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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Body believed to be western woman retrieved from water off Ranong, brought to Phuket
PHUKET: The body of a woman believed to be a westerner was found by a fishing boat off Ranong on November 30, and brought to Phuket yesterday.The woman was estimated to be 40-50 years old, about 170-180cm tall, and had white hair. She was wearing a green shirt and brown underwear when she was found, said Capt Weerachart Srira of…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Putin tightens grip on Russian media; World mourns Mandela; Singapore riots; Jakarta train crash; Lake remains on Mars
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Putin dissolves state news agency, tightens grip on media Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Vladimir Putin tightened his hold on Russia’s media on Monday by dissolving the main state news agency, seen by hawks as too liberal, and creating a new outlet to improve Moscow’s image under a…
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No amnesty for Phuket foreigners waiting for work permits
PHUKET: While illegal taxi, tuk-tuk and tour van drivers continue to work freely in Phuket under a government pledge of immunity from arrest, foreigners waiting for work permits will receive no such protection. In their long-accommodating efforts to encourage drivers working in the tourism industry to become legal, the provincial government has granted amnesty to all illegal transport drivers in…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Suthep declares People’s Revolution; Yingluck emotional in announcing dissolution; Feb 2 election; Mega-projects in doubt
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community People’s revolution declared The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: His Majesty the King endorses House dissolution decree, national election set for February 2; some academics agree with protesters, but urge both sides to talk and find a solutionSuthep Thaugsuban, leader of the anti-government protest, announced last night that…
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Patong ATM thieves caught with skimming equipment re-enact crime
PHUKET: The trio of professional thieves who were busted in Bangkok after robbing an ATM in Phuket were caught with what police believe to be ATM skimming equipment in addition to safe-cracking tools. Yesid Alexander Ledesma Gutierrez, 50, Luis Fernando Guarin Suta, 44, and Carlos Arturo Amariles Marin, 57 have all confessed to the blowtorch robbery, and took part in…
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Immigration stamps out rumors over retirement visas
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration Superintendent Napat Nusen issued a press release today clarifying that the rules regarding retirement visa extensions will remain unchanged, but will be interpreted more strictly. “Nothing has been changed. It has been the same since 2008. A wife can still use the same type of follower visa as before if her husband applies for a Non-immigrant O…
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Romanian arrested with 3kg of cocaine at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: Customs officers at Phuket International Airport arrested Romanian Pop Florin, 52, on Friday night after finding more than 3kg of cocaine in his baggage. Acting on a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Customs officers from Bangkok came to Phuket to assist in the arrest, Phuket Airport Customs Director Montira Cherchoo explained. “Mr Florin departed Sao Paulo,…
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Phuket protest march becomes victory parade
PHUKET: Thousands of jubilant anti-government protesters are gathered outside of the main government buildings in Phuket Town, celebrating the decision of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra earlier today to dissolve her government. The protesters, however, vow to carry on protesting until the People’s Council proposed by Suthep Thaugsuban, the former deputy prime minister and protest leader in Bangkok, is set up.…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Lenin falls in Ukraine; India’s ruling party stumbles; Kim Jong Un uncle dismissed for illicit partying
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Protesters fell Lenin statue, tell Ukraine’s president ‘you’re next’ Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Anti-government protesters toppled a statue of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine’s capital and attacked it with hammers on Sunday in a symbolic challenge to President Viktor Yanukovich and his plans for closer…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bangkok readies for ‘final day’ protests; Democrats resign, Yingluck requests to dissolve Parliament
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Democrat MPs quit House The Nation / Phuket GazetteUPDATE: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Monday sought royal approval for House dissolution. She said in a press conference at 8:42am that the dissolution is a democratic way.PHUKET: The opposition Democrat Party yesterday unanimously resolved that all of its…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: U.N., U.S. call for investigations into Thai trafficking of Rohingya
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.N., U.S. call for investigations into Thai trafficking of Rohingya Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The United Nations and the United States on Friday called for investigations into the findings of a Reuters report that Thai immigration officials moved Myanmar refugees into human trafficking rings. The…
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Phang Nga gets jump on Phuket with high season party
PHUKET: Phang Nga kicked off its tourism high season with a colorful parade down the main street of Khao Lak to the Tsunami Memorial last night. The event comes a week ahead of the unofficial opening of the Phuket high season with the Patong Carnival (story here). The five-day festival marking the high season was ushered in by Phang Nga…
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Nine Phuket heroes due to arrive next month
PHUKET: A 50-million-baht project to honor important figures in Phuket’s history moves closer to completion next month with the arrival of nine bronze statues. The statues represent individuals important in the defense of Phuket against Burmese invaders, including the well known Phuket Heroines, sisters Thao Thepkrasattri and Thao Srisoonthorn (story here). Cast in Ang Thong province, the statues will be…
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Phuket boy, 16, murdered with throat cut and body burned in woods
PHUKET: Police are investigating the murder of a 16-year-old boy who had been stabbed multiple times and whose throat was cut before his body was dumped and burned at a wooded location in a remote part of central Phuket. Police called to the scene – on Muang Chaofa Road, about 3km from Chao Fa West Road (map here) – shortly…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Ukraine’s Yanukovich defies protesters to meet Putin; France enters CAR; Clashes in Athens; Japan enacts state secrets act
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Clashes break out in Athens Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Police and protesters clashed in Athens on Friday on the fifth anniversary of the killing of a teenager by police, an incident that sparked Greece’s worst riots for decades.Thousands of protesters, many dressed in black, marched through the…
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Phuket’s JLL Cricket League recommences
PHUKET: THE Phuket Cricket Group (PCG) is pleased to announce a new season of the Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Cricket League at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) commencing on December 8, which will see Phuket’s local teams fight for the title. Mike Batchelor, managing director of the JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, which has been involved in some of the…
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Phuket Employment Office re-opens to process work permits
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO), which processes work permits for foreigners, quietly reopened today. “We are now back to working normally,” PPEO Chief Yaowapa Pibulpol told the Phuket Gazette. “Our office was closed for two and a half days, from the afternoon of December 3 through the public holiday for HM The King’s birthday yesterday,” she explained. “But…
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Boy, 14, killed by Phuket tour bus
pHUKET: A tour bus carrying Chinese tourists to view the sunset at Phuket’s iconic Promthep Cape yesterday afternoon struck a motorbike carrying three teenagers in Rawai. One of the three teens died instantly in the impact. The other two are in hospital. Police arrived at the scene, on the southbound lane near the intersection with Sai Yuan Road (map here),…
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Phuket python nabbed after exposing itself
PHUKET: Construction workers breaking the floor of a new house in order to remake it were shocked when instead of earth they saw the tail of a snake through the broken concrete. Kusoldharm foundation workers who were called to the site on Palien Road (map here), behind Provincial Hall this morning managed to capture the snake on their second attempt.…
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Garden variety motorbike arson near Phuket viewpoint
PHUKET: A motorbike was burned to a crisp near the Kata View Point on Phuket’s west coast yesterday afternoon, possibly the result of a feud between two gardeners. Karon Police responding to a 4pm call found the black skeleton of Parichat Prasertlo’s green Honda Dream about 200 meters off the coastal road near the tourist-popular scenic vantage point. Ms Parichat…
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British tourist withdraws complaint of spiked drink in Phuket
PHUKET: The British woman who told police that she tumbled from the second storey balcony of her Phuket hotel room on November 11 because she was given a spiked drink on Soi Bangla has asked police not to pursue the case. Extensive media coverage of the night’s events, which included 21-year-old Romany Mitchell’s claim that she was escaping an assailant…
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Phuket Gazette World News: World mourns Mandela; Arctic storm slams UK ; France vows African action; Pope probes child abuse; Italy to deport KKK head
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community World mourns death of Nelson Mandela Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection, plunging his nation and the world into mourning for a man hailed by global leaders as a…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: HM calls for unity; Protests to resume today; Red-shirts to rally in Ayutthaya
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community HM issues call for unity The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej yesterday called on all Thais to carry out their duties for the benefit of their homeland and ensure its security.In his birthday speech, His Majesty said Thailand had maintained happiness due to…
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Phuket Opinion: Burning desire to keep island’s flames at bay
Puchong Manavakrit is a volunteer firefighter with the Phuket City Municipality Fire Department. Born and raised in Phuket, Mr Puchong is in his final year for a computer engineering degree at Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus. He has been a volunteer firefighter since he was 18 years old. Here, he explains what is needed to save the lives of…
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Phuket Opinion: Patong’s good-time juggernaut spins on
PHUKET: Reports that Patong Municipality hopes to install a huge Ferris wheel along the beach road have generated considerable interest within Phuket’s large and ever-growing expat community, and some skepticism with regard to the cost/benefit of such an erection.But the fact that this is even a serious topic of discussion clearly demonstrates just how good we have it here in…
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Phuket Rotary continues campaign for Philippines victims
PHUKET: Despite the suffering of those affected by Typhoon Haiyan falling from headlines around the world, the Rotary Club of Patong Beach is continuing its campaign to raise funds through its disaster relief fund. “It gets harder and harder as it goes along, as it is no longer in the news,” Chairman of International Projects James Domville told the Phuket…
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Phuket government maintains workflow despite protest closures
PHUKET: The main government offices in charge of keeping the island’s economy ticking over have reported no major disruptions to workflow despite the more than week-long closure of Provincial Hall. Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut agreed to close Provincial Hall on November 27, acquiescing to the firm request by thousands of anti-government protesters who rallied in front of the building (story…
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Phuket Immigration vows strictness on retirement visa requirements
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration has vowed to become stricter in its enforcement of retirement visas for married couples by upholding a law that came into effect in November 2008. The law states that foreign retired couples must each show evidence of 800,000 baht in their bank accounts in order to apply for or renew retirement visas, Phuket Immigration Inspector Napat Nusen…
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Patong police make appointment for drug arrests
PHUKET: The arrest of one drug user in Patong on Monday morning allowed police to make an appointment with five other druggies later in the day. Acting on the orders of Phuket’s top cop to arrest anyone suspected of drug use, officers in Patong approached Komsak Tongsin, 21, in front of a SuperCheap store on Phrabaramee Road because he “looked…
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Phuket celebrates HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 86th birthday
PHUKET: A host of special ceremonies are being held across Phuket today to honor and celebrate HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 86th birthday, which is also Father’s Day in Thailand. The ceremonies kicked off at 6:30am with Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut and a host of other public dignitaries offering alms to 86 monks as part of a blessing ceremony to honor…
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