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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War weapons recovered in Kathu
KATHU: Police recovered a briefcase full of explosives along a road in Kathu early Monday morning after investigating an anonymous tipoff. Responding to a call phoned in on the emergency 191 number at about 1:30 am on January 5, Deputy Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Col Apirak Hongthong ordered officers from Thung Thong Police sub-district to secure the location before…
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Japanese tourist drowns
KARON: A 30-year-old Japanese tourist drowned at Karon beach yesterday about 6pm. The man, named by police as Kenji Maehama, went for a swim with a group of friends in front of the Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort, where the group was staying. Two got into difficulties, apparently because of a strong undertow. Beach guards were able to retrieve both, but…
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Laos travel warnings issued
WASHINGTON: The US Department of State has warned US citizens against travel in parts of Laos, including Vientiane province, routes along the Thai-Laos border, and on roads throughout the country, following a number of deadly attacks in recent months. The State Department said in its warning, issued yesterday (January 6), that the attacks, although not apparently directed at Americans or…
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Roads claim three lives over holidays
PHUKET: Three people were killed on Phuket roads from December 29-January 4, the same as over last year’s holiday period, despite a marked increase in the number of police checkpoints and arrests for drunk driving. There was, however, a dramatic decrease in the number of injuries recorded. Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura this morning told the Gazette that all three victims…
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“Clean’ venues win award
PHUKET: In a move to recognize “appropriate” entertainment venues, the Phuket provincial government has awarded certificates and signs to five entertainment establishments on the island under its new “white entertainment” scheme. First to receive the awards are Tai Pan and Banana discotheques, in Patong, and Collector Pub, Timber Hut and Indian daeng (Red Indian) Pub in Phuket Town, which all…
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Narathiwat “still safe’ say tour agencies
PHUKET: Visa runs through Narathiwat are still safe despite a wave of attacks on police, soldiers and schools across provinces close to the border with Malaysia, travel agents from Phuket and Narathiwat said yesterday. Attacks on Sunday morning in Narathiwat province left four soldiers dead, 20 schools torched and a small arsenal of weapons seized. Two police officers in neighboring…
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Plea to motorists to pay tax
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket vehicle owners have until February 25 to pay outstanding tax – and avoid hefty fines and other penalties, including cancellation of registration documents, the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) announced today. Prasit Amarapal, Chief of the PPTO, warned errant motorists that failure to respond to the February 25 deadline would result in drivers having to pay the…
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Hundreds flock to register as poor
PHUKET TOWN: Up to 800 people declared themselves “poor” on the first day of registration at the island’s three district offices in Phuket Town, Kathu and Thalang. The project – part of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s War on Poverty – is being piloted in eight provinces around the country. So far some 400,000 families, thought to be about 10% of…
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Elite card price for expats to double
BANGKOK (The Nation): Expatriates will be charged two million baht next year for a Thailand Elite privilege card – double the current price – because they can use member services and facilities more often than foreign tourists or visiting businessmen. “We originally intended to set the price for expatriates at two million baht because of the many advantages they have,…
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More illegal immigrants arrested
PHUKET: Illegal immigrants topped this month’s crime statistics with 176 arrests between December 1-25. Figures released by Phuket Provincial Police show arrests for gambling coming in second with 169 people taken into custody from 48 raids. Another 43 people were charged with involvement in underground lotteries. Police apprehended 32 people for prostitution and made 48 arrests for possession or use…
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Maritime safety highlighted
PHUKET TOWN: Although not citing any specific threat, Phuket Marine Police are implementing plans to work more closely with other agencies to gather and share intelligence. Deputy Commander of [the national] Marine Police, Pol Col Ularn Anekboon, said, “Phuket, like Koh Samui and Pattaya, has many marine tourist centers and we have to maintain security at all of them. “All…
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Dramatic increases in land value
PHUKET: Phuket property owners can expect higher land taxes in the new year as the Phuket Treasury Office (PTO) has announced an island-wide average increase of 65% in government-appraised land values. The new rates, which reflect the island’s continuing property boom, will be effective from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2007. The Bangkok-based Valuation Authority, which is responsible for…
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Mayor leaves legacy of development
PHUKET TOWN: Projects totalling 70 million baht – including a park, high-tech traffic lights and a new symbolic sculpture – are under construction in Phuket Town, marking the end of an era for outgoing Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok. A 10-rai site on Thalang Rd – once home to the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority complex – is under development as a multi-use…
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CSD called in after diver’s disappearance
KAMALA: The family of missing divemaster Phikun “Nori” Srisaksungnoen traveled to Bangkok on December 22 and filed a missing-person report with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), which is now investigating the disappearance independently of Kathu Police Station. K. Nori’s mother, 54-year-old Soi Mungpanklang, and her younger sister Thanachat Srisaksungnoen, 23, told CSD officials that the investigation by Kathu Police Station…
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Patong murder suspect arrested
PATONG: The alleged murderer of a go-go dancer is now in Phuket Provincial Prison, following his December 23 arrest in Bangkok by a team of Kathu Police investigators. The man, identified as 26-year-old Akharadech “James” Phusuwan, was arrested without struggle in his native Bangkok following an investigation led by Pol Maj Chawalit Petchsripia. Akharadech was wanted for the August 20…
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Tourist numbers tipped to rise
PHUKET: New airlines, new air routes and more charter flights should help to increase the number of tourists coming to Phuket next year by about 10%, Lt Cdr Boonchart Prompoon, Director of the Airports Authority of Thailand, Phuket, said on Wednesday. He was speaking at the launch of an “All Smiles All the Time” campaign at Phuket International Airport, a…
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Christmas first for Governor
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura tomorrow night will be the special guest answering questions from the island’s English-speaking residents during a new weekly English-language radio show. The program will give listeners a chance to send or call in questions to local officials, with responses read out over the air, usually in a live format. Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit today said the…
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Gov vows to get rid of jet-skis
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura vowed today that laws covering jet-skis will be strictly enforced from now on – and that jet-skis will vanish from Phuket beaches within seven years. His dramatic announcement follows incidents in October and November in which two European tourists were killed. “We haven’t enforced the laws strictly in the past but we will from…
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Paradorn goes down in straight sets
CHERNG TALAY: In the final day of play in the Paradorn Super Tour 2003 held at Laguna Beach Resort yesterday afternoon, Chilean Marcelo Rios swept aside Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets, 6-4; 6-4, causing the Thai tennis superstar to end up winless in the four-city exhibition tournament bearing his name. Playing on a synthetic grass surface in front of a…
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World dive record broken off Patong
ANDAMAN SEA: Briton Mark Ellyatt has set a new world record of 313 meters for the deepest solo scuba dive, beating the previous record by five meters. Describing his historic dive on Thursday, in waters four hours off Patong, Mr Ellyatt said, “It’s a lonely trip, like a trip to the Moon.” The descent into the depths took a mere…
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Illegal arms crackdown underway
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s top law enforcement official says that road checkpoints and surprise home searches are now being used in an all-out effort to rid the island of its remaining illegal firearms, now that the December 15 deadline for the amnesty on handing unregistered weapons to the government has passed. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Veerayuth Sittimalic told the…
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Bid to regenerate coral at Maithon
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) and the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization are to launch a 1.5-million-baht project to regenerate coral around Koh Maithon, five kilometers south-east of Phuket. Although the technique has been employed on Australia’s Great barrier Reef, this is the first time this kind of project has been attempted in Thailand. Nalinee Thongtham, a coral…
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Senior police officers on the move
PHUKET: Four senior local police officers have received transfers to other provinces as part of a national reshuffle of some 750 of Thailand’s most senior police officers. Locally, the officers being promoted – and their replacements – are: Pol Col Sayan Krasaesan, Superintendent of Phuket Immigration Police, is moving to Bangkok to become Deputy Commissioner of Immigration, Region 3. His…
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Jobless benefit lifts social security cost
PHUKET TOWN: Compulsory salary deductions for social security insurance will increase from 4% to 5% from January 1 for workers and for employers. Yaowalak Yangyuen, Chief of Phuket Social Security Office, said, “The Cabinet has approved the increase because we have added unemployment benefits to social security.” Thus, if an employee earns 10,000 baht a month, he or she will…
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Chalong plaza plan cancelled
PHUKET: A 150-million-baht project to develop 40 rai in Chalong into a 700-shop complex has been abandoned. Five thousand customers a day and 120 million baht in annual profits were anticipated for the Phuket Legend Plaza Center but the developer, Eat & Art Management, shelved plans before any work started. All shop reservation fees for the project – which was…
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TOT promises fast Internet, more phones
PHUKET: TOT Phuket plans a huge expansion of high-speed Internet links, telephone exchanges and listed numbers, the Gazette has learned. The Director of Marketing and Customer Services Center at the TOT Phuket office, Suporn Chuenpimolchankij, said that the 12 existing telephone exchanges would be boosted to 37 and 19,530 telephone numbers would be added to the existing 40,676 numbers. The…
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Patong gears up for polls – again
PHUKET: The Phuket Election Commission (PEC) is preparing to organize an election for Patong Municipality following the dismissal of former Mayor Chalermsak Maneesri after two Provincial Court judges ruled that allegations of cheating in Patong Municipality elections in November last year were proven. Those wishing to enter the murky realm of Patong municipal politics will have from December 15 to…
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Illegal firearms amnesty ends
PHUKET TOWN: The amnesty for handing in unregistered guns and ammunition expired at the end of yesterday. The final tally of weapons handed in or found during the amnesty period was 18 firearms, four explosive devices and more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition. By district, the numbers were: Phuket Town: 10 firearms, 1,300 rounds of ammunition, four explosive devices. Kathu:…
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Property auction raises B64 million
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s first teleconference auction of bad-debt properties has been declared a success, with prices tripling expectations and huge interest being shown in the process. While there were no bids from Bangkok via the telescreen, about 300 interested parties and bidders turned up at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday, Saeksan Suksang, Chief of Phuket Legal Execution Office…
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Reminder on re-entry permits
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has issued a reminder to foreigners with one-year permits to stay that they must get a re-entry stamp in their passports before taking a trip out of the country – or go right back to square one. Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen of the PPIO told the Gazette “When they have a one-year…
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