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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Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
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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New Phuket buses ready to run the gauntlet
PHUKET Governor Maitri Inthusut confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that he will approve the long-awaited bus service to start serving tourists arriving at Phuket International Airport. The new bus service – to launch with six buses departing the airport to provide a “hop on, hop off” service to the major tourist beaches down the west coast – has one final…
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Phuket Opinion: Awesome Phuket
PHUKET: As I’m sitting with friends on the way to see James Bond Island and Koh Panyee (the floating sea gypsy village), bouncing to and fro in our wave-battered dinghy, a thought occurs to me: living here ain’t half bad.In order to bring our focus back to why we came here in the first place, I offer you just a…
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Russians nabbed touting macaque monkeys off Phuket
PHUKET: A Russian couple were arrested at a tourist sightseeing island off Phuket yesterday afternoon after they were caught charging tourists to have their photos taken with pig-tailed macaques, a protected species in Thailand.Andrey Belov, 31, and Ekaterina Denisovich, 22 were arrested by Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NED) officers led by Lt Col Kongkaj Phunoknium. “We went…
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Triple homicide prime suspect caught at Phuket visa run pier
PHUKET: Police have arrested the prime suspect wanted for a triple homicide over a land conflict in Phang Nga.After nearly three months on the run, Somsak Wongsri, 49, was arrested in Ranong on Tuesday.He was wanted for the execution of Prajuab Choojit, 24; Sarawut Boonklin, 31; and Somboon Kimtin, 69, who was the father of popular Thai country music singer…
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Phuket Sports: Fair Play League deciders this weekend
PHUKET: The penultimate round of matches in the 2013 Fair Play League were held last weekend at Phuket’s British International School. The Under-11s started proceedings with a strong Brazil side proving too strong for a weakened England in the opening game, confidently winning 9-3 and picking up two bonus points for conceding zero fouls. At the same time, the top…
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Phuket Opinion: Get on the bus
PHUKET: There is only one way that breakthrough projects such as Phuket’s first airport-to-beaches bus service get up and running, and that is if everyone in the community gets behind it and supports it. That means: use it. Get on the bus and go to work, to the beach, to see a friend, a movie or even spend a night…
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Phuket Sports: TNT reignite their cricket campaign
PHUKET: After a thrilling win against Patong last week, Jabudays (ICC) were looking to continue their good run of form and move to the top of Phuket’s cricket league table by beating a TNT side that has not lived up to expectations this season. At the Alan Cooke Ground (click here for map), on Sunday March 10, TNT cruised to…
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Phuket Sports: Ready to sail at ACYC
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) has announced the 2013 ACYC Keel Boat and Multihull Club Championship Race Series 1 – FCI Watermaker Series. The second race is this Sunday, March 17. Eligibility and entry: The series is open to all keel yachts and multihulls with an overall length greater than six meters. Eligible boats may enter by completing…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Giving women rights could destroy society – Egypt’s Islamists
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt’s Islamists warn that giving women some rights could destroy society Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood warns that a U.N. declaration on women’s rights could destroy society by allowing a woman to travel, work and use contraception without her husband’s approval, and…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Li voted China premier; Italy election gridlock; Pope cited in ‘dirty war’ book
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China’s Li formally picked for premier Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: China’s legislature elected Li Keqiang as premier today, installing an English-speaking bureaucrat as the man to lead the world’s second-largest economy and combat pressing woes like a frothy housing market and an over-reliance on investment.The largely rubber-stamp…
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Breaking News: One dead as runaway Phuket tour bus wreaks havoc
PHUKET: One person is dead after a Phuket tour bus slammed into eight motorbikes and five cars on Patong Hill this morning. Athiwat Petchsai, 22, died after he was struck by the runaway bus in front of Wat Patong temple (map here) after the vehicles’ brakes failed as it descended Patong Hill at about 7:30am. The bus was en route…
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Phuket Gazette Queer News: Stressed monk in abbott attack
PHUKET: A monk in Samut Prakan has been defrocked – and is facing criminal charges – for kicking a senior monk in the neck during a ceremony attended by almost 100 other clergymen. Bang Ya Phraek Temple monk Phra Thongthip, 52, attacked Phra Khru Sunthon Suttasan as the older holy man presided over a ceremony appointing a third monk as…
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Miss Thailand World contestants stun Phuket beach goers
PHUKET: The 20 Miss Thailand World contestants on a publicity tour in Phuket wowed onlookers yesterday morning when they took part in a swimsuit photo shoot on the beach in front of the Cape Panwa Hotel, where they stayed. Among the 20 beauties is one Phuket native: Nathasinee Wichaidit, 20, from Koh Kaew. After arriving on the island on Tuesday,…
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Bikes blazing across Phuket, arson suspected
PHUKET: A series of suspected arson attacks on motorbikes in Phuket over the last two days has police scrambling to identify the culprit(s). “We suspect the bikes were set on fire by a single gang of teenagers out to cause trouble,” Phuket’s top cop, Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavalviwat, told the Phuket Gazette. “I have already assigned a joint police…
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Phuket continue streak in Bangkok
PHUKET: The island’s pro futsal team Phuket United won their sixth match in a row after defeating Bangkok FC (2-3) in an away match in the Thai capital yesterday evening. Played at the Fashion Island Futsal Arena, it was Phuket’s penultimate match of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier League (TFPL) 2012-2013 season. The Andaman Pearl’s leading scorer, Jackson…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Khmer Rouge Ieng Sary dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ieng Sary, minister for Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, dies in hospital Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Ieng Sary, who was standing trial for crimes against humanity during his time as the Khmer Rouge’s foreign minister in Cambodia in the 1970s, died this morning, the court said.Ieng Sary’s death will…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Champions League and FA Cup results; EPL look ahead
Nervy Bayern, slick Malaga reach Champions League quarters Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Last season’s beaten finalists Bayern Munich survived a severe case of stage fright to edge into the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals and were joined in the last eight by debutants Malaga last night. Nervy Bayern were beaten 2-0 at home by Arsenal but progressed thanks…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Royal Thai Navy Commander-in-Chief dismisses Human Rights Watch’s report
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Navy dismisses reports on Rohingya killings Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Royal Thai Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Surasak Rounroengrom dismissed the report as impossible and untrue and asserted that the Thai navy had not killed any Rohingya people as it did no more than offer them humanitarian aid.…
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Phuket Gazette World News: ‘Habemus Papam’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Argentina’s Bergoglio elected as new Pope Francis Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church yesterday, taking the name Francis I and becoming the first non-European pontiff in nearly…
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Police raise alarm after Phuket hotel thief uses skeleton key
PHUKET: Police have warned hoteliers across the island to beware of thieves targeting Phuket hotels after a Patong hotel room safe was robbed by a man who reportedly used a skeleton key to enter the room.The news follows 29-year-old Russian tourist Egor Nikolaev reporting valuables being stolen from his room safe at the hotel on the Patong beach road where…
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Miss Thailand beauties in Phuket, bound for Myanmar
PHUKET: A bevy of 20 Miss Thailand World 2013 contestants are in Phuket to attend high-profile publicity events and join a swimsuit beach photo shoot tomorrow morning. After the contestants arrived at Phuket International Airport yesterday morning, they paid homage to Thao Thepkrasattri and Thao Srisoonthorn at the Heroines’ Monument in Thalang, then visited the Phuket Pearl Farm at Koh…
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Bangkok tip-off prompts Phuket abortion pharmacy shutdown
PHUKET: An unlicensed pharmacist in central Phuket Town has been charged with illegally selling abortion pills after being caught in an undercover operation carried out by Ministry of Public Health officials.A complaint filed directly to police in Bangkok resulted in the sting operation on the City Health Care pharmacy, on Dibuk Road, near the junction with Soi Romanee, late yesterday…
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Human Rights Watch calls for probe into alleged Rohingya shootings
PHUKET: New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) today issued a statement calling for the Thai authorities to investigate reports of Royal Thai Navy sailors opening fire on a boatload of Rohingya off the Phang Nga coast, north of Phuket, allegedly killing at least two of the refugees. “Rohingya fleeing Burma should be given protection, not shot at,” said Brad Adams,…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Champions League latest; Barc and Galatasaray win; Arsenal falling short – Graham
Magical Messi lifts Barca to stunning comeback Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A fired-up Lionel Messi answered his critics by inspiring Barcelona to a sensational Champions League comeback against AC Milan last night with two goals in a 4-0 home win to help them reach the quarter-finals. A rampant Barca, all-but written off after a surprise 2-0 reverse at Milan’s…
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Phuket Gazette World News: No Pope as black smoke rises over Sistine Chapel
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cardinals begin voting in earnest for new pope to face Church crisis Phuket GazettePHUKET: Cardinals begin the process of choosing a new pope in earnest today, holding their first full day of voting for a leader to face a major crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.The 115…
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Phuket Gazette Queer News: Masturbating old monk ends career
A MONK was disrobed after 20 years as a clergyman after he was caught red-handed masturbating in the lobby of an apartment building in Phang Nga. Police received a report that a monk was creating a scene, revealing his penis and shouting indecently in the lobby of Sunimit Mansion. Police rushed to the scene, but when they arrived the monk…
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Vietnamese Defense Minister visits Naval Command in Phuket
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy’s Third Area Command gave a warm welcome to General Phung Quang Thanh, Vietnam’s Minister of National Defense, yesterday as he made his first diplomatic visit to the Phuket naval base responsible for Thailand’s Andaman coast.“I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to visit Thailand several times. This is my first official visit to…
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Government chief, 100-year-old tree deliver crushing blow to driver’s insurance
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Provincial Social Security Office (PPSSO) has denied any liability for a tree – believed by locals to be about 100 years old – that fell and crushed five cars in the Social Security car park this morning.No injuries were reported in the incident.“It was an accident and the tree was here before the building,”…
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Bikes found flaming near popular Phuket Beach
PHUKET: Police are investigating the possible arson of four motorbikes parked on public land at the entrance of Laem Sing Beach.At about 3:45pm today Kamala Police received a report that four vehicles had burst into flames.“Three of the motorbikes belong to locals who work on the beach as masseuses; the other motorbike was the rental bike of a tourist who…
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The digital blues of Phuket computing – Live Wire
PHUKET: Over the years I’ve talked a lot about how computing in Phuket is different – what you can expect, what will never come to pass, how to work around a whole lot of problems. This week I want to share with you a couple of stories from some friends of mine, who got stung simply because they were trying…
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