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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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EC seeks to disqualify Phuket MP, 12 others
PHUKET CITY: Party list MP Chalermlak Kebsup of Phuket is among 13 MPs the Election Commission is seeking to have removed from office for holding shares in a restricted business. The Election Commission (EC) yesterday ruled that 13 MPs, all from the ruling Democrat Party, had violated the Constitution by holding stocks in media firms or telecom businesses operating under…
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Phuket plant fair starts next week
PHUKET CITY: Green thumbs take note: the 17th Annual Ornamental Plants & Flowers Fair will take place at Saphan Hin from July 24 to August 2. Somchai Hengwatcharaphaibul, chief of the Phuket Agriculture and Cooperatives Office, said he expects this year’s event to generate about 40 million baht in sales. The fair will include exhibitions, displays, competitions in flower arrangement…
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Readers’ Poll: More buses best solution to Phuket’s transport woes
PHUKET CITY: Gazette readers think an expanded public bus network is the single best solution to Phuket’s transport woes, last month’s readers’ poll has determined. Over 400 readers cast votes in the poll, which is now closed. We asked readers to tell us what they thought was the single best solution to Phuket’s transport problems. The most popular solution, with…
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Phuket still safe despite Jakarta bombings
PHUKET: The bomb blasts which shattered Jakarta’s Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott Hotels this morning, killing at least nine people and injuring dozens more, have sent the topic of terrorism rocketing to the top of the agenda at the 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting which got underway in Phuket today. Asean Secretary General Dr Surin Pitsuwan said officials and delegates were…
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New police HQ spells trouble for Mai Khao villagers
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Twenty families in Mai Khao have signed a petition vowing to fight an order to vacate government land earmarked for construction of the new Police Region 8 headquarters, scheduled to open in 2011. Plans to move the existing Region 8 headquarters from Surat Thani province to Phuket were set in motion in 2007. Krabi, Nakhon Sri Thammarat,…
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Dasta holds public hearings in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The public organization pushing to develop the Ao Phuket mega-project off Saphan Hin is conducting public hearings to gauge reaction to the possibility of designating all of Phuket as a special administrative zone for sustainable tourism. Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta), a public organization whose board answers directly to the Prime Minister’s Office, held the first…
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Haunted heister makes amends
CHONBURI: A man claiming to be haunted by a ghost after stealing a 30,000 baht gold bracelet from a shop five years ago turned himself to police today. Jirasak Phahurat, 33, told police that a ghost came to him every day for five years, telling him to return a bracelet with the same value to the shop owner. So, Mr…
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Abbot claims black magic nailed him
UTTARADIT: A temple abbot was admitted to hospital after doctors found nails in his stomach for the second time in two months. Phra Athikananuwat Wisutho, 32, abbot of Wat Hat Song Khwai in Tha Pla District, was admitted to Uttaradit Hospital on July 7 after an X-ray found five 3- to 4-inch nails in his stomach. The director of Utaradit…
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Swine flu “service centers” open in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: There have been 77 confirmed cases of A(H1N1) infection in Phuket since the swine flu outbreak first hit the island in early June, the Gazette has learned. To combat the spread of the new flu strain, the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) has launched three “One Stop Service” (OSS) centers for suspected swine flu cases at Phuket’s three…
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Rolly Tasker donates land for Phuket road project
PHUKET CITY: Rolly Tasker Sails Co Ltd yesterday morning donated eight rai of land to the state for construction of a second airport road. Company founder Mr Tasker, an Australian sailing legend, handed over the title deeds to Phuket Governor Wichai Praisa-ngop at a ceremony at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday morning. Gov Wichai has pushed for the new new airport…
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Inmates spruce up Phuket roadsides for ministers’ meeting
PHUKET: The Phuket governor called in Phuket Provincial Prison inmates to help clean up and landscape the Airport Road that delegates to the 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will pass on their way to the host venue Laguna Phuket.The order followed an inspection tour of the road on Friday during which Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop found the median strip and roadsides…
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Foundered ferry under tow to Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Salvage workers are today trying to tow back to Phuket the unregistered passenger ferry that foundered in heavy seas in Phang Nga Bay over the weekend. Phuket Marine Police on Sunday morning rescued the captain and crew of the unregistered ferry Kacha Marine, which sank during a sea squall near the Mu Sung Rocks about seven miles off…
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Phuket storm warnings
PHUKET CITY: The Meteorological Department has issued a weather warning as the Andaman region continues to be battered by heavy rain and strong winds.The warning said strong southwest monsoonal conditions continue to affect the Andaman Sea and southwest coast of southern Thailand.Rain, very heavy at times, continues in most west coast areas.As there is a risk of flash-flooding and landslides,…
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ASEAN Meetings: Phuket residents rush for stickers for fast-track security clearance
PHUKET: Col Piyapong Wongchan, Deputy Chief of the Internal Security Operations Command in Phuket, said this afternoon that Phuket vehicle owners who want special passes to facilitate clearance through the many special security checkpoints now being set up around the island should contact their village heads in Thalang and Kathu districts. More than 40,000 such stickers have already been issued…
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Phuket to get new 378 million baht bridge
PHUKET: The Sarasin Bridge, which joins Phuket to the mainland, is to be dismantled and replaced by a new four-lane structure in a construction project worth 378 million baht. Italian-Thai Development (ITD) said it signed the contract to carry out the New Sarasin Bridge Project with the Department of Highways, Ministry of Transport and Communications, late last month. The work, which is…
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Outta here! Phuket red shirts off to Chiang Mai during Asean meetings
PHUKET CITY: Even as military troops and hardware deploy in Thalang, the leaders of Phuket’s small ‘red-shirt’ movement say they have no plans to disrupt the Asean-led meetings set to begin in Cherng Talay a week from today.In fact, they plan to be in Chiang Mai for a meeting of their own while the talks are on, their leader says.Phuket…
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Internal Security Act now in force in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The controversial Internal Security Act to ensure there is no disruption at the upcoming 42nd Asean Ministers Meeting is now in force, but very few locals will have noticed any difference. Military hardware, much of it on flatbed trucks, rolled onto the island yesterday afternoon. Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is in charge of security during the meetings,…
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Phuket internet cafes to be off line for two weeks
PHUKET CITY: Internet cafes throughout Thailand will be closed for two weeks following the death of a Phuket university student last week. Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai has announced plans to close tutorial schools and Internet cafes nationwide in a bid to prevent the spread of the A(H1N1) virus that causes swine flu. Schools and internet cafes will be asked…
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PSU Phuket closed for two-day cleaning after swine flu death
KATHU, PHUKET: The Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Phuket campus has closed for a ‘big cleaning’ following the death of a 19-year-old student from swine flu complications last week. The cleanup effort will target 1,500 university dorm rooms as well as common areas. Speaking at a press conference at the Phuket Public Health Office on Thursday afternoon, PSU Phuket Assistant…
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Asean meetings: Thai Army rolls onto Phuket
PHUKET: Troops and military hardware began arriving in Phuket today in preparation for the 42nd Asean Ministers Meetings at Laguna Phuket later this month. The convoy of equipment, including flatbed trailers carrying armored vehicles, troop transport trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles, rolled onto the island over the Thao Thepkrasattri Bridge at about 3pm. Military personnel waved on passing traffic after…
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Woman killed by truck in Phuket
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: A young woman died instantly on Tuesday afternoon when a pickup truck slammed into her motorbike as she tried to cross the busy Thepkrasattri Road. Sirintip Jongjalern, 26, was on her way home from work at Blue Canyon Country Club (BCCC) when she pulled onto Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang and into the path of a fast-moving Toyota…
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Phuket university student becomes first swine flu fatality
PHUKET CITY: A university student who died of pneumonia at Vachira Phuket Hospital on Thursday was infected with the A(H1N1) virus that causes swine flu, lab results have confirmed.Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) chief Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang said the student was a 19-year-old in his first year of the engineering program at Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Phuket campus.He was…
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Phuket Governor marks Asarnha Bucha Day
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop this morning attended a Buddhist merit-making ceremony at Wichit Sankharaam Temple on Suthat Road. The ceremony was held to mark Asarnha Bucha Day, which commemorates the Lord Buddha’s first sermon. The governor and about 500 others took part in the traditional ceremony, which involves circling a chedi at the temple three times before placing…
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Fish die mysteriously in Phuket City
PHUKET CITY: Local people were surprised to find large numbers of dead fish floating in the pond in front of Prince of Songkla University’s Saphan Hin campus yesterday morning. When officials from Phuket City Municipality went to investigate, they found excited residents pulling dead grouper, red snapper and sea mullet from the water. While locals bagged fish with dinner in…
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Govt to help Phuket sea gypsies rebuild
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The central government is preparing to build temporary housing for the 17 sea gypsy families whose modest homes were destroyed by fire on the afternoon of June 29. Social Development and Human Security Minister Issara Somchai visited what remains of the Ban Hin Look Diow sea gypsy village early on Saturday morning. For our initial report about…
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Kajonkietsuksa School issues statement on swine flu
PHUKET CITY: Kajonkietsuksa School has had two cases of swine flu and no deaths, the school management has said. School Manager Permkiat Ketkul said the school closed for a “big cleaning” on Friday after the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) confirmed a kindergarten student as having the A(H1N1) virus two days earlier. The PPHO inspected the entire school, which comprises…
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Successful salvage of Chrysalis-T, yacht returns to Phuket
PHUKET: The 77-foot yacht the Chrysalis-T, which was left floundering on the sands of Maya Bay last month after the yacht owner’s 21-year-old son ran it aground during a joy-sail with friends, was successfully re-floated on June 30.The US$2 million yacht is now back in Phuket and is being repaired at the Boat lagoon.Trouble began for the young yachtsmen when…
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Thieving teens victimize blind masseuse in Phuket City
PHUKET CITY: Two teenagers ran off with a blind masseuse’s handbag on Friday night as she was sitting in front of the small massage parlor where she works in Phuket City. Kainapa Jeenapueng, who operates the six-bed Nong Neuy traditional Thai massage parlor in Phuket Villa 1, said the thieves struck at 7.40pm. The victim, 43-year-old Wilawan Maikhong, was sitting…
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Phuket health officials pay surprise visit to Laguna
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: The Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) yesterday morning conducted a surprise inspection tour of the Laguna Phuket resort complex, which will host the upcoming 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers Meetings.The inspection was to ensure that water supplies, food preparation areas and hotel staff are free of disease-causing microbes during the proceedings to be held July 17 to 23,…
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Bt1m in damages from Phuket furniture shop fire
WICHIT, PHUKET : The owners of a furniture shop on Chao Fa West Road have vowed to remain in business, despite a fire that reduced half the store to ashes and caused an estimated 1 million baht in damages. The blaze broke out at the Touch Wood Furniture & Thai Advanced Solar Power Co Ltd store on Chao Fa West…
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