds to his face. Other wounds on his body indicated that he had been involved in a fight. Pol Capt Pin Inmak…
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Deadly disease returns to Phuket
PHUKET: Burmese, Laotian, and Cambodian laborers have brought a deadly disease back to Thailand, the Phuket Provincial Health Office said yesterday at its monthly meeting. In March, two people in Phuket were infected with the contagious disease, which is called Meningo Cocemia. The first, an unidentified Burmese worker, transmitted the contagious disease to a Thai child living in the same…
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THAI plan to ground “unsexy’ stewardesses slammed
BANGKOK (AFP): A top labor union representative today slammed plans by Thai Airways International (THAI) to ground older stewardesses not sexy enough to meet its hostess profile. THAI is planning to replace older stewardesses with younger, sexier models, labour union president Jaemsri Sukchotesri said, by moving over-45s to ground staff positions. “THAI is not selling sex. We are simply selling…
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20 die in traffic accidents
PHUKET: Twenty people died in traffic accidents between May 20 and June 20, according to statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn of the Phuket Provincial Health Office reports that 18 of the victims died while on motorcycles, while one was in a car and one was riding a bicycle. In the same period, 84 people…
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One more blackout to come
PHUKET TOWN: Following Tuesday’s island-wide blackout, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has said that there will be one more power outage when the last piece of work on a new, higher-capacity cable is completed. But neither Banlue Teerametawit, EGAT’s assistant governor for transmission construction, nor Rangsan Ammarin, an engineer with the authority, could say exactly when the final…
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German arrested for lonely hearts scam
BANGKOK (AFP): A German man who ran an Internet scam, posing as a Thai woman in search of a Western husband, has been arrested for fraud, police said today. Rudiger Reischert, 50, conned at least 500,000 baht out of men who responded to an advertisement he placed on a matchmaking website in the name of “Thaee Maiyuran”. The money the…
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Turtles found trapped in fishing net
NAIYANG: One sea turtle was found dead this morning on Naiyang Beach, along with two others badly injured and barely alive after having become tangled in a nylon fishing net. Suthon Klapsong, a security guard from the Phuket branch of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd, found two of the turtles early this morning when he spotted a large black object…
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Ordeal at sea after fishing boat sinks
PHANG-NGA BAY: An 83-year-old was among seven men rescued today after their fishing boat sank early Monday morning off Koh Taloo in Phang Nga Bay and they spent as much as 30 hours clinging to debris. Commodore Preecharn Jamjaroen of the Royal Thai Navy’s Third Fleet said that the seven took the boat out on Monday morning to go fishing…
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Treasure hunters suffocate in cave
KANCHANABURI (AFP): Six treasure hunters died in a cave in this western province as they searched for gold rumored to have been stashed there 50 years ago by defeated Japanese soldiers. Police in Sangkla Buri district said today that the four men and two women died after becoming trapped 50 meters into the narrow cave. “They died because of lack…
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Two Drown at Kata Noi
KATA NOI: Two Japanese tourists drowned at Kata Noi Beach on Friday. Pol Maj Pissanu Poonwong of the Phuket Town Police identified the victims as Yoshinori Gotoda, 51, and Sajime Miya, 54. The two men were guests of the Kata Thani Hotel and had arrived in Phuket on Wednesday as part of a tour group. Although there were red flags…
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