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.
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Officials scramble as illegal tanker sinks, spills oil into Phuket canal
PHUKET: Marine Police scrambled this morning to contain an oil spill from an abandoned illegal tanker that sank in the Tah Jeen Canal on the east side of Phuket Town last night. The sunken boat, modified into an illegal tanker with the capacity to hold an estimated 20,000 liters of diesel oil, was spotted by local villagers at about 7:30am.…
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Phuket Sports: Trouble on the terraces
PHUKET: THE Thai Premier League Co Ltd (TPL) – the mother company of the Yamaha One league (Division 1, or YL1) – collected a total of 230,000 baht in fines in the first two weeks of the YL1 2013 season. Of this amount, Phuket FC were fined 5,000 baht for only having one ambulance at its first home match against…
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Phuket Sports: Scores, storms and Sepang – F1
PHUKET: Well, Melbourne was a great Grand Prix, and we now have some answers to those intriguing questions from the off-season. Last week I put my neck on the block and made some predictions about the Australian GP (click here for article) that were against conventional wisdom. How well did I do? I said slower teams have had a better…
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Archers set their sights on Phuket
PHUKET: The front lawn of the Blue Elephant restaurant in Phuket Town hosted a press conference held by the Phuket Archery Club on March 16, to announce the 3rd Phuket Archery Open, to be held April 6. The organizer of the competition, Montree Thammakij, outlined the event saying: “We have 11 types of competition and 57 trophies, along with medals…
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Phuket sea gypsies unearth human bone under home
PHUKET: Sea gypsies in the southern Phuket beach area of Rawai panicked after discovering a bone believed to be human buried underneath a house.The bone could be up to 100 years old, said Panuwat Uasamal, an archaeologist at the Fine Arts Department Office in Phuket, who was contacted by the sea gypsies.The bone was discovered under Waek Lakkoh’s house while…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Senators walk on Charter change; Korn calls B2tn bluff; Baht dips; Yingluck wants quality
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six senators withdraw support for charter amendment bills The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Six senators have withdrawn their names supporting three bills for Constitution amendment submitted to Parliament on Wednesday.Some said the content of the amendment in the submitted bills had been changed after Pheu Thai MPs…
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Phuket Gazette World News: China’s Xi in Russia; Myanmar riot; Damascus blast; Sarkozy probe; US poll for migrants; Gillard survives
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Curfew in Myanmar town after 10 killed in riots Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A central Myanmar town declared a curfew for a second night yesterday after clashes killed 10 people, including a Buddhist monk, and injured at least 20, authorities said.Riots erupted in Meikhtila, 540km north of…
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Cops confused by drug-free vision of youth
PHUKET: A group of Bangkok teenagers were so scared by an apparition they claim they saw in an abandoned house that police officers thought they were on drugs. But when the results of urine tests came in, all four 13-year-olds turned out to have nothing in their systems – leaving the cops scratching their heads. On February 16, Bukkhalo Police…
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Phuket Tourist Police shootout cop loses leg to gunfight injury
PHUKET: The Phuket Tourist Police officer injured in a shootout yesterday morning has had his right leg amputated in order to save his life. Sen Sgt Maj Pinchai Piyadilok, 34, was quickly transferred to the Prince of Songkla University Hospital in Haad Yai yesterday after he was shot in the leg and in the stomach in a gunfight at a…
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Body washes ashore near Phuket Town
PHUKET: Police are trying to determine the identity of a man whose body was found this morning washed ashore at Laem Tukkae, on the east side of Phuket Town. The man was likely a Burmese crewman aboard one of the many vessels operating out of Phuket, said Phuket City Police Duty Officer Chaleaw Taihoo. “He may have had an argument…
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Russian tour agent in Phuket faces deportation
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration officers arrested a Russian tour saleswoman in Patong yesterday for working illegally and for illegally entering the country. “We inspected the Kathu area for illegal foreign workers,” explained Phuket Immigration Investigator Chidchanok Sakornyen. “As we reached the tour counter of the Leon Speedy Travel company on Thaweewong Road [map here], we found Oleg Tikhomirova, 34, discussing tour…
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‘Deep Throat’ porn star Harry Reems dies
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Deep Throat’ porn star Harry Reems dies at 65 Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Harry Reems, who earned just $100 to have sex with Linda Lovelace in the enormously successful 1972 hardcore pornography film “Deep Throat,” died in Salt Lake City this week after a…
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Phuket Opinion: Housing boom making snail mail slower
Boonsong Maneechai, 52, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, served as Postmaster of the Thaweewong Post Office in Patong for four years before becoming the Postmaster of the Rawai Office in 2009. Here, he talks about why the residents of Rawai and Chalong have been experiencing mail delivery delays, and outlines the steps he is taking to correct the problem. PHUKET: The…
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No wildfire warning in Phuket, but fire alert remains
PHUKET: The lack of rainfall across the island in recent weeks has yet to prompt the authorities to issue a wildfire warning for Phuket, but they have called for people to be vigilant as a precaution.“We have not issued a fire warning as there are small packets of rain falling on scattered areas,” Phuket Forest Protection and Fire Control Director…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Cyprus crisis; Aus PM Gillard in leadership battle; Killer bees attack SA school
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cyprus scrambles to avert meltdown, EU threatens cut-off Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Cyprus considered nationalising pension funds and ordered banks to stay shut till next week to avert financial chaos after it rejected the terms of a European Union bailout and turned to Russia for aid.Crisis talks…
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Sit still Singapore – Live Wire
PHUKET: I was in Singapore last weekend, and frankly am surprised by the way “4G” technology is being marketed in all sorts of places: the tops of taxis, television ads, magazine and newspaper ads, radio and TV. Everybody, it seems, wants to know more about 4G, and how to can get it. It’s not just Singapore. All over the world,…
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Police arrest 25 Sri Lankan refugees trafficked to Phuket
PHUKET: Police today arrested at least 25 refugees found walking along the busy Chao Fa East Road in Chalong. “The group included 18 men, six women and a 2-year-old boy. Among the six women, one was two months pregnant,” Chalong Police Superintendent Krittapas Det-intarasorn told the Phuket Gazette. None of the refugees could present passports, he explained. Some had United…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: DSI chief to repeat ‘Men in Black’ testimony; Monarchy loyalists rally; Thailand gets happy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community House panel wants to hear from DSI chief again over ‘men in black’ The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A House committee yesterday unanimously resolved to summon Department of Special Investigation chief Tarit Pengdith to repeat his statement to the committee about the operations of the so-called “men…
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Phuket Russians targeted in Thai New Year crackdown
PHUKET: Kathu District Chief Weera Kerdsirimongkol, who took up his position in Phuket less than a month ago, will target Russians, Nepalese and Vietnamese working illegally in Phuket, starting on April 14, the first day of the Thai new Year, he told a Provincial Hall meeting yesterday.“Initially, we will work with Phuket Employment Office and issue warnings to businesses involving…
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Gaming bender ends with knife suicide threat
PHUKET: A man who spent all night playing shooting games in a video game shop in Bangkok got out of paying for his night of entertainment by threatening to stab himself in the neck. Chairat Chairak, 30, told reporters he used to work at a larb (a spicy Northeastern meat salad) shop in the Sathupradit Road area of Bangkok. But…
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Phuket Business: Why Google is still the best
PHUKET: The word ‘Google’ is a household name, synonymous with the word ‘search’ or even ‘research’ for most people around the world. The name itself originated from the word ‘Googol’, coined by Milton Sirotta, meaning the number 1 followed by 100 zeros; basically an extremely large number. It represents the vast universe of information that Google makes available to the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Deep South peace talks to table Special Admin Zone
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New administration strategy for South set to be discussed The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: All eyes will be on the first official peace talks scheduled for next Thursday between the separatist movement Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) and Thai officials, during which a proposal to set up a…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Salute, suspicions and sympathy
Katidis banned for rest of Greek season for Nazi salute Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: AEK Athens have suspended Giorgos Katidis for the rest of the season after the 20-year-old midfielder made a Nazi salute to fans during a game at the weekend.The former captain of his country’s under-19 side had already been banned from all international teams for life by…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Polish mine collapse; Congo up in arms; Pakistani schoolgirl shot by Taliban starts school in UK
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Seventeen workers trapped underground at Polish mine Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Seventeen miners are trapped underground in a Polish copper mine after an earthquake caused a cave-in, a spokesman for mine operator KGHM said this morning.The miners were trapped 600 metres below ground at the Rudna mine,…
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Phuket Property Watch: Koh Samui puts on a game face
PHUKET: War is hell. While the opinion on developing tourism often ranges from heaven to hell or somewhere in-between those luxury hotel 400 thread count fine Egyptian bed sheets (as usual I can’t help but take a quick detour off into the realms of upscale bedding). Apparently there is an ongoing controversy over thread count linen and whether the claims…
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Phuket to become land probe role model
PHUKET: A Deputy Ministry of Interior arrived on Phuket yesterday to launch a land title deed investigation geared to establish Phuket as a role model for land probes.“Many plots of land have been acquired through corrupt officials,” Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Prasopdee told the Phuket Gazette.“This investigation, commencing immediately and lasting 30 days, will establish Phuket as a role model…
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Phuket Sports: ‘Imagina na Copa!’
PHUKET: It’s the catchphrase of the year in Brazil: “Imagina na Copa!”It basically means “Imagine what it’ll be like during the World Cup,” and it has become a favourite among Brazilians stuck in traffic or in line at their woefully overcrowded airports.The underlying belief is that the chaos will be worse when Brazil hosts the football tournament in June 2014,…
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Phuket Police deny drug suspect bribe, make “honor arrest’
PHUKET: A senior Phuket City Police officer arrested a woman for tarnishing the name of the Royal Thai Police after she allegedly claimed to have paid him 400,000 baht in bribe money.The news follows Duangporn Luesub, 36, arriving at Phuket City Police Station yesterday to discuss the issue with Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Prawit Engchuan, the sole case officer…
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Land prices upcountry doubling
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Provincial land prices double as big developers go upcountry Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The expansion by leading property firms of their investment in the provinces during the course of last year has resulted in land prices doubling in many areas. The main provinces and areas subject to…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Thailand among Asia’s highest achievers; Thai TV unplugged; drought, erosion bite hard
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand joins ranks of ‘high achievers’ in East Asia The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand has made it into the UNDP’s list of “high achievers” in East Asia, along with China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. The rapid human development progress of Thailand and Asia-Pacific nations…
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