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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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Huge Phuket python caught seeking shelter
PHUKET: A man checking his house for leaks during heavy rain in northern Phuket this morning spotted a huge python near the back of the house, trying to get in.Chokdee Inklub was checking every room of his home at Baan Yid, in Mai Khao, to ensure water was not damaging his furniture or posing a danger near exposed power sockets.When…
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Rain fails to dampen Phuket Vegetarian Festival spirit
PHUKET: The Phuket Vegetarian Festival street processions continued yesterday under a steady drizzle and leaden skies, but the inclement weather barely dampened the enthusiastic spirit of both participants and observers. The procession by devotees from Samkong Shrine wound its way through Phuket Town in the morning rain, with some 2,000 spectators lining the route to watch ma song (spirit mediums)…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Higgs boson, key to the universe, wins Nobel physics prize
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Higgs boson, key to the universe, wins Nobel physics prize Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Britain’s Peter Higgs and Francois Englert of Belgium won the Nobel Prize for physics on Tuesday for predicting the existence of the Higgs boson particle that explains how elementary matter attained the mass…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Bangladesh garment factory blazes; Turkey lifts headscarf ban; Italy seeks EU help after boat tragedy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Turkey lifts generations-old ban on Islamic head scarf Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Turkey lifted a ban on women wearing the Islamic head scarf in state institutions on Tuesday, ending a generations-old restriction as part of a package of reforms the government says are meant to improve democracy.The…
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As AoT and Airport bus company trade barbs, tourists take taxis
PHUKET: As Airports of Thailand (AoT) and the Airport Express bus company trade blame for the lack of passengers on the Airport-to-Patong bus, tourists continue to find it difficult to locate the bus stop. The most common complaint voiced by visitors is the lack of information both at Phuket International Airport and on line. “It took me 20 minutes to…
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Exploited lizard puts rainy-day tout in hot water
PHUKET: Non-stop rain in Patong could not stop an iguana tout from offering tourists photo opportunities with his captive reptile, a protected species. However, his persistence paid no dividends. Kathu District officers arrested the tout yesterday afternoon on Patong’s Phang Muang Sai Kor Road.“Ruonkimlhee Unruean, 46, from Patong, was caught with the iguana in front of One Tambon One Product…
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Phuket tour operators targeted for damaging reefs
PHUKET: Officials have sworn to take action against boat operators dropping anchor on live corals in popular Phuket day-trip destinations such as Koh Racha Yai, after a video showing an anchor destroying the fragile marine environment surfaced online last week. “I was notified by the Go Eco Phuket team about the problem. I will issue a letter to all boat…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Cell traffic and disease research wins Nobel Prize; World Bank to slash budget; Argentina’s Fernandez to undergo brain surgery
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Work on ‘cell traffic’ and disease wins Nobel prize Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Three U.S.-based scientists won the Nobel medicine prize on Monday for plotting how vital materials such as hormones and brain chemicals are transported within cells and secreted to act on the body, giving insight…
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Video Report: Sea turtles beach in Phuket with propeller, fishnet injuries
PHUKET: Two injured Olive Ridley sea turtles washed up on Phuket’s west coast yesterday.One of the two turtles, a male between 15 and 20 years old, was found on Patong Beach with leg and head injuries inflicted by a boat propeller.The other turtle, a female between five and 20 years old, was found earlier that day at Nai Harn Beach.…
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Phuket floods clear, but landslide strikes afore severe weather warning
PHUKET: Minor flooding from heavy rains across Phuket over the weekend has now drained, leaving roads clear and island residents to resume their daily business, officials have reported. The news comes after deluges flooded main roads in Phuket Town – notably Phuket Road, Montri Road and Rassada Road, all in the heart of the Phuket Old Town quarter, where water…
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Phuket FC narrowly conquer Saraburi’s Warlords
PHUKET: Phuket FC fans, players and coaching staff are all able to rest a bit easier now that the club has ended a two-month winless run, having prevailed at home 1-0 over the Gulf Saraburi “Warlords” last night at Surakul Stadium.Prior to last night’s win, the Islanders’ last triumph was on August 11 when they downed Nakhon Pathom 2-0, also…
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No seat belts worn, but no fatalities after van flips twice
PHUKET: Six relatives, including three children, escaped serious injury when the van they were in flipped twice before coming to rest on Thepkrasattri Road in Mai Khao yesterday afternoon.None of the adults or three children, aged 8 to 11, was wearing a seat belt when the van slid on the rain-slippery road and hit the median at a curve in…
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Tanker truck vapor prompts Phuket scare
PHUKET: A tanker truck parked roadside with vapor pouring from its pressurized tank full of oxygen sent Phuket residents into a state of high alert last night. The 18-wheeler remained parked in front of the Thalang Museum, near the Heroine’s Monument (map here), with its engine running because residents hesitated to approach it for fear it would explode. “The truck’s…
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Phuket Airport bus service still struggling
PHUKET: The airport bus service continues to operate at a loss, mainly due to management and marketing problems, its owner has told the Phuket Gazette. The buses, which travel from Phuket International Airport to Patong, have been carrying six to eight passengers each morning and about 12 to15 in the afternoons, company owner Prakob Panyawai said. “We have not been…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Cameron in battle over EU referendum
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: British Prime Minister David Cameron’s control over his own party looks set to be challenged after a rebel lawmaker on Sunday launched a campaign to bring forward a planned referendum on European Union membership to next year.The move sets up a parliamentary showdown between rival factions of…
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Phuket Gazette World News: 51 dead in clashes across Egypt, more protests called
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: At least 51 people were killed in clashes in Egyptian cities on Sunday, security sources said, after opponents and supporters of deposed president Mohamad Mursi took to the streets in one of the bloodiest days since the army seized power.In a sign of more possible violence to…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Mexico monster truck accident kills 8, including kids, injures 79
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: Eight people, including four children, were killed and 79 injured when a monster truck careened into a crowd at a show in northern Mexico, an official at the public prosecutor’s office in the city of Chihuahua said on Sunday.The incident late on Saturday afternoon took place at…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bangkok warned over flood tide; Chalerm has water on the brain; Nok Air has rough landing
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok residents warned over flood tide The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The first high-tide period of this month is imminent – and Bangkok residents in riverside communities who do not have flood barriers must be ready for possible flooding, say authorities. “Please move your belongings…
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Gazette’s Full Guide to Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2013
PHUKET: The annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival started at sunset last night after area shrines raised go teng poles to allow the Jade Emperor and the Nine Emperor Gods to descend to our earthly realm. The nine-day festival, which ends on October 13, attracts thousands of visitors to Phuket to witness the festivities, which include fire walking, bladed-ladder climbing, specialty foods…
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Phuket on alert for floods and landslides
PHUKET: The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DPMD) yesterday put Phuket on a list of 13 provinces told to be on the alert for possible rain-caused natural disasters. People living along rivers or at the base of hills should be particularly alert, the warning said.The other provinces on this list are Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chon Buri, Rayong,…
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Phuket Opinion: No pesticides please, we’re only human
PHUKET: In the wake of the latest surge in dengue fever cases in Phuket and Thailand as a whole, the Public Health Ministry is once again stepping up its efforts to reduce if not eliminate the looming threat. At the core of the officials’ latest reactive strategy (now that’s an oxymoron!) is the so-called “3-3-3” campaign that in more words…
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Phuket Opinion: Out of the house, into a brave new world
The Chief of the Phuket Women’s Development Fund is 52-year-old Natthaporn Phanitpichatewon. A Chiang Mai native, she has lived in Phuket for 30 years. She is a realtor and board member of the Phuket Red Cross and the Juvenile Observation and Protection Center.Here she talks about why women shouldn’t stay home and how she helps women start their own businesses.…
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Phuket Opinion: Legacy of accuracy in black and white
PHUKET: With advances in information technology in recent years, much has been said about the “inevitable” demise of print media. Few among us would deny that we are living in a time of breathtaking change in the way news is delivered, consumed and shared. Copyright laws are becoming virtually unenforceable in our global world, and the new reality is that…
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Special Report: Is my neighbor a contract killer?
Special Report: PHUKET: Soldiers and other security personnel arriving on the island to enjoy R&R leave or even to retire in the sun is nothing new to Phuket, but the arrest of ex-US soldier Joseph “Rambo” Hunter this past week (story here) has raised the disconcerting question: Do you know who your neighbors really are? Hunter lived the quiet life…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Response to BRN demands; Surachai grateful for royal pardon; More flood warnings
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Response to BRN up to Paradorn now The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: National Security Council (NSC) chief Paradorn Pattanatabut will make a final decision on how to respond to Barisan Revolusi Nasional’s (BRN) five demands, keeping in mind the recommendations of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc),…
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Kamala Beach encroachers given more time to remove illegal structures
PHUKET: Bar and restaurant owners whose establishments encroach on Kamala Beach have been given more time to remove their illegal structures. The original deadline, set after an inspection by local authorities in early September, was yesterday (story here). “We will inspect the beach on October 8 and make a list of any establishments that have not removed their encroaching structures,”…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Obama’s no-show raises questions in Asia; Assad to pay price; Red Napoleon dies at 102; Search postponed for survivors in Sicilian wreck
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama cancels Asia tour over shutdown; raises questions on U.S. pivot Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: President Barack Obama called off plans to visit Asia and attend two summits because of the U.S. government shutdown, raising questions about the strategic “pivot” to the region that he announced just…
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Phuket F1: Boos, boredom, boorishness, bravado
PHUKET: Sebastion Vettel faced the boos yet again as he collected his Monza and Singapore trophies. This has become an unhappy routine ritual at GPs. F1 is losing the fan base that it rebuilt after the Schumacher dark age. And the “Vettel Effect” is the cause. Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has said it is “unfair” to boo Vettel.…
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All rise for the Phuket Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET: Phuket folk from all over the island spent this afternoon pasting gold leaf onto Go Teng poles, hoping for good luck, before they are raised at every Chinese shrine in Phuket this afternoon at 5:09pm to mark the start of the 2013 Vegetarian Festival. “We have set up lots of places to eat in the vicinity of our shrine…
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Chinese drowning spurs ultimatum on Racha Island safety
PHUKET: Responding to the recent spate of Chinese tourist drownings at Racha Yai island, the head of the Conservation Club there yesterday issued the Phuket Government a safety ultimatum. “The authorities have to put pressure on tour companies to increase tourist safety,” said Sarit Jandee, head of the club. “The tour companies need to do more – provide life jackets…
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