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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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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Sports News: Thailand face tough challenge in Singapore tonight
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: Thailand will aim to gain the upper hand over old foes Singapore in the first leg of the ASEAN Championship final today, in a showdown of the tournament’s two most successful sides. Both have won the title three times, with their second championship showdown in five years…
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British ambassador joins fight against tourist scams
PHUKET: The British Ambassador to Thailand, Mark Kent, has joined a campaign by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism to tackle tourist scams and will be in Phuket in the new year to discuss the issue with high-ranking Phuket officials. Ambassador Kent is being featured in a nationwide television campaign that will run until the end of December. In the video, Ambassador…
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Thailand News: Former PM could face 700 attempted murder charges
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Abhisit, Suthep could face 700 attempted murder charges Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: The chief of the Department of Special Investigation will today hold a meeting of DSI and other police investigators to speed up work on more than 700 attempted-murder cases against former prime minister Abhisit…
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No formal change in Non-Imm B visas
PHUKET: The Department of Consular Affairs head office in Bangkok, which coordinates policy for issuing visas at all Royal Thai Embassies around the world, has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that there has been no formal change in policy concerning non-immigrant Business (“B”) visas issued in Malaysia. “The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is still issuing multiple-entry, non-imm B…
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Breaking News: Busted penis prompts Phuket fighter to come forward
PHUKET: Speaking exclusively with the Phuket Gazette, MMA fighter Ray Elbe has come forward about the penis injury he suffered in his Kuala Lumpur condo earlier this month.Ray, who founded and for years ran the MMA program at Phuket’s renowned Tiger Muay Thai training camp in Chalong, urged all men who suffer a similar injury to immediately seek treatment.“I came…
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Karon Mayor: Phuket seafood vendors will be charged with beach encroachment
PHUKET: Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham warned Phuket seafood vendors with stalls set up along Kata Beach that they will be charged with beach encroachment.The warning follows raids on beach touts led by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak on November 28 – Loy Krathong.The raids, which included officers from the Muang District Office, Karon Municipality and local police, specifically targeted the…
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Phuket Business: There’s cash in that trash
PHUKET: Sustainability is perhaps the most overused buzz word at present. Increasingly over the past several years, stake holders in the tourism and hospitality sectors have added momentum to the dialogue about saving the environment through the implementation of ‘green practices’. When it comes down to actually taking action and making all of the necessary investments, however, few have delivered.…
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Tsunami warning app lands on Phuket shores
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) launched a mobile phone application this month that allows iPhone and Android phone users to receive instant notifications of any tsunami alerts and warnings issued by the center. The “app” was launched on the online Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads on December 11, with an Android version launched on the Android…
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French tourists in Phuket struck by falling tree
PHUKET: An unlucky pair of French tourists were enjoying a scenic motorbike ride along the road from Patong to Kamala on Saturday when they were struck down by a falling tree.Ruamkatanyu Foundation Phuket workers rushed to the scene after being notified of the accident by Kamala Police at about 4:30pm.“At the scene, we found the man had suffered only slight…
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Brazen youths caught after bag snatch in front of Phuket police
PHUKET: Three teenagers were arrested minutes after they snatched a bag from a Chinese tourist right in front of four Phuket police officers in a patrol pickup truck on Saturday night.“The officers watched as the young men on a motorbike with no license plate approached the woman, Wang Ying, while she was walking by the side of the road with…
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Phuket’s “Non Tanon’, 16, wins The Voice Thailand
PHUKET: Phuket teenager Tanon “Non” Chamroen won the national singing talent quest The Voice Thailand 2012 last weekend. Standing on stage in Bangkok on Saturday night, Non sang the Thai love song Yung Mai Koey (“Still Never”) live on Channel 3’s nationwide broadcast of the finals.Now called “Non Tanon”, the Mattayom 4 student at Satree Phuket School in Phuket Town…
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World News: These tragedies must end: US President Obama
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Funerals begin for Newtown victims as schools confront tragedy Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The small Connecticut town shattered by an act President Barack Obama called “unconscionable evil,” held today the first two of 20 funerals for schoolchildren massacred in their classrooms last week. Meanwhile, schools across…
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Phuket rallies for expat sailor Kevin Ashby
PHUKET: Hundreds of people turned out at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) on Friday night to contribute much-needed money for the life-saving surgery of beloved Phuket expat sailor Kevin Ashby. Kevin, 42, was recently diagnosed with stage three colon cancer, but does not have the health insurance needed to cover the critical surgery. “It was a great event. More…
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Police, officials knew of death threats, alleges Reisz girlfriend
PHUKET: A woman close to Hungarian murder victim Peter Reisz gave her statement to Phuket police, claiming that Samui Police and officials at the Hungarian embassy in Bangkok were aware of death threats being made against Mr Reisz but failed to act appropriately on them. The woman, a Vietnamese national who asked not to be named in fear of compromising…
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Phuket Opinion: Just slow down
PHUKET: Samak Luedwonghad, 45, has been trying to make Thailand’s roads safer for 23 years, and is currently the Phuket Highways Office Director. Before he moved to Phuket in February, he had worked for the Department of Rural Roads’ Bureau of Bridge Construction for 10 years, and then for more than five years as the head project engineer of the…
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Phuket Opinion: Parking management not “The Impossible’
PHUKET: Rising property prices, poor public planning and a dire lack of public transport options have combined to leave Phuket with a lack of public parking in some of its most densely-settled areas.In few places is the problem more acute than in shopping center parking garages. While some are better than others, the traffic nightmare that persists in some, during…
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Child rape case handed over to Phuket Public Prosecutor
PHUKET: The Phuket Public Prosecutor will present charges on December 21 against a man who allegedly raped a 9-year-old girl in Mai Khao on October 7. “This is a grave and serious case. We have no choice but to charge him to the full extent of the law,” Public Prosecutor Atikun Puangprom told the Phuket Gazette yesterday. The lead investigator…
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Phuket labor chief confirms illegal Burmese workers will be deported
PHUKET: Any migrant workers found in Phuket without having completed the nationality verification process will be deported, the chief of the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) has warned. “The deadline for migrant workers to complete the nationality verification process was extended by six months, from June 15 until December 14,” PPEO chief Yaowapa Pibulpol told the Phuket Gazette. “During that…
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World News: Connecticut in mourning; Gunman kills 28
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Quiet Connecticut town rocked by mass school shooting Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The peace and security of the suburban Connecticut community of Newtown lay shattered yesterday after a gunman attacked a primary school in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.Tearful parents and children gathered…
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Patong Carnival underway today
PHUKET: The island’s premier party town of Patong is set to kick off the tourism high season with its annual carnival, starting today and running to December 20. Organized by the Patong Municipality, the annual festival draws thousands of visitors from all over the world to mark the start of the tourism high season in Phuket, which traditionally runs from…
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World News: Egypt to hold referendum; Bloodshed likely: Ahmed Said
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egyptian factions stage final rallies before referendum Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged final rallies today before a divisive referendum on a new constitution championed by the Islamist leader as a way out of the worst crisis since…
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Phang Nga officials implicated in illegal palm plantation
PHUKET: Several high-ranking Phang Nga officials have been implicated in the operation of an illegal 16-rai palm plantation raided by officers yesterday after the site was deemed to be encroaching on protected park land.More than 70 officers cleared 420 palm trees in yesterday’s raid.The offensive targeted a district border area at the tourist-popular Ton Pariwat Wildlife Conservation Area, north of…
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‘Paris Hilton’ Phuket beach party gets green light
PHUKET: The “Paris Hilton” New Year beach bash organized by Sydictive Element on Surin Beach has, after strong opposition, finally been approved, local officials have confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. The approval came after Sydictive Element assured the local government that they will take care of three key areas of concern, Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration…
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Phuket first-time car buyers overload Excise Office
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Excise Office (PPEO) is calling in extra officers from other departments to help cope with an overload of tax-rebate applications being filed by first-time car owners. The office has processed 9,000 applications for tax rebates since the government campaign to encourage young people to buy cars was launched on September 16 last year, said policy specialist…
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Hungarian suspect Kvalka retraces steps to Peter Reisz killing
PHUKET: Gyorgy Lajos Kvalka, the second suspect arrested in connection with the murder of Peter Reisz in Phuket late last month, today reiterated to police his claim that he played no part in the killing of the Hungarian businessman. However, Mr Kvalka today did confess to assisting the Israeli-Hungarian dual national Moshe David – named as Gabor Nemeth on his…
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Phuket human trafficking victim now safe in children’s home
PHUKET: The Cambodian child who literally ran to the safety of Phuket officials to escape her life as a human-trafficking victim and being forced to beg on the streets of Soi Bangla is now safe in a home for children, Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. “We coordinated with all relevant departments immediately after she…
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Turtle egg find floats hope of leatherbacks returning to Phuket region
PHUKET: Hopes that turtles are returning to their traditional nesting sites along the Andaman Coast soared as a second clutch of leatherback turtle eggs was discovered on Tai Muang Beach in Phang Nga, just north of Phuket, within an eight day period.The discovery of the nest on Tuesday follows a leatherback turtle being spotted laying eggs on the beach on…
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World News: North Korean launch sends out shock-waves
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community For North Korea, next step is a nuclear test Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: North Korea rattled the world yesterday by putting a satellite into orbit using the kind of technology that appears to demonstrate it can develop a missile capable of hitting the United States.…
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Phuket Customs deliver “crushing blow’ to copyright pirates
PHUKET: Phuket Customs destroyed an estimated 29 million baht’s worth of pirated goods yesterday as part of their ongoing battle to protect intellectual property rights on the island. Fake copies of designer brand-name purses, sunglasses, shoes and mobile phones were among the nearly 10,000 items destroyed. “The 9,762 counterfeit items destroyed today are from 44 closed cases related to pirated…
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World News: Death toll from Hurricane Bopha reaches 900; Many still missing
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Philippines typhoon toll tops 900, hundreds still missing Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has climbed above 900 while hundreds more, many of them tuna fishermen, remain missing and are feared dead, emergency…
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