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 much is Thai health insurance?
Health insurance in Thailand is essential for expats and locals, providing financial protection and access to quality care. Costs depend on age, health, and coverage level, with basic plans being cheaper but limited and comprehensive plans offering more benefits at...
-
Phuket Opinion: Dumping drugs for scouts’ honor
PHUKET: Rapin Nichanon, 58, has been the Provincial Prison Chief since 2011. Originally from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, he served as the director of Krabi Provincial Prison before moving to Phuket. Here, he talks about how successful the prison’s “scout training courses” (story here) are in helping drug users become valuable citizens: We have been holding our “scout training” courses for…
-
Hail Phuket Provincial Hall
PHUKET: Protests over the recently-unveiled plan to build a new 465-million-baht Phuket Provincial Hall (story here) strike us as quite surprising, especially the fact that self-described “local people” are leading the opposition: virtually all of the land in the immediate vicinity belongs to the state. Few would argue the need for a larger provincial hall complex on Phuket. Various plans…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: FBI probe launched after drone spotted at JFK airport
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Feds checking pilot’s report of drone sighting during JFK landing Phuket Gazette / News wiresPHUKET: Federal authorities launched an investigation on Tuesday after the pilot of a commercial plane reported seeing a remote-controlled drone near his plane while preparing to land at New York’s John F. Kennedy…
-
Reflecting on currency exposure
PHUKET: If you are a long-term expatriate living in Phuket, Thailand, you have probably seen the Thai baht appreciate significantly against your home currency – a trend that will likely continue for the foreseeable future. This appreciation (along with an average inflation rate of 2.7% since 2000) makes it increasingly expensive to live in Thailand at a time when you…
-
US Embassy to stage “outreach visit’ to Phuket
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok will hold an “Outreach Visit” at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort in Karon (map here) on March 15. Consular staff will be available from 8am to midday to provide services on: • Passport renewal applications (US$110 or 3,520 baht for adult passports, US$105 or 3,360 baht for a child’s passport).…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Venezuela mourns Chavez; Kenyans tense over polls; Syria exodus; Vietnam dumps fat cops; Borneo uprising upended
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Venezuelans parade Chavez’s coffin, prepare for vote Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Weeping and shouting, a sea of Hugo Chavez’s supporters paraded his coffin through the streets of Caracas on Wednesday in an emotional outpouring that could help his deputy win an election and keep his self-styled socialist…
-
Keep your Phuket junk clean and green, traders told
PHUKET: Traders dealing in secondhand goods and discarded items are under scrutiny in the latest campaign to keep the island green. Officers from the Pollution Control Department are working with the regional Environment Office to ensure recyclables and heavy materials dumped at the stores are disposed of appropriately. Surachai Kulthong, from the regional Environment Office headquarters, explained to the Gazette…
-
Phuket taxi driver confesses to assault, abduction – denies rape
PHUKET: A Phuket taxi driver has confessed to beating and abducting a karaoke hostess before stealing her valuables and leaving her tied up in a Phuket hotel room.However, he has denied the rape charge filed against him by the woman.Phuket City Police arrested Suksan Mornamrong, 28, at his rented home in Koh Kaew for the alleged rape on Monday night…
-
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Forbes super-rich list now has 10 Thais
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 10 Thais on Forbes’ super-rich list, up from five last year Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Thai billionaires have seen their wealth skyrocket in a year, with 10 making it into Forbes’ list of the wealthy, compared with just five last year (click here for…
-
From the PGA to Phuket
PHUKET: Golf is a sport that has surrounded Michael Brasier all his life. His father, Brett, is a PGA professional and growing up, Michael would watch him teach golf at various clubs around the world, including the Vines in Australia. It was only natural that Michael would follow his father into the sport: playing on the PGA tour, teaching golf…
-
Putting it all on the line – Live Wire
PHUKET: With renovations running full-tilt on my new digs in Kathu, near Phuket Town, it’s time for me to stop hypothesizing and analyzing, pays my money, and takes my chances. That’s what this week’s Live Wire is all about – taking chances on a new internet land line. Two weeks ago, I broke down the internet services in Phuket into…
-
Phuket Business: AMCHAM to host US taxation seminar in Patong
PHUKET: If you are an American and are baffled by the US tax regime on overseas residents, then you do not want to miss an AMCHAM (the American Chamber of Commerce) seminar on Friday (March 8), at the Holiday Inn Patong. John Andes, tax partner at KPMG Thailand, will provide an overview of US taxpayers’ 2012 US income tax and…
-
Phuket Business: A land of opportunity
PHUKET: The island emerged last year as Thailand’s strongest hotel market, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle. The report, entitled Spotlight on Thailand – Hotel Investment Market said that as of December 2012, year-to-date (YTD), Phuket had an occupancy rate of 72.4%. Meanwhile, it said that the Average Daily Rate (ADR) was 3,902 baht, which resulted in…
-
Phuket Business: French ambassador to boost SMEs
PHUKET: The new French Ambassador to Thailand, Thierry Viteau, made his first visit outside of his station in Bangkok recently to discuss in Phuket the need to strengthen relations in the tourism market. “Phuket and Nice in France have been ‘sister cities’ since 1989; I want to take this opportunity to re-strengthen and renew our relations,” Amb Viteau, who assumed…
-
Phuket Business: Local firm takes the LEED in sustainability
PHUKET: The island-based construction and development firm, Development Management Group Co Ltd (DMG), recently announced that its Sustainability Manager, John Covello has earned his LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) certification. The designation, with a specialization in Building Design and Construction, makes John one of a small number of sustainable building specialists in Thailand. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy…
-
Laguna Phuket Golf Club gets an upgrade
PHUKET: The Laguna Phuket Golf Club will begin a comprehensive course upgrade on July 1, aimed at significantly improving its complete golf experience as a world-class, five-star golfing facility.The entire project is estimated to take a maximum of 18 months to complete, with the upgraded 18-hole course scheduled for full operation by January 1, 2015.”During recent years the combination of…
-
Phuket Gazette Sports: Man Utd out as Ronaldo scores winner
Ronaldo returns to knock out United Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner against his old club to give Real Madrid a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals last night. United, 1-0 up in the game after Real defender Sergio Ramos put through his own goal…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Venezeula’s Hugo Chavez loses battle with cancer
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obituary: Hugo Chavez – socialist showman who transformed Venezuela Reuters/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: At two defining moments of his rule, Venezuela’s theatrical leader Hugo Chavez took a small silver crucifix from his pocket and held it above his head. Both marked a quasi-religious “return” for the…
-
Police to make alleged karaoke killers sing
PHUKET: Police have arrested two men for stabbing a man to death early Saturday morning outside a karaoke bar in the port area of Phuket Town. Aphichet Janpradit, 33, and Phusithi Phaosuparp, 43, were both arrested on Sunday at their rented room on Koh Sireh for the murder of 28-year-old Surasit Sukhum, Lt Col Prawit Engchua of the Phuket City…
-
Phuket Gazette World Sports: Preview of Champions league clash – round 2
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Sports news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Manchester United’s Jones ruled out of Real match Reuters/ Phuket GazettePHUKET: Manchester United’s Phil Jones will miss the Champions League last 16 second leg at home to Real Madrid after failing to recover from an ankle injury, manager Alex Ferguson said.The versatile defender or midfielder suffered the…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Baby cured of HIV; Girl miraculously survives plane crash; UK Queen leaves hospital
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community US baby’s cure from HIV raises hope, new questions Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The remarkable case of a baby being cured of HIV infection in the United States using readily available drugs has raised new hope for eradicating the infection in infants worldwide, but scientists…
-
Phuket residents protest new B465mn provincial hall
PHUKET: More than 200 Phuket residents protested today against the construction of the new provincial hall. The protesters gathered this morning at Sanam Chai in Phuket Town, opposite the current provincial Hall (map here), to express their concerns that the proposed new hall will negatively affect the lifestyle of people in the area. Former Rassada Mayor Suratin Lianudom and former…
-
Phuket Gazette office to be closed tomorrow
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, March 5, due to yet another all-day blackout in the area to upgrade power lines. The blackout affects Soi Harn Farang and Soi Koh Kaew 33, and may affect adjoining areas that are supplied electricity from power…
-
Phuket United shock Lightning Shrimp with hat trick
PHUKET: With the Thailand futsal season rapidly winding down, Phuket United maintained their good run of form, winning their third match in a row by defeating Southern rivals, Surat Thani 4-2 in a tense yet thrilling match on Saturday night in Phuket Town.Played at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the game was Phuket’s 26th and Surat Thani’s 25th match…
-
Phuket mob surrounds British expat who hit motorcyclist
Correction: The original story yesterday named the driver, as repeatedly confirmed and spelled out to our reporters by Thalang Police Sub Lt Niphon Temsang, as “Martin Ian Potter”. His reports of the surname were incorrect. The driver charged over the incident was Martin Ian Foster, who reportedly works in the hotel industry on Koh Maphrao. The Gazette obtained the correction…
-
Phuket Police raid cockfight
PHUKET: Police broke up a cockfighting match near a rubber plantation in central Phuket yesterday, arresting 16 men and confiscating two roosters and 220 baht found at the scene. The number of men attending the matches had grown steadily over the past few weeks, causing local residents to complain to police, who sent an undercover agent to discover the time…
-
Phuket blood bank launches March mobile donation drive
PHUKET: The Phuket Chapter of the Red Cross Society has announced its schedule of mobile donation clinics for the month of March. The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners, is low on stocks of blood type A. “We need to maintain a daily minimum stock of 200 units of A,…
-
Phuket Charity Event Sets Record
PHUKET: The Phuket Family & Gourmet Festival, held at Royal Phuket Marina on January 26, raised a whopping one million baht for children’s charities, it was announced this morning by the Bangkok-based food wholesaler Jagota Brothers, the creator and driving force behind the event. The record-breaking sum for a single-event fundraising effort on the island followed a cash donation of…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Kenya elections; Pope vote; Borneo violence; QEII cancels Welsh appearances
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kenyans to vote in tense head-to-head presidential race Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Kenyans vote today in a presidential election that will test whether the east African nation can restore its reputation as one of Africa’s more stable democracies after a lethal ethnic rampage erupted following the 2007…
-
Breaking News: Democrats win Bangkok election, Yingluck concedes defeat
PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has conceded defeat in the election today for Bangkok Governor, handing the election win over to Democrat candidate Sukhamband Parabitra.PM Yingluck publicly announced the defeat at 6:15pm after the ongoing count of votes at the polls showed that Sukhamband had amassed more than a million votes while leading Pheu Thai rival Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen…
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.