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 resorts lax in warning tourists of surf dangers: poll

    Phuket resorts lax in warning tourists of surf dangers: poll

    PHUKET: Almost 75% of Phuket Gazette readers polled feel that resorts on the island are not doing enough to warn their guests of the potential dangers at beaches during the monsoon season. The poll was prompted by a recent spate of tourist drownings and a call by exasperated members of the Phuket Lifeguard Club for more cooperation from resorts. Overall,…

  • Blackouts in Phuket this week

    Blackouts in Phuket this week

    PHUKET: The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced scheduled blackouts in Phuket this week to carry out maintenance on high voltage power lines. Affected areas and times are as follows: August 24, Kathu: Wichit Songkram Road from Soi Bang Thong junction to the Kathu District Administration Office, covering Bang Thong Village, Bang Thong Hill Side and Baan Pho Thong Village.…

  • Charity golf tournament in Phuket | Thaiger

    Charity golf tournament in Phuket

    PHUKET: Golfers get your gear out for the Charity Golf Tournament and Ball to be held on August 29 at Laguna Phuket. Both events are organized by The Rotary Club of Patong and will be to support disadvantaged children. Tee off for the Charity Golf Tournament will be at 11:30am at Laguna Phuket Golf Club (LPGC). The golf format is…

  • FC Phuket trounce Nakhon Sri Thammarat, 4-1

    FC Phuket trounce Nakhon Sri Thammarat, 4-1

    PHUKET: FC Phuket scored three second half goals to cruise to a 4-1 win at Nakhon Sri Thammarat yesterday. The Southern Sea Kirin had already clinched the league, with 46 points going into the match, but were looking to build confidence for their big home match against Thai Premier League side Osotspa Saraburi FC in the opening round of the…

  • World Expo 2020: Phuket fails to make the cut | Thaiger

    World Expo 2020: Phuket fails to make the cut

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Ayutthaya, Chon Buri and Chiang Mai have been short-listed in a six-month-long effort to name a Thai candidate city to host World Expo 2020. The three possible venues, which have emerged after a six-month study by…

  • Phuket villagers seek Bt10m over home demolition

    Phuket villagers seek Bt10m over home demolition

    PHUKET: Villagers in Patong whose modest homes were destroyed by a backhoe last week are seeking 10 million baht in compensation from the development company that ordered the demolition work. The residents of Phra Barami Road Soi 8, in the Kalim area of Patong, last Saturday awoke to the sound of a roaring backhoe that demolished their houses in less…

  • Phuket motorists advised to avoid Chao Fa East Rd | Thaiger

    Phuket motorists advised to avoid Chao Fa East Rd

    PHUKET: Motorists traveling along Chao Fa East Rd are in for a real treat this weekend, as drain installation work along a stretch of the busy artery begins today. The roadwork will affect northbound and southbound traffic along the section of road from Dowroong School south to the Tor Song Saeng Hotel, just before Pattana Thongthin Rd. Chao Fa East…

  • Phuket police auction seized motorbikes

    Phuket police auction seized motorbikes

    PHUKET: Chalong Police this week took the opportunity to clear out their car park with a public auction of motorbikes seized as evidence in drug-related cases. It was short work, with all 18 motorbikes sold in an hour on Wednesday. The proceeds, a total of 100,100 baht, will be handed over to the Ministry of Finance, said Snr Sgt Maj…

  • Thai League Cup: FC Phuket draw high-energy opponents | Thaiger

    Thai League Cup: FC Phuket draw high-energy opponents

    PHUKET: FC Phuket will face a real test of their prowess later this month when they take on Thai Premier League (TPL) team Osotspa Saraburi FC in the opening round of the 2010 Toyota League Cup, the Thai League’s version of England’s FA Cup. The pairing, set for August 29, was the result of a lucky draw among 64 qualifiers,…

  • Phuket Grocery warns of new scam

    Phuket Grocery warns of new scam

    PHUKET: A Phuket supermarket is warning local businesses to be on the lookout for a female con artist who recently relieved them of 45,500 baht in an audacious scam. Phuket Grocery general manager Thavich Boonprasert asked the media to inform the public about their experience as a warning to be on the lookout. On the morning of August 13 a…

  • Remote-control aircraft crashes into Phuket temple hall

    Remote-control aircraft crashes into Phuket temple hall

    PHUKET: One of the island’s most famous temples is threatening to file a police complaint after a remote-controlled aircraft crashed into the roof of the nuns’ dining hall on Wednesday night. News of the damage at Wat Luang Pu Supha in Chalong Village 6 was reported to the media yesterday at 12:30pm by Mr Piyawat Leehaweerachart, a 45-year-old layman who…

  • Phuket hospitality; stocks, autos boom; ‘Death Merchant’ verdict today | Thaiger

    Phuket hospitality; stocks, autos boom; ‘Death Merchant’ verdict today

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket ready for Asian Hospitality Show Phuket’s first Asian Hospitality and Travel Show is shaping up to be a winner, with strong buyer and seller interest in the run-up to the October 1-3 event. Events Thailand, the…

  • Update: Phuket Immigration nabs Taiwanese for drugs

    Update: Phuket Immigration nabs Taiwanese for drugs

    PHUKET: As reported in the Gazette’s Phuket NEWS Hound earlier today, Phuket Immigration Police yesterday announced the arrest of a man wanted for drug smuggling eight years ago in his native Taiwan.Phuket Immigration Superintendent Col Panuwat Ruamrak named the man as Wu Jung Mu, 51.He was arrested at the Mei Zhou Phuket Hotel on Luang Por Wat Chalong Rd on…

  • Phuket ready for ‘Hungry Ghost’ ceremony

    Phuket ready for ‘Hungry Ghost’ ceremony

    PHUKET: The island’s ethnic Chinese community is preparing for the annual Por Tor Festival, featuring special events organized by Phuket City Municipality from August 26. The Kusoldharm Foundation began its preparations by holding two days of ancestor worship at their headquarters on Phun Pol Rd Soi 9 last week. The event, including various merit-making activities, also saw 122 scholarships of…

  • Are you one of the Top 10 Beach Clubs in Phuket?

    Are you one of the Top 10 Beach Clubs in Phuket?

    Welcome to the new Thaiger Gold Awards which list the Top 10 in a series of popular categories searched often on the internet. With The Thaiger already ranking highly on Google we are proud to present this exclusive opportunity to be part of the Top 10 Beachclubs in Phuket list. There can only be ten in the list, obviously, and…

  • Phuket smackdown: Five arrested on narcotics charges

    Phuket smackdown: Five arrested on narcotics charges

    PHUKET: Phuket City Police arrested five people and seized seven vehicles, firearms and a heady variety of narcotics during a drug raid on a home in Koh Kaew on Tuesday. Officers led by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Komol Watrakorn told a press conference at Phuket City Police Station yesterday that the first arrest was that of Koh Kaew resident…

  • Phuket Update; foreigner nabbed; Phuket airline happy; Wiki wasted | Thaiger

    Phuket Update; foreigner nabbed; Phuket airline happy; Wiki wasted

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket airport arrivals soar Passenger traffic through Phuket International Airport during the first half of this year surged 28 per cent compared to a year earlier – marking a dramatic recovery for Phuket as the island resort…

  • Phuket police: Violent crime, drug cases soaring

    Phuket police: Violent crime, drug cases soaring

    PHUKET: Forty murders in Phuket since the beginning of the current fiscal year have led a 95% year-on-year increase in the number of violent crime cases on the island, according to official police statistics. Figures released by Phuket Provincial Police for this year show eight cases of premeditated murder in July alone, with arrests in five cases. Figures for the…

  • Arson attack on Phuket guesthouse | Thaiger

    Arson attack on Phuket guesthouse

    PHUKET: Police are seeking a foreign tourist who threw a Molotov cocktail into the office of a guesthouse on Nanai Road in Patong yesterday. According to the Siangtai Daily website, the attack shattered a large window and caused a deafening explosion at the Jaraan Guesthouse on Nanai Soi 7 shortly before 1am yesterday. The incident was reported by 65-year-old Krissana…

  • Phuket Property: Vikings wary; Phuket Fitness Fiesta; Cops slammed, loved; Phuket villas | Thaiger

    Phuket Property: Vikings wary; Phuket Fitness Fiesta; Cops slammed, loved; Phuket villas

    Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket property: Scandinavians scared Scandinavians are planning to sell their properties in Phuket ‘en masse’ after the political riots in Thailand badly shook their confidence, says Thanan Tanpaiboon, president of the Phuket Real Estate Association. “In the…

  • Goose torched near Phuket pizza joint

    Goose torched near Phuket pizza joint

    PHUKET: Diners at the popular P Pizza House restaurant in the Samkong area of Phuket Town got a fright recently when a man in an adjacent lot fired up a blowtorch and began searing the flesh of what appeared to be a strange new creature with enormous front claws. Closer inspection revealed that the animal was in fact a goose…

  • Phuket Thailand Open volleyball dates confirmed

    Phuket Thailand Open volleyball dates confirmed

    PHUKET: It has been confirmed that the Swatch FIVB Beach Volley World Tour will once again have a stop in Phuket, with this year’s Phuket Thailand Open to take place on the sands of Karon Beach from November 2 to 7.More teams competed in last year’s event than in any other tournament on the Beach Volley World Tour. This year,…

  • German man found dead in Phuket home | Thaiger

    German man found dead in Phuket home

    PATONG: A German man passed away at his rented home in Patong over the weekend. Kathu police Pol Maj Jongserm Preecha identified the deceased as Josef Stefan Distler, age 68. The body of the late Mr Distler was discovered at 9pm Sunday by the owner of the Ban Dok Din rental homes on Soi Veerakit, off Nanai Road. The deceased…

  • Lucky numbers take root | Thaiger

    Lucky numbers take root

    An obscenely shaped tree at a police station in the northern province of Phayao has reportedly predicted the winning lottery numbers. The talented tamarind tree is in the yard of Phayao Muang Police Station. The tree has an approximately two-foot-long gash in its trunk with a fist-sized sparkling lump at one end. Villagers say the combination makes the tree look…

  • Radio Thailand Phuket announces contest winner

    Radio Thailand Phuket announces contest winner

    PHUKET: Radio Thailand Phuket has announced a photograph by Sakorn Jarasbusarakam as winner of its Mothers’ Day Photo Contest. The contest, under the theme “The bond between mother and child”, was held in celebration of national Mothers’ Day on August 12, also the 78th birthday of HM Queen Sirikit. The winning entry shows a young mother blowing on a spoonful…

  • Blackout in Chalong, Phuket tomorrow

    Blackout in Chalong, Phuket tomorrow

    PHUKET: The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), Phuket branch, has announced scheduled blackouts to carry out maintenance on high voltage power lines in Chalong from 9am to 4pm from tomorrow and on Thursday. Affected areas include: August 18: West side of Chao Fah West Road from the Wat Chalong area to and along Soi Ban Klang, and Soi Gloom Yang. August…

  • Phuket Police seek high-tech solution to ya bah problem

    Phuket Police seek high-tech solution to ya bah problem

    PHUKET: With no end in sight to the battle against the illegal trade in ya bah (methamphetamine), Phuket Provincial Police hope to buy high-tech drug detection technology in order to better check vehicles entering the province at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint. Phuket Police Commander Pekad Tantipong made the announcement at a press conference at Phuket City Police Station this…

  • FC Phuket clinch Division 2 South title

    FC Phuket clinch Division 2 South title

    PHUKET: FC Phuket clinched the AIS Regional League Division 2 South title with a 2-1 win at Ranong FC on Saturday. Ranong FC went into the match with 34 points, fighting to keep their second place standing and a chance for the promotional playoff spot that goes with it, but like many second-place teams before them, they were no match…

  • TAT announces Thai Travel Mart 2010 | Thaiger

    TAT announces Thai Travel Mart 2010

    PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has confirmed that the Thailand Travel Mart Plus Amazing Gateway to the Greater Mekong Sub-region will be held from September 8 to 10 at the IMPACT Convention Center in Muang Thong Thani. The Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTM+) is the country’s premier annual trade event designed to promote travel and tourism to Thailand…

  • Phuket Opinion: ‘Terminal’ traffic ills can still be solved | Thaiger

    Phuket Opinion: ‘Terminal’ traffic ills can still be solved

    PHUKET: Residents of Rassada Village 2 have good reason to complain about the lack of a public hearing before the construction of Phuket Bus Terminal 2 in their community. But now that the station has sat idle for seven months, it’s time for all stakeholders to sit down together and work out a solution acceptable to all sides. As long-term…