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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Phuket Immigration clarifies 90-day rule change
PHUKET CITY: Following a spate of complaints from confused foreigners entering Thailand on “visa exemptions”, Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen of the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office has made a statement to clarify the 90-day rule and how it was changed, effective April 1.Visa exemptions, commonly referred to as “visas on arrival”, allow tourists from certain countries who arrive at the border…
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Officials call for post-tremor calm
PHUKET: The Phuket Office for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) has asked people in beach areas to remain calm after tremors were felt in Patong and Kamala this afternoon.The call for calm followed reports of an earthquake in Indonesia, at 3:02 pm, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale ODPM officer Damri Sungsap told the Gazette, “The earthquake was centered at the north…
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Island’s official population up by 2,262
PHUKET: Between March 21 and April 20, Phuket’s three District Offices registered 2,262 new residents, bringing Phuket’s official population to 315,557.Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Piya Bharatasilpin reported the increase to Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit during the monthly meeting of the Phuket Provincial Security Committee yesterday.There were 1,881 new registrations during the previous reporting period, from February 21 to March…
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Crocodiles spotted at city tin mine lagoon
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office (PPFO) is warning the public to stay away from an abandoned tin mine on the south side of town, following reports by local residents that two or three crocodiles were spotted there yesterday morning.Provincial officials are trying to track down and catch the dangerous reptiles, but thus far to no avail.Aroon Kerdsom, Chief…
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Woman killed in water truck crash
CHALONG-KATA: A woman on her way to work at a hotel in Kata was killed this afternoon when she was struck by a water truck that crashed into a pickup truck and her motorcycle before plunging down a steep embankment on the hill between Chalong and Kata.Pol Lt Col Peeraphan Meemak, an Inspector with the Chalong Police, identified the dead…
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Immigration Chief denies offering private security service
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) Superintendent Pol Col Ittipon Atchariyapradit has dismissed claims that the PPIO will launch a private security service, contrary to claims being made in an advertising flier currently being circulated on the island.The flier claims that, “A special task force will work together with an approved Security Company in order to provide and equip…
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Engine fire sinks Phi Phi ferry
PHI PHI ISLANDS: More than 100 tourists were safely rescued by the Krabi Marine Police today after a fire broke out on the ferry they were taking from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi Don.Phuket Marine Police Officer Lt Col Prathueng Srilamontree identified the vessel as Jet Wave 3, which departed from Rassada Harbor in Phuket this morning bound for Koh…
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Police shooting sparks Koh Yao mob
PHANG NGA: Some 100 angry villagers on Koh Yao Noi descended upon the Koh Yao Police Station on Saturday after a youth, who was shot by a police officer the day before, died from his injuries.The villagers arrived around 1 pm with the body of 20-year-old Theerawut Kumuda, who died 10 am Saturday morning.Pol Col Jakkarit Srisuwan, Superintendent of the…
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Wolves win Phuket Sixes title
KARON (The Nation): Two teams from Perth fought out a dramatic final at the Phuket International Cricket Sixes on Sunday, with the Joondalup Kinross Wolves pipping the Leeming Spartans with a mighty 6 off the last ball to claim the Sixes title.Following heavy overnight rain, which washed out the second half of the charity Twenty20 match on Saturday night, hot…
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NESDB meets Governor over development issues
PHUKET CITY: A representative from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit today to discuss a wide range of development issues facing the island.Thanin Pa-Em, Director of Competitive Development Office of the NESDB, explained that he was in Phuket to review and follow up on projects supporting development of the island, such as projects…
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Lamma CC hot at Cricket Sixes scorcher
KARON: Lamma CC from Hong Kong are hot favorites to win the Montpelier Phuket International Cricket Sixes 2007 after beating 2005 champions and pre-tournament favorites Corner Tigers from Pakistan in the first day of play yesterday at the recently returfed Karon Stadium.Round 2 of the tourney was played today under a scorching Phuket sun, with both Lamma CC and Corner…
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Immigration denies dive shop crackdown
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration Office Superintendent Pol Col Ittipon Atchariyapradit has denied that Immigration officers were involved in what seems to have been a shakedown attempt at a Patong dive shop.He believes the men were impostors.In an email sent to the Gazette, it was explained that on April 3 a foreign dive instructor emerged from the company’s dive training pool, where he had…
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Knife-wielding taxi driver defends his Jatukam
PHUKET CITY: Realizing that he had lost one of his precious Jatukam images, a motorbike taxi driver went on a rampage Monday, vandalizing a car and threatening residents of a government housing estate with a large knife.Pol Capt Nikorn Chuthong of Phuket City Police Station identified the man as Aphinan Chanthana, 41.“He went crazy after leaving one of his five…
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One-way surveys yield contradicting results
PATONG: The results from two public opinion surveys of Patong’s one-way traffic system are in – one says the public is in favor of keeping the system, the other says it is not.Prince of Songkla University, Phuket campus, surveyed 759 people in Patong, with 60% saying that are satisfied with the one-way system, but 40% saying they are not happy…
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Five die in one-car accident
PHUKET CITY: Five Thai tourists from Krabi died after the pickup they were traveling in slammed into a power pole near Super Cheap on Thepkrasattri Rd early yesterday morning.The tourists were driving back to Krabi about 5 am when the driver lost control of the car, which careered off the road and into a power pole in front of Sor…
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Third death in the last hours of Songkran
KATHU: In the fading hours of the government’s “seven days of danger” road safety campaign over the Songkran holidays, a 17-year-old motorbike rider died after his motorcycle and a Toyota Fortuner collided at the junction of Wichit Songkram Rd and the entrance to Bang Wad Dam.At yesterday’s ‘Governor Meets the Press’ meeting it was explained that Eakasit Khamnoi was driving…
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A professional disagreement
PETCHABUN: In any profession, accepting the rise of a younger generation can be difficult; no one likes to see their skills being surpassed by up-and-coming youngsters. Going by a recent incident in Phetchabun, the world of hired killers is no different, apart, perhaps, from being a bit more dangerous. In the early hours of April 14 Maj Kittiphong Phromsuwan, an…
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All a-bout love
RAYONG: Many Thais are fond of a wager and high stakes betting on muay Thai bouts is certainly nothing unusual. The organizers of a charity Thai boxing night in Rayong, however, claimed to have a world first when two Assistant Village Chiefs went head to head in the ring to fight – not for a large sum of cash, but…
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Hitman hit
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A gunman-for-hire listed on the Police Region 8 most-wanted list was whacked, not by zealous cops or victims’ relatives out for revenge, but by his long-suffering companion as he lay asleep in bed. At 10 am on March 30, Chawang District Police Inspector Lt Col Sompong Prohmreuangchart received a report of a shooting at house number 134…
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Holed up
SRISAKET: When the stresses of life and the pressure to be polite become too much, the idea of retreating into a little place to get away from it all can be quite tempting. This is exactly what one man in Srisaket province has done – for the past 20 years. While out visiting his charges in the province’s Nam Kliang…
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Pot luck with the spirits
UDON THANI: When two clay pots covered by a white sheet were found by the side of the road in Ban Pon Sawan village bear Udon Thani city on February 19, villagers nervously began to hypothesize what could be inside. The sheets, tightly tied around the pots, were covered in cryptic inscriptions, so no one dared to open the pots…
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Of monks and munitions
KALASIN: Police arrested 38-year-old monk Phra Phornphanom Sommai February 26 after villagers reported seeing him shouldering a gun while sitting pillion on a motorbike speeding through Nong Hua Ling village, Kuchinarai district. When police caught up with him, they found that he was drunk, said Maj Somchai Phukongchana, Investigating Inspector at Kuchinarai District Police Station. Police then went to search…
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Invincible amulets?
KALASIN: Hubris often comes before a fall, but the demise of one superstitious man in Kalasin province perhaps came more predictably than most. The body of the man in question was found in a small shack in a forest of this northeastern province. Maj Phabun Titiyan, an Inspector at Kalasin Muang District Police station, said that the victim had been…
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Teen arrested with murder victim’s gun
PATONG: Police arrested Theerasak Sae-Ong, 18, last Friday after he was found carrying a short-barrel shotgun that he claimed he bought from Pongsakorn “Kho” Naksuk, who was shot dead on the south side of Phuket City a week earlier.Sub Lt Naruewat Putthawiro of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that a security guard at Night Station Pub and Disco on…
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Police shooting sparks Thepkrasattri Rd blockade
KOH KAEW: About 1,000 people from Koh Kaew blocked Thepkrasattri Rd for four hours this afternoon after a 17-year-old local youth died after being shot by a policeman on the bypass road early this morning.The protest caused long tailbacks with some tourists forced to carry their luggage past the mob and continue their journey in another vehicle.The protest was sparked…
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Policeman charged over temple brawl
CHALONG: Chalong Police have charged a Crime Suppression officer with disturbing the peace following a brawl at a Songkran fair at Wat Karon.The officer, named by police as “Sgt Maj Bird”, or better known as “Ja Bird”, has not been suspended from duty.Lt Col Peeranut Chatinkaew, a Crime Suppression Inspector at Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that he was…
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Chindapol injured in college shooting
PHUKET: A young member of the Chindapol clan, one of the largest families on the island, remains unconscious after being shot outside Phuket Vocational College in Saphan Hin Sunday night as he was waiting for a friend.Maj Sarit Butnongsang, Duty Inspector of Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette, “The injured youth is Duangdon Chindapol, 18. He was shot by…
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Historic bank to be converted to a museum
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Municipality will renovate two Sino-Portuguese buildings in the heart of Phuket City with the aim of preserving the town’s cultural past.The old Chartered Bank building at the intersection of Phuket Rd and Phang Nga Rd until recently housed the Phuket City branch of Siam City Bank, but will soon be converted to a cultural museum.The Sino-Portuguese…
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Teenager comatose after being shot in the head
PHUKET: A Phuket youth has been left comatose after being shot in the head as he rode his motorcycle at Saphan Hin early Monday morning.Police have yet to identify a suspect or determine the motive for the shooting.Jakkrid “Dong” Chukamchang was watching football and drinking at a friend’s house on Sunday night.Lt Col Somkid Boonyarat, an Investigating Inspector at Phuket…
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Phuket ready “To Be Number One’ province
PHUKET CITY: Phuket is one of two provinces in the South to compete in the To Be Number One Province finals, to be held on June 22 at the IMPACT Arena in Muang Thong Thani, in suburban Bangkok.Phuket will also be represented in the To Be Number One Community, by Baan Lipon Khao Lan; and in the To Be Number…
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