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.
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Phuket Governor joins prison dawn search
PHUKET: A pre-dawn search of Phuket Prison on April 30 led by the Phuket Governor failed to discover any drugs or contraband being hidden by prisoners, reconfirming the facility’s status as a Department of Corrections “White Prison”.Governor Maitri Inthusut led about 200 officers, including Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavalviwat and Phuket Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon, in conducting the mass…
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Phuket Police suspect American died of drug overdose
PHUKET: A 29-year-old American woman found dead in her bed shortly after checking into a Phuket rental room is suspected of having suffered from a drug overdose, said Chalong Police.The woman was identified from her passport as Faetra Petillo, and family members have been notified of her death.At the scene Ruamjai Foundation rescue workers, who were contacted by Chalong Police…
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Phuket to spend B60mn on flood defense
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising has pledged to spend 60 million baht on flood-defense projects across the island.The news comes as the annual monsoon winds from the northeast swing around to start bringing rain from the southwest.“We will support all projects from every local administration,” said Mr Paiboon.“The budget is ready to be allocated to finalized…
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Phuket gal to compete in Miss Tiffany final tonight
PHUKET: Chayutara “Ying” Meechaiprasert will be Phuket’s sole hope in the final round of the Miss Tiffany Universe 2013 beauty contest, which is to be televised live across the country tonight.Ms Chayutara, a showgirl at the Aphrodite Cabaret on Phuket’s bypass road, will be sporting number 19 in the world-renowned ladyboy beauty pageant, the winner of which will go on…
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Phuket Gazette Exclusive: Aldhouse – A view from the inside
PHUKET: Looking exhausted, Lee Aldhouse cut a lonely figure in his faded prison-issue overalls, surrounded by about 20 Thai inmates. He waited for the signal from the prison guard controlling the communication between visitors and inmates – a telephone – before picking up his receiver. The first thing he said was, “I cannot talk about my impending court case, but…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: NSC rejects BRN demands at Deep South peace talks; Yingluck slams agencies for abusing power
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NSC rejects BRN demands at peace talks Phuket GazettePHUKET: The Thai authorities on Monday rejected demands by the southern Muslim separatists in their second round of talks, but both sides agreed to hold another meeting on June 13.National Security Council secretary general Lt-General Paradorn Pattanatabut, who headed…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Myanmar Rohingya’s uncertain future
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Muslim victims of Myanmar unrest face uncertain future Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: In Myanmar’s central heartlands, justice and security is elusive for thousands of Muslims who lost their homes in a deadly rampage by Buddhist mobs in March.Many are detained in prison-like camps, unable to return to…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Dutch rally on royal ascension; Egyptian students in mass poisoning; Putin under fire; Virgin Galactic test launch
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dutch party on streets as royals prepare for handover Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Willem-Alexander will become the first King of the Netherlands in more than 120 years when Queen Beatrix passes the crown to her eldest son on Tuesday morning.“He’s ready, in every way,” Queen Beatrix said…
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Phuket Investor: The last time the markets were here
PHUKET: I recently read a report that had a comparative list of statistics from the last time the stock markets were up at these levels, which was just before the crash at the start of the financial crisis. Early this march, the DOW reached a previous high level of 14164.5 and then surpassed that level. I thought it might be…
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Phuket Business: Replicating your life savings
PHUKET: The new hot sector for technology investors is in the rapidly growing 3D printer business. 3D printing is the process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printers use a 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) file to create objects using a sequential layering process. This technology is used in jewelry; footwear;…
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Phuket Business: Head of airport expects arrivals to exceed 10.5mn
PHUKET: The director of Phuket International Airport (HKT) expects passenger arrivals to exceed 10.5 million by the end of this year, with related profits expected to be no less than two billion baht. HKT director Prathuang Sorn-kham said that the airport is fully prepared to provide increased conveniences for passengers ahead of the its 5 billion baht expansion project, due…
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Phuket Business: US tax regime – Comply or else…
PHUKET: At a US tax seminar held last month at the Holiday Inn, Patong, by the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Phuket Chapter, American income earners and business operators were given a comprehensive update about the US tax regime’s reporting requirements and regulations. Two previous articles about the seminar – published in the Business section of the Phuket Gazette on…
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Phuket boob job holiday? This round’s on me
PHUKET: A cosmetic surgery holiday company in Australia is now raffling off a trip to Phuket, complete with the option of breast augmentation surgery – all for the price of a round of drinks.The company, ID Rejuvenation, has paired up with the popular local nightclub Tryst, in Mackay on the Central Queensland coast, to offer the deal, reported the local…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: 5 dead in bridge collapse; NSC rebuts BRN demands; Scrap flood plan – academics
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 5 dead in Ayutthaya bridge collapse The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A suspension bridge over Pa Sak River in Ayutthaya collapsed yesterday evening, crushing five people to death underneath a pillar on one side, while wounding 15 others.The collapse also sent a large number of pedestrians and…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: 5 dead in Ayutthaya bridge collapse; NSC rebuts BRN demands; Academics call to scrap flood plan
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 5 dead in Ayutthaya bridge collapse The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A suspension bridge over Pa Sak River in Ayutthaya collapsed yesterday evening, crushing five people to death underneath a pillar on one side, while wounding 15 others.The collapse also sent a large number of pedestrians and…
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Phuket Gazette World News: 3 dead in France collapse; US-Syria fears rise; Germany to stay in Euro
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fugitive owner arrested as Bangladesh building toll reaches 377 Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The owner of a factory building that collapsed in Bangladesh killing hundreds of garment workers was arrested on Sunday trying to flee to India, as hopes of finding more survivors from the country’s worst…
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Phuket police catch up with Songkran bike burner
PHUKET: : A man who was drunkenly celebrating Songkran on April 13 was picked up by police yesterday after being tracked down through CCTV images that showed him setting a motorbike on fire with a cigarette butt. Panuphon Prutisarn, 36, confessed to Kathu Police yesterday that he torched the bike, but claims it was unintentional. “It was Songkran Day and…
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Monk impersonator run out of town
PHUKET: A shambolic fake monk recently attracted the suspicions of local people in Nakhon Ratchasima Province – and the attention of the police – by trying to collect alms in the afternoon. Villagers called officers at Phimai Police Station to investigate a man who claimed to be a monk, but was improperly dressed, collecting alms late and sometimes even asking…
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No reason for tuk-tuks to block sea taxi project: Phuket Marine Chief
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine office, in an attempt to keep the airport-to-Patong sea taxi project afloat (story here), declared that the project would not affect the livelihoods of current taxi and tuk-tuk drivers. “We do not want to steal customers from tuk-tuk and taxi drivers. We want to attract more tourists to the island by offering them a reasonably priced…
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Phuket Sports: New Monte Carlo master
PHUKET: The arrival of the clay court season always throws up some surprises. Many players have taken an extended break from the game, others are adjusting to the vagaries of the slower surface. No such problems for a renascent Rafael Nadal who defeated an in-form Juan del Potro in the Paribas Open final at Indian Wells. Apparently it did not…
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Phuket Sports: Revelations, rumors and rivalry – F1
PHUKET: Before Bahrain, I said that I believed that, barring accidents, three-time winner Alonso would triumph, followed by The Iceman. Well Alonso did not triumph, thwarted by a jammed DRS wing flap, hammered closed by Ferrari’s mechanics during an emergency pit stop. It jammed open again, Alonso was forced into yet another pit stop and that was the end of…
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Shots fired as Phuket yacht robbery thwarted
PHUKET: Witnesses reported at least two shots fired in the dark on Chalong Bay tonight as a gang of thieves gave chase to a Phuket boat captain who outfoxed the criminals until the police arrived in force. Capt Bruce Issell was warned by a silent alarm at about 11:30pm that intruders had boarded the well-known Davinci catamaran, renowned in local…
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ITF Tournament favorite Luksika Kumkhum reaches final
PHUKET: The final of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) women’s tournament between number one seed Luksika Kumkhum and Lisa Whybourn will be held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) tomorrow, April 27, at 10am. Luksika Kumkhum from Thailand beat Melanie Klaffner 6:2, 6:7, 7:5 in a hard fought semifinal match today. In today’s other semifinal, Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech lost…
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Phuket MICE city promotion strategy revived
PHUKET: The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has revived its efforts and moved its attention to once again help promote Phuket as a regional hub for corporate and organizational tourism. A new four-year strategy was presented to local, regional and national officials at a seminar on April 26 at the Metropole Hotel in Phuket Town. Entitled “Developing Phuket as…
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Killer gold robber still on the run on Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Police received a tip-off today that the armed robber of a Phuket gold shop who gunned down a customer on April 8 was still on the island. “We are continuing to gather information from witnesses [story here]. I got another phone call this morning that confirmed our belief that the robber is still on the run in Phuket,”…
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Pressure from illegal Phuket taxis wins airport reprieve
PHUKET: After days of protests by taxi drivers operating under the Mook Andaman Cooperative, officials at Phuket International Airport will allow 25 of the drivers to serve passengers at the airport without further delay. Airport management, a division of the state enterprise Airports of Thailand (AOT), capitulated yesterday by allowing 25 of the drivers to operate under one of the…
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Phuket Opinion: Speak up for public transport
Jaturong Kaewkasi, a 41-year-old native of Pattani, has been the Chief Transport Technician of the Phuket Land Transport Office for one year. He has a master’s degree in Social Development from Yala Rajabhat University and before coming to Phuket worked as a transport technician in Bangkok. Here, he talks about how to convince people to use buses in order to…
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Phuket Opinion: Plenty to do, if you can get there
PHUKET: Participants in popular online forums indicate that long-time expatriate residents of Phuket tend to decry the changes that have transformed the island over the past two decades, yet fail to appreciate many of the positive developments that have taken place over the same period. In this space since 1994, we have chronicled, criticized and editorialized – often in futility…
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Thai FA Cup: Phuket FC shoot down Air Force United
PHUKET: The Islanders kept their Thai FA Cup prospects alive, last Wednesday defeating Yamaha League 1 (YL1) rivals Air Force United 1-0 in the second round. The match was played at Thupatemee Stadium, on the northern side of Bangkok, where the islanders are set to play the Air Force “Blue Eagles” again, tomorrow, April 27, in a YL1 week 8…
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Laguna Phuket’s “Run Paradise” marathon rocks with new theme song
PHUKET: This year’s Laguna Phuket International Marathon is rocking its thousands of runners and fans around the world with a specially-commissioned “Run Paradise” theme song. The upbeat rock anthem was composed by Phuket-based musicians Gary Crause and Rob Cooke at Gary’s Legend Music Studios. The anthem celebrates the event’s unique blend of enthusiasm for running and community fund-raising on the…
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