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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Phuket Gazette: Exotic wildlife worth Bt200m found
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Exotic wildlife worth Bt200m found PHUKET (The Nation): Thai police yesterday searched the Saraburi home of a former Chatuchak Market animal vendor and found 300 to 400 caged animals with an estimated black market value of 200 million baht. Pol Maj Gen Norasak Hemnithi, chief of…
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Phuket Gazette: Syria – First high-ranking official joins uprising
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Syria’s deputy oil minister defects from Assad PHUKET (News Wires): Syrian Deputy Oil Minister Abdu Hussameddin yesterday announced his defection from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, becoming the first high-ranking civilian official to join the uprising which began a year ago. Hussameddin, 58, appeared in…
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Phuket Gazette: British Royal Navy submariner charged with ‘leaking’ secrets
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Leaky submarine’?: British Royal Navy crewman charged with communicating secrets PHUKET (News Wires): A British Royal Navy submariner was arrested in southwestern England earlier this week and is being accused of leaking classified information, police said on Thursday. He has been charged with breaching the Official…
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Phuket gears up for PIMEX 2012
PHUKET: The Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX), to be held March 29 to April 1 at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina, is set to showcase top global boat brands. The leading consumer boat show in Asia, PIMEX has the largest in-water boat display. More than 50 boats representing the leading boat brands from around the world, will be on display.…
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Phuket sports: Krabi put their talons into FC Phuket
PHUKET: FC Phuket suffered a 1-2 defeat to fellow Division 1 rivals, Krabi FC in a charity match played at Surakul Stadium yesterday evening. In essence a derby game, it was the Southern Sea Kirin’s fourth of the 2012 pre-season schedule so far. Proceeds of the ticket sales will be used to help return former Phuket player Camara Ahmed back…
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Phuket Crime: Dokset DNA results show human skull hit with heavy object
PHUKET: Preliminary results from forensics tests conducted on remains found at the home of Norwegian Stein Dokset have found that they are those of a human female. They have yet to be confirmed as those of Rungnapa Suktong, however, the Phuket Gazette has been told. The remains were found in the locked basement bathroom at Mr Dokset’s luxury villa in…
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Phuket Gazette: Four Troops killed in Thai bomb attack; Quick probe into criminal cases crucial
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Four troops killed, another injured in Narathiwat bomb attack PHUKET (The Nation): The unit was returning home after providing security to Buddhist devotees and monks at a temple in the evening of Maka Puja Day when the explosion occurred at 10:40pm yesterday. The explosion occurred on…
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Wet Phuket: blame La Niña
PHUKET: Unseasonably heavy rains along the Andaman coast are the result of the La Niña effect, a forecaster at the Southern Meteorological Center at Phuket Airport has confirmed. The forecaster, asking that his name not be used, told the Phuket Gazette that this was the second year running that La Niña had brought heavy rainfall during what are typically Phuket’s…
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Immigration tops list of “most worn-out complaint’ in Phuket poll
PHUKET: Griping about immigration requirements is overwhelmingly the topic readers are most tired of hearing foreigners in Phuket complain about, according to the most recent Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll. A total of 1,982 readers took part in the poll, which ran from February 17 until this morning. Readers were asked: “Which of the following topics are you most tired of…
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Phuket Gazette: Huge solar storm to hit Earth
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Huge solar storm to hit Earth – could disrupt power grids, satellite navigation systems and plane routes PHUKET: The BBC has reported a strong solar storm is expected to hit Earth shortly, and experts warn it could disrupt power grids, satellite navigation systems and plane routes.…
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Phuket Police to start patrols with the “All Blacks’
PHUKET: Phuket Police will soon be patrolling the streets of Phuket in brand-new all black Mazda2 cars. The 10 new patrol cars were bought with 5.9 million baht provided by Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok, said Phuket City Police administrator Charturong Laddayam. “The new patrol vehicles are expected to improve our international image and help our relations with tourists,”…
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Phuket Gazette: Seventh person executed in the US this year
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Texas executes man for killing estranged wife, her boyfriend PHUKET (News Wires): A Texas man was executed yesterday for murdering his estranged wife and her new boyfriend in the Houston area in September 2001, officials said. He is the seventh person to be executed in the…
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Phuket Gazette: Thai women courted; Hopewell back in public eye; PM in Japan;
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pheu Thai, Democrats take different paths in wooing women voters PHUKET (The Nation): Both parties cite the importance of women, their roles in taking care of families and their forming a key part of the workforce. As the world celebrates International Women’s Day today, the two…
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Phuket Gazette: Bomb kills six British servicemen
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Roadside bomb kills 6 British troops in southern Afghanistan PHUKET (News Wires): Six British service members were killed on Tuesday when insurgents detonated a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, Britain’s Ministry of Defense confirmed yesterday. It is the worst day for British troops in Afghanistan since…
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Phuket Convention Center project up in the air – again
PHUKET: Efforts to build a world-class convention and exhibition center in Phuket remain mired in red tape, and a recent visit to the proposed project site by two Government advisers raises little hope that the work will begin any time soon – if ever. The latest twist in the decades-old saga came with a visit to the proposed project site…
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Phuket Gazette: Earthquake threat for Japanese nuclear plant
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fault under Japanese nuclear plant could trigger powerful earthquake PHUKET (News Wires): A fault under the reactors of a nuclear power plant in southwestern Japan could trigger a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of up to 7.4 on the Richter scale, experts warned yesterday. The Urasoko…
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Phuket Gazette: Pensioner kills 2 doctors, then himself
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Elderly man kills 2 doctors before killing self in southwestern Germany PHUKET (News Wires): An elderly man opened fire at a hospital in southwestern Germany on Monday afternoon, killing two doctors and wounding a nurse, local media reported. The gunman later killed himself. The attack took…
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Phuket tin smelter Thaisarco under probe
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak today led a team of local officials to investigate claims that the Thaisarco tin smelter at Cape Panwa was releasing contaminants into the air, causing lung cancer and other health issues among local residents. Prapan Kanprasang, head of the Damrongtham Center, which acts as the provincial ombudsman’s office, said his office received a letter…
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Phuket alcohol ban for Makha Bucha Day
PHUKET: Phuket Police have confirmed that a 24-hour ban on selling alcohol will come into effect from midnight tonight in respect of tomorrow being the Buddhist holiday Makha Bucha Day. Lt Col Pisit Chuenpetch, Deputy Superintendent of Phuket City Police Station, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that the ban will be enforced across Phuket. “This a nationwide ban…
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Laguna Phuket denies ‘wrongdoing’ in baby elephant trade
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket today issued a public statement in response to a two-year-old baby elephant being seized at the elephant camp at the resort complex late last month. The statement, marked as attributable to Mark Breit, Regional Director, Laguna Tours & Quest, read: “Laguna Phuket houses and employs domesticated Asian elephants, which, due to habitat loss and poaching, have no…
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Paiboon alone in start of Phuket election campaigning
PHUKET: On the first morning of enrollment for candidates for the position of Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) president, former president Paiboon Upatising was the first and so far only candidate to show his hand today. All other potential candidates have until Friday to register. Mr Paiboon, running for his second term as Phuket’s highest-ranking elected government official, arrived at…
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Phuket rail link gathers steam
PHUKET: The move to build a rail link from Surat Thani to a point just north of the bridges onto Phuket gained momentum on Friday when it was confirmed as one of the projects to be presented to the Cabinet during the minister’s meeting in Phuket on March 19-20. The news was announced at a meeting chaired by Phuket Governor…
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Pla-Wan attack: “Eight is enough’, say Phuket police
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are not pursuing their investigation into whether any more suspects are to be arrested in connection with the attack on Vorasit “Pla-wan” Issara. Mr Vorasit is the general manager of the Sri Panwa resort. He was brutally attacked by staff at the Rachada pub in Phuket Town in December. Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chidchai today…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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Phuket business: Luxury auto dealer projects 25% growth
PHUKET: Highlighting the European high-end car market’s upward trend in Phuket, a major luxury car dealer has set its sales target to be 25% higher than last year. Sureeporn Udompolvanich, CEO of TSL Auto Corporation Co Ltd, revealed that the company was able to sell 800 cars in 2011 with a 15% increase in total revenue when compared to 2010.…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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