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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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Sponsored Top 10 reasons for expats to get a comprehensive health insurance in Thailand
Moving to Thailand offers a prospect full of excitement and adventure, but in the same vein, if any injuries were to occur (and god forbid it does), the local healthcare system can be confusing at first glance for many expats...
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Phuket visa runs surge as expats scurry for legitimate stays
PHUKET: The ongoing crackdown on foreigners staying in Thailand by doing visa runs to re-enter the country on visa-exemption status has sparked a surge in the number of foreigners in Phuket travelling to Penang to obtain visas issued by the Royal Thai Consulate there. Preeyapan Adithepwarangkul, owner of KBV Visa Run, told the Phuket Gazette that demand for the Penang…
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Drug dealer serves time in Pattalung, arrested in Phuket for dealing again
PHUKET: A drug dealer who had recently been released from a six-year stint in prison was arrested in Phuket yesterday in possession of 105,000 baht of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine). Jakkarin Songpet, 33, was stopped by Thalang Police at the Baan Bang Jo checkpoint on Thepkrasattri Road at about 5:30pm. “We pulled him over because he was driving a motorbike…
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First Hole-in-One at Laguna Phuket Golf Club new course
PHUKET: Soon after Laguna Phuket Golf Club unveiled the first half of their completely redesigned golf course, a new opportunity to celebrate presented itself. This time it was thanks to German golf player Juergen John who scored a hole-in-one on July 9 – both his and the course’s first. Stepping onto the Blue Tee, Juergen flushed an 8 iron on…
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Call from abroad leads to discovery of Australian tourist’s body in Phuket
PHUKET: An international phone call led Phuket hotel staff to find an Australian guest dead in his room yesterday afternoon. The phone call was from a friend who said he had been unable to contact Adam Arthur Sahyoun, 31, said Lert Paiboon, an employee at the Happy Cottages Phuket resort in Chalong. Hotel staff checked the room of Mr Sahyoun,…
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Mcllroy joins greats after repelling Garcia charge
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rory McIlroy suffered several anxious moments but kept the jitters in check to rubber-stamp his status as the newest golfing great by landing the first British Open title of his career on Sunday. The 25-year-old Northern Irishman watched Sergio Garcia (66) cut his overnight lead from six…
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Costa Concordia almost ready for final voyage
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Costa Concordia almost ready for final voyage Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The massive hulk of the Costa Concordia is nearly ready to be towed away from the Italian island where it struck a rock and capsized two-and-a-half years ago, killing 32 people, officials said on…
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Israel shells Gaza militants as death toll climbs
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel shells Gaza militants as death toll climbs Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israeli tanks shelled militant targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and a woman died in an air strike after the bloodiest day for both sides of a nearly two-week military offensive that…
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Nakhon Ratchasima tackles underprivileged kids’ issues
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nakhon Ratchasima tackles underprivileged kids’ issues The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Six-year-old Yot (not his real name) was described by his scavenger mum as a problem child. He hated going to school and was so addicted to computer games he began begging to cover the…
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Attempt to kill former red shirt leader linked to ‘personal dispute’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Attempt to kill former red shirt leader linked to ‘personal dispute’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The attempt to kill a key red shirt leader in Chiang Mai on Saturday evening was likely the result of a personal conflict, police said. Niyom Luangcharoen, “DJ Lae”,…
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Thais split on whether Yingluck will come back
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thais split on whether Yingluck will come back The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: About half of the people who responded in a recent survey support the junta’s granting of permission for ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra to take a short trip out of the country,…
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Tourists injured in Pattaya banana boat crash
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tourists injured in Pattaya banana boat crash The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 12-year-old girl and another Chinese tourist were sent to hospital yesterday after their banana boat crashed into a sightseeing ship off Pattaya. Two other Chinese holidaymakers riding the inflatable boat were dislodged…
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U.S. presses case against Russia on downed jet as horror deepens
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. presses case against Russia on downed jet as horror deepens Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out what he called overwhelming evidence of Russian complicity in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 as international horror deepened over…
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Special Report: Tackling Phuket’s kid thugs is no child’s play
A growing number of teenagers in Phuket are becoming involved in drug abuse and violent crimes in a shift that is concerning local officials involved with juvenile cases, from court judges who hand down sentences to the minors to the counselors tasked with reforming them in the hope the children do not become repeat offenders. The Gazette’s Saran Mitrarat reports.…
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Phuket Police launch 10pm street curfew for minors
PHUKET: Following the recent spate of violent teenage attacks throughout Phuket, the island’s top-ranking police officer has ordered a 10pm curfew for all minors, effective immediately. “I have ordered officers from every police station in Phuket to start cracking down on children under 18 years old who are found roaming the streets at night,” Provincial Police Commander Krajang Suwannarat told…
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Phuket Raceweek: Doldrums leave fleet hanging on for final day
PHUKET: The signs were ominous as the boats left the anchorage this morning for Day 3 of the 2014 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek. Grey skies, no rustling in the trees and confusing reports from the weather professionals. Wind Guru was predicting anything from zero to four knots and Windfinder were predicting in the eight knot range, while the Thai…
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Phuket Governor prepared to cry “disaster zone’ to combat coastal erosion
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut has pledged to support all budget requests by local authorities to combat the resurgence of coastal erosion that has plagued Phuket’s beaches during the past week. If need be, the governor is willing to specifically declare Surin Beach a disaster zone in order to be able to release money from a disaster-relief fund in order…
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Phuket thief smashes car window, makes off with 20,000 baht
PHUKET: Police have warned motorists against leaving valuables in their cars after a Phuket thief this morning smashed a car window with a rock and made off with a bag containing 20,000 baht. Phuket City Police were called to the scene on Wirat Hongyok Road, near Suan Luang Park (also called Chalermprakiat Ror IX Park or King’s Park), at about…
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Phuket beach tear-down debris stabs tourist through foot
PHUKET: A Phuket tourist exercising barefoot on Kamala Beach yesterday was stabbed through the foot by a one-foot-long metal rod that was hidden beneath the sand. Local rescue workers called to the scene near the Kamala Cemetery found Benedict Tauber, 55, sitting on the ground with the metal rod sticking through the bottom of his foot. “We had to cut…
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Protest over Club Med lease brings promise of public hearing
PHUKET: A protest in April over renewing the lease for Club Med’s beachfront property in Kata has won locals the promise of a public hearing before any decision is made. “We will have a hearing next month,” Phuket Provincial Administration Organization [PPAO] Vice President Chawalit Na Nakorn told the Phuket Gazette this week. “The interest of the majority is our…
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Obama condemns Russia over Malaysia Airlines plane shot down over Ukraine
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama condemns Russia over downed plane in Ukraine Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: U.S. President Barack Obama demanded Russia stop supporting separatists in Ukraine after the downing of a Malaysian airliner by a surface-to-air missile he said was fired from rebel territory raised the prospect of…
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Next Target: Land-snatching Phuket officials
PHUKET: National level politicians involved in commandeering more than 1,000 rai of public land in Phuket will face fire as a joint agency operation pushes to shake out the long history of illegal land titles plaguing Sirinath National Park. “The people at the root of the issue of encroachment in Sirinath Park go all the way up to the top……
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Phuket Raceweek: Foxy Lady stretches her legs with four straight wins
Bill Bremner’s Foxy Lady VI, out of Singapore, scored two more firsts in the Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek Regatta today to card four straight wins in the IRC 1 Racing class. Winds eased to 10 to 12 knots off the east coast of Phuket, where the fleet of 35 yachts competed in the second day of racing in slightly…
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Nominations being accepted for Thailand’s first Expat Entrepreneur Awards
PHUKET: Bangkok-based publisher, The BigChilli Company, has announced that it will be hosting Thailand’s first Expat Entrepreneur Awards 2014 on September 25 in Bangkok. The accolades will be awarded in a variety of categories such as arts and culture, education, hospitality and travel to highlight the contributions that foreign-owned/managed companies have made to Thailand’s economy. The awards ceremony is jointly…
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Jellyfish warning after Russian woman suffers serious sting
PHUKET: A 24-year-old Russian woman was rushed to hospital today after being stung by a bluebottle jellyfish while swimming at Nai Thon Beach, off Phuket’s west coast. “At about 12:30pm we heard a woman screaming. We helped her out of the waist-deep water and found a bluebottle jellyfish stuck to the back of her hand,” Jit Chairap, head of the…
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Dig up the land titles next
PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) deserves the island’s full support for the ongoing efforts to rid public beaches of illegal encroachment in all its myriad forms. The results, which have been nothing less than stunning so far, are sure to go a long way towards restoring the island’s attractiveness to quality tourists, of both the foreign…
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Sea Sheperd rails against allegedly wild caught dolphins for Phuket Dolphinarium
PHUKET: Sea Shepard Global has put out a call to stop the Nemo Dolphinarium from being built in Phuket. Phuket Aqua Project Co Ltd’s application for the facility has been handed over to the Department of Fisheries’ head office in Bangkok, confirmed Kiattikhun Charoensawan, chief of the Phuket Fisheries Office, to the Phuket Gazette today. “I don’t see the construction…
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Video Report: Pony Up – Phuket marine conservationists launch international seahorse specialty course
PHUKET: Marine conservationists in Phuket today announced the international launch of a seahorse diver specialty course to promote accurate crowdsourcing as Thailand, and the rest of the world, attempts to protect endangered populations. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) course will teach student divers the basics of seahorse biology and conservation, how to identify and search for seahorses and…
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One-stop center for migrant worker registration to open in Phuket this month
PHUKET: Migrant workers living and working illegally on Phuket may be able to become fully legal and registered by the end of the month, confirmed the island’s employment office chief yesterday. “We expect illegal workers to be able to register at Phuket’s one-stop center by the end of the month. All application processes and procedures will be completed in one…
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Phuket to be waste management model for nation
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy has vowed to find a budget to fix Phuket’s third incinerator, broken since 2012, and make the island a model of garbage management for other provinces to follow. Royal Thai Navy Commander Narong Pipathanasai made the pledge after touring the island’s waste facility at Saphan Hin on Monday. On a similar tour in March (story…
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Phuket dog turns in fugitive
PHUKET: An astute dog led police to arrest a fugitive who had escaped from a Phuket police pick-up truck yesterday as it was stopped at a red light (story here). About 7 hours after 22-year-old Boonrit Boontang, arrested for motorbike theft, escaped from police custody while being transferred to Phuket Provincial Court, a barking dog gave up his hiding spot.…
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