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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Phuket lifeguards to sign new contract
PHUKET: The Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) will sign a new contract tomorrow and lifeguards are expected to return to Phuket’s beaches by next Wednesday, just as the southwest monsoon season and corresponding dangerous sea conditions take hold. This year, the contract stipulates that there will be a total of 95 employees: 83 lifeguards, nine chief lifeguards and three managers. There…
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Phuket lucky licence plate auction next weekend
PHUKET: The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) is hoping to raise more than 20 million baht from this year’s Lucky Licence Plate Auction, which will be held in Phuket Town next weekend. The two-day event at the Phuket Merlin Hotel will begin on May 23 at 9am, with 301 licence plates to go to the highest bidders. All licence plates…
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Cheap tuk-tuk service to be launched in Phuket Town
PHUKET: The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) is organizing a tuk-tuk service in Phuket Town that will provide affordable transport for locals and tourists alike within the city limits. The news follows multiple complaints filed at Provincial Hall, the latest made on May 8, by a group of illegal tuk-tuk drivers who have been trying to obtain legal taxi status…
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Enormous king cobra caught creeping into Phuket hotel
PHUKET: A four-meter-long king cobra was wrangled into submission by rescue workers as it tried to sneak into a Phuket hotel room last night. Saiyan Thamaphan, chief of the Phuket Ruamjai Rescue Foundation, and his team arrived at Star of Phuket Resort to find panicked tourists and locals gathered outside. “We found the king cobra trying to gain access to…
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Senior Bangkok official dies from Krabi hot spring splash
PHUKET: A senior official at the Attorney-General’s Office in Bangkok was pronounced dead on April 30 after a leap into a Krabi hot spring left him in a coma a few weeks earlier. Somkiat Phatkhun, the deputy director of the Training and Development Institute at the Office of the Attorney General in Bangkok, was on vacation with his wife when…
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Government vows to revisit Koh Kaew canal dredging project
PHUKET: The Marine Department director-general has vowed to renew efforts to find the best solution to the congested Koh Kaew canal, which links two of Phuket’s prominent marinas to Phang Nga Bay. The extension of the Koh Kaew canal, which leads to Royal Phuket Marina and the Boat Lagoon, was reported as being completed on December 28, 2014, allowing easier…
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Magnitude 7 earthquake strikes in Nepal – USGS
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community MAGNITUDE 7 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES IN NEPAL – USGS Phuket Gazette / ReutersPHUKET: A strong earthquake shook Nepal today, sending people in the capital Kathmandu rushing out on to the streets weeks after a devastating quake killed more than 8,000 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of…
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Thailand takes four-pronged approach to maritime-hub goal
PHUKET: The government will be pushing Thailand as a major yachting destination in the region using a four-pronged approach, the Marine Department director-general revealed at a public meeting in Phuket yesterday. To achieve Thailand’s goal, government offices will be working closely with maritime industry leaders to establish potential locations for new marinas in Thailand, develop and promote a yacht show,…
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Police identify alleged ‘money man’ behind Rohingya trafficking
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Trafficking bag man’ named Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Police yesterday obtained an arrest warrant for a man they said was a key financier behind the entire Rohingya trafficking racket in the South. The suspect, the 50th and latest wanted in connection with human labor…
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Summons issued for dangerous Phuket driver
PHUKET: The Phuket City Police are demanding that the owner of a black Fortuner SUV, whose vehicle was captured on video being driven recklessly, endangering other drivers, present himself to police. The video clearly shows the Fortuner cutting off two men on a motorbike in heavy traffic as it merges onto the bypass road from Yaowarat Road, and then coming…
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Video Report: Drug dealer’s daughter nabbed for dealing in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Police arrested a convicted drug dealer’s daughter on Saturday after she was found in possession of 5,400 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills, 41.50 grams of ya bah powder and more than 50g of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine). Police had been keeping a close eye on Suphanan Chaichana, 30, after her father, Lep Chaichana, was arrested for selling drugs and sentenced…
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Massive python found near Phuket Town school
PHUKET: A five-meter-long python was found coiled up at the entrance of a street across from Bangneaw School in Phuket Town yesterday morning. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers rushed to the scene at Soi Jan Asawaksuk after being notified of the massive reptile by local villagers. “It took eight of us to lift and bag the snake. It weighed about 60…
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Opinion: Turn them off, folks
PHUKET: Because I’m an anxious flier, I have always been overly aware of my surroundings while taking commercial flights. With all the drama surrounding the ban of Thai carriers to Japan, South Korea and China following the United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Organization audit, which found that Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation met only 21 out of 100 operational and…
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Koh Lanta tagged as potential hotspot for human trafficking
PHUKET: Officials investigated Koh Lanta yesterday, following the popular tourist island being named as a potential hotspot for human trafficking. “We were alerted to the potential issue of people being smuggled into Thailand through Koh Lanta District after locals reported seeing a group of suspected Rohingya,” said Koh Lanta District Chief Suriyan Narongkul. “By the time we got there, the…
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Loan shark death threats motivated me, says Phuket tour company fraudster
PHUKET: The 25-year-old man wanted for defrauding a Phuket tour company of about 1.5 million baht handed himself into police on April 29, claiming that the crime was made under the duress of death threats from loan sharks. Peerapat ‘Deer’ Singhon, his lawyer and his parents appeared at the Phuket City Police Station after Mr Peerapat went into hiding for…
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Video Report: Only B600k of B4mn raised for quake victims handed to Nepal Embassy so far
PHUKET: Charitable islanders raised more than 4 million baht in the past week for the victims of the earthquake in Nepal, which killed more than 7,500 and affected an estimated 8mn people, according to the UN. The funds raised through the ‘Phuket Together For Nepal Disaster Victims’ were originally to be given directly to the Embassy of Nepal on March…
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Finance: Ways expats lose money
PHUKET: Financial problems, or losses, are often the major reason expats are forced to return home or worst – end up stuck somewhere they no longer want to be. If you don’t want to end up in the same position as the many failed expats, keep in mind the following ways they lose money abroad. OFFSHORE INVESTMENT PRODUCTS Investing in…
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Underpass temporarily closed again, this time for electrical maintenance
PHUKET: The newly opened Darasamut Underpass near Central Festival Phuket closed down temporarily again this morning while its electrical system underwent changes. “The underpass closed to traffic at about 8am today. Officers were changing the electric lane marker system from manual control to automatic,” Samak Luedwonghad, director of the Phuket Highways Office, told the Phuket Gazette this morning. Mr Samak…
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All Phuket incinerators to go offline – temporarily
PHUKET: The already overwhelmed solid-waste incinerators operating at the Saphin Hin landfill site in Phuket Town will grind to a halt this month, adding thousands of tonnes of trash to the overflowing landfill. Though three incinerators are located at the site, one has been out of commission since 2012 (story here), leaving the other two – with a total burning…
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Opinion: AEC must address human trafficking, smuggling
PHUKET: The discovery of a mass grave of dozens of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh in Songkhla’s Sadao District, on the border with Malaysia, this week screams urgency for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to use its extraordinary powers to turn the tide against human trafficking in the Thailand. The order by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha…
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Fourth quake shakes in Phang Nga Bay
PHUKET: A fourth earthquake, measuring 2.7 in magnitude, rattled Phang Nga Bay just after noon today. The Thai Meteorological Department reported the quake as striking at 12:14pm, with its epicenter halfway between Phuket and Koh Yao Yai. It struck close to the epicenter of the 4.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred before dawn Wednesday (story here) and subsequent tremblors at 12:25pm…
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Phuket’s Port in-Port out Control Center open for business
PHUKET: The Port in-Port out Control Center (PIPO) at the main fishing port in Phuket officially opened on Wednesday as a measure to help with Thailand’s crackdown on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishers. The center is set up at the Coastal Fisheries Radio Station Phuket office near Rassada Pier. “All 26 coastal fishery radio stations across the country opened…
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Rescue efforts fail to save striped dolphin in Phuket
PHUKET: A striped dolphin spotted close to shore at Bang Tao Beach died last night, despite rescue workers’ and experts’ efforts to save the marine mammal. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived on the scene in front of Sunwing Resort and Spa at about 6:30pm to find tourists attempting to keep the dolphin from beaching itself. Soon thereafter, experts from the…
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Phuket designates 60 “Cheap Shops’ with food under 40 baht
PHUKET: Officials have designated 60 food shops throughout Phuket to be ‘Cheap Shops’, which sell plates of food for 40 baht. The move follows ongoing complaints from locals and tourists alike made directly to Governor Nisit Jansomwong through his Facebook page regarding high food prices in Phuket, said Office of Commercial Affairs Phuket Chief Prakong Rukwong yesterday at the Governor’s…
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Asleep at the wheel: Krabi hotel employee killed in head-on collision
PHUKET: An Ao Nang hotel employee was killed in a head-on collision with a 10-wheeled truck in Krabi yesterday. Klongthom Police and rescue workers were called to the scene at about 5:30pm to find 26-year-old Isahark Thammajit critically injured and trapped inside his pick-up truck. The driver of the 10-wheeled truck, which was abandoned on the side of the road,…
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Full-scale Phuket tsunami drill postponed
PHUKET: The full-scale tsunami evacuation and emergency-response drill scheduled to be held today on Koh Sireh, on the east side of Phuket Town, has been postponed to May 19. The decision to postpone the event was made last week, said Santhawat Riwleung, chief of the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM). The earthquakes that shook…
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Human smuggler busted with 10 illegal immigrants in Phang Nga
PHUKET: A Thai national was arrested for attempting to smuggle 10 illegal Myanmar laborers through a checkpoint in Phang Nga last night. Ranong native Pidech Janjue, 36, had picked up the illegal workers at a fishing port in Phang Nga’s Kuraburi district and was transporting them through Takuapa district to the Khok Kloi bus station. From there, the group was…
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Monsoon seas take another life at lifeguard-less Phuket beaches
PHUKET: A 20-year-old man drowned at lifeguard-less Nai Harn Beach on Tuesday as the southwest monsoon season rolls in, bringing dangerous swimming conditions to Phuket’s west-coast beaches. Without lifeguards on the beach, family members and beachgoers did their best to save Panya Lonraphat, a witness to the death told the Phuket Gazette. “He was found and brought ashore by family…
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Officials play down Phuket earthquakes
PHUKET: Officials today played down fears that the 4.6 magnitude earthquake off Phuket this morning signaled potentially more destructive temblors from the same fault line in the future (story here). The quake struck at 4:18am, with an epicenter about 20 kilometers off Phuket’s east coast, Governor Nisit Jansomwong told the press this morning. Following the governor’s announcement, a second, lighter…
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Opinion: Fill legal loopholes with strong morals
Winai Chidchiew, 42, is the Subdistrict chief (Kamnan) of Karon. Phuket-born Mr Winai has a political science master’s degree specializing in local development and a bachelor’s degree in law, both earned from Ramkhamhaeng University. He also has a bachelor’s degree in community development from Rajabhat University. Here, he talks about the importance of involving local authorities in decisions made for…
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