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 U-23 squad mashes Myanmar
PHUKET: Thailand’s national football team’s under-23 squad enjoyed their warm-up match on Tuesday night against their arch rival Myanmar. The squad walked away from Ratchamangkala Stadium in Bangkok with a 4-0 win. In this friendly warm-up match, all four goals came in the second half after multiple chances to score were spoiled in the beginning of the game. Thailand made…
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Belgian-Thai local dominates at Annual King’s Cup
PHUKET: Phuket local James Van Herzeele, 12, dominated his age group in both singles and doubles categories at the Annual King’s Cup in Bangkok, a tournament held by the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand. “When I played the championship point I felt so happy and relieved that I could achieve my goal to win this most important tournament of the…
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Start-up property portal prepares to “transform’ market
PHUKET: A start-up technology company created by the same team that built the LivePhuket real-estate company says it’s ready to ‘transform’ Thailand’s property market with a ‘data-driven’ property portal. The portal, launched in Phuket on April 24, provides instant and easy access to the largest selection of newly-built condominiums, all on a platform that aims to simplify the process of…
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Witness spots Phuket arson suspects
PHUKET: A witness told police that he saw two people set fire to a Phuket restaurant in the early hours of yesterday morning. “It was dark, so the witness wasn’t able to give us any details to help identify the suspects. However, he saw two people park a car a good distance from the restaurant and then return with cans…
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Finance: Investment ideals for new oil and gas realities
PHUKET: Late last year, legendary oil and gas entrepreneur Thomas Boone Pickens said during a CNBC interview: “Energy is cheap in America. We still have the cheapest energy in the world…Take advantage of it, play the demand side.” Since then, Pickens has repeatedly stated in public appearances that he believes oil will rise to US$70 a barrel this year and…
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Video Report: Phuket tsunami drill hailed as a success
PHUKET: A total of about 200 emergency-response officers and locals joined the full-scale tsunami evacuation drill at Koh Sireh, eastern coast of Phuket, on Tuesday. “Every department handled the rescue role-playing situations very well and acted appropriately. However, the locals seemed to be more uncomfortable, as this was their first time,” said Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong. The drill simulated a…
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Opinion: Goodbye, Phuket
PHUKET: In 1997, we travelled to Thailand for the first time – to Bangkok and Hua Hin. It was love at first sight. We fell in love with this beautiful, wonderful country, the warm and heartfelt people, the beautiful beach and the food. The sun and heat made us so happy, as we are used to being in the cold.…
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Fire on Patong’s Soi Bangla guts hotel room
PHUKET: Tourists on Soi Bangla panicked after a hotel room along the popular party road burst into flames last night. Three fire trucks spent about 20 minutes dousing the flames coming from a fourth-floor rental room above Rico’s Restaurant*. No one was injured in the incident, confirmed police. However, the blaze completely destroyed the room and its contents, causing an…
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Rohingya “help-on’ policy announced in Phuket
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan explained to the press in Phuket that Thailand would be proceeding with a clear ‘help-on’ policy when dealing with Rohingya and Bangladeshi entering the country. “We will never push away these people. However, if they do land in Thailand they will have to face the same laws that apply to anyone illegally entering…
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High-voltage power-line project sparks reactions in Phuket
PHUKET: More than 100 locals from Thalang villages filed a complaint at Phuket Provincial Hall on Friday over the potentially negative effects a high-voltage power line project could have on their communities. The project would see land expropriated to have 500 kilovolt poles installed in Pa Khlok and Baan Para and would require many villagers to relocate their businesses, said…
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Lifeguards return to Phuket beaches tomorrow
PHUKET: After almost two months and a number of deaths at Phuket’s beaches, lifeguards will resume their posts tomorrow. Guards left the sands at sunset on March 26 and returned their equipment to the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, following what has become an annual contract debacle. At that point no company, including the Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) had stepped forward…
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Family feud leads to fatal Phuket fruit vendor shooting
PHUKET: A gunman who shot his fruit-selling aunt in the head in Phuket Town turned himself into police yesterday. Santipap Kosuk, 28, surrendered to Phuket City Police following the fatal shooting of his 46-year-old aunt, Sriroong Kosuk, yesterday. Mr Santipap stashed his homemade gun and ammunition in a shoe box near Surakul Stadium before he called his father and asked…
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Woman killed crossing Phuket road
PHUKET: A 78-year-old woman was killed by a pick-up truck as she attempted to cross Phuket’s busy Thepkasattri Road yesterday. Sian Phetlamul had just disembarked from a local songtaew after visiting relatives and was crossing the road on her way home, her relatives told police. “The truck driver, 27-year-old Sutjaiai Sriphut, was driving from Phuket Town with his mother-in-law to…
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Australian English teacher in coma after Phuket motorbike accident
PHUKET: Australian expat Louise Warren is in a coma at Vachira Phuket Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit following a motorbike crash in Patong on Friday night. Ms Warren, working as a teacher at Patong Language School, is expected to be transferred to Bangkok Phuket Hospital today, confirmed a nurse at Vachira Hospital. “Her heart has stopped twice. However, we were able…
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Ghost boat of starving Rohingya recovered, replenished, returned to sea
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy secured a ghost boat full of Rohingya refugees that was adrift off the west side Koh Lipe, south of Phuket, on Thursday. The captain and crew had abandoned the vessel, leaving it to drift in the Andaman. “The ship had more than 300 starving people on board, including women and children. Since they The Royal…
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Unidentified body found floating off Koh Khai
PHUKET: Kusoldham Foundation rescue workers recovered the body of an unidentified man yesterday afternoon, found floating off the coast of Koh Khai, 20km east of Phuket. “We are unable to identify the nationality of the man, but we believe he was 30 to 40 years old and was approximately 160 to 170 centimeters in height,” Lt Col Panya Chaichana of…
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Video Report: Special task force created to combat IUUs
PHUKET: A ‘Special Navy Team’ was put into action in Phuket last week to combat the severe economic and ecological damage caused by illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing vessels (IUU) that are taking advantage of legal loop holes and poor enforcement in the region. The joint task force will be operating 12 boats and one helicopter, as they attempt to…
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Thalang lights up Laguna, will face Patong in cricket grand final
PHUKET: The Thalang Cricket Team (TCT) made light work of a depleted Laguna cricket side in Sunday’s Phuket Cricket Group semifinal. After dismissing Laguna for only 114 runs, TCT passed the total in the 22nd over with seven wickets still in hand. The coin toss fell the way of Laguna’s captain Stuart Reading who chose for his team to bat…
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Chalong songtaew turf war goes nowhere
PHUKET: Two songtaew operators were called to a meeting at Chalong Police Station on Thursday after the Chalong-Phuket Town operator filed a complaint against the Kata-Karon-Phuket Town service for breaking an agreement regarding pick-up points. Somchai Kongsamret, a representative from the Chalong-Phuket Town songtaew co-operative, told the police that the Kata-Karon-Phuket Town songtaew had been picking up passengers where they…
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One killed, 31 injured in Krabi bus crash
PHUKET: A bus en route from Phuket to Narathiwat flipped on a wet road in Krabi last night, killing one passenger and injuring 31 others. The body of 26-year-old Marina Sama-ae, a nurse from Narathiwat, was trapped inside the bus when police arrived just after midnight, said Capt Prasan Khongkaew of the Ao Luek Police. “The bus was turned over…
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20 injured in Deep South bomb attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Two more injured in further small blasts in Yala town Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Bomb attacks continued to erupt in Yala’s Muang district yesterday, raising the number of injured over the past two days to 20. Despite that, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister…
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No Rohingya holding center for Phuket, says Gov
PHUKET: Top Phuket and Navy officials have voiced support for the government’s move to find islands on which migrants, Rohingya and otherwise, can stop over on their way to their destination. However, they expressed concern about Phuket and islands which are part of Thailand’s National Marine Parks system being used as stop-over points. The move follows an order from Prime…
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Phuket Gov, Vice Gov return lost wallet to doctor
PHUKET: Governor Nisit Jansomwong and Vice Governor Suthee Thongyam teamed up to return a lost wallet to a Phuket doctor today. “Vice Governor Suthee’s friend, Sorachai Sirichoti, along with two other friends, found the wallet at Rang Hill yesterday,” Prapan Kanprasang, chief of the Damrongtham Center (ombudsman’s office) said. “However, they ended up handing over the wallet to the vice…
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Woman dies in car crash on slippery Krabi road
PHUKET: A woman died yesterday when she lost control of her pick-up truck on a wet road in Krabi and slammed into a pole. Police arrived at the scene on Petchkasem Road in Khlong Thom district at about 10am to find a pick-up truck wrapped around a sign pole in the median of the road. “Phonphan Khongyot, 31, died instantly…
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BISP swim team racks up records, 2016 Summer Olympics qualifiers
PHUKET: When the JSA Swim Academy at British International School Phuket first took to the pool in August 2013, the team had five international swimmers on scholarship, four swimmers from the school’s Flying Fish club team and high hopes. During the August to December 2014 swim season, the team’s nine swimmers (five girls and four boys) competed in the Thailand…
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HK Express takes flight in Phuket market
PHUKET: Hong Kong’s low-fare airline has seen significant first-quarter growth as it continues its campaign to woo both the Thai and expat markets in Phuket. HK Express has carried close to 500,000 passengers in the first quarter of this year, which represents a 102 percent growth compared with the same period in 2014. The airline reports total passengers for March…
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106 suspected Rohingya found on Koh Ree, northwest of Phuket
PHUKET: More than 100 suspected Rohingya were found last night on Koh Ree in Mu Koh Surin National Marine Park, northwest of Phuket. The group – consisting of 89 men, 15 women and two children – was searching for food in the sea when they were spotted by local sea gypsies, who then notified park officers. “Yesterday evening I received…
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Marine officials clamp down on IUU fishing in Phuket
PHUKET: Local maritime officers and fishing operators gathered yesterday to discuss measures launched to shut down illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities in the region. The push for solutions follows the EU putting Thailand on formal notice on April 21 for not taking sufficient measures in the international fight against IUUs (story here). Thailand was given six months to…
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Opinion: Russian Return – just victims of ‘host fatigue’
PHUKET: Good news for Phuket’s all-important tourism industry comes with indications that the sharp downturn in arrivals from Russia in the first quarter of this year is expected to be short-lived, with a solid recovery for this important market sector projected for the fourth quarter, according to industry analysts. The huge increase in the number of tourists from Russia to…
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Govt surveying two isles for detention of migrants
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt surveying two isles for detention of migrants Phuket Gazette/The Nation PHUKET: The prime minister has ordered a survey of two unpopulated islands off Ranong with the view of using them to detain Rohingya migrants. Sources familiar with the matter yesterday identified the islands as Kangkao…
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