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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Sponsored 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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Phuket Police raid cockfight
PHUKET: Police broke up a cockfighting match near a rubber plantation in central Phuket yesterday, arresting 16 men and confiscating two roosters and 220 baht found at the scene. The number of men attending the matches had grown steadily over the past few weeks, causing local residents to complain to police, who sent an undercover agent to discover the time…
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Phuket blood bank launches March mobile donation drive
PHUKET: The Phuket Chapter of the Red Cross Society has announced its schedule of mobile donation clinics for the month of March. The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners, is low on stocks of blood type A. “We need to maintain a daily minimum stock of 200 units of A,…
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Phuket Charity Event Sets Record
PHUKET: The Phuket Family & Gourmet Festival, held at Royal Phuket Marina on January 26, raised a whopping one million baht for children’s charities, it was announced this morning by the Bangkok-based food wholesaler Jagota Brothers, the creator and driving force behind the event. The record-breaking sum for a single-event fundraising effort on the island followed a cash donation of…
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Southern Resurgence: Drug cocktail 8×100 makes a comeback
PHUKET: The police crackdown on the indigenous plant kratom, a mild narcotic, is taking its toll, with youngsters now reportedly turning to longkong leaves in order to make a new version of the long-known drug cocktail “4×100”. The new recipe using longkong leaves even sports a new, improved nickname: “8×100”. “Kratom leaves are the main ingredient of the original “4×100″…
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Breaking News: Democrats win Bangkok election, Yingluck concedes defeat
PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has conceded defeat in the election today for Bangkok Governor, handing the election win over to Democrat candidate Sukhamband Parabitra.PM Yingluck publicly announced the defeat at 6:15pm after the ongoing count of votes at the polls showed that Sukhamband had amassed more than a million votes while leading Pheu Thai rival Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen…
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Under Investigation: Phuket villagers foraging for turtle eggs
PHUKET: The safety of turtle eggs in a protected nesting ground at the northern tip of Phuket is under investigation by the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation. The Phuket Gazette contacted the foundation after a reader reported seeing turtle tracks and people probing for eggs in the area between Maikhao Dream Villa Resort and Spa and Maikhao Beach Bungalows (map…
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World Sports: Review of Six Nations
PHUKET: Before the Six Nations began the pundits were, as usual, making their predictions about the destiny of the championship. After their stunning autumn victory over Australia, France was strongly fancied to win “Le Grand Slam”. Wales, despite being current Six Nations champions, had lost seven games on the bounce and seemed to be out of contention. Ireland, so strong…
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Pharmacy raid nets 24 youths in cough syrup blitz
PHUKET: A raid on a Phuket Town pharmacy early yesterday evening turned into a bumper haul for officers as they arrested a procession of youngsters turning up to buy cough syrup specifically to make the local drug cocktail “4×100”. Following an order by Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanukul, the 15 officers arrived at the Pharma Sure drug store on Si…
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Phuket Sports: Southern Sea Warriors reinforced ahead of season start
PHUKET: In their first fixture, Phuket FC, taking on the new nickname this year as the “Southern Sea Warriors” are set to play Big Bang Chula United (BBCU), a team relegated last year from the TPL. The match will kick off today at 6pm at the Army Stadium in Bangkok, BBCU’s home pitch. The Southern Sea Warriors’ first home match…
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DNP outlines conservation issues to be presented to CITES
PHUKET: In town yesterday for the investigation into encroachment on Phuket’s Sirinath National Park (story here), Manopat Huamuangkaew, the director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP), took time to hand out pro-conservation pamphlets to tourists at Phuket International Airport. The pamphlets also advertise the 16th annual Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Boas bounce back; Benitez’s plea; Giggs signs – again
Spurs driven by last season’s stumble, says Villas-Boas Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: One year after his axing by Chelsea left a dent in his ego, Andre Villas-Boas finds his reputation soaring again as high-flying Tottenham Hotspur prepare to host north London rivals Arsenal in a match of huge significance.Win it and Tottenham would move seven points clear of their arch-rivals…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bomb blasts wound Southern peace talks; Bangkok election; ‘Wannabe Myanmar’ line up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Narathiwat rocked by two blasts The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Two vehicle bombs in a span of five hours yesterday rocked Narathiwat’s Muang district less than 24 hours after the signing of an agreement in Malaysia between Thailand’s security authorities and four people purportedly representing insurgent groups…
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Phuket Police hunt continues for Jintana killers
PHUKET: Police are continuing to question individuals over the murder of Jintana Mahattanapak as they await the results of CCTV-footage analysis being conducted in Bangkok (story here). “Experts in Bangkok are still trying to extract information, that will lead to the arrests of the killers, from the CCTV footage we sent them. However, we have yet to be able to…
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DNP chief bolsters support for Phuket park probe
PHUKET: The recently installed Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) Director-General Manopat Huamuangkaew arrived in Phuket yesterday to hear firsthand the update on the investigation into 14 plots allegedly encroaching on Sirinat National Park on Phuket’s west coast. “So far we have investigated the land documents of 14 plots of land and found that all were issued…
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School girls scream with high “Scarlet Letter fever’
PHUKET: Bizarre events surround a school in Samut Prakan after eight young female students were possessed by a ghost while practicing their cheerleading moves – or so reports claim. About 20 girls from Had Amara Aksornlap School had gone to Pikka Fort Park in the Taiban area of the province to practice their dance moves. Things started to get weird…
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DSI launches fresh attack on illegally issued Phuket land title deeds
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) stepped in last week to expedite the ongoing investigation of illegal land encroachment in Sirinart National Park. Acting on a complaint from The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), whose own investigation seemed to ground to a halt last year when an expected 366 investigators from Bangkok failed to arrive,…
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Mother of savaged pit bull victim presses criminal charges
PHUKET: Criminal negligence charges were filed this week against the owners of the three pit bull terriers that mauled a man outside his own Phuket home in early February. Tiansak Aikpaiboon, 33, was savaged by three of his neighbor’s five pit bulls right in front of his home in Suan Thai Village, behind Wichit Songkram School near Central Festival, at…
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Phuket Opinion: Fluctuating prices hard to swallow
PHUKET: No one likes being ripped off. Phuket, like many popular tourist destinations, has its fair share of scams, so living here year-round can be frustrating unless you have mastered the language. During my daily lunch break I often drive to a nearby shopping center to order a quick and filling meal at the food court there. I usually order…
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Phuket Opinion: Playing by all the rules
PHUKET: Saphan Hin’s 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex is where Phuket United play their Thai Futsal Premier league home games in front of a vocal crowd of around 1,000 supporters. In addition to being the home of the Andaman Pearl, the stadium was also used for several different sporting events over the past few months, including Thailand’s most significant international basketball…
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Phuket Opinion: Praise for the little ‘Heroes’ of Phuket
PHUKET: Although accorded little, if any, attention in the local media, the recent winning of a national championship in the “To Be Number One Teen Dancercise 2013” competition by a team of young dancers from the Baan Bangneaw Municipal School in Phuket Town deserves a great deal of recognition and praise. It was a considerable achievement, the first ever by…
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Phuket Gazette World News: 4 dead in Swiss shooting; Pope farewell; Jihad Jane extradition; Syria aid
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death toll from Swiss shooting rises to four Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A fourth person has died in hospital from injuries sustained in a shooting at a Swiss wood processing plant near the city of Lucerne, police said on Thursday. A 42-year-old factory worker opened…
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Miss Universe smashes pirated products in Phuket
PHUKET: Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova joined officials as they destroyed pirated goods worth about 216 million baht in a ceremony in Phuket today, which was held to demonstrate Thailand’s dedication to protecting intellectual property rights.“We are here to increase the awareness of consumers about counterfeit designer goods and to encourage them to say ‘no’ to pirated products. By completely…
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Phuket Gazette World News: India looks to head off junk status
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community India budget increases spending, taxes the rich Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: India unveiled higher-than-expected spending for fiscal 2013/14 today, aiming to fund it with higher revenues – including new taxes on the rich and large companies – in a budget aimed at reviving growth amid…
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Thailand News: Thai national and 3 others face execution for Mekong murders
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China to execute four over Mekong murders Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: China plans to execute alleged Golden Triangle drug lord Nor Kham and three accomplices after their death sentences were approved by the nation’s highest court, state media said today. The executions would be…
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Man dies in second Phuket hit-and-run in two days
PHUKET: A 21-year-old security guard from Phattalung has died after the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a car on the road from the Heroines’ Monument (map here) to Pa Khlok late last night. He was the second person to be struck down in a hit-and-run in Phuket in two days (see story here). Thalang Police Duty Officer Chatree…
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Phuket Gazette office closed today
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew had to be closed today, Thursday, February 28, due to yet another all-day blackout in the area to upgrade power lines. The blackout affects Soi Harn Farang and Soi Koh Kaew 33, and may affect adjoining areas that are supplied electricity from…
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Thailand News: Thais score lowest in English; Money laundering blacklist; Bangkok Flood Center opens
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thais score lowest in TOEFL Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: With TOEFL scores averaging at 450, Thai students’ proficiency in the English language appears to be the lowest in the Asean region. In order to overcome this, academics are urging universities to seriously start strengthening students’ English-language…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Pope leaves quietly as cardinals plan future
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Low-key departure as pope steps down and hides away Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Pope Benedict slipped quietly from the world stage today after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life “hidden…
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French family saved from speedboat adrift
PHUKET: A French man and his family were rescued on Tuesday night after their speedboat broke down about two nautical miles from Koh Sirae. Phuket Marine Police received a distress call from Patick Legros, 58, at about 8:30pm informing them that he, his wife and his 7-year-old daughter were in need of help. Chatchai Sakdee of the Marine Police led…
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All safe after Phuket tour boat hits mooring, sinks in Chalong Bay
PHUKET: A tour boat carrying 15 tourists collided with a concrete mooring and sank during its approach to Chalong Pier during low tide yesterday afternoon. All 15 tourists on board, and the skipper, were safely rescued. The accident occurred when the tourist boat Darunee, skippered by Suthip Kasathit, 50, was returning with about 15 passengers from a snorkeling trip to…
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