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.
-
Sponsored Best facial treatments in Bangkok for radiant skin
If urban life has left your skin feeling as stressed as the Friday evening rush hour, there’s no reason to let it dampen your spirits. The answer to your skin's prayers might just involve less commuting and more pampering. Thankfully,...
-
New Bowling alley opens at Big C
PHUKET: The first 30-lane bowling alley in Phuket, built at a cost of more than 30 million baht, was officially opened at the Big C Supercenter this morning. Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi presided over the opening of CS Bowl , which was also attended by movie stars Yutthapichai Chanlayka, Clerk Rollings and Jayjintai Antimanon. Initially, CS Bowl will charge just…
-
US serviceman arrested for rape
PATONG: A serviceman from the visiting American warship, the USS Bonhomme Richard, has been arrested and handed over to the US Navy after allegedly raping a U.S. servicewoman in the early hours of yesterday. He is also alleged to have assaulted an Australian passer-by who tried to stop the rape. The accused man was named by Patong police superintendent Col…
-
Bag-snatching gang arrested
PHUKET TOWN: Nine suspects, including five teenagers, were arrested yesterday for their alleged involvement in a series of bag snatchings, following a five-week police investigation into their activities. Police say that all of the suspects have admitted to being party to a number of snatchings in and around Phuket Town. The first case, on March 25 at around 7:45 pm,…
-
Man drowns near community college
PHUKET TOWN: A man was found dead in a pool in front of Phuket Community College at Saphan Hin early this morning. Pol Lt Rassada Kluengwong, of Phuket Town Police Station, said that the man was found at about 2:30 am by a group of teenagers. After removing the body from the water, police found 90 baht in the dead…
-
Airport passenger traffic higher than last year
PHUKET: The total number of passengers arriving or departing from Phuket International Airport in March increased by 2.52% compared with the same month last year. Statistics released by airport officials show that 364,586 passengers arrived at or departed from the airport, compared with 355,631 passengers last year. The number of international passengers increased by 6.8% to 141,025, while the number…
-
Phuket crash kills Central family member
THALANG: The youngest brother of Central Group Chairman Suthikiati Chirathivat died in a car smash in Phuket on Saturday night. Pol Maj Suppawat Suksiri, of Tah Chat Chai Police Station, said that Sutthipong Chirathivat, 42, was driving his Volkswagen alone from his house in Baan Kor-Ane along Thepkrasattri Rd toward Phuket Town at about 9 pm. In rain on a…
-
Wife’s lover “hacked officer hubby to death’
KOH MAPHRAO: Desha Shum-nina, a 40-year-old community police officer for the Samphan community, was hacked to death yesterday morning, allegedly by his wife’s boyfriend. Called to the scene, police led by Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, entered K. Desha’s single-story wooden house, which was surrounded by hundreds of local villagers, and found his body lying…
-
Heart-broken singer hangs herself
PHUKET TOWN: A singer and part-owner of a karaoke bar killed herself because she thought her husband was once again seeing a former girlfriend, police believe. Following an anonymous phone call, officers found the body of Shanikarn Boonsomsu, 24, hanging by a rope in the kitchen of her home at Phanthep Condo Town on Mae Luan Rd, Phuket Town, at…
-
Bid to boost public bus service
PHUKET TOWN: Monthly passes and additional buses are to be introduced to counter complaints that Phuket Town’s public bus service has failed to live up to expectations in its first month of operation. The most frequent complaint by passengers was over the frequency of service. As a result, the Vice-President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, Samroeng Chaison, told the…
-
Yet another Burmese savagely murdered
PHUKET TOWN: Police are conducting a murder investigation after a man, believed to be a Burmese construction worker, was found dead with his neck almost completely severed. Called by nearby residents, officers found the body face down on a pile of sand in Soi Kingkaew-U-Tid, near Rassada Port, at about 8:30 am on Thursday. The victim’s head was almost separated…
-
Tourist dies on island adventure
CHALONG: A 30-year-old Taiwanese tourist died while snorkeling off Koh Hei about noon on Wednesday. Police named him as Hsu Chi Jen. An officer said that although Mr Hsu was wearing a lifejacket, he appeared to have panicked and choked on water. The man was among a group of tourists who had made a day trip on a speedboat from…
-
Large whale washed up
SURAT THANI: A six-meter whale that died off Maekoh-Koh Pee in Angthong National Park has been taken to the Phuket Marine Biological Center for further study. Somkiat Lungbomrung, the chief of Angthong National Park, said that on April 28 he received a phone call from a villager that a big whale had been washed ashore. K. Somkiat and officials went…
-
Seminar tackles dangers at sea
PHUKET: With the dangerous monsoon season approaching, a two-day seminar for 200 officers who may be required to take part in sea rescues is being held to improve life-saving procedures. Organized by the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, the gathering also involves representatives from the Marine Police, the Tourist Police, the Harbor Master, the fishery and national parks departments and…
-
Three stabbed in pub brawl
PHUKET TOWN: Three employees of the Dance Fever Pub on Rassada Rd were stabbed early yesterday morning after a group of young men were denied entry to the pub because they were deemed to be inappropriately dressed. Pol Capt Kanung Pitakkulthorn, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette today that he received a phone call from Wachira Phuket Hospital…
-
Black day on Phuket&’s roads
PHUKET: Four people were killed in three separate road accidents in the south of the island yesterday. The first accident, in Kata at 1:30 pm, involved a motorbike and a 10-wheel truck on the narrow beach road in front of Club Med Resort, said Pol Capt Anek Mongkol of the Chalong Police Station. Police arrived on the scene to find…
-
Tip-off allows gamblers to escape raid
PHUKET TOWN: Two people were arrested for betting on soccer after a raid on a house in Soi Lim Sue Jue last night, but officers had hoped to net many more. At around 8:30 pm, Vice Governor Manit Wattanasen led 30 officers from the Phuket Provincial Defense Office and Phuket Town Police on the raid on a one-story house behind…
-
OrBorJor chief faces ‘Mob Monday’
PHUKET TOWN: Dr Prasit Koeysiripong, President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), had his hands full yesterday dealing with two mass protests. The main protest came as 300 villagers from Moo Baan Saku Moo 1, in Thalang, descended upon the OrBorJor offices at 11 am to demand that their local council be ordered to build a provincially funded road…
-
Aliens top April crime stats
PHUKET: Illegal immigration cases topped the list of arrests during the period from April 1 to April 25, according to statistics released yesterday by Phuket police. A total of 237 people were taken into custody over illegal immigration cases compared to 421 in the same period of the previous month. Gambling arrests numbered 229, from 73 police raids. Of the…
-
Boat seized for dodging import tax
AO CHALONG: Phuket Marine Police and the Economic Crime Investigation Division seized a boat on Saturday following allegations that it had been imported illegally into the country to avoid paying import taxes. The seized boat, a 25-meter wooden yacht named “Anusara”, was estimated by the Marine Police to have a market value of around 16 million baht. According to its…
-
Immigration tackles fake passports
PHUKET TOWN: A hundred officers from Phuket and neighboring provinces gathered over the weekend at the Pearl Hotel, on Montri Rd, for a training seminar on how to identify fake passports and visas. Pol Maj Gen Krerkphong Pukprayura, Commander General Staff Division of the Immigration Bureau, chaired the seminar, which is part of a nationwide program to crack down on…
-
Police net teenage bike thieves
PHUKET TOWN: In a series of raids on Tuesday night and Wednesday, police arrested five teenagers involved in motorcycle thefts. The first two arrests were the result of police undercover investigation of young people with criminal records after a recent spate of motorcycle thefts in Phuket Town. Officers first staked out the homes of two boys, one 13 and the…
-
Teen killed in road rage fight
PHUKET TOWN: After an extreme case of road rage, a 21-year-old man confessed to stabbing a 17-year-old boy to death on Monday. At about 5 pm Monday, police rushed to the home of Jakrit Preechakorn, 17, on Soi Hab Ake off Phuket Rd, after Jakrit’s relatives called to say the boy had been stabbed. Pol Capt Chokchai Suttimek of the…
-
Big soccer not coming here yet – FIFA
KATA: Worawi Makudi, an executive committee member of soccer’s international ruling body, FIFA, yesterday said that Phuket was still a long way from hosting international-standard soccer matches. K. Worawi, who is also the General Assistant of the Thai Football Association (TFA), said, “The soccer fields here are not up to international standards, and many changes will have to be made…
-
Appeal for info on dead Briton
PHUKET: An appeal was issued today for information on the hotel or hostel in which a British man was staying just before he died on April 17. Andy “Jack” Hughes, 34, holder of British passport number 033459439, was involved in a motorcycle accident on April 16 and died the following day of his injuries. Mr Hughes’ body has since been…
-
Dead foreigner identified
PATONG: Police yesterday announced that they had identified the man found dead in a derelict Patong building on Sunday as 60-year-old Bjorn Ola Ingemar Ahlin, from Sweden. Pol Lt Col Supamit Sukjaroen, Inspector of Tourist Police, told the Gazette that officers yesterday identified Mr Ahlin’s body after questioning staff at hotels in Patong and Karon about any guests who had…
-
Move to close cruise company
PHUKET: Officials today moved to have Lifestyle in Asia – the company at the center of the “sex cruises” scandal – struck off as a registered tourism business. The move comes after allegations that one of the company’s boats was illegally registered, and after a raid on the company’s offices that allegedly uncovered pornographic videos and sex “toys”. Prachuab Tangka-arree,…
-
Police peep into Peep Inn
PHUKET TOWN: Police seized pornographic VCDs and arrested three employees after a raid on the Peep Inn hotel on Rattanakosin 200 Pi Rd yesterday afternoon. Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi and Vice Governor Manit Wattanasen led police officers on the raid on what they termed a “love hotel”. Officers seized 52 pornographic VCDs, a television and a VCD player. Three hotel…
-
Phuket, Cape Town, to be sister cities?
PHUKET TOWN: South African Ambassador to Thailand Buyi Pheto and her husband, Maj Gen Mo Eng Pheto, today met Vice Governor Niran Kalayanamit to discuss setting up a formal relationship between Phuket and Cape Town. “Ambassador Pheto strongly believes that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) can be forged between Phuket and Cape Town,” K. Niran told the Gazette after the…
-
Police appeal for information on dead man
PATONG: Police have appealed for information to help them identify a Caucasian man found dead yesterday evening in an abandoned building on Thaweewong Rd. Pol Maj Sanguan Muangtam of the Kathu Police station said that police believe the man was between 40 and 45 years of age. He was about 175 cm tall, with blond hair and a mustache, and…
-
Seven Wonders festival opens
PHUKET TOWN: Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawitayanun presided over the opening of the Seven Wonders of Phuket festival on Sunday, during which Thalang Rd, in the oldest part of the town, was turned into a walking street. About 1,000 people turned up to take part in or watch activities along the road, which included a bicycle rally in the morning,…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.