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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Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Phuket father of three claims malpractice left wife in coma
PHUKET: A distraught husband has complained to the local media that his wife is now in a coma following complications after a Cesarean-section childbirth operation at a well-known private hospital on the island. Arthit Boonnark, 47, told reporters gathered at Bangkok Hospital Phuket yesterday that his wife, 38-year-old Pariporn Jantarothai, fell into a coma not long after giving birth to…
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Phuket kicks off Songkran with Patong parade
PHUKET: Tourists from all parts of Phuket will be “heading over the hill” this evening to enjoy a special Songkran Parade to mark the arrival of the Thai New Year tomorrow. Featuring entrants representing 28 different groups and organizations, the Patong parade will set off from Phang Muang Sai Kor Road, behind Jungceylon, at 5pm. The parade will head south…
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Phuket raises B12.6mn for Japan, flooded South
PHUKET: The Phuket provincial fund-raising effort for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the flooding in the South totaled nearly 13 million baht. The handover ceremony, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday night, was chaired jointly by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr, Secretary-General to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Among the many…
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Songkran takes to the sky over Phuket
PHUKET: PHUKET is in for a spectacular treat this afternoon and tomorrow (April 13) when the island’s first “Sky High” show occurs over Patong Beach – weather permitting. The highlight of the show will see world renowned stunt pilot Les Vorosmarthy performing breathtaking aerobatcs in his 350 horsepower, Extra 300L stunt plane. Les will be performing spins, stalls, slips, slides,…
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Brit arrested in Phuket coke bust
PHUKET: A 43-year-old British man was arrested for possession of cocaine at his Phuket home earlier today. The man was caught at 4:45am with 33 packages of cocaine weighing 0.9 gram each at a house on Nanai Road in Patong. The arrest followed a police complaint by a Thai woman claiming to be his wife. She told Patong Police he…
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Warehouse gutted in Phuket Town blaze
PHUKET: A warehouse blaze took Phuket firefighters about 30 minutes to extinguish early this morning. Phuket City Police at 2:30am received a report of a fire on Wirat Hongyok Road, a few doors down from the Lotus Express shop. By the time Phuket City and Wichit Municipality firefighters arrived, there was little they could do to save the warehouse, which…
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FC Phuket vs PTT Rayong live on TV tonight
PHUKET: FC Phuket coach Surachai Jirasirichote has expressed confidence that his team can pick up its first road win of the season at PTT Rayong tonight in a football match that will reportedly be televised live on the Internet. Coach Surachai said he thought his players stood a good chance of winning at Rayong because Phuket is well aware of…
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Phuket Bike Week rolls on
PHUKET: The official festivities for Phuket Bike Week 2011 draw to a close in Patong tonight after another full day of big bike fun and games, live music and road trips around the island. At 4pm today, a convoy of riders will leave Loma Park on Patong Beach, the main rallying point and concert venue for Phuket Bike Week this…
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Cambodia outlaws ‘sham’ marriages – is Phuket next?
PHUKET: If you are a non-Khmer male and over the age of 50, or make less than US$2,500 a month – and you’re seeking a bride – roughly five million women of marrying age have now been put off-limits for you. If you’re a Khmer woman, you have, as of this month, effectively been denied the right to freely choose…
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Sick dolphin dies in Phuket
PHUKET: Despite the best efforts of veterinarians, the bottle-nose dolphin rescued off Phuket on Saturday died earlier today. Patcharaporn Kaewmong of the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the Phuket Marine Biological Center confirmed that the two-meter-long cetacean took its last breath at around 3am, following five days of intensive treatment at the facility. An initial examination of the body was…
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Phuket Poll: Is everybody happy?
PHUKET: The results of a recent Abac Poll indicated that people living in Phuket report themselves as the “least happy” among residents of all 77 Thai provinces. Rather than delve into the accuracy of the polling methods or dwell on what they mean, the Phuket Gazette in our latest poll asks our readers directly: On a scale of 1 –…
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Dog snatchers terrorizing Khon Kaen
KHON KAEN: A gang of dog snatchers is stealing pampered pooches in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen, leaving a string of dog owners devastated over the loss of their cherished four-legged friends. The gang, whose reign of terror has lasted two years, is targeting pedigree breeds with placid temperaments, such as golden retrievers, Siberian huskies, chihuahuas, Pomeranians and pugs.…
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Yantai delegation lobbies fruit, tourism trade links
PHUKET: A delegation from Yantai City in Shandong province, China, met Phuket Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen at Provincial Hall today to discuss commercial exchange in fruit, local products and tourism. Huang Yewen, Deputy Director of the China (Yantai) Asia-Pacific World Trade Center, opened the talks by inviting Phuket officials to attend the 12th International Fruit Vegetable Food Exposition to be…
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Phuket Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign announced
PHUKET: The Interior Ministry has set the “target number” of Phuket road accident deaths at two for the upcoming Songkran Festival, during which police will be under orders to strictly enforce provisions in the Alcohol Control Act. San Jantrawong, who heads the Phuket Office of the Departent of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket), said the Interior Ministry’s national Road Safety…
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Phuket student to represent Thailand in international public speaking competition
PHUKET: Former QSI Phuket student Philip Songkran Upton has won the International Public Speaking Competition (Thailand) 2011. He will represent Thailand in the global finals of the competition in London in May this year. Philip was one of four Stamford International University (STIU) students who competed against 14 other students in the semi-final round of the competition on February 25.…
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Phuket Bike Week to rev up economy
PHUKET: Organizers of Phuket Bike Week 2011 believe this year’s event could attract a record 6,000 big bikes to the island, and along with the annual Songkran Festival, inject at least 600 million baht into the economy. Last year’s event was a smaller affair than usual, after the red-shirt protests in Bangkok led so many visitors to stay away. With…
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Phuket’s sick dolphin now comatose, clinging to life
PHUKET: The future appears grim for the sick bottlenose dolphin rescued by marine biologists off Phuket last week. Paralyzed and comatose, the cetacean is now being kept alive by life support measures provided by staff at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). Fourteen staff at the PMBC Marine Endangered Species Unit are currently working around the clock to keep the…
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Phuket Chinese celebrate Qingming
PHUKET: Phuket families of ethnic Chinese descent have been busy this week tending to the graves of their departed ancestors as part of the traditional Qingming Festival. This year’s Qingming festivities will take place at Chinese burial grounds around the island, where believers tidy up and make offerings they believe will bring them prosperity and good fortune, while helping to…
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Taxis blockade Phuket cruise passengers – again
PHUKET: The latest taxi and tuk-tuk blockade at the Phuket Deep Sea Port led to a victory for the drivers, who from today will be given a “50-50 share” of access to disembarking cruise ship passengers. Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat, Phuket City Police chief Chote Chitchai and local Marine Police brokered the agreement at about noon today, four hours after…
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Phuket Rotary clubs hit the streets tonight for Japan relief
PHUKET: All six Rotary Clubs in Phuket will take to the streets of Patong tonight, collecting donations for Japan relief. Rotarians will gather at The Port area in the center of the Jungceylon shopping complex, from where they will set out at 9pm. All are invited to join the collection effort. Participants should be easily identified by their white Rotary…
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Phuket’s Thung Thong Walking Street opens
PHUKET: Kathu Municipality is hosting a street fair until tomorrow evening to boost the local Phuket economy, entertain tourists and showcase the area’s unique local history. The event is taking place on Thung Thong Road, located off Wichit Songkram Road westbound between the entrances to Phuket Country Club and Bang Wad Reservoir. Local food stalls, stage performances, handmade local products…
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FC Phuket v Songkhla FC match postponed
PHUKET: FC Phuket’s mid-week home fixture with Songkhla, originally scheduled for tomorrow night, has been postponed indefinitely by the league – presumably due to the recent flooding. A huge contingent was expected to be on hand for the match, as tens of thousands of Phuket residents hail from Songkhla and a number of their supporters were planning to travel to…
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Phuket YouTube girl “not dead’, but another woman’s body found
PHUKET: Phuket authorities have dismissed as inaccurate a video clip posted on You Tube today showing a woman lying beside a road in Rawai – presented by whomever made the clip as if she were dead. The video clip is labelled “Body of a young girl found in Rawai / Phuket on 4th of April” “The woman certainly was not…
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Burmese laborer dies from fever
PHUKET: The body of a Burmese rubber tapper was recovered from a rubber plantation high above a public water reservoir in Phuket today. The man’s son-in-law, a Burmese who identified himself only as “Mr Pha”, identified the deceased only as “Mr Sorapong”. Mr Sorapong, 45, died at about 11pm on Thursday after a month of fever, coughing and lack of…
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Serial rapist confesses to Phuket Police
PHUKET: A serial rapist who preyed on young female members of the Phuket ethnic Nepali community is behind bars tonight after confessing to multiple charges of sexual assault, robbery and impersonating a policeman. The accused, 30-year-old Phakpoom Maneerat, was presented to the media at a press conference at Patong Police Station at 10:30am. The gravity of the case was evidenced…
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Burmese denied basic human rights in Phuket: poll
PHUKET: A majority of Gazette readers think unregistered migrant workers from Burma are denied basic human rights here in Phuket. Overall, more than half of those taking part (56.5%) answered “yes” to the question: ‘Do you think unregistered migrants workers from Burma are denied basic human rights in Phuket?’ This was more than twice the number who answered “no” (20.4%).…
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Phuket experts treating sick dolphin
PHUKET: Experts at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) are nursing a sick bottlenose dolphin back to health after it was found floating in the polluted shallows of Klong Tha Cheen in Rassada yesterday. The dolphin, fully grown at around two metres long, is being looked after by the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the PMBC, located at Cape Panwa.…
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Phuket Opinion: Phuket moving forward in tsunami preparedness
PHUKET: The earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan last month once again forces us here in Phuket to review our readiness for a potential repeat of the events of December 2004. The death toll from the 9.0-magnitude quake off the coast of Honshu is now approaching 12,000, with more than 16,000 people listed as missing. The entire world empathizes with…
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No landslides in Phuket: Officials
PHUKET: Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat and Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Chief San Jantharawong yesterday dispelled landslide warnings for two areas in the north of Phuket. The two top officials inspected Baan Phru Somparn in Thepkrasattri Subdistrict and Baan Mak Prok in Mai Khao, both in Thalang District, after the government Disaster Relief Committee included the two villages on its…
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Stars join Thai, Japan disaster relief event in Phuket
PHUKET: Guitarist Yuki Masahiko of popular Japanese rock band Lucifer will join a bevy of Thai stars at a “walking street” event on Thalang Road in Phuket Town on April 9 and 10. The event is being held to raise money for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the recent flooding and mudslides in southern…
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