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.
The Thaiger is your essential resource for staying connected with Thailand’s captivating blend of tradition and modernity. To remain in the loop with the country’s most trusted news source, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
-
Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
-
Phuket member at National Reform Council granted royal endorsement
PHUKET: Cherdchai Wongseree, who failed to gain election to the Senate in March (story here), today received royal endorsement to become Phuket’s sole representative at the National Reform Council (NRC). Mr Cherdchai was among the 250 candidates throughout the country whose names were published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette today as approved by HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej to serve…
-
Phuket storm pins woman under tree, more rain forecast
PHUKET: The storm that ravaged Phuket over the weekend pinned a woman under a felled tree on a busy street in Mai Khao late Saturday night. Rescue workers and police arrived at Mai Khao Soi 10 at about 11:30pm to find Soisuda Somjan, 20, and her motorbike trapped the tree. “She was unable to move with her right leg caught…
-
Indian tourists washed overboard, drown off Krabi coast
PHUKET: Two Indian tourists travelling in a rented longtail boat drowned off the coast of Railay, east of Phuket, yesterday after a large wave swamped their boat and washed them overboard. Ekkapong Kinglek, 25, the boat operator, was charged with reckless driving causing death, Capt Praphan Nhuchaikaew of the Krabi City Police told the Phuket Gazette. The tourists, Yash Agarwal,…
-
Asean health experts target regional vaccination strategy
PHUKET: Asean health experts gathered in Phuket last week for a series of workshops to hammer out strategies for regional vaccine security. The three-day event, hosted on the island for the first time, involved a series of brainstorming sessions among health experts, centering on vaccine research and development, production and vaccine immunization. The exchange of information is seen as the…
-
Phuket underpass faces part-closures, races for November opening
PHUKET: The northbound lane above the 600-million-baht underpass beside the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall has been closed so workers can repave the road. “Motorists heading north can still use the underpass,” Phuket Highways Office Director Samak Luedwonghad told the Phuket Gazette. With the lane closed for repaving, motorists heading east past Central Festival can no longer turn left onto…
-
![Villa Market expansion caters to Phuket yachties [VIDEO] | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAyOTMgMjIwJz48L3N2Zz4=)
Villa Market expansion caters to Phuket yachties [VIDEO]
Villa hopes to build on its success at the Boat Avenue shopping street. PHUKET: Villa Market is set to slice off another slab of the imported groceries market in Phuket when it expands to Boat Lagoon. The new branch, set to open in early 2015, is designed to tap into the yachtie-catering market and to position itself as the go-to…
-
Myanmar man slays roommate, licks blood from knife
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Myanmar man slays roommate, licks blood from knife The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Bangkok Police yesterday arrested a Myanmar man who they claimed killed a countryman and sucked his blood because the man had a crush on his wife. Udomsuk Police Superintendent Somphorn Krissanapipat said…
-
Nine NLA members opposed to asset disclosure worth more than Bt200m
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nine NLA members opposed to asset disclosure worth more than Bt200m The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nine of the 28 National Legislative Assembly (NLA) members, who recently petitioned the Administrative Court unsuccessfully against disclosing their assets, have net assets worth more than Bt200 million each.…
-
Koh Tao murder report to go to prosecutors this week: police
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Koh Tao murder report to go to prosecutors this week: police The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police plan to forward their investigation report on the killing of two British tourists on Koh Tao to public prosecutors this Wednesday. “We will include DNA test results related…
-
At least one dead as typhoon lashes Japan, heading for Tokyo
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community At least one dead as typhoon lashes Japan, heading for Tokyo Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Hundreds of flights were cancelled and thousands of people advised to evacuate as a powerful typhoon lashed Japan on Monday with heavy rains and high winds, leaving at least one…
-
Special Report: Phuket’s billion-baht beach ‘scandal’ never kept a secret
Special Report PHUKET: A senior official at Kata-Karon Municipality this week claimed that permits issued to allow local residents to work as beach vendors were introduced at the behest of a Provincial Hall standing committee some 20 years ago. The issue raised a storm of controversy last week when Paween Pongsirin, Region 8 Police Deputy Commander at the time (story…
-
Phuket cat burglar robs sleeping couple’s hotel villa
PHUKET: Police have arrested a Phuket cat burglar who crept into a sleeping couple’s hotel villa and stole a mobile phone and about 13,000 baht in cash. “Thung Taothong, 28, was arrested at his apartment in Soi Yod Saneh in Chalong and charged with robbery,” Karon Police Deputy Superintendent Sophon Borrirak told the Phuket Gazette today. “We are still searching…
-
Masked men open fire in Phuket drive-by shooting, injure two
PHUKET: Two men were injured just before midnight last night in what Phuket police are calling a drive-by revenge shooting. Four men were sitting round a table drinking at Baan Liporn when a group of eight masked men on motorbikes drove by and opened fire. Watthana Suebsak, 18, was shot in the face and seriously injured, while Prasert Chanthip, 35,…
-
DDPM issues flash flood, landslide warnings for Phuket
PHUKET: A weather warning advising Phuket residents and tourists to prepare for flash floods and landslides has been issued by the local Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM). “According to the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD), we can expect increasingly heavy rains tomorrow,” said Weera Amnuayporn, acting DDPM Phuket office chief. “It’s going to take a turn for the worse,…
-
Australians’ drunken balcony fall raises Phuket safety concerns
PHUKET: Patong Police have urged local municipality workers to inspect the balcony-railing heights of Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa after three drunk Australians tumbled off their second-floor balcony (story here). “It is beyond our jurisdiction to ensure that the railings are of a safe height. We actually voiced our concern before this accident, and again after it. However, we cannot…
-
Phuket Police defend snaring foreign tourists in illegal taxi raids
PHUKET: Police have defended their actions in a raid that saw officers and military personal, clad in flak jackets and carrying assault rifles, besiege an illegal Phuket taxi carrying a family of foreign tourists. “We flagged down a taxi with the assistance of the security guard in front of our hotel at Karon Beach. The driver agreed to take us…
-
Opinion: Bilking billions from Phuket’s beaches
PHUKET: The arrest of Karon Mayor Tawee Tongcham and subsequent revelations about the nature and scale of the “beach rental” concession rackets along Phuket’s west coast is just the latest in a stunning series of graft-busting power punches made by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) since it took power on May 22. One of the most remarkable…
-
Video Report: Phuket dive boat operators join forces for cleaner reefs
PHUKET: Dive boat operators of all creeds, and all certification affiliations, banded together last weekend to clean popular Phuket dive sites ahead of the high season. Nine boats, including one sport-fishing vessel, piled on about 200 participants and spent the day at various dive sites including Anemone Reef, Shark Point, Koh Mai Thon and many others. About 2,000kg of trash,…
-
PWA announces Phuket Town water shutoff
PHUKET: The Phuket Water Authority (PWA) has announced that water supply in some areas of Phuket Town will be shut off from 9pm tomorrow to 3am on Sunday. Water is being shut off to allow for new pipes to be laid in Suan Luang Park* – part of the PWA’s plan to improve Phuket Town’s water-treatment process. Those affected include:…
-
Living the life of Riley in Phuket
PHUKET: One morning, about six months ago, a bedraggled black dog appeared at the rear doorway to our office at Gazette Square. He looked worse for wear and had clearly been fending for himself on the street for some time. He managed to beg a few scraps of food, and before long, he was waiting each morning for the first…
-
Show the Russians some Phuket love
PHUKET: Is Phuket on the brink of losing its Russian comrades? According to a recent report published by the Kasikorn Research Center, Russian arrivals to Thailand are expected to drop 5.5% by the end of this year. When you consider that Russian visitors to Thailand (1.73 million) were almost double the number of visitors from the whole of Europe last…
-
Opinion: Hope for Phuket metered-taxi drivers
Chomsorn “Patty” Chaowai, 57, from Prachuap Khiri Khan, has been working as a taxi driver on the island for more than 20 years. The long-time Phuket resident and mother of two was the first female taxi driver in Phuket and became one of the first metered-taxi drivers in 2004. Here, she talks about the rapidly changing world of taxis on…
-
Myanmar workers’ DNA matches semen found on Koh Tao murder, rape victim, say police
PHUKET: A police source has confirmed that DNA samples from two of three detained Myanmar workers matches the DNA extracted from semen found on the body of British tourist Hannah Witheridge. Ms Witheridge and fellow national David Miller were brutally murdered on the popular island on September 14. — The Nation
-
Thousands packed Phuket streets for final day of Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET: Thousands of people celebrated the end of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival last night, packing the streets as processions from each of the island’s shrines made their way to Saphan Hin for the midnight finale. Each of the Chinese shrine processions carried images of the Jade Emperor and the Nine Emperor Gods on palanquins as firecrackers blazed a pathway for…
-
Woken by prayers, Phuket man kills brother
PHUKET: A man has confessed to killing his brother for “praying too loudly” at their home in Phuket’s Wichit subdistrict yesterday morning. A local resident called police after discovering the body of Chaiyadol Nawee, 43, amid undergrowth by the side of a street across from the Villa California housing estate on Chao Fa East Road. “CCTV footage taken from the…
-
Don’t let emotions cloud financial judgment
PHUKET: There are two emotions that tend to cloud our collective judgments and cause major swings in the financial markets: fear and greed. They lead to the ever-repeating cycle of boom and bust and are not likely to disappear anytime soon, so gaining a good understanding of them – as well as how they can affect an investor’s financial decision…
-
Myanmar migrant worker confesses to Koh Tao murders, say police
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Migrant ‘confesses to Koh Tao murders’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A migrant worker has confessed to the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao in Surat Thani province, deputy national police chief General Jakthip Chaijinda said yesterday. He is among three Myanmar men…
-
Thai women’s volleyball team win first Asian Games medal in 48 years
PHUKET: Thailand suffered mixed fortunes at the Asian Games yesterday when the women’s volleyball team made history by clinching a bronze medal, the first ever for the country at an Asiad, while the men’s soccer team ended fourth – for the fourth time. The Thai spikers made the country proud after ending the 48-year Asiad medal drought following a hard-fought…
-
Video Report: Phuket’s new governor arrives, Maitri says farewell
PHUKET: A welcoming committee and hundreds of joyous people greeted Phuket’s new governor, Nisit Jansomwong, at Phuket International Airport yesterday. “Phuket is home to many nationalities, not just Thais. I would like to encourage these people to learn to love Phuket as their real home, so that it becomes a place of real value to them – not just a…
-
Koh Tao killer confesses
PHUKET: A Myanmar national has confessed to killing two British tourists on Koh Tao in Surat Thani, acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jakthip Chaijinda said today. David Miller and Hannah Witheridge were brutally murdered on the island on September 14. Both suffered serious head wounds. Police said Ms Witheridge was also sexually assaulted. The migrant worker was identified only as “Win”,…
![Villa Market expansion caters to Phuket yachties [VIDEO] | Thaiger](https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/7_201410695537753_aEcFQjPYiYFvWGUhiEjnzCiIOeiwMoFrVKKWllLO_jpeg.jpeg)
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.