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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Thailand is a popular destination known for its dynamic culture, stunning beaches, and bustling cities however, travellers can face unexpected travel emergencies that include medical issues, road accidents, petty theft, and natural disasters. To ensure a safe and enjoyable trip,...
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Elephant “sees red’ during blood test, rams into pick-up
PHUKET: Visitors and officers watched in horror yesterday as an elephant became agitated during a blood test at a camp in the Nakkerd Hill, damaging a pick-up truck parked nearby. The 15-year-old elephant, named ‘Plai Kong Thong’ was undergoing a general health and DNA check by officers from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), who are…
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Mother, son among four arrested in Phuket krathom bust
PHUKET: About 50 kilograms of krathom were seized and four suspects arrested following raids on four houses in Talad Yai yesterday afternoon. A joint task force comprising Army 41, Navy 3 and Phuket City Police officers raided the houses in the Sapan Ruam community on Anupas Phuket Karn Road, after neighbors complained of krathom dealing taking place there. “At the…
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Tiger Temple’s left over animals to be relocated
KANCHANABURI: Parks officials mobilized staff from the Protected Areas Regional Office 3 to catch protected and endangered animals left at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi Province yesterday. The animals were left over from the last raid at the controversial temple mid last year (story here), and will be moved to other wildlife breeding operations in nearby provinces for better care.…
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Phuket police hunt for Rawai burglary suspect
PHUKET: Police are hunting for a burglar who broke into a British man’s rental house in Rawai on Tuesday. Steven Denkhag, 47, filed a complaint with Chalong Police that his belongings, 3,000 baht in cash, and several ATM cards had been stolen from his house. One of Mr Senkhag’s friends, a Facebook user named Onlyyou Formemylove, shared CCTV footage of…
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Man found dead in water tank
PHUKET: The body of an Indonesian crew member was found in a ship’s water tank yesterday morning. The ship, named Fuh Cih Fu no 68, was moored off Koh Tapao Noi in Wichit. Although the body was initially discovered by a crew member on the vessel the day before, it was not reported until about 9am yesterday, according to Maj…
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Manhunt for Phuket hit and run killer is underway
PHUKET: The search is on for a driver involved in the hit and run killing of an elderly man in Thalang yesterday. Capt Chatree Chuwichian of Thalang Police received a report of a man who was crossing the street and got hit by a pickup truck about 6am. “Witnesses claimed that a pickup truck crashed into Sangop Sookkaew, 78, and…
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Czech tourist sex-offender fined B1,000 in Phuket
PHUKET: A Czech Interpol fugitive, arrested on Tuesday for allegedly spreading HIV in both Thailand and his home country, has been fined 1,000 baht (approx US$ 35.00) by a Phuket Court for overstaying his visa by close to a year and a half. Zdenek Pfeifer, 49, was arrested at his home in Cherng Talay, where a joint task force of…
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Interpol wanted Czech pedophile arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Royal Thai Police last night arrested a Czech Interpol fugitive wanted for allegedly spreading HIV in both Thailand and his home country. Zdenek Pfeifer, 49, was arrested at the Sila apartments in Cherng Talay. He was initially charged with overstaying his visa, but will now be taken to Bangkok for processing of charges filed against him. Mr Pfeifer has…
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Minor caught shoplifting at Supercheap store
PHUKET: A Phang Nga girl was arrested early this morning in Phuket after she was caught shoplifting from a Supercheap store near the Heroines’ Monument. Capt Suporn Muangkairong of Thalang Police received the report about 4am. “Staff told us that she had entered the store with a bag, but they paid no heed to it. However, the door alarms started…
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Phuket cops dress as postmen to nab B500K worth of drugs
PHUKET: A suspected dealer was busted with drugs worth about half a million baht by undercover police officers in Phuket Town on Sunday. A tip from another dealer, who had surrendered himself on Saturday, led Phuket City Police officials to the post office behind Provincial Hall. “The dealer told us that a man named Korapat Thipasak, 33, would come to…
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Lifeguard chief says budget cut will not impact service quality
PHUKET: The quality and number of lifeguards in Phuket will remain unaffected in the new contract despite a 10 percent cut in the budget, the president of the Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) told the Phuket Gazette today. Public concern about the budget cut for Phuket’s lifeguards has been voiced by both the local and international communities here, with the California-based…
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Another taxi driver kills another motorcyclist in Phuket
PHUKET: A motorcyclist was killed late last night in a head-on collision with a taxi in Cherng Talay. Lt Col Rassada Kluengwong of Cherng Talay Police received reports of the incident at about 1:50am. “We arrived to find the body of 43-year-old Sarayuth Duangjan lying face down on the asphalt in the middle of the road,” said Col Rassada. “Rescue…
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Phuket officials request hotels, vendors to curb flow of wastewater
PHUKET: Cherng Talay officials have asked hotels and vendors to stop the discharge of wastewater onto Surin Beach. The request was issued after locals voiced concern on Sunday over stinking, trash-bearing wastewater flowing from a large sewage pipe near the beach. “We have had this problem for at least a year now, but now it has worsened terribly,” complains a…
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Finance: Next phase of tech revolution may be here
PHUKET: While many have been focused on Brexit, problems in Europe, the Middle East and the US elections, a technology revolution has quietly marched toward its most important phase, that is not being recognized by the mainstream media (which is focused on making predictions about where the market will go in 2017). The tech revolution is alive and well and…
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Man killed in bike crash at Bang Wad dam
PHUKET: A 37-year-old man was killed in a bike crash at Bang Wad dam near Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority last night. Kathu Police officers and rescue workers arrived at the scene about 10:30pm to find the body of the victim, named Teerayut KittiKhun, lying on the road with his bike thrown to the side. “Rescue workers administered CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation],…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Burning in Thai Hell
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Routine bus inspection yields four drug, alcohol-related arrests
PHUKET: A routine inspection of a passenger bus resulted in four seemingly unrelated arrests at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint yesterday. A passenger, back-up driver and bus attendant were apprehended for possession of drugs, whereas the bus driver was arrested for drunk driving and driving with an expired licence. “The bus was headed from Nong Khai to Phuket. We stopped it…
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Royal Thai Air Force pilot killed in Children’s Day airshow crash
SONGKHLA: A fighter jet pilot was killed in a fiery crash during a Children’s Day airshow in Hat Yai, Songkhla this morning. The pilot, Squadron Leader Dilokrit Phattawee, was flying a Gripen 39c at Wing 56, Air Division 4 airbase, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) announced in their official statement. RTAF spokesman Pongsak Semachai said a committee would be…
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British couple say they were ‘raped and robbed’ in Phuket
PHUKET: A British couple have alleged that they were robbed and raped while visiting Phuket during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The couple, who were named by Belfast Live as Gerald Drumgoole and Michael Burnett, said they were attacked and robbed of 400 pounds and their iPhones after their drinks were spiked at a Phuket bar on New Year’s…
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Phuket prepares to celebrate Children’s Day 2017
PHUKET: Prepare for the hustle and bustle of a day full of entertainment and fun activities as Phuket celebrates Children’s Day tomorrow. The first Children’s Day in Thailand was held in 1956, and since then government leaders have annually branded the event with a slogan. Celebrated on the second Saturday of every year, the slogan created by Prime Minister Gen…
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Construction company ‘warned’ for discharging wastewater
PHUKET: A building contractor, KMIT Construction, was let off with a warning for discharging murky brown rainwater onto Tri Trang Beach today. Patong Municipality officials went on site to investigate the source of the brown water flowing directly onto the beach, following complaints regarding the issue by concerned local residents who may have thought it was bio-contaminated. The locals told…
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Indian, Pakistani expats unite for flood donation drive
PHUKET: The Indian and Pakistani expat communities on the island have joined hands to help flood victims in the south of Thailand. Since Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan’s announcement of a flood donation drive last Friday (story here), locals and expats have organized their own efforts to help the more than one million people so far impacted by the deluge. Firoz…
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Audits, vendor registration among proposed beach management rules
PHUKET: Following the Royal Thai Navy’s ruling declaring raised beds of sand at Patong Beach ‘illegal’, local officials emphasized beach management rules and mulled new measures at Phuket City Hall yesterday afternoon. The meeting was chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Sanit Sriwihok and other officials in attendance included Kathu District Chief Sayan Chanachaiwong, Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsub, police and army…
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Arrest warrants issued for university students in police scandal
BANGKOK: Dozens of medical and engineering university students now face arrest warrants for their alleged roles in cheating during police officer entrance exams last month at the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB). Criminal arrest warrants were issued today for about 51 university students and a Bangkok city regulation enforcement officer, after MPB Training Centre Chief Colonel Uthen Nuiphin filed cheating complaints…
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Phuket’s serial top-up machine thieves caught red-handed
PHUKET: Two cellphone top-up machine thieves were charged in Thalang yesterday after they confessed to committing the act at least six times in order to obtain money to buy the locally illicit drug krathom. A 22-year-old suspect named by police as Attaphol Panyasak, accompanied by a minor, were seen stealing the machines on CCTV. “We had received reports over the…
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Escaped prisoner prompts jail security upgrade request
PHANG NGA: Phang Nga Police officials are planning to request the Royal Thai Police to improve the standard of nationwide prison locks after a prisoner used a three-inch metal wire to escape from Takuapa Police Station on Tuesday. The runaway prisoner, named Panom Sirikul, 36, was recaptured yesterday, following which police made him demonstrate the lock-picking technique that reportedly took…
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Leaky Phuket domestic terminal pictures go viral
PHUKET: Pictures of plastic buckets put in place to collect water leaking from the roof of Phuket International Airport were posted on social media yesterday. A Facebook page titled Siang Prachachon Khon Phuket (The Voice of Phuket Citizens) shared a post with the caption: “This is the condition of the walkway at Phuket International Airport. There are holes in the…
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Chinese national dead in Phuket after motorbike crash
PHUKET: One man died while another was injured following a motorbike crash in Karon early this morning. Two Chinese nationals, named Yang Dong, 36, and Hengquan Zhang, 22, were found lying on the ground in pools of blood at the Karon beachfront near the ‘Beyond Resort’ hotel at about 2am. “By the time the ambulance arrived, Mr Dong had already…
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Koh Racha receives new buoys, artificial coral
PHUKET: Fifteen new buoys and sets of artificial coral were installed at Koh Racha yesterday, following the allocation and approval of a 300,000 baht budget for environmental preservation by the Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Department (DMCR). In recent weeks, Koh Racha has seen a spate of environmental issues, including coral damage (story here), fish feeding and coral theft by…
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Phuket donates by the truck-load
PHUKET: Both private and government sectors have stepped up to generously donate daily items of use for flood victims in the south of Thailand. Most of the southern provinces have been adversely affected by floods following incessant rains last week, after which Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan launched a donation drive (story here). On Monday, Phuket Provincial Police loaded two ten-wheelers…
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