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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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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Hazardous rip currents force closures of popular Phuket beaches
PHUKET: Dangerous rip currents at Kata and Karon have forced lifeguards to rope off sections of the beaches in an effort to keep swimmers from entering the most hazardous areas of surf today. “Nobody should swim in the sea right now, the water is extremely dangerous,” Uten Singsom, Kata-Karon chief lifeguard, told the Phuket Gazette this morning. Other areas of…
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Krabi nursery school invaded by mysterious, smelly, burning bugs
PHUKET: An attack of mysterious bugs at a Krabi nursery school has frightened teachers and students and may cause the students to be moved out. The black bugs, about one centimeter long, have a putrid smell and cause a burning sensation when touched, Piyawan Chamnongrak, a teacher at the school, told the Phuket Gazette. “They appeared yesterday afternoon, from where…
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Fish companies to defend themselves from slavery reports
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fish companies to defend themselves from slavery reports The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Eight seafood and fishery associations will today reveal their action plan on labour conditions and send a decisive message against the United States’ decision to downgrade Thailand to “Tier 3” in its…
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Sudan court frees woman sentenced to death for changing faith
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sudan court frees woman sentenced to death for changing faith Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 27-year-old woman who was sentenced to death in Sudan last month for converting to Christianity from Islam was freed on Monday after what the government said was “unprecedented” international pressure.…
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Neymar inspires Brazil, Dutch storm on at World Cup
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Neymar inspires Brazil, Dutch storm on at World Cup Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Brazil’s poster-boy striker Neymar fulfilled a nation’s expectations to score twice in a 4-1 destruction of Cameroon on Monday while the Netherlands again showed their potential to win the World Cup with…
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Phuket police slap seahorse, illegal coral vendor with conservation lesson
PHUKET: A vendor selling several pieces of illegal black coral jewellery in a Sea Gypsy village in Phuket was given a stern warning and a lesson on conservation Saturday afternoon. “We got a tip-off about the vendor near Rawai Pier, and asked Chalong Police officers to check it out,” Tanet Munnoy, chief of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources…
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Police beat war drum as arrest warrants issued for ‘untouchables’
PHUKET: Officers are ready to go to war when serving the arrest warrants issued for the “untouchables” of Patong, Deputy Commander of Regional Police Paween Pongsirin told the Phuket Gazette today. “We have enough information to arrest some ‘big people’, including politicians,” Maj Gen Paween said. “At this stage, I cannot reveal how many officers will participate or when we…
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Flooding delays Phuket underpass trial run
PHUKET: The trial opening of Phuket’s first underpass, at the Darasamuth Intersection on the bypass road, will not begin until at least next month, the Phuket Gazette has learned. The 600-million-baht underpass, located beside the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall, missed its mid-May trial deadline after heavy rains flooded the road’s not yet complete drainage system. “The water pumps were…
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Slip on Phuket rocks costs fisherman his life
PHUKET: A man fishing on rocks at Laem Sing promontory, on Phuket’s west coast, slipped and fell to his death yesterday afternoon. Sakorn Lamnaonan, 35, had taken a neighbor’s 10-year-old son to fish with him at about noon, Lt Prasert Thongprom of Kamala Police told the Phuket Gazette. “It was very windy and big waves were washing over the rocks,…
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Phuket Airport Bus plan to use van drivers reveals the road ahead
PHUKET: The chief official in charge of drafting key policy changes affecting Phuket’s public transport has revealed that he will present a request for an airport bus operator to hire van drivers to deliver tourists from Phuket International Airport directly to the taxi-mafia hotbed of Kata-Karon. Jaturong Kaewkasi, the chief policy adviser at the Phuket Land Transport Office, confirmed to…
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Phuket hotel worker dies after being stabbed in head in gang attack
PHUKET: A staffer at a hotel in Karon has died from his injuries after being stabbed in the head during a gang attack north of Phuket Town on Saturday night. Surasri Jupmatta, 19, from Prachuap Khiri Khan, and a male friend were pushing their motorbike along Thepkrasattri Road looking for petrol when they were set upon by a gang on…
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Phuket storms prompt flash flood, landslide warnings
PHUKET: Scattered thunderstorms and isolated downpours forecast for today through Wednesday have prompted disaster officials to issue flash flood and landslide warnings for risk areas throughout Phuket. “We issued a warning to every local administration in Phuket to watch out for flash floods and landslides and to be prepared to respond to emergencies in their areas,” Department of Disaster Prevention…
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Polish foreign minister: ‘We gave the US a blow job’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Polish foreign minister called ties to USA ‘worthless’ Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Polish news magazine said on Sunday it had obtained a secret recording of Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, in contention for a senior European Union job, saying that Poland’s relationship with the United…
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South Korea conscript who killed five comrades continues standoff with troops
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South Korea conscript who killed five comrades continues standoff with troops Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A South Korean conscript soldier who killed five of his comrades in a grenade and gun attack continued a standoff on Monday with troops trying to capture him in a…
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Fighting strains Ukraine ceasefire, Putin urges dialogue
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fighting strains Ukraine ceasefire, Putin urges dialogue Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Fighting flared between Ukrainian and pro-Moscow separatist forces, both sides reported on Sunday, further straining a unilateral ceasefire declared by Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed Kiev to talk to the rebels. Putin…
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Last-gasp equalizer keeps Portugal World Cup hopes alive
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Last-gasp equalizer keeps Portugal World Cup hopes alive Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Portuguese substitute Silvestre Varela grabbed a dramatic stoppage-time equalizer to secure a 2-2 draw with the United States in World Cup Group G on Sunday. Just as it looked as though the Americans…
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Krabi tourist dies after sunbathing on beach
PHUKET: A tourist was pronounced dead on arrival at Krabi Hospital yesterday after other tourists found her unconscious on Ao Nang Beach with waves washing over her body. Thidarat Roh, 37, from Yasothon province in Northeastern Thailand, was sunbathing by herself when the tide came in and washed over her, witnesses told Lt Pithak Wongdet of Krabi City Police. “Beachgoers…
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Costa Rica stun Italy, France crush Switzerland
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Costa Rica stun Italy, France crush Switzerland Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Another European heavyweight fell to Latin American opposition on Friday as Costa Rica shocked Italy 1-0, putting the four-times champions’ qualification in peril, but France thumped Switzerland 5-2 in an imperious World Cup display.…
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Brit expat takes out power pole in high-speed crash, escapes with life
PHUKET: A British expat managed to escape life-threatening injury early this morning after a high-speed collision with a power pole in Koh Kaew left his Toyota Fortuner destroyed and the pole in a pile of rubble. Maj Kittiphum Tinthalang of the Thalang Police was notified of the accident on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, about 100 meters south of the Tah Rua…
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US downgrades Thailand to be among worst human trafficking hubs
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand downgraded to be among worst trafficking centres The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The US State Department yesterday downgraded Thailand to the lowest level in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report – a move that could trigger sanctions by the United States. After years…
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Korean woman jumps bail in B10mn Phuket fraud case, swept up 3 years later
PHUKET: A Korean woman who was wanted for jumping bail in a 10-million-baht fraud case three years ago was swept up today in a National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) campaign to rid Phuket of crime. Lee Mikyong, 48, was arrested at a Korean restaurant on Chao Fa West Road in Wichit at about 11am, Phuket Immigration Inspector Tianchai…
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British embassy rolls out passport extensions
PHUKET: The British Embassy in Bangkok has announced that it will begin conducting appointments on Monday so that British nationals in need of an extension to their current passport can be issued them. Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) in London is dealing with the highest demand for passports in 12 years and has issued more than three million passports so…
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Mother wanted for abducting own British-Thai children believed to be in Phuket
PHUKET: The mother wanted for abducting her two British-Thai daughters from their natural father in Pattaya is believed to be heading to Phuket. On Tuesday, Pattaya Police were issued an arrest warrant for 36-year-old Onwarat Gamlem, who is the non-custodial mother of the children. The warrant orders police officers around the country to arrest Ms Onwarat on charges of child…
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Phuket Poll: Beach land for Phuket’s beach clubs?
PHUKET: A bold campaign spearheaded by Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada and backed by the Army has led to the recent deconstruction of some parts of Phuket’s most popular west coast beach clubs, such as Catch Beach Club (story here). Though beach clubs aren’t the only targets in the bid to return Phuket’s public beach land to the people, they…
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Spoonful of MSG still stirs up fear in Phuket
Special Report Entire websites are devoted to warnings about monosodium glutamate (MSG). Its detractors claim that it causes cancer, headaches, palpitations, excessive neurological excitement, hair loss and more.Is it really not good for us? What are the facts? The Phuket Gazette‘s Leslie Porterfield reports. PHUKET: MSG was first produced in 1908 by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, who wanted to identify…
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Phuket rainy day must-do: people watching
PHUKET: Let me set the scene for you: it is Sunday afternoon and a sizable rainstorm has just swooped in and killed the power at Central Festival. The only sources of light are provided by the gray sky and the fluorescent glow emanating from laptop screens, tablets and smartphones. I am sitting in front of my Mac at a table…
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Saving Phuket park is more than battling land encroachers
Kitiphat Taraphiban, 53, a native of Bangkok, is the new Chief of Sirinath National Park. He has a bachelor’s degree in Forest Management from Kasetsart University, and before coming to Phuket, served as chief of Mae Ping National Park in Chiang Mai for one year. Here, he talks about his plans to clean, protect and upgrade the beach, forest and…
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Phuket benefits from NCPO’s no-nonsense measures
PHUKET: Following the unprecedented crackdown on the island’s notorious transport syndicates in recent weeks, it is becoming clear that few provinces in Thailand are benefitting more from the no-nonsense measures ordered by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) than Phuket. Now the cleanup, aimed at ending illegal businesses in Phuket, has targeted another scourge that has increasingly tarnished…
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Phuket one-stop yacht shop set to open, for real, July 1
PHUKET: Phuket’s long-awaited 70-million-baht one-stop yacht shop, dubbed the Phuket Yacht Control Center (PYCC), is set to officially open on July 1 after two years of delays. Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut confirmed the opening date yesterday. “PYCC will be Phuket’s official check-in point for incoming and outgoing foreign yachts. Additionally, it will ensure effective vessel-traffic management and monitoring; prevent smuggling…
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Obama sends military advisers as Iraq refinery battle rages
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama sends U.S. military advisers to Iraq as battle rages over refinery Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: President Barack Obama said on Thursday he was sending up to 300 U.S. military advisers to Iraq but stressed the need for a political solution to the country’s crisis…
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