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.
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Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Phuket Brand, Phuket Best Festival 2017 – Starts December 29
FILE PHOTO ‘Phuket Brand, Phuket Best Festival’ starts on December 29 for 11 days until January 8, 2018. It will feature famous food brands and entertainment at Saphan Hin Park. The City of Gastronomy will offer local street food for tourists while also providing food from luxury restaurants and hotels to locals at the same place, reflecting the diverse range…
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WEDNESDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your local news in 3 minutes
PHOTO: That’s a LOT of cash to take over the border. Mum & Dad have a currency exchange business. Really?! Welcome to Wednesday. Here’s our daily 3 minute news read to bring you up to date with some of the major local news stories…. Taking a bit of cash over the border. 89 million baht! Customs officials have discovered more than…
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Australian and Thai arrested over alleged smuggling of huge batch of crystal meth
Police have arrested an Australian man – believed to be a member of the Hells Angels gang in Pattaya – and his Thai female accomplice over an alleged attempt to smuggle a large batch of crystal methamphetamine into Thailand. Assets worth 30 million baht have been seized from the couple, senior police told a press conference in Bangkok on Tuesday.…
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Thailand ranks #1 for road deaths on World Atlas website. Dash-cams proposed as solution.
With Thailand unofficially acknowledged as having the highest fatality rate in road accidents worldwide, road safety advocates and police are backing a proposal that would see as many as 80 per cent of cars equipped with dashboard cameras and carrying “Photo in Car” stickers to discourage violations. Don’t Drive Drunk Foundation secretary-general Dr Taejing Siripanich said Thailand last month ranked…
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The can of worms makes its way to Damrongtham Centre
Sarantip Chaeton, who earlier found worms in a can of fish, has visited the Damrongtham Centre at the Provincial Hall today (December 12) asking for some answers from the manufacturer. Read the original story HERE. She told staff at the Damrongtham Centre that the Office of Consumer Protection Board in Phuket informed her that there would be a staff from…
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Missing Ukranian swimmer turns up – alive and well
Happy ending for our missing Ukranian man. Original story HERE. The missing Ukrainian man, 27 year old Mykhailo Ryboichuk who went missing on December 10 has been found safe today (December 12). It ends up that he was just going for a swim, got out of the water when he had finished, didn’t tell others that he’d returned and went…
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Amphetamine crackdown in Krabi worth 10 million baht
This morning (December 12), Krabi police arrested 28 year old Jirasak Wongsa-Ad and 22 year old Apinan Matboonnoi at a house in Ao Luek district with 48,000 amphetamine pills. The 48,000 amphetamine pills were found wrapped in white plastic buckets and buried near a banana tree in the backyard of the house. Police also seized other items at the house,…
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There’s room for three boat shows in Thailand, but not like it is now…
PHOTO: Marine Scene Asia Opinion by Paul Poole An article in the Phuket Gazette on 30 November 2017 welcomed the annual boat show season in Thailand. It raises the question, “is there room for three boat shows each year?” Original story HERE. The question is worth considering as boat show season kicks off for 2017/2018, with a steady stream of…
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TUESDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your local news in 3 minutes
Welcome to your Tuesday in Phuket. Another excellent day on the way with only a 10% chance of rain later on. The forecast says ‘Mostly sunny’. Back to work and school following your day off (if you were lucky enough to have a long weekend). Here’s today’s main headlines… Change.org calls for General Prawit to step down An online campaign…
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New Phuket bus schedule App
The Phuket Land Transport Office is launching a new application called “Bus Beam” connecting people with public transportations, gathering all the schedules for bus services around Phuket. There are 6 bus operators who have joined the application so far. The Deputy Director General of Land Transport Department, Cherdchai Sanansrisakorn along with Phuket’s Vice Governor, Prakob Wongmaneerung, chaired the opening ceremony…
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Tourist disappears after swimming off Patong Beach
A 27 year old Ukrainian tourist disappeared after swimming off Patong Beach last evening (December 10). A team of Patong lifeguards along with the Kulsoldham Phuket Foundation volunteers combed the beach area following a report that a tourist had gone missing at about 6.30pm (sunset last night was at 6.09pm). A boat driver, who is a witness, says that he…
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Worms found in famous local canned fish tin
Phuket woman Sarantip Chaeton found worms in a tin of canned fish. Her post on social media has become viral with more than 124,544 shares. She revealed on December 9 that she bought the canned fish on December 8. Her sister bought three cans which all mention an expiry date of October 16, 2020, with the manufacturing date being October…
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Surprise proposal at Phukethon
The mini-marathon runner at yesterday’s Phukethon, Pakornkij Kanchanaroj, made a surprise proposal to his girlfriend, Nannapat Saepua, after finishing the run together. The groom has revealed that the couple are from Nakhon Si Thammarat. He is a power plant engineer and his future wife is a social work officer and they have been together for 9 years. The two families…
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Skull of the anonymous corpse found in Thalang drain, found.
Following the case early yesterday where a man’s body was found without its head in Thalang (story HERE), police have discovered his skull in a watercourse in Baan Lipon, Thalang (December 10) after a three hour search. After finding the body, police conducted a survey by walking along the watercourse at 9 am Sunday from the scene backwards to Lan…
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MONDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your local news in 3 minutes
PHOTO: Kata Rocks winds up their 2017 Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous. Enjoy your public holiday today, if you’re lucky enough to have it off. It’s Constitution Day. A beautiful sunny day ahead with just a few clouds. Should be the same for the next three days too. Here’s today’s main news stories…. “I borrowed the watch from a friend” Deputy…
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Bitcoin cracked $1,000 on the first day of 2017. Then…
The ‘B” isn’t for Baht, it’s Bitcoin. An idiot’s guide to Bitcoin and one American reporter’s dabble in the new world of cryptocurrency. By this week Bitcoin cracked US$12,000. But that was just the start. The price topped US$17,000 on some exchanges on Thursday – US$18,000 on at least one. If we quoted a price here, by the time you…
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Thalang & Chalong drug arrests
Thalang police arrested two Phuket men with 4,000 methamphetamine pills whilst Chalong police were busy arresting a man from Surat Thani with 3,474 methamphetamine pills along with 109 grams of crystal methamphetamine. The two cases have an estimated street value in excess of 2 million baht. On December 8, Thalang police arrested 24 year old Jirapat Samranrat and 24 year…
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Headless corpse found in a Thalang drain
Thalang police received a report about a dead body found in a drain on Thepkasattri Road in Thalang heading towards Phuket Town last night (December 9). At the scene, police found a large crowd crowded around a drain with a strong smell coming from it. After opening it up, police found a decayed male body without his head. The man…
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SUNDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your local news in 3 minutes
Sunday, Sunday. The Phukethon has been run and won, the Phuket King’s Cup wraps today and the Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous has their big closing party tonight for the mega-yachts visiting the island. Even though districts around Phuket are suffering severe flooding, including just north in Phang Nga, Phuket is waking up to a fine day ahead with only a…
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Autopsy confirms cadet killed by physical assault
The Central Institute of Forensic Science has found that a cadet of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School [AFAPS] was killed by a physical assault. Phakhapong “Meay” Tanyakan, a first-year student of the AFAPS, died on October 17. The school and Phra Mongkutklao Hospital stated in his initial death certificate, and in the hospital autopsy report, that he died of…
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Blade Runner. Cool tech gives Cola new legs.
After a first set of prosthetics, Cola now has new ‘bouncy’ blades to run on. Cola the two-legged dog has scored an Asian first – he’s the first dog in the world to be fitted with blades of the kind used by Paralympic sprinters. And he took to his new legs like a champion, racing up and down the beach…
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How much would you pay to get your dog groomed? 2800 baht?!
The husky seems to be the only one with a smile on his face. A Facebook Live post by a 32 year old Chachoengsao man complaining about “Thailand’s most expensive dog bathing fee of 2,800 baht” for his Siberian Husky has become a hot topic attracting more than 10,000 comments, nearly 400,000 views and 5,000 shares in 10 hours after…
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SATURDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
Saturday – Ahh, the weekend. Many things happening around the island. Tonight you have another Boat Lagoon Weekend night of music, crafts, food, entertainment and chilling. Starts at 6pm. Also the Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous on today as the fleet makes its way from Kata Rocks to The Surin for a beach party – you’ll see some magnificent vessels making…
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DAY FOUR – Phuket King’s Cup. Wind softens but competition heats up.
It’s been a week of consistently excellent winds (and gusts which peaked at 25 knots at times), but lighter conditions appeared for Day Four. This had the potential to alter standings heading into today, as well as tomorrow’s final race. Today also marked the conclusion of a great week of racing across all of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Dinghy…
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Better training. Better lifeguards. Two day training course completed at Patong.
Two days training for hotel staff, tour operators and budding beach lifeguards has been completed at Patong Beach. 98 people attended the two day training course. There’s also the Phuket Life Saving Championships 2017 at Lama Park on Patong Beach this Sunday, December 10. The competition will include iron-man beach sprints, board relay, a surf race, board rescue events and…
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THAIGER TODAY Friday, December 8
Prawit’s been given 30 days to ‘please explain’ | Flood crisis in Nakhon Si Thammarat | Last night’s island downpour | Australian couple in hospital with mounting bills following bike accident | 50,000 SIM cards seized on the Cambodian border.
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FRIDAY NEWS BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
PHOTO: A Province-wide drama unfolding in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Patong wakes up this morning to start mopping up the heavy flood waters from last night. Heavy rain pelted Phuket’s party town, and other parts of the island, from around 10pm for four hours. Yesterday morning Patong also had heavy floods leading to two electricity poles along the Patong – Karon…
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NLA visits Rawai sea gypsy village to check on environmental issues
The First Vice Presidnet of National Legislative Assembly of Thailand (NLA) and his team visited the Rawai sea gypsy village yesterday (December 6) following a complaint about a retention wall near the beach and natural waterway issues. Prior to the visit the team attended a meeting with Phuket authorities including the Phuket Governor, Phuket Land Office Chief, representative of Muang…
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PHUKET KING’S CUP – Day Three report. Lay day today.
Perfect breezes at 12-15 knots on top of two whole days of strong wind had the swells riding higher today, and conditions that were way more “Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Kevin Whitcraft’s THA72 crew has a very credible early claim on regatta glory, as does Team Kata Rocks (Peter Dyer’s Madam Butterfly) in IRC2. Premier Class, IRC1, the one-design Pulse 600…
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, December 7
Two fallen electrical poles cause traffic disruption this morning | Severe flooding in Nakhon Si Thammarat | No 3-Star Michelin restaurants in BKK | NACC chasing an explanation from Prawit | Phramongkutklao Hospital bomber sent to jail.
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