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.
-
Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
-
Reminder on re-entry permits
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has issued a reminder to foreigners with one-year permits to stay that they must get a re-entry stamp in their passports before taking a trip out of the country – or go right back to square one. Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen of the PPIO told the Gazette “When they have a one-year…
-
Free vaccine in anti-polio campaign
PHUKET TOWN: Poliovirus vaccine was administered free at hospitals, schools and community meeting points today in a campaign to immunize as many children as possible. Although no cases of polio have been recorded on Phuket since 1984, officers from the Phuket Public Health Office combined with volunteers from Rotary clubs, the Red Cross and local hospitals to administer the vaccine…
-
AirAsia takes to the skies
PATONG: AirAsia, a new budget airline based in Malaysia, launched its first service, between Phuket and Kuala Lumpur, at the weekend. The exceptionally low rates of 810 baht one way for the daily flights apply until January 31. Seats must be booked 14 days in advance to qualify for the low price. Company CEO Tony Fernandes said that AirAsia will…
-
Regional leaders to meet in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit will be held in Phuket from February 5 to 9 next year, a spokesperson from the Phuket Governor’s Office told the Gazette today. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his counterparts from the other four countries – along with those of Nepal and Bhutan, which are not formal…
-
Questions as waystop cost grows to B87m
PHUKET: The plan to build a two-million-baht police firearms depository at Tah Chat Chai on the main route into Phuket has ballooned into an 87-million-baht project to develop a major waystop, including a service station, a restaurant, and parking for 200 cars. But doubts are now being raised about the usefulness of such a facility. The plan has grown at…
-
Thousands enjoy Old Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: About 10,000 people packed the first night of the annual Old Phuket Festival last night, with Thalang Rd in Phuket Town converted to a walking street for the event. Organizers rated the night a big success, with a parade of students dressed in traditional clothing and local food, crafts, music and entertainment on show. The festival continues today…
-
Corpse baffles investigators
THALANG: Police have been unable to identify the body of a man found in shallow water off Ao Por on the morning of December 9. Officers believe, however, that the man was beaten to death and his corpse weighted before being dumped into the sea. Pol Maj Anan Jingjit of Thalang Police Station told the Gazette that the badly decomposed…
-
New Year opening for new hospital wing
PATONG: Patong Hospital will open its new outpatient and emergency wing on New Year’s Day – just after what everyone hopes will be a quiet holiday season, at least for hospitals. Construction of the 66-million-baht, four-story building began in 2001 and the grand opening will take place on December 21. The new building houses emergency and treatment rooms, an operating…
-
Hefty penalties for New Year drunks
PHUKET: Drivers indulging too liberally in festive spirit or otherwise driving dangerously face severe penalties this holiday season with the harshest punishments reserved for crimes committed over the critical December 28 – January 4 period. Drunk drivers could receive fines of up to 10,000 baht, three months in jail, or both, and all road users involved in collisions will also…
-
Shrimp farmers’ loss is consumers’ gain
PHUKET: Shrimp lovers are being urged to eat up vast quantities in Thailand’s national interest. The price of Pacific white shrimp, a popular crop with shrimp farmers, has plummeted because of oversupply and anti-dumping measures being taken in the US and Europe. Prices that were around 200-230 baht a kilogram just weeks ago are now down to 80-100 baht. Tharadol…
-
Galaxy of stars for New Year in Patong
PATONG: New Year festivities in Patong will include concerts featuring a galaxy of Thai stars. Every night from December 23 to January 1, local bands and students from local schools will provide live entertainment at Loma Park. There will also be a beer garden as well as market stalls selling food, souvenirs and trinkets. On New Year’s Eve, artists including…
-
Klong to gain new lease on life
PHUKET TOWN: A plan to clean up and beautify eight kilometers of the Klong Bangyai waterway was launched today at a meeting between local authorities and six American representatives from Portland, Oregon. Over the next two years, a plan will be prepared that could see the klong turned into a boating attraction for tourists as well as ensuring that its…
-
Probe launched into 17 tin mines
PHUKET: Vice-Governor Pongpow Ketthong has been appointed by Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura to preside over a committee investigating the titles for 17 plots of land in various parts of Phuket. The plots, covering a total of 1,000 rai, were formerly tin mine concessions. “The investigating committee will check whether the land titles were issued legally,” V/Gov Pongpow told the Gazette today.…
-
Mangrove land “encroached upon’
PA KHLOK: The Mangrove Resources Development Office (MRDO) and the Phuket Provincial Forestry Office (PPFO) are expected to ask Thalang police to prosecute the owner of land in Baan Yamoo who, they allege, has encroached on some 15 rai of reserved mangrove land. Thawatchai Nuwan, from the MRDO, and colleagues from the PPFO have been surveying areas of Phuket for…
-
Trash sorting facility opens
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Municipality held a ceremony this morning to officially open its new trash separation facility, next to the incinerator at Saphan Hin. The new facility will cut down on the amount of waste that needs to be burned at the incinerator, which is currently operating at more than its design capacity. The outgoing Mayor of Phuket Town,…
-
B5m blaze grills tuna boat
PHUKET TOWN: A tuna boat loaded with diesel fuel and bottled gas for a month-long trip burned to the waterline in a five-million-baht fire at Rassada on Saturday. The blaze was spotted about 11 am on Saturday but seven hours of efforts by seamen and firefighters failed to douse the flames and the boat was burned to a blackened hulk.…
-
Plis Play wins King’s Cup
PHUKET: There were shouts of Olé across the water today as the newest addition to Spain’s fleet of sailing boats won overall honours in the Racing class in the annual Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. Plis Play, which was launched in Malacca just over a week ago, finished the Regatta with 12 points after a third-place finish today to beat Clariden-Karakoa,…
-
Police raid FantaSea over tiger cubs
KAMALA: About 20 officers from the Forestry Police Division, the Highway Police and the Tourist Police raided the FantaSea entertainment center in Kamala today and seized 14 tigers that had been transported there, allegedly without permission. Officers said that the tigers, most of them cubs aged three to six months, had been put on show for tourist photo sessions after…
-
Patong vendors’ leader arrested
PHUKET TOWN: The President of the Patong Vendors’ Association was arrested on Tuesday night by Phuket Town Police for carrying an unlicensed firearm into a popular downtown restaurant. Somwang “Lae” Wonghan, 39, was taken into custody by police at about 11:20 pm as he sat in the new Chilli Phuket pub on Dilok Uthit Rd 1. Fellow diners contacted police…
-
Concern over missing divemaster
KAMALA: Police and workmates say they are concerned for the safety of a divemaster who vanished after a party at a bar in Kamala last Saturday (November 29). Phikun “Nori” Srisaksungnoen, 25, from Kamala, had been celebrating with colleagues after returning from diving off Phi Phi. She was last seen at 10 pm, leaving behind her car and her two…
-
Day of protests in King’s Cup
PHUKET: Winds of up to 20 knots made for some of the most exciting racing so far on the third day of the King’s Cup Regatta off Kata Beach today. The stiff breeze, choppy conditions and a congested start in the Racing and Premier Cruising classes resulted in a large number of protests being lodged. Some of these were still…
-
Phuket “winning’ War on Drugs
PHUKET TOWN: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura today announced that Phuket is winning the war on drugs. “The island is not completely rid of them, or of the users and dealers, but society will no longer be affected by them,” Gov Udomsak declared. At a special ceremony at Saphin Hin, Gov Udomsak and others – including Vice- Governors Pongpow Ketthong and Winai…
-
Paradorn to play at Laguna
CHERNG TALAY: Thai tennis hero Paradorn “Ball” Srichaphan will play two exhibition matches at the Laguna Beach Resort on December 20 and 21. The matches are part of the Paradorn Super Tour, a round-robin tour also taking in Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen, and featuring world No 11 Paradorn, Thailand’s top woman player Tamarine “Tammy” Tanasugarn, Mark Philippoussis of Australia…
-
King’s Cup: Hi Fidelity moves ahead
PHUKET: In the first of two races today in the Racing Class of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, veteran sailor and 2001 winner Neil Pryde steered Hi Fidelity to provisional honors, followed by Spanish boat Pris Play with Fred Kinmonth’s Stella-Minter-Ellison finishing third. The highly rated Thai boat Pasaya, which is being chartered by a team from Switzerland this year…
-
Immigration to close during holidays
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has issued a reminder to foreigners that it will be closed during three coming public holidays. Pol Capt Krissarat Nusen said that if a foreigner’s scheduled visit to the PPIO fell on a public holiday, he or she could visit on the next working day without penalty – “but only on that…
-
Banged to rights
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: As 40-year-old Somsak Chinaphan sat in front of a mom and pop store in Phibul District on October 27, local police turned up and placed him under arrest for rape. Accompanying the arresting officials, and boldly pointing the finger of blame, was his ex-wife and mother of their three children, 38-year-old Somreudee Chinaphan. K. Somsak, the owner…
-
Pricey pawing
PATHUM THANI: Udomdech Rattanasathien, Secretary to Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan, led a team of department officials and police on a raid at another dubious treatment facility, also in Phatum Thani, on October 7. This raid followed complaints by a female patient that she had been sexually assaulted during treatment – by a well-known monk. The woman said her treatment…
-
Massively massaged
PATHUM THANI: When it comes to traditional Thai massage, some like it harder than others. But few people suffering from stiffness or poor circulation want to emerge from massage treatment looking as if they had just gone five hard rounds in a Muay Thai fight – which was the type of service a renegade massage parlor in Pathum Thani had…
-
Phuket and Andamans sign memorandum
KATA: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop trade links with its counterpart from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The agreement is supported by the two associations’ respective governments, but comes over objections by some Port Blair-based NGOs that fear improved links could introduce social vices to…
-
Illegal guns trigger 10 arrests
PHUKET: Although Phuket residents still have until December 15 to turn in illegal firearms without fear of prosecution, crime statistics from Phuket Provincial Police show that 10 arrests on charges of illegal gun possession were made between November 1 and November 25. And even though the province was declared drug-free on Loy Kratong Day – November 8 – there were…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.