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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Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
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Police recover body of Israeli girl, ferry fire victim Shani,12
PHUKET: The Krabi Marine Police have confirmed that they have recovered the body of Israeli girl, Sani Manil, 12. Shani was the sole victim in the fire that gutted and sank the Ao Nang Princess 5 ferry while en route from Krabi to Phuket on Wednesday (click here). Rescue workers recovered the girl’s remains from the sunken wreck at about…
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Israeli girl missing after tour boat catches fire and sinks near Krabi
FILE PHOTO: Identical vessel to the one that caught and sank yesterday A 12 year old Israeli girl remains missing from a tourist boat incident, whilst travelling to Phuket from Krabi. The boat caught fire and eventually sank yesterday afternoon (Monday) around 3.30pm. About 100 other foreign tourists were safely rescued. The ferry belongs to Ao Nang Travel Tour Company. The boat, named Ao Nang…
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Phuket gamers spared as car slams shopfront power pole
PHUKET: A woman has been charged for reckless driving after her car slammed into an SUV parked in front of an internet and online gaming cafe, then wiped out two motorcycles in Pa Khlok last night. The car, a Krabi-registered Toyota Vios, came to a stop only after hitting a power pole in front of the cafe, reported Lt Suporn…
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Tourists rescued from blazing Phuket ferry
PHUKET: More than 80 passengers, including tourists, and five crew were safely evacuated from a ferry that caught fire while en route from Krabi to Phuket this afternoon. Maj Anurak Parinyasathiragul of the Krabi Marine Police confirmed that he received a report that the Ao Nang Princess 5 was in distress at 4pm. Staff at Ao Nang Travel and Tour…
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Billionaire seeks police help for alleged extortion
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Billionaire seeks police help for alleged extortion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A billionaire businessman lodged a complaint yesterday against a former board member of the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel for alleged detention, extortion and intimidation. “Several times…
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Exhumation of Tikrit mass graves begins
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Exhumation of Tikrit mass graves begins Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Iraqi forensic teams began on Monday excavating 12 suspected mass grave sites thought to hold the corpses of as many as 1,700 soldiers massacred last summer by Islamic State militants as they swept across northern…
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Amazon founder’s rocket company to begin suborbital test flights
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Amazon founder’s rocket company to begin suborbital test flights Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A space company owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has finished work on a rocket engine for a suborbital spaceship and expects to begin flight tests this year, Blue Origin officials said…
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Senior transport officials to discuss aviation crisis with ICAO, Germany and Australia
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Senior transport officials to discuss aviation crisis with ICAO, Germany and Australia The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: In a bid to ease the country’s current aviation woes, the Transport Ministry is seeking help from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and preparing a team to…
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Pattani men slain by officers were not linked to insurgency: panel
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pattani men slain by officers were not linked to insurgency: panel The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: the fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the killings of four suspected insurgents in Pattani’s Thung Yang Daeng district last month, said yesterday that the four men were not connected…
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Foreign diplomats told Article 44 ‘inspired by France’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Foreign diplomats told Article 44 ‘inspired by France’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The provision for the use of absolute power is not without precedent and the current Article 44 of the interim charter was partly inspired by Article 16 of the French constitution of…
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PM wants world to accept the new charter
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM wants world to accept the new charter The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The new charter must be accepted by the international community, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday. After the Cabinet meeting yesterday at Government House, PM Prayut said he was not worried…
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Tourism rebound rise in spending expected to hike GDP by 3.5%
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tourism rebound rise in spending expected to hike GDP by 3.5% The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking still believes that gross domestic product can expand by 3.5% this year, as the rebound of tourism and the expected…
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Phuket taxi drivers fight bus terminal eviction
PHUKET: A sortie of about 30 taxi drivers arrived at Provincial Hall today to plea for intervention into an eviction order forcing them to cease operations at Phuket’s main bus terminal in Rassada. The drivers, led by Yod Sae-Lee, carried banners saying: “We formed a legal taxi co-operative more than 10 years ago. We are forced to leave by Rassada…
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Phuket golfers set golf cart world record for charity
PHUKET: Avid Phuket golfers Mark Cameron and Graham Haslam have completed a world-record golf cart drive from Pattaya to Phuket, and are hoping to raise even more money for charity with an auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in Patong tomorrow night. “The cart will be up for auction at a starting bid of 200,000 baht, ‘slightly used’,” Mr Cameron…
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Phuket underpass late to grand opening
PHUKET: Despite the Darasamut Underpass being treated to a grand opening ceremony yesterday (story here), the island’s first underpass did not open to traffic until this afternoon. “We expected to open the underpass after the ceremony yesterday, but we had to fix the electric lane markers,” Samak Luedwonghad, director of the Phuket Highways Office, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today.…
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Efforts continue to re-float beached Phuket yacht
PHUKET: The salvage team attempting to re-float the yacht still stranded on the sand at Kata Beach will make another attempt today, nearly a week after the boat was beached by a passing storm. The Inisfail of the Isles of Scilly was beached on Wednesday after the boat drifted on her anchor. Attempts by the two Australian men on board…
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Malaysian arrested for hacked credit cards in Phuket
PHUKET: Tourist Police arrested a Malaysian man at Phuket International Airport this weekend for having hacked credit cards in his possession. Mohd Jaris Tan Bin Abdullah, 50, was arrested shortly after landing on board AirAsia flight FD3017 at 5:05pm, said Phuket Tourist Police Chief Urumporn Koondejsumrit. The arrest followed a tip-off by Kasikornbank (Kbank). “When he arrived, we searched him…
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British tourist found dead in Patong hotel bathtub
PHUKET: Police believe that a combination of two common drugs, Alprazolam and Nytol, may have led to the death of a British man in the bathtub at his Patong hotel room last night. Hotel staffers at the Baan Yin Dee Boutique Resort on Muean Ngen Road found the body of Arif Abdul Khalid Ukaye, 33, in his guest room at…
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Rolling Stone to be sued for retracted rape story
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rolling Stone to be sued for retracted rape story Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The University of Virginia fraternity at the center of Rolling Stone’s retracted article “A Rape on Campus” said on Monday it planned to sue the magazine for what it called “reckless” reporting…
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Medical official slams new malpractice bill
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Medical official slams new malpractice bill The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Doctors are continuing their campaign against the controversial Protection of Victims of Medical Mistreatment Bill, saying the draft law will further complicate issues surrounding malpractice and sow seeds of reluctance among medical workers when…
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Students confess to Narathiwat blasts
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Students confess to Narathiwat blasts The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Narathiwat police chief Pol Maj Gen Patthanawuth Angkhanawin confirmed yesterday that the four Princess of Naradhiwas University students in detention had confessed that they were behind the three bombings in Narathiwat Municipality area on February…
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Russian PM arrives today on official visit
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russian PM arrives today on official visit The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is to arrive in Bangkok today to cement ties with Thailand in various domains including politics, economy, security, energy, science and technology, education, tourism and culture. Foreign Minister…
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South Korea bans Thai airlines over safety concerns
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South Korea bans Thai airlines over safety concerns The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Korea has started banning charter flights from Thailand over safety concerns after Thai negotiators from the Civil Aviation Department failed to convince officials to ease restrictions. A source in the Civil…
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Phuket manhunt launched for alleged rapist, baby killer
PHUKET: Police are hunting a male nanny who allegedly raped and killed a 1-year-old boy in Phuket Town on April 3. The 38-year-old man, Somsak Yakob, called the child’s mother on Friday night to tell her that the baby had fallen to his death. Mr Somsak met the baby’s mother, named by police only as ‘Mon’, that night at the…
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#SaveVasilisa campaign launched for comatose 3-year-old girl
PHUKET: An online campaign is gaining momentum to raise funds for a 3-year-old Russian girl who lies comatose in hospital after falling unnoticed into a swimming pool at a Phuket resort. Vasilisa Sagunova arrived in Phuket with her parents on March 27. That same day she fell into a pool at the resort where they were staying, reports the Save…
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Phuket’s first underpass officially open to traffic
PHUKET: The island’s first underpass, dubbed ‘Darasamuth Underpass’, officially opens to traffic today, after two years in the making. The grand opening event has drawn high-ranking officials, both local and national, to the site of the 600-million-baht underpass. In attendance were both Minister of Transport Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong and Minister of Finance Sommai Pasri, as well as Phuket…
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Armed robbers knock over Phuket spa for B500k
PHUKET: Police are hunting five armed robbers after they held up a spa in Phuket Town and made off with 500,000 baht cash last night. The robbery took place at about 9:45pm at Imperial Spa, near Chaofa Variety market, in Wichit, said Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Pinit Sirichai. There were about 10 Chinese customers present at the time, confirmed…
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Phuket Oilfield Classic golf tourney returns for charity
PHUKET: The 7th annual Arnco Phuket Oilfield Classic golf tournament will return on April 9-12, with players lining up to tee off at the Red Mountain and Loch Palm golf courses over two days. The competition will begin with the traditional Texas Scramble at Red Mountain on April 10 with an 18-hole shotgun start at 12:30pm. The next day, players…
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Sansiri says “Now or Never’ with latest Phuket campaign
PHUKET: Sansiri has launched a “Now or Never” sales campaign, which will see some of the best units available in six Phuket developments up for grabs at special prices through June. The property development company held an event launching the campaign at Central Festival Phuket that concluded on April 1. “We have a limited number of units available for the…
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Finance: UK’s ever-shifting goalposts affecting Phuket expats, retirees
PHUKET: The UK government is continuing to shake things up for retirees and expatriate workers trying to make long-term plans for the post-work future with yet another shift of the goalposts, one of many in recent months. The most dramatic change announced in the new budget, to go into effect next year, is the reduction in lifetime allowance to one…
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