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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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What’s not covered by health insurance in Thailand?
Health insurance in Thailand has important limits that everyone should know. Many policies do not cover pre-existing conditions, motorcycle accidents, extreme sports, or specific treatments. These gaps can lead to unexpected costs during emergencies. Coverage for outpatient care and hospital...
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Phuket floods already, and more rain on the horizon
PHUKET: Steady rain in Phuket caused minor flooding this morning at the usual places in Phuket: in front of Patong Hospital and on Chao Fa West Road in Chalong.However, no roads were reported to be cut off and small vehicles were able to make their way through the water.Floodwater collected in the area in front of Patong Hospital on Phang…
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Kamala cable company offers optical, digital coverage
PHUKET: Good news for residents on the island’s north who want to keep up with the world’s top footballing action, but don’t fancy spending their late nights in some hole-in-the-wall leagues away from home: Owner of Kamala Digital Cable TV (KDTV), Niruj Sariya, recently announced new upgrades and plans to continually increase and improve cable TV services in the Kamala…
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Phuket beach encroachers face Kamala Friday deadline
PHUKET: Shop and bar owners that have been found to be encroaching on Kamala Beach have until tomorrow to take down their offending structures.If they are not removed voluntarily, they will be demolished, said Kamala Tambon Administrative Organization (OrBorTor) Vice President Seri Larpmark.Mr Seri first inspected construction on the beach in early September. “We found many shops and bars encroaching…
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Thieves take a break in Phuket coffee shop, before making off with loot
PHUKET: Thieves broke into a coffee shop and stole a Samsung tablet and a CCTV recording unit, but not before availing themselves of the shop’s offerings.Police called to the scene found two bottles of Singha beer and two empty cake containers in a garbage bin, and a fan still turned on.Wassana Thanormsak, the owner of The Elephant coffee shop on…
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Phuket kart racing: Grimes eyes New Orleans
PHUKET: After returning from their holiday back in the UK, the Grimes boys (Ben and Sam Grimes) got back into action at the penultimate round of the 2013 Asia Max Challenge at the Sepang International Kart Circuit in Malaysia.The junior category boasted a fierce field of 35 drivers and Sam started the weekend well by out-qualifying his elder brother Ben…
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Police trainees bolster Phuket street presence
PHUKET: Police trainees from Surat Thani saw some frontline action in Phuket this week when they received on-the-job training at a checkpoint in Baan Bang Jo, in Srisoonthorn. Thalang Police Deputy Superintendent Amnuay Kraiwootthinan and a team of officers supervised the 14 trainees assigned to the Thalang precinct, while another 43 trainees from Surat Thani were dispatched to assist in…
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On roadside north of Phuket, stomachache turns into baby boy
PHUKET: Rescue workers taking a Burmese woman with complaints of a bad stomachache to Takuapa Hospital this morning were surprised when she suddenly gave birth to a baby boy.“We received an emergency call to pick up Ms Soe, 35, a Burmese worker at a rubber plantation, just after midnight. She reported having a very bad stomachache for no reason,” said…
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Body of missing Chinese swimmer washes ashore Phuket’s Kata Beach
PHUKET: The body of a Chinese tourist who disappeared while swimming at Karon Beach on Monday was found washed ashore at Kata Beach, about three kilometers away, yesterday afternoon.“We have now found the body of Sheng Caoliang, who was 31 years old and reported as missing on Sunday,” Karon Police officer Lt Sathaporn Seenoon said.“Mr Sheng and a friend went…
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Driver overshoots Phuket curve, car collides with utility pole
PHUKET: A driver escaped serious injury after he overshot a curve on Phuket’s Baan Don-Thalang road and slammed into a roadside power pole on Monday night.The vehicle, a Ford Fiesta with Phang Nga license plates, was seriously damaged, but the driver and bystanders escaped injury.“We arrived at the scene with Kusoldham rescue workers to find a the car blocking the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Woman jailed 5 years for lese majeste web comments
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai woman jailed 5 years for anti-royal web post Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Thai court jailed a woman for five years yesterday for posting online comments insulting to the monarchy, the second ruling of its kind this week under tough lese-majeste laws carrying penalties…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Pressure builds to publicly explain dam project
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: The Standing Committee on National Security yesterday proposed that the Water and Flood Management Commission (WFMC) explain to the public the likely impacts of the Mae Wong Dam project in a show to be aired on Channel 9 on October 13.The show would follow an episode of…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Picture of flood devastation emerges
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: Twenty-five provinces – mostly in the North, Northeast and East of the country – remain flooded, though the situation is improving, says the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.Seasonal flooding, which has hit 32 provinces since September 17, has affected 2.86 million people and left 27 dead,…
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One-year-old boy dies, apparent victim of family abuse
PHUKET: A one-year-old boy who died at Vachira Phuket Hospital on Saturday likely died of wounds inflicted by a family member, say police. The child was brought to Thalang hospital by relatives at 11pm on Friday. He was unconscious, and his face and body were covered in bruises. “He was still breathing, but struggling, so the Thalang medical team gave…
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Two Chinese tourists mugged on the way to Cherng Talay supermarket
PHUKET: Two Chinese women on their way to a supermarket in Cherng Talay last night were attacked and robbed by two men on a motorbike.The women were walking to Tesco Lotus when the two men rode toward them.“The passenger got off the motorbike and snatched their bags, and the tourists fought to get the bags back,” said Jirasak Sungwisut of…
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Aussie taxi driver intimidates other drivers with gun, blade
PHUKET: An Australian allegedly working illegally as a taxi driver in Patong attempted to intimidate a female taxi driver yesterday afternoon with a bladed weapon and a gun. Garry Porting was arrested later in the day by Patong Police for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, explained Kathu District Chief Veera Kerdsirimongkol. Mr Porting went to the Graceland Hotel…
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Chinese tourists drowns at popular Phuket day-trip location
PHUKET: A Chinese tourist drowned at Koh Racha Yai yesterday afternoon, 14 weeks after another Chinese national drowned at the popular Phuket day-trip destination. Lin Hunhing, 30, was swimming near the island after lunch when he ran into difficulties. “There were big waves, up to two meters high,” said Thada Sodarak of the Chalong Police. “He tried to swim back…
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Seat belt saves Phuket chief judge in auto wreck
PHUKET: Phuket Court Chief Judge Parinya Chaowalittawin became a traffic-accident statistic over the weekend when he survived an accident en route to Krabi. “I was on my way to see my parents in Trang, and had left Phuket at about 4:30am on Saturday,” Mr Parinya told the Phuket Gazette.“It was about 6am and I was some two kilometers past Krabi…
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Phuket Gazette World News: US shutdown with no end in sight
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community In first day of U.S. shutdown, no end in sight Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans came no closer to ending a standoff yesterday that has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years and thrown hundreds of thousands of federal employees out…
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![Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Threat from typhoon eases [VIDEO] | Thaiger](https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/thailandnews_Photo_The_Nation_22388_HnPqPsmRGL_jpeg.jpg)
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Threat from typhoon eases [VIDEO]
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Threat from typhoon eases The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: With Typhoon Wutip rapidly heading for a downgrade to a low-pressure ridge yesterday, some Thais heaved a sigh of relief but many remained on the lookout for another coming storm. Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, who…
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Phuket’s new top cop makes a stand for human dignity
PHUKET: The incoming commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiwruangnont, has vowed to better protect the privacy and human dignity of suspects by calling for careful consideration before staging public “re-enactments” of crimes and criminal press conferences.“I will not order a ban on officers staging such events, but I will ask the superintendents of all police stations…
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Phuket’s “Brother Pom’ leads Central taxi flock to legal co-op
PHUKET: The informal network of taxi drivers operating at Central Festival Phuket shopping mall will be registered as a formal co-operative as part of the drivers’ efforts to work as part of a fully-legal entity by November 30. The co-operative will call itself the Andaman Taxi Service Co-operative, explained network leader Pom Sukkasam, also known as “Brother Pom”. “We have…
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Tour operators warned of imposters in Similian National Park
PHUKET: The Similan Islands National Park authority has warned tour operators over a group of people posing as park officers and offering reduced entry fees to the islands. “A couple of weeks ago, a number of tour operators informed me that there was a group of people who approached them, claiming to be national park officers,” Similan Islands National Park…
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Phuket wild boars ravage football-golf greens
PHUKET: A sounder of wild boar has settled on an 18-hole “Football Golf Course” in Chalong as their preferred dining area, but in the pigs’ quest for cuisine, they’ve left damaging divots on the greens. “Our course is currently under attack by wild boars, which are rampaging through it at night and ripping up our greens,” said Neil Simmons of…
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Alarmed drunkard dumps temple bell, flees scene
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for a man who reportedly tried to sell a temple bell to a secondhand store in Thalang while drunk. Natthakarn Rattanaphan, 33, called the Thalang Police yesterday afternoon after a man arrived at her secondhand store in front of the well-known Term Fun housing estate in Baan Manik (map here). “The man, aged about…
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Phuket jet-ski thug gets first taste of swift tourist court justice
PHUKET: The first cases heard in Phuket’s tourist court, which involved a jet-ski operator who attacked two tourists on Kata Beach, were resolved less than 36 hours after the incidents happened. Danaichet Yomjinda, 25, who pled guilty to charges of assaulting the two men on Friday with a “No Swimming” flagpole, was issued a 1,000-baht fine and put on probation…
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Krabi’s Andaman Eagles swoop down on Phuket FC
PHUKET: The Islanders fell into 11th place of the 18-team Yamaha League One (YL1) as a result of their latest defeat, 3-1 to Krabi FC in a tense “Andaman derby” match on Saturday evening in Krabi Town. As a result, Phuket FC and the Krabi “Andaman Eagles” swapped rankings, the latter moving up to 9th place with 38 points –…
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Phuket hitman Rambo denies death squad charges
PHUKET: Joseph Manuel Hunter, 48 – nicknamed “Rambo” and arrested at his rented Phuket home last Thursday, as originally reported by the Phuket Gazette (story here) – has denied charges of recruiting a team of former military snipers to commit murders on behalf of two Colombian drug cartel leaders. The cartel leaders were, in fact, Drug Enforcement Administration informants posing…
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Phuket tour bus brakes fail, driver avoids disaster
PHUKET: Faulty brakes almost resulted in a tour bus smashing into a house on Patong Hill last night, in a near-repeat of an accident that occurred at almost the same location about four months ago (story here). “No injuries were reported. The Daow Duang Mai Travel company bus had no passengers. It was only carrying tourists’ luggage when the accident…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Berlusconi plunges Italy into chaos; Air strike on Syrian school; US faces Fed Govt shutdown; Nigerian massacre; Space FalconX launches
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Italian politics in crisis after Berlusconi pulls support Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Silvio Berlusconi’s bid to push Italy into new elections faces a test on Monday when he meets lawmakers from his centre-right party who have shown growing unease over his shock decision to pull support from…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Floods hit, more rain coming; High hopes for baby panda; Govt urged to consider BRN proposal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM visits Prachin Buri as flood crisis intensifies The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The flood crisis in Prachin Buri was the focus of attention yesterday amid forecasts of more rain on the way and fears that local industrial estates could be submerged.The eastern province has been the…
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