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.
The Thaiger is your essential resource for staying connected with Thailand’s captivating blend of tradition and modernity. To remain in the loop with the country’s most trusted news source, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
-
Sponsored Is tap water in Thailand safe to consume?
Wondering if you can drink the tap water in Thailand? From brushing your teeth to filling up a bottle, it’s helpful to understand a few basics. Tap water safety in Thailand varies by location, and while some people use it...
-
Phuket cop sought over bar demolition
PHUKET: Chalong Police are looking to question a fellow police officer over his alleged role in the demolition of a bar in Kata.Boonlert Thamsue, owner of what was until recently the ‘So Nice’ bar near Club Med, told police that Pol Maj Wichan Suwannasit arrived around 8am yesterday with four other men and pulled down his bar.Chalong Police said Maj…
-
Free Wi-Fi in two Phuket Town parks
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality is now providing free Wi-Fi internet access at Saphan Hin and testing a similar service at Queen Sirikit Park on Thalang Road.The TOT has signed a contract to provide 24-hour access in both areas for three years, the municipality agreeing to paying 180,000 baht annually for the service.Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana said the project targets…
-
Phuket drivers face new layer of bureaucracy
PHUKET: Phuket drivers be warned: all new driver’s license applicants are now required to have a doctor’s certificate in order to ensure that health conditions will not adversely affect driving performance, the state-run National News Bureau of Thailand has reported. Deputy Government Spokesman Supachai Jaisamut revealed the news after a draft Transport Ministry regulation was passed by Cabinet. The Transport…
-
Phuket Vegetarian Fest to generate 200 million baht
PHUKET: Tourists coming to Phuket for the annual Vegetarian Festival from October 8-16 are expected to pump at least 200 million baht into the local economy during the nine-day festival. Occupancy rates in Phuket Town stood at 50%-60% on Tuesday, but many hotels in the island’s capital district were already fully booked for the last three days of the event,…
-
‘Mud Garden’: Phuket residents protest mudslides, flooding
PHUKET: Residents of Rock Garden Phase 5 project in Rassada, who have watched in anguish as muddy floodwaters inundated their homes in recent weeks, will have to wait several more weeks before flood prevention work begins. Following yet another major flooding late last month, the fourth in two years, about 50 residents on September 26 staged a protest over the…
-
Phuket IT update: ‘Facebook for business’ clinic in Patong
PHUKET: Software Park Phuket is giving a special encore presentation of its “Using Facebook to Drive Business” seminar, a free clinic designed to introduce Phuket businesses to using Facebook to augment their online sales campaigns. Sitthichai “Mr. X” Laoveerakul, director of PhuketSchool.com, originally gave the presentation last month at a Software Park Phuket meeting. Local computer expert Woody Leonhard and…
-
Phuket Veg Fest: human blood needed
PHUKET: The Phuket chapter of the Thai Red Cross Society is asking for more blood donations to meet an expected rise in demand during the upcoming Phuket Vegetarian Festival and high season for tourism that follows. Pornthip Rattajak, acting director of the local Red Cross chapter, said increased stocks are needed during the high season, when the increased number of…
-
Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010: a lot of bang for the baht
PHUKET: Phuket Town residents might want to invest in safety goggles and industrial earplugs, as the Phuket Police will not try to control the use of firecrackers and more powerful fireworks during the upcoming Vegetarian Festival. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong said today the use of fireworks is a long-standing spiritual tradition that would be allowed during the nine-day…
-
Westin Phuket defers taxi decision
PHUKET: Management at the Westin Siray Bay Resort and Spa, a local affiliate with global resort giant Starwood Hotels, has deferred announcing its decision on whether to allow a local taxi counter inside its new luxury resort on Koh Sireh in Phuket. The announcement was made at a meeting on Saturday between the resort management team and representatives of local…
-
Phuket to lead Veg Fest spending of 33.5 billion baht
PHUKET: Thais are expected to splurge 26.3% more, 33.5 billion baht altogether, on this year’s vegetarian festival, researchers in Bangkok said yesterday. “More people feel that they would like to participate in the Vegetarian Festival as the sentiment in the Kingdom this year was bad after the political turmoil,” said Saowanee Thairungroj, vice president for research at the University of…
-
New Phuket governor meets honorary consuls on first day at work
PHUKET: New Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha began his work this morning by meeting honorary consuls from 11 nations and assuring them that tourism development is his top priority. The meeting took place after Gov Tri performed a traditional ceremony for incoming governors – paying respects at a statue of King Rama V outside Phuket Provincial Hall. He then met and…
-
Phuket defence volunteer shoots romantic rival
PHUKET: A Chalong civil defense volunteer has been charged with attempted murder following a jealousy-inspired shooting outside the home of a romantic rival last night. Chalong Police were notified of the shooting at about 11:30pm. Arriving at the scene, in front of a house on Soi Nakok in Chalong, police found a 7.65mm pistol and a bloody sword known in…
-
Phuket poll: Price-fixing not the answer to hotel price war
PHUKET: Fewer than 20% of Phuket Gazette readers think setting minimum standard room prices at small hotels and guesthouse in Patong is the answer to the current price-cutting war going on there. In the last Phuket Gazette readers’ poll, participants were asked: Do you think setting minimum standard room prices is the answer to price-cutting wars among small hotel and…
-
Phuket helmet crackdown to cover entire island from January 1
PHUKET: Police across Phuket are preparing to take the helmet crackdown campaign beyond Phuket City Police District to cover the entire island, effective January 1. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Pekad Tantipong told the Gazette the move to enforce the traffic law island-wide follows the success of the campaign launched in Phuket Town. “Since [the campaign was launched on]…
-
Phuket nurse in stabbing murder
PHUKET: A nurse at Bangkok Hospital Phuket has confessed to stabbing her husband to death in Rassada last night. Phuket City Police received a call from the 40-year-old nurse, Mrs Rachada Rattanadilok na Phuket, at about 10:30pm yesterday. Phuket City Police Superintendent Col Wanchai Ekpornpit, Inspector Col Wijak Tarom and other investigators raced to the scene, a room in an…
-
Six survive after car plunges into Phuket pond
PHUKET: Six people narrowly escaped with their lives early this morning after a young woman drove her new Honda Jazz into the pond at Saphan Hin after a night of clubbing in Phuket. Phuket City Police were notified of the accident at 3am. At the scene they found a white Honda Jazz almost completely submerged in the saltwater pond, not…
-
Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010 marches on
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand office in Phuket has released the schedule of street processions by participating Chinese temples in the upcoming Vegetarian Festival. The festival will get underway with an opening ceremony near the Tin Mining Monument in Saphan Hin Park at 9am on October 7. The traditional raising of go teng poles to welcome the Chinese gods…
-
Phuket launches oil-recycling drive
PHUKET: In a bid to stop boat owners from dumping used motor oil into Chalong Bay, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) has set up waste-oil collection drums at Chalong Pier. Speaking to a group of boat operators at a meeting at the Chalong Sunrise Restaurant at Chalong Pier on September 25, PPAO Chief Mechanic Wasana Rongphol implored boat owners…
-
Phuket agency helps Burmese workers go legit
PHUKET: Many of the Burmese citizens working in the construction industry in Phuket are highly educated and “just as talented as Thai people,” according to the owner of a company specializing in legalizing the island’s foreign laborers. Thanadech Supasuwan, who runs the Noom Broker agency in Rassada, said that the younger generation of Burmese on Phuket aspire to work in…
-
Gazette goes national
PHUKET: Now in its 18th year of publication, the Phuket Gazette is delighted to announce the launch of its new Nationwide Edition – today, Saturday, October 2. The new edition makes its debut in style as a stand-alone Phuket Gazette tucked into the fold of its long-term partner newspaper The Nation. Focused entirely on Phuket and the Andaman Region, our…
-
New Phuket Governor to focus on tourism development
PHUKET: Tri Augkaradacha, who today officially became Phuket’s 43rd governor, has announced tourism development as his top-priority in office. Having served as a vice-governor of Phuket since December 2006, Governor Tri is well aware of the many complex issues facing the island. The 58-year-old is a bachelor’s degree graduate in political science from Chiang Mai. He also holds a master’s…
-
Phuket’s Patong claims another suicide victim
PHUKET: A half-Thai, half-Japanese teenager is the latest person to take his own life in Phuket’s popular beach resort of Patong. Kathu Police were informed at 8:30am today of the apparent suicide by hanging at a guesthouse on Soi Patong Resort, off the beach road. Capt Veerapong Sukito of the Kathu Police identified the victim as a 17-year-old whose name…
-
Thailand plans Phuket bid for Asian Beach Games
PHUKET: Thailand looks likely to bid for Phuket to host the fourth-ever Asian Beach Games in November 2014, following a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Sports and Tourism.The 500-million-baht event would take place between November 15 to 24. Events would include handball, kabaddi, takraw, volleyball, sailing, paragliding, football, water skiing, bodybuilding, windsurfing, jet-skiing, triathlon, woodball, swim marathon, boat racing,…
-
Phuket Police pinch pot peddlars
PHUKET: Phuket City Police yesterday arrested two men for possession of eight bars of dried marijuana. Phuket City Police Inspector Wijak “The Magnet” Tarom identified the pair as Iruphan “Heng” Latae, 34, and Worrapoj “Roos” Sairaya, 29. Lt Col Wijak and his team noticed Mr Iruphan acting suspiciously outside an unnamed apartment block on Soi Siangtai, off Thepkrasattri Rd southbound…
-
New Phuket incinerator to burn off landfill waste
PHUKET: The days of the landfill behind the Phuket City Incinerator at Saphan Hin may be numbered, following confirmation that a new incinerator now under construction at the site will use any extra burning capacity to reduce the huge stockpiles of trash. Phuket City Deputy Mayor Thaworn Jeeraphat told Gazette that project contractor PJT is contracted to burn at least…
-
Asian Hospitality & Travel Show starts tomorrow in Phuket
PHUKET: The three-day Asian Hospitality & Travel Show, the first Asian trade exhibition bringing together suppliers and exhibitors of every facet of the hospitality and travel industry from all over Asia, kicks of tomorrow at the Häfele Design Center Phuket on the bypass road southbound. The show, proudly sponsored by the Phuket Gazette, will bring together more than 100 exhibitors…
-
Phuket businessman and companion die in car crash
PHUKET: Well-known Phuket businessman Pornchai Sawasri and a female companion died in a car accident in Thalang last night when Mr Pornchai lost control of his vehicle and hit a power pole after swerving to avoid a dog. Thalang Police were notified of the crash at 9:30pm. At the scene, on a curved section of Thepkrasattri Road northbound opposite the…
-
New Phuket fertility clinic opens tomorrow at PIH
PHUKET: Adding to Phuket’s medical tourism appeal is the fact that now patients not only have the option of getting popular treatments such as dental work or cosmetic surgery, but also the chance to conceive a baby. A 20-million-baht “Safe Fertility Center” officially opens at Phuket International Hospital (PIH) tomorrow. The largest In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Center in southern Thailand,…
-
Thai police pounce on prolific panty perv
PHUKET: A motorbike taxi driver caught red-handed with a bag full of used bras and panties was later found in possession of thousands of women’s undergarments at his home. After arresting 46-year-old Phanu Phloisuwan on September 26, Samut Prakarn City police found a trove of more than 5,000 undergarments, mostly stolen from washing lines over a two-year period. Most of…
-
One dead, two critical following Phuket horror smash
PHUKET: A young student is dead and two other people seriously injured after a 22-wheel tractor-trailer rig slammed into two motorcycles at the Tesco-Lotus junction at around noon today. Witnesses told the Gazette that the truck, traveling on the bypass road southbound, ran a red light as westbound traffic pulled out of Yaowarat Road in the direction of Kathu. One…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.