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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PM visits, Phuket rescue teams assist in flooded South
PHUKET: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday visited parts of Krabi where rescue teams from Phuket are assisting victims of devastating mudslides and flooding earlier this week. The Thai premier, accompanied by high-ranking military staff including Royal Thai Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Prayut Chan-O-Cha, toured a shelter at Wat Tam Kob in Na Khao subdistrict, offering consolation and encouragement to victims staying…
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Phuket Police arrest snatch thief in Patong
PHUKET: Phuket Police yesterday arrested a man for a snatch-and-ride robbery in Patong the night before. Police identified the suspect as 21-year-old Manop Rakharp. The arrest followed a complaint by Teerawat Pansopa, 23, that a man on a Yamaha Fino motorbike snatched his bag as he walked along Sirirat Road in Patong at about midnight on Wednesday. The white bag…
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Phuket expats to get microchip implants in new surveillance scheme
As of today, all foreigners living permanently in Phuket are to receive mandatory microchip implants in a move designed to keep track of their movements with new GPS technology. Phuket will be the first province to launch such a system, with the rest of the country expected to follow suit in the coming months. Retired expats will be the first…
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Phuket Business: Corruption and Customs practices seen as major deterrent to trade
PHUKET: In a report released yesterday by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the Thai Customs Department comes under fire as a barrier to trade, and does so to the disadvantage of both countries. Corruption is seen to be at the root of the problem. Herewith, some brief extracts from the report: “The United States continues to…
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Phuket officials deny “mudslide in paradise’
PHUKET: Authorities have dismissed media reports that an “immediate evacuation” was called for Phuket earlier today due to the risk of landslides. Officials at both the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) in Bangkok and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office in Phuket (DDPM-Phuket) said reports of an evacuation order for Phuket carried on Thai television news programs and…
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Phuket man shoots wife, kills self
PHUKET: A Phuket motorbike taxi driver shot his wife while she was sleeping and then turned the gun on himself this morning – all while the couple’s two children were sitting in the next room. Thung Thong Police led by Superintendent Kraithong Junthongbai were notified of the tragedy at 8:30am. At the scene, a home in the Ketho residential estate,…
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Navy rescues stranded tourists as Phuket storms continue
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command yesterday rescued Thai and foreign holidaymakers, including many bound for Phuket, who were stranded on the Similan and Surin islands due to the heavy seas. HTMS Bangpakong, under the command of Joint Rear Admiral Rangsarit Sattayanukul, at 2pm sailed to the Similans from its port at the navy base in Thap Lamu,…
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Krabi landslide: 12 dead, 30 missing
PHUKET: The death toll in the Krabi landslide disaster has risen to 12, while 30 people remain unaccounted for, a Krabi official confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this afternoon. Khao Phanom District Chief Adminstrative Officer Trithawat Rakmuang said that one of the dead has been identified as 31-year-old Paisarn Chusri. He added that 24 people have been injured so far.…
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‘Japan crisis won’t hit Phuket tourism’: PTA
PHUKET: The Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) believes the crisis in Japan will not have serious effects on the island’s economy, though it has cautioned that numbers of visitors from affected areas are likely to fall. Somboon Jirayus, president of the PTA, said the 9.0-Richter earthquake and resulting tsunami that have devastated Japan would have psychological effects in the short term.…
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Phuket faces worker shortage
PHUKET: The Phuket tourism industry is facing a huge labor shortage, with more than 5,000 positions currently vacant on the island, the Phuket Employment Office chief has warned. Noppadon Ployyoudee said there was strong demand for workers in Phuket, particularly at hotels and businesses connected to the tourism industry. Among those needed are reception staff, service staff, sales people, handymen,…
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Double down: Ex-con nabbed in Phuket drug bust
PHUKET: Thalang Police on Friday night arrested a man they described as an “important” ya bah (methamphetamine) dealer who previously served an eight-year stretch in jail on drug charges. Panya Kumanchan, 39, told police he had been smuggling the ya bah from Bangkok to Phuket for two years before his capture. Mr Panya, alias “Nueng Mueang Non” (Neung from Nonthaburi),…
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PHUKET WEATHER ALERT: PM’s office warns of flooding
PHUKET: The Prime Minister’s Office has warned residents in Phuket to brace for flooding, which has already stalled services at Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Samui airports. Thousands of passengers were stranded on Koh Samui in Surat Thani province yesterday, while Nakhon Sri Thammarat Airport has been closed since Sunday. Bangkok Airways canceled all 36 domestic and international flights in and…
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Phuket storm winds rip yachts off their moorings
PHUKET: Severe weather conditions in Phuket today broke several boats from their moorings and pushed them ashore at Ao Yon, near Cape Panwa. Many boat owners were caught unaware by the force of the storm as the bay had long been considered a safe shelter at this time of year. “Last night, very strong winds challenged the moorings and quite…
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Services for Phuket’s Lionel Cleary
PHUKET: A memorial service will be held for the late Lionel Cleary at Rawai Temple (Wat Rawai) tomorrow evening, starting at 7pm. Mr Cleary, a regular visitor to Phuket for 29 years and a resident for more than 18 years after that, died of organ failure on Friday. “People wishing to pay their respects are advised to arrive from 6pm…
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Southern storms delay Love Aid Phuket
PHUKET: The Love Aid Phuket concert due to take place this Saturday has been postponed because of wild weather that has wreaked havoc over Phuket and other southern provinces in recent days. The music event was being held to raise money for survivors of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. In a formal announcement this afternoon, organizers said the decision had…
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Phuket Airport remains open as wild weather ravages South
PHUKET: Phuket Airport remains open today despite winds gusting to more than 30 kilometers per hour and a flood warning issued early this morning. “A low pressure [system] is covering the middle of southern Thailand. Torrential rain with heavy to very heavy fall in many areas remains over the south,” read the warning issued this morning by the Thai Meteorological…
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Phuket Opinion: Policy on Thai residency should not be secret
PHUKET: It’s time for the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to set up a special task force to begin fast-tracking the processing of the huge backlog of permanent residency (PR) applications it is now sitting on in silence. Such a move would have multiple benefits for all parties involved, including, especially, foreign investors (potential and extant) and Thailand’s all-important tourism industry.…
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Body of missing Phuket teen found in rubber plantation
PHUKET: The body of a teenage boy who went missing over a week ago was discovered by the side of the road in a Phuket rubber plantation yesterday morning. Villagers found the badly decomposing body of an unidentified male a few meters off the access road to Namuang Village, a rubber planting community off Thepkrasattri Road, about eight kilometers south…
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Phuket raises B2.2mn baht for Japan relief, with more to come
PHUKET: The official Phuket relief fund for Japan as of noon today had amassed 2,204,332.92 baht in donations to provide relief for those still suffering from the ongoing effects of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the main island of Honshu on March 11. The figure represents all donations made in person at the Phuket Tsunami Relief Center for Japan,…
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Earth Hour Phuket: The hour of darkness is upon us
PHUKET: Phuket will join the rest of the world in marking Earth Hour 2011 when the lights on the iconic Royal Paradise Hotel in Patong are switched off for one hour tonight, starting at 8:30pm. People and organizations throughout the island will be taking part, joining an estimated one billion people from 131 countries on the planet. Those in Phuket…
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Call for Gov, Phuket to support “Silvy The Star’
PHUKET: All of Phuket will be cheering on Pavida “Silvy” Moriggi this evening when the 15-year-old Kajonkietsuksa School student takes the stage in round three of the nationally-televised reality television series The Star 7. Only six contestants remain in the hugely-popular nationwide talent search; one will be voted off after this evening’s competition. Silvy’s mother and school principal called on…
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TAT targets yachties in new Phuket strategy
PHUKET: Phuket’s world-class marinas and vibrant yachting community are key to the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s new strategy to attract high-end tourists to the island. TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni believes the infrastructure already in place in Phuket means the island has the potential to become a world-class center for marine tourism. Phuket already has a number of marinas suitable for…
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Phuket “Beer’ ride ends in Surat Thani
PHUKET: A 20-year-old man was arrested on Thursday afternoon after taking a brand-new Mazda 2 for a test drive from Phuket Town all the way to Wiangsa in Surat Thani, about 200 kilometers away. Yutthapong “Beer” Malila, originally from Surat Thani, contacted the Anupas Mazda showroom on Ong Sim Phai Road in Phuket Town on Wednesday, asking to take a…
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Body recovered from Phuket ravine
PHUKET: Phuket emergency response volunteers last night struggled in rain and darkness to recover the body of an unknown man from a ravine in Wichit. The body was discovered at about 5:30pm yesterday by local plantation owner Kittidej Jingjit. Mr Kittidej was en route to check construction of a hillside workers’ sala off Soi Anusorn in Wichit Village 3. Noticing…
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Phuket’s Lionel Cleary passes away
PHUKET: A wake for well-known and much loved long-term Phuket resident Lionel Cleary will be held at Nikita’s Beach Restaurant on the Rawai beachfront this Sunday from 3pm. After weeks in hospital due to a fall, he eventually succumbed to organ failure this morning at Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He was 76. Mr Cleary first arrived in Phuket with friends via…
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Phuket police bust drug dealers in Kamala, Mai Khao
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested the young wife of a Phuket Airport taxi driver, catching the woman with a stash of ya bah (methamphetamine) pills and a firearm in the family home where she was caring for her three young children. Thachatchai Police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Sukhon “Bow” Bajongjit, a resident of Phuket. Police obtained a warrant to search…
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Jilted boyfriend leaves ex armless
PATHUM THANI: A man allegedly launched a crazed attack on his ex-girlfriend with a sword, severing one of her arms before grabbing the limb and fleeing. Victim Mali Phuangprachang, who works at a beauty salon, is recovering in Viparam Hospital. The 33-year-old has been left without her right arm and had a huge gash in her face that needed 22…
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Phuket St Patrick’s Day Ball charity event tomorrow
PHUKET: A charity ball marking St Patrick’s Day will be hosted tomorrow evening at the Mövenpick Resort & Spa in Karon. The annual ball is a major fundraising event for the Life Home Project, a local foundation that provides shelter for women and children affected by HIV as well as childcare, vocational training, health education and hospice assistance. The event…
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Dr Robert Thurman to lead Buddhist retreat in Phuket this weekend
PHUKET: World-renowned Buddhist scholar Dr Robert Thurman is in Phuket to give a talk and lead a meditation retreat at the Thanyapura Mind Center at Phuket International Academy this weekend. Dr Thurman, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University in New York City, is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost scholars of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies. A…
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Phuket media coverage takes a leap forward with iApps
PHUKET: Long a leader in online publishing, the Phuket Gazette has taken a leap into the handheld space with crisp and functionally ‘immediate’ new Apps for both the iPad and iPhone. And though only a couple of weeks into these new media, the company is more than pleased with the response. “These were basically R&D-type projects for us. I don’t…
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