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

    Top 5 luxury villas in Phuket and Koh Samui for your next holiday

    Ask people to name the most beautiful places in Thailand, and you'll often hear Phuket and Koh Samui being mentioned. Who would disagree? One is renowned for its bustling nightlife, vibrant culture, and lively beach scene, while the other is...

  • Dr Smith warns of tsunami risk in Phuket, Andaman region

    Dr Smith warns of tsunami risk in Phuket, Andaman region

    PHUKET: The man whose warnings of a possible tsunami disaster along Thailand’s Andaman coast went unheeded years before the 2004 calamity struck was in Phuket recently, urging a national assembly of school administrators to be prepared for more possible disasters in 2012. Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, former Director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), was guest speaker for a gathering…

  • Phuket Civil Defense Volunteer dead at the wheel | Thaiger

    Phuket Civil Defense Volunteer dead at the wheel

    PHUKET: A Phuket City Civil Defense Volunteer died at the wheel of his car yesterday, possibly even before he crashed the car into a metalworks shop in Chalong at 3am. Police at the scene suspect the driver, Apinun “Nun” Chaibandit, 48, suffered a heart attack just before the crash. The shop workers escaped harm by jumping out of the way…

  • ‘Ae Inside’ murder suspect prepared to surrender: Phuket Police

    ‘Ae Inside’ murder suspect prepared to surrender: Phuket Police

    PHUKET: Police are in telephone negotiations with murder suspect Atsadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab, a Phuket businessman they believe was the mastermind behind the shocking assassination of Phuket newsman Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn early last month. Mr Atsadakorn, owner of KPP Cable TV and a vice president of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, is demanding immediate bail release in return for his…

  • Weekend weather forecast for Phuket

    Weekend weather forecast for Phuket

    PHUKET: The weekend weather forecast for Phuket calls for good beach weather, with partly-cloudy skies, calm seas and a only a small chance of showers. According to Thai Meteorological Department, there is a chance of widely scattered thundershowers over 10% of the island for today, rising to 20% coverage tomorrow and 30% on Sunday. Seas should be calm, with easterly…

  • Phuket Gazette: India – Leopard kills girl; Student stabs teacher; Bus crash kills 26

    Phuket Gazette: India – Leopard kills girl; Student stabs teacher; Bus crash kills 26

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Leopard kills fifth girl in western Nepal PHUKET (News Wires): A teenage girl was killed by a leopard in the district of Baitadi in western Nepal on Wednesday, the fifth such incident in two months, local media reported yesterday. The 14-year-old girl was mauled to death…

  • Former monk arrested for drugs in Phuket

    Former monk arrested for drugs in Phuket

    PHUKET: A former monk was one of six suspects arrested in drug raids in Kathu, Phuket earlier this week. Following a tip-off that a man living in a hut had been selling drugs to local youths, a Thung Thong Police drug suppression unit on Sunday raided the dwelling, located in a rubber plantation near Bang Wad Reservoir in Kathu. They…

  • Weird World News: Sightings of a woolly mammoth, a giant river worm and zombies cause concern on planet Earth

    Weird World News: Sightings of a woolly mammoth, a giant river worm and zombies cause concern on planet Earth

    PHUKET: The truth is out there. Beasts, monsters and ghouls are lurking in the depths of rivers, skulking in remote wilds and hanging out in town centers in England this week. It’s been a week of strange sightings. We’ll let you decide if they’re hoaxes or the real deal. Iceland has its own Loch Ness Monster IS IT A bird?…

  • English teacher reported missing in Phuket

    English teacher reported missing in Phuket

    PHUKET: The mother Mark Robson, a 27-year-old with British and South African nationality, is seeking help to find her son who went missing in Phuket last month. Mr Robson arrived in Thailand from Durban on December 5. After short stays in Bangkok, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui in mid-December, he stayed in Phuket. He was in regular email contact with…

  • Rooney votes Redknapp

    Rooney votes Redknapp

    PHUKET: “Gutted Capello has quit. Good guy and top coach. Got to be English to replace him. Harry Redknapp for me.” Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney expressed his opinion on Twitter yesterday about the resignation of Fabio Capello as England’s football coach and said that Spurs boss Redknapp is his choice to take over the role. Capello quit on Thursday…

  • Phuket Gazette: Ministers without porno?; Toxic bootleg liquor; Fighter jet crashes

    Phuket Gazette: Ministers without porno?; Toxic bootleg liquor; Fighter jet crashes

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Three Indian ministers resign after porno scandal PHUKET (News Wires): Three ministers in southwestern India resigned yesterday after being accused of watching pornography during a debate in the state’s assembly, local media reported today. Women and child development minister CC Patil and cooperation minister Laxman Savadi,…

  • Surprise tuna catch off Phuket, Krabi

    Surprise tuna catch off Phuket, Krabi

    PHUKET: Fisherman have been catching unusually large longtail tuna in the waters south of Phuket recently, experts say. One of the fish, so large it was originally thought to be a “little tunny” or “false albacore”, was brought for examination to the Andaman Sea Fisheries Management Center Krabi on Tuesday. The specimen, weighing in at 5kg, is a good sign…

  • Phuket Police nab alleged pickup thief in Thalang

    Phuket Police nab alleged pickup thief in Thalang

    PHUKET: It took Phuket Police just half an hour to arrest a suspect for the theft of a pickup in Thalang District this morning. They think the man may have been deranged or under the influence of drugs. Cherng Talay Police were notified of the theft of the pickup truck at 10:30am by vehicle owner Sakhon Chalermwanphenyo. Mr Sakhon said…

  • Phuket Gazette: Military options in Syria; Drone kills 10; Medical TV drama ‘House’ to end

    Phuket Gazette: Military options in Syria; Drone kills 10; Medical TV drama ‘House’ to end

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Report: U.S. reviewing military options in Syria to end conflictPHUKET (News Wires): The U.S. government has begun a preliminary internal review of U.S. military capabilities in Syria in the event U.S. President Barack Obama calls for them, senior administration officials told CNN.The officials, speaking on the condition…

  • Phuket update: Volunteers continue sea search for missing Aussie

    Phuket update: Volunteers continue sea search for missing Aussie

    PHUKET: Friends of an Australian woman who fell overboard from a yacht sailing to Phuket late last week are not giving up hope that she may still be alive and are calling on volunteers to continue the search off the coast of Trang. Australian national Carmel Brooks is known to have fallen overboard from the sailboat Moondancer last Thursday night…

  • Phuket Gazette: Mississippi executes man; Last World War I vet dies; Teenage suicide in Moscow

    Phuket Gazette: Mississippi executes man; Last World War I vet dies; Teenage suicide in Moscow

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Mississippi executes man for convenience store killingsPHUKET (News Wires): A Mississippi man convicted of killing two men during a robbery spree in December 1995 was executed this morning, officials said. A U.S. Court of Appeals declined to halt the execution based on claims he was mentally ill.Edwin…

  • Phuket Gazette: EU’s aviation agency orders Airbus A380 wing inspection

    Phuket Gazette: EU’s aviation agency orders Airbus A380 wing inspection

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community EU’s aviation agency orders Airbus A380 wing inspection PHUKET (News Wires): The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) yesterday issued a mandate to further inspect the wings of all Airbus A380 aircraft currently in service. The published Airworthiness Directive to mandate a so-called High Frequency Eddy Current…

  • Phuket tour buses: Two hurt in yet another crash

    Phuket tour buses: Two hurt in yet another crash

    PHUKET: Another Phuket tour bus, this time carrying a group of Chinese tourists, crashed at the base of Patong Hill last night, injuring two people and causing extensive property damage. The single deck bus was carrying about 18 tourists when its braking system failed coming down Phra Barami Road, near Suwankiriwong Temple, at about 7pm. The bus continued straight along…

  • Phuket Sports: Cricket ground is bowled over by plaudits

    Phuket Sports: Cricket ground is bowled over by plaudits

    PHUKET: Sport enjoys more than its fair share of ceremony from presentations to event openings and their eventual finales.Every one of these occasions first heralds, then celebrates the victorious and also commiserates with those that will have to try again, in order to achieve that title, trophy or winning time. Leopard attack bowler.One sporting occasion that inspires hope and limitless…

  • Phuket Update: Sea search called off for missing Australian

    Phuket Update: Sea search called off for missing Australian

    PHUKET: A sea search for an Australian woman reported to have fallen overboard from a yacht sailing to Phuket late last week was called off today. News that a search was underway for Carmel Brookes, an Australian-born resident of Langkawi Island in Malaysia, was first reported to the Phuket Gazette by her close friend Michelle Black yesterday. Ms Black was…

  • Samui hideaway secret unveiled

    Samui hideaway secret unveiled

    PHUKET: Ready to lift the veil on Koh Samui’s “best-kept secret”, the boutique Akaryn Samui is set to welcome its first guests next month. As the fourth and latest venture by Thailand hospitality pioneer Anchalika Kijkanakorn, the Akaryn Samui looks to redefine the boutique resort experience. The largely undiscovered, Hanuman Bay is a pristine crescent cove with a 500-meter powder…

  • Search for missing Phuket girl hits two-month mark

    Search for missing Phuket girl hits two-month mark

    PHUKET: The mother of a Phuket girl who went missing after a Facebook session over two months ago continues to devote all her energies to locating her child. Samruay Saenthaweesuk, mother of 12-year-old Samudchaya “Nong Pin” Yanpunya, spoke with the Gazette yesterday. “I went to Bangkok for help. I went to The Mirror Foundation, Pavena Foundation for Children and Women…

  • Phuket Gazette: Shark attacks surge; Iran grabs ‘BBC journalists’; Teacher facing death for drugs; Five missing in Japan tunnel collapse

    Phuket Gazette: Shark attacks surge; Iran grabs ‘BBC journalists’; Teacher facing death for drugs; Five missing in Japan tunnel collapse

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Study: Shark attack deaths worldwide highest since 1993 PHUKET (News Wires): Sharks killed at least a dozen people worldwide last year, the highest number in nearly two decades, according to statistics released by the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) at the University of Florida on Tuesday.…

  • “Possessed’ girl leads cops to naught | Thaiger

    “Possessed’ girl leads cops to naught

    PHUKET: Police spent hours dredging a pond in Songkhla province earlier this month after a 17-year-old girl told them she had been possessed by the spirit of a young boy whose murdered body was dumped there.Officers eventually abandoned the search after failing to find any remains – except for the skeleton of a dead dog.Mrs Ploi said her daughter Fa…

  • Aussie woman falls overboard from yacht near Phuket | Thaiger

    Aussie woman falls overboard from yacht near Phuket

    PHUKET: Friends of an Australian woman who fell overboard from a yacht on its way to Phuket last Thursday, and who is still missing, are puzzled as to how such an accident could have occurred. Michelle Black, a friend of the woman, said Dr Gerald Goeden and his partner Carmel Brookes were sailing from Lankawai Island to Phuket aboard the…

  • Another child drowns at Phuket’s ‘lethal lagoon’

    Another child drowns at Phuket’s ‘lethal lagoon’

    PHUKET: The drowning death of another child at Nai Harn Lagoon in Phuket over the weekend is causing authorities to consider closing the popular recreational area to swimming. The latest victim, six-year-old Supathanwa Choophuek, was reportedly alive when Nai Harn Beach lifeguards pulled him from the water on Sunday, but he died later at Vachira Phuket Hospital. Nai Harn lifeguard…

  • Civil servant seeks missing mom in Phuket

    Civil servant seeks missing mom in Phuket

    PHUKET: A civil servant in Nakhon Ratchasima is appealing to the public for help in finding his mother, last seen in Phuket in early June last year. Kriengsak Muangkod, the Director of Bureau of Rural Roads Region 5 Office in Nakhon Ratchasima, said his 65-year-old mother Boonna Muangkod was last seen at his niece’s home in Karon on June 3…

  • Alleged “call center’ gang of expats busted in Phuket

    Alleged “call center’ gang of expats busted in Phuket

    PHUKET: Phuket Tourist Police arrested three Filipino members of an alleged ‘call center’ gang for fraud, but the alleged mastermind, a Briton, remains at large. Nakkaphan Phota of the regional Tourist Police office in Phuket Town told the Gazette yesterday that all of the suspects were foreigners. Following a tip-off from the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok, three suspects were…

  • Phuket ‘White Prison’ raid reveals rectal stashing of telephones

    Phuket ‘White Prison’ raid reveals rectal stashing of telephones

    PHUKET: More than 200 officers conducted a surprise inspection at Phuket Provincial Prison yesterday as part of an effort to gain “White Prison” status, said Phuket Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon. The search for drugs was carried out at 5am by officers drawn from all units of the Phuket police, who also targeted mobile telephones, some of which had been smuggled…

  • Phuket Business: Get ready for higher petrol prices

    Phuket Business: Get ready for higher petrol prices

    PHUKET: Now that we are fully into the swing of 2012, the Christmas tradition of goodwill to all men seems a lifetime away. When I get out of bed and go on my now regular morning beach run in Phuket – yes, my New Year’s resolution is still being adhered to – global problems seem to be a million miles…

  • Transportation still the number one issue over Phuket airport’s expansion project

    Transportation still the number one issue over Phuket airport’s expansion project

    PHUKET: The tricky subject of ground transportation overshadowed other matters at a meeting intended to address concerns over Phuket International Airport’s expansion project. The meeting, which was held at Kata Beach Resort last Thursday, was well attended by both public and private sector representatives from Phang Nga, Krabi and Phuket. Chairing the meeting were Tuyaratt Achariyachai, Chairwoman of the Senate…