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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Six Guantanamo prisoners fly to Uruguay for resettlement
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six Guantanamo prisoners fly to Uruguay for resettlement Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET:Six men held for more than a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were flown to Uruguay for resettlement on Sunday, the latest step in a slow-moving push by President…
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NFL Week 14: Cowboys crush Bears, 41-28
PHUKET: Quarterback Tony Romo and his Dallas Cowboys blew out a hapless Chicago Bears team 41-28 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday Night Football, the first game of Week 14 of the NFL season. The win raised the Cowboys’ record to 9-4, guaranteeing them their first winning season in five years following a string of three mediocre 8-8 seasons.…
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Opinion: Phuket umbrellas return to paradise
PHUKET: The recent lifting of the ban on tourists bringing umbrellas onto island beaches is a step in the right direction, one the Phuket Gazette hopes will eventually lead to a comprehensive and sustainable solution that meets tourists’ needs while continuing to protect our beaches from encroachment. However, Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), made…
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Just 3 days to deadline for Phuket’s yellow pages
/PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2015 Gazette Guide Business Directory, Phuket’s “yellow pages”, have until noon on Wednesday, December 10, to enter (or update) their listings. Businesses not listed by that date will not appear in the directory until 2016. The book for 2015, with details of about 2,500 businesses serving the international community on Phuket, will be…
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Phuket Gazette bumper issue packed with holiday gifts
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette begins the annual festive-season early this week with a record-breaking feast of 124 pages of reading for your enjoyment. We’ve been busy with major foreign media leaders to bring you news supplements from the countries and the markets that matter most – now and in the future – to Phuket. Inside this week’s Gazette, on newsstands…
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Cobra caught by Phuket villagers during cleanup
PHUKET: A group of Phuket locals trapped a large cobra that they discovered while cleaning up their village in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday yesterday. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived at the scene in Rassada to find the more than 2-meter-long female cobra trapped inside a large basket. “We had to be careful when we caught her, because…
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Billionaire wanted in Pongpat case ‘may have fled to Canada’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Billionaire wanted in Pongpat case ‘may have fled to Canada’ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Billionaire businessman Nopporn Suppipat – wanted over the alleged abduction and intimidation of someone he owed Bt120 million to – may have travelled to Canada after hiding in Cambodia, a police source said…
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Crowds mass at Siriraj for The King
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Crowds mass at Siriraj for The King Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Despite the cancellation of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s public appearance yesterday at his doctors’ request, his loyal subjects gathered at Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital – as well as other locations around the country – to wish the…
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Phuket police foil armed man’s revenge plot
PHUKET: Police foiled an armed man’s plan for revenge by arresting him after he sped through a checkpoint in Phuket yesterday morning. Police chased down Vatcharin Chaisen, 26, at about 3am after he charged through the checkpoint in Karon to avoid being pulled over by officers. “After we stopped him, we found two homemade handguns, two rounds of ammunition and…
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Back to business amid good conditions at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Day 4
PHUKET: Consistent winds made a very welcome return for Day Four of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta yesterday. All classes sailed, with exceptionally tight action and some big winning margins. The King’s Cup this year has played host to an offering of IRC class racing, especially at the high-tech “Grand Prix” end of the classes such as in IRC0, where…
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Phuket goes both ways with first underpass
PHUKET: The underpass near Central Festival Phuket is now open to two-way traffic, as officials scramble to complete the intersection. “We opened the underpass to northbound and southbound traffic on Wednesday,” explained Samak Luedwonghad, director of the Phuket Highways Office. “Meanwhile we will continue to work on the surface streets above it.” The 600-million-baht underpass was originally slated for completion…
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Phuket blood center calls for donations in honor of HM The King
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) has invited all qualified island residents to make a blood donation in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday today. Those wishing to honor HM The King in this way will have a chance to sign a get-well message for His Majesty, explained PRBC Acting Chief Pornthip Rattajak. “We currently have 700…
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Phuket Police turn down bribe, arrest Aussies
PHUKET: Two Australian tourists were given a stern lecture and a second chance by Phuket police after the two allegedly tried to bribe police officers to drop theft charges against them. The Aussies, named by police only as 21-year-old Maurice and 25-year-old John Jo Han, were arrested early this morning for shoplifting 10 sport jerseys from a shop on Bangla…
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Phuket bar owners called to honor Father’s Day booze ban
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak has signed a formal request to be issued to all bar owners, restaurateurs and other purveyors of alcohol throughout Phuket to refrain from selling booze tomorrow in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday. Vice Governor Somkiet told the Phuket Gazette that he understands there is no law to prohibit the sale of…
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Phuket King’s Cup Regatta battles light winds
PHUKET: Very little early wind yesterday brought most of the fleet competing in the 28th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta off Kata Beach to a momentary rest, with racing action to resume today. Thursday is traditionally reserved as the “reserve day” to accommodate days of very light weather such as suffered yesterday, but today will be used as a full racing…
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Police corruption fugitive a billionaire Thai in the business world
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police corruption fugitive a billionaire Thai in the business world The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Nopporn “Nick” Suppipat, president of Wind Energy Holding (WEH), is accused of being involved in a scandal linked to former Central Investigation Bureau chief Gen Pongpat Chayapan. It is alleged…
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Police Corruption Scandal: Border patrols hunt for more Pongpat associates
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police Corruption Scandal: Border patrols hunt for more Pongpat associates The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Arrest warrants have been issued for two more suspects allegedly involved in a series of intimidation cases associated with former crime-buster Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan, Phra Khanong police said yesterday.…
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BMA ready to order Aetas hotel demolition
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community BMA ready to order Aetas hotel demolition The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Aetas hotel will be the largest building to face a demolition order from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration for breaking regulations, its BMA deputy permanent secretary Kritsada Kluntanont said yesterday. “We have ordered…
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Koh Tao suspects not coerced, police tell human rights panel
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Koh Tao suspects not coerced, police tell human rights panel The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police have not used any violence against two Myanmar nationals detained over the murders of two British tourists on Koh Tao, a senior police officer told a subcommittee of the…
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Critical Phuket underpass intersection to close for three months
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have announced that the lanes of traffic flowing between Kathu and Samkong at the Samkong Intersection, the site of the Tesco underpass, will be closed from December 6 to March 1. During that time, motorists approaching the intersection from the east or the west will be forced to make a left turn, and then proceed to…
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No Phuket search for missing South African
PHUKET: Top island officers have yet to receive an official request to find a South African man who was last known to be in Phuket in June. Arayaphan Pukbuakao, a Phuket Provincial Police deputy commander, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that he had not received a report about Ezra Jansen, 31, who is being treated by the South African Embassy…
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Pregnant mum survives horror Phuket crash
PHUKET: A five-month pregnant woman and five other people are in hospital after the pick-up truck they were travelling in crashed into a power pole on Thepkrasattri Road early this morning. Jantree Harnhong, 30, was on her way to Phuket with her 33-year-old partner Noppol Karnjanaburi and four others when the accident occurred in front of Muang Thalang School at…
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Phuket King’s Cup Regatta: Light winds lead to tricky, tight racing
PHUKET: Following Day One’s extremely close racing, Day Two of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta served up a trickier challenge to crews in the form of very light wind conditions. All of the classes were fought in close-quarters positions, reflecting well on this year’s revised class structure, which was designed to encourage very tight and visually impressive racing action. Karl…
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Prosecutors claim case against Koh Tao Myanmar pair is solid: source
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prosecutors claim case against Koh Tao Myanmar pair is solid: source The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Public prosecutors expect the case against two Myanmar suspects accused of murdering two British tourists on Koh Tao to be treated seriously by a court in the South because…
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Charter panel brushes aside call for direct election of Cabinet, PM
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Charter panel brushes aside call for direct election of Cabinet, PM The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The suggestion for Thais to directly elect both the prime minister and members of Cabinet has been brushed aside by a subcommittee of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) working…
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Missing Karen activist ‘never released’ after arrest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Missing Karen activist ‘never released’ after arrest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A police probe into CCTV footage suggests that missing Karen activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen was never released following his arrest on a petty offence by Kaeng Krachan National Park officials, police investigators said…
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Police Corruption Scandal: Seized artifacts to be repatriated
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police Corruption Scandal: Seized artifacts to be repatriated The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Some of the 50 artifacts worth more than 50 million baht found in the treasure trove seized by officers raiding the homes of disgraced former crime-buster Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan will be…
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Royal family to hold much-awaited public audience
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Royal family to stage much-awaited public audience The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Their Majesties the King and Queen, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, will grant a much-awaited public audience at the Amarin Winitchai Throne Hall at 10.30am on Friday.…
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Live grenades found in Phuket residential area
PHUKET: A Burmese trash-burner discovered two live M26 hand grenades at a dump near a Phuket residential area in Rawai this afternoon. The man, named by police only as Mr A, identified the dangerous weapons of war and immediately informed his employer, who promptly reported the find. Phuket’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit arrived shortly thereafter. “The two standard M26…
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Phuket beach vendors protest with national anthem
PHUKET: Dozens of Phuket beach vendors gathered at the Patong Police Station and sang Thailand’s national anthem yesterday, after they were forced off the beach by police and municipality officers. “The Navy told us that we were allowed – that only umbrella vendors were prohibited,” one vendor told the Phuket Gazette. “We are just trying to make a living. Why…
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