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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    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...

  • Phuket Customs officers seize crystal meth in Thai Post parcel

    Phuket Customs officers seize crystal meth in Thai Post parcel

    PHUKET: Customs officers seized a parcel containing ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) last week from a transportation company in Rassada, north of Phuket Town. The drugs had an estimated a street value of more than 150,000 baht. Officers from the Royal Thai Customs Investigation and Suppression Bureau (ISB) were conducting a search of the transportation company’s premises when the Thai Post…

  • Phuket Gazette: Don Mueang Airport ready to resume operations

    Phuket Gazette: Don Mueang Airport ready to resume operations

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Don Mueang Airport ready to resume operations PHUKET (The Nation): Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra today presided over a re-opening ceremony. The government allocated 392 million baht to the Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AoT), with the AoT spending 1.2 billion of its own budget to…

  • Phuket business: Indonesia – Asia’s new rising star

    Phuket business: Indonesia – Asia’s new rising star

    PHUKET: For many of us expats in Phuket, our Asian paradise has sheltered many of us from the financial woes being experienced back home by family and friends. Asian markets, though not totally immune to European debt levels and the impending push for White House power, have been fairly resilient over the last few years and have provided steady economic…

  • Phuket Live Wire: Shutter island

    Phuket Live Wire: Shutter island

    PHUKET: I’m going to change topic a bit. At the Computer Clinics we used to talk about all sorts of technology, including TVs, tablet computers, cameras and phones – much to the chagrin of several Windows die-hards. The simple fact is that all of the technology is converging, with more-powerful and more-mobile computer chips making all sorts of magic possible.…

  • Phuket business: Alien laborer deadline gets extension

    Phuket business: Alien laborer deadline gets extension

    PHUKET: More than 20,000 unregistered migrant workers in Phuket now have until mid-June to register with the government, thanks to a Cabinet resolution earlier this month extending the deadline by five months. The extension gives employers time to obtain two-year work permits for unregistered alien workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, said Phuket Provincial Employment Office Chief Noppadol Ployudee. Workers…

  • Phuket business: Multi-billion baht deal signed

    Phuket business: Multi-billion baht deal signed

    PHUKET: Ruea Yacht, the luxury yacht building division of Phuket-Bangkok based Yacht Solutions, has joined forces with Northrop and Johnson – one of the world’s largest independent yacht brokerage firms. Highlighting the increased demand, supply and overall growth in Thailand’s superyacht industry, the new partnership will generate billions for the local economy. Director of Northrop and Johnson said: “Over the…

  • Phuket sports: Morning Star shines bright

    Phuket sports: Morning Star shines bright

    PHUKET: The first game of Phuket Soccer Six League’s (PSSL) round three at Headstart International’s Football Island saw The Lounge face Morning Star. Following two quick goals by Karl Ward, it seemed Morning Star would make light work of their opposition, but The Lounge emerged from their slumber and fought back to bring themselves to within a goal at 4-3.…

  • FC Phuket crush Tuk Tuks

    FC Phuket crush Tuk Tuks

    PHUKET: A new-look FC Phuket played their first pre-season, friendly match recently with Tuk Tuk FC, an outfit of the Le Meridian resort, resulting in a 7-0 goal fest for the home boys. The free-admission match played at Surakul Stadium was a confidence-booster for the Southern Sea Kirin if anything. It was a chance for fans to see their new…

  • Phuket sports: Believe to achieve

    Phuket sports: Believe to achieve

    PHUKET: It wasn’t difficult to identify professional golfer Lindsay Renolds on entering Laguna Golf Club recently. Standing near the entrance was a young man surrounded by staff members, who at first glance seemed to be getting advice from the Phuket pro, but in fact were catching up on how he performed at his latest tournament played in India. Obviously popular…

  • Phuket Gazette: Unknown Mozart piece discovered in Austria

    Phuket Gazette: Unknown Mozart piece discovered in Austria

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Previously unknown Mozart piece discovered in Austria PHUKET (News Wires): A previously unknown musical piece by Mozart was discovered inside an eighteenth century music book in Austria, local media reported on Saturday. The Mozart Foundation in Salzburg reported that the piano piece was discovered in a…

  • Phuket Gazette: Obama to honor Israel’s Peres with Medal of Freedom

    Phuket Gazette: Obama to honor Israel’s Peres with Medal of Freedom

    – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama to honor Israel’s Peres with Medal of Freedom PHUKET (News Wires): Israeli President Shimon Peres will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom when he visits the White House in Washington, D.C. later this spring, U.S. President Barack Obama told an audience yesterday. Obama made the announcement at the…

  • Phuket woman dies in motorbike accident

    Phuket woman dies in motorbike accident

    PHUKET: A motorbike passenger was killed last night when her driver swerved to avoid a fallen branch, putting the vehicle in the path of a fast-moving pick-up truck in the north of Phuket. Tah Chat Chai Police were notified of the accident on Thepkrasattri Road southbound at 9:25pm. Arriving a the scene, just 50 meters from the Thepkrasattri Bridge off-ramp,…

  • Phuket Heroines Memorial Fair underway

    Phuket Heroines Memorial Fair underway

    PHUKET: The Phuket Cultural Office has a fun-packed range of activities lined up for this year’s Heroines Memorial Fair, which started on Friday in Thalang.Among the attractions taking place to honor Jan and Mook, the famous heroines who led Siamese forces in repelling an invasion by the Burmese in 1785, are group weddings, traditional dance performances and spectacular light and…

  • Phuket Opinion: There’s an Elephant in the Room

    Phuket Opinion: There’s an Elephant in the Room

    PHUKET: The United Nations estimates that the human population of the Earth quietly surpassed the seven billion mark last October. As a result, humankind is putting ever more pressure on the environment that sustains us. In the process, we are also driving many other animal species into extinction, some before they are even recognized by science. Few places on the…

  • Phuket kids top national ukelele contest

    Phuket kids top national ukelele contest

    PHUKET: A trio of Phuket primary students have been crowned champions at a national ukulele playing contest. Watchawong Petchsuwan on ukulele, Anwa Rathaporn on base ukulele and Treerat Nachalaem on vocals – all students at Baan Nabon School in Wichit, south of Phuket Town – were bestowed the top accolade at the Junior Thailand Ukulele Champion Contest 2012 on February…

  • Swede falls victim to Russian snatch thieves in Phuket

    Swede falls victim to Russian snatch thieves in Phuket

    PHUKET; A Swedish tourist in Phuket had his gold chain and other valuables snatched by a pair of women he claims were Russian, according to a local media report. Swedish tourist Peter Wentzel, 40, was walking along the Karon beach road at 11:30pm last night when two foreign women pulled up in front of him on a motorbike and asked…

  • Phuket sports: Lizards chase the Tiger’s tail

    Phuket sports: Lizards chase the Tiger’s tail

    PHUKET: Unlucky for some, the 13th match of the Island Furniture League saw a battle between league newcomers the Thanyapura Tigers and former champions the Liquid Lounge Lizards (LLL), at the ACG last Sunday.Both sides were in desperate need of a win to advance up the table and boost their title hopes. In a closely fought match, the Tigers eventually…

  • Phuket sports: The boys from Brazil

    Phuket sports: The boys from Brazil

    PHUKET: For the second week in succession Phuket’s Fair Play League (FPL) used two different locations for their weekend fixtures with Youth Football Home hosting U14 matches and Quality Schools International (QSI) the venue for U11 matches. Four of the six teams competing in the U14 Division have a real chance of taking the title which makes winning remaining matches…

  • World sports: What’s in a week?

    World sports: What’s in a week?

    PHUKET: Liverpool FC collected their first piece of silverware since their FA Cup victory six years ago last Sunday.Kenny Dalglish, who became only the seventh manager to win all three major domestic titles, heaped praise on Cardiff City, with the Premiership side needing penalties to take the first trophy of the year.Despite the manner of the win, (3-2 from a…

  • Phuket’s Lomas impress at Bangkok 10s

    Phuket’s Lomas impress at Bangkok 10s

    PHUKET: The Phuket Lomas recently participated in the two-day Bangkok Youth Rugby 10s tournament at Pattana International School with great performances from both the U12 and U16 teams in their respective divisions. On the first day of competition the Lomas U16s faced cup favourites CIMB Cobra from Malaysia. It was a tense battle in which the Lomas matched their opposition…

  • Dokset blames jealousy: Phuket Police

    Dokset blames jealousy: Phuket Police

    PHUKET: Stein Dokset, the long-term Phuket expat Norwegian charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend Rungnapa Suktong, has told police that he accidentally killed his girlfriend in a jealousy-fueled rage, police said today. Mr Dokset was arrested on Tuesday after police found the acid-burnt decaying remains of a human body in his basement bathroom. He later confessed that the remains…

  • Phuket goes to the polls March 25, April 7

    Phuket goes to the polls March 25, April 7

    PHUKET: An island-wide ban on the sale of alcohol will go into effect from 6pm on April 6 through to midnight of April 7 so island residents can vote in the upcoming Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) presidential election. Residents living in Chalong and Rassada municipal areas will be subject to a similar ban for elections to select councilors for…

  • Phuket PSU chosen for Thai Cabinet meeting

    Phuket PSU chosen for Thai Cabinet meeting

    PHUKET: The Phuket campus of the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) yesterday was selected as the venue for the upcoming Thai Cabinet meeting on March 19-20. Sombat Wattanapanich, Cabinet Secretary and Adviser to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, was accompanied on a tour of the potential venues on the island. Leading the entourage was Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Phuket Vice Governor…

  • Senators “worried’ about Phuket beating, cheating, intimidating tourists

    Senators “worried’ about Phuket beating, cheating, intimidating tourists

    PHUKET: A delegation of senators from Bangkok yesterday were treated to a grave description of the problems plaguing Phuket’s tourism industry, including jet-ski ripoffs.The senators, all members of the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism, agreed that everything from the intimidation and beating of tourists to the lack of a strong public transportation system were having a serious effect on Phuket’s…

  • Phuket sports: Former FC Phuket player netted in Immigration raid

    Phuket sports: Former FC Phuket player netted in Immigration raid

    PHUKET: Former FC Phuket midfielder Abdoul Coulibaly was among 27 Africans arrested on Wednesday during an Immigration Police crackdown in Bangkok. The arrests were first reported on sport.mthai.com, a Thai-language website. According to the report, 25-year-old Abdoul was detained for not having proof of compliance with a requirement by Immigration that all foreigners residing in the Kingdom report their address…

  • Phuket Business Directory 2012 is on sale now

    Phuket Business Directory 2012 is on sale now

    PHUKET: The Gazette Guide for 2012 is now available at vendors throughout Phuket and the Andaman region, and, being eight times the size of other business directories on or off line, is the most comprehensive index to help find the service you need. With contact details of thousands of businesses classified into 142 different categories, the 362-page book is priced…

  • Phuket Weird World News: The littlest, the biggest and the not quite deadest

    Phuket Weird World News: The littlest, the biggest and the not quite deadest

    PHUKET: In this week’s Weird World News round-up we take a “peak” at a couple of neighbors, Nepal and China, as they dispute how big the mount really is, though there is no contest when it comes to who has the littlest wee man. Then China just gets strange as a gran comes back from the dead to do a…

  • Rally round Phuket

    Rally round Phuket

    PHUKET: Following the very successful Grumpy Old Men’s Club (GOMS) rally and car treasure hunt last year, the organizers this year have invited a number of Phuket’s foremost business, social and community organizations to join a great family day out and raise funds for their organization’s ongoing projects. The now-renamed Phuket Invitational Car Rally (PICR), to be held on March…

  • Phuket driver plows into 7-Eleven store

    Phuket driver plows into 7-Eleven store

    PHUKET: A man accidentally rammed his car into a 7-Eleven convenience store in Phuket early yesterday morning, smashing the shopfront window and injuring two men, one seriously. Just before 2am, Thalang Police were notified of the accident, at the 7-Eleven inside the PTT gas station on Srisoonthorn Road in Cherng Talay. Arriving at the scene, officers found a Phuket-registered Honda…

  • Phuket Gazette: Davy Jones of the Monkees dies; A guitar that gently weeps

    Phuket Gazette: Davy Jones of the Monkees dies; A guitar that gently weeps

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Monkees star Davy Jones dies at 66 PHUKET (News Wires): Davy Jones, the lead singer of the popular American pop rock group ‘The Monkees’, died in Florida on Wednesday as a result of a suspected heart attack, local officials said. He was 66. Rhonda Irons, a…