News
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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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UPDATE – Landslides, potholes and budgets. Aftermath from Phuket’s floods.
Today (September 16) a team from Phuket Provincial Highway Office has closed and is fixing Bangpae Bridge, which is on Tharua road, on the way towards Baan Para in Thalang, after the bridge collapsed due to the flood. The bridge is expected to be finished by 8pm. Another team led by Vice Governor, Siriporn Chuasawad, also visited and helped the…
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Major tax hike for alcohol and cigarettes
A new excise tax rates effective starting Saturday, September 16, hits alcoholic beverages hard. The rates, published in the Royal Gazette, adjust the tax rate for beer to 22 per cent of retail price and 430 Bt per litre of alcoholic content For wine made from grapes, the tax rate is 1,500 Bt per litre of alcoholic content for a…
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Intrepid beach cleaners head out into the storm
Gloves on and umbrella up, Phuket’s Governor Noraphat Plodthong does his bit to help clean Karon Beach Despite the postponement of the mega Phuket Hotels Association organised beach clean today, due to the inclement weather, many Phuketians still rolled up their sleeves to make a difference on Phuket’s beaches. The Governor and representatives from local municipalities, police and the US…
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September 30 – Final day to pay respects
The Royal Household Bureau is allowing people to pay their respects to HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej before his Royal Urn inside the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall only until the end of this month. The bureau announced the decision yesterday, citing the need to prepare for the Royal Cremation Ceremonies that will be held next month. Reigning over…
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Release of 1.5 million marine creatures in Krabi
Today (September 15), Krabi locals across the province released 1.5 million sea creatures as a pre-National Fisheries Day activity. National Fisheries Day is coming up on September 21. The animals released consist of many different types, such as freshwater fish and giant freshwater prawns. Krabi Fisheries Office also announced September 21, the National Fisheries Day, to be a non-fishing day…
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THAIGER TODAY Friday, September 15
Flooding around Phuket whilst Typhoon ‘Doksuri’ slams into Vietnam | Patong Tunnel underway next year – maybe | Bomb attacks in Yala kill two | And Thais welcome the ‘departure’ of the TM6 Immigration Form.
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UPDATE – Phuket town and Karon Beach also flooded
In Phuket town, areas along the Bypass Road (in front of Vinich House), in front of the Super Cheap store on the lane towards Koh Kaew, in front of the Muslim Wittaya School in Koh Kaew on the lane towards Phuket Town, Yaowarat Road in Soi Paniang and Dibuk Road, Old Phuket Town – at the beginning of Soi Rommanee…
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Wet feet at Patong Police Station again – Photo essay
Patong traffic police are warning people to avoid traveling on Patong’s roads following the floods and small landslide across the road to Kalim after a sustained downpour. The Patong Police station has been inundated by 60 cm of water. The roads affected include Phra Metta Road in front of Patong Hospital up to Banzan Market, Rat Uthit 200 Pee Road…
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Landslide in Kamala destroys new villa construction
Landslide at a construction of a planned 9 villa complex in Kamala after heavy rains overnight and this morning. The landslide appears to have happened near Baan Hua Kuan, Kamala. The building was planned to be a complex of 9 pool villas but only the foundations and one floor were completed when it collapsed with the land slide. No injuries reported…
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UPDATE – Typhoon ‘Doksuri’ about to hit Vietnam’s coast
DATELINE: 8.50am Thai Time • Typhoon Doksuri reaching the coast of Vietnam around midday today. Gusts up to 125 kph. • At least 100,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate in Vietnam as Typhoon Doksuri approaches. • A quarter-million soldiers are on standby for what may be Vietnam’s worst storm in a decade. • Doksuri killed four and left six…
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Thais – goodbye TM6 Immigration Form. Foreigners – new form on the way.
From The Nation Good news for travellers: starting Saturday, September 16 Thai nationals do not need to fill out the TM6 immigration form when leaving or returning to Thailand, said Government Spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd on Thursday. Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, as head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) used Article 44 to order the policy…
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‘Boonrod’ – the only survivor of the Racha Island turtle hatching
After the first turtle hatched on Racha Island last week, STORY HERE, officers have now found the other 86 eggs, which unfortunately didn’t make it. After the first hatch on September 8, officers from Marine Endangered Species Unit (MESU) and locals on Racha Island have waited for four days but there was no sign from the other baby turtles. The MESU…
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Patong tunnel to start April/May next year
Looks like the island’s long-awaited tunnel through Patong Hill might actually be becoming a reality. Authorities say it will be the first of its kind in Thailand. The Daily News is reporting on the progress of the Patong tunnel project which, it is hoped, will eliminate much of the carnage and delays experienced by drivers on the hill everyday. Sutthisak…
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Double bomb attack in Yala injures nineteen
Nineteen rangers, soldiers and police officers were injured this morning (September 14) when insurgents in southern Yala province launched a double bomb attack. Rangers patrolling Moo 1 village in Tambon Katong in Yaha were ambushed in the first attack at 9.26am and briefly exchanged gunfire with the assailants. Two rangers – Sgt Thanet Puttho and Pvt Avudh Uppapong – were…
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1200 athletes heading to the Laguna Phuket Triathlon
During the Governor’s Meet Press event yesterday (September 13), the annual Laguna Phuket Triathlon race updated its progress before the big race day on November 19. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Laguna Phuket this year, Laguna Phuket has arranged the 1st Laguna Phuket Tri Charity Fun Run on the day before the triathlon. The charity run will feature a…
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, September 14
New eco-tourism area for Phuket | AMLO chasing ex-PM Thaksin’s son | Bangkok ATM exploded opened with TNT | Radio Free Asia silenced in Cambodia | Tropical storm Doksuri heading our way affecting our weather this weekend.
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Kalasin man arrested over hotel room robbery
Patong police have arrested 28 year old Aekkapan Ketna from Kalasin province (north east Thailand) yesterday (September 13) after he stole a room keycard from 50 year old Australian Donna Lee and used it to sneak in and steal valuables from her hotel room on Patong’s beach front. Her keycard was stolen on Patong Beach while she was swimming in…
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The AMLO files complaints against Thaksin’s son, Panthongtae
The Anti Money Laundering Organisation is filing a complaint with the Department of Special Investigation against Panthongtae Shinawatra, the son of fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, in a money-laundering case connected with the multi-billion-baht loan fraud linked to the state-owned Krungthai Bank. The AMLO says Panthongtae allegedly received a 10 million Baht cheque from a staff member of the Krisada Mahanakorn…
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Khao Phra Theao – Phuket’s new eco-tourism destination
Phuket’s Governor, Noraphat Plodthong, has announced today (September 13), that after surveying the non-hunting area of Khao Phra Theao, he has planned to make it a destination for eco-tourism and a nature study route. The 22.28 square kilometers of lush rainforest mountain features a long list of wildlife such as gibbons, mouse deer, wild boar, wild fowl, green pit viper…
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Truck driver killed in Surat Thani crash
A drive was killed after his 18 wheel trailer truck went off the road and crashed into a palm tree in Surat Thani’s Phra Saeng district early Wednesday, police said. Police said the accident happened on a road in Ban Khuan Sawang village in Tambon Sai Khueng. The truck driver was identified as 44 year old Eng Muangkaew. Police said…
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THAIGER TODAY Wednesday, September 13
Share-bike scheme launched for Phuket Town | Dramatic video of the Fresno County rescue | Two cars were used in former PM Yingluck escape | NCPO use Article 44 in four cases | National drug sting results in 734 arrests.
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Sai Yuan crash – a flipped car and one motorcyclist injured
Last night (September 12), at Soi Saiyuan in Rawai, a Russian man named as 35 year old Julian Ranmer crashed his Honda Jazz into the back of a car parked on the side road before flipping it and hitting a motorcycle riding in the opposite lane. The injured, 36 year old Ampa Noo-on who rode the bike, was found with…
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California’s Fresno Police release video of the difficult recovery
Fresno County has released video clip of the September 1 operation to retrieve bodies of two Thai students who died in a road accident at the King River in California. The 5 minute video shows different stages of the recovery operation conducted by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team. They say it took a total of eight hours…
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Major narcotics sting reveals 27 drug networks
A crackdown on 27 drug-dealing networks across Thailand has delivered 734 arrests and the confiscation of a huge amount of illicit drugs. This, according to the Royal Thai Police’s Narcotics Control Coordinating Center. The stings all took place between September 2 – 11. The suspects included 15 alleged narcotics producers, 52 alleged drugs distributors and 256 persons accused of having…
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Narcotics police nab Bangkok drug kingpin
Narcotics suppression police have raided the Bangkok house of a suspected drug boss, who is a registered taxi motorcycle driver, seized two cars, 2 million Baht and a bank account book with transactions totalling some 60 million Baht. Jirat Pensophon was arrested early Tuesday morning at a house in the Casa Ville Rajapruek housing estate on Rajapruek Road in Nonthaburi’s…
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17 year old using BB gun to rob locals and tourists
Last night (September 11), Phuket police arrested a 17 year old from Had Yai, Songkhla, in Soi Hongyok-Utit, Phuket Town. He’d already committed 4 or 5 robberies and claimed that he robbed people after taking drugs. At the scene police found a black BB gun, a red plate, green and grey Yamaha motorcycle, a helmet, two mobile phones, a shoulder…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, September 12
32 year old in custody after seizure of 200 Kg of Kratom in Had Yai | ‘Fight of God’ video game ‘disrespectful’ | UN claim ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Rohingya crisis | 6,000 chicken dead in Krabi | 500 students protest in Phuket Town.
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27 gamblers arrested with 8,000 Baht cash
Early this morning (September 12), military and police teams searched a 2-storey house in Soi Sansuk 1 in Phuket Town and arrested 27 gamblers, including 11 men and 16 women. The place was used as a gambling house. 70 Wooden chips, used as money, cards and a gambling table were also found at the scene with 8,810 Baht in cash.…
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AusCham brings together local marine and hotel industries
The Australia-Thailand Chamber of Business (AustCham) held a seminar on Phuket’s Marine & Hospitality Industry Outlook at the Phuket Boat Lagoon last Friday, September 8, 2017. The seminar hosted over 60 guests and was moderated by Harry Usher from Lady Pie. The panelists were Michael Owen from Beacon Sky Hospitality, Wicky Sundram from Phuket Boat Lagoon, Scott Bradley from Precision…
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Ironman 70.3 Thailand returns to Phuket
Triathletes from around the world are heading to Phuket for a weekend of swim-bike-run where 1,500 competitors from more than 60 countries are expected to compete in the Foremost IRONMAN 70.3 Thailand on November 26, and up to 300 youngsters in the Foremost IRONKIDS Thailand. Built on the belief that Anything is Possible®, IRONMAN – the original triathlon brand –…
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