News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
The Thaiger is your essential resource for staying connected with Thailand’s captivating blend of tradition and modernity. To remain in the loop with the country’s most trusted news source, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
-
Sponsored Mark One Tailor: The best bespoke tailor in Khao Lak
When it comes to high-quality bespoke tailoring in Khao Lak, Mark One Tailor stands out as one of the most trusted names. With decades of experience, this tailor shop has built a solid reputation for exceptional craftsmanship, premium fabrics, and...
-
Phuket wild boars ravage football-golf greens
PHUKET: A sounder of wild boar has settled on an 18-hole “Football Golf Course” in Chalong as their preferred dining area, but in the pigs’ quest for cuisine, they’ve left damaging divots on the greens. “Our course is currently under attack by wild boars, which are rampaging through it at night and ripping up our greens,” said Neil Simmons of…
-
Alarmed drunkard dumps temple bell, flees scene
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for a man who reportedly tried to sell a temple bell to a secondhand store in Thalang while drunk. Natthakarn Rattanaphan, 33, called the Thalang Police yesterday afternoon after a man arrived at her secondhand store in front of the well-known Term Fun housing estate in Baan Manik (map here). “The man, aged about…
-
Go Eco Phuket starts eco-warrior recruitment
PHUKET: The first fifty people to contact local marine conservation group Go Eco Phuket will earn a spot at the Go Eco Camp, which plans on certifying and training islanders to be active marine conservationists. “Go Eco camp is now open for applicants. Applications will be accepted from expats, students and locals until November,” Jirayu Naragoonphithak, the project’s coordinator, told…
-
Phuket jet-ski thug gets first taste of swift tourist court justice
PHUKET: The first cases heard in Phuket’s tourist court, which involved a jet-ski operator who attacked two tourists on Kata Beach, were resolved less than 36 hours after the incidents happened. Danaichet Yomjinda, 25, who pled guilty to charges of assaulting the two men on Friday with a “No Swimming” flagpole, was issued a 1,000-baht fine and put on probation…
-
Phuket hitman Rambo denies death squad charges
PHUKET: Joseph Manuel Hunter, 48 – nicknamed “Rambo” and arrested at his rented Phuket home last Thursday, as originally reported by the Phuket Gazette (story here) – has denied charges of recruiting a team of former military snipers to commit murders on behalf of two Colombian drug cartel leaders. The cartel leaders were, in fact, Drug Enforcement Administration informants posing…
-
Phuket tour bus brakes fail, driver avoids disaster
PHUKET: Faulty brakes almost resulted in a tour bus smashing into a house on Patong Hill last night, in a near-repeat of an accident that occurred at almost the same location about four months ago (story here). “No injuries were reported. The Daow Duang Mai Travel company bus had no passengers. It was only carrying tourists’ luggage when the accident…
-
Phuket’s new ‘top cop’ arrives on the island
PHUKET: Phuket’s new Provincial Police Commander, Maj Genl Ong-art Phiewruangnont, has arrived in Phuket. On arriving here yesterday evening, in a convoy of nine police vehicles, Maj Gen Ong-art first visited Baan Muang Mai stone and then the Heroines Monument, to pay his respects to Phuket’s illustrious history and cultural heritage. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette before his arrival, Maj…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Berlusconi plunges Italy into chaos; Air strike on Syrian school; US faces Fed Govt shutdown; Nigerian massacre; Space FalconX launches
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Italian politics in crisis after Berlusconi pulls support Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Silvio Berlusconi’s bid to push Italy into new elections faces a test on Monday when he meets lawmakers from his centre-right party who have shown growing unease over his shock decision to pull support from…
-
Russian dive instructor drowns at Racha Noi Island
PHUKET: A Russian dive instructor who worked in Phuket drowned off Racha Noi Island on Saturday afternoon.Denis Lipatov, 39, was at the island with friends when he developed a cramp while swimming at about 5pm. By the time he was rescued he was unconscious, and efforts to resuscitate him failed.His friends returned to Chalong pier with his body, where they…
-
Rubber protests yield gains in Phuket
PHUKET: Rubber protests in recent weeks in Southern Thailand are now paying dividends for plantation owners in Phuket and the rest of the nation. Though the direct demands of the protests, which included a government subsidy for sheets of rubber were not met, the government has allocated a total of over 21 billion baht to be paid out to households…
-
Kata jet-ski operator attacks Israeli tourists
PHUKET: Two Israelis, a father and son, were attacked and injured by a jet-ski operator wielding a “No Swimming” flag-pole on Kata Beach yesterday afternoon. The attack was motivated by damage to the jet-ski the pair had rented, the attacker – who was arrested soon afterward – told the police. “When we arrived at the scene, we found a lot…
-
Samkong underpass construction set to begin in November
PHUKET: Construction is to start on the 850-million-baht underpass at the Samkong intersection in mid-November.“We have already started to clear the area in preparation for the construction,” Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Luedwonghad told the Phuket Gazette this week.“We will start by digging up the median strip on the bypass road north of the Samkong intersection,” he said.Drivers should be…
-
Army to battle pad kaphrao; Abhist warns PM over amendment; Big three to reduce prices
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai Army ready: We shall fight them in the kitchens Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Royal Thai Army has declared war on pad kaphrao. A sign banning the spicy stir-fried basil dish has appeared in the canteen at the Office of the Army Secretary in Bangkok. Evidently…
-
Video Report: Transnational drug lord Hunter deported, new Thai search laws enacted
PHUKET: High on the United States authorities’ most-wanted list, Joseph Manuel Hunter was deported back to the US this morning, days after the Prevention and Suppression of Transnational Organized Crime Act was enacted in Thailand. Mr Hunter, 48, who was arrested in Phuket by officers from Phuket Immigration and the Crime Suppression Division on Wednesday (story here). He was taken…
-
Poll: Phuket prefers Coke
PHUKET: Just under half (49.6%) of respondents to a recent Gazette poll said they prefer the taste of Coca-Cola (Coke) over that of three other competing brands on the market – Pepsi, Est and Big Cola. The poll, which ran online from August 2 to September 1, was answered by 514 unique respondents, who were asked which cola brand (sold…
-
All invited to Islamic New Year fiesta in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Everyone, regardless of faith, has been invited to mark the Islamic New Year with a fiesta and keynote speakers in Phuket Town on November 8 and 9. “The event to honor Hijrah 1435 [the upcoming Islamic New Year] will be held on November 8 and 9 at Sanaam Chai Field (map here), opposite Provincial Hall in Phuket Town,” said…
-
Phuket Opinion: Hailing a new era
Prasat Pechwang, 56, is a Phuket native. He earned a BA from King Mongkut’s University of Technology in North Bangkok, majoring in Electrical Engineering. He started working at Saudi Oger Company Ltd in 1981 and moved to We-Ef Lighting Company Ltd in 1987. He has been a taxi driver with Phuket Taxi Meter Service Company Limited for ten years. Here,…
-
Phuket Opinion: The testing paradox
PHUKET: Obtaining a driver’s license on our island is a paradoxical task.It is an ostensibly simple process, all done within one building and in eight hours, driving lessons optional – which may rev your confidence up – but it’s fussiness has been known to trip up even those with decades of driving experience.A mere inch of yellow line-overstepping during the…
-
Phuket Opinion: “Tis the season to crack down
PHUKET: A recent crackdown on Westerners working illegally in the marine leisure industry has generated a great deal of comment from readers, yet the debate focused almost solely on Thailand’s notoriously vague definition of what constitutes work, while missing out on some fundamental aspects of the issue.Comments posted on the Gazette website failed to reference the fact that arrests of…
-
Police ordered to carry out weekend blitz on crime
PHUKET: One of Thailand’s top-ranking police officers has ordered Phuket law-enforcement authorities to ramp up their crackdown on all forms of crime over the weekend as part of a blitz to improve tourists’ confidence in safety. Gen Wuthi Liptapallop, a national-level adviser to the Royal Thai Police, was in Phuket yesterday to review progress made in the island-wide crackdown launched…
-
Strict firework controls put in place for upcoming Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET: Officials agreed on Wednesday to adapt extra measures to control the use and sale of fireworks during the Vegetarian Festival next week, with special emphasis on keeping particularly loud and quick-to-ignite pyrotechnics off the streets.The small red strings of firecrackers will be allowed, said Chaiwat Taephee, Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad). But only at shrines and during parades.Officials…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: UN makes Syria deal; Kenya says White Widow not wanted for mall seige; Pakistan gets new island; Human remains found on salvaged cruise liner
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.N. council agrees on Syria chemical arms measure Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Ending weeks of diplomatic deadlock, the United States and Russia reached an agreement on Thursday on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ridding Syria of its chemical weapons arsenal.Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador…
-
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bank security boost; Floods unabated; Granny kratom grower gets 3 years in jail
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Banks to up security in wake of robberies The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police has held a meeting with 16 banks and six security-truck firms to discuss the recent spate of bank, gold-shop and convenience-store robberies (story here), deputy police spokesman Thana…
-
Enraged villagers protest over-sized truck nuisance, get results
PHUKET: Villagers on Soi Han Farang finally lost their patience with the constant stream of over-sized trucks rumbling past their homes and held a protest yesterday afternoon to demand an end to what they view as a serious nuisance and health hazard. The road is used many times a day by trucks bringing soil and construction materials to about half-a-dozen…
-
Phuket sex show raids not coming – yet
PHUKET: The chief of police in Phuket’s premier party town of Patong has confirmed that he has yet to receive any order to launch a crackdown on lewd shows on Soi Bangla. “As soon as we receive such an order, we are willing to do whatever the order demands,” Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan told the Phuket Gazette this morning.…
-
Water stoppage to hit parts of Phuket on Monday
PHUKET: The water supply is set to be suspended to parts of Phuket on Monday, September 30. Residences and businesses in Kamala, Cherng Talay, Sri Soonthorn, Koh Kaew and Rassada will be affected. “We have to stop the water supply on Monday to expand the piping network in order to extend our service to Baan Mak Prok, in the Mai…
-
Similian National Park to protect swimmers from speedboats
PHUKET: The Similan National Park chief vowed to establish zones to protect swimmers from speedboats* as the park prepares for opening day on November 1.The swimmers will be separated from speedboats by buoys.“This will prevent swimmers and snorkellers from being hit by speeboats. We want to ensure that all visitors feel safe, and can fully enjoy their visit to the…
-
Phuket officials inspect suspected land encroachment behind Boat Lagoon
PHUKET: A sortie of officials yesterday inspected the site of alleged land encroachment along the banks of the canal that provides access to Boat Lagoon Marina in Koh Kaew.The team of about 20 officers led by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak arrived at the site in response to an anonymous complaint received by the Damrongtham Center (Ombudsman’s Office) on July…
-
Video Report: Driver trapped in car for 30 minutes after crash
PHUKET: A pickup truck collided with a car on Thepkrasattri Road last night, trapping the driver of the car in her badly mangled vehicle for more than 30 minutes.The pickup truck driver, Rapeeporn Chonlasi, told police that while heading north, she lost control of her vehicle on a curve and crossed the median trip into southbound traffic. When police arrived…
-
Light-fingered job-seeker nabbed for Phuket hotel thefts
PHUKET: An out-of-town job-hunter applying for positions in Phuket’s hotel industry has been arrested for stealing from hotel guestrooms.Following a tip-off from a Patong hotel manager, police arrested Teerawat Yordying, 29, from Trang province. “We searched all over Phuket for Mr Teerawat. Finally, at 11:30pm [on Tuesday], we found him in an entertainment venue area on Srisena Road in Phuket…
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.