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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  • Phuket Business: Expats rank Thailand highly in global survey

    Phuket Business: Expats rank Thailand highly in global survey

    PHUKET: One of the largest ‘expat living’ surveys conducted last year ranked Thailand second in terms of experience and quality of life, while ranking the Kingdom third in economics. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) recently published the results of its 2012 Expat Explorer Survey, which encompassed responses from more than 5,000 expats residing in thirty countries.The same…

  • Phuket Business: OTOP fair to showcase local products

    Phuket Business: OTOP fair to showcase local products

    PHUKET: No less than 15 million baht is expected to be circulated during the “OTOP City – Four Regions” fair, an event that will showcase up to 200 booths selling quality local products from Phuket and across the country. The fair being held at the Saphan Hin fair-grounds, in Phuket Town (click here for map), commenced on Friday and will…

  • Phuket Business: Fill “er up with gasohol please

    Phuket Business: Fill “er up with gasohol please

    PHUKET: Due to the discontinuation of the supply of pure Benzine (91-octane) petrol nationwide, the consumption of gasohol in Phuket this year is expected to increase by at least 50%.Rattakorn Klinchan, head of research at the Phuket Energy Office, affirmed that supplies of pure Benzine 91 were discontinued nationwide on January 1, with most Phuket stocks already drying out this…

  • Six injured on merit making trip to Phuket’s renowned Big Buddha image

    Six injured on merit making trip to Phuket’s renowned Big Buddha image

    PHUKET: A bus carrying 26 Burmese, en route to make merit at Phuket’s renowned Big Buddha image, swerved off the road yesterday injuring six passengers. The po thong, a six-wheeled “bus” with two planks for passenger seats, was driven by Abdollah Sairaya, 54. “I was contacted by the workers at about 5pm. They asked me to pick them up from…

  • AMCHAM taxation seminar for Americans

    AMCHAM taxation seminar for Americans

    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 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…

  • Phuket Gazette Sports: Gareth bails out Spurs; Arsenal profit; Laudrup to stay after cup win

    Phuket Gazette Sports: Gareth bails out Spurs; Arsenal profit; Laudrup to stay after cup win

    Brilliant Bale lifts Spurs up to third Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Gareth Bale’s stunning late goal lifted Tottenham Hotspur to a 3-2 win over West Ham United on yesterday which took them up to third in the Premier League table. Bale opened the scoring on 13 minutes but left his best until the 90th minute when he unleashed a…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Myanmar banks given green light by US Treasury

    Phuket Gazette World News: Myanmar banks given green light by US Treasury

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. gives banking green light to Myanmar tycoons Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two banks owned by tycoons associated with Myanmar’s former military regime will start to do business with U.S. companies and investors in the latest reward for the Southeast Asian country’s rapid political transformation.…

  • New multi-million baht Chalong dam plagued with problems

    New multi-million baht Chalong dam plagued with problems

    PHUKET: Construction issues plague the Klong Pee dam project in Chalong less than a year after it was completed at a cost of over 10 million baht.Villagers complained to the Irrigation Project of Phuket, but after nine months of silence have turned to the Phuket Governor and the Phuket Press Club for help.“On February 15 of this year, we filed…

  • New Zealanders make Phuket flight despite multi-vehicle crash

    New Zealanders make Phuket flight despite multi-vehicle crash

    PHUKET: Three tourists from New Zealand made their flight out of Phuket today despite a concrete truck hitting their limousine and sending it careening under the bed of a parked 10-wheeled truck on Thepkrasattri Road. “The limousine driver, Worrathat Chaikajorn, 47, had picked up the three tourists in Patong and was taking them to Phuket International Airport shortly before 11am…

  • Bottlenose dolphin, rare in Phuket, found dead

    Bottlenose dolphin, rare in Phuket, found dead

    PHUKET: A bottlenose dolphin was found dead on Bang Tao Beach this morning, the first to be found beached in Phuket in years. “The dolphin was a female bottlenose dolphin,” Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) said. “They mostly live west of Maithon island in Phang Nga and in Ranong. This dolphin was about 2.2 meters…

  • Alcohol banned tonight for Makha Bucha

    Alcohol banned tonight for Makha Bucha

    PHUKET: A nationwide ban on the sale and purchase of alcohol is in effect today, Makha Bucha Day, one of the four annual religious holidays in Thailand.“Alcohol is banned in Phuket and across the country out of respect for the holy day,” Peerayuth Karajedee, Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “We have sent out…

  • Phuket Opinion: Drivers’ carelessness causes traffic jams

    Phuket Opinion: Drivers’ carelessness causes traffic jams

    PHUKET: Phuket City traffic policeman Pol Sen Sgt Maj Boonliang Maneewong, 53, is from Sisaket province in the Northeast. He graduated from the Provincial Police Training Center Region 2 in Chon Buri province in 1984 and has been working with the Thalang Police since 1985. He has been a traffic officer for 20 years, and for the last three years…

  • Thailand Futsal: Phuket United back on track with away victory

    Thailand Futsal: Phuket United back on track with away victory

    PHUKET: Five different Phuket United players scored the goals that contributed to the team’s away-victory (2-6) against Samut Songkhram on Sunday afternoon in Bangkok. Played at Bangkok’s Fashion Island Futsal Arena, the match was both side’s 24th of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier League (TFPL) 2012-2013 season. Phuket United’s goals were scored by Brazilian Jardel, who scored both…

  • Phuket hosts single-day CITES program on ivory trade

    Phuket hosts single-day CITES program on ivory trade

    PHUKET: Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) officers, non-governmental organizations and legal wildlife and fauna traders attended a one day meeting in Phuket as part of the 16th Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) being held in Thailand. Members of the meeting expressed their gratitude for the honor of holding…

  • Phuket Opinion: Time to rein in rogue cops

    Phuket Opinion: Time to rein in rogue cops

    PHUKET: Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavalviwat should be applauded for getting personally involved in the investigation into the attack on a teenage couple who claim to have been assaulted by two sons of a Thalang Police officer on St Valentine’s Day (story here). Reports of assault involving minors are all too common in Thalang, which has a history of teenage…

  • Mangrove flyover given start date, plans tweaked

    Mangrove flyover given start date, plans tweaked

    PHUKET: A May start date for the long awaited 170-million-baht Klong Koh Pee flyover project, which will now traverse 700 meters of protected mangrove forest, was announced yesterday by the Phuket Governor. “The people of Phuket have been waiting for this project to start for almost 20 years,” Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut said. “The project is important, as it provides…

  • Phuket Gazette Sports: Premiership managers fed up with questions over future

    Phuket Gazette Sports: Premiership managers fed up with questions over future

    Mancini swears he is fed up of questions over future Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: If Mario Balotelli had left his “Why Always Me?” T-shirt behind in Manchester, his former manager Roberto Mancini might well have fancied wearing it yesterday. The Manchester City boss, who used to joke that all his news conferences started with questions about fellow Italian Balotelli…

  • French Ambassador sees SME business opportunities in Phuket

    French Ambassador sees SME business opportunities in Phuket

    PHUKET: The new French Ambassador to Thailand, Thierry Viteau, made his first visit outside of his station in Bangkok to Phuket on Thursday to discuss 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…

  • Thailand Futsal: Phuket United get new coach after losing streak

    Thailand Futsal: Phuket United get new coach after losing streak

    PHUKET: The spirits of Phuket United futsal fans are in a state of recovery, following the announcement of a new head coach after the resignation of Coach Suphol “Hum” Senapeng on Thursday. Initially reported on the Thai website, SMM Online, Coach Suphol’s resignation announcement follows the team’s recent loss to Samut Sakhon FC by a score of 6-1 on Wednesday…

  • Victim’s uncle testifies in Dokset murder trial | Thaiger

    Victim’s uncle testifies in Dokset murder trial

    PHUKET: Rungnapa Suktong’s uncle took the stand today in the second day of witness testimony in the Stein Havard Dokset murder case. Mr Dokset faces charges for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Rungnapa Suktong under section 288 of Thai law, which stipulates 15 to 20 years or death. He has also been charged for concealing a body and the illegal…

  • Phuket Sports: Laguna end first round undefeated

    Phuket Sports: Laguna end first round undefeated

    PHUKET: In the final match of the first round, and one of the most highly anticipated matches so far this season, Jabudays took on the undefeated Laguna at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) on last Sunday. Many thought this match might see the Laguna side capitulate to a very strong Jabudays side, the only side to defeat them in 2012.…

  • More floods threaten Phuket Town if Klong Bang Yai project is delayed further

    More floods threaten Phuket Town if Klong Bang Yai project is delayed further

    PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthsut paid a visit to the behind-schedule Klong Bang Yai project, which, if incomplete by the coming rainy season, threatens Phuket Town with another round of serious flooding. “The klong is the main waterway draining water from Kathu to Saphan Hin. If it is not finished before the heavy rains start, homes and businesses in the…

  • Phuket Sports: Siam’s motocross mania; Reds and Blues to Bangkok; Futsal Cup; Thai Open

    Phuket Sports: Siam’s motocross mania; Reds and Blues to Bangkok; Futsal Cup; Thai Open

    BANGKOK (The Nation): Thailand’s best bikers will go up against the global elite for the first time when the 2013 FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) Motocross World Championship Grand Prix of Thailand makes its debut in the Kingdom in March. The race weekend will be hosted at the Pinthong Industrial Estate 3 track in Chon Buri from March 8 to…

  • Phuket Sports: Stacy Lewis sizzles in record-tying opening round | Thaiger

    Phuket Sports: Stacy Lewis sizzles in record-tying opening round

    PHUKET: America’s Stacy Lewis struck a stunning nine-under par 63 to leave the rest of the field in her wake in the opening round of the Honda LPGA Thailand tournament at Siam Country Club, Pattaya Old Course yesterday. The score tied her career-low round and also the tournament record. Lewis, who was the LPGA’s Player of the Year in 2012,…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Fierce fight in Mali – Photo special

    Phuket Gazette World News: Fierce fight in Mali – Photo special

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community French, Malian forces fight Islamist rebels in Gao Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: French and Malian troops fought Islamists on the streets of Gao and a car bomb exploded in Kidal yesterday, as fighting showed little sign of abating weeks before France plans to start withdrawing…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Sin city shooting leaves 3 dead

    Phuket Gazette World News: Sin city shooting leaves 3 dead

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Three die in shooting, fiery crash on Las Vegas Strip Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Three people died in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip yesterday when one or more gunmen in a Range Rover sport utility vehicle opened fire on a Maserati, killing the…

  • Myanmar Navy makes history

    Myanmar Navy makes history

    PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy gave a warm welcome two Myanmar Navy ships yesterday morning as they made their country’s first diplomatic visit to a foreign country.Captain Aung Zaw Hlang brought the two coastal patrol ships UMS 561 and UMS 562 to the Phuket Deep Sea Port early this morning. Waiting for him was Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command…

  • Dutch ambassador guides reform

    Dutch ambassador guides reform

    PHUKET: Speaking at the Phuket Gazette offices recently, Ambassador Boer explained about his efforts to galvanize the international diplomatic community to jointly deliberate with authorities in Bangkok to bring an end to the various scams that have done so much damage to the tourism industry in Phuket and other destinations in Thailand. Amb Boer, now in the second year of…

  • German tourist to be flown home for neurological treatment

    German tourist to be flown home for neurological treatment

    PHUKET: The German tourist who fell from the balcony of his third-floor hotel room on February 16 has received treatment at Vachira Phuket Hospital for his broken arms, but his family plans to take him back to Germany for treatment of a blood clot putting direct pressure on his brain. “Alexander Sven Zott is still on life support and using…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Japanese whalers accused of ramming during protest

    Phuket Gazette World News: Japanese whalers accused of ramming during protest

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Protesters clash with Japanese whalers, call for naval intervention Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Anti-whaling activists today called for Australia to send a naval vessel to the Southern Ocean after a confrontation in which they said a Japanese whaling ship collided with two of their protest vessels,…