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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State oil PTT sued for B350mn for Samet oil spill
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six businesses file Bt350m lawsuit against PTT The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Tourism operators filed a lawsuit at the Rayong Provincial Court yesterday demanding Bt350 million in compensation from PTT Global Chemical PCL (PTTGC) for the July 27, 2013, oil spill off the coast of…
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NCPO eases controls on media, urges self-regulation
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO eases controls on media, urges self-regulation The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has amended some points in its announcement – No 97 – on media control after being told that the order banning critical reports was harsh.…
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His Majesty endorses provisional constitution
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO chief gets full control of security The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: His Majesty The King has endorsed a provisional charter that puts the chief of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in charge of national security, allowing him to suppress any action both…
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Boy, 4, dies after being left in car by school driver
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Boy, 4, dies after being left in car by school driver The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Another child has died in tragic circumstances after being left in a car – in Nakhon Si Thammarat yesterday – by the driver of a school vehicle. Driver Anusorn…
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Police save Phuket van driver from mob after collision kills woman two days before her 24th birthday
PHUKET: Police quickly removed a Phuket van driver from the scene of a fatal accident in Koh Kaew this afternoon that killed a woman two days before her 24th birthday. According to witnesses, Jantima Srilertchalalai was riding her motorbike about one kilometer from British International School Phuket when she braked suddenly while crossing a small bridge. “The van driver [travelling…
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Phuket begins registering illegal migrant workers
PHUKET: The first wave of illegal migrant workers made their way to Phuket Provincial Community Hall today to apply for legal working status at the one-stop registration center. The center opened at 8:30am and will operate every day until August 21, as instructed by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), to streamline the process of registering illegal migrant…
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Breaking News: Police bust Phuket drug dealer found with B3.5mn worth of ya ice
PHUKET: Police nabbed a big-time Phuket drug dealer yesterday afternoon with 3.5* million baht worth of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) stashed away in his house in Rawai. “Suphap Somphak, 30, was wanted for his involvement in an island drug network. Investigators were able to gather enough information about him to secure a search warrant for his house in Soi Sarika…
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No life-time ban for overstays
PHUKET: Thailand’s Immigration Bureau has dropped its proposal for a lifetime ban on foreigners re-entering the country if they are caught overstaying their permits-to-stay by 10 years or more. The Immigration Division 1 in Bangkok announced the news by posting a special notice on its website this morning (click here). Under the new proposed rules, there is no re-entry ban…
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One man killed, one injured in two fruit-picking accidents on Phuket
PHUKET: One fruit harvester was injured and another killed yesterday in separate accidents on northern Phuket. At about 4:30pm, a Myanmar national named only as Maen fell from a tree to his death at a west coast resort while harvesting coconuts. The tree was situated on the edge of a cliff, and Mr Maen, 32, fell 30 meters before striking…
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South Korea ferry disaster: Body of fugitive boss found
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community South Korea ferry disaster: Body of fugitive boss found Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Korean police said on Tuesday that a body found last month in the south of the country was that of a fugitive businessman who headed the family that owned the operator…
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Media groups call on junta to repeal ban threat
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Media groups call on junta to repeal ban threat The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Media groups have called on the National Council for Peace and Order to revoke or change its latest announcement on control measures over the industry. Of particular concern is the immediate…
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Bodies, black boxes handed over from Ukraine crash site
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bodies, black boxes handed over from Ukraine crash site Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The remains of some of the nearly 300 victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane downed over Ukraine were making their way to the Netherlands on Tuesday as a senior Ukrainian separatist leader…
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Land Dept explains legal loophole to owning park land
PHUKET: A legal loophole dating back more than 50 years may be just what those accused of encroaching on Phuket’s Sirinath National Park need to legally claim privately owned plots within the park’s boundaries. The surprise was delivered to Governor Maitri Inthusut this afternoon by a Deputy Director-General of the Land Department, Thammasak Chana, accompanied by Phuket Land Office chief…
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Angry Rawai residents demand water
PHUKET: A group of angry residents from the Saiyuan Med Village housing estate in Rawai descended on the Phuket Water Authority (PWA) office at Bang Wad Reservoir today to demand action to fix their water supply. Water supply had been intermittent since the start of the year, and for the past two months 55 homes in the estate have had…
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Phuket teen confesses to fatal stabbing
PHUKET: A Phuket teen turned in to police by his parents has confessed to the fatal stabbing of another young man in the heat of a fistfight early yesterday morning. “The parents of Suppachai Mattanung, 19, called me this morning and told me they were bringing their son to the station, as he had confessed to them that he had…
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Soi Paradise staff tested for drugs in police sweep
PHUKET: An 88-strong brigade of Phuket police, military officers and local officials took to the streets of Patong’s gay quarter last night to conduct random drugs tests on Soi Paradise bar staffers. “We arrived at Soi Paradise at about 9pm and were finished by about 10pm,” Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Khunnadet Nanongkhai told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “During the…
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Phuket visa runs surge as expats scurry for legitimate stays
PHUKET: The ongoing crackdown on foreigners staying in Thailand by doing visa runs to re-enter the country on visa-exemption status has sparked a surge in the number of foreigners in Phuket travelling to Penang to obtain visas issued by the Royal Thai Consulate there. Preeyapan Adithepwarangkul, owner of KBV Visa Run, told the Phuket Gazette that demand for the Penang…
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Drug dealer serves time in Pattalung, arrested in Phuket for dealing again
PHUKET: A drug dealer who had recently been released from a six-year stint in prison was arrested in Phuket yesterday in possession of 105,000 baht of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine). Jakkarin Songpet, 33, was stopped by Thalang Police at the Baan Bang Jo checkpoint on Thepkrasattri Road at about 5:30pm. “We pulled him over because he was driving a motorbike…
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First Hole-in-One at Laguna Phuket Golf Club new course
PHUKET: Soon after Laguna Phuket Golf Club unveiled the first half of their completely redesigned golf course, a new opportunity to celebrate presented itself. This time it was thanks to German golf player Juergen John who scored a hole-in-one on July 9 – both his and the course’s first. Stepping onto the Blue Tee, Juergen flushed an 8 iron on…
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Call from abroad leads to discovery of Australian tourist’s body in Phuket
PHUKET: An international phone call led Phuket hotel staff to find an Australian guest dead in his room yesterday afternoon. The phone call was from a friend who said he had been unable to contact Adam Arthur Sahyoun, 31, said Lert Paiboon, an employee at the Happy Cottages Phuket resort in Chalong. Hotel staff checked the room of Mr Sahyoun,…
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Mcllroy joins greats after repelling Garcia charge
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rory McIlroy suffered several anxious moments but kept the jitters in check to rubber-stamp his status as the newest golfing great by landing the first British Open title of his career on Sunday. The 25-year-old Northern Irishman watched Sergio Garcia (66) cut his overnight lead from six…
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Costa Concordia almost ready for final voyage
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Costa Concordia almost ready for final voyage Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The massive hulk of the Costa Concordia is nearly ready to be towed away from the Italian island where it struck a rock and capsized two-and-a-half years ago, killing 32 people, officials said on…
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Israel shells Gaza militants as death toll climbs
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel shells Gaza militants as death toll climbs Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israeli tanks shelled militant targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and a woman died in an air strike after the bloodiest day for both sides of a nearly two-week military offensive that…
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Nakhon Ratchasima tackles underprivileged kids’ issues
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nakhon Ratchasima tackles underprivileged kids’ issues The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Six-year-old Yot (not his real name) was described by his scavenger mum as a problem child. He hated going to school and was so addicted to computer games he began begging to cover the…
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Attempt to kill former red shirt leader linked to ‘personal dispute’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Attempt to kill former red shirt leader linked to ‘personal dispute’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The attempt to kill a key red shirt leader in Chiang Mai on Saturday evening was likely the result of a personal conflict, police said. Niyom Luangcharoen, “DJ Lae”,…
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Thais split on whether Yingluck will come back
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thais split on whether Yingluck will come back The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: About half of the people who responded in a recent survey support the junta’s granting of permission for ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra to take a short trip out of the country,…
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Tourists injured in Pattaya banana boat crash
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tourists injured in Pattaya banana boat crash The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 12-year-old girl and another Chinese tourist were sent to hospital yesterday after their banana boat crashed into a sightseeing ship off Pattaya. Two other Chinese holidaymakers riding the inflatable boat were dislodged…
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U.S. presses case against Russia on downed jet as horror deepens
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. presses case against Russia on downed jet as horror deepens Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out what he called overwhelming evidence of Russian complicity in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 as international horror deepened over…
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Special Report: Tackling Phuket’s kid thugs is no child’s play
A growing number of teenagers in Phuket are becoming involved in drug abuse and violent crimes in a shift that is concerning local officials involved with juvenile cases, from court judges who hand down sentences to the minors to the counselors tasked with reforming them in the hope the children do not become repeat offenders. The Gazette’s Saran Mitrarat reports.…
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Phuket Police launch 10pm street curfew for minors
PHUKET: Following the recent spate of violent teenage attacks throughout Phuket, the island’s top-ranking police officer has ordered a 10pm curfew for all minors, effective immediately. “I have ordered officers from every police station in Phuket to start cracking down on children under 18 years old who are found roaming the streets at night,” Provincial Police Commander Krajang Suwannarat told…
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