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 gets boost at Le Mans

    Phuket gets boost at Le Mans

    LE MANS, FRANCE: The message that Phuket is still a tropical paradise, and very much open for business, will be taken to a worldwide audience of motor racing fans next weekend, emblazoned along the side of one of the powerful cars racing in the famed Le Mans 24 Hours race.The car has been entered by Kruse Motorsport, whose Team Director,…

  • Chalong police in corruption probe | Thaiger

    Chalong police in corruption probe

    PHUKET CITY: Pol L/Cpl Panya Dee-On and his superior officer, Pol Lt Col Peerapan Meemak, of Chalong Police Station, have been temporarily transferred to police regional headquarters in Surat Thani pending investigation of allegations that they accepted a bribe from Supa Nilwadee, a female construction foreman in Rawai.Thai TV station iTV on Wednesday last week broadcast footage showing L/Cpl Panya…

  • Danish expert puts forward beaches plan | Thaiger

    Danish expert puts forward beaches plan

    PHUKET: A Danish environmental expert presented a radical plan for the restoration of beaches to Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura on Saturday.Poul Jakobsen, General Manager of the Skagen Innovation Center (SIC), told the Gazette after the meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall, “We are a worldwide environmentally-friendly research company and have come to Phuket to help restore and maintain the beaches from Patong…

  • Belgian beauties help tsunami victims

    Belgian beauties help tsunami victims

    PHUKET: Bang Tao Beach has had more than its fair share of glamor in the past few days as Miss Belgium Beauty 2005, Cynthia Reekmans, along with models Sasja Beullens and Kathleen Claes, posed for fashion photographer Henk Van Cauwenbergh in the shooting of the annual Showbizz calendar.Brigitta Callens, Miss Belgium 1999, and make-up artist, told the Gazette that the Showbizz…

  • Airport boss uneasy over zero landing fees | Thaiger

    Airport boss uneasy over zero landing fees

    PHUKET (Gazette/The Nation): The Director of Phuket International Airport has expressed reservations over a proposal to waive landing fees until the end of this year in an attempt to boost post-tsunami tourism.Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told reporters last week that lifting landing fees at Phuket and Krabi airports could help in the recovery of tourism in the two…

  • Governor lays out strategy for war on “taxi mafia’ | Thaiger

    Governor lays out strategy for war on “taxi mafia’

    PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has unveiled more plans for cleaning up taxi and tuk-tuk services and reducing the influence of the island’s “taxi mafia”.The Governor said the number of “limousines” allowed to operate from Phuket International Airport should be limited to 50-60 vehicles. All should be Mercedes Benz cars, Toyota Camrys or Volvos, no more than five years old,…

  • “Slow’ ODPM boss transfered | Thaiger

    “Slow’ ODPM boss transfered

    PHUKET CITY: Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) Chief Nakorn Tipsat has been transfered to Surat Thani after failing to meet a deadline to present Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura with a report on the ODPM’s response to the tsunami.On June 5, the Governor gave K. Nakhon three days to present him with a report on what the ODPM had done…

  • Dragonair to close Phuket office | Thaiger

    Dragonair to close Phuket office

    PHUKET: In another indication of the sad state of tourism on the island, Hong Kong-based Dragonair has announced that it will close its Phuket City office, on Phang Nga Rd, on June 15.Sutthisak Pungtamawatthanakun, Manager of Dragonair Phuket, explained that flights between Hong Kong and Phuket were suspended on January 5 due to the “post tsunami effect” and that unrest…

  • Phuket to host gay festival rejected by Singapore | Thaiger

    Phuket to host gay festival rejected by Singapore

    PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has given the green light for the province to host Asia’s largest gay and lesbian festival, the Nation Party, after the organizers’ application for a license to hold the annual event in Singapore was turned down. The three-day festival will now be held in Phuket, starting November 4.The festival, organized by the website Fridae.com,…

  • No leads in mystery woman’s murder | Thaiger

    No leads in mystery woman’s murder

    PHUKET CITY: Police have yet to identify an Asian woman found murdered near Sri Suchart Grand View 2 housing estate, off the bypass road, on March 22.Pol Maj Aikasit Pinkaew told the Gazette that, because of the condition of the corpse when it was found, investigators were not even sure whether the woman was Thai. Police believe she died three…

  • Local politicians to the rescue | Thaiger

    Local politicians to the rescue

    PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has invited the country’s other 75 OrBorJor to attend a meeting in August aimed at giving a boost to the island’s tourism industry.Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr, President of the PPAO, said that last year’s tsunami disaster has had an extremely negative influence on Phuket’s tourism, especially in the low-season months. Average hotel occupancy in June…

  • Maid of money

    Maid of money

    PHUKET CITY: A woman who, in a three-year spree, allegedly robbed at least 15 homes of as much as 570,000 baht apiece, has been caught in a police sting.The woman, named as Jirapa “Ying” Pasomsub, 34, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, got into the homes by answering advertisements for a maid. Once in a home she would work for a few…

  • Storm forces flights to turn back | Thaiger

    Storm forces flights to turn back

    PHUKET: Driving rain and strong winds forced several scheduled flights to abort their landings at Phuket International Airport this morning.An officer at Phuket International Airport, who spoke to the Gazette on condition of anonymity, said that the strong winds forced pilots of four flights to abort their landings at the airport because they were not confident that it was safe…

  • Pelé and Cantona to visit Phuket

    Pelé and Cantona to visit Phuket

    PHUKET: The island will play host on July 28 to a charity beach soccer match, which will be attended by soccer giants Edson Arantes do Nascimento – better known as Pelé – and Eric Cantona.The announcement was made by Somsak Thepsuthin, Minister of Sports and Tourism, who visited the island to watch the Phuket round of the 1st ASEM (Asia…

  • Canadian child-molester ordered deported | Thaiger

    Canadian child-molester ordered deported

    PATONG: A court has ordered Canadian teacher Jocelyn Leblanc deported after he confessed to charges of sexually molesting a child under 15 years of age.The 66-year-old teacher of the English language supposedly confessed to having smothered his penis with honey in order to entice a five-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him last February. Pol Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, Superintendent…

  • Monk war | Thaiger

    Monk war

    NONG KHAI: A dispute over alms collection routes turned violent when three novices from Chansamakee Temple were set upon by an armed gang of monks and novices from a rival temple. Police were notified of the “Monk War” on the morning of May 29. Arriving on the scene at the Kokmang-ngao community in Tambon Meechai, they found 17-year-old novice Vitthaya…

  • Irish present book of condolences | Thaiger

    Irish present book of condolences

    PHUKET CITY: Helene Fallon Wood, representing the Irish Ambassador to Thailand, handed over a signed book of condolences to Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura at Phuket Provincial Hall today.“This book came from County Galway, on the west coast of Ireland.” said Ms Wood. “Shortly after the events of December 26 last year the Lord of Galway instituted this book. Many hundreds…

  • Call for second trash incinerator | Thaiger

    Call for second trash incinerator

    PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura has asked the government for one billion baht to build a second incinerator at Saphan Hin, to help deal with the province’s growing mountain of waste.Gov Udomsak said he has applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for the required funding.He said, “Phuket has a big environmental problem. As the number of tourists…

  • A low-down, dirty crime

    A low-down, dirty crime

    PHUKET CITY: The new garbage cans being distributed throughout the city have proven such a hit with the public that they keep disappearing.Plastic, blue in color and about a meter high, the bins are of such heavy-duty construction that they can be rammed by a moving vehicle without cracking. Other special design features include high chemical resistance and a unique shape that…

  • Phuket Air hires “best practice’ experts | Thaiger

    Phuket Air hires “best practice’ experts

    BANGKOK: Problem-plagued Phuket Air has recruited a British provider of safety training to instill “best practice” throughout every level of its operations.The deal between Phuket Air and training and development company The Human Factor was announced in London by the founder of The Human Factor, ex-British Royal Air Force pilot George Duncan, and Phuket Air Executive Vice-President Captain Chawanit Chiamcharoenvut.It…

  • Immigration office to open in Chalong | Thaiger

    Immigration office to open in Chalong

    CHALONG: Phuket Immigration has set up a permanent service counter at Phuket Port Control Center (PPCC) in Chalong.From next Tuesday (June 7), the counter will be open every Tuesday and Thursday between 9 am and 3 pm. It will be staffed by three Immigration officers.Phuket Immigration Superintendent Pol Col Witawat Buranasompop told the Gazette that he expected that, by the…

  • Air Force looks at tsunami lessons | Thaiger

    Air Force looks at tsunami lessons

    PATONG: Senior officers of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) are gathered in Patong for a seminar on lessons to be learned from the handling of the tsunami crisis.Gen Chalid Pukpasuk, who is the Director of the RTAF’s Public Emergency Response Center and the seminar chairman, told journalists that the RTAF had delivered emergency supplies “regularly and rapidly” to tsunami…

  • Phuket urged to turn out the lights | Thaiger

    Phuket urged to turn out the lights

    PHUKET: Phuket is toeing the national line with the local electricity boss urging people to save power by turning off one light per house for five minutes every night.Speaking yesterday – Electricity Saving Day – Amorn Saeng-Ngern, Manager of the Phuket Provincial Electricity Office, said that if the 100,000 electricity users on the island turned off one of their lights…

  • Three proposals for massive Chalong marina

    Three proposals for massive Chalong marina

    PHUKET CITY: Three proposals have been received by Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura for the construction of a large marina in Chalong Bay, to be financed by a mixture of government and private sector money.One proposal is from a consortium headed locally by Lifestyle Properties Co Ltd and the Gazette understands that two other concepts have been submitted, one by an…

  • Island to get water from Surat Thani? | Thaiger

    Island to get water from Surat Thani?

    PHUKET CITY: Surasak Anakkhaphan, Adviser to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Suwit Khunkitti, today proposed that water be piped from Chieo Lan Reservoir in Surat Thani Province as a long-term solution to Phuket’s chronic – and worsening – water shortage problems.At a meeting at the Phuket Provincial Hall, K. Surasak explained that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had allocated each…

  • Phuket gets first film festival | Thaiger

    Phuket gets first film festival

    PHUKET: The SFX Coliseum Cinema at Central Festival Phuket will host an 11-day festival of movies from the European Union, starting June 16. The event will be co-sponsored by the Phuket Gazette. The opening ceremony, between 5 pm and 10 pm on June 16, will feature music from the band Ocastra and an exhibition about the films. The event will…

  • Return to sender! | Thaiger

    Return to sender!

    TAK: A mother in Sam Ngao District paid the ultimate price for letting her curiosity get the better of her – when she opened a parcel addressed to her daughter that turned out to be a letter bomb. The victim, 56-year-old pig farmer Phayao Ruamsuk, had collected the parcel, which was addressed to her daughter Kannitha. Kannitha, 22, had married…

  • Airport numbers go into a dive | Thaiger

    Airport numbers go into a dive

    PHUKET: International passenger arrivals and departures at Phuket International Airport in April plummeted to less than half the number in April last year, and the number of international flights dropped by a third, thanks to the downturn in tourism following the tsunami.The statistics, obtained from Phuket International Airport, show that the number of international passengers using the island’s airport slumped…

  • OrBorJor to hire more temporary teachers | Thaiger

    OrBorJor to hire more temporary teachers

    PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) is to pay for more temporary teachers to be recuited in a bid to relieve the staffing crisis in the province’s schools.Launching the organization’s annual report for May 14, 2004-May 14, 2005, OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thebabutr told reporters that the teacher shortage – a result of the government offering early retirement sweeteners to…

  • Gov orders probe into tour company | Thaiger

    Gov orders probe into tour company

    PHUKET CITY (Khom Chad Luek, Phuket Gazette) : Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has ordered an investigation into a tour company for allegedly intimidating tourists into buying overpriced package tours.The Tourist Police denied having received any complaints about the company in question, which is located close to their office on the bypass road .The Governor ordered the investigation while chairing the monthly…