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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Weather stalls search for AirAsia black boxes; first victim buried
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Weather stalls search for AirAsia black boxes; first victim buried Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Heavy seas stopped divers reaching the possible wreck of an AirAsia Indonesia jet off Borneo on Thursday and an aviation official said it could be a week before the black box…
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Myanmar rapist of girl, 14, sentenced to eight years in jail
PHUKET: The pedophile who confessed to raping a 14-year-old undocumented Myanmar migrant worker with the help of his wife in Khao Lak in August has been sentenced to eight years in jail. The wife, as an accomplice to the crime, was sentenced to three years in jail. The couple, named by police only as “Mr Ko Nai” and “Ms Ma…
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Chinese dive tour company shut down at Koh Racha
PHUKET: Officials have shut down a dive tour company serving Chinese tourists at Koh Racha, located about 25km south of Phuket, after confirming that Myanmar nationals were working illegally there as dive instructors. Santi Pawai, director of the Minister of Tourism and Sports Phuket office, announced the forced closure of dive company Hou Hai Diver Co Ltd during his inspection…
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Teen shot dead in New Year drive-by near Governor’s house
PHUKET: Police are searching for six men wanted for shooting dead a 15-year-old on the streets of Phuket Town last night in an attack that began in front of the Governor’s House on Narisorn Road. Police arrived at scene, near Ministry of Finance Phuket Office, shortly after receiving a report of the shooting at 11:15pm. “We arrived to find one…
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Opinion: Phuket, an island haven lost
PHUKET: A couple of weeks ago, I joined some work colleagues for lunch at a Cherng Talay restaurant. The restaurant is Australian-owned and caters mainly to expats who are homesick for stodgy meat pies and other Western fare. While waiting to be served I noticed, among the restaurant memorabilia, an old black-and-white photograph on the wall. It depicted a group…
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Russian expert finds investment paradise in Phuket
An outstanding representative of Phuket’s international community, Sergey Nesterenko – who has a doctorate in business law and an MA in finance – has travelled the world searching for an earthly paradise to invest in property. At a unique Phuket location on secluded Naithon Beach, he is building the exclusive Vista del Mar villas with breathtaking sea and mountain views.…
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Phuket suffers first fatality in New Year “Seven Days of Danger’
PHUKET: A Mercedes-Benz and a motorcycle collided at 12:10am today, resulting in the first fatality of the Seven Days of Danger safety campaign – which targeted zero deaths. The Mercedes, driven by Chaichana Seaong, 40, collided with the motorcycle in front of the Mook Phuket shop on Chao Fa East Road, near the Kwang Road intersection. Witnesses claim the the…
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Phuket New Year gifted International Space Station flyby
PHUKET: In addition to the New Year’s Eve celebrations held throughout Phuket tonight, stargazers will be treated to the sight of the International Space Station (ISS) passing overhead. If the skies are clear, the ISS will be visible to the naked eye as its substantial bulk will reflect sunlight during its brief south-southeast trajectory, passing to the west of Phuket,…
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Records tumble at We Freedive Suunto Series final in Phuket
PHUKET: A number of national records were brushed away as the We Free Dive Suunto Series drew to a close on December 21. All eyes were on American Katie Wierenga, who is ranked third among the USA female Dynamic No Fins (DNF) athletes after an outstanding performance in October. Having surpassed the USA DNF record in practice, Wierenga pushed hard…
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Slow lorises touted on Phuket beach
PHUKET: Cherng Talay Police have vowed to search for a pair of beach touts who were taking photographs of tourists with a slow loris at Surin Beach yesterday. “There were issues with touts offering to take photos of tourists with snakes and iguanas on Surin Beach, but we haven’t had a report about this issue since the beach encroachment crackdown,”…
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In Phuket aviation business, the sky is not the limit
PHUKET: Do what you love and make money doing it – how’s that for a business plan? That is exactly what Sky Club Asia co-owners Mark Silverberg and Paul Derstoff did when they turned their passion into a prospering business. Did their leap of faith pay off? One of the things that Mark Silverberg brought with him when he moved…
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Phuket Finance: An expat’s guide to the inevitable
PHUKET: It’s natural to experience culture shock as an expat, but the real shock comes when expats consider just how complicated proper investment or financial planning becomes after they expatriate from their home countries. Here are some of the key areas expats will need to have a plan for and likely consult with knowledgeable experts about. EXCHANGE RATE AND REMITTANCE…
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Death sentences commuted to life in prison for Akeyuth murder
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death sentences commuted to life in prison for Akeyuth murder The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Criminal Court handed down the death sentence to two of six defendants for murdering high-profile and outspoken businessman Akeyuth Anchanbutr last year – but the penalty was commuted to…
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Divers set to search for AirAsia wreckage after debris, bodies found
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Divers set to search for AirAsia wreckage after debris, bodies found Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Divers and ships will search for the wreckage and the all important black boxes of a doomed AirAsia plane on Wednesday after Indonesian rescuers found several bodies and debris floating…
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Patong’s Keesin clan yet to face Phuket mafia charges
PHUKET: The Public Prosecutor has yet to press formal charges against Prab and Pattawee Keesin, both sons of former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, for operating a mafia organization. Pisitpol Phumsawat, chief Phuket public prosecutor, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that his office was still reviewing evidence presented by the police “I have dedicated a team to investigate the police claims,”…
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Famed director arrested for trespassing to make tsunami horror film
PHUKET: Famed Thai-film director Anon Mingkwanta, better known as Poj Anon, was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport last night after allegedly trespassing at a derelict Phuket resort to film a tsunami horror movie. Charges against Mr Anon were filed at Tah Chat Chai Police Station on September 12 by Nipon Rangsimanwong, a representative of the Toon Maha Larp Company, which owns…
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Bodies, debris from missing AirAsia plane pulled from sea off Indonesia
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bodies, debris from missing AirAsia plane pulled from sea off Indonesia Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing AirAsia plane carrying 162 people pulled bodies and wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo on Tuesday as relatives of those on…
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Phuket pick-up truck smash near Mission Hospital
PHUKET: Emergency medical orderlies at Mission Hospital, north of Phuket Town, rushed out to rescue several injured people from a road accident directly outside the facility yesterday morning. An Isuzu pick-up truck had hit the back of Honda saloon car opposite the Toyota dealership on the southbound side of the road, causing the car to skid and hit a motorcycle…
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Cargo boat sinks off Phi Phi, crewman believed drowned
PHUKET: Marine Police are continuing their efforts to locate a crewman still missing from a cargo boat that sank in a storm two kilometers off Phi Phi Island yesterday afternoon. The Sor Jatuporn was carrying goods from Ao Nang on the Krabi coast to Phi Phi Island when it was slammed by a storm, said Krabi Marine Police Inspector Chaiyasit…
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Kiwi arrested in Phuket for drug dealing, wanted for fraud
PHUKET: A Kiwi charged for dealing ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and cocaine in Phuket is wanted on fraud charges in his homeland, The New Zealand Herald has reported. The man, named by Patong Police as Taylor Grainge, 41, is in fact Grainge Taylor, after having changed his name in 2010, confirmed Jeff Montgomery, registrar-general and general manager for births, deaths,…
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Phuket expat, Microsoft MVP Henry Habermacher passes away
PHUKET: Long-time Rawai resident Henry Habermacher passed away peacefully on the morning of December 11. Born Heiri Habermacher on July 2, 1961, in Sachseln, Switzerland, he graduated from ETH Zurich in 1986 with a degree in electrical engineering, specializing in acoustics project management superconductivity. In 1994, he received a graduate degree in business management from HWV Luzern – IBR University.…
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Phuket’s “naughty maid’ strikes again in Patong
PHUKET: Reports of Phuket’s infamous “naughty maid” surfaced yesterday, following a police warning about her kleptomaniac behavior in May (story here). Patong Police repeated their warning yesterday, cautioning any prospective employers to be on the watch for the still-unidentified woman. “We received a complaint from a hotel on Nanai Road that a woman took a job as a maid and…
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Welfare officers tread softly in Phuket sea gypsy child prostitution probe
PHUKET: Officers are treading warily as they investigate reports of sea gypsy child prostitution and youth drug abuse at Phuket’s Rawai Pier. The pervading fear among all departments involved is that any direct confrontation could drive the children deeper into a world of crime. Pimporn Khorsantiwichai, director of the Phuket office of Social Development and Human Security, confirmed to the…
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NRC votes for Andaman coast to be listed as World Heritage Site
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NRC votes for Andaman coast to be listed as World Heritage Site The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A National Reform Council panel on natural resources and the environment yesterday agreed to push for a vast marine conservation site in the Andaman Sea to be recognized…
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Indonesia expands search for missing AirAsia jet, US sends warship
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Indonesia expands search for missing AirAsia jet, US sends warship Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Countries around Asia on Tuesday stepped up the search for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that is presumed to have crashed in shallow waters off the Indonesian coast, with Washington…
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Websites with lese majeste content to be shut down
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Websites with lese majeste content to be shut down The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) intends to shut down all websites carrying lese majeste content by the year-end, according to its secretary-general Takorn Tantasith. If websites violate Article 112…
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Greek ferry stricken by blaze fully evacuated, 10 dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Greek ferry stricken by blaze fully evacuated, 10 dead Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Rescue teams evacuated more than 400 people from a car ferry that caught fire off Greece’s Adriatic coast in a 36-hour operation on roiling seas, but 10 people were killed in the…
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Popular Phuket pier needs “facelift’, says Gov Nisit
PHUKET: Rassada Pier – a bustling arrival and jump-off point for Phuket tourists – needs to be cleaned up, said Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong during his inspection of the facility today. “They need to improve the sanitation and general aesthetics of the pier. We will coordinate with the Marine Office, local authorities and private businesses operating at the pier to…
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Love, humanity ripples through Phuket tsunami memorial service
PHUKET: The devastating loss of hundreds of thousands of lives to the Indian Ocean Tsunami 10 years ago also brought a wave of humanity among the differing peoples of Phuket and the global community, Phuket Vice Governor Suthee Thongyam told those gathered at the Light Up Phuket memorial event on Patong Beach on Friday. “It is a great honor to…
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Phuket police blame lawbreakers, insufficient personnel for runaway tour bus
PHUKET: Police have blamed reckless drivers and not having enough officers to enforce the law for heavy vehicles, including Phuket tour buses, breaking the ban on crossing Patong Hill during peak traffic hours. “We admit that we cannot have police officers at the checkpoint 24/7. We wish we could but we simply do not have enough personnel. We can only…
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