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.
-
Sponsored Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
-
Comatose French tourist dies from motorbike crash injuries
PHUKET: French tourist Jerome Sebastien Heras, 35, who was left comatose by a motorbike accident in Karon on September 3, died of his injuries early yesterday morning. Medical staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital told the Phuket Gazette that Mr Heras was unconscious when he was brought to the hospital, and remained so. “Mr Heras remained in critical condition as his…
-
Phuket Labor welfare chief warns against minimum wage cheats
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Provincial Labor Protection and Welfare Office has warned employers that his office is inspecting businesses across the island and is prepared to take legal action against any firms found paying less than the 300 baht a day minimum wage. Phuket Labor Welfare chief Kittipong Laonipon explained to the Gazette that his concerns about minimum…
-
World News: US Ambassador Stevens killed in attack by protestors
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Libyan officials: U.S. Ambassador Stevens killed in attack on consulate Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Protesters angry about an online video considered offensive to Islam attacked U.S. diplomatic compounds in Libya and Egypt, killing U.S. Ambassador John Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, Libyan officials said today.Libyan…
-
“I believe my decision has the interests of British athletics…
“I believe my decision has the interests of British athletics at its heart in sustaining this culture.” PHUKET: Dutchman Charles van Commenee is to stand down as UK Athletics head coach, citing a poor medal haul during the Olympics as the reason. Before the games, he said he would step down if the team did not achieve his target of…
-
Thailand News: RKK declare cease-fire in Deep South
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Talks with separatists in South a success: Prayuth Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: One hundred suspected insurgents led by a man allegedly involved in the 2004 military camp raid yesterday met the Fourth Army region commander in Narathiwat to declare they would cease fighting in…
-
Rawai rides for Phuket road safety
PHUKET: Local government in Phuket is continuing its battle to reduce the number of motorbike accident fatalities and serious injuries that frequently occur to children of school age.Yesterday, it was the turn of Rawai Municipality to take up the fight at Muang Phuket School on Wisit Road in Rawai.Phuket Democrat MP Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr presided over the opening ceremony of…
-
World News: Apple device IDs stolen – rumors of FBI involvement denied
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Apple device IDs stolen from Florida-based digital publishing firm Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Identification numbers for more than one million Apple products that were posted online by hackers last week had been stolen from a Florida-based digital publishing firm, not from the laptop of an FBI…
-
Phuket blood bank calls for A-, O- donors
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) is calling for donations of Rhesus-negative (Rh-) blood types to bolster stocks that are now critically low. “We have only one unit of ‘A negative’ and one of ‘O negative’ blood,” PRBC Director Pornthip Rattajak told the Phuket Gazette. She explained that Rh-negative blood types are far more common among Caucasians than Asians.…
-
On-board CCTV snaps Phi Phi “iPirates’ stealing tourist laptop
PHUKET: Two ferry crewmen were arrested and charged yesterday after CCTV evidence showed the pair stealing a laptop computer from a tourist travelling on their boat. The victim, 31-year-old Australian national Evan Russell Darnley-Pentes, was returning with a friend from Phi Phi Island on Sunday when the theft occurred. However, it was only after his return to Rassada Pier that…
-
World News: Deputy al-Qaeda leader killed in Yemen, US drone suspected used
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yemeni forces kill deputy regional head of al-Qaeda Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Saudi national Said al-Shihri, who was previously released from Guantanamo Bay and later became the deputy commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has been killed by Yemeni troops during a military…
-
Road safety campaign to slash Phuket death toll to 50 per year
PHUKET: Officials are moving ahead with a campaign to reduce the number of deaths on Phuket’s roads to just 50 per year within the next three years. Last year, 116 died in road accidents in Phuket. The move is part of a nationwide campaign to reduce the road accident death toll in conjunction with the United Nations’ “Decade of Action…
-
“I don’t know how I came through in the end…”
“I don’t know how I came through in the end, I just managed to get through.” PHUKET: Andy Murray has won his first Grand Slam final at the fifth time of asking. Murray defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in four hours 54 minutes to win the US Open and in doing so ended Britain’s 76-year wait…
-
Phuket Sports: ASC’s final ride at Quiksilver Open Phuket
PHUKET: The Quiksilver Open surf contest is back in town with surfers streaming in from all over the world. Patong Beach, the most popular in Phuket, will host professional surfers from all over Asia, from Wednesday to Sunday. This year’s tournament has been upgraded to a 6-Star, dual-sanctioned competition and Asian surfers are expected to turn out in force. They…
-
New B153mn indoor sports center opens in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Sports fans and spectators packed the 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex at Saphan Hin to the rafters on Saturday for the new venue’s official opening ceremony. Built on 207 rai at a cost of about 153 million baht, the center was first used for the 28th National Youth Games, dubbed the “Phuket Games”, held on the island earlier this year.…
-
Central Festival Phuket set to expand to east, not south
PHUKET: The rumor that Central Festival Phuket is intending to expand onto 30 rai of land that is currently home to the Thainaan Restaurant on Wichit Songkhram Road has been dismissed by a company spokesman.Speaking to the Phuket Gazette, Lertwit Bhumipitak, the business development Deputy Managing Director for Central Retail Cooperation Co Ltd, said that the company had no plans…
-
Phuket Food Festival goes “booze-free’, but lays on the entertainment
PHUKET: For the first time in its 15-year history, the annual Phuket Good Taste Food Festival at Saphan Hin in Phuket Town this year will be held specifically without any alcohol for sale and with no plastic food containers. Announcing the news on Saturday, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana said that about 100 booths selling food will be at this…
-
Phuket Live Wire: A galaxy of pads, a clamour of nooks and an army of androids
PHUKET: Welcome to the third of four installments in my ongoing series about where the computer industry is headed as we barrel along to the Christmas season. If you are thinking about buying any new electronics – computer, tablet, phone, maybe even a TV – it would be worthwhile to stay on top of developments between now and Christmas. Some…
-
Death of German woman ‘natural’, say Phuket Police
PHUKET: Police do not suspect foul play in the death of a foreign woman found dead in her Phuket villa yesterday morning. Cherng Talay Police inspector Sarubadee Butranongsaeng told the Phuket Gazette that the woman was found dead by her husband at her home in Baan Layan. He named the deceased as German national Maria Makeenta, as identified by her…
-
Phuket Business: Taking care of your parents
PHUKET: No, the title of this article isn’t a joke. Obviously, there is a big difference in cultural attitudes toward what responsibilities people have when it comes to family. There is no need to discuss this at length. Generally speaking, most Westerners are not under the same pressure to look after their aging family members as most Thais are. But…
-
Islanders shot down by Airforce United
PHUKET: The Islanders, reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of defender Wuttipong Sittitanyakit, conceded two back-to-back goals in the final minutes of a 3-0 away loss on Saturday evening against Airforce United. The late afternoon match, both sides’ 26th fixture of the season, was played under clear blue skies at North Bangkok University’s Rangsit campus stadium in Rangsit, just…
-
Phuket’s first underpass to spur new traffic woes
PHUKET: Motorists have been warned to expect major delays when construction begins next month on a 599-million-baht underpass at the Darasamuth Junction, on the bypass road near the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall. Chavalert Lertchavanakul, Project Manager at the Department of Highways’ Bureau of Bridge Construction in Bangkok, broke the news at a meeting in Phuket to finalize areas of…
-
Phuket Opinion: Time to roll on traffic law enforcement
PHUKET: Any serious effort to improve road safety in Phuket will need a major shift away from the existing “police checkpoint” method of enforcing traffic law and instead move towards catching violators in the act. Results of a recent Phuket Gazette online poll revealed that three-quarters of those taking part had never been fined for a moving violation of traffic…
-
Phuket park raids prompt villagers’ plea to keep road, power supply
PHUKET: A community of farmers living on a road leading into Sirinath Marine National Park, on Phuket’s west coast, have appealed for the road and power supply to their village not be cut off following a police complaint being filed against a nearby villa project for encroaching on national park land. In making the plea, Jaroon Boonchu presented to Sirinath…
-
Chalong seeks B300mn for Phuket flood prevention
PHUKET: The Chalong Municipality has requested 300 million baht in funding from the Royal Irrigation Department for a permanent flood-prevention system after last month’s floods again highlighted the issue of flash flooding in Phuket. The project proposes the construction of retaining walls along all canals in the Chalong area to prevent debris and soil from clogging and disrupting the water…
-
Phuket Sports NFL kicks off
PHUKET: Super Bowl Champs the NY Giants hosted the Cowboys on Wednesday night to kick off the 2012 NFL regular season. These two teams clashed last year during the final game of the 2011 regular season, which decided the winner of the NFC East. New York went on to win that game and gain a wild card birth, which paved…
-
Phuket Sports: Rory continues to roar; Golf tip
PHUKET: This week marked the second of golf’s FedEx playoffs, with the PGA’s Deutsche Bank Open at the Tournament Players Club, Boston. The parkland golf course with narrow curving fairways requires more precision than power off the tees and tests players accuracy and short games more than their all out power games. Only 100 players from the FedEx points list…
-
Phuket Sports: Italian Grand Prix preview
PHUKET: In my last article I said I thought Hamilton would be a very strong contender at Spa together with Räikkönen, Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button. I said it looked hard for Ferrari and Red Bull to shine, but also said “Who knows“? In the event Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were shunted off the…
-
B100bn up for grabs: Krabi told to prepare for AEC 2015
PHUKET: With 100 billion baht (US$ 3 billion) requested by government agencies for Thailand’s preparation for the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, private and government organizations in Krabi were called on yesterday by the Asean Secretary-General to step up their efforts in order to establish a “central role” in the Andaman. “Krabi will have an advantage over several other…
-
Wives bet in deadly drunken takraw match
PHUKET: A drunken takraw match, the renowned game of “foot volleyball” using a rattan ball, got out of hand in Rayong early last month after construction workers bet their own wives as collateral during the game. When a fight broke out and one member of the group pulled out a gun, the weapon went off, hitting a 27-year-old woman in…
-
Phuket gets ready for tourism boom with “Big Cleaning Day’
PHUKET: The three district offices covering the entire island staged cleanups at public areas across Phuket yesterday as part of the “Big Cleaning Day” initiative. More than 500 people, including government officers, staff from private businesses as well as local students and residents, gathered at Saphan Hin Park in Phuket Town, where the Muang District Office held its activity under…
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.