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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Thinking of retiring in Thailand long-term? Thailand is a popular choice for retirees because of its beautiful landscapes, warm climate, and affordable living. Cities like Chiang Mai and coastal areas offer a relaxed lifestyle with friendly communities. The country also...
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More escaped Rohingya rounded up in Phuket; search continues
PHUKET: Phuket police have taken nine more Rohingya men back into custody, and back to the immigration detention center they had escaped from early on Saturday morning (story here). “We are still searching for the remaining 23,” said Phuket Immigration Superintendent Col Sanchai Chokhayaikij. “I am sure they are still in Phuket because our officers continue to round them up,”…
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Thailand News: Kidnapped Thais in Nigeria still alive; Taib will lead BRN team; Channel 7 journo seeks help with libel charge; ICT scoffs at online control
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kidnapped Thai calls to say all safe The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: One of the four Thai workers, who were abducted by an unknown gang in Nigeria, called his company to say he and the others were safe and had not been harmed, Thai Foreign…
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Familiar pattern reveals Phuket meth, not quilt
PHUKET: A man was charged with drug dealing after Phuket City Police pounced on him picking up a package that he claimed was supposed to encase a quilt – not the nearly 8,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills police found.The man, Somsak Srisakul, was presented to the press today at Phuket City Police Station.“We received a tip-off that drugs would be…
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Phuket police force to start growing in November
PHUKET: Phuket’s police force will increase by 700 officers next year, with new officers starting to arrive in November, Royal Thai Police Commissioner Adul Saengsingkaew has announced.The move is to upgrade the island’s force to meet the demands of increasing numbers of tourists and residents on the island.“Phuket will have a bigger and more efficient police force in 2014,” General…
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Tourism Minister mulls compulsory travel insurance for tourists
PHUKET: The Tourism and Sports Ministry would like to make it compulsory for all foreign tourists to have travel insurance before entering the Kingdom because unpaid bills are putting a huge strain on cash-strapped public hospitals in major destinations, particularly Phuket. However, some tourism-business operators warn that this measure might keep away travellers as well as tarnish the country’s image.…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Mob boss Whitey Bulger convicted; Israel to free Palestinians; Dalai Lama website hacked; Mali polls praised
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Whitey Bulger guilty of 11 murders in sweeping Boston mob case Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: James “Whitey” Bulger, a brutal gangster who ruled over Boston’s criminal underworld in the 1970s and ’80s and evaded capture for 16 years, was found guilty of murder and racketeering by a…
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Phuket duo win Tourism Thailand competition
PHUKET: A Phuket-based duo, comprising Richard Brownsdon from UK and Vimalin Chalermporn from Thailand, were recently selected as the winners of “The Little Big Project”, a Thai destination promotion and development competition. Mr Brownsdon and Ms Vimalin won the competition with their project, which focused on “responsible eco-tourism and marine conservation in Phuket”, executed in collaboration with openmindprojects.org. Since May…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Ratchanok wins royal praise; Police warned over chat probe; Yingluck tapped on ivory
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ratchanok wins royal praise The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Newly crowned world champion Ratchanok Intanon could not have been happier to receive bouquets of flowers from the Royal family, especially from Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. And the young star has set new goals – to become the…
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Phuket fighting fish gamblers netted in rubber plantation
PHUKET: A Phuket police raid on a gambling den known for fighting fish netted nine men Saturday morning.“I received a report of a place that was open every weekend for fish gambling,” Thalang Superintendent Sirisak Warasiri said. “So I sent my men to investigate.”“They found a well-established location with tables and chairs for the gamblers,” he said.Police raided the den,…
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18-wheeled truck crash blocks traffic from Kamala to Patong
PHUKET: An 18-wheeled truck slid back on a hill between Kamala and Patong, and is now blocking all lanes of traffic between the popular Phuket tourist destinations.No injuries were reported.“The accident was caused by the truck carrying construction supplies that were too heavy, leading it to slide down and cross the lanes,” said Kamala Superintendent Patanajak Jakkrapan.Police and Ruamjai rescue…
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Rohingya escape from Phuket Immigration
PHUKET: Police scoured mangrove forest around Saphan Hin after having rounded up only four out of 36* Rohingya who to escape from the Phuket Immigration detention center in the early hours of Saturday morning. “We are still searching for the remaining 32 Rohingya. We have contacted all police stations on Phuket and distributed photos of the Rohingya,” Phuket Provincial Police…
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Phuket FC president’s birthday wish granted with win over Nakhon Pathom
PHUKET: The Islanders last night won their first match in the last 50 days – and first at home for 112 days – beating Yamaha League One (YL1) rivals, Nakhon Pathom United 2-0 on a waterlogged pitch at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town.Marking the occasion, Phuket FC President Pamuke Achiriyachai at half time was presented flowers, a birthday cake and…
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Concern piqued by fetus hammerhead sharks on display at Phuket restaurant
PHUKET: Local concern peaked in Phuket after photos began to circulate of two baby scalloped hammerhead sharks on display in front of a restaurant in Kata last week.“The ones [scalloped hammerhead sharks] at that restaurant clearly show to everybody that they are fetuses – they are not fully grown sharks, so obviously fishermen caught a female shark somewhere, chopped her…
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Phuket teen fatally stabbed during gold snatch
PHUKET: A 17-year-old woman was fatally stabbed as she fought off a man trying to steal her necklace in the early hours of yesterday morning in Rassada. The woman, Wassana Lerdsongkram, had gone to a Lotus Express with her 2-year-old nephew after midnight yesterday morning. Witnesses told police that a man followed her into the store, where his image was…
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Phuket Airport gets multilingual makeover, bus to resume full service on Friday
PHUKET: The new Airport Express bus service, operating a “hop on, hop off” service between Phuket International Airport and the prime tourist beach destination Patong, will resume full service on Friday. “The bus service will return to the full schedule on August 16,” Prakob Panyawai, the owner of the bus company, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. Services were pared back…
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Bar girl delivered B100k to Swedish murder suspects, Phuket Court told
PHUKET: As the murder trial of Tommy Soderlund continued yesterday, a police officer told the court that Mr Soderlund was arrested in the hotel room of a Pattaya bar girl who had delivered 100,000 baht to him and his alleged accomplice Johan Ljung. Mr Soderlund and Mr Ljung are charged with murdering Russian-born Swedish national Maksim Schantz in Phuket on…
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Trio of top cops gather to promote Phuket safety, again
PHUKET: The two highest-ranking police officers in Thailand joined Phuket’s top cop in Patong yesterday evening in the latest campaign to safeguard tourism revenue by convincing tourists that Phuket is a safe place to vacation. Over 400 police officers gleaned from every station in Phuket gathered in formation at one end of Soi Bangla to be reviewed by the Royal…
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Showdown for Queen’s Cup
PHUKET: This Sunday Phuket will host a major Muay Thai tournament in Patong, in honor of HM Queen Sikirit’s 81st birthday. The tournament was announced by the President of the Amateur Muay Thai Association of Thailand (AMTAT) former Thai Army chief Gen Chetta Thanajaro last Saturday during a press conference at the Tiger Hotel in Patong. The competition on Sunday…
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Phuket FC’s new coach to play ‘Brazilian style’ against Nakhon Pathom
PHUKET: The Islanders’ newly appointed (click here for story) Brazilian head coach, Stefano Rodrigues, or “Coach Teco”, said he is confident in Phuket FC’s chances against Nakhon Pathom United in tomorrow’s match. The game, the Yamaha League One’s 2013 season’s 21st clash of the 34 match campaign, will be played at Surakul Stadium with a 6:30pm kickoff (click here for…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Eiffel Tower bomb alert; Obama calls Putin bored kid; Mona Lisa tomb opened
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Eiffel Tower reopens after bomb scare Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from Paris’ Eiffel Tower on Friday afternoon in response to a bomb alert, but it was found to be a scare and the tower was reopened two hours later, police told Reuters.Police…
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Human trafficker shot, captured in Surat
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand arrests suspected leader of human trafficking gang Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Thai authorities have captured the suspected leader of a human trafficking gang, who confessed to selling Burmese migrants into slavery on Thai fishing boats and possibly murdering as many as seven, a Thai official said…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Blair, Annan to join reform effort; Trang Airport reopens; Floods hit north; Politics harms investor confidence
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Blair, Annan to contribute to reform effort The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Former British prime minister Tony Blair and ex-United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan have agreed to contribute to Thailand’s political-reform effort, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday.She said both Blair and Annan had unofficially accepted…
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Patong Mayor Pian Keesin targetted in DSI’s investigations list
PHUKET: Long-serving Mayor of Patong Pian Keesin, as well as ten other people and suspect locations, has been named on a Department of Special Investigations (DSI) blacklist regarding illegal taxis. The blacklist was presented yesterday as Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak and DSI Director-general Tarit Pengdith arrived on the island to open the ‘Phuket Organized Crime Center’ (story here).…
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Logos Hope announces special events for Phuket
PHUKET: MV Logos Hope, carrying the world’s largest floating library, arrives in Phuket on Wednesday and has already announced two special events to be put on by some of its 460 volunteers. The first of the two events will be the ‘Cultural Cafe’, which showcases a variety of cultures, music and dances from around the globe. The event, during which…
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Special Report: Anatomy of a Phuket taxi driver
Special Report The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has opened an ‘Organized Crime Center’ [sic] at Phuket International Airport to crack down on illegal taxi drivers still operating there. The move follows widespread allegations of mafia operating on the island and illegal taxi drivers overcharging tourists. Here, the Phuket Gazette investigates what it takes to become a Phuket taxi driver.PHUKET:…
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Phuket Opinion: Keep hands steady for return to island time
PHUKET: There is a special relationship between time and islands, which Einstein might have narrowly missed quantifying in his examination of the Theory of Relativity. The theory points out, among many other things, that space travellers moving at nearly the speed of light might reach a distant galaxy and only age 26 years. However, here on Earth millions of years…
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Phuket Opinion: Island paradise – it’s the bomb
PHUKET: News of the the unprecedented bomb explosion outside of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) offices on August 1 (story here) came as just the latest blow to the reputation of Phuket as a safe tourist destination. Fortunately, nobody was physically harmed in the incident, though a number of vehicles were damaged. While the bombing itself was as completely…
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Rohingya riot north of Phuket pre-planned escape attempt, says Immigration
PHUKET: The Rohingya refugees’ rebellion against their captivity during the Muslim holy day Eid-al Fitr yesterday was a pre-planned attempt to escape the facilities and leave Thailand, Phang Nga Immigration Police told the Phuket Gazette today. “The refugees were convinced by visitors to protest and attempt to escape to another country,” Phang Nga Immigration Inspector Neti Khanboon said. Lt Col…
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Guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: The guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins arrived in Phuket yesterday, anchoring at the Deep Sea Port at Cape Panwa.The Higgins, the US Navy’s 26th Arleigh Burke class destroyer, carries a crew of 276 sailors and a formidable armament of standard and vertical-launch missiles, long-range Tomahawk missiles, two triple-tube torpedo mounts and deck guns.“The crew were welcomed to Phuket with a…
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Last Call – Digging my way down to China
PHUKET: Growing up in California, one of my favorite pre-teen past times was digging holes. Not just holes but dark inviting spaces with a purpose. A fort, or looking for buried Aztec treasure, putting time capsules away to be dug up after people are weekending on Mars or the sadness of burying a demised goldfish or two. We never quite…
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