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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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United fall to Bangkok in home opener
PHUKET: The island’s professional five-a-side soccer club, Phuket United fell 3-5 to the Bangkok Futsal Club, in an exciting and intense match-up in Phuket Town last night.Played in front of nearly 1,000 spectators at Phuket’s new 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex in Saphan Hin, the match was both sides’ third match of the 30-fixture, GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier League (TFPL)…
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Pitak Siam leader abruptly ends anti-govt rally
PHUKET: General Boonlert Kaewprasit, the leader of the Pitak Siam anti-government protest in Bangkok, admitted to his “loss to evil” after calling off the rally yesterday evening.Retired General Boonlert Kaewprasit said he called off the protest because the number of participants was smaller than expected. He blamed this on efforts by authorities and police to prevent many prospective protesters from…
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Phuket underpass roadwork sparks fears over ambulance access to hospitals
PHUKET: Staff at Phuket International Hospital and officers from the Phuket City Police Traffic Division are working together to come up with viable routes for ambulances to make sure they can get patients to the facility in an emergency during rush hour. The news follows project contractor Italian-Thai Development Co’s placement on Friday night of concrete blocks on the inside…
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Pressure builds on organizer over Paris Hilton New Year beach party
PHUKET: Pressure is building on event organizer Sydictive Element to win over local authorities in order to gain approval for the three-day New Year Phuket beach party announced by Paris Hilton in Bangkok last month. Speaking with the Phuket Gazette on Thursday, Governor Maitri said he had reservations about the depth of the effort and resources being committed to make…
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Phuket Opinion: Deep South needs more than trading big stick for carrots
PHUKET: While facing the current unrest on the streets of Bangkok this weekend, the time has also come for the Pheu Thai government of Yingluck Shinawatra to devote more effort to addressing the ever-mounting problems facing Phuket and the rest of the South – and re-examining its erratic strategy in dealing with the ongoing unrest in the Deep South. It…
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Phuket Police appeal for help in identifying floating body, possibly that of a foreigner
PHUKET: Phuket Police are appealing to the public for help in identifying the body of a man found floating yesterday afternoon off Koh Racha Yai, an island about 25 kilometers south of Phuket.Lt Wuttiwat Liangboonjinda of the Phuket City Police said officers received a report from local fisherman who discovered the badly decomposed body floating in the sea.Police think the…
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Bangkok Police fire tear gas to disperse Pitak Siam rally
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police have fired tear gas into the crowds of Pitak Siam protesters gathering in Bangkok in an attempt to stop the mass anti-government rally today. Apharat Chartchutikumjorn, the Pitak Siam coordinator for Phuket, told the Phuket Gazette by phone this morning that police action started last night, steering groups of protesters away from the main stage…
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Phuket United ready for home-debut tonight against Bangkok Futsal Club
PHUKET: The island’s pro futsal team, Phuket United are set to play their inaugural home match in the GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier League (TFPL), tonight against Bangkok Futsal Club. The match will be played at Phuket Town’s brand new, 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex in Saphan Hin with a 7pm kickoff. It will be the third fixture of the TFPL…
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Phuket Governor reveals his “Seven Wonders’
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut in an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette this week revealed his personal philosophy in handling the high-level decisions and complicated issues that facing the resort province .“This is my seventh week as the Governor of Phuket and the Phuket Gazette is the first English-language publication I have had a chance to talk to exclusively.Friendly,…
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Phuket Sports: World golf round-up; Golfing tip
PHUKET: Kingston Heath Golf Club was the venue for the Australian Masters last week. The course is the ‘pride of the sand belt’ in Victoria. Adam Scott and Ian Poulter were the two highest world ranking players at number 5 and number 13 respectively. Going into the last round, Scott was 12-under and Poulter 13-under. With home crowd advantage and…
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Phuket Sports: F1 – Interruptions and Interlagos
PHUKET: Austin was a great race for McLaren. Lewis Hamilton, on the dirty side, lost ground on the first corner, but after four laps passed Mark Webber. Then he hunted down Sebastian Vettel and when Narain Karthikeyan momentarily slowed Vettel, swooped into the lead on lap 42. Jenson Button started on the dirty side, dropped to 15th and fought back…
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Laguna Phuket Triathlon attracts world-class field
PHUKET: The 19th Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) takes place this Sunday at 6:30am. The event has attracted a world class international field to Asia’s premier destination triathlon. The LPT consists of a 1.8 kilometer swim, 55km bike ride and 12km run through the tropical scenery of Laguna. Australian Chris “Macca” McCormack, the two-time Ironman World Champion and one of the…
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Phuket Finance: No fund is risk free… but
PHUKET: I recently began using a very interesting fund with retirees who need a steady income called Lavaux Capital, which is run out of the very well-regulated jurisdiction of Switzerland. The managers have all been involved in trade finance for many years and basically specialize in bridge financing backed by insurance contracts. The fund pays 8% simple interest in quarterly…
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Hard Rock Cafe Phuket gives thanks to first responders
PHUKET: Hard Rock Cafe Phuket celebrated ‘Thanksgiving’ on Thursday by inviting 20 firemen for a Thanksgiving lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. These were the first responders from Patong Municipality Fire Department who assisted with the Hard Rock Cafe patio fire that took place on October 18 causing superficial damage but no injuries. The firefighting team, led by Visit Mathasoontornpoj, general…
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Work to commence on the Phuket underpass tonight, footbridge to go
PHUKET: The concrete blocks that will block lanes in front Central Festival Phuket so that work can commence on Phuket’s first underpass will be put in place tonight, the contractor’s project manager confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. “At about 10pm, we will start by installing the barriers to close off the lanes we will be working on,” explained project…
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Phuket teaching assistant suspended over “child hitting’ allegation
PHUKET: A female teaching assistant at Koh Kaew Child Development Center has been suspended pending an investigation over a mother’s claim that the assistant slapped her 4-year-old son in the face.Ratkaphat Tonnum, the 41-year-old mother of the student at the center of the incident, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that she had originally filed a complaint with the Koh Kaew…
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Phuket officials target beach management issues
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada has ordered every municipality and local administrative organization on the island to report all of their beach related issues to him by next week. The move is an attempt to redress a slew of problems ranging from floating lanterns affecting air traffic at Phuket Airport to illegal beach vendors counter-suing officials as a “stall…
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International Cricket: Clarke blasts a double; Proteas lose pace
PHUKET: Michael Clarke blasted his second double-century in consecutive innings to drive Australia to a mammoth first-day total of 482-5 in the second test today as South Africa’s pace attack was brought to its knees by injury.Captain Clarke blasted 39 fours and a six in a sparkling unbeaten 224 in bright sunshine at Adelaide Oval to demoralise the Proteas after…
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Phuket Sports: Brazil top futsal world rankings after winning fifth title
PHUKET: Brazil’s national futsal team have reclaimed their world number 1 ranking after being crowned world champions in Bangkok last Sunday. Meanwhile, the previous number one, Spain unofficially become the world’s second best team after holding the top ranking for the past two years. Brazil concluded their dominance of the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012, winning all seven of their…
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Live Wire: Getting wired into Phuket
PHUKET: High season is approaching. Every year about this time I start getting inquiries about connecting to the Internet in Phuket. As people flock to Phuket for vacations and new jobs, many decide to stay for a week or a month or a decade, and one of the very first questions they have is how in the world to get…
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Police identify Russian tourist killed in Phuket car crash
PHUKET: Police have identified the foreign man who died in a high-speed car crash early Saturday morning on a Phuket west-coast road as Andrei Pavlov, a 31-year-old Russian national. (Click here to see Phuket Breaking News report.) Patong Police inspector Pratuang Polmana confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that Mr Pavlov was a tourist living in rented accommodation in Kamala. “He…
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Phuket Sports: Bowling for a good cause
PHUKET: The Phuket Cricket Group (PCG) hosted the Chris Hart Memorial T20 fund match on November 18 at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) last Sunday. The event was a huge success and the PCG would like to thank everyone that played, as well as all the supporters who turned out to pay their respects to Chris. In addition to giving…
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Phuket FC get new head coach ahead of next season
PHUKET: The Islanders, Phuket FC have secured a new Head Coach, with an official announcement expected to be made this Saturday. Paniphon “Tu” Kerdyaem, a former coaching staff member of Thai Premier League team, Army United will fill the vacancy left by Anurak “June” Srikerd, who coached the struggling team in the final six matches of last season, and helped…
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Phuket Business: Tourism growth projected at 15% by Seacon head
PHUKET: Piya Sosothikul, executive director of Seacon Group, and owner of the Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa, recently gave his outlook for Phuket tourism. Mr Piya said he expects tourist arrivals to increase by 15% this year, despite a decline in arrivals from the island’s traditional tourist source markets in Western Europe, due to the economic and financial crises affecting…
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Krabi Police clamp down on noisy motorbikes
PHUKET: Krabi Police destroyed more than 600 illegal motorbike exhaust pipes seized during police checks across the bay from Phuket in September. At a ceremony on Tuesday to mark the culmination of a campaign entitled “Youths join together: ride motorbikes without modified exhaust pipes”, Krabi Governor Prasit Osathanon and Krabi Police Commander Nantadech Yoinuan witnessed the crushing of the impounded…
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Phuket councillor road death prompts by-election
PHUKET: The death of incumbent councillor Samart Piman in a Phuket road accident in September led to San Changlek being elected councillor to Rawai Municipality after a close by-election on Sunday. According to the preliminary vote count, Mr San received 895 votes, just 32 votes more than those cast for Sommai Yukunakorn, his only rival for the Ward 1 seat…
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World News: Fragile truce takes hold; Bus bombing in Tel Aviv
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hamas-Israel ceasefire takes hold but mistrust runs deep Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers finally took hold today after eight days of conflict, although deep mistrust on both sides cast doubt on how long the Egyptian-sponsored deal can last.…
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World News: Fallen Gurkhas honoured
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Nepal rites to banish ghosts of fallen Gurkha soldiers Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Wrapped in white and with their heads shaven, retired Gurkha soldiers sat cross-legged on the stems of dried rice plants for three days of symbolic and traditional mourning, laying to rest the…
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Phuket biologists believe stranded dolphin now safely out to sea
PHUKET: Officers at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) who released a stranded Spinner dolphin back into the sea on Saturday are confident that it is now safe. “Our officers monitored the release area after letting the dolphin go on Saturday. We haven’t seen it return to the beach,” Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, who heads the PMBC’s Endangered Species Unit, told…
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World News: Sesame Street’s Kevin Clash resigns over sex allegations
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Voice actor of Elmo resigns amid underage sex allegations Phuket Gazette / News WiresPHUKET: Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who has been on “Sesame Street” for more than 28 years and created the high-pitched voice of Muppet character Elmo, resigned yesterday after new allegations were made public that…
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