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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Waterspout in Patong Bay sets social media sites abuzz
PHUKET: A waterspout that emerged in Patong Bay this afternoon set social media sites abuzz in Phuket with a flurry of comments, stunning photos and videos of the phenomenon. Some people even expressed fear that the waterspout may turn into a fierce storm that could hit land and wreak havoc. “There are no storm warnings this afternoon. People don’t need…
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Dance World gives island residents a place to move their feet
PHUKET: Since opening its doors in 1991, Simon Cabaret has established itself as a must-see show for tourists visiting Phuket. The show draws in visitors who have equal interest in witnessing the flamboyant show, as they have in seeing the deceptively convincing ladyboy dancers. In fact, the show’s website warns patrons that they will leave confused. The cabaret’s owners, however,…
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The power of a photograph
PHUKET: It comes as little surprise that the mauling of Australian tourist Paul Goudie at “Tiger Kingdom” in Phuket drew unprecedented interest (story here) from readers across the globe. Humankind’s innate fear of big cats – as well as the dearth of such attacks in recent decades – makes it the kind of incident that really moves the needle in…
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King’s Cup dinghy series returns to Phuket
PHUKET: Sailing season will kick off this weekend at Cape Panwa when a fleet of more than 20 Optimists and Lasers set sail today in the Phuket Dinghy Series 2014, ahead of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta to be held in December.. The Series race will start at Cape Panwa in front of the Sailing Club of the Royal Thai…
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Police identify Phuket rush-hour killer, move to make arrest
PHUKET: Police have identified the killer who gunned down a man in rush-hour traffic yesterday, firing several bullets into his victim before casually mounting his motorbike and riding away. “We have established the identity of the suspect and will seek a warrant for his arrest today,” Phuket Provincial Police Commander Patchara Boonyasit told the Phuket Gazette this morning. The suspect…
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Phuket police prevent Patong drug dealer shootout
PHUKET: Provincial Police Commander Patchara Boonyasit has praised the Patong Police for taking quick action in arresting an armed Phuket motorbike taxi driver preparing to take down a rival kratom drug dealer with a homemade handgun. At a press conference yesterday, Maj Gen Patchara presented the two kratom dealers, their illegal firearms and more than 10 kilograms of the narcotic…
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Aussie bar owner in Phuket dies after Malaysia visa run
PHUKET: A 63-year-old Australian bar owner has died after returning to Phuket from a visa run to Malaysia. He was to turn 64 today. Philip William Gillham, owner of the Octopus bar in Soi Sea Dragon, off Patong’s famed Soi Bangla, was found dead at his home early yesterday morning. “We received a report that Mr Gillham had died of…
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Yingluck impeachment proceedings in 25 days, says NLA
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yingluck impeachment proceedings in 25 days, says NLA Phuket Gazette PHUKET: National Legislative Assembly (NLA) vice-president Surachai Liengboonlertchai said yesterday the impeachment proceedings against ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra would take no more than 25 days. Yingluck faces impeachment proceedings for alleged failure to stop corruption in her…
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Four killed, 30 injured in train-truck crash in Khon Kaen
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Four killed, 30 injured in train-truck crash in Khon Kaen The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Nakhon Ratchasima-Nong Khai train crashed into a truck at a railway crossing in Khon Kaen at 10 am Thursday, killing the train driver, the train mechanic, and two passengers…
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Indian terror fugitive entered Thailand on Sept 7, no record of him leaving
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Indian terror fugitive entered Thailand on Sept 7, no record of him leaving The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Immigration investigations into an Indian fugitive wanted for killing a minister in a car-bomb attack has found that he entered Thailand thrice this year, the last being…
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Tourist run over by jet-ski jeep on Phuket beach
PHUKET: A tourist was run over by a vehicle towing a jet-ski trailer on a Phuket beach on Tuesday, prompting a jet-ski management and safety meeting this afternoon. The Phuket Gazette was notified of the incident by a foreign man, who asked not to be named, who witnessed the incident on Kata Beach. “A woman was run over by a…
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Man shot dead in front of his son in Phuket street
PHUKET: A man was shot dead in cold blood this morning in full view of his son, during busy morning traffic. Police said Chaliaw Piyapanikul, 47, who was with his 11-year-old son, had dismounted from his motorbike at the Wor Kor Intersection, near Phuket Rajabhat University, when the killer struck. Mr Chaliaw’s son told police that his father got off…
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Nightmare holiday in Nai Harn
PHUKET: We are a senior Australian couple who have been lucky enough to have visited Phuket several times over the last ten years. This year we, and our son in a separate booking, paid upfront for eight weeks accommodation in Nai Harn, an area we love. The first six weeks were fine. A number of Muay Thai fighters from various…
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Fishing around for the answers
Jaroenchai Srisuwan, 48, from Songkhla, has been involved in Phuket’s fishing industry for more than 10 years. In March 2013, he became chief of the Krabi Fishery Management Center. During the short time that he has been chief, he has dealt with more than 100 cases of illegal trawling and arrested more than 250 suspects for illegal fishing. Here, he…
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Halloween will glow at Thanyapura’s family fun run
PHUKET: Themed running events have been making a splash in the world of charity fund-raising sport events. Glow in the dark, colored powder, rock and roll, pink ribbons, rainbows and midnight runs are among the many recurring themes. Never one to be behind the curve, Thanyapura will be taking the themed-run concept a step further this Saturday by combining multiple…
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Asian Beach Games welcome new sports
PHUKET: Several new sports will be added to the 4th Asian Beach Games being held in Phuket this month, making them the biggest Games ever in terms of the number of sporting events. The additional sports will include: Muay Thai, extreme sports, jet-ski sports, beach wrestling and Kurash, a form of Turkish wrestling. The Asian Beach Games is a multi-sports…
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Slew of tourist injuries prompt Phuket cape safety boost
PHUKET: Following a slew of accidents causing injury, and sometimes death, to tourists at Phuket’s idyllic Promthep Cape, officials have decided to install fences in the area to enhance safety. After refusing to post fences on the grounds that it would alter the natural beauty of the landscape (story here), Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos has confirmed that sling wire fences…
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New Phuket Governor joins his first White Prison dawn raid
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong joined his first dawn search of Phuket Provincial Prison to re-affirm the facility’s “White Prison” status yesterday morning. The mass search, conducted by more than 100 officers from military, police, Corrections Department, Health Office and other government agencies, failed to uncover any drugs or contraband. Areas searched included personal lockers of all inmates as well…
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First defamation case against Hall dismissed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community First defamation case against Hall dismissed The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Phra Khanong Court in Bangkok yesterday dismissed a defamation case brought against British rights activist Andy Hall by Natural Fruit Co, a Thai pineapple exporter. According to the court decision, the case was…
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Britain’s Fraud Office launches probe into Tesco accounting scandal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Britain’s Fraud Office launches probe into Tesco accounting scandal Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has opened a formal criminal investigation into accounting errors at Tesco, raising the stakes in a scandal that has hammered the reputation of the country’s biggest grocer.…
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Bus driver dodges charges for Patong hill killing
PHUKET: The bus driver who ran over a teen that fell from his motorbike on Patong Hill last week will face no charges, police confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. CCTV footage showed Natthapol Ritthipan, 17, falling from his bike on the wet road descending into Patong last Thursday (story here). “The bus coming up the hill from Patong, couldn’t…
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Multi-billion-baht pyramid scheme magnate arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: A Chinese man who donated 34 million baht to a Phuket temple in July has been arrested along with two other Chinese nationals for their roles in a pyramid scheme that reportedly duped people out of a total of 9 billion baht in China and Malaysia. In making the arrests, police seized cash and assets valued at more than…
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Swingers tee up record golf cart drive from Pattaya to Phuket
PHUKET: Golfers Graham Haslam and Mark Cameron are preparing to set a world record by driving an electric golf cart from Pattaya to Phuket to raise funds for local children’s education charity Phuket Has Been Good To Us. The “standard” electric golf cart selected for the record-breaking undertaking, to begin in March next year, will include some modifications, namely solar…
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Rubber farmers want more than a subsidy, suspect graft
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rubber farmers want more than a subsidy, suspect graft The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Leaders of rubber farmers in the South have expressed disappointment with the government subsidy of Bt1,000 per rai, limited to a maximum of 15 rai each. Tossapol Kwanrod, chairman of the…
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Indian car-bomb fugitive ‘may not be in Thailand’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Indian car-bomb fugitive ‘may not be in Thailand’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Investigation into the whereabouts of fugitive Indian car-bomb suspect, who escaped from a maximum-security jail in India in 2004, found no evidence that he had entered Thailand, Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr…
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Bangkok bans airborne lanterns for Loy Krathong
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok bans airborne lanterns for Loy Krathong The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has banned airborne lanterns for the upcoming Loy Krathong festival – on November 6 – in areas around the capital. The ban will cover areas such as the…
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Myanmar journalist killed by army was former bodyguard of Suu Kyi
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Myanmar journalist killed by army was former bodyguard of Suu Kyi Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Myanmar journalist who was killed in army custody this month was once a democracy activistand a bodyguard for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, his wife said on Tuesday,…
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Suwana becomes the first woman to head DSI
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Suwana becomes the first woman to head DSI The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Suwana Suwanjuta is the first woman to be chosen to lead the Department of Special Investigation (DSI). The Cabinet approved the appointment of Suwana, a deputy permanent secretary for Justice, as the…
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Sneaky Russians caught lifting vodka in Phuket
PHUKET: Three Russians are sitting in Phuket Provincial Prison after a second attempt at stealing booze from a Patong convenience store this month. Evgeny Balashov, 31; Nikolay Chuvilyaev, 30; and Vadim Afanasev, 31, were caught on CCTV stealing five bottles of liquor on October 1. However, it wasn’t until they returned on October 23 and attempted to steal a bottle…
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Live grenade found on Phuket beach
PHUKET: A live M67 hand grenade was found on Panwa Beach this morning, on the southeastern coast of Phuket. Experts from Phuket’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit promptly removed the war weapon from the sand and moved it to a secure location. “We were informed about the grenade after it was found by a villager near Soi Ruamjai at about…
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