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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Sponsored Moving with family? Here’s how to cut health costs in Thailand
Relocating to Thailand with your family brings exciting new opportunities, but it also comes with the challenge of managing healthcare costs in a new system. Thailand has both public and private healthcare options, each offering different prices and quality of...
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Phuket bank robber escapes with B2.7mn in 60 seconds
PHUKET: An armed man clad in a black jacket and wearing a motorbike helmet robbed the Kasikornbank branch near SuperCheap, just north of Phuket Town this afternoon, making off with 2.7 million baht. The man was recorded by the bank’s CCTV cameras entering the branch on Thepkrasattri Road at about 3pm. Armed with a homemade handgun, the man threatened one…
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Phuket’s 100% helmet campaign rides on
PHUKET: More than 15 people die every month in road accidents in Phuket, most riding a motorbike without a helmet.The news came at a road safety awareness seminar at Phuket Rajabhat University on Monday, headed by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavaviwat.Also present at the seminar were Phuket Provincial Health Office Deputy Director Dr Wiwat Seetamonotch and officers from other…
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World News: WWII bomb closes airport; Storm update; Syrian airforce attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Discovery of WWII bomb forces closure of Japanese airport Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Nearly 100 flights were canceled yesterday after an unexploded bomb believed to be from World War II was found near the runway of a major airport in northeastern Japan, local authorities said. Flights…
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Phuket Business: Rebalancing your stock portfolio
PHUKET: One thing you should do at least once each year as an investor, is re-balance your investment portfolio. I have come across many people who put together a good portfolio, but then, because of not re-balancing, have rode many of their best holdings up and back down. Simultaneously, they are under-invested on holdings that have their best returns many…
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Missing Phuket tourist scare prompts park safety review
PHUKET: Local officials are looking into how to make trekking in Phuket national parks and wildlife reserves safer, following two British tourists losing their way and having to spend the night in the wild at Khao Phra Thaew Wildlife & Forest Reserve. Mohammed Samir El Shimi, 28, and Hanna Zareen, 26, were discovered early this afternoon by a local villager…
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World News: Myanmar’s volatile Rakhine region gripped by fear
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fear, mistrust grip Myanmar’s volatile Rakhine region Reuters / Gazette EditorsPHUKET: As security forces police the edgy aftermath of sectarian bloodshed in western Myanmar, fearful Buddhists and Muslims are arming themselves with homemade weapons, testing the government’s resolve to prevent a new wave of violence.Despite government claims…
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Chinese tourist airlifted to Phuket “recovering well’
PHUKET: The Chinese tourist who was airlifted from Racha Yai Island by a Royal Thai Navy medivac helicopter yesterday after suffering serious heart palpitations is recovering well, staff at Vachira Hospital Phuket reported today.“Mr Li Qi Feng, 39, is conscious and fully responsive, but he is still suffering from chest pains,” said coronary care unit Nurse Maliwan Arthan.Staff at the…
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Live Wire: A 3G auction in a 4G world – part 1
PHUKET: After years of delays, political infighting, legal maneuvering and insider manipulation, the trough finally stabilized long enough for Thailand to complete its auction of “3G” airspace. As I’ve remarked before, Thailand appears to be the last country in the world to officially allocate channels for HSPA (“3G”) signals. North Korea and Zimbabwe, the other two global holdouts, have offered…
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Local finds missing Phuket tourists alive and well
PHUKET: The two tourists who disappeared yesterday while trekking through the Khao Phra Taew Wildlife & Forest Reserve in central Phuket were found alive and well today.British tourists Mohammed Samir El Shimi, 28, and Hanna Zareen 26, were discovered early this afternoon by a local villager named only as “Ms Suphatra” who was walking through the park.Police and park officers…
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Phuket Business: Krabi marina to steam ahead
PHUKET: Two months ahead of Krabi Boat Lagoon’s (KBL) first anniversary, the owners of the Thai Andaman coastal province’s only full-service, full-facility marina, remain optimistic about the region’s tourism, hospitality and boating future. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette at KBL’s 18-year-old brand-parent Phuket Boat Lagoon (PBL), Sriya Yongsakul, the deputy managing director of both marinas, affirmed that all objectives for…
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Breaking News: Search launched for tourists lost in Phuket jungle
PHUKET: A search has been launched for two tourists last seen entering the Khao Phra Taew Wildlife & Forest Reserve, in the heart of Phuket, at about 4pm yesterday.The search has been expanded to included the popular waterfall area and the surrounding jungle.The couple took a taxi to the wildlife park and asked the driver to wait while they entered…
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World News: Mother claims child abduction to get faster police response
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Mother falsely claims child abduction to get faster police response Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: A Maryland mother was arrested and charged after she falsely claimed her three children were abducted, in hopes of obtaining a faster police response to investigate the theft of her car near…
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World News: “Frankenstorm” hits New Jersey; Campaign events cancelled
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Massive storm Sandy crashes ashore in New Jersey PHUKET: Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States, roared ashore with fierce winds and heavy rain earlier this morning (Phuket time) near the gambling resort of Atlantic City, New Jersey, after forcing evacuations, shutting…
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Baby boy’s body found in back of Krabi trash truck
PHUKET: The body of a newborn boy was found wrapped in a plastic garbage bag in the back of a Krabi trash truck this morning. Police believe the baby was discarded by his mother shortly after birth, just hours before the body was found. “The baby seemed to have fully developed organs. It was found along with the placenta,” said…
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Phuket meeting on joint Andaman province tourism initiative promises to share the profits
PHUKET: Woravat Auapinyakul, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, has told the Phuket Gazette that he expects the “Andaman – The World Experience” tourism initiative to attract more than 20 million tourists to the region. At a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Saturday to chart the progress of the tourism initiative, Mr Woravat said that intense competition within the…
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Futsal World Cup: Thailand faces an uphill group stage campaign
PHUKET: With the entire futsal world’s eyes now focusing on Thailand, pressure is mounting for the host country to put on a respectable performance in the World Cup, which kicks off in Bangkok this Thursday. Having failed to progress past the group stage in their three previous World Cup appearances, Thailand face the high probability of history repeating itself. Though…
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Experts say don’t panic over supernova, superior conjunction
PHUKET: Scientists at the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Narit) have dismissed fears of any devastating effects of the Saturn-Sun-Earth constellation alignment, which began on Thursday and is expected to affect the Earth for the next four weeks. “This is a simple phenomenon called a ‘superior conjunction’. It happens every 378 days,” explained Dr Utane Sawangwit, of Narit’s Research…
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First female double World Champion to race at Laguna Phuket’s Ironman
PHUKET: Leanda Cave, the recently-crowned 2012 Ironman and Ironman 70.3 triathlon double World Champion, has confirmed that she will compete in the Ironman 70.3 Laguna Phuket on December 2. Ms Cave of Great Britain, is the first woman, and only the second triathlete, to win both World Championship titles in the same year. She sits atop a stellar line-up of…
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Smooth sailing in Phuket Dinghy Series second race
PHUKET: The second race of the 2012 Phuket Dinghy Series took place this weekend off Bang Tao Beach’s Bliss Beach Club. Organized by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, the event featured 16 Optimists and four Lasers competing for the Act II title, with the boats amassing points in the three-event series. Stunning blue skies and calm seas set the scene…
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Minister denies Phuket “robbed’ of ICEC 2.6bn baht
PHUKET: The Minister Attached to the Prime Minister’s Office has denied claims that the government has “stolen” the 2.6 billion baht sequestered from the now-shelved plan to build a Phuket International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC). In Phuket on Saturday to oversee the preparations for the upcoming three-day Andaman Culture Festival, to be opened by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in…
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U.S. Election campaign heats up in eye of the storm
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney campaigned feverishly in closely contested battleground states yesterday but changed travel plans to avoid Hurricane Sandy, the massive storm approaching the U.S. East Coast. With just 10 days before Election Day and polls showing the national race a dead…
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‘Mentally unstable’ man found dead with knife in neck
PHUKET: A man was found with a knife in his neck after witnesses claimed to have seen him pouring petrol around his rented one-room house and attempting to light it on fire today.Thalang Police duty officer Somkit Kaosung received a report at about 10:30am of a “mentally unstable” man pouring petrol around the house, north of Phuket Town.Arriving at the…
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Power to the Phuket people
PHUKET: The official launch of the Koh Kaew transformer station on Friday marked a much needed power boost, said Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sungkaosuthirak at the opening ceremony.The station opened by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is looking to almost double the megawatts the Phuket power system is currently handling, EGAT director Sutad Pattamasiriwat announced.“The main objective is…
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Phuket Opinion: Forgetting children in island development
PHUKET: This week’s news story of the healthy newborn girl being abandoned by her mother at Thalang Hospital raised again the bleak specter of what the future holds for such children. One comment in the Phuket Gazette online forum rightly pointed out that with most adults on the island focusing on boosting tourism numbers and generating income through any and…
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National anti-drug campaign targets three high-risk Phuket areas
PHUKET: The national anti-drug initiative “X-ray every inch over a 90-day period” will take hold of Phuket starting November 1, Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada announced at Provincial Hall on Thursday.The aims of the project are to get treatment for existing drug addicts, solve family issues associated with drug addiction, and prevent people from becoming criminals to feed their drug habit,…
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Patong gambling den raid fails to come up trumps
PHUKET: Patong Police and about 50 Kathu Territorial Defense volunteers stormed a venue thought to be a “huge” casino in Phuket’s main tourist town only to “go bust” and be forced to leave the premises without a single chip.Acting on information received though the Prime Minister’s Office’s Complaint Center from anonymous local residents, police and Territorial Defense Volunteers descended on…
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Phuket Sports: Futsal World Cup
PHUKET: The War Elephants charge into the Futsal World Cup hoping to restore some pride after the embarrassment of Thailand’s failure to adequately prepare for the event. The sport’s most prestigious tournament starts November 1 with the host nation’s first game against Costa Rica, but it won’t be at the new indoor futsal arena. The center piece 12,000-seat stadium in…
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Phuket Soccer Schools U10s own Patong soccer match
PHUKET: Phuket Soccer School’s (PSS) Academy U10s destroyed Patong Wassaone school 10-1 in a match on Tuesday. A pre-game warm-up and pep-talk fired up the PSS squad, who went on the attack straight from the whistle. Daniel C scored in one of PSS’s first attacks and his goal was followed by a great half-volley from Fard, which left the Wassaone…
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Phuket Sports: F1 – change, crowds and customs
PHUKET: Sebastian Vettel’s victory in the Korean Grand Prix allowed him to take the Drivers’ Championship lead from Fernando Alonso. Vettel now has a six-point lead and is on track for his third consecutive title. Korea was Vettel’s third successive victory and he is the first driver to win four races this season. His teammate Mark Webber was second in…
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Phuket FC Season finale: all or nothing
PHUKET: The Islander’s Head Coach Anurak Srikerd has vowed to fans that he will run nine circles around the main ordination hall of Wat Chalong on Sunday morning if Phuket FC prevail in their final match of the season this evening.He did not say, however, what he would do if the Islanders don’t prevail in the match, a home-fixture to…
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