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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World News: White House outlines plans to “get the guns”
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community White House readies gun-control plan as more children laid to rest Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The White House was set to reveal the first steps of a gun-control plan yesterday as the United States grieved for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in…
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World News: “Dear Santa” letters answered
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community “Dear Santa” letters answered by U.S. Post Office program Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: One 13-year-old boy who sent a “Dear Santa” letter to the U.S. Post Office this year asked only for covers for his bed, “so I can stay warm this winter.” Another letter…
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Phuket Business: British Airways – 79 years of service to the Kingdom
PHUKET: After 79 years of service to Thailand, British Airways (BA) says it still sees the Kingdom as an important market because more executives, especially from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), will fly out to ink business deals.The airline will use its strong network to connect local businessmen not only to its home base in London, but also to other…
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Phuket Business: New “liberalization’ of aviation manufacturing
PHUKET: A new government initiative to allow foreign investors to hold 70 per cent or more of a company manufacturing aviation parts will help promote Thailand as a regional repair center for the industry, says an executive at Thai Airways International.Danuj Bunnag, executive vice president of THAI’s commercial department, welcomed the plan and said it would help strengthen Thailand’s performance…
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Three Phuket tour van crash victims still in hospital
PHUKET: Two tourists and a tour guide travelling in a tour van that had its roof ripped off by a crane in Chalong yesterday are recovering in hospital, the Phuket Gazette has confirmed. All nine occupants in the van at the time of the accident were taken to hospital, Chalong Police Sub Lt Kraisorn Boonprasob told the Gazette. “A Russian…
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Phuket Business: Staying the course
PHUKET: The island’s first and only authentic miniature golf course, “Phuket Adventure Mini Golf”, recently celebrated the completion of its first year of operation. Swedish owners, Thomas and Pia Anderson, Phuket expats for nearly a decade, spoke to the Phuket Gazette about the past, present and future of their leisure attraction, the first of its kind in the Kingdom, located…
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Sports News: Thailand face tough challenge in Singapore tonight
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: Thailand will aim to gain the upper hand over old foes Singapore in the first leg of the ASEAN Championship final today, in a showdown of the tournament’s two most successful sides. Both have won the title three times, with their second championship showdown in five years…
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British ambassador joins fight against tourist scams
PHUKET: The British Ambassador to Thailand, Mark Kent, has joined a campaign by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism to tackle tourist scams and will be in Phuket in the new year to discuss the issue with high-ranking Phuket officials. Ambassador Kent is being featured in a nationwide television campaign that will run until the end of December. In the video, Ambassador…
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No formal change in Non-Imm B visas
PHUKET: The Department of Consular Affairs head office in Bangkok, which coordinates policy for issuing visas at all Royal Thai Embassies around the world, has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that there has been no formal change in policy concerning non-immigrant Business (“B”) visas issued in Malaysia. “The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is still issuing multiple-entry, non-imm B…
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International Sports: Aussies snatch victory from jaws of a draw
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – International sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Siddle strikes to spark dramatic Australia win Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Seamers Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc shared six late wickets to give Australia a dramatic 137-run victory over Sri Lanka in the last hour of the fifth and final day of the first…
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Breaking News: Busted penis prompts Phuket fighter to come forward
PHUKET: Speaking exclusively with the Phuket Gazette, MMA fighter Ray Elbe has come forward about the penis injury he suffered in his Kuala Lumpur condo earlier this month.Ray, who founded and for years ran the MMA program at Phuket’s renowned Tiger Muay Thai training camp in Chalong, urged all men who suffer a similar injury to immediately seek treatment.“I came…
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Karon Mayor: Phuket seafood vendors will be charged with beach encroachment
PHUKET: Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham warned Phuket seafood vendors with stalls set up along Kata Beach that they will be charged with beach encroachment.The warning follows raids on beach touts led by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak on November 28 – Loy Krathong.The raids, which included officers from the Muang District Office, Karon Municipality and local police, specifically targeted the…
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Tsunami warning app lands on Phuket shores
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) launched a mobile phone application this month that allows iPhone and Android phone users to receive instant notifications of any tsunami alerts and warnings issued by the center. The “app” was launched on the online Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads on December 11, with an Android version launched on the Android…
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Crane rips roof off Phuket tour van
PHUKET: A retractable crane arm hanging over Patak Road in Chalong ripped the roof off a Phuket tour van full of tourists just after 9am today.The west-bound tour van was about 200 meters from Chalong Circle when it collided with the arm of the crane.The van was not overturned in the accident and at this stage no deaths or serious…
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French tourists in Phuket struck by falling tree
PHUKET: An unlucky pair of French tourists were enjoying a scenic motorbike ride along the road from Patong to Kamala on Saturday when they were struck down by a falling tree.Ruamkatanyu Foundation Phuket workers rushed to the scene after being notified of the accident by Kamala Police at about 4:30pm.“At the scene, we found the man had suffered only slight…
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Brazen youths caught after bag snatch in front of Phuket police
PHUKET: Three teenagers were arrested minutes after they snatched a bag from a Chinese tourist right in front of four Phuket police officers in a patrol pickup truck on Saturday night.“The officers watched as the young men on a motorbike with no license plate approached the woman, Wang Ying, while she was walking by the side of the road with…
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World News: These tragedies must end: US President Obama
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Funerals begin for Newtown victims as schools confront tragedy Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The small Connecticut town shattered by an act President Barack Obama called “unconscionable evil,” held today the first two of 20 funerals for schoolchildren massacred in their classrooms last week. Meanwhile, schools across…
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Explaining UK pension transfers
PHUKET: For the many people who leave the UK each year to live, work and retire in Thailand, or many popular countries across the world, a decision needs to be made as to whether they will keep their private or occupational pension funds in the UK or transfer them overseas. Since April 6, 2006, an individual looking to transfer their…
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Phuket rallies for expat sailor Kevin Ashby
PHUKET: Hundreds of people turned out at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) on Friday night to contribute much-needed money for the life-saving surgery of beloved Phuket expat sailor Kevin Ashby. Kevin, 42, was recently diagnosed with stage three colon cancer, but does not have the health insurance needed to cover the critical surgery. “It was a great event. More…
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Police, officials knew of death threats, alleges Reisz girlfriend
PHUKET: A woman close to Hungarian murder victim Peter Reisz gave her statement to Phuket police, claiming that Samui Police and officials at the Hungarian embassy in Bangkok were aware of death threats being made against Mr Reisz but failed to act appropriately on them. The woman, a Vietnamese national who asked not to be named in fear of compromising…
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Phuket Opinion: Parking management not “The Impossible’
PHUKET: Rising property prices, poor public planning and a dire lack of public transport options have combined to leave Phuket with a lack of public parking in some of its most densely-settled areas.In few places is the problem more acute than in shopping center parking garages. While some are better than others, the traffic nightmare that persists in some, during…
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Family positive in identification of missing American Brett Bean
PHUKET: Based on CCTV footage the family of missing American Brett Bean have identified the man using Brett’s ATM card on November 23 as Brett. “My husband, my daughter and I all thought that the video on the 23rd was Brett. None of us are sure of the other videos. We are actively working on those videos, so that we…
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Child rape case handed over to Phuket Public Prosecutor
PHUKET: The Phuket Public Prosecutor will present charges on December 21 against a man who allegedly raped a 9-year-old girl in Mai Khao on October 7. “This is a grave and serious case. We have no choice but to charge him to the full extent of the law,” Public Prosecutor Atikun Puangprom told the Phuket Gazette yesterday. The lead investigator…
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Phuket labor chief confirms illegal Burmese workers will be deported
PHUKET: Any migrant workers found in Phuket without having completed the nationality verification process will be deported, the chief of the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) has warned. “The deadline for migrant workers to complete the nationality verification process was extended by six months, from June 15 until December 14,” PPEO chief Yaowapa Pibulpol told the Phuket Gazette. “During that…
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Patong Carnival underway today
PHUKET: The island’s premier party town of Patong is set to kick off the tourism high season with its annual carnival, starting today and running to December 20. Organized by the Patong Municipality, the annual festival draws thousands of visitors from all over the world to mark the start of the tourism high season in Phuket, which traditionally runs from…
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Phuket Sports: Andaman Pearl’s home games under threat
PHUKET: Phuket United’s home at the new 4,000-seat futsal arena in Saphan Hin is under threat after Phuket City Municipality has asked that the parquet playing surface be relayed with rubber. The Andaman Pearl’s Saturday game was postponed to Sunday, at Fashion Island in Bangkok, because of issues with the playing surface at Saphan Hin’s futsal stadium, said Samak Rattanadilokna,…
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World News: Egypt to hold referendum; Bloodshed likely: Ahmed Said
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egyptian factions stage final rallies before referendum Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged final rallies today before a divisive referendum on a new constitution championed by the Islamist leader as a way out of the worst crisis since…
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Phang Nga officials implicated in illegal palm plantation
PHUKET: Several high-ranking Phang Nga officials have been implicated in the operation of an illegal 16-rai palm plantation raided by officers yesterday after the site was deemed to be encroaching on protected park land.More than 70 officers cleared 420 palm trees in yesterday’s raid.The offensive targeted a district border area at the tourist-popular Ton Pariwat Wildlife Conservation Area, north of…
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Phuket first-time car buyers overload Excise Office
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Excise Office (PPEO) is calling in extra officers from other departments to help cope with an overload of tax-rebate applications being filed by first-time car owners. The office has processed 9,000 applications for tax rebates since the government campaign to encourage young people to buy cars was launched on September 16 last year, said policy specialist…
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Phuket Sports: Patong CC slay old foe
PHUKET: Patong Cricket Club (PCC) squared off against old foes Island Cricket Club (ICC) in the second game of the Jones Lang LaSalle League last Sunday. Patong Cricket Club emerged victorious after an exciting day of cricket. PCC won the toss and elected to bat, losing their fist wicket in the second over. After a cautious start, opener Mike Khan…
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