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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.
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Phuket Gazette World Sports: Real Madrid vs Man United
Ronaldo in showcase as United come to town Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo faces former club Manchester United for the first time in a mouth-watering Champions League last-16 first leg at the Bernabeu tonight dripping in history and intrigue. The world’s most expensive player has won over the Bernabeu faithful with some breathtaking performances and…
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Army repels major insurgent attack in South; Marines credit villagers for help
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai insurgents attack southern army base, 16 dead including Maloso Jantarawadee, leader of the Runda Kumpalan Kecil insurgent group Reuters / Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: A pre-dawn raid on a Thai military base ended with 16 Muslim insurgents killed today in the deadliest violence in…
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Phuket Finance: Beat inflation with a low-risk return
PHUKET: One fund that I have recently been putting into portfolios is the Freehold Income Trust (FIT), which invests in ground rents. Ground rents are a relic of feudal Britain, which can now be bought and sold like any other asset. They are extremely safe income-yielding alternative investments, since the holder of ground rent could theoretically repossess a property worth…
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Phuket takes precautionary measures after terrorist threats to US consulate in Chiang Mai
PHUKET: Phuket’s top cop has increased security measures across the island in the wake of Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung’s warning of possible Al-Qaeda and Salafist terrorists attacks on the United States consulate in Chiang Mai this month (story here). “Although the information gathered pointed to terrorist plans to target the United States consulate in Chiang Mai, we will not…
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Phuket Gazette World Sports: Celtic “hell”; Too much English; IOC moves surprises wrestling and Pakistan
Conte amazed to leave Celtic “hell” with handsome win Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Juventus coach Antonio Conte has suffered much in recent months but coming away from the “hell” of a noisy and fervent Celtic Park with a 3-0 win in their Champions League last 16 first leg felt like an enormous relief. The Italian champions, who again lead…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Tortured girl smiles; Curfews possible; Kissing Stevie G
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tortured slave girl learns to smile again Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Sympathy and support is pouring in for a Karen girl who was allegedly kidnapped, enslaved, tortured and scarred over half of her body by a couple in Kamphaeng Phet. Her alleged attackers, Natee…
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Phuket Gazette World News: State of the Union; China angry; Party pope; Don’t say nay
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Legacy, political calendar frame Obama’s State of the Union address Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union address with one eye on the political calendar as time ticks down on his bid to advance an agenda that will…
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Phuket Business: Not in front of the children
PHUKET: While working from home might seem like a practical option for workers in Thailand wanting to cut commutes and spend more time on their personal lives, the reality is somewhat different. According to a survey conducted by Regus, the world’s largest provider of flexible workplaces, six in ten respondents who work from home in Thailand revealed that they’re regularly…
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Phuket Business: Inflation up for Chinese NY
PHUKET: The head of the Department of Internal Trade (DIT) Phuket Office said that the 300 baht daily minimum wage has contributed to market inflation ahead of the Chinese New Year festivities. DIT-Phuket Chief Supacha Bunthalit told the Phuket Gazette that increased wages directly increase base costs for farmers, suppliers and vendors. “Of course it [the minimum wage rise] is…
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Phuket Gazette World News: North Korea tests nuclear bomb; Iran could be next
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korea confirms third atomic test Phuket Gazette / The Nation / DPA PHUKET: North Korea said Tuesday it had carried out its third atomic test, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. Earlier UN’s Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization said North Korea was suspected to have…
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Krabi villagers protest proposed coal plant over health concerns
PHUKET: Krabi villagers staged a protest, across the bay from Phuket, yesterday in fear that a proposed coal-fire power plant would damage their health as they allege a previous one had.Protest leaders Somyos Khanthong and Chalit Sukhotu, as well as about 500 Pakasai residents protesting an 800 Megawatt coal-fired power plant descended on Krabi Provincial Hall yesterday afternoon.The protesters wore…
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Phuket Pharmacy fined for illegally selling prescription drugs
PHUKET: A pharmacy in Chalong faced a lot of brass yesterday as Phuket Vice Governor Somkiat Sangkaosuttirak, Damrongtham Center (Ombudsman’s Office) chief Prapan Kanprasang, Chalong Mayor Samran Jindaphol and Phuket Public Health officers followed up on allegations that the store was illegally selling prescription drugs without a pharmacist on duty. “A local resident told our staff that the pharmacy was…
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Southern curfew debate; Amnesty opposed; World expo bid under cloud
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Curfew could worsen things’ Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: While the government will determine on Friday whether to declare a curfew in the deep South, the Civil Society Council of the Southern Border Provinces said yesterday that the government’s strategies should stress peaceful processes not…
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Ireland’s Healy cited; Nadal wants time; Mancini and Lotus under pressure
Ireland’s Healy cited for stamp on England’s Cole Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Ireland prop Cian Healy has been cited for stamping on England’s Dan Cole during a maul in the first half of their 12-6 Six Nations championship loss in Dublin on Sunday, tournament organizers said yesterday. Healy contravened Law 10.4 (b), which states that a player “must not…
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Pope to resign
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pope Benedict XVI says he will resign on February 28 due to old age Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Pope Benedict XVI surprised the world yesterday when he said he no longer has the mental and physical strength to adequately exercise his duties as head…
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Phuket’s Wat Chalong Fair 2013 in full swing
PHUKET: The Wat Chalong Fair 2013, a 7-day extravaganza of performances, food, games and shopping, is now in full swing (map here). Each night starting at 7pm, fair-goers can enjoy performances by Thai country music (luk-thung) stars and traditional Southern Thai Nang Talung shadow puppeteers. The crowd of thousands on opening night enjoyed a performance by Jintara Poonlarb, and the…
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Blaze engulfs abandoned luxury hotel bordering Phuket National Park
PHUKET: Police suspect the fire that engulfed an abandoned luxury hotel near Nai Yang Beach in northern Phuket early this morning was started by thieves searching for copper wire. “The hotel, on the border of the Sirinath Marine National Park, was completely abandoned. Thieves most likely went onto the premises to salvage copper. We suspect they were attempting to burn…
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Oldest football club faces permanent relegation; Sports roundup
World waiting for Real v Man United clash, says Mourinho Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Real Madrid manager José Mourinho ran the rule over Manchester United yesterday before declaring that Wednesday’s Champions League clash between the sides was “the match the world is waiting for”. The last 16 first-leg game at the Bernabeu pits old adversaries Mourinho and Alex Ferguson…
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Myanmar urges expedited processing of its migrant workers in Thailand
BANGKOK: Myanmar has urged Thailand to speed up registration of its citizens working in the Kingdom, with nearly one million workers and hundreds of thousands of their children still undocumented as the deadline draws near. Myint Thein, Myanmar’s deputy labor minister, was in Thailand last week to monitor progress of the government’s scheme to register millions of migrant workers. Thailand,…
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Local officials step up talks, spending for ASEAN economy
PHUKET: Local officials continue to intensify dialogue, and thus anticipation for the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), with the economic positioning for Phuket and the Southern region gradually beginning to take form. The latest ‘AEC – Phuket get ready’ talks, held last week at the Phuket Provincial Hall, covered the latest regional economic integration challenges and opportunities. Phuket Governor Maitri…
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Phuket inflation tops South
PHUKET: Not only is Phuket still considered the most expensive consumer province in Thailand, but its annual inflation rate remains the highest in the South – the Kingdom’s most inflated region. Thailand’s cost of living in 2012, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose by 3.02% from the previous year, while overall inflation in Phuket was measured at…
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Attorney denies Norwegian man willed millions of baht to Phuket elderly, children
PHUKET: Police have not been able to find a will to substantiate rumors that a Norwegian man left a portion of his 100-million-baht estate to Phuket foundations for the elderly and for children. Frank Robert, 52, died on Saturday from pre-existing medical conditions, a Patong Hospital staffer told Patong Police. “I have talked to the attorney who will execute Mr…
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Severe weather wreaks havoc on US; 9 dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. Northeast digs out from blizzard, tornado strikes in South Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The U.S. Northeast was digging itself out yesterday after a blizzard dumped up to 40 inches (one meter) of snow with hurricane force winds, killing at least nine people and leaving…
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Live Wire – Putting the pieces together
PHUKET: In the past three editions of Live Wire, I’ve taken you through a detailed list of the internet packages currently available in Phuket and a description of what kinds of packages – “3G,” ADSL, Fiber, etc – most people will want. Last week I warned you about the truly awful experience one reader had with the new TOT 3G…
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Police catch Phuket gold thief using CCTV images
PHUKET: Phuket Police used CCTV images to track down and arrest a thief who snatched two gold necklaces from a woman driving her motorbike in Rassada. Nathawut Wannakoon, 22, was arrested at his home in Soi Imchit on Chao Fa Road (map here) by Phuket City Police on February 9 for the theft of the necklaces valued at 25,000 baht…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Rugby’s Six Nations update
English coaches in awe of young side’s maturity Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: England’s renaissance under coach Stuart Lancaster continued apace yesterday with a first Six Nations win in Ireland in a decade that left the coach and his staff almost in awe of their young side’s maturity. It was a first trip to a damp Dublin for many of…
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Phuket prepared for Chinese New Year
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has prepared an extravagant celebration to ring in the Year of the Water Snake with the arrival of the Chinese New Year tomorrow. The celebration is slated to kick off at Sanam Chai (across from Phuket City Hall, map here) at 4pm. “Acrobats from Henan, China will be performing as well as other…
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American tourist found dead in Phuket hotel
PHUKET: A 23-year-old American tourist was found dead in his Cherng Talay hotel room by staff after he failed to checkout at noon yesterday. Staff at the Resident Resort and Spa Retreat called Cherng Talay Police at about 10:30pm to report the death. “When we entered the room, we found the man face down on the bed,” Cherng Talay Police…
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PACC it all in, Phuket
PHUKET: This week’s exclusive lead story in the Phuket Gazette newspaper about the decision of the Public-sector Anti Corruption Commission (PACC) to shelve its investigation into encroachment cases here in Phuket comes as a disappointment – but not much of a surprise. Phuket has a long history of land probes, all of which are motivated by political forces. In the…
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Public sector Anti-Corruption Commission packs in Phuket land title investigations
PHUKET: The investigation by the Public sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) into allegedly illegally issued land titles covering more than 500 rai of land in Phuket has silently been dropped.The PACC, set up specifically to fight corruption among government officials, quietly dropped the probe into hundreds of Phuket land titles just days after Col Dusadee Arayawuth, who had initiated the investigation,…
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