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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New Year opening for new hospital wing
PATONG: Patong Hospital will open its new outpatient and emergency wing on New Year’s Day – just after what everyone hopes will be a quiet holiday season, at least for hospitals. Construction of the 66-million-baht, four-story building began in 2001 and the grand opening will take place on December 21. The new building houses emergency and treatment rooms, an operating…
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Democracy is not my goal – Thaksin
BANGKOK (The Nation): Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday revealed for the first time the value he places on democracy, saying it was not the foremost thing Thailand needed. In a candid statement made ominous by its release on Constitution Day, Thaksin said that as long as the country could progress and people were happy, he was not concerned about the…
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Hefty penalties for New Year drunks
PHUKET: Drivers indulging too liberally in festive spirit or otherwise driving dangerously face severe penalties this holiday season with the harshest punishments reserved for crimes committed over the critical December 28 – January 4 period. Drunk drivers could receive fines of up to 10,000 baht, three months in jail, or both, and all road users involved in collisions will also…
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Shrimp farmers’ loss is consumers’ gain
PHUKET: Shrimp lovers are being urged to eat up vast quantities in Thailand’s national interest. The price of Pacific white shrimp, a popular crop with shrimp farmers, has plummeted because of oversupply and anti-dumping measures being taken in the US and Europe. Prices that were around 200-230 baht a kilogram just weeks ago are now down to 80-100 baht. Tharadol…
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Klong to gain new lease on life
PHUKET TOWN: A plan to clean up and beautify eight kilometers of the Klong Bangyai waterway was launched today at a meeting between local authorities and six American representatives from Portland, Oregon. Over the next two years, a plan will be prepared that could see the klong turned into a boating attraction for tourists as well as ensuring that its…
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British couple arrested in Patong
PHUKET TOWN: A British couple arrested for working illegally in Thailand were released yesterday after posting bail of 200,000 baht each with Phuket Provincial Court. Pol Lt Col Panudej Sookwong, Superintendent of the Phuket Tourist Police, identified the couple as 38-year-old Timothy Jones and Frances Christodolou, 40. Their arrests followed an allegation by a tourist that the pair swindled her…
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Probe launched into 17 tin mines
PHUKET: Vice-Governor Pongpow Ketthong has been appointed by Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura to preside over a committee investigating the titles for 17 plots of land in various parts of Phuket. The plots, covering a total of 1,000 rai, were formerly tin mine concessions. “The investigating committee will check whether the land titles were issued legally,” V/Gov Pongpow told the Gazette today.…
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Mangrove land “encroached upon’
PA KHLOK: The Mangrove Resources Development Office (MRDO) and the Phuket Provincial Forestry Office (PPFO) are expected to ask Thalang police to prosecute the owner of land in Baan Yamoo who, they allege, has encroached on some 15 rai of reserved mangrove land. Thawatchai Nuwan, from the MRDO, and colleagues from the PPFO have been surveying areas of Phuket for…
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B5m blaze grills tuna boat
PHUKET TOWN: A tuna boat loaded with diesel fuel and bottled gas for a month-long trip burned to the waterline in a five-million-baht fire at Rassada on Saturday. The blaze was spotted about 11 am on Saturday but seven hours of efforts by seamen and firefighters failed to douse the flames and the boat was burned to a blackened hulk.…
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Officials check visa service firm
PHUKET: The investigation into fake entry permits for foreigners took a halting step forward recently when Immigration officers visited a “visa service” company and seized 20 passports found on the premises. “We checked the company where, foreigners informed us, they had obtained stamps, and now we are waiting for further instructions,” Pol Capt Krissarat Nusen of the Phuket Provincial Immigration…
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Plis Play wins King’s Cup
PHUKET: There were shouts of Olé across the water today as the newest addition to Spain’s fleet of sailing boats won overall honours in the Racing class in the annual Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. Plis Play, which was launched in Malacca just over a week ago, finished the Regatta with 12 points after a third-place finish today to beat Clariden-Karakoa,…
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Police raid FantaSea over tiger cubs
KAMALA: About 20 officers from the Forestry Police Division, the Highway Police and the Tourist Police raided the FantaSea entertainment center in Kamala today and seized 14 tigers that had been transported there, allegedly without permission. Officers said that the tigers, most of them cubs aged three to six months, had been put on show for tourist photo sessions after…
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Concern over missing divemaster
KAMALA: Police and workmates say they are concerned for the safety of a divemaster who vanished after a party at a bar in Kamala last Saturday (November 29). Phikun “Nori” Srisaksungnoen, 25, from Kamala, had been celebrating with colleagues after returning from diving off Phi Phi. She was last seen at 10 pm, leaving behind her car and her two…
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Buffalo meat smugglers thwarted
KOH KEAW: Veterinarian Jirayu Niranvirot of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office [PPLO] – working on a tip-off – today discovered two tons of smuggled buffalo meat in a pick-up truck outside a house in the Baan Na Nai area of Koh Keaw. Illegally-imported Australian cheese was also found. Sunart Wongchawalit, Chief of the PPLO, told the Gazette that the market…
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Day of protests in King’s Cup
PHUKET: Winds of up to 20 knots made for some of the most exciting racing so far on the third day of the King’s Cup Regatta off Kata Beach today. The stiff breeze, choppy conditions and a congested start in the Racing and Premier Cruising classes resulted in a large number of protests being lodged. Some of these were still…
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Phuket “winning’ War on Drugs
PHUKET TOWN: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura today announced that Phuket is winning the war on drugs. “The island is not completely rid of them, or of the users and dealers, but society will no longer be affected by them,” Gov Udomsak declared. At a special ceremony at Saphin Hin, Gov Udomsak and others – including Vice- Governors Pongpow Ketthong and Winai…
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King’s Cup: Hi Fidelity moves ahead
PHUKET: In the first of two races today in the Racing Class of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, veteran sailor and 2001 winner Neil Pryde steered Hi Fidelity to provisional honors, followed by Spanish boat Pris Play with Fred Kinmonth’s Stella-Minter-Ellison finishing third. The highly rated Thai boat Pasaya, which is being chartered by a team from Switzerland this year…
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Wildlife sanctuary goes for double-pricing
THALANG: Khao Prataew Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) will begin collecting standard entrance fees of 200 baht from foreigners and 20 baht from Thais next week, the Chief of the sanctuary, Awat Nitikul, has announced. K. Awat told the Gazette that the park – which includes the Tonesai and Bangpae waterfalls – attracts about 4,000 tourists a month. Most of the foreigners…
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Immigration to close during holidays
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has issued a reminder to foreigners that it will be closed during three coming public holidays. Pol Capt Krissarat Nusen said that if a foreigner’s scheduled visit to the PPIO fell on a public holiday, he or she could visit on the next working day without penalty – “but only on that…
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Banged to rights
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: As 40-year-old Somsak Chinaphan sat in front of a mom and pop store in Phibul District on October 27, local police turned up and placed him under arrest for rape. Accompanying the arresting officials, and boldly pointing the finger of blame, was his ex-wife and mother of their three children, 38-year-old Somreudee Chinaphan. K. Somsak, the owner…
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Massively massaged
PATHUM THANI: When it comes to traditional Thai massage, some like it harder than others. But few people suffering from stiffness or poor circulation want to emerge from massage treatment looking as if they had just gone five hard rounds in a Muay Thai fight – which was the type of service a renegade massage parlor in Pathum Thani had…
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Plis Play takes line honors in King’s Cup
PHUKET: The first race in the 17th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta started with good winds gusting up to 15 knots when the action got underway off Kata Beach today. Under overcast skies with some rain the night before, racing started in good winds which hung around during the early afternoon instead of dropping off early, as in past regattas. Race…
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Phuket and Andamans sign memorandum
KATA: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop trade links with its counterpart from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The agreement is supported by the two associations’ respective governments, but comes over objections by some Port Blair-based NGOs that fear improved links could introduce social vices to…
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Illegal guns trigger 10 arrests
PHUKET: Although Phuket residents still have until December 15 to turn in illegal firearms without fear of prosecution, crime statistics from Phuket Provincial Police show that 10 arrests on charges of illegal gun possession were made between November 1 and November 25. And even though the province was declared drug-free on Loy Kratong Day – November 8 – there were…
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Planet’s purple people in a spin
PHUKET TOWN: Police raided the newly-opened Planet Concert Hall disco in Phuket Town soon after midnight on November 29 and checked revelers for drugs and proper ID cards. Ten of the 486 people at the disco on Weerapong-Hongyok Rd tested positive when their urine samples turned purple and will be required to check with police in 10 days when the…
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Police hit underground lottery vendors
PHUKET TOWN: Seven vendors of underground lottery tickets were arrested on Friday, and 17,680 baht cash, a number of illegal lottery tickets and ticket sales records were seized. Masquerading as punters, officers led by Phuket Provincial Security Affairs Chief Nikorn Torhiranyapreuk bought tickets from the vendors between noon to 4 pm, then turned around and arrested them. K. Nikorn named…
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Australian wins Laguna Triathlon
CHERNG TALAY: Simon Thompson from Canberra, Australia, has won this year’s Laguna Phuket Traithlon in 2 hours, 35 minutes and 15 seconds. It was the 25-year-old Australian’s first appearance in the event, though he already has a significant international profile, having won the French Grand Prix and the ITU Hokkaido in Japan in 2001 and the ITU Luxembourg last year.…
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Phuket roads ‘getting safer’
PHUKET TOWN: More than 500 motorbike riders turned up at Saphan Hin yesterday to pick up free crash helmets and listen to a road safety speech given by Deputy Transport Minister Nikorn Chamnong. The event was part of a government “Turn on your light, put on your helmet” campaign to increase road safety awareness in the 20 provinces with the…
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Ammunition found in toilet
PHUKET TOWN: One hundred rounds of assault-rifle ammunition and two mortar rounds were found hidden in the ceiling of the toilet of a home in Phuket Town yesterday. The house owner, Somkid Khunsang, 35, reported the finding to the police and believes that the munitions, discovered by a plumber, were left by previous occupiers. K. Somkid told the Gazette that…
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Jet-ski crash kills second tourist
PATONG: A young Swedish tourist was killed in a jet-ski crash off Patong yesterday – almost exactly one month after the death of a 13-year-old German prompted officials to decide they must take steps to prevent more fatalities in the wildcat jet-ski rental industry. But proposed action to rid the island of unregistered jet-skis and strictly control legitimate beachside operators…
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