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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Phuket maid murder re-enactment sparks outrage
PHUKET: Emotions ran high in Thalang yesterday afternoon as local villagers and relatives of Sunee Premprasert, the maid whose throat was slashed by an intruder on July 22, reacted angrily to the re-enactment of her murder. Mrs Sunee, 43, was stabbed some 80 times before her throat was slit and she was left to die bleeding on the floor at…
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Snake removed from Norwegian’s Phuket bungalow
PHUKET: Rescue workers from the Phuket Ruamjai Kupai Foundation yesterday removed a large snake from the home of an elderly Norwegian tourist. Chalong Police received a report at 11:30am that a large snake had entered the man’s bungalow on Soi Suki in Chalong Village 9. When workers from the foundation arrived, they found the 78-year-old Norwegian standing inside the dwelling.…
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Phuket Police sting meth dealers
PHUKET: Chalong Police nabbed two alleged ya bah (methamphetamine) dealers in a sting operation in Phuket yesterday. Rawai resident Sanchai “Mack” Phetphlanurak, 21, and Kriangkrai “Krai” Sukprasert, 37, from Nonthaburi, are in police custody and are being charged with possession of a Class 1 narcotic with intent to supply. Chalong Police led by Superintendent Wichit Intorrasorn announced the arrests at…
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US Ambassador’s daughter dead in fall
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. The 17-year-old daughter of Eric John, the US Ambassador to Thailand, accidentally fell to her death from the window of an apartment block near the Empire State Building in New York. The Daily Telegraph reports this morning…
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Phuket tourism: UK growth in 2nd Q augurs well for Phuket
PHUKET: Despite the current woes of the pound, new economic statistics and forecasts for the UK lend credence to the Thai Tourism Authority’s recently stepped up efforts to market Phuket in that country. With growth hitting a nine-year high, The Mail Online reports this evening that Britain’s economy expanded at a faster pace than first thought in the second quarter…
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Phuket roads claim another victim
PHUKET: A motorcyclist died early this morning after his motorbike collided head-on with a pickup truck on Chao Fa East Rd in Chalong. Police identified the deceased as Chaiya Choatang, 29, originally from Takua Tung District in Phang Nga. Mr Chaiya’s motorbike collided with the pick-up, truck driven by Chalong resident Kitti Lukchan, at about 3:30am. Driving southbound at the…
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Phuket murder suspect Lee Aldhouse arrested at UK airport
PHUKET: Fugitive murder suspect Lee Aldhouse has been detained by airport authorities while trying to enter the UK, the Gazette has learned. Lt Col Anukul Nuket, investigating officer in the case, confirmed that Chalong Police received the news from British officials yesterday. Aldhouse is said to have departed Thailand from a small border crossing in Khlong Yai, Trat province, on…
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Bullish on Phuket; Pedophilia suspects nabbed
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Bullish on Phuket Foreign investors find Phuket a lucrative spot in which to do business due to its international appeal as a beach destination, its eye-catching natural beauty and year-round tropical climate, says Allan Zeman, owner of…
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Phuket car crash fatality was Russian
PHUKET: The woman who died in a high-speed car crash collision on the bypass road in Phuket earlier today was a 30-year-old Russian, police have confirmed. For our previous report of the accident, which took place near Tesco-Lotus at 4:20am, click here. The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of kin.
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Korean firm ready to invest in Phuket tunnel
PHUKET: Representatives of a Korean firm are the latest potential East Asian investors to meet the Phuket Governor to discuss involvement in a Phuket transport mega-project, this time the proposed Patong Tunnel. Accompanied by Phuket MP Raywat Areerob, a delegation from the AZ Worth Trust Company was received by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop at his office in Phuket Provincial Hall…
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Phuket Software Park announces “Tech Talk” schedule
PHUKET: Software Park Phuket has announced the schedule for its “Tech Talk” seminars for September as follows: September 2: “Blogspot: An easy way to create a website,” by Phuket Innovation Incubation Center, Software Park Phuket. Thai-language presentation. September 23: “Creating a blog with WordPress,” by Kudos Technovation. Thai-language presentation with English-language slides. September 30: “Business on Facebook / Fan Page,”…
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Woman dies in Phuket car crash
PHUKET: A young woman died of injuries sustained in a high-speed car crash on the bypass road near Tesco Lotus early this morning. Phuket City Police were informed of the crash at 4:20am. The accident occurred in the southbound lane, in front of the Tesco shopping complex. Arriving at the scene they the found a red Toyota Vios overturned on…
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Phuket firm wins national award
PHUKET: The Phuket Software Factory has won a Ticta Award for its iPP health-information software. Ticta is a national software competition jointly organized by Thailand’s Information and Communications Technology Ministry and the Association of Thai ICT Industries. The Phuket-developed iPP is used as a clinical tool to generate information ranging from personal health data to overall medical data. The data…
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Nude, Rude in Phuket; Isaan air link; Phuket leads recovery
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Nude is rude in Phuket Phuket is to host a fashion runway show to benefit the ‘Phuket Has Been Good To Us’ foundation, a children’s education charity. The event will debut ‘Nude is Rude’, the new label…
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Chinese interested in Phuket light rail project
PHUKET: The island’s dream of having a reasonably-priced, efficient public transport system took a small step forward on Monday, when representatives of a Chinese construction conglomerate confirmed their desire to build a light rail network for Phuket. Phuket MP Raywat Areerob on Monday brought representatives of the Ershisanye Construction Group for a second meeting with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngob. It…
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Phuket Police identify body of suicide jumper
PHUKET: Police have identified the woman who committed suicide yesterday by jumping from a Phuket condominium block. The woman was Thai, not Korean as initially speculated. Phuket City Police Duty Officer Yongyuth Krongmalai identified the deceased as Nantanut Meenoy, 25-year-old owner of the Image Design clothing store on Phun Pol Road Soi 7 in Phuket Town. A native of Petchaburi…
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Phuket Tourism: Thailand Fan Club launched
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand is setting up the Thailand Fan Club in Europe to help draw tourists to Phuket and other key destinations in the Kingdom, including Bangkok. “The TAT feels confident the club will encourage tourists from Europe to return to Thailand this peak season,” TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni said yesterday. More than 5,000 tourists from major…
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Shotgun ends Phuket rooftop brawl
PHUKET: A morning drinking session on a Karon guesthouse rooftop today resulted in a bloody brawl that ended only after someone fired a homemade 12-gauge shotgun into the air. Chalong police arrived at the Medi Cerrino Guesthouse on Taina Rd after receiving a report called in about 10am. On the roof level of the three-story guesthouse officers found Joseph James…
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South African military chief vacations in Phuket
PHUKET: South Africa’s top military commander arrived in Phuket today on an unofficial visit. Gen Godfrey Nhlanhla Ngwenya, Chief of the South African National Defense Force, was welcomed upon arrival at the Naval Section runway at Phuket International Airport by Vice-Admiral Chumnum Ajwong, Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area. General Godfrey, 60, and his wife Busisiwe Portia arrived…
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Death plunge victim probably Korean: Phuket Police
PHUKET: Police suspect that a woman who apparently fell to her death from a condo block in Wichit earlier today was Korean. The body of the woman crashed through the corrugated zinc roof of a Burmese construction worker’s camp at the base of the seven-story Pornsawan Condotel, located on Chao Fa East Road in Wichit. The death was reported to…
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Phuket Poll: Current “low” season – good or bad?
PHUKET: The island is about half-way through the “low season” for tourism and approaching its statistically rainiest month, September. With that in mind, now seems an appropriate time to take stock by asking our readers the simple question: How well is the Phuket economy doing in the current low season? To have your say in the latest Phuket Gazette readers’…
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Phuket consuls’ meet: Rape unit, passports top agenda
PHUKET: Topping the billing at today’s meeting of top-level provincial officers with honorary consuls for 24 countries responsible for Phuket and southern Thailand were the setting up of a police anti-rape unit and the handling of passports.Hanns Schumacher, German Ambassador to Thailand, told the Gazette, “We have a general problem in that local police in particular who come in contact…
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Heavy rain causes Phuket-bound flight to divert to Krabi
PHUKET: Due to heavy rain and strong winds this morning, a Thai Airways flight was unable to land safely at Phuket International Airport and had to be diverted to Krabi. The conditions also caused delays in the arrival of a number of domestic inbound flights, although no international arrivals were affected. An officer at the airport control tower said several…
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Phuket resorts lax in warning tourists of surf dangers: poll
PHUKET: Almost 75% of Phuket Gazette readers polled feel that resorts on the island are not doing enough to warn their guests of the potential dangers at beaches during the monsoon season. The poll was prompted by a recent spate of tourist drownings and a call by exasperated members of the Phuket Lifeguard Club for more cooperation from resorts. Overall,…
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Charity golf tournament in Phuket
PHUKET: Golfers get your gear out for the Charity Golf Tournament and Ball to be held on August 29 at Laguna Phuket. Both events are organized by The Rotary Club of Patong and will be to support disadvantaged children. Tee off for the Charity Golf Tournament will be at 11:30am at Laguna Phuket Golf Club (LPGC). The golf format is…
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FC Phuket trounce Nakhon Sri Thammarat, 4-1
PHUKET: FC Phuket scored three second half goals to cruise to a 4-1 win at Nakhon Sri Thammarat yesterday. The Southern Sea Kirin had already clinched the league, with 46 points going into the match, but were looking to build confidence for their big home match against Thai Premier League side Osotspa Saraburi FC in the opening round of the…
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Phuket Opinion: Where bureaucrats fear to tread
PHUKET: A key question asked in the pop parable Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson is, “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?” The story deals with the inhabitants of a fictional Maze who one day find quite unaccountably that their store of cheese has vanished. The message of the piece is that change is inevitable; those who…
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World Expo 2020: Phuket fails to make the cut
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Ayutthaya, Chon Buri and Chiang Mai have been short-listed in a six-month-long effort to name a Thai candidate city to host World Expo 2020. The three possible venues, which have emerged after a six-month study by…
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Phuket motorists advised to avoid Chao Fa East Rd
PHUKET: Motorists traveling along Chao Fa East Rd are in for a real treat this weekend, as drain installation work along a stretch of the busy artery begins today. The roadwork will affect northbound and southbound traffic along the section of road from Dowroong School south to the Tor Song Saeng Hotel, just before Pattana Thongthin Rd. Chao Fa East…
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Phuket police auction seized motorbikes
PHUKET: Chalong Police this week took the opportunity to clear out their car park with a public auction of motorbikes seized as evidence in drug-related cases. It was short work, with all 18 motorbikes sold in an hour on Wednesday. The proceeds, a total of 100,100 baht, will be handed over to the Ministry of Finance, said Snr Sgt Maj…
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