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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800 Phuket PAD members to join protest in Bangkok
PHUKET CITY: At least eight buses will leave from Phuket late this afternoon to transport Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD) members and supporters to join a huge anti-government protest in Bangkok tomorrow. Phuket PAD spokesman Natjarong Ekpermsup told the Gazette this morning that the buses will leave from the Esso service station opposite Satree Phuket school at 5 pm. At…
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Police nab bike thieving teens
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police have arrested three youths for motorcycle theft. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong presented the three 16-year-old suspects, along with a wide variety of motorcycle specialty parts and three stolen motorcycles, to the Gazette outside Phuket City Police Station this morning. The arrests were made after police spotted a blue Yamaha Mio, which had been…
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Nai Yang Beach restaurant operators fight eviction
NAI YANG BEACH: The owners of 13 beach-side restaurants located inside Sirinath Marine National Park are refusing to relocate to new premises that were built for them at the park’s visitors center, saying that the new shops are too small and distant from the sea. The latest dispute in the area is only the latest chapter in a decades-old dispute…
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Phuket second highest HIV infection rate in Thailand
PHUKET CITY: Phuket now ranks second among Thailand’s 76 provinces in terms of HIV infection, with the large number of nightlife entertainment venues and the sex industry seen as the cause. Dr Wiwat Sitomnoch of the Phuket Public Health Office reported that the incidence of HIV infection among teenagers and young adults in Phuket is rising, as are the number…
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Aussie stabbing: no worries, mate
PATONG: Officers at Patong Hospital have denied reports in a local Thai-language newspaper that an Australian serviceman on shore leave was in a coma after being stabbed repeatedly following an altercation in Patong on the night of November 5. In fact, the soldier was treated for only minor stab wounds, which were stitched in the hospital. He was released shortly…
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All systems go for Coral Reef Squadron
PHUKET DEEP SEA PORT: Muslim clerics and Buddhist monks held religious services on the morning of November 15 to bless 10 aircraft that will be be sunk off Bang Tao Bay to create the “Coral Reef Squadron,” the first artificial reef project of its kind in Thailand. The services started at 10:30 am with a ceremony led by Muslim Wittaya…
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Nuvo to play benefit concert for Coral Reef Squadron project
PATONG: Veteran pop band Nuvo will play a benefit concert at Jungceylon on Friday, November 28 to raise funds for the Coral Reef Squadron artificial reef project, which will have its grand opening ceremony the following morning. ‘For Sea Foundation’ Press Coordinator Siri “Poo” Vorabutra said the six-member band, with hits like Pen yang nee tung tae kerd luey (I’ve…
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The next Miss France is on Phuket
NAI YANG: Phuket’s natural beauty got even more attractive this week with the arrival of 36 Miss France contestants who are here to film a segment of the pageant to be broadcast in France next month. On November 14 the Miss France contestants and their entourage, totaling 85 people, arrived at Indigo Pearl resort, where they will based during their…
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Mysterious documentary filmed today in Phuket City
PHUKET: At least four pairs of contestants taking part in a travel documentary are racing around Phuket using various forms of transport today. One of the challenges that faced the contestants was to pull each other through Phuket City in the midday heat using rickshaws as they searched for “King Rama V Park”. The contestants pictured here made “four wrong…
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Rage on the road turns fatal
PATONG: A hot-headed youth has been arrested after he shot and killed another man during an argument at a stoplight in Patong on Thursday morning. The victim was 32-year-old Kamjon “Neng” Pungprom. He died from a single gunshot wound to his abdomen. The shooting occurred at the three-way intersection along the new Phang Muang Road, not far from the Patong…
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High-season tourism outlook bleak: PTA
PHUKET CITY: Despite a large drop in fuel prices internationally, the outlook for this year’s high season for tourism remains bleak, a top tourism industry leader says. Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) Vice-President Bhuritt Maswongsa told the Gazette that current occupancy rates and bookings from now until the end of the year should result in an island-wide average occupancy rate of…
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Curious cockroach gives traveler trauma
CHIANG MAI: At some point in their lives, most people are likely to have had some pretty unpleasant bus trips, whether on a crowded Greyhound Bus in the States or a steaming hot, jam-packed third-class “Orange Crush” hurtling though the Thai countryside. If you think your bus journeys have been hell, consider the case of one passenger from Khon Kaen…
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Brit arrested on drug charges
KATHU: The government’s 90-day “war on drugs” that started last week has claimed its first foreign casualty in Phuket: a middle-aged British man was caught in possession of ya Ice (crystal methamphetamine) and other narcotics with intent to sell. Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark identified the suspect as UK national Peter Neville, aged 45. Mr Neville was arrested at…
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Local Muslims begin sacred journey
MAI KHAO: Phuket Governor Preecha Ruangjan and other top officials attended a ceremony, on Sunday, at Phuket International Airport to send off some 250 local Muslims leaving to attend the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, local Thai-language news sources have reported. Also attending the farewell were Phuket Senator Thanyarat Atchariyachai, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising and…
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War on drugs underway
BANGKOK (TNA): The government has launched a new round of drug suppression in a ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat last Thursday. The 90-day “war on drugs”, which kicked off on November 3, is scheduled to last through till the end of January. In his speech announcing the crackdown, PM Somchai encouraged authorities to devote their full attention…
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Phuket Carnival dates announced
PATONG: This year’s Phuket Carnival will take place from December 15 to 20 at Patong Beach, some six weeks after the traditional starting date of November 1. Phuket Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban said this year’s events will differ slightly from carnivals in past years, which have featured top rock acts including Modern Dog and even a performance once by the…
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Deadline for local ‘yellow pages’ listings
PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2009 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s ‘yellow pages’, have until 6pm on Wednesday, November 12, to enter (or update) their listings. Businesses entered after that date will appear in the Gazette Guide Online only – not in the hard-copy book for 2009. Listings, which are for Phuket Phang-nga, Krabi and Samui businesses only, can be…
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UK cancels visas of Thaksin, wife
BANGKOK (The Nation): The British Embassy has revoked entry visas of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Pojaman. The cancellations, which were decided while the couple were outside England, were notified to airlines yesterday. The decision was made by the United Kingdom Border Agency, and the notification email was signed by Bangkok-based Immigration Liaison Manager Andy Gray. The…
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Israir announces direct flights from mid-December
PHUKET: Israeli airline Israir announced Wednesday that as of December it will begin operating two flights to Thailand, including direct flights between Israel and Phuket. Israel-based news service ynetnews.com reported that the flights, aboard Airbus A-330 planes, will be available during the height of Phuket’s high season: from December 15 to February 28. The flights will leave Israel on Sundays…
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Urgent need for B Rh Negative blood
BANGKOK: Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand (FCCT) member and well-known local restaurateur Thomas McNamara is in critical condition and in need of blood type B Rh NEGATIVE. If you or anybody you know has this rare blood type, please contact Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok (Tel: 02-6671000) where Mr McNamara is being treated in Intensive Care Unit 526. A transfusion will help…
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Cobra cocktails, roadside rat-ions
SUPHANBURI: The sight of roadside stalls selling seasonal fruit, diesel-flavored roast chicken or other comestibles is a common one on any road trip in Thailand. Along the roads of Suphanburi, however, the offerings are a bit more exotic, with cobras and field rats the current hits.On October 27, Sala Phromphim, who owns five stalls selling the unusual delicacies along the…
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Phupanee and Yunsuwan crash out of Phuket Open Volleyball
KARON: Crowd favorites Orradee Phupanee and Aunchalee Yunsuwan of Thailand crashed out in straight sets (21-16 and 21-15), losing to the more experienced Swedish pairing of Tora Hansson and Camillia Nilsson yesterday in the Swatch FIVB Phuket 2008 Women’s Open volleyball tournament. The Swedes, seeded sixth, won the match in straight sets in just 27 minutes. At 16 years of…
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Bus crash claims 2, injures 30
MAI KHAO (NBT): A fully-loaded bus headed for Satun overturned and crashed at about 9 pm Sunday night, killing two people and injuring at least 30 more. The state-run Andaman News service reported that the accident occurred on the outbound lane of Thepkasattri Rd, in the Ban Maak Prok area of Mai Khao Village 1. Tah Chat Chai Police Superintendent Sakchai…
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Laguna Phuket turns to China, Middle East as Europe stays away
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket, the giant five-star resort complex on Bangtao Beach, Phuket, says it plans to look more and more towards China and the Middle East next year to compensate for a continuing plunge in bookings from European tourists. The operators expect the global financial crisis and domestic political unrest to continue affecting international arrivals next year, particularly Europeans, long…
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Kajonkietsuksa School celebrates Halloween
WICHIT: Students and teachers of the Kajonkietsuksa School’s bilingual program today dressed up for a range of special Halloween activities being held at the school. These fun events are taking place before an abundance of parties all over the island this evening, including a ‘Sexy’, black-and-gold dress-up Hellfire event at the Watermark. What? Halloween gone sexy?
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Alarm over HIV infection among gay men
BANGKOK / PHUKET: While the overall figure for people living with HIV/Aids is declining, new infections among men who have sex with men have been increasing drastically during the past few years, causing grave concern at the Public Health Ministry. Dr Somchai Chakrabhand, Director General of the Disease Control Department, said yesterday that a recent survey of gay men across…
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Flushed condoms trigger sewage catastrophe
PATHUM THANI: Most people have been warned at some point not to flush condoms down the toilet for risk of blocking the outflow pipe and having a nasty overflowing toilet to deal with. But who has ever seen it actually happen? The management of one short-time hotel in Muang District discovered, to its chagrin, that a steady input of second-hand…
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Central gets its HomeWorks done
WICHIT: After a year under construction, the 1-billion-baht HomeWorks home improvement mall opened its doors to the public for the first time on Saturday, October 25. Built by the CRC Power Retail Company Limited, one of the many arms of the massive Central Retail Corporation, the bypass road’s latest mega-retail outlet is located at the Darasamuth School Intersection, right across…
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They’re here! Box Jellyfish found in Phuket waters
PANWA: The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has issued an official warning following the collection of almost 40 box jellyfish in a trap in shallow waters, off Ao Nambor, on Phuket’s east coast. Some 38 of the jellyfish, which favor shallow brackish water, were recovered from a fish trap in a mangrove area on July 30. Eighteen more were found…
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Big Buddha gets big bell
KARON: Work on the the enormous Buddha image in the Nakkerd Hills is now about 90% complete and a huge bronze bell was installed at the site to mark King Chulalongkorn Memorial Day on Thursday.The one-million baht bell, which weighs one metric ton, was a gift from the Rassada Cooperative Credit Union. Work on the image, officially known as Phra…
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