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 This Christmas, give the gift of health: essential options for expats in Thailand
The holiday season is here, bringing warmth, joy, and a chance to reflect on the year gone by. As an expat in Thailand, this Christmas is a great time to invest in something that truly matters: health. Whether for you...
-
Miss Chicky gets herself fingered
PATONG: It is well-known that women, in general, spend more money than men in the effort to keep themselves attractive. But for men trying to pass themselves off as women, expenses are greater still. In the case of one Thai post-op ladyboy, the costs of ongoing upkeep proved so great that he turned to a life of crime. At 10…
-
Nai Harn, Kata Noi to get warning towers
PHUKET: The iTV television network has donated 4.5 million baht for the construction of two tsunami warning towers, one at Nai Harn Beach and one at Kata Noi Beach, neither of which currently has warning towers.Tawee Homhuan, an engineer with the Phuket Public Works and Town and Country Planning Office, told the Gazette yesterday that his office has already received…
-
Girl, 16, charged over baby’s death
CHALONG: The 16-year-old mother of a newborn baby found dead in the women’s toilet at Wat Chalong surrendered to the police yesterday evening.The corpse, a 3-kilogram boy with the umbilical cord still attached, was discovered on February 1 in a water tank in the toilet, during Wat Chalong’s annual fair.Pol Maj Chana Sutthimas, an Inspector with the Chalong Police, told…
-
Mediation ends Jungceylon deadlock
PHUKET: The deadlock that resulted in a complete halt to construction of the Jungceylon complex in Patong has finally been broken, and the complex is expected to be open for next high season, Samrarn Yothayai, Chief Judge of Phuket Provincial Court, has told the Gazette.Jungceylon, which occupies 55 rai of land off Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd, was due to open…
-
OrBorJor to help resuscitate abandoned hospital
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) plans to join with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to buy and renovate the abandoned Phya Thai Phuket Hospital on Soi Si Sena, just outside Phuket City. Under the plan, the 190-room facility – providing both inpatient and outpatient services – would be reopened under the name Vachira Phuket Hospital 2. The…
-
Experts discuss tsunami damage to coral
PHUKET CITY: Some 13% of reefs inspected after the tsunami had 50% or more of their coral destroyed by the waves, experts from Japan and Thailand, as well as local divers, were told yesterday at a seminar at the Phuket Merlin Hotel. In many other places, however, the coral was undamaged.Spearheading the seminar was Sakanan Plathong. He led a team…
-
Driver dies in third limo smash in 12 days
THALANG: The driver of an airport minibus was killed instantly when his vehicle smashed into a water truck on the airport road yesterday morning. This was the third fatal accident involving airport transport vehicles in just 12 days. Pol Lt Col Jamroon Plaiduang, an Inspector at Thalang Police Station, told the Gazette that the white minibus, bearing the logo of…
-
Seven arrested with forged visas
THALANG: Phuket Immigration on Wednesday arrested seven Bangladeshi men who tried to enter Thailand through Phuket International Airport using forged visas.Pol Col Chirdchai Rattanametanon, the new Superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Office, told the Gazette that the men were arrested at Immigration at about 9 pm after arriving in Phuket on a flight from Singapore. Col Chirdchai explained, “They didn’t…
-
Austrian’s extradition sought after jet-ski death
KAMALA: Kathu Police are to seek the extradition of an Austrian in connection with the death of a Thai man, allegedly killed by a jet-ski while spearfishing near Laem Hin on January 25. Kathu Police Superintendent Pol Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen today told the Gazette that the Austrian, a 29-year-old tourist, was questioned after the incident but was released because of…
-
Not a lot of joy, really
PHUKET: The time-honored teenage tradition of joyriding is alive and well in Phuket – and two young men are dead as a result of it. In the first incident, at about 1 am on January 20, a young man who had just started working at a car care shop in Koh Kaew decided to take his boss’s black Toyota Altis…
-
Duncanson victorious on Phang Nga Bay
PHANG NGA BAY: Winds of 13 knots gusting to 18 turned today into a day of thrills in the 2006 QBE Phang Nga Bay Regatta, after three days of less exciting breezes.Despite being left behind by the fleet in the lee of Koh Phi Phi Don, Scott Duncanson and crew aboard G4S (also known as Somtam Express) recovered to win…
-
Valentine’s Day goes to the dogs
THALANG: Valentine’s Day, traditionally reserved for displays of love between humans, will get a canine twist in the Year of the Dog. On February 14, the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) will stage the official opening of the Mid Road Dog Shelter in a ceremony to be presided over by Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura.Dr Wirapab Termkiatpaisarn, head of the PPLO’s…
-
Rang Hill rogues terrorize tourists
PHUKET CITY: Two rogue monkeys are wreaking havoc atop Rang Hill, where they have been terrorizing tourists, stealing food from diners in a hillside restaurant – and even biting people.News of the primate pests was reported to the Kusoldharm Foundation volunteer rescue service by staff at the Tunk-ka Cafe on January 26, months after the monkeys first appeared. Sukontip Kitsubun,…
-
Burmese woman found beaten to death
THALANG: A 27-year-old Burmese woman identified only as “Ya” was found beaten to death on January 28 near an abandoned tin mine in Baan Prujampa, Tambon Thepkrasattri. From the condition of her body, investigators believe that she had died about three days earlier.Pol Lt Col Jamroon Plaiduang, Inspector at Thalang Police Station, said that officers visited the house nearby where…
-
Phi Phi locals “don’t need Bangkok’s help’
PHI PHI: At a meeting today to discuss the future of the Phi Phi Islands – following the inconclusive talks on January 21 with Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop – local people made it clear that they regard the participation of the Organization for Specific Areas Administration for Sustainable Tourism Promotion (OSAASTP) in future plans and actions as superfluous.After listening…
-
THAI adamant on axing Aussie flights
PHUKET: Despite an appeal from Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura, Thai Airways International (THAI) says it will stick to its decision to suspend direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Phuket, effective February 1.Kalayapha Panich, the airline’s Phuket-based District Sales Manager for Upper-Southern Thailand, said that the direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Phuket will be rerouted to Bangkok.She added, “The…
-
Princess to attend prayers at Big Buddha site
PHUKET: HRH Princess Ubol Ratana Rajakanya will attend a prayer ceremony at the Mingmongkol Buddha project site, in the Nakkerd Hills between Karon and Chalong, at 5 pm on February 11. Suporn Vanichkul, President of the Mingmongkol Faith 45 project committee that is raising funds for the project, told the Gazette that work on the group’s mammoth Phra Puttamingmongkol Akenakkiri…
-
Gov steps into battle over yacht recovery fee
PHUKET: Chris Sieber and his wife Surapa Srijutanat – owners of Kilo, the Phuket-based catamaran that was recently recovered off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after going missing in December – have received a promise of help from Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura to try to reduce the massive salvage fee being demanded by the Indian Coast Guard.The 46-foot Kilo went missing from Phuket on…
-
B1.4bn sports complex proposed for Mai Khao
MAI KHAO: The province will seek private-sector funding for a proposed 1.4-billion-baht sports complex and exhibition center to be sited on 617 rai of government land at the northern tip of the island.Promchote Traivate, Head of the Phuket Office of Sports and Recreation Development, told the Gazette that a committee formed to study the feasibility of such a project presented…
-
Fever kills 138 water buffaloes in Phang Nga
PHUKET: More than 138 water buffaloes in the Thai Muang and Takuapa Districts of Phang Nga Province have died from hemorrhagic septicemia, known locally as “swollen neck fever”. Health officials in the province have declared an epidemic and all cattle and buffalo slaughterhouses in the two districts have been closed for at least 30 days.The disease, which normally occurs at…
-
PYC avoids closure
AO YON: An extraordinary meeting of Phuket Yacht Club (PYC) members on January 22 has staved off the threat of the club’s closure due to financial woes.PYC Commodore David Ratcliffe told the Gazette, “The PYC will continue to operate at its current premises for at least another three years.”He explained that the club had suffered a fall in revenue following…
-
Big Phi Phi meeting makes small progress
KOH PHI PHI DON: Some 200 local people attended a meeting on Saturday with Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop and a passel of senior government officials. They were hoping for solutions to many tsunami-related problems, especially an end to the ban on building permanent structures, but came away shaking their heads in disappointment at the continuing lack of progress.Phankam Kitithorakul,…
-
Mystery over “mass dog poisonings’ in Patong
PATONG: Residents here are insisting that “up to 100 local dogs” have been poisoned in the middle of the night by people driving around in a Patong Municipality garbage truck.But Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukbal vehemently denies that the cull has anything to do with the municipality.Prasert Moonlad, a resident of Nanai Rd in Patong, told the Gazette, “My three…
-
Cheating alleged in OrBorJor exams
PHUKET: Seven people are under investigation for allegedly using high technology to cheat in an examination to select officials to work for the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor). The OrBorJor announced last October that it was seeking to fill eight clerical posts. Some 2,000 people applied, and examinations took place on Saturday at Phuket Wittayalai School in two sessions –…
-
Irishman dies in motorcycle crash
NAKALAY: Paul Dooley from County Cork in the Republic of Ireland died of head injuries at around 2 am on Wednesday, January 18, after a motorcycle crash on the Kalim-Kamala road, near the Thavorn Beach Village & Spa. He was 27.Hélène Fallon-Wood, the Irish Honorary Consul in Phuket, told the Gazette that Mr Dooley had been living in Kamala for…
-
Tour of Siam reaches Phuket
PHUKET: Hong Kong National team cyclist Wu Kin San won the sixth stage of the Sang Som Tour of Siam 2006 yesterday, by cycling the 154.5 kilometers from the Khao Lak Merlin Resort to Saphan Hin in 3 hours, 20 minutes and 56 seconds. He ranks 18th overall.The Tour, which started January 15, consists of seven stages over a total…
-
Missing catamaran found in Andamans
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS: It has been a week for stray yachts being found. First the Wado Ryu, which disappeared from Koh Racha, was found yesterday drifting off the south of Phuket. Today, the missing catamaran Kilo was recovered in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, some 725 kilometers from home. The 46-foot catamaran disappeared from its mooring off Kata Beach…
-
Strange double death in Thalang
THALANG: Arun Sukbunpan, 43, a former manager of the Yacht Haven marina, was found dead on Wednesday night, having apparently taken his own life with a shotgun blast to the head.K. Arun’s 78-year-old landlady and close neighbor, Wouba Saharak, died upon learning of the suicide. The exact cause of her death has not yet been ascertained.Pol Capt Seksan Kamsakorn told…
-
Massive facelift planned for Saphan Hin
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has called on private investors to join it in developing an 80-rai plot of land at Saphan Hin into a new commercial complex to be called Saphan Hin Park.OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr explained to the Gazette that the organization owns the land at Saphan Hin stretching from the triangle at the Phuket Vocational…
-
Ao Yon sailing club faces closure
AO YON: David Ratcliffe, Commodore of the Phuket Yacht Club, has called a special meeting of members this Sunday, starting at 2:30 pm, in the hope of staving off the club’s closure due to financial woes.Mr Ratcliffe explained in a email to members, “Your presence is urgently required. The subject of discussion will be the future of the Club. At…
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.