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
How IG International allows you to trade safely
Trading is much more accessible today, thanks to the advancement of technology. All you have to do is open your web browser or download an app, set up an account, and you’re all set to trade. But here's the thing...
-
Phuket gears up flood relief efforts
PHUKET: The Phuket Reporter’s Club is accepting donations on behalf of the Phuket Provincial Office to help victims of the severe flooding across northern, central and northeastern Thailand. The floods have so far claimed the lives of more than 200 people and forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes. The Reporter’s Club, located at Phuket Provincial Hall,…
-
Police believe Fake DSI agent is on the run in Phuket
PHUKET: A career conman who claimed to be a high-ranking Department of Special Investigations (DSI) officer is on the run again after two decades of crime, arrests, womanizing and escaping justice. Witchayut Pansampao, the alleged conman who masqueraded as a DSI officer to defraud people throughout the South, was arrested last month in Haad Yai but has gone missing after…
-
Phuket Live WIre: Choosing the best wireless connection
PHUKET: In my last two Live Wire columns I talked about the three general types of internet connections available in Phuket – landlines, wireless and satellite – and then gave some recommendations about landlines. This week I’ll explain how to find a good wireless connection. Wireless internet may be your best option in a number of circumstances. Of course, if…
-
Weird World News: Young people doing stupid things
PHUKET: Most adults dread old age because it means you can’t do the things you could when you were young. But if the following stories are anything to go by, those getting on in years should feel blessed with the wisdom that comes with age. The weird, dangerous and idiotic things young people are getting up to around the globe…
-
Phuket News Hound: Thai floods; PM to visit Burma; Thailand’s Boxer going for gold
PHUKET NEWS HOUND – news about Thailand compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket readers Thai flood death toll reaches 212 Phuket Gazette The death toll as a result of widespread flooding across Thailand in recent months has risen to at least 212, according to the latest reports released on yesterday. Permanent Interior Secretary Phranai Suwannarat confirmed the number of deaths,…
-
Buried alive: Phuket activist survives landslide terror
PHUKET: A Phuket community leader was badly injured this morning when a landslide caused part of a neighboring home to come crashing through his bedroom wall as he lay watching television. At about 9:30am today, 38-year-old Witsanu Yidsua was in his bedroom at the back of his home on Phisit Gorani Road when the tragedy occurred. Mr Witsanu, president of…
-
New games for ‘Phuket’ Youth Games 2012
PHUKET: Three new sports have been added to the official program of the 28th Thailand National Youth Games, to be held March 18-28 next year, at the request of the host province, Phuket. Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) executives confirmed the inclusion of fencing, billiards and snooker, and woodball at a recent meeting in Phuket attended by Governor Tri Augkaradecha…
-
Thai volleyball will challenge the world
PHUKET: Last stop on the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour is the Phuket Thailand Open powered by PTT, from November 1 to 6, and this popular event is now being used as a springboard for the Thai teams to make a challenge on the 2012 World Tour. Thai teams have rarely made an appearance on the international circuit…
-
BREAKING NEWS: FC Phuket 1 – 1 Chiang Mai FC
PHUKET: FC Phuket ended their four game winning streak with a 1-1 draw against Chiang Mai FC this evening. Phuket’s Niran Phantong gave Phuket an early lead with a goal in the opening minutes of the first half, but Chiang Mai FC equalized at the start of the second. The star of the match was the Chiang Mai FC keeper,…
-
Three injured in Patong truck crash
PHUKET: Three people were injured when a six-wheeled truck hauling sand ran out of control, crushing vehicles and smashing into shops on Phuket’s west coast this morning. Truck driver Rungaroon Ji-nga, 31, was descending the steep hill into Patong from Phuket Town at about 10 am when he failed to negotiate the curve in front of Wat Suwan Khiriwong (Wat…
-
Phuket Tourism: TAT in major drive to bring on more tourists
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is revising strategies to deal with the economic crisis in Europe and bad situations in the domestic market, such as floods and violence in the South, all of which threaten Thai tourism. Phuket is featured in the plans despite record visitor arrivals during the first half of this year and what some see…
-
Phuket Opinion: Making news a social obligation, and a two-way street
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to thank its readers for their support in our continued growth, not only with the newspaper, which is now on board 10 of the world’s leading airlines, but also on the Web; in the whole new world of handheld ‘devices’; and in broadcasting, where next PGTV goes on UBC/True Visions with two prime time…
-
South African family said to suffer Phuket holiday nightmare
PHUKET: A South African family’s holiday in Phuket turned into a nightmare on their last day here when the father was arrested and detained for almost a month for allegedly being in possession of fake U.S. dollars. According to News 24, Gabriel Sequeira, 43, from Johannesburg, was released only after his family paid out several large amounts of money, totaling…
-
FC Phuket fly north for the “winner’
PHUKET: FC Phuket should be well rested for tomorrow night’s away match against Chiangmai FC, having flown up to the northern capital yesterday afternoon on a flight operated by team sponsors AirAsia. Despite prolonged flooding that has swept across Thailand’s central and northern regions, which in only the past week saw Chiang Mai added to the list of “disaster area”…
-
Kidney dialysis center opens in Phuket
PHUKET: The Laem Son Health Center in Wichit began providing kidney dialysis treatment to patients yesterday, and in doing so became the first center in Phuket to offer such treatment outside government hospitals. The center (pictured here), located on Pattana Thongthin Road, cost 5 million baht to build. “The center is open daily from 7am to 8pm and about 100…
-
Phuket taxi thugs apologize, pay damages for attack on tour driver
PHUKET: The three taxi drivers who assaulted another driver working for a Phuket elephant camp have apologized for the attack and paid 40,000 baht in damages. Kamala Police Duty Officer Anek Mongkol confirmed today that the three taxi drivers – Wasan Sanae, 35, Sitthikorn Boonsri, 28, and Thanawut Poksakul, 25 – were each fined 1,000 baht for the attack. The…
-
Bangkok student trumps Phuket as national winner in Thailand’s Dublin Literary Awards
PHUKET: Sirada Chatikavanij, a 17-year-old student from Triam Udom Suksa school in Bangkok has won the Junior Dublin Literary Award for Thailand in a contest that saw close to 1,000 English-language essays submitted. As the Grand Prize winner, Khun Sirada received a check for 50,000 baht. The award was announced at a presentation ceremony in Bangkok last night, attended by…
-
Park chief preps Similan Islands for tourist high season
PHUKET: The chief of the Similan Islands Marine National Park is calling for all tour boat operators to register in order to be able to legally enter the park when it reopens on November 1. Operators found entering the park without permits will be fined, warned park chief Mana Phermpool. “So far we have received permit applications from 35 boats.…
-
Phuket minimum wage hike effective October 1
PHUKET: The minimum wage rise to 300 baht per day will be in effect for all government employees in Phuket from October 1, a panel of experts has revealed. Senator Anothai Rittiphanyawong broke the news at a seminar at the Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket Town. The new minimum wage will be passed by Cabinet on October 4, but…
-
Soft opening: Aphrodite lands in Phuket
PHUKET: The Aphrodite Cabaret Show held its soft opening party in Phuket last night with a performance that featured a wide variety of dance styles from classical Thai, East Asian and Indian, to bawdy numbers like “Cheeky Girls”, the inevitable “I Will Survive” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”. Before a capacity crowd at their venue opposite Tesco-Lotus on the bypass…
-
Coffin’s out for the new Phuket cricket season!
PHUKET: The cricketing fraternity on Phuket is preparing for the upcoming 2011/2012 Island Furniture League, and all fixtures will be played at the sport’s new dedicated facility – the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) in Thalang. Martin Foster, club affairs representative of the Phuket Cricket Group, which is responsible for organizing and running the league, is looking forward to seeing the…
-
Phuket Veg Fest threat: your “fake’ meat might be real
PHUKET: Officials are conducting inspections of food stalls taking part in the Phuket Vegetarian Festival following reports that some unscrupulous vendors have been lacing “artificial meat” dishes with real meat products in order to make them more attractive to potential consumers. “Artificial meat” dishes are a staple among many who take part in the annual 10-day purification ritual, during which…
-
Supermodel search lands in Phuket
PHUKET: A bevy of beauties participating in the Look Supermodel Search 2011 beauty pageant will visit Phuket next Monday and Tuesday to take part in various activities. The 12 models are scheduled to meet Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and hand out cloth bags at Provincial Hall at 11:45am on Monday, before visiting the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) offices. The…
-
Phuket Veg Fest processions hit the streets
PHUKET: Day three of the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival today was highlighted by a loud and colorful procession through the streets of Phuket Town by members of the Sapam Shrine in Koh Kaew. Adherents, including many mah song spirit mediums, were up early to prepare for the walk, which took place under relatively dry conditions, given the recent rainfall on…
-
Phuket lays claim to Thailand’s biggest “musical fountain’
PHUKET: Phuket is now home to Thailand’s biggest musical fountain after a grand opening ceremony and premiere performance at Saphan Hin on Monday night. More than 100 people turned up to see the first show. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha lauded the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) for creating a tourist attraction outside central Phuket Town, a factor he said would…
-
Phuket Debacle: Bus Terminal 2 may never open
PHUKET: As Phuket Bus Terminal 2 approaches its second birthday, the Phuket Land Transport Office [PLTO] is determined to open the facility by the end of the year, despite continued resistance from Rassada Municipality where it is located (click here to see PGtv footage). The latest discussion about the problems facing the station came at a meeting of the Phuket…
-
Aphrodite Cabaret opens tonight in Phuket
PHUKET: The Aphrodite Cabaret Show will hold its soft opening tonight with a special private performance for the media, government officials and other selected guests. Aphrodite General Manager Siri Deejingtrakool told the Phuket Gazette, “The soft opening will be held tonight, but we have not decided on a date for the grand opening yet. But after tonight we will open…
-
Phuket Airport tipped to reach breaking point
PHUKET: With tourism numbers surging, Phuket International Airport is expecting a record four million passenger arrivals for the year 2011. As arrivals to Asia’s leading resort destination in the first half of the year increased 20% over the same period in 2010 and an unprecedented number of new hotel rooms opened, sagging infrastructure is creating a widespread danger to the…
-
Phuket’s 70.3 Ironman gets Kailua-Kona slots
PHUKET: Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship at Laguna Phuket has scored a major coup by securing 30 qualifying slots from the World Triathlon Corporation for its prestigious 2012 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Laguna is one of only three worldwide Ironman 70.3 triathlons to offer 2012 Kona slots and the only one in Asia-Pacific. The legendary Ironman World Championship…
-
Phuket’s Gov to bring illegal hotels into the fold
PHUKET: Tri Augkaradacha, Phuket’s 43rd governor, was promoted to the top job on October 1, 2010, when he set tourism promotion as his prime policy objective. Here, in his regular monthly “Governor’s Letter” in the Phuket Gazette, he talks about the problem of unregistered hotels, a stalled road project, and the coincidence that he and PM Yingluck Shinawatra are both…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.