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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Body of Burmese worker found at Phuket construction site
PHUKET: The decomposing body of a worker from Myanmar was left undiscovered at a Phuket construction site for at least three days before being found late yesterday afternoon. Thalang Police were notified of the body at 6:15pm. Arriving at the scene with Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation workers, police found the body pinned between a wall and some metal scaffolding at the…
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DNA tests confirm French tourist as Tiger Disco fire victim
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok has confirmed that the fourth – and last – victim to be identified from the Tiger Discotheque fire in Phuket on August 17 is that of French tourist Emmanuel Becard, aged 30. Friends of Mr Becard reported him as missing the day after the fire, which killed four people.…
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All silent on “insecticide’ causing deaths of Canadian sisters
PHUKET: A spokesperson at the forensic laboratory at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok today declined to confirm or deny reports that insecticide containing DEET had been identified as the cause of death of Audrey and Noemi Belanger. The sisters, Audrey, age 20, and Noemi, 25, from Quebec, Canada, were found dead in their hotel room on Phi Phi Island on June…
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Hunt continues for suspect in Phuket Police shooting
PHUKET: Chalong Police continue to search for a suspect who remains at-large following the June shooting of an on-duty officer in a live music venue in Phuket. Lt Col Boonlert Onklang of the Chalong Police told the Phuket Gazette today (September 4) that his officers are still searching for Phiromchai “Un” Tuaktham, the only one of five suspects wanted in…
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“Hungry ghosts’ inspire new Phuket TAT chief to push cultural tourism
PHUKET: The new director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office is drawing up plans to push Phuket’s cultural festivals after witnessing his first Por Tor festival in Phuket.Director Chanchai Doungjit told the Phuket Gazette this morning that he is devising a four-year plan to bring tourists in from around the world by expressly focusing on Phuket’s cultural…
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World News: Michael Clarke Duncan dead
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community “Green Mile” star Michael Clarke Duncan dead at 54 Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: American actor Michael Clarke Duncan, who starred as a death row inmate in ‘The Green Mile’ and in other box office hits such as ‘Armageddon and ‘Kung Fu Panda’, died at…
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Flood takes steam out of Tiger Discotheque extension inquiry
PHUKET: The investigation into whether or not the alleged “extension” to the ill-fated Tiger Discotheque in Patong was legal fell flat last week after Patong Municipality admitted that it had lost the original plan to the building in a flood nearly a decade ago. The investigation was launched after four people died in the lethal blaze at the club, located…
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World News: Lufthansa cabin crew strike causes flight cancellations
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hundreds of flights canceled as Lufthansa cabin crews strike Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Cabin crews at German airline Lufthansa today launched a fresh strike at two major airports in Berlin and Frankfurt over an escalating pay dispute, a labor union said, forcing the airline…
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Local TAT chief bullish on Phuket tourism industry
PHUKET: The new director the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket Town has proclaimed the “low season” a thing of the past with so many tourists arriving year-round. Speaking at the “Governor Meets the Press” gathering at Provincial Hall today, TAT Southern Region 4 Office director Chanchai Doungjit expressed confidence in the performance of the Phuket tourism industry,…
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Phuket to host ITU World Triathlon Long Distance Series opener
PHUKET: Next year, Phuket will host one of the eight prestigious events of the ITU Long Distance World Triathlon Series. The event will be held in Patong on May 4-5, 2013. The news was delivered today by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, accompanied by Bryan Lunt, chairman & CEO of title sponsor Absolute World Group. Joining them at a press conference…
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Phone call ends suicide drama atop Phuket billboard
PHUKET: A troubled man, who this afternoon climbed atop a billboard opposite the Central Festival Phuket shopping complex, has climbed down to safety and is now in police protective custody. Phuket City Police Superintendent Sermphan Sirikhong identified the man as Sathien Promsang, originally from Trang province. “Mr Sathien told us that he had come to Phuket to find his wife…
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Booze and ballots don’t mix: Phuket poll
PHUKET: A majority of Phuket Gazette readers think the election-weekend alcohol bans should remain in place despite their cost to the local economy, the results of our online readers’ poll reveal. A total of 1,599 readers took part in the two-week survey, which was timed to span consecutive weekend alcohol bans: the first an island-wide ban for the Phuket Provincial…
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Landslide win for Phuket’s Pian Keesin – the Mayor of Patong
PHUKET: Pian Keesin was re-elected to a third consecutive term as Patong Mayor yesterday, with members of his “Rak Patong” party winning 17 of the 18 seats contested to give him an unassailable majority in the new city council. Turnout for the polling, which ran from 8am to 3pm, was 63.5% of 12,831 eligible voters. There were 217 spoiled ballots…
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Weird World News: The missing link: A woman, chimps and Bigfoot
PHUKET: The “Missing Link” riddles headlines in this week’s Weird World News Roundup as a Bigfoot impersonator gets hit and killed by not one, but two teenage girls driving cars; a woman unable to link the description of a missing person to her own identity joins a search party for herself; and a Chimpanzee’s carry-on tradition ‘missing link or not’…
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Gov orders crackdown on firecrackers, food prices for Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha has expressed his concern over the overzealous use of firecrackers and the skyrocketing prices of vegetables during the upcoming Phuket Vegetarian Festival, this year to be held from October 15-23. The news came at a meeting between Governor Tri and other senior officials and the Phuket Vegetarian Festival committee at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday. Among…
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Phuket Airport expansion finally underway
PHUKET: Wing Commander Pratheep Wichittho, Deputy Director of Airports of Thailand (AOT) Public Co Ltd, today announced that the long-awaited 5.7-billion-baht expansion project at Phuket International Airport is finally underway. Mr Pratheep was joined at a press conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel by Phuket Airport Director Prathuang Sornkham, who said that the expansion project would not adversely affect…
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Phuket Opinion: There’s no place like home
PHUKET: The low turnout for the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) council election last weekend highlighted yet again the problems the island faces due to the fact that so many migrant workers who live here continue to maintain house registrations in their “home” provinces, in some cases despite having lived and worked on the island for over a decade. The…
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Election alcohol ban in Patong this weekend
PHUKET: All alcohol sales in Patong are banned tonight and tomorrow due to the elections for Patong Mayor and the municipal council being held in Phuket’s busiest tourism town. In accordance with the Election Act, the alcohol ban will be in effect from 6pm tonight through to midnight tomorrow night. “Retail shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and convenience stores are prohibited…
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DEET in lethal “party cocktail’ killed Canadian sisters: Autopsy
PHUKET: Krabi Provincial Police are now investigating where Canadian sisters Audrey and Noemi Belanger were possibly given a lethal cocktail containing kratom leaves and cough syrup, which may also have contained the insect repellent compound DEET. The sisters, 20-year-old Audrey and Noemi, 25, from Quebec, were found dead in their hotel room on Phi Phi Island on June 15. Police…
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Phuket FC Coach: “Anything can happen’ tonight against Korat
PHUKET: Fans of Phuket FC are confident that their side will not walk away without at least a point in tonight’s home football match against a slightly better-ranked, yet tired and injury-riddled Nakhon Ratchasima FC side. To be played at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town, the 25th fixture of the season will kickoff at 6:30pm. The Islanders’ Head Coach, Narong…
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Phuket ready for “hungry ghost’ festival
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality has organized a wide range of activities for the annual Por Tor festival from September 2 to 15, including colorful street processions tomorrow and next Sunday. Promoted internationally by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) regional office in Phuket Town, the Por Tor festival has its roots from the Chinese “Spirit” or “Hungry Ghost” festival (zhong…
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Forensic test results delay trial of Nong Som’s killer
PHUKET: The delay in receiving test results from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Police General Hospital in Bangkok has resulted police having to defer bringing to trial the killer of 17-year-old Sunisa “Nong Som” Saiyoy. Nong Som was killed by an intruder in her family home in Chalong on July 10 while her parents were still tending to their…
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Pedal power from Deep South arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: A sortie of 130 cyclists from Narathiwat arrived in Phuket this afternoon, pedaling their way from the troubled province in Thailand’s Deep South to Phuket Provincial Hall in just three days. There to welcome the cyclists was Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) Chief Dr Sak Tanchaikul. “This bike rally was a cooperative effort between the Phuket Public Health Office…
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Once in a Blue Moon
PHUKET: The National Astronomical Research Institute (NARIT) has announced that the rare lunar event, known as a ‘Blue Moon’, is scheduled to occur tonight. NARIT Deputy Director, Dr. Sarun Posayachinda elaborated that a Blue Moon refers to the second full moon within a given month. A full moon generally takes place once a month. This occurrence happens approximately once every…
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Phuket Sports: F1 – Spa favors the brave
PHUKET: This weekend Formula 1 is back from an agonizingly long half-term break. And it’s Spa – one of my favorite tracks in F1 as it tests drivers more than any other in the world. Along with Monza it is the fastest circuit of year because the corners need to be taken flat out. The drivers will corner Eau Rouge…
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Chalong Mayor gets cooking at Phuket food, entertainment festival
PHUKET: The first annual “Chalong Food and Entertainment Festival” kicked off in Phuket last night, and will continue to offer a wide variety of food and beverage options, as well as staged entertainment through to Monday night. The five-day event is open from 4pm to midnight in the field opposite Wat Ladthi Wanaram (“Wat Tai”), on Chao Fa East Road…
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Cristiano Ronaldo: “It is the most difficult group in my opinion
PHUKET: “It is the most difficult group in my opinion and I think that’s the same for most people. But we are champions of Spain and we are ready to compete with everybody.” After the draw for the Champions League Group Stages the Real Madrid midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo admitted his team face a daunting task in Group D with Manchester…
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Songkhla man unconscious after savage beating by Phuket youth gang
PHUKET: Phuket police are investigating the beating of a man from Songkhla who was set upon by a gang of youths in Cherng Talay last night. Local police received reports of gunfire and a wounded man outside a row of flats on Pasak Soi 4 in Cherng Talay Village 4 at 10pm. At the scene they found the victim, 21-year-old…
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Phuket to get new police chief in latest reshuffle
PHUKET: Phuket will get a new provincial police commander as part of a nationwide reshuffle of top provincial-level officers. Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Chalit Kaewyarat today confirmed to the Phuket Gazette the results of the reshuffle announced at a meeting of the National Police Committee at Royal Police Headquarters in Bangkok yesterday. Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, who as…
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Phuket Business: Midyear tax filing deadline tomorrow
PHUKET: Tomorrow, August 31, is the midyear tax return filing deadline for both companies and individuals who have generated income in Thailand during the first six months of 2012 – regardless of where or how payments were made. The Revenue Department website states: “A company [or individual] is obliged to estimate its annual net profit [or net income] as well…
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