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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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Phuket Readers’ Poll: Thaksin assets verdict
PHUKET TOWN: With the Supreme Court ruling on the fate of 76 billion baht in seized assets allegedly linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra due on Friday, what do you think the judgment will be? What impact will it have on the Phuket tourism industry? Have your say by voting in the latest Phuket Gazette readers’ poll by clicking…
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Belgian fraud suspect nabbed at Phuket Bus Station
PHUKET TOWN: A Belgian fugitive wanted by police for nine months in connection with two fraud cases was arrested on February 15 at Phuket City Bus Station aboard a bus bound for Bangkok. Yvon Van Eyersen, 57, was sought for his involvement in the misappropriation of 6 million baht in customer investments from his Phuket Patong Assest Company last year.…
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Phuket launches ambitious debt reduction program
PHUKET: More than 4,000 Phuket residents owe a total of 432 million baht to loan sharks, it emerged last week. The figures were revealed at a recent meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall attended by government officials, police officers and bank representatives, all members of a new provincial committee set up to deal with the problem of usury and indebtedness. The…
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Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll: 2am best closing time for Patong
PHUKET TOWN: Opinion on the best closing time for bars and other nightlife entertainment establishments in Patong varies widely, but overall 2am was the most popular closing time according the results of the latest Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll. In the poll, readers were asked: What do you think is the best closing time for nightlife venues in Patong? Possible answers…
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Phuket water supply update
PHUKET TOWN: Addressing concerns that Phuket may not have enough water to get through the current dry season, the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO) has reported that the Bang Wad Reservoir in Kathu has water to last until May if not replenished with rainfall. Mr Issara Anukool, who heads the PPIO’s water management department, said the reservoir currently hold 5.3…
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IP listing: Phuket Pineapple gets put in its proper place
PHUKET: The iconic ‘Phuket Pineapple’ has been registered on a list of 20 ‘geographical identity’ products by the Department of Intellectual Property. News of the listing, made in November, was announced by Phuket Provincial Commercial Affairs Office Director Sompong Onprasert during a meeting of provincial office chiefs at Phuket Provincial Hall. Also included on the list from the region were…
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Old Phuket Town Festival underway
PHUKET TOWN: Motorists planning to go downtown tonight should take note, as sections of several major arteries are now closed to traffic for the Old Phuket Town Festival that starts today. From 3pm until midnight on all three days of the festival, the following roads will be blocked off: Phuket Road: From the intersection with Dibuk Road south to the…
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Brick-wielding thug robs Phuket 7-Eleven, gets Bt360
CHALONG, PHUKET: A down-and-out man who robbed a 7-Eleven store by threatening the shop assistant with a brick this morning got off with just 360 baht in coins – and was arrested soon after. Mongkhol Pintajan, 33, told police he robbed the store because he had no money. Police said Mr Mongkhol walked into the 7-Eleven on Wiset Road in…
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200,000 baht snatched in Phuket heist
CHALONG, PHUKET: Two men on a motorcycle snatched and rode off with a bag containing 200,000 baht in cash outside a rice shop in Chalong yesterday afternoon. Sompon Famangkorn, an employee of Namsaeng Rice Company, was getting out of his pickup outside the Nam Riab Rice Shop on Chao Fa West Road when the heist happened at around 3:30pm. Mr…
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Phuket encroachment problem continues to worsen
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket deputy governor tasked with putting an end to encroachment on the island is calling for more arrests. A provincial anti-encroachment panel chaired by Vice Governor Teerayut Eimtrakul met for the first time this year at Phuket Provincial Hall on Wednesday morning. The following statistics compiled by the panel showed a disturbing increase in the number of…
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Phuket hospital painted pink
PHUKET TOWN: A hospital has become the latest piece of Phuket to get the pink paint treatment. The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization Hospital, now under reconstruction on Anupas Phuket Karn Road in Phuket Town, will now join the Phuket Town buses and the new roadside pavilions which dot the island’s roads in being painted various shades of pink. PPAO President…
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Thaksin asset ruling: embassies issue travel advisories
PHUKET: The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is warning its citizens throughout Thailand to exercise ‘great caution’ in advance of a Supreme Court ruling on the fate of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s 76 billion baht in seized assets. A statement posted on the FCO’s website and signed by British Ambassador to Thailand Quinton Quayle reads as follows:…
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Phuket gears up for Bike Week 2010
PHUKET: Organizers of Phuket Bike Week 2010 expect the event to generate 200 million baht in tourism revenue from big bike enthusiasts visiting from more than 20 countries. Organizers and local authorities met with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop earlier this month to discuss preparations for the event, to be held from April 8 to 11 this year. Representing the Tourism…
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Big name DJs in bumper beach fest
PATONG, PHUKET: Nine international DJs will be blasting out beats on Patong Beach for the island’s biggest beach party yet from 6pm until 1am this Thursday and Friday. Organized by Seduction Nightclub and 24Phuket.com, the two-day event at the beach end of Soi Bangla dubbed ‘Festival On The Sand’, will see the much anticipated return of award-winning DJ David Morales from…
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Cement truck overturns in Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: A heavily laden cement truck overturned along the Patong to Kamala road in Phuket around midday today. The driver, 57-year-old Sukhon Sang-iat of Nakhon Sri Thammarat lost control of the vehicle while rounding a curved section of the road. The truck, carrying ten tons of Insee brand ready-mixed concrete, fell into a roadside drainage ditch and overturned. Mt…
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Phuket plastic bag plan hits snag
PHUKET TOWN: The ‘Phuket No Shopping Bag’ project was officially launched on Sunday, but a controversial plan by island retailers to begin charging for plastic bags is apparently on hold. The launch ceremony, which included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), was held at 4:30pm at Central Festival Phuket. The ceremony was presided over by Energy Minister Wannarat…
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HIgh on human ashes
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: In the latest drug craze to hit the south, youths in Nakhon Sri Thammarat’s Muang District are reportedly drinking a concoction that includes the ashes of recently-cremated corpses and extract from leaves of the krathom tree. ‘Phon’, a 17-year-old from Muang District, said he and his gang of about 10 friends had tried every known concoction of…
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Phuket aid for Haiti tops B3m
PHUKET: Money raised in Phuket to help earthquake-stricken Haiti may surpass the 3-million-baht mark, as the Rotary Club of Patong has revealed it has sent more than 400,000 baht to its Canadian-based Shelter Box relief project. Club president Woody Leonhard said matching donations from the Canadian government will result in more than 800,000 baht going to the charity. Shelter Box…
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FAT Football result: Phuket 0 Phattalung 0
PHUKET: FC Phuket have a new squad, a new nickname and a new kit, but it was the same old story at Surakul Stadium yesterday, when they played to a scoreless draw against Phattalung. The match was the first of the season in Division Two (Southern Section) play in the Football Association of Thailand. Hopes were high for FC Phuket…
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Aussie air steward dies in Valentine’s Day plunge in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: A young Australian air steward fell to his death at Phuket’s largest hotel yesterday. Police believe Nathan Edwards, 25, fell five stories at the Hilton Arcadia Resort and Spa in Karon after trying to enter the wrong room. Chalong Police Inspector Boonlert Ongklang said he received a report that a tourist had plunged to his death at the…
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‘Chang Noi’ born in Phuket
RAWAI, PHUKET: Tourists have been flocking to the Saiyuan Elephant Camp in Rawai to see a baby elephant, or ‘chang noi‘, born there over the weekend. Prapoj Hoysung, mahout of the 32-year-old mother Phang Phimpha, said the baby was born at 3:16am on Saturday, just as Phuket was preparing for the dual celebrations of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day…
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OPINION: In defense of Phuket tourism
PHUKET: There is widespread support in Phuket for Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop’s idea to fit all taxis and tuk-tuks on the island with meters. It is not possible to quantify the economic damage the tourism industry in Phuket has suffered from the notorious patchwork of transport syndicates that continue to operate in defiance of the law, colluding to keep passenger fares…
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Phuket raises Bt 2 million for Haiti
PHUKET TOWN: An island-wide fundraising event by the Phuket Red Cross to provide aid to victims of the Haitian earthquake disaster raised about 2 million baht, organizers say. The campaign culminated in a telethon on local television and donation drive on Soi Bangla on Thursday night. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop was among the many volunteers going from bar to bar…
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Phuket ready for Chinese tourists
PHUKET: Roughly 800,000 foreign tourists are expected to take part in concurrent celebrations of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day in Thailand today, with many of them having arrived in Phuket on charter flights. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said on Friday that 120,000 ethnic Chinese were expected to arrive inn Thailand from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong…
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Phuket beach safety delayed
PHUKET TOWN: The return of lifeguards to Phuket beaches has been delayed because no companies have bid for the contract to supply them. The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) has had to sweeten the contractual terms to encourage more bidders to come forward. The winning company will now have to supply beach guards for 10 months of the year instead…
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‘Patong Taxi Federation’ formed
PATONG, PHUKET: More than one thousand tuk-tuk, motorbike and car taxi drivers are banding together to form a new ‘Patong Taxi Federation’. One of the organization’s primary goals will be to clean up the image held by many of Patong’s taxi drivers. A second aim will be to improve traffic flow by having a central body that will oversee all…
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FC Phuket start season on Sunday
PHUKET TOWN: FC Phuket will kick off the new football season against Phattalung at Surakul Stadium on Sunday. The team endured a disappointing first campaign, failing to win a single home game and finishing second to last in the Football Association of Thailand’s second division, southern section. The team, which has changed its name from Phuket FC to FC Phuket,…
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Paragliders to get high in Phuket
RAWAI, PHUKET: International daredevils are getting ready to throw themselves from the island’s southernmost cliffs as part of Phuket’s first ever ‘Fun Fly’ paragliding festival in May. The festival will take place at Laem Phromthep, Nai Harn Beach, Ya Nui Beach, and Koh Deang, where Phuket’s only wind turbine is located. The death-defying event is the brainchild of Phuket Paragliding…
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Haiti fundraiser in Phuket tonight
PATONG, PHUKET: The Phuket Chapter of the Thai Red Cross Society is holding a large fundraiser for victims of the Haitian earthquake in Patong tonight. From 6pm until midnight, performers from Phuket FantaSea and Simon Cabaret will take to a stage set up by the beach at Loma Park. There will also be a fashion show staged by the local…
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Home invasion: Frenchman fends off Fortuner attack in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Chalong Police are hunting for the owner of a ‘beer bar’ who allegedly drove his Toyota Fortuner into the house of a former friend, then entered the home and began smashing property. When Chalong Police arrived at the house on Soi Saiyuan in Rawai around 2pm yesterday, they found 31-year-old Gabriel Troisgros in a state of shock. Mr…
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