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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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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Two dead in Phuket on first day of new year road-safety blitz
PHUKET: Two people have died on Phuket’s roads within the first 24 hours of the annual Seven Days of Danger new year road-safety campaign, according to the official Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket branch (DDPM-Phuket) statistics issued today. Yuthapong Taempetch, 37, died after the motorbike he was riding and a pickup truck collided on Kwang Road (see map)…
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World News: Americans still want their guns, with some restrictions
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community After Newtown, Americans want their guns, with some restrictions Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Nearly seven in 10 Americans support the idea of placing strong or moderate limits gun ownership following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed yesterday.But laws that permit citizens…
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Former Phuket FC player Camara Ahmed dies
PHUKET: Former Phuket FC player Camara Ahmed passed away last week at his home in the Ivory Coast. Camara suffered a cardiac arrest on October 30, 2010, during a 1-0 playoff win over Chainat FC. The popular footballer was moved from a hospital in Phuket back to his native Ivory Coast a few months ago. Phuket FC’s manager, Mr Jakkapop…
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World News: Stormin’ Norman stands down
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Famed Gulf War US General Schwarzkopf dies Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Retired US General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr, who headed the coalition forces that drove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s army out of Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm, has died, a US official said yesterday. He was 78.The highly…
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Four injured after lorry jumps lanes, smashes Phuket sedan and hits motorbike
PHUKET: A lorry jumped lanes and struck a sedan and then a motorbike before coming to rest in the far lane of Lim San Curve in Kathu, at about 2:30pm today. Four were injured, but no one was killed. The black Honda Dream motorbike was still caught beneath the six-wheeled lorry, when duty officer Watthanathorn Bumrungthin of the Thung Thong…
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World News: Residents evacuated as Nicaragua volcano spews ash
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nicaragua volcano spews ash cloud, residents evacuated Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nicaragua’s tallest volcano has belched an ash cloud hundreds of meters into the sky in the latest bout of sporadic activity, prompting the evacuation of nearby residents, the government said yesterday. The 5,725-foot (1,745-meter)…
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International Sports: Sri Lanka fight back
Clarke scores ton as Sri Lanka fight back Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Michael Clarke struck a sparkling century to help drive Australia to a first innings lead of 176 runs at tea on day two of the second test today, but Sri Lanka hit back with three wickets to hold hopes of saving the match. The Australian skipper combined…
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Witness testifies shot that killed Italian came from where security forces were deployed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Shot that killed Italian came from area where troops were deployed: witness The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The Criminal Court yesterday heard a witness testify that the gunshot that killed Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi came from where the security forces were deployed during the 2010 political…
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World News: Former US President Bush snr. in intensive care
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in intensive care – spokesman Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital and is in “guarded condition,” family spokesman Jim McGrath said yesterday. “The president is alert…
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Phuket gifted “zero death start’ to Seven Days of Danger
PHUKET: Phuket woke up to the first dawn of the annual “Seven Days of Danger” new year national road-safety campaign without recording a single death on the roads. However, the first casualty recorded since the campaign began at midnight last night was a 33-year-old woman who crashed her motorbike at high speed on Sakdidet Road in Phuket Town at about…
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Phuket Sports: Premier League Boxing Day delights
Spurs hail Bale after hat-trick makes Villa wail Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale is among the most special talents in world football, manager Andre Villas-Boas said after the left winger grabbed a hat-trick in yesterday’s 4-0 mauling of Aston Villa. Jermain Defoe put Spurs in front in the 58th minute at Villa Park before Bale blew…
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Thailand News: Govt warns scammers; ACMECS single visa today; optimism for tourism
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt warns scammers as Thailand is named top destination The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand has long been ranked as one of the world’s best tourist destinations, with so many awards under its belt. However, the Kingdom’s tourism industry is not untainted. Now that Thailand…
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Rape test results for Burmese teen handed over to Phuket Public Prosecutor
PHUKET: Police have confirmed that the Phuket Provincial Public Prosecutor is now in possession of the case notes needed to proceed with bringing to trial a 29-year-old man who raped an 18-year-old Burmese woman in Phuket in October. “Even if the attacker confesses to having raped a person, we still conduct a rape test so that the scientific results can…
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Phuket votes for tough action against illegal taxis
PHUKET: In our most recent Phuket Gazette poll, readers have overwhelmingly voted for local authorities to take a tough approach in tackling illegal taxi drivers on the island. The poll, launched a month ago, highlighted the recent efforts by the Phuket authorities to bring order to the long-running problem of illegal taxis, and all the violent repercussions they have had…
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Phuket Live Wire: An Einsteinian speed anomaly
PHUKET: Last week I talked about the best-known internet speed measuring web sites – not the ones your Internet Service Provider (ISP) sets up and gooses to show impossible scores, but the sites that are internationally recognized as providing a reasonable indication of the speed your line actually delivers. Some of you wrote to me and said that you don’t…
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Thailand News: 3 monks killed in UK; Warning towers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Three monks killed in tragic UK car crash The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The Thai consul in London is visiting two Thais who survived a head-on car crash yesterday in Scotland in which three Thai monks were killed, the Foreign Ministry says.One of the victims was from…
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Man found hanged at Phuket park
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a man who was found hanged early yesterday morning near the entrance to the Bang Neaw Dum reservoir, a popular recreational park located in the heart of Phuket. Police believe the man’s body remained undiscovered for about five days before it was spotted by local villagers. “The man was hanged by a blue…
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World News: Pope’s Christmas message thinly veiled: Italian news agency Ansa
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pope gives advice as Italians prepare for bitter campaign Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Pope Benedict sent a political Christmas greeting to Italians as they head into an election campaign expected to be brutal and bitter: think, cooperate for the common good and don’t discard values when making…
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Phuket tsunami memorial services to shine on
PHUKET: The Phuket community today will honor those who died in the devastating tsunami that struck the island eight years ago, with a ceremony at the Tsunami Memorial Wall in Mai Khao followed by the traditional “Light Up Phuket” candle-lighting ceremony on Patong Beach. Thai official figures state that the tsunami killed 5,398 people and that more than 3,700 disappeared…
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Sydictive Element New Year “mega-beach party’ is on in Patong
PHUKET: The Sydictive Element New Year’s Eve “mega beach party” will be held at the southern end of Patong Beach from December 30 through to daybreak on January 1. The news broke this afternoon after more than two hours of negotiations that followed hours of inconclusive negotiations last night. “Sydictive will have its own party zone within the general area…
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Irish tourist “bottled’ within 24 hours on Phuket
PHUKET: Patong Police are trying to identify the culprit who split open an Irishman’s head with a bottle within 24 hours of the tourist landing in Phuket.Lt Col Jongserm Preecha told the Phuket Gazette that the incident occurred at about 1:30am yesterday.“By the time we arrived at the scene, in front of The Pizza Company restaurant on Soi Bangla, a…
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Phuket’s Prab says Sydictive New Year Party can ‘move it, move it’ to Patong
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette was told today that Patong Municipality sent Preechavude “Prab” Keesin, son of Patong Mayor Pian Keesin and head of the largest taxi driver association in Patong, to Bangkok to discuss with party organizers Sydictive Element about moving the controversial Sydictive party from Surin Beach to Patong Beach at Loma Park.However, Thai Beverage has for years used…
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World News: Activists say more than 60 killed in Syrian airstrike
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Airstrike on bakery in central Syria kills more than 60, activists say Phuket Gazette PHUKET: More than 60 people are believed to have been killed yesterday when a government airstrike hit a bakery in Syria’s central Hamas province where a crowd was queuing for bread, activists…
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Phuket Annual Red Cross Fair 2012 sets prize at over half million baht of gold
PHUKET: The Phuket Annual Red Cross Fair 2012 is ready to rock Phuket from December 27 to January 5 as it offers more than 500,000 baht in gold as the top lucky draw prize this year, eligible to anyone who buys a ticket to support the Red Cross.For the entirety of the 11-day festival, hundreds of stalls at Saphan Hin…
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International Sports: Queen goes 3D; Clarke to miss Boxing Day test; Messi gets another
Queen Elizabeth goes 3D for Olympics tribute Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Queen Elizabeth will use her traditional Christmas Day message, filmed in 3D for the first time, to pay tribute to the world’s athletes for delivering a “splendid summer of sport” at the London Olympics.In her personal address to the nation, the monarch will pay tribute to the competitors’ “skill,…
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World News: Somali pirates release hostages after 33 months in captivity
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Somali pirates release longest-held hostages after 33 months Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A ship and its crew of 22 sailors held by Somali pirates for almost three years have been freed by maritime police after a two-week-long siege, the government of the breakaway region of Puntland said…
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EPL: Chelsea give Villa a blue Christmas
Chelsea hit Villa for eight, leaders United held Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Chelsea, playing with a swagger missing for much of the season, routed Aston Villa 8-0 yesterday as Premier League leaders Manchester United wasted the chance to move six points clear after a 1-1 draw at Swansea City.Chelsea striker Fernando Torres began the goal glut after three minutes at…
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Phuket villager speaks out on Sydictive New Year beach party
PHUKET: While the debate rages on over whether or not the Sydictive Element New Year Phuket beach party will move to Patong – despite already being granted permission to be held at Surin Beach – one local resident has spoken out about how the party would affect the beachfront community, for better and for worse. Somchai Prasongphon, 42, was born…
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Phuket Opinion: Family, the best defense against technology risks
PHUKET: With the holiday season upon us, we would like to encourage all of our readers to take a few moments to pause and reflect on how lucky we are to live in this incredible age of technology. Technology is perhaps the most notorious of double-edged swords. Shakespeare wrote famously in Hamlet that “…there is nothing either good or bad,…
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Fresh ATM action prompts hope for finding missing Phuket expat
PHUKET: Police investigating the disappearance of American Brett Bean, last seen on Phuket on November 25, are now searching for a man who used Mr Bean’s debit card to withdraw cash from a Phuket ATM on Monday. “We were informed by Mrs Bean [Brett’s mother] that on December 17 someone used Mr Bean’s debit card to take the money out…
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