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 Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
-
Israeli man drowns as Phi Phi dive boat capsizes
PHI PHI ISLANDS: An Israeli tourist died this morning when a boat sank off Maya Bay after becoming overwhelmed by stormy conditions.The boat was returning to Koh Phi Phi Don from a diving trip, said Suriya Kitimonthon, chief of Krabi Marine Office.Fifty-five tourists were out diving when Suriyan Sroyson, captain and owner of the Jor Kingfisher, noticed dark clouds beginning…
-
Chalong Circle blaze claims five motorbikes
CHALONG: A fire at Chalong Circle before dawn on Thursday reduced five motorcycles to charred frames.The fire, reported to police about 4:30 am, quickly engulfed five motorbikes parked side-by-side in front of the “Ha Yak Mobile” mobile phone shop, opposite the Bank of Ayudhya Chalong branch.Pol Capt Parichat Jaturonphan of the Chalong Police told the Gazette that three of the…
-
“Compromise’ reached on illegal Korean guides
PHUKET: South Korean Ambassador Han Tae-Kyu met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit yesterday to discuss the thorny issue of Korean tour guides working illegally in the province, but with few tangible results other than an agreement “to compromise”on the issue.Meanwhile, the terms of a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed by Korean tour operators in Phuket are under review…
-
TAT targets Indian travelers
PHUKET: Representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Southern Region 4 Office will tomorrow set off for the subcontinent as part of a nine-day “Amazing Thailand Roadshow to India 2007″, with stops in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.The road show, with funding by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), will promote Phuket tourism and facilities to Indian travel agencies,…
-
Wai the need for violence?
PHITSANULOK: Religious institutions are intended to be places of peace and goodwill, but a temple in Phitsanulok recently proved to be anything but when a monk who thought a nun had disrespected him responded by beating her. At 9 am August 21, Maechi Phronchon Chomphukpan, 53, a nun at Wat Ban Khek in Nakhon Thai District, walked into the local…
-
Bounty of bras reveals a sad tale
ROI-ET: Stories of men dying in strange circumstances while dressed in women’s clothing are not so unusual. A few years ago the BBC reported that an up-and-coming UK Conservative Party Member of Parliament was found dead with “a black bin liner over his head and wearing stockings and suspenders”. Police in Roi-Et Town, however, were initially left a bit flummoxed…
-
Temples tricked by ladyboy’s lies
SAMUT PRAKAN: The life of a Thai ladyboy is full of challenges that most members of Thai society could hardly fathom – let alone deal with. On the bureaucratic front, this can be seen from the current debate raging on whether to let those who have undergone “sex reassignment surgery” use the title “Miss” on their ID cards. Before it…
-
Rampant rapist eludes vengeful vigilantes, police
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A group of irate villagers in Nakhon Sri Thammarat Municipality launched a vigilante squad July 31 to try to track down an inhalant-addicted rapist from whom not even dogs, pigs and banana trees were safe. A meeting was held at 1:30 pm that day at the house of Phairot Mathayawut, head of the local Volunteer Crime News…
-
A severed engagement
PHUKET: On August 1 a man was admitted to Phuket International Hospital with an unusual injury: his penis was almost completely severed after his fiancee, suspicious that he was still seeing an ex-girlfriend, attempted to cut it off. The incident was reported to Capt Sathit Noorit, Duty Officer at Phuket City Police Station, who led an investigation team to the…
-
Guns, drugs and an empty casket
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: When a funeral goes on for several weeks and is protected by a gang of armed men, you can usually bet that it’s for someone important. But a funeral in Thung Yai held for a fictitious money-spinning witch doctor left villagers confused when the funeral’s organizers started selling “lucky” lottery tickets. The funeral was reported to the…
-
Conman captured at local cockfight
KAMALA: After a two-month search, a local trickster who conned a 55-year-old woman out of a million baht in a land scam was finally arrested – at an illegal cockfight in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. Lt Col Monsak Srisuwan from Kamala Police Station said that Phuket City Resident Benja Wongdara had been trying to sell a plot of land. K. Benja…
-
OrBorTor elections set for October 7
PHUKET: The four-year terms of eight tambon administration organizations (OrBorTor) in Phuket ended yesterday, with elections to replace them to be held on October 7, Phuket Election Commission (PEC) Director Supap Akkam has told the Gazette.Would-be representatives in the eight constituencies will be given from September 4 to 8 to register their candidacies with the Phuket Election Commission (PEC).Polling in…
-
Half of Phuket’s population still unregistered
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit’s campaign to encourage people to register themselves as citizens of the island resulted in some success this month, with Phuket’s official population increasing by 1,231 to 324,891 people between July 21 and August 20.Launched last year, the campaign seeks to increase the number of Thai citizens whose names appear on household registration forms.Muang District saw…
-
Electrified fence at forest temple
LOPBURI: More than 200 people from Baan Nong Kam in Lopburi’s Muang District held a protest June 27 to drive out a local abbot, whom they accused of setting up an electrified fence to keep villagers away from his forest temple.One of the protest leaders, 58-year-old Charoen Wongpao, told reporters that Phra Khru Palatwiroj Ophaso, Abbot of Wat Suwanahong Forest,…
-
Wanted for TV: Property reports from Brits and Thais
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has learned that ITV, the oldest and largest commercial television network in the UK, is currently making a prime-time, one-hour documentary about British people who own a property abroad. The program will feature a wide range of experiences from individuals buying or building holiday homes or a permanent residence overseas. It will air on ITV1 early…
-
Annual “turtle’ festival underway
PHUKET CITY: The incessant rain today did not stop Phuket City’s ethnic Chinese from turning out en masse to pay their respects to the dead on the first day of the annual “Por Tor” festival.The festival, officially opened by Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit at 1 pm, saw hundreds lighting joss sticks and offering cakes in the shapes of turtles, the…
-
ATM card scanners found in Patong
PATONG: Police are warning credit card and bank card holders to exercise caution when using ATMs and other “swipe” machines in Patong after an ATM on Soi Bangla was found fitted with devices capable of recording card data and pin numbers.Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark told the Gazette that Patong police received a call from an English tourist about…
-
B34m of “fake’ goods destroyed
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Police incinerated fake goods worth some 34 million baht at Phuket City Municipality Incinerator on August 25.The imitation brand-name goods, totaling 68,809 items, were seized in raids over the past four years. The contraband included clothes, watches, bags, shoes, sunglasses, VCDs, DVDs and electronic games.Overseeing the burn-off was Police Region 8 Deputy Commissioner Maj Gen Worawet…
-
Bank, Bass, Boss make Sgt Major’s day
PHUKET CITY: Staff at the maternity ward at Vachira Phuket Hospital received a treat on Sunday when Pol Sgt Maj Supat Ruangsri and his wife K. Thipawan arrived to have their triplets delivered.The couple arrived from their home in Phang Nga Town after K. Thipawan, who was eight months pregnant, started having contractions about two hours earlier.Sgt Maj Supat, an…
-
Floyd still standing
PATONG: Keith Floyd, renowned British celebrity chef and owner of Floyd’s Brasserie at Burasari Resort, flew home this morning as planned in order to continue with his UK theater roadshow Floyd Uncorked – putting paid to rumors that he is suffering ill health.Rumors about Floyd’s health began circulating after he collapsed on Saturday evening while taking time out from cooking…
-
Island authorities sign trash management MOU
PHUKET: With the island’s only landfill perilously close to capacity and its sole incinerator incapable of burning even half the volume of trash sent to it every day, all of Phuket’s 18 local administrations on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) pledging to tackle the mounting problem through trash separation and recycling.The signing ceremony, at the Royal Phuket City…
-
Burmese concert hits bureaucratic barrier
PHUKET CITY: An ambitious plan to stage a concert to bring some fun into the lives of some 30,000 minimum-wage Burmese laborers living in Phuket received a lukewarm reception from Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima yesterday, who said the event would need to be organized in accordance with all provincial regulations imposed on migrant workers – including the controversial 8 pm curfew.…
-
Rough seas sink ferry
PHUKET: A ferry carrying 34 passengers and four crew sank yesterday afternoon, with all aboard left floating in the sea off Koh Phai until they were rescued by the Krabi Marine Police.Krabi Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Phuwadol Vudduccanok identified the vessel as Sea Breeze 2, owned by the Phi Phi Island Cabana Hotel.While awaiting rescue, all passengers and…
-
Murray released on bail
PHUKET: Six weeks after Englishman David Murray was charged with the murder without intent in the death of his eight-year-old stepson, Narid “Curly” Budtharai, he is out on bail with a court date yet to be set.Angered by the slow response, Curly’s natural father Pissanu Badtharai asked for support from the Bangkok-based Pavena Foundation for abused women and children. The…
-
Rubber vendor killed in mystery shooting
THALANG: In a crime that police have no suspect and no motive for, a man died on his way to hospital after being shot in the back while riding his motorcycle on Srisoonthorn Rd on Sunday afternoon. About 3 pm, a local villager alerted police of a man lying on the sidewalk near the first corner of the road to…
-
Loans offered to hard-hit shrimp farmers
PHUKET: With shrimp prices still on the skids, the Phuket Internal Trade Office (PITO) have announced that they will now accept shrimp as collateral for loans requested by registered shrimp farmers in Phuket.During a Governor Meets the Press meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall, PITO Chief Somphot Sangkhapong said that the office will accept Pacific white shrimp, also known as white…
-
Phuket votes “yes’ to new Constitution
PHUKET: In yesterday’s national referendum of the draft constitution, Phuket residents overwhelmingly accepted the new charter with 88.9% of all those voting in favor compared to just 9.6% opposed.The remaining ballots, just under 1.5%, were deemed as spoiled.The official results were posted by the Phuket Election Commission (PEC) on a board outside the PEC counting center at Saphan Hin Gymnasium…
-
Good news for gun enthusiasts
KATHU: A three-story building under construction on the eastern side of Patong Hill will become Phuket’s third shooting range, the Gazette has learned.Work on the 45-million-baht Patong Shooting Range is about 70% complete, said project owner Somchit Sucharitjiravongse.Honorary Secretary of the Trang Chamber of Commerce, K. Somchit is a shooting enthusiast who has represented Thailand in international competitions. He aims to help…
-
Heavy rain set to continue
PHUKET: Phuket residents won’t need to worry about watering their lawns for the next week, as the downpours the island is experiencing are expected to continue.The Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) 24-hour weather forecast for Phuket from 7 am today is for isolated heavy rains and widespread thundershowers covering 80% of the area.Moderate southwesterly monsoon winds of 20 to 35kmh…
-
New foundation gives power to Phuket people
PHUKET: The people of Phuket now have a direct say in the development of projects to improve the local community – and how funding is used for them – with the recent launch of independent charity Phuket Community Foundation (PCF). The foundation is fully independent of any business, political or religious affiliations and provides a channel for organizations, businesses and individuals to address…
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.