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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Homeless man found dead in Phuket Town market
PHUKET: A homeless man from Nakhon Sri Thammarat was found dead early this morning lying on top of an empty market stall in Phuket Town. Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were notified at 7:15am about the body located at the Norrahuch intersection market near the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization Hospital. “We found the body of Tienchai Kornsut, 42, lying…
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Phuket, Penang set date for becoming sister cities
PHUKET: George Town in Penang, Malaysia, and Phuket Town are set to become sister cities on September 18, as was confirmed at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall this week. The Royal Thai Consul-General to Penang, Srirat Vathesatogkit, met with Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut on Tuesday to discuss the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize the relationship…
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MICE: Thailand, Myanmar forge ‘landmark’ cooperation agreement
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community MICE: Thailand, Myanmar forge ‘landmark’ cooperation agreement Phuket Gazette PHUKET: THE THAILAND Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) is teaming up with Myanmar’s largest business association to hold trade shows and related events in both countries, as Myanmar continues its rapid opening up to international business. The…
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Obec to cut school hours
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obec to cut school hours The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) will start implementing a policy to reduce classroom hours from this second semester, Obec secretary-general Kamol Rodklai said yesterday. The agency would at first reduce study hours in…
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NCPO appoints new national police chief
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Somyot gets national police chief job in unanimous vote The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung was yesterday chosen in a unanimous 6:0 vote by a junta-installed selection committee as the new Royal Thai Police chief. He will replace Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit,…
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Copilot passes out midflight, dies
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Copilot passes out midflight, dies The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A co-pilot for budget airline Lion Air collapsed mid flight, 20 minutes after taking off from Hat Yai for Bangkok yesterday. The pilot of flight SL 8537 returned to make an emergency landing at Hat…
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Liberia police fire on protesters as Ebola toll hits 1,350
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Liberia police fire on protesters as Ebola toll hits 1,350 Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police in the Liberian capital fired live rounds and tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a stone-throwing crowd trying to break an Ebola quarantine imposed on their neighbourhood, as the death…
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Phelps confident of getting back to his best
PHUKET: Michael Phelps’ comeback to competitive swimming has been anything but smooth sailing. A series of rare defeats have illuminated the enormous challenge he faces getting back to the top. For a man who re-wrote the Olympic record books, those losses could have been enough to persuade him to pack up his goggles and quit for good, but if anything,…
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Pretty Phuket and gorgeous George Town become bosom buddies
PHUKET: Phuket and Penang’s George Town yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of sister city status. The Royal Thai Consul-General to Penang Srirat Vathesatogkit met with Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut to discuss signing an MoU with George Town. The Phuket Town mayor, the director of the Phuket Passport Office and the Peranakan Association chairman joined the…
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Swedes cycling to Phuket for post-tsunami orphanage cross halfway point
PHUKET: With a five-day sprint across Turkmenistan behind them, a group of cyclists who departed Sweden in April for the fair shores of Phuket to raise money for a local post-tsunami orphanage have now crossed the halfway point – on target to arrive well in time for the 10th tsunami anniversary. “The desert race through Turkmenistan was incredibly hot and…
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NACC launches new anti-corruption campaign in Phuket schools
PHUKET: Officials launched a new anti-corruption campaign on Monday aimed at raising awareness among Phuket students about the negative effects of corruption. The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Phuket office signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with 15 well-known schools in Phuket, including Phuket Wittayalai, Satree Phuket and Phuket Technical College. “We are sending [NACC] representatives to the schools twice a…
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Kidnapper on the run arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Patong Police on Monday arrested a man wanted for a kidnapping in 2008 and his role in a murder in 2006. Somkiet Rawungwong, 27, was taken into custody by officers while he was standing next to the Patong beachfront road near the Absolute Sea Pearl Resort & Spa. “Both crimes took place in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. The girl he…
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Rubber growers bounce back with with tyre factory
PHUKET: The Rubber Growers Cooperative Federation of Thailand has proposed establishing its own car tyre factory in a bid to deal with the plunging price of natural rubber. The federation chairman, Perk Lertwangpong, said after his meeting with representatives of rubber planters from the 14 provinces that comprise all of Southern Thailand that the strategy was necessary for their survival,…
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Phuket parents plead for information on missing 13-year-old daughter
PHUKET: The worried parents of 13-year-old Sirinut “Nong Guy” Chaowalert are urging anyone who has seen their daughter to call them immediately. Nong Guy was last seen at the family home in the Prompan housing estate near the SuperCheap complex on Thepkrasattri Road in Rassada on Saturday. “She was at home with her 15-year-old sister while I was at work…
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Fight begins for billion-baht Phuket land at Freedom Beach
PHUKET: The Land Department has set up a task force to specifically establish whether two land titles covering 65 rai at Freedom Beach – with an estimated value of at least 1 billion baht – were legally issued. The task force was officially formed last Friday and has 60 days to submit its findings, Land Department Deputy Director-General Thammasak Chana…
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Helmetless motorcyclist dead after hitting pick-up truck
PHUKET: A motorcyclist was killed after colliding with the back of pick-up truck in rush-hour traffic on Thepkrasattri Road yesterday afternoon. “I was on the way home after having picked up my child. We were about to make a u-turn when I heard something slam into the back of the truck,” said Hathairat Songyot, 39. Ms Hathairat called police, who…
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Atletico’s Garcia earns Super Cup draw at Real Madrid
PHUKET: Atletico Madrid’s Raul Garcia netted a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup first leg on Tuesday after substitute James Rodriguez had opened the scoring with 10 minutes left. Colombian Rodriguez, who came on for the injured Cristiano Ronaldo at halftime, thought he had won the game when he slotted the…
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AMLO seized more than Bt9 billion in 15 years
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community AMLO seized more than Bt9 billion in 15 years The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pol Colonel Seehanat Prayoonrat, secretary-general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), said at an event marking AMLO’s 15th anniversary yesterday that the agency had so far confiscated up to Bt9.7 billion…
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THAI steps up fight against Ebola
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community THAI steps up fight against Ebola The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Private and public organisations are putting more precautionary actions in place here against the Ebola outbreak in Africa to ensure safety. Thai Airways International (THAI) yesterday demonstrated aircraft cleaning and vaccination at Suvarnabhumi Airport…
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Gaza truce collapses, fighting erupts, Israel orders negotiators home
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gaza truce collapses, fighting erupts, Israel orders negotiators home Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip collapsed on Tuesday, with Palestinian militants firing rockets into Israel, prompting Israeli air strikes that health officials said killed a woman and a young girl. Accusing…
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Islamic State says beheads U.S. journalist, holds another
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Islamic State says beheads U.S. journalist, holds another Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Islamic State insurgents released a video on Tuesday purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley, who had gone missing in Syria nearly two years ago, and images of another U.S. journalist…
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Phuket national park land encroachment hearing reveals two claims for same plot
PHUKET: A total of 47 people today explained to the Navy how they came to possess plots of land deemed to be inside Phuket’s Sirinath National Park. Present at the meeting to hear the explanations was Commander Pornprom Sakultem of the Third Naval Area Command. One attendee, Tawee Ngerndee, told Cmd Pornprom that he “used to own” just over 10…
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Champion Nadal out of U.S. Open with wrist injury
PHUKET: Champion Rafa Nadal has pulled out of the U.S. Open, which began on Monday, after failing to recover from a right wrist injury. The 28-year-old Spaniard sustained the injury in practice last month and had been training with a cast on his right wrist, forcing him to miss the Rogers Cup in Toronto and last week’s Cincinnati Open. “I…
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Officials confident 700 rai of Phuket park land to be returned
PHUKET: More than 700 rai of public land inside Sirinath National Park could be returned to the public by September 16 if a dozen land documents under investigation by the Land Department are found to have been illegally issued. “I am quite confident that most of the [12] documents [under investigation] were illegally issued. We are just waiting for officers…
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Phuket official assures Patong kingpin not above the law
PHUKET: Kathu District Chief Sayan Chanachaiwong has vowed that the sandbags in front of the Patong Bay Garden Resort will be removed from the beach, or resort owner and Patong kingpin Preechavude “Prab” Keesin, son of former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, will have to answer to the military. Mr Sayan, accompanied by Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, Patong Mayor Chalermluck…
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Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday raided and suspended obstetrics and gynaecology services at a Lat Phrao clinic for 60 days pending investigation into reports that it provided surrogacy.The clinic allegedly provided services to 1,000 Thai and foreign customers…
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Ukraine, rebels accuse each other of attacking refugee bus convoy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine, rebels accuse each other of attacking refugee bus convoy Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed as they fled fighting in eastern Ukraine on Monday when their convoy of buses was hit by rocket fire, military spokesmen said.…
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Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The two-year-old girl killed by a short-circuit at an ATM in Trang province was buried yesterday, though police say they have yet to charge anybody. The burial ceremony was held at Wat…
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Hotel association believes junta’s beach crackdown will lure tourists back
PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is encouraged to continue improving the public image of attractions across the country in a bid to draw more tourists in the coming high season. “More major tourist destinations such as Pattaya and Bang Saen in Chon Buri, the city of Chiang Mai, Koh Samui in Surat Thani, Koh Chang in…
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Mourinho hopes Cech stays despite losing Chelsea spot
PHUKET: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said he hoped goalkeeper Petr Cech will stay loyal to the club despite losing the starting spot to Belgian Thibaut Courtois. Courtois, 22, who has returned to Chelsea from a successful loan spell with Atletico Madrid, was Mourinho’s choice for the club’s Premier League opener on Monday, a 3-1 win at Burnley. Cech has been…
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