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.
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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...
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PATA meeting questions whether Thai culture is good for tourism
PHUKET: Despite the various shortcomings in Thailand’s service industry, tourists keep coming back, two Thai journalists recently told a tourism meeting in Bangkok. Attending the meeting, Ken Scott, Managing Director of his own communications firm, ScottAsia Communications, reports: Thailand is a like a cunning cheer leader, a good looker, an easy date who cheats at her exams and gossips about…
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Syrian rebels maintain pressure; UN denounces
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Assad’s forces try to beat back rebels closing on Damascus Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Syrian government forces battled on Friday to recapture sections of the Damascus ring road from rebels pressing in on the capital, opposition activists said. War planes fired rockets around Jobar, Qaboun…
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Phuket Old Town festival to showcase Chinese heritage
PHUKET: The annual Phuket Old Town Festival will begin on February 15, ushering in the three-day celebration of the town’s historical origins and unique ethnic mix of cultures. To announce this year’s festival, leading Phuket dignitaries gathered at Queen Sirikit Park on Thursday night. Joining Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana in announcing the event were representatives from Phuket City Municipality,…
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Phuket Provincial Transportation Office brokers breakthrough deal for taxis
PHUKET: A breakthrough arrangement with banks and insurance companies means that all taxi drivers in Phuket have until February 28 to become legally registered – or face a 2,000-baht fine every time they are caught carrying passengers.The deal, brokered through the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO), was announced at a meeting with illegal taxi drivers at the Amora Beach Resort…
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Phuket City police bag druggy by using GPS tracker from stolen iPhone
PHUKET: Police quickly nabbed a Phuket druggy by using the GPS tracking feature of the iPhone he had stolen from a German tourist yesterday. The German tourist, David Trebs, was standing in front of the 99 Oldtown Boutique Guesthouse in Phuket Town at about 2am yesterday when a man on a motorbike drove by and snatched his iPhone, explained Lt…
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Phuket Soccer Schools and Thanyapura set for international tourney
PHUKET: The Phuket Soccer Schools (PSS) is hosting a 40-team international tournament this weekend at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC). Teams will compete in U8, U10, U12 and U14 age groups. The tournament has attracted teams from Hong Kong, Singapore, Koh Samui and Phuket. The opening ceremony starts at 8:30am on Saturday with the closing ceremony taking place on…
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Phuket Moevenpick to increase Thai occupancy
PHUKET: Moevenpick Resort Bangtao Beach, a luxury boutique hotel in Phuket, aims to raise its profile in the local arena by increasing the proportion of Thai guests to about 5% this year, up from a tiny slice at present.The hotel opened officially in mid-2011. The new strategy is part of the operator’s plan not to rely too heavily on foreign…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Rohingya plight in focus
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rohingya in peril as Thailand struggles to pay for shelter The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: On the night Muhammad Sultan was born, he was on a perilous journey at sea. Days after, the boat that carried him and his family would be found, nearly sunk,…
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Thailand Futsal League: Andaman Pearl bagged by CAT
PHUKET: The island’s pro futsal team, Phuket United, suffered their fifth straight loss on Wednesday night, losing at home 1-2 to the state-owned telecom corporation flagship team, CAT FC. Played in front of about 500 fans at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the match was both sides’ 19th of 30 fixtures in the Thailand Futsal Premier League (TFPL) 2012-2013…
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Phuket migrant workers granted three-month deportation reprieve
PHUKET: Cabinet has passed a resolution allowing migrant workers in Phuket and across the Kingdom an additional three months to complete the nationality verification process, Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) chief Yawapa Pibulpol told the Phuket Gazette today. “According to Cabinet’s resolution, migrant workers’ deportation deadline has been extended until April 15,” Ms Yawapa said. “What action we will take…
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Phuket Gazette World News: 9-year-old girl gives birth in Mexico
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 9-year-old girl in western Mexico gives birth Phuket Gazette / Wires PHUKET: A 9-year-old girl in Mexico’s western state of Jalisco has given birth to a baby girl after a pregnancy of more than seven months, police and prosecutors said on Wednesday, making her one of…
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Thai Army helicopter makes safe emergency landing in Phuket
PHUKET: A rapid loss in oil pressure forced the pilots of a Royal Thai Army helicopter to make an emergency landing in a field in central Phuket yesterday.No injuries were reported in the incident.Thalang Police were alerted to the emergency landing by villagers in Baan Pru Champa.“The helicopter belongs to the 2nd Air Mobile Company in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. There…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Gambling talk hits tourism tables; B2trn transport plans; No visas for Gulf medical tourists
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Kingdom must consider legalised gaming soon, tourism forum hears The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The nation’s pre-eminent gathering of tourism and travel-industry experts has concluded that while Thailand looks headed for its best year ever for tourist numbers and revenues, action to legalise gaming, improve infrastructure and…
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Phuket jet-ski operator nabbed, denies anchor attack
PHUKET: Police have apprehended the Phuket jet-ski operator who reportedly swung an anchor angrily at the head of a German tourist at Kata Beach on Monday (story here). Named only as “Mr Buntoon”, age 33, the operator was brought in for questioning by Karon Police yesterday. “He confessed that he run over the German man’s belongings with the jet-ski trailer…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Tsunami devastation; Pompeii mafia; SA gang rape victim dies; Syrian rebels advance; Greeks fight for food
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tsunami kills 7, destroys hundreds of houses in the Solomon Islands Phuket Gazette / WiresPHUKET: The major earthquake that struck near the Solomon Islands yesterday, triggered a tsunami that destroyed entire villages and claimed the lives of at least seven people, officials confirmed today.The 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck…
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One dead, one injured in Phuket construction landslide
PHUKET: One man is dead and another injured after a landslide buried them while they were building a retaining wall high in the hills of Patong late yesterday afternoon.The two men were working in a trench about two meters deep when the land beside them gave way, burying them alive, explained Lt Thawatchai Srimai of the Patong Police.Rescue workers called…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Solomon tsunami kills 5, more deaths likely
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tsunami kills at least five in Solomons after big Pacific quake Phuket GazettePHUKET: The powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake that triggered a tsunami today killed at least five people, including a 10-year-old boy, in a remote part of the Solomon Islands.The quake struck 340 km east of Kira…
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Party monk defrocked over drugs, sex romp in Phuket
PHUKET: A monk and two female friends having a sex party in a Patong hotel room were busted by police for drug use yesterday, and the monk was subsequently defrocked. After receiving a tip from local residents, police raided a hotel room at the southern end of Patong Beach. “We went to the location provided and found a monk and…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Pacific tsunami alert lifted
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tsunami threat lifted after big South Pacific quake Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the Solomon Islands earlier today, triggering a small tsunami that swept into isolated island communities and sparked tsunami alerts across the South Pacific that were later cancelled.Damage reports…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Small Tsunami Hits Solomons After Major Quake
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Small Tsunami Hits Solomons After Major Quake Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A small tsunami hit the Solomon Islands this morning after a major 8.0 magnitude undersea earthquake sparked a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations and placed many more nations including Australia and Indonesia on…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Andaman erosion; avian flu alert; Poh pardon; polls to please
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Officials eye Andaman coastal erosion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Marine and Coastal Resources Department is formulating plans to tackle coastal erosion in six Andaman Sea provinces. The most severe erosion was found in Tambon Saladan on Krabi’s Koh Lanta, where five meters of…
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Phuket parents join “fight club’
PHUKET: Two parents tired of having their boy picked on by a gang of students at school took matters into their own hands today by turning up at the school and “slapping” the five bullies. They have since been charged with assault. Sgt Paritat Duangkamol of the Thalang Police was called to Muang Thalang School at 8:10am. Outside the principal’s…
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Phuket Police search for jet-ski operator after anchor attack on German tourist
PHUKET: Karon Police are looking for a jet-ski rental operator at Kata Beach who yesterday allegedly swung an anchor at the head of a German tourist.When contacted by the Phuket Gazette, Col Werawat Juntharavijit*, Acting Superintendent of the Karon Police, today said he had yet to be informed of the incident.“I have not received a report about this. I will…
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Racha residents call for Phuket officials to fulfill old promises
PHUKET: The ongoing struggle to protect the beauty and environmental health of the tourist-popular Racha Yai Island, about 25 kilometers south of Phuket, continued yesterday in a meeting with Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa. Santi Chandi, representative of Racha Yai residents, asked the vice governor to solve the problems she had promised to solve at a meeting in May 2012. At…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Alabama hostage standoff ends with child freed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Alabama hostage standoff ends with child safe, gunman dead Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The FBI stormed an underground bunker in rural Alabama on Monday, safely rescuing a 5-year-old boy held hostage for nearly a week and leaving his kidnapper, who had also killed a school bus driver,…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Global soccer fixing scam exposed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Investigators expose global match-fixing network Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Hundreds of soccer matches have been fixed in a global betting scam run from Singapore, police said on Monday, in a blow to the image of the world’s most popular sport and a multi-billion dollar industry.…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Syrian peace call; Berlusconi Bunga; Pirates seize tanker; Belgian child killer appeal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communitySyrian Opposition chief calls to offer Assad peaceful exitReuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Syrian opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government on Monday to start talks for its departure from power and save the country from greater ruin after almost two years of bloodshed.Seeking to step…
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Phuket to crack down on businesses using nominee shareholders
PHUKET: An inspection team from Bangkok will be arriving in Phuket to help local officers investigate businesses with foreign owners that are suspected of using nominee shareholders, Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut announced at a meeting this afternoon. About 3,700 “foreign-owned” business are registered in Phuket, explained Department of Business Development Phuket Office chief Nimit Kangkajit at the meeting. “Of course…
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Breaking News: Phuket fugitive Dane “Denny’ Knudsen arrested
PHUKET: Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that wanted Danish national Dennis Mark Knudsen, 24, has been arrested by Phuket Police. Mr Knudsen was wanted for breaking bail conditions after he failed to appear at Phuket Provincial Court on January 22 to resolve a dispute with Australians John Cohen and Adam Shea about a “big…
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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United sunk by Navy
PHUKET: A second-half hat trick from Phuket United’s leading scorer, Jackson Santos, was not enough for his side to beat the Royal Navy FC, who walked away 5-3 winners in a futsal league match on Saturday evening in Bangkok. The match, played at Bangkok’s Fashion Island futsal arena, was both side’s 18th of 30 league matches in the Thailand Futsal…
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