News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
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Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
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Feelin’ fat like a Phuket expat
PHUKET: Living in Phuket as a Western-born woman could prove dicey for the faint of heart, even more so for those who suffer from the occasional lack of self-confidence. Once you settle into life on the island, it doesn’t take long to tune in to the stark differences in cultural norms, especially when it comes to discussing body weight. Making…
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Braving the Phuket land encroachment backlash
PHUKET: The island should applaud the courage and dedication of Sirinath National Park Chief Kitiphat Taraphiban for continuing the campaign to rid the park of all encroachment – even in the face of recent death threats (story here). The state of many national parks and protected conservation areas is an embarrassment, with many beautiful locations degraded by corruption-fuelled, unregulated development.…
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Beach cleanup D-day set for Phuket, Andaman-coast provinces
PHUKET: Military leaders have launched a beach overhaul project with an August 14 deadline by which all remaining illegal structures must be removed from beaches in Phuket and five other Andaman-coast provinces. Owners who disobey will be fined and face encroachment charges. “We are following an official order handed down from the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO]. We…
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Lao woman with Bt30 million held at border
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Lao woman with Bt30 million held at border The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 42-year-old Laotian was detained in the border province of Mukdahan yesterday for allegedly trying to smuggle Bt30 million in cash out of the country. The woman who was identified only as…
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U.S. air strikes begin as Obama calls to prevent Iraq genocide
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. air strikes begin as Obama calls to prevent Iraq genocide Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: U.S. warplanes bombed Islamist fighters marching on Iraq’s Kurdish capital on Friday after President Barack Obama said Washington must act to prevent “genocide”. Islamic State fighters, who have beheaded and…
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Police to confirm Phuket caddy in fatal motorbike crash
PHUKET: Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward who may be able to confirm what occurred in a fatal motorbike accident this afternoon involving a pick-up truck driven by a 22-year-old man. Sakon Banchongkaeo, 34, was killed in the accident on the Koh Kaew – Nakok road, which is often used as a shortcut from Thepkrasattri Road in Koh…
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Phuket’s Club Med to cough up public land, but will stay
PHUKET: Negotiations between Club Med management and the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO), which owns the land the resort sits on, concluded late this afternoon with the news that the resort will stay. “Club Med has agreed to make three rai available as public land to be used as the local residents see fit, and with that we will renew…
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Landslide fears prompt stop-work order high in the Phuket hills
PHUKET: Work was ordered to stop at a construction site high on the hills overlooking Patong yesterday after it was found to be above the legal limit for building – and amid fears of a landslide smothering the residents below. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak led an inspection of the site – eight rai of land with unobstructed views of…
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New-look Arsenal have the taste for trophies
PHUKET: Having finally treated their long-empty trophy cabinet to some FA Cup silverware last season, Arsenal have splashed the cash ahead of the new Premier League campaign to improve a squad that could now be capable of pushing for loftier titles. Rapid forward Alexis Sanchez, a 35 million pound signing from Barcelona, leads a band of new recruits that also…
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Djokovic falls while Federer pulls great escape
PHUKET: Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga handed world number one Novak Djokovic a 6-2 6-2 third round defeat on Thursday as the Rogers Cup was rocked by upsets. A day of high-drama began under a bright morning sun with South African Kevin Anderson startling third seeded Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (8) 7-5 and ended in the late evening chill with…
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Phuket prison raid turns up box cutters, inmate tests drug positive
PHUKET: Despite an early morning search of Phuket Provincial Prison turning up a slew of contraband items and one inmate testing positive for drugs, the facility’s “White Prison” certification remains intact. “We have come out of many searches like this empty-handed. This is just one during which we found contraband items and only one inmate tested positive for drugs,” said…
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CAS start appeal into Suarez biting ban
PHUKET: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) began its hearing on Friday into Uruguay forward Luis Suarez’s appeal against his ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup match. Suarez, wearing a checked shirt, brushed aside photographers and refused to make any comment as he arrived by taxi at the CAS headquarters in a Lausanne suburb.…
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Katathani Phuket rocks eyed for encroachment
PHUKET: A team of officials descended on Kata Noi Bay late yesterday afternoon to inspect a battery of rocks in front of the Katathani Phuket Beach Resort that were alleged to be encroaching on public beach land. The inspection, led by Suthee Sirianan, the Chief Administrative Officer of Muang District Office, was launched after local villagers filed a complaint through…
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Ruler of the rubber world
PHUKET: It started way back in the 16th century when an explorer saw tribal people in Mexico playing games with balls made out of a soft, bouncy material. It took another couple hundred years before anyone actually sat down and took a long, scientifically inquisitive look at what that material was. And its first practical use came in the form…
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How will markets react to end of stimulus?
PHUKET: The Fed has finally announced a specific month to mark the end of their stimulus program which has been running since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008. In the minutes of their most recent meeting, they have announced their intention to continue scaling back monthly bond purchases, which had run at US$85 billion per month, and to…
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Nepal ends search for landslide survivors, declares 156 dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nepal ends search for landslide survivors, declares 156 dead Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nepal on Wednesday called off a search for survivors and declared 156 people dead after a landslide at the weekend, making it the deadliest to hit the Himalayan nation in three decades.…
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Japanese man sought in surrogacy scam flees
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Japanese man sought in surrogacy scam flees The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A young Japanese man has left Thailand after emerging evidence suggests he might have played a key role in a surrogacy gang. Thailand does not yet have specific laws to control surrogacy. Legislation…
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NCPO eyes lifting martial law
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO eyes lifting martial law The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chief has a plan to lift the martial law soon, Lt-General Kampanart Ruddit, director of the Reconciliation for Reform Centre said yesterday. He added that the NCPO…
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Unauthorised surrogacy practised for years: medical source
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Unauthorised surrogacy practised for years: medical source The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Unauthorised surrogacy procedures have been performed for years at several clinics and hospitals and even medical schools by qualified practitioners, a medical source said yesterday. Through proper channels, the foreign adoptive parents inform…
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Sondhi loses appeal, gets 20 years in prison
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sondhi loses appeal, gets 20 years in prison The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Appeals Court yesterday upheld the primary court’s jail verdict against media tycoon and former yellow-shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul, sentencing him to 20 years in jail for violating the Securities and Exchange…
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Video Report: Phuket FC host Spaniards UD Almeria
Action from last night’s friendly match between Phuket FC and La Liga’s UD Almeria at Surakul Stadium. Video: PGTV PHUKET: Torrential downpours prior to and during the first half of the friendly match between UD Almeria and Phuket FC left the 3000 strong audience wondering if they had perhaps shown up at an international water polo tournament, rather than the…
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Deadly Phuket inferno inspires rethink of firefighting abilities
PHUKET: The deadly fire that claimed four lives, including a family of three, last Saturday has prompted the Phuket City mayor to re-evaluate the city’s firefighting capabilities and find a way to win back city residents’ confidence. Flames engulfed the Chokchai Furniture shop in Phuket Town at about 2am, trapping and killing the Rueanchai family of three and one woman…
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Australia authorities track down Thai surrogate paedophile
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia authorities track down Thai surrogate paedophile The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Australian authorities said Thursday they had finally contacted a man exposed as a convicted paedophile at the centre of a Thai surrogate baby scandal, as his son defended him as a changed man.…
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Illegal Phuket taxi drivers beg military to call off metered-taxi project
PHUKET: About 30 illegal Phuket taxi drivers from Kata-Karon yesterday appealed to the military to call off the launch of a fleet of metered taxis to serve the island’s tourists and residents. The drivers gathered at the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command at Cape Panwa, on Phuket’s east coast, late yesterday afternoon to “seek assistance” from the military in…
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NATO fears Ukraine invasion as Russia masses troops
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NATO fears Ukraine invasion as Russia masses troops Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Russia has massed around 20,000 combat-ready troops on Ukraine’s border and could use the pretext of a humanitarian mission to invade, NATO said on Wednesday, its starkest warning yet that Moscow could soon…
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Skimming: The new frontier for ATM fraud
SPECIAL REPORT BANKS are spending millions of baht upgrading ATMs throughout the country and hope to replace all ATM cards with more secure microchipped versions by the end of next year. The project aims to stem the rising tide of the world’s fastest-growing computer crime: skimming. But what are the best ways to protect yourself – and your money –…
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Honeymoon over as Djokovic works for win
PHUKET: Gale Monfils let Novak Djokovic know his honeymoon was over and it was time to get back to work by forcing the world number one to battle for a 6-2 6-7 (4) 7-6 (2) second round win at the Rogers Cup on Wednesday. Playing his first match as a married man, Djokovic, a three-time winner in Canada, needed two…
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Fear of surrogacy being misused for stem cells
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fear of surrogacy being misused for stem cells The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Following the much-publicised case of the unauthorised surrogacy involving a Thai mother and an Australian couple, a raid by police and soldiers at a Bangkok condominium found nine babies thought to have…
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Phuket Airport to launch “Lady Parking’ as multi-storey car park nears completion
PHUKET: Six parking bays at Phuket International Airport will be set aside for women only as part of the nation’s celebrations to honor the 82nd birthday of HM Queen Sirikit on August 12. The move follows Airports of Thailand (AoT) president Makin Petplai announcing yesterday that “Lady Parking” will be established at six airports in the country to mark the…
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How to survive a plane crash
PHUKET: “I’m flying high over Tupelo, Mississippi, with America’s hottest band, and we’re all about to die”, is one of those great movie lines, in this case from the film Almost Famous. In the end, they didn’t soar straight into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as Lynyrd Skynyrd did, but the scene tapped into the darkest nightmare of…
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