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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Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Phuket Gazette World Sports: Preview of Champions league clash – round 2
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Sports news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Manchester United’s Jones ruled out of Real match Reuters/ Phuket GazettePHUKET: Manchester United’s Phil Jones will miss the Champions League last 16 second leg at home to Real Madrid after failing to recover from an ankle injury, manager Alex Ferguson said.The versatile defender or midfielder suffered the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Draconian IS Act to be lifted; Pollsters puzzle; Worawi confident
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ISA to be lifted in five southern districts Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: To bolster dealings in the South between authorities and insurgent groups, the draconian Internal Security Act will be revoked in five districts in three provinces and replaced by the softer emergency decree,…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Baby cured of HIV; Girl miraculously survives plane crash; UK Queen leaves hospital
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community US baby’s cure from HIV raises hope, new questions Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The remarkable case of a baby being cured of HIV infection in the United States using readily available drugs has raised new hope for eradicating the infection in infants worldwide, but scientists…
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Phuket residents protest new B465mn provincial hall
PHUKET: More than 200 Phuket residents protested today against the construction of the new provincial hall. The protesters gathered this morning at Sanam Chai in Phuket Town, opposite the current provincial Hall (map here), to express their concerns that the proposed new hall will negatively affect the lifestyle of people in the area. Former Rassada Mayor Suratin Lianudom and former…
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Phuket United shock Lightning Shrimp with hat trick
PHUKET: With the Thailand futsal season rapidly winding down, Phuket United maintained their good run of form, winning their third match in a row by defeating Southern rivals, Surat Thani 4-2 in a tense yet thrilling match on Saturday night in Phuket Town.Played at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the game was Phuket’s 26th and Surat Thani’s 25th match…
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Phuket FC neutralize Big Bang in season opener
PHUKET: Kicking off the Thai Premier League (TPL) Yamaha One 2013 season, Phuket FC played their season opener out to a 1-1 draw away against Big Bang Chula United (BBCU) on Saturday evening in Bangkok. Played at the Army Stadium, the match was watched by little more than 300 fans, with several dozen Phuket fans making the trip. Relegated last…
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Phuket mob surrounds British expat who hit motorcyclist
Correction: The original story yesterday named the driver, as repeatedly confirmed and spelled out to our reporters by Thalang Police Sub Lt Niphon Temsang, as “Martin Ian Potter”. His reports of the surname were incorrect. The driver charged over the incident was Martin Ian Foster, who reportedly works in the hotel industry on Koh Maphrao. The Gazette obtained the correction…
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Phuket Police raid cockfight
PHUKET: Police broke up a cockfighting match near a rubber plantation in central Phuket yesterday, arresting 16 men and confiscating two roosters and 220 baht found at the scene. The number of men attending the matches had grown steadily over the past few weeks, causing local residents to complain to police, who sent an undercover agent to discover the time…
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Phuket Charity Event Sets Record
PHUKET: The Phuket Family & Gourmet Festival, held at Royal Phuket Marina on January 26, raised a whopping one million baht for children’s charities, it was announced this morning by the Bangkok-based food wholesaler Jagota Brothers, the creator and driving force behind the event. The record-breaking sum for a single-event fundraising effort on the island followed a cash donation of…
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Southern Resurgence: Drug cocktail 8×100 makes a comeback
PHUKET: The police crackdown on the indigenous plant kratom, a mild narcotic, is taking its toll, with youngsters now reportedly turning to longkong leaves in order to make a new version of the long-known drug cocktail “4×100”. The new recipe using longkong leaves even sports a new, improved nickname: “8×100”. “Kratom leaves are the main ingredient of the original “4×100″…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Kenya elections; Pope vote; Borneo violence; QEII cancels Welsh appearances
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kenyans to vote in tense head-to-head presidential race Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Kenyans vote today in a presidential election that will test whether the east African nation can restore its reputation as one of Africa’s more stable democracies after a lethal ethnic rampage erupted following the 2007…
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Breaking News: Democrats win Bangkok election, Yingluck concedes defeat
PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has conceded defeat in the election today for Bangkok Governor, handing the election win over to Democrat candidate Sukhamband Parabitra.PM Yingluck publicly announced the defeat at 6:15pm after the ongoing count of votes at the polls showed that Sukhamband had amassed more than a million votes while leading Pheu Thai rival Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen…
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World Sports: Review of Six Nations
PHUKET: Before the Six Nations began the pundits were, as usual, making their predictions about the destiny of the championship. After their stunning autumn victory over Australia, France was strongly fancied to win “Le Grand Slam”. Wales, despite being current Six Nations champions, had lost seven games on the bounce and seemed to be out of contention. Ireland, so strong…
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Pharmacy raid nets 24 youths in cough syrup blitz
PHUKET: A raid on a Phuket Town pharmacy early yesterday evening turned into a bumper haul for officers as they arrested a procession of youngsters turning up to buy cough syrup specifically to make the local drug cocktail “4×100”. Following an order by Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanukul, the 15 officers arrived at the Pharma Sure drug store on Si…
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Phuket Sports: TNT blown away in a flash by Gordon
PHUKET: In the first match of the second round, the Village took on the TNT at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) last Sunday. The Village, last season’s runners up, were desperate to record their first win of the season, while TNT were looking to progress further up the ladder to challenge the top teams of Patong Cricket Club and Laguna.In…
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Phuket Sports: Southern Sea Warriors reinforced ahead of season start
PHUKET: In their first fixture, Phuket FC, taking on the new nickname this year as the “Southern Sea Warriors” are set to play Big Bang Chula United (BBCU), a team relegated last year from the TPL. The match will kick off today at 6pm at the Army Stadium in Bangkok, BBCU’s home pitch. The Southern Sea Warriors’ first home match…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Boas bounce back; Benitez’s plea; Giggs signs – again
Spurs driven by last season’s stumble, says Villas-Boas Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: One year after his axing by Chelsea left a dent in his ego, Andre Villas-Boas finds his reputation soaring again as high-flying Tottenham Hotspur prepare to host north London rivals Arsenal in a match of huge significance.Win it and Tottenham would move seven points clear of their arch-rivals…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bomb blasts wound Southern peace talks; Bangkok election; ‘Wannabe Myanmar’ line up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Narathiwat rocked by two blasts The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Two vehicle bombs in a span of five hours yesterday rocked Narathiwat’s Muang district less than 24 hours after the signing of an agreement in Malaysia between Thailand’s security authorities and four people purportedly representing insurgent groups…
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Phuket Gazette World News: China execution parade; Italy unravels; Syrian scuds; Cardinals pick new Pope
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Execution parade’ of four behind Mekong murders angers Chinese Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: An “execution parade” on China’s state television of four foreign men sentenced to death for killing 13 sailors on the Mekong River caused anger in China on Friday, with many people saying it was…
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Phuket Police hunt continues for Jintana killers
PHUKET: Police are continuing to question individuals over the murder of Jintana Mahattanapak as they await the results of CCTV-footage analysis being conducted in Bangkok (story here). “Experts in Bangkok are still trying to extract information, that will lead to the arrests of the killers, from the CCTV footage we sent them. However, we have yet to be able to…
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School girls scream with high “Scarlet Letter fever’
PHUKET: Bizarre events surround a school in Samut Prakan after eight young female students were possessed by a ghost while practicing their cheerleading moves – or so reports claim. About 20 girls from Had Amara Aksornlap School had gone to Pikka Fort Park in the Taiban area of the province to practice their dance moves. Things started to get weird…
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DSI launches fresh attack on illegally issued Phuket land title deeds
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) stepped in last week to expedite the ongoing investigation of illegal land encroachment in Sirinart National Park. Acting on a complaint from The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), whose own investigation seemed to ground to a halt last year when an expected 366 investigators from Bangkok failed to arrive,…
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Thailand Futsal: Andaman Pearl clamp down on Killer Bees
PHUKET: The Andaman Pearl are floating high following back-to-back wins in the past week. Topping off Sunday’s away win to Samut Songkhram (2-6), Phuket’s latest victory was earned at home on Wednesday night against Nonthaburi FC (5-3). Played at Phuket’s Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the match was both sides’ 25th match of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier…
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Mother of savaged pit bull victim presses criminal charges
PHUKET: Criminal negligence charges were filed this week against the owners of the three pit bull terriers that mauled a man outside his own Phuket home in early February. Tiansak Aikpaiboon, 33, was savaged by three of his neighbor’s five pit bulls right in front of his home in Suan Thai Village, behind Wichit Songkram School near Central Festival, at…
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Phuket Opinion: Playing by all the rules
PHUKET: Saphan Hin’s 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex is where Phuket United play their Thai Futsal Premier league home games in front of a vocal crowd of around 1,000 supporters. In addition to being the home of the Andaman Pearl, the stadium was also used for several different sporting events over the past few months, including Thailand’s most significant international basketball…
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Phuket Opinion: Praise for the little ‘Heroes’ of Phuket
PHUKET: Although accorded little, if any, attention in the local media, the recent winning of a national championship in the “To Be Number One Teen Dancercise 2013” competition by a team of young dancers from the Baan Bangneaw Municipal School in Phuket Town deserves a great deal of recognition and praise. It was a considerable achievement, the first ever by…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Thailand agrees to talk peace with southern insurgent group
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand agrees to talk peace with southern Muslim rebel group The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thai security officials on Thursday signed a deal to start peace talks with a Muslim rebel group involved in escalating violence in the southern provinces that has killed more than…
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Phuket Gazette World News: 4 dead in Swiss shooting; Pope farewell; Jihad Jane extradition; Syria aid
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death toll from Swiss shooting rises to four Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A fourth person has died in hospital from injuries sustained in a shooting at a Swiss wood processing plant near the city of Lucerne, police said on Thursday. A 42-year-old factory worker opened…
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Phuket Gazette World News: India looks to head off junk status
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community India budget increases spending, taxes the rich Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: India unveiled higher-than-expected spending for fiscal 2013/14 today, aiming to fund it with higher revenues – including new taxes on the rich and large companies – in a budget aimed at reviving growth amid…
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Thailand News: Thai national and 3 others face execution for Mekong murders
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China to execute four over Mekong murders Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: China plans to execute alleged Golden Triangle drug lord Nor Kham and three accomplices after their death sentences were approved by the nation’s highest court, state media said today. The executions would be…
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