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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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bangkok floods not critical, says BMA; Dam report scrapped; Constitutional Court accepts complaints; Students split on sexy uniforms
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community No major flooding in capital: BMA The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Despite heavy downpours over the past two weeks, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) still believes the capital should escape floods this rainy season. “Run-offs and rain will not coincide with high tides this year,” an official…
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Phuket Police arrest US drugs fugitive
PHUKET: Officers led by Lt Gen Preawphan Damapong, the assistant police commissioner in charge of national drug suppression, this afternoon moved in and arrested American Joseph Manuel Hunter, 48, at his rented home in Kathu. The squad of officers from Phuket Immigration and the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok arrived at the home, located near the Loch Palm Golf Course,…
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Massive Phuket mystery intensifies, but announcement promised for ‘today’
PHUKET: When Winston Churchill in October of 1939 spoke of “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”, he was referring to Russia, but he might with at least equal validity have been speaking of an event that had captured the imagination of the world two years earlier: the disappearance of Amelia Earhart from the skies over the Western…
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Man gunned down over business negotiation, not love-triangle
PHUKET: The victim of Sunday’s shooting drama in Patong has changed his story about the cause of the attack. When interviewed by the police while recovering from a gunshot wound in his left shoulder, Worrawut Thaweeapideeserm said he was shot because he was suspected of being the third member of a love triangle (story here). But yesterday, the 24-year-old told…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: PM defends her performance; China wants Asean rail-link; BRN demands; Girl swept away in floods; 3 heists
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM defends performance in ‘challenging’ first year The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra finally delivered her administration’s first-year performance declaration to Parliament yesterday, stressing that the period was filled with challenges and problems on many fronts, ranging from politics, society and natural…
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Phuket’s tourist (only) court officially opens
PHUKET: Phuket’s highly anticipated tourist court, the Tourist Protection Section of Phuket Provincial Court, will only serve those visiting the country on a tourist visa, says Phuket Court Chief Judge Parinya Chaowalittawin. The opening ceremony yesterday, chaired by President of the Supreme Court Pairoj Wayuparb, was held at Phuket Provincial Court. The opening makes the court the second tourist court…
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Phuket transport council agrees to 36% jump in taxi fares
PHUKET: The ruling committee for Phuket’s public transportation authorities today agreed to price hikes of up to 36 per cent for metered taxi fares in Phuket. Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, who chaired the meeting of the provincial transportation committee, explained that the proposed increases in taxi fares were the same as those proposed at a meeting on August 29…
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Five-month-old fetus found floating in Phuket Town canal
PHUKET: The body of a fetus thought to be about five months old was found floating in Phuket Town’s Bang Yai canal yesterday.“When we arrived, we found a lot of onlookers trying to get a glimpse of the male fetus in the canal,” said Rattaket Munmuang of the Phuket City Police.Police questioned people in the neighborhood, but nobody was able…
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Patong water-quality test results in – some of them
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) yesterday released the test results for only two out of four water-quality test points along Phuket’s famous beach, Patong. Test results were released for two sites in the tourist-dense midsection of the beach, away from the mouths of the two canals that discharge water into the bay. The testing of Patong Bay water came…
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Stiff penalties for Phuket slow loris touts in wake of Rihanna Instagram
PHUKET: The changing faces of touts in Phuket exploiting the slow loris – a vulnerable and protected species – is a sign that the penalty for the crime is stiff enough, said Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Pratuang Polmana. Police action and determination to re-apply pressure to the issue of animal touts in Phuket follows global celebrity Rihanna posting photos on…
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Phuket expat Gerald Mason in urgent need of help
PHUKET: Expats contribute to Phuket’s well-being in various ways. Some engage in high-profile endeavors, such as setting up environmental campaigns or animal welfare groups. Others benefit the community simply by being all-round good guys, known and loved by a wide circle of friends. Gerry Mason is such a man, a man for all social seasons. An enthusiastic member of the…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Hostages freed in Kenyan mall seige; Merkel looks to rivals; Greek rapper killing puts heat on police
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kenya says all hostages freed in al Shabaab mall siege Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Kenya said its security forces had taken control of the Nairobi shopping mall where Islamist fighters killed at least 62 people, and that police were doing a final sweep of shops early Tuesday…
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Phuket Viral: Rihanna sex show tweets put ball in police court
PHUKET: Officials were lambasted today after Rihanna tweets about Phuket sex shows went viral. From Twitter account @rihanna, Rihanna expressed her surprise over a Patong showgirl’s abilities. The tweets have been re-tweeted more than 1,000 times, reported The Nation. The Rihanna tweets stated: “Either I was phuck wasted lastnight, or I saw a Thai woman pull a live bird,2 turtles,razors,shoot…
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Phuket 7-Eleven teenage shooter claims self-defense
PHUKET: Two teenagers charged yesterday with shooting dead an 18-year-old man outside of a 7-Eleven in Rawai claimed that the gun was fired out of self-defense. Korrawit Sriboonma, a waiter at the popular Sala Loi seafood restaurant on the Rawai beachfront, was gunned down with a homemade gun on the corner of Soi Laem Ka Yai at about 4am on…
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No justice served on Phuket Tourist Court’s opening day
PHUKET: The judge’s gavel will not fall at the Phuket Tourist Court’s official opening tomorrow, as no cases will be heard the day of the formal opening, revealed Phuket Court Chief Judge Parinya Chaowalittawin this afternoon.“Tomorrow we will only hold a ceremony to open our Tourist Protections Section [the official name of the tourist court], as we have yet to…
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Video Report: Phuket rescue worker shoots man over love triangle
PHUKET: A 24-year-old man was shot in Patong over a love-triangle dispute yesterday afternoon. The victim, Worrawut Thaweeapideeserm, was rushed to Patong Hospital with a bullet wound to his shoulder.“After initial treatment, he was transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital to have the bullet removed,” said Pattapee Srichay of the Patong Police.Police named the shooter as Wanchit Sornsaree, also known as…
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Leading candidate as Phuket’s new top cop “open to all’
PHUKET: The man being tipped to become the next top cop in Phuket, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiewruangnont, is a “country person” open to listening to everyone. “Anyone who has a problem is welcome to come and talk to me. I will help you all,” he told the Phuket Gazette. However, Gen Ong-art would neither confirm nor deny that he has…
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Chinese tourists and guide injured in speedboat collision
PHUKET: Four Chinese tourists and their Thai guide were injured yesterday afternoon when two speedboats collided in Phang Nga Bay off Khai Nok island. Witnesses from both boats told police that as the speedboat Nontasak, carrying 31 Chinese tourists, approached the beach at Koh Khai Nok, it was struck by another boat, Sasiyanon.The five people injured in the accident were…
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Phuket teen gang shoots man dead over insults
PHUKET: Police have arrested several youths after an 18-year-old was shot dead in front of a 7-Eleven store in Phuket’s Rawai Beach area early yesterday morning. Chalong Police received a report of the shooting at 4am, and soon arrived at the 7-Eleven store at the entrance to Laem Ka Yai Beach on Wiset Road (map here). Korrawit Sriboonma, originally from…
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Phuket FC in scoreless stalemate with Trat’s White Elephants
PHUKET: Some 1,653 fans who turned out for the Islanders’ Yamaha League One (YL1) match against Trat FC match on Saturday evening in Phuket Town, were given little to cheer about, the match ending in a 0-0 stalemate. Indeed, the crowd, representing Phuket FC’s poorest turn-out all season, found more entertainment in the pre-game cheerleader show, as well as the…
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Phuket Opinion: Tourist Court vs Holiday Justice
PHUKET: The opening of a new court to resolve non-criminal cases involving foreign tourists in Phuket tomorrow is a welcome step in the right direction, but only time will tell if the initiative will achieve its goal of bringing about prompt justice for visitors and improving Thailand’s image as a tourist destination abroad. When the idea of establishing such a…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Merkel wins German election; 1.3 tonnes of cocaine on Air France flight in Paris; Bo Xilai found guilty
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Venezuela arrests three soldiers over 1.3-tonne Air France cocaine haul Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Venezuela has arrested three National Guard officials for alleged involvement in smuggling 1.3 tonnes of cocaine on an Air France flight from Caracas to Paris, the South American nation’s public prosecutor’s office said…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Dam protesters in Bangkok; Turtles dumped at airport; Gold mine gunmen intimidate villagers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anti-dam marchers win warm welcome in capital The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Campaigners staging a 13-day, 368-kilometre march against the controversial Mae Wong Dam project in Nakhon Sawan arrived in Bangkok yesterday, receiving a warm reception from non-governmental organisations and other dam opponents. Momentum has been building…
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Phuket man disabled by disease found hanged
PHUKET: A man who had been afflicted for 30 years by an autoimmune disease that left him unable to walk without a walker was found hanged in his room this morning.Police responded to a call from a local coffee shop in Baan Sapam behind which Anan Areerat, 60, lived with his family, and found him hanging from metal security bars…
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Phuket abuzz with Rihanna’s dirty loris talkin’
PHUKET: Social media networks are abuzz today after R’n’B celebrity Rihanna posted photos on Instagram showing herself posing on Phuket’s Soi Bangla in Patong last night. The photos show the stylish superstar feeding elephants, being welcomed to her Phuket resort and posing in front of stageshow ladyboys, called katoey in Thai, dressed in elaborate costumes (see here). One photo, posted…
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Who let the Phuket python out?
PHUKET: Man’s best friend – in the form of two pet dogs – last night alerted a Phuket resident that a three-meter python had slithered its way into his storage room in Thalang.“I was inside the house when I heard two of my dogs barking outside. I thought something might have happened, so I went outside to check,” said Somkiet…
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School bus flips in Krabi, injuring 13
PHUKET: A school bus carrying students home from a field trip flipped in Krabi yesterday, injuring 12 students and the driver, but causing no deaths. The busload of 49 students, all 13-year-old children, and their teachers had visited the popular Emerald Pool in Krabi and were heading home in a convoy of eight buses when the accident occurred. The group…
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British, Irish expats in Phuket arrested by Immigration
PHUKET: Three Phuket expats from Ireland and England will be deported from Thailand after being caught in Cherng Talay for overstaying. Officers moved in and arrested Alex Good, 27, from Ireland, at a restaurant near Cherng Talay Police Station at 3:30pm yesterday, said Lt Col Chidchanok Sakornyen of Phuket Immigration.“We had been following him for a while as we had…
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Phuket’s secret souvenir: The perfect pair
Breasts are big in Phuket. Big business, that is. In recent years, both Bangkok Hospital Phuket and Phuket International Hospital have seen dramatic increases in cosmetic breast surgeries, fueled by rising numbers of medical tourists. The Phuket Gazette’s Orawin Narabal reports on one of the island’s hottest tourist draws: The boob job.PHUKET: Together, Phuket International Hospital and Bangkok Hospital Phuket…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Deputy bishop deposed over sex abuse claims; 3yo hit in Chicago shootout; German election race tightens; Syria reveals chemical arsenal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Vatican removes deputy bishop in Peru after sex abuse allegations Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The Vatican, under Pope Francis’ “zero-tolerance” policy for paedophile priests, removed an auxiliary bishop from his post in a Peruvian province because of allegations he sexually abused children, a bishop said on Friday.Luis…
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