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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Rose renews role as official TYS Ambassador
PHUKET: The Thailand Yacht Show (TYS) team has announced that Rose Maitland-Smith has renewed her role as the show’s official Ambassador. The second TYS, for which the Phuket Gazette continues as National Media Partner, is set to take place at Ao Po Grand Marina, December 15-18. The show will give visitors access to a large cross-section of exhibitors, including international…
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Governor’s Letter: Improvement plans for Phuket
PHUKET: Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada assumed his role as Phuket Governor on September 30, 2015. He is a Phuket native with a Master’s degree in political and administrative science from the National Institute of Development Administration. Last month, he was awarded the honor of ‘best drug fighting governor’ by the Deputy Prime Minister. Here, he talks about his plans to improve…
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Business Buzz: Keeping up with tech trends
PHUKET: If you’ve been following this column regularly, then you will be aware of the statistics on the soaring increases in use of the Internet and Social Media in recent years. Coupled with this is the substantial increase in the use of smart phones. Many platforms such as YouTube and Facebook have now specifically set up self-filling forms to assist…
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Suspect in Phuket Town shooting surrenders
PHUKET: One of the perpetrators involved in the Phuket Town slaying of a hill-tribe woman surrendered to Phuket City Police on Saturday. Police are reporting that the man claimed he was only the driver and knew nothing about the shooting before the gun was fired. On July 8, two suspects shot a woman in the head in a souvenir shop…
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Island View: A little help is all I asked for
PHUKET: A few days ago, I had some business to take care of in Cherng Talay. On the way back, my car started smoking up and shut down in front of the 7-eleven near the Heroines’ Monument. I was a bit shocked and turned on the hazard lights for the safety of other drivers. I exited my car and asked…
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Phuket disgrace: plastic pollution in the Andaman
PHUKET: My concerns over plastic pollution were stimulated anew by an excellent analysis in the China Daily called ‘Drowning in Plastic’, and also by the cover story in a recent edition of the Phuket Gazette in which a seasoned local fisherman expressed surprise at the decline in fish catches in our seas. The main contributor to that story – the…
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Migrant parents refuse to cremate daughter
KOH SAMUI: The father of a four-year-old girl killed by a pickup truck in a temple has stated he will refrain from cremating her body until his family receives compensation. In Thailand, it is customary to cremate the body of the deceased after their funeral rites are administered. The Burmese parents, Zo Ao, 49, and Cho Ma Rui, 43, held…
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Finance: A formula for prosperity
PHUKET: There is a fantastic equation that can be used in almost any decision you make in life. I learned this from the supplement company that I work with but it also applies to financial planning, life planning, and many other areas in life. The equation is simply X=Y. In the equation we can substitute any action for X so…
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Opinion: Reconsidering our stance on plastic marine pollution
PHUKET: The current government has made a commendable effort in convincing the European Union (EU) and other international observers that it will impose some order over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) practices in the Thai fishing industry. The fact remains, however, that bureaucrats from Brussels to Bangkok have little to no control over the commercial forces that are turning our…
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Thai businesses gearing up for Myanmar investment
PHUKET: Before a crowd of around 100 Thai business people, General Chetta Thanajaro, a former commander in the Royal Thai Army, urged Thai’s to band together with bellicose rhetoric. “Let’s drive our country forward,” Gen Chetta told the congregation at Boat Lagoon. “Our nation has been abandoned for too long. We, the Thai people, were fighting each other. I believe…
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Biz Chat: The four Ps of marketing
PHUKET: The dictionary definition of marketing is ‘the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising’. Through the next series of articles, we will discuss the concept of ‘marketing mix’ and the ‘4 Ps’, particularly as they apply to small businesses. These are product, price, place and promotion. Any freshman marketing student will…
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Election Commission encourages turnout for referendum
PHUKET: A government-backed campaign is trying to raise public awareness in Phuket ahead of the August 7 vote on a new draft constitution. Phuket Election Commission (PEC) director Kittipong Thiengkunagrit said this week that his office is encouraging an estimated 297,000 voter turnout for the referendum, put forward by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) through the Constitution…
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Bike crash at Bang Khu construction site
PHUKET: A Thai man is unconscious in Vachira Hospital after crashing his motorbike into a guardrail at the Bang Khu underpass in the early hours of the morning. Maj Somchai Nuboon of the Phuket City Police reported that officers received calls from locals about a motorbike that had fallen into a three-meter-deep ditch at 5:20am. Police found the driver, Kittikorn…
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Tourist Police Chief: job well done
PHUKET: Tourist Police Commander Surechet Hakpan and Phuket Provincial Police Commander Teeraphol Thipjaroen inspected officers and held a press conference to discuss the tourism situation on the island yesterday. “We came here to visit our brothers in the force, the Phuket Tourist Police,” Major General Surachet said. “We are here to support them, and our missions are only completed through…
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Record-breaking turnout for Day 1 of 2016 Cape Panwa Raceweek
PHUKET: Perseverance and patience were the skills in most demand on Day 1 of the 2016 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek as Principal Race Officer (PRO) Simon James and his on-water team tracked around Chalong Bay and surrounds in search of wind. It was testing and trying for the record 47-boat fleet and 500+ sailors. As 14:00 approached, the PRO…
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True Corp plans Thailand launch of Pokemon Go game in September
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community True Corp plans Thailand launch of Pokemon Go game in September Phuket Gazette / Reuters BANGKOK: Thailand telecoms company True Corp Pcl plans to launch Nintendo Co Ltd’s smash-hit mobile phone game Pokemon GO in the country in September, a top executive at the Thai firm…
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How much would you pay for a Phuket pineapple?
PHUKET: Pineapples, batik, goat milk and lobster will be branded and promoted by Pracha Rath Rak Samakkee to help boost the province’s grassroots agricultural economy. Pracha Rath Rak Samakkee Phuket was first launched on March 31, as a government-backed corporation with the aim of developing and promoting the province’s strengths, such as tourism, agriculture and locally-produced goods under the One…
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Beached yacht at Ao Nang refuses to budge
KRABI: Officials and volunteers on Wednesday made another attempt to salvage a yacht that has been grounded at Ao Nang Beach since July 6, after breaking free of its anchoring during a storm. The vessel’s owners, a Russian man and his Ukranian partner, were on the mainland when the boat went adrift. Alexander Travkin, 31, and Julia Mironova, 29, say…
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Halal food expo at Sapan Hin this weekend
PHUKET: A plethora of halal food is being served up at Sapan Hin from tomorrow through Sunday, July 24, by more than 80 vendors from southern provinces under the OTOP (One Tambon One Product) initiative. “As well as a fantastic variety of spicy food and southern-Thai-style cuisine, cultural performances and other forms of entertainment are planned for the three-day festival…
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Motorcyclist dies after rear-ending truck at high speed
PHUKET: A young motorcyclist died after slamming into the back of a truck at high speed and sustaining massive head injuries on Thepkasatri Road this morning. The accident occurred on the southbound lane in the Sapam area. Police named the deceased as Parinya Jansakul, 23, who was riding a pink Scoopy-i scooter. He reportedly hit another scooter being ridden by…
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Australian, 30, found dead in Rawai room
PHUKET: The decomposing body of a 30-year-old Australian was found in an apartment room in Rawai yesterday morning after the landlord called police about a bad smell coming from the room. Police entered the room on the second floor of the apartment complex at 10:05am to find the body with a bloody mouth lying on the bed. They also found…
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Phuket marine chief replaced – again
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Office chief Surachai Burapanontachai is to be transferred at the end of July to the Marine Department headquarters in Bangkok. Mr Surachai will be taking up the position as the department’s acting secretary. Mr Surachai is scheduled leave his post here next week after handing over his duties to his replacement, former Samut Prakarn Marine Office chief…
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Naka Noi land dispute settled, as Land Department Gen revokes ownership
The Land Department has concluded a Naka Noi land ownership dispute by revoking land ownership documents held by Six Mountain Company Co Ltd. Land Department Director-General Apinun Suetanuwong told the Phuket Gazette that he would side with the standing committee presiding over the dispute on July 14. That committee found that the NorSor3Kor of 24 rai held by the company…
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Karon hit with historic floods
PHUKET: Karon experienced the worst flooding in decades after a heavy downpour this morning, the municipality’s deputy mayor Ittiporn Sangkaew told the Phuket Gazette today. Shops and houses opposite hillside construction sites along Patak Road were inundated with mud and water up to one meter deep. “This is the worst flooding we’ve seen in decades,” said the deputy mayor. The…
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Koh Lanta Yai vice president nabbed in B20mn bribery sting
KRABI: Koh Lanta Yai Administration Organization (OrBorTor) vice president Anusorn Wangphon was arrested yesterday in an anti-corruption sting operation. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) allege that the 49 year-old official requested 20 million baht from a businessman in exchange for the issuance of land title deeds. The operation was led by NACC Assistant Secretary-General Colonel Ittiphol Kitsuwan, who said Mr…
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Migrant workers arrested during registration
PHUKET: Officers from the Phuket Provincial Office (PPO) and the Royal Thai Navy arrested 80 migrant laborers during two raids in Thalang on Sunday. The raids came after the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) encouraged illegal laborers to register throughout the month of July, with PPEO officials stating that the government is showing leniency with employers and illegal workers (story…
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Thieves plague Srisoonthorn
PHUKET: Thalang police are looking for a suspect or suspects who allegedly stole the batteries from a parked six-wheel truck in Srisoonthorn yesterday. Lt Suporn Muangkhai of Thalang police said officers were notified of the theft by the truck driver around 7:30am. Forty-seven year old Pipop Sasan from central Thailand said his vehicle was parked near the Democrat Party’s Phuket…
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Three-day public holiday begins for Buddhist lent
PHUKET: Government offices, along with many private businesses, will be closed over the next three days, as Buddhists across the country mark Asanha Bucha Day and the Khao Phansa Holiday. Alcohol sales are also prohibited during the official public holidays on Tuesday and Wednesday. Asanha Bucha, which falls on Tuesday, commemorates the Lord Buddha’s first teaching of Dhamma (Truth) to…
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Penis skinned in shrimp farm accident
PHUKET: A teenage shrimp farm employee had the skin of his penis ripped clean off when he fell onto a spinning mechanical aerator used to oxygenate the water. The victim, a Myanmar national aged 17, suffered severe blood loss. “He was writhing in agony and covered in blood as locals rushed him to Thalang Hospital. He was later moved to…
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Dolphins washing ashore, injured or dead
PHUKET: A dead dolphin was discovered off a Patong Beach and another is recovering at a Royal Thai Navy facility on Koh Lanta. Both were discovered by scuba divers on Saturday. Phuket Marine Biological Center veterinarian Patcharaporn Gaewmong told the Phuket Gazette that she believes recent discoveries of sick, injured or dead cetaceans are likely the result of monsoon season…
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