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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Songkran revellers warned of fines, jail for high-pressure water guns
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Songkran revellers warned of fines, jail for high-pressure water guns The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police Consumer Protection Division yesterday warned that people caught selling high-pressure water guns could be jailed for up to five years and/or fined 500,000 baht. People who…
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Hungarian dope smuggler arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Hungarian national Kocsis Szabolcs Laszlo, 41, was presented to the press in Bangkok by Immigration Bureau commissioner Sakda Chuenpakdee yesterday after his arrest in Phuket on March 15. Mr Laszlo was wanted for allegedly smuggling 35 kilograms of marijuana from the Netherlands to Hungary on seven occasions, Lt Gen Sakda explained. The Immigration Commissioner said that police had arrested…
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North hit by destructive hailstorm
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North hit by destructive hailstorm The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Local officials yesterday inspected the damage at more than 1,000 homes following a hailstorm that hit parts of Chiang Rai on Wednesday night. In hardest-hit Wiang Chiang Rung district, Singkham Jomsawan, president of the Thung…
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Huge oil reserve found at Gatwick, near London
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Huge oil reserve found at Gatwick, near London Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A small British oil producer said it had discovered a possible world class oil resource in the countryside to the south of London that could contain billions of barrels of oil. The London-listed…
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Phuket FC whale on Dolphins
PHUKET: Phuket FC’s 2-0 victory over the Pattaya Dolphins at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town last Saturday elevated the home side move from 10th to sixth place on the Yamaha League One table. Phuket FC striker Andre Louis Rodrigues Lopez of Brazil opened the scoring in the 59th minute, with fellow forward Berlin Nlome Ndebi sealing the match with a…
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Australian arrested for Phuket plantation scam
PHUKET: An Australian man and his alleged Thai accomplice have been arrested in Khon Kaen for allegedly swindling money out of many foreigners in Phuket. Shaun Michael Albert Maher, 41, and Rossarin Phowichai, 25, were arrested in Khon Kaen province on Tuesday. The arrests are related to complaints filed in Phuket province by many foreigners, who say the two suspects…
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Police recover body of Israeli girl, ferry fire victim Shani,12
PHUKET: The Krabi Marine Police have confirmed that they have recovered the body of Israeli girl, Sani Manil, 12. Shani was the sole victim in the fire that gutted and sank the Ao Nang Princess 5 ferry while en route from Krabi to Phuket on Wednesday (click here). Rescue workers recovered the girl’s remains from the sunken wreck at about…
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Israeli girl missing after tour boat catches fire and sinks near Krabi
FILE PHOTO: Identical vessel to the one that caught and sank yesterday A 12 year old Israeli girl remains missing from a tourist boat incident, whilst travelling to Phuket from Krabi. The boat caught fire and eventually sank yesterday afternoon (Monday) around 3.30pm. About 100 other foreign tourists were safely rescued. The ferry belongs to Ao Nang Travel Tour Company. The boat, named Ao Nang…
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Tourists rescued from blazing Phuket ferry
PHUKET: More than 80 passengers, including tourists, and five crew were safely evacuated from a ferry that caught fire while en route from Krabi to Phuket this afternoon. Maj Anurak Parinyasathiragul of the Krabi Marine Police confirmed that he received a report that the Ao Nang Princess 5 was in distress at 4pm. Staff at Ao Nang Travel and Tour…
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Customers flee as fire guts Phuket SuperCheap
PHUKET: Staff and customers fled for their lives early this morning as flames engulfed a SuperCheap mini-mart store in front of the Phuket Villa 5 housing estate on Chao Fa West Road. “One of the staffers said that there were about 10 customers in the shop when they noticed flames coming from a fridge,” said Lt Col Peerapan Meemak of…
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Billionaire seeks police help for alleged extortion
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Billionaire seeks police help for alleged extortion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A billionaire businessman lodged a complaint yesterday against a former board member of the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel for alleged detention, extortion and intimidation. “Several times…
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Exhumation of Tikrit mass graves begins
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Exhumation of Tikrit mass graves begins Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Iraqi forensic teams began on Monday excavating 12 suspected mass grave sites thought to hold the corpses of as many as 1,700 soldiers massacred last summer by Islamic State militants as they swept across northern…
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Senior transport officials to discuss aviation crisis with ICAO, Germany and Australia
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Senior transport officials to discuss aviation crisis with ICAO, Germany and Australia The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: In a bid to ease the country’s current aviation woes, the Transport Ministry is seeking help from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and preparing a team to…
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Bonanza racetrack deemed to be on state land
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bonanza ‘encroached on forest land’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: THE Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) has found that Bonanza businesses, owned by former politician Paiwong Taechanarong and his family, have encroached on forestland. They have expanded their facilities beyond the scope of…
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Pattani men slain by officers were not linked to insurgency: panel
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pattani men slain by officers were not linked to insurgency: panel The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: the fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the killings of four suspected insurgents in Pattani’s Thung Yang Daeng district last month, said yesterday that the four men were not connected…
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Foreign diplomats told Article 44 ‘inspired by France’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Foreign diplomats told Article 44 ‘inspired by France’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The provision for the use of absolute power is not without precedent and the current Article 44 of the interim charter was partly inspired by Article 16 of the French constitution of…
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Tourism rebound rise in spending expected to hike GDP by 3.5%
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tourism rebound rise in spending expected to hike GDP by 3.5% The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking still believes that gross domestic product can expand by 3.5% this year, as the rebound of tourism and the expected…
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Umbrellas, sun loungers seized in Phuket beach raids
PHUKET: More than 100 pieces of beach furniture were seized in northern Phuket today, following complaints of beach encroachment being filed to the Thalang District Office. “This morning about 30 officers from the Thalang District Office and Cherng Talay Administration Organization (OrBorTor) took part in the raid on Lay Pang Beach and Surin Beach,” Thalang District Office Chief Administrative Officer…
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Phuket taxi drivers fight bus terminal eviction
PHUKET: A sortie of about 30 taxi drivers arrived at Provincial Hall today to plea for intervention into an eviction order forcing them to cease operations at Phuket’s main bus terminal in Rassada. The drivers, led by Yod Sae-Lee, carried banners saying: “We formed a legal taxi co-operative more than 10 years ago. We are forced to leave by Rassada…
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Phuket golfers set golf cart world record for charity
PHUKET: Avid Phuket golfers Mark Cameron and Graham Haslam have completed a world-record golf cart drive from Pattaya to Phuket, and are hoping to raise even more money for charity with an auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in Patong tomorrow night. “The cart will be up for auction at a starting bid of 200,000 baht, ‘slightly used’,” Mr Cameron…
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Efforts continue to re-float beached Phuket yacht
PHUKET: The salvage team attempting to re-float the yacht still stranded on the sand at Kata Beach will make another attempt today, nearly a week after the boat was beached by a passing storm. The Inisfail of the Isles of Scilly was beached on Wednesday after the boat drifted on her anchor. Attempts by the two Australian men on board…
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Alleged Phuket baby rapist, killer surrenders to police
PHUKET: A male nanny wanted for the alleged rape and killing of a 1-year-old boy in Phuket Town surrendered to police last night. However, the 38-year-old man has denied the allegations. Police launched a manhunt for Somsak Yakob after he called the child’s mother to tell her that her son had fallen to his death. He left the baby’s battered…
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Malaysian arrested for hacked credit cards in Phuket
PHUKET: Tourist Police arrested a Malaysian man at Phuket International Airport this weekend for having hacked credit cards in his possession. Mohd Jaris Tan Bin Abdullah, 50, was arrested shortly after landing on board AirAsia flight FD3017 at 5:05pm, said Phuket Tourist Police Chief Urumporn Koondejsumrit. The arrest followed a tip-off by Kasikornbank (Kbank). “When he arrived, we searched him…
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British tourist found dead in Patong hotel bathtub
PHUKET: Police believe that a combination of two common drugs, Alprazolam and Nytol, may have led to the death of a British man in the bathtub at his Patong hotel room last night. Hotel staffers at the Baan Yin Dee Boutique Resort on Muean Ngen Road found the body of Arif Abdul Khalid Ukaye, 33, in his guest room at…
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Medical official slams new malpractice bill
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Medical official slams new malpractice bill The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Doctors are continuing their campaign against the controversial Protection of Victims of Medical Mistreatment Bill, saying the draft law will further complicate issues surrounding malpractice and sow seeds of reluctance among medical workers when…
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Malpractice bill touted as ‘best solution’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Malpractice bill touted as ‘best solution’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Supporters of the Protection of Victims of Medical Mistreatment Bill see no reason that would lead to some doctors wanting it scrapped. “Every article in the bill will benefit doctors and improve patient-doctor relations,”…
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Students confess to Narathiwat blasts
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Students confess to Narathiwat blasts The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Narathiwat police chief Pol Maj Gen Patthanawuth Angkhanawin confirmed yesterday that the four Princess of Naradhiwas University students in detention had confessed that they were behind the three bombings in Narathiwat Municipality area on February…
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Russian PM arrives today on official visit
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russian PM arrives today on official visit The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is to arrive in Bangkok today to cement ties with Thailand in various domains including politics, economy, security, energy, science and technology, education, tourism and culture. Foreign Minister…
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Phuket manhunt launched for alleged rapist, baby killer
PHUKET: Police are hunting a male nanny who allegedly raped and killed a 1-year-old boy in Phuket Town on April 3. The 38-year-old man, Somsak Yakob, called the child’s mother on Friday night to tell her that the baby had fallen to his death. Mr Somsak met the baby’s mother, named by police only as ‘Mon’, that night at the…
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Former Miss Universe fights Phuket gibbon touts
PHUKET: Former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova visited Phuket today to raise public awareness about gibbons being illegally owned and used as props for photo opportunities. “As a celebrity, I can use my voice and my platform to spread awareness to other people, and say, ‘Hey, when you see gibbons, don’t take a picture with them’,” Ms Glebova said. The Russian-Canadian…
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