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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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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Sponsor can’t prevent Phuket kratom arrest
PHUKET: Amid the bustle of holiday travellers at Phuket Bus Terminal 2 yesterday, officers arrested a man after confirming that the box he retrieved from a bus contained kratom leaves. The arrest of Polawat Jay-yeng, 25, occurred after a tip-off to Suthee Sirianant, Chief Administration Officer of Phuket City District Office. “Mr Polawat picked up a Sponsor drink box from…
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Speed, seats and safety targeted in Songkran bus blitz
PHUKET: Extra buses, drug and alcohol tests for drivers and GPS to monitor speeds have been ordered to ensure that holiday travelers make it home safely for the Songkran holidays. Ten extra buses were on standby at Phuket’s Bus Terminal 2 yesterday to cope with the 50 per cent increase in travelers as officials rolled out new disciplinary regulations for…
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Phuket maintains zero road fatalities in Seven Days of Danger
PHUKET: As of 9am today, no deaths had been reported in Phuket during the Songkran holiday Seven Days of Danger safety campaign. Two motorcycle accidents were reported yesterday, but neither involved serious injuries. At 6:21pm, Ampan Jansanoi, 35, lost control of her motorbike while riding in Phuket Town. Three hours later, at 9:25pm, Pongsakorn Sangkasee, 21, was involved in an…
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Travel a la carte
PHUKET: When I first came to Thailand, I came to travel. I went north and south, south and east. Sadly, since I moved here permanently, I find myself lacking the time to explore this country, and if I manage to secure some time off, I travel abroad. Luckily, there is a way to travel even when short on time and…
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Phuket Gazette World News: African exodus to Europe continues
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Libya’s coastguard detains more than 400 immigrants en route to Europe Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Libya’s coastguard has detained more than 400 immigrants, mostly from the Horn of Africa, in its waters in the past two days as they tried to illegally cross to Europe…
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Phuket rental shops send passport pictures to Bangkok via smartphone application
PHUKET: Nearly one-third of rental shops in Patong have started to send photos of renters’ faces and passports to the Interpol branch in Bangkok via the messaging application Line in an effort to identify stolen passports and protect against passport theft on the island. The push for tighter security follows the news that two passports stolen in Phuket had been…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Pope asks forgiveness for ‘evil’ of child abuse by priests
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pope asks forgiveness for ‘evil’ of child abuse by priests Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pope Francis made his first public plea for forgiveness on Friday for the “evil” committed by priests who molested children, using some of his strongest words yet on the Roman Catholic…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Yingluck ditches Prem; Suthep welcomed at Health Ministry; 9 killed in Songkran drive
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM misses Prem meeting The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was absent yesterday from a gathering to pay their respects to Privy Council President General Prem Tinsulanonda, leaving only commanders of the Armed Forces with him. Supreme Commander…
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Baby found abandoned in Phuket pickup
PHUKET: Police are searching for the mother of a newborn baby boy found abandoned in the bed of a pickup truck in front of a luxury Phuket resort last night. The baby is healthy and is being cared for at Vachira Phuket Hospital, said Wichit Police Deputy Superintendent Jakkawat Boontaweekulsawat. Hotel staffer Anchalee Singsoon, 39, discovered the infant in the…
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Another Phuket beach befouled by wastewater, again
PHUKET: Dirty, smelly water is flowing across a Phuket beach again, not in the south this time, but in Bang Tao in the north, causing health and economic problems for local boat operators. The source of the problem, say the boatmen, is local hotels dumping untreated wastewater into the Bang Tao Canal, which spills it onto the beach and into…
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Safe start to Songkran Seven Days of Danger
PHUKET: The nationwide Seven Days of Danger road-safety campaign for the Songkran holiday came into effect at midnight last night, and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket) has confirmed there have been no deaths reported in the first 12 hours of the campaign. “The Seven Days of Danger campaign started at midnight and will run from…
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Jagota sponsors three new international music and theater events in Phuket [video]
PHUKET: Phuket’s burgeoning events scene received a boost this week with the announcement that leading food supplier Jagota Brothers has signed an agreement with Events International [EI], organizer and promoter of the Phuket Gazette’s series of “Headline Events”, to sponsor three upcoming musical and theatrical performances on the island. The agreement will see Jagota as the title sponsor for these…
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Phuket Police under fire: Chalong Police face cleanup under new station chief
PHUKET: Officers of the Chalong Police have found themselves under tight scrutiny from their new chief, the recently reinstated superintendent Col Sirisak Wasasiri, following a blockade of the police station on Monday. All officers must now provide daily reports of their activities, inform Col Sirisak each time they leave the station on police work and provide the results of their…
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Phuket governor lends muscle to lake-filling investigation
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday lent the weight of his office to the investigation of a lake-filling project in Samkong with the aim of assisting Rassada Municipality to file a police complaint. The project, at Srisuchart Grandview housing estate, began as a municipality-ordered anti-erosion measure at the lake, but has become a noisy, dusty public nuisance and health threat, according…
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Phuket doesn’t need more tuk-tuks, says tuk-tuk chief
PHUKET: Seven months after his last appeal to legalize tuk-tuk drivers on the island, Sakol Srisompoch filed yet another complaint yesterday, but this time it was against legalizing them. In September, Mr Sakol led a group of legal tuk-tuk drivers to file a third formal complaint in their campaign to stamp out the illegal tuk-tuk trade in Patong (story here).…
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Special Report: Flaws hinder Thailand’s human-trafficking crackdown
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Special Report: Flaws hinder Thailand’s human-trafficking crackdown Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: After a two-hour trek through swamp and jungle, Police Major General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot halts in a trash-strewn clearing near Thailand’s remote border with Malaysia. “This is it,” he says, surveying the remains of a…
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Phuket Gazette World News: New pings stoke optimism for Malaysia plane hunt
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New pings stoke optimism for Malaysia plane hunt Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A new acoustic signal was detected in the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on Thursday, further boosting confidence that officials are zeroing in on the missing plane after weeks of searching. The…
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Phuket banker dies after car crashes into pond
PHUKET: A Phuket banker died yesterday morning after he lost control of his car on the old airport road in Baan Nai Mon and flipped it into a small pond. A local farmer, who asked not to be named, said that residents were unable to save Phubadee Marasa, 26. Additionally, the first two rescue workers who arrived on the scene…
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Phuket Opinion: Three cheers for clean police
PHUKET: The opening of the Karon Police Station in 2012 to serve the southwest of the island was a well-intended move, one expected to take pressure off the Chalong police who were previously responsible for the entire south of the island. Events in recent months have shown that the truncation did not stop the scandals that have plagued the Chalong…
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Wastewater could lead to shutdown of Karon hotels
PHUKET: The president of the Karon Hotels Association agreed on Wednesday that hotels should be shut down for releasing untreated wastewater into the beach town’s canal. Angkana Tanetvisetkul voiced her support for drastic action at a public meeting led by Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut aimed at improving the wastewater and garbage problems in Karon. The meeting was held to address…
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Australian Govt warns Deep South extremists “may be targeting westerners’
PHUKET: The Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade has upgraded its travel advisory, warning travellers that extremists in the Deep South provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat may be targeting westerners. The advisory also includes Songkhla province, home of the bustling southern city Haad Yai, in its warning (click here). “We strongly advise you not to travel at…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Knife-wielding student wounds 22 in Pennsylvania school
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Knife-wielding student wounds 22 in Pennsylvania school Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 16-year-old student wielding two knives went on a stabbing rampage in the hallways of a Pittsburgh-area high school on Wednesday, wounding 22 people before he was tackled by an assistant principal, officials said.…
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Phuket hunter shot dead, police probing gun misfire claims
PHUKET: Police are not yet convinced that a man shot dead while hunting with friends in central Phuket last night died from his .22 rifle accidentally discharging while the men were climbing a hill in the dark. Maj Kittipoom Tinthalang of the Thalang Police was called to a small village in the foothills of the protected forest area near Bang…
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Krabi resort fraud case goes nationwide, hundreds file complaints
PHUKET: At least 231 victims have stepped up to file police complaints against the Phu Pranang Resort in Krabi, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket. The flood of complaints comes after 50 tourists were turned away by the resort earlier this month. The travellers bought low-cost package tours, but were left stranded after they were refused check-in by resort staff,…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Yingluck calls for Lese Majeste probe; No Bangkok protests for Songkran; Romanians caught on credit card fraud
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community CAPO warns govt officials against talking to PDRC The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The visit of anti-government protesters to three government offices has prompted the Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order (CAPO) to issue a warning to state officials and civil servants not…
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PDRC allows Phuket Provincial Hall to re-open
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Hall officially re-opened yesterday after being closed by anti-government protests for four and a half months. The opening followed an order from People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) leader Suthep Thaugsuban. Mr Suthep called protest co-ordinators from every province to a meeting in Bangkok on Saturday, Phuket protest co-ordinator Amnuay Kumban explained to the Phuket Gazette today. “Mr…
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Naked Canadian arrested after putting on a show for shoppers
PHUKET: As women screamed and shouted, a man identified by police only as “David” walked, danced and jumped on a wall next to Jungceylon last night – buck naked. When police arrived, Mr David was scaling a wall next to the mall. He resisted arrest, leading officers to handcuff him. His evening ended soberly. “We smelled alcohol on him, so…
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Irishman among three arrested for drug dealing in Phuket
PHUKET: Police made three more arrests last night, including that of an Irish national, in their continued effort to rid Patong of drug dealers. Officers arrested Irishman Jim Joseph Brady along with Parinya Sornloy and Sumalee Saenkhampa, all of whom were found in possession of either ya bah (methamphetamine) or ya ice (crystal methamphetamine), or both. “The first suspect arrested…
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10-year-old taken off life support after Phuket motorbike accident
PHUKET: The 10-year-old girl critically injured in a motorbike accident with her older sister last week died on Monday at Vachira Phuket Hospital after being taken off life support. “Rattanawadee Tukthin was taken off life support because her brain had been so severely damaged in the crash. Our medical team did their best to save her life, but she remained…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Indonesian election underway for new parliament
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Indonesians vote for new parliament, stage set for presidential poll Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Indonesians began voting for a new parliament on Wednesday in an election likely to be dominated by the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), which it turn should give a further boost…
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