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 Can automation and AI be vital tools in Thai forex markets?
In Thailand's rapidly evolving financial landscape, Forex is a vital channel for retail and institutional investors. In recent years, Thailand's trading community has turned to algorithmic solutions and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the foreign exchange market. Automated trading systems are...
-
Day of protests in King’s Cup
PHUKET: Winds of up to 20 knots made for some of the most exciting racing so far on the third day of the King’s Cup Regatta off Kata Beach today. The stiff breeze, choppy conditions and a congested start in the Racing and Premier Cruising classes resulted in a large number of protests being lodged. Some of these were still…
-
Phuket “winning’ War on Drugs
PHUKET TOWN: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura today announced that Phuket is winning the war on drugs. “The island is not completely rid of them, or of the users and dealers, but society will no longer be affected by them,” Gov Udomsak declared. At a special ceremony at Saphin Hin, Gov Udomsak and others – including Vice- Governors Pongpow Ketthong and Winai…
-
Paradorn to play at Laguna
CHERNG TALAY: Thai tennis hero Paradorn “Ball” Srichaphan will play two exhibition matches at the Laguna Beach Resort on December 20 and 21. The matches are part of the Paradorn Super Tour, a round-robin tour also taking in Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen, and featuring world No 11 Paradorn, Thailand’s top woman player Tamarine “Tammy” Tanasugarn, Mark Philippoussis of Australia…
-
King’s Cup: Hi Fidelity moves ahead
PHUKET: In the first of two races today in the Racing Class of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, veteran sailor and 2001 winner Neil Pryde steered Hi Fidelity to provisional honors, followed by Spanish boat Pris Play with Fred Kinmonth’s Stella-Minter-Ellison finishing third. The highly rated Thai boat Pasaya, which is being chartered by a team from Switzerland this year…
-
Immigration to close during holidays
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has issued a reminder to foreigners that it will be closed during three coming public holidays. Pol Capt Krissarat Nusen said that if a foreigner’s scheduled visit to the PPIO fell on a public holiday, he or she could visit on the next working day without penalty – “but only on that…
-
Banged to rights
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: As 40-year-old Somsak Chinaphan sat in front of a mom and pop store in Phibul District on October 27, local police turned up and placed him under arrest for rape. Accompanying the arresting officials, and boldly pointing the finger of blame, was his ex-wife and mother of their three children, 38-year-old Somreudee Chinaphan. K. Somsak, the owner…
-
Pricey pawing
PATHUM THANI: Udomdech Rattanasathien, Secretary to Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan, led a team of department officials and police on a raid at another dubious treatment facility, also in Phatum Thani, on October 7. This raid followed complaints by a female patient that she had been sexually assaulted during treatment – by a well-known monk. The woman said her treatment…
-
Massively massaged
PATHUM THANI: When it comes to traditional Thai massage, some like it harder than others. But few people suffering from stiffness or poor circulation want to emerge from massage treatment looking as if they had just gone five hard rounds in a Muay Thai fight – which was the type of service a renegade massage parlor in Pathum Thani had…
-
Phuket and Andamans sign memorandum
KATA: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop trade links with its counterpart from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The agreement is supported by the two associations’ respective governments, but comes over objections by some Port Blair-based NGOs that fear improved links could introduce social vices to…
-
Illegal guns trigger 10 arrests
PHUKET: Although Phuket residents still have until December 15 to turn in illegal firearms without fear of prosecution, crime statistics from Phuket Provincial Police show that 10 arrests on charges of illegal gun possession were made between November 1 and November 25. And even though the province was declared drug-free on Loy Kratong Day – November 8 – there were…
-
Aids rise troubles health chief
PHUKET TOWN: A worrying rise in the rate of HIV transmission on Phuket has led to the Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, Dr Wanchai Sattayawuthipong, warning about the island’s secret sex industry. Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura revealed in his message for World Aids Day that the infection rate among pregnant women had increased in the year to June…
-
Planet’s purple people in a spin
PHUKET TOWN: Police raided the newly-opened Planet Concert Hall disco in Phuket Town soon after midnight on November 29 and checked revelers for drugs and proper ID cards. Ten of the 486 people at the disco on Weerapong-Hongyok Rd tested positive when their urine samples turned purple and will be required to check with police in 10 days when the…
-
Australian wins Laguna Triathlon
CHERNG TALAY: Simon Thompson from Canberra, Australia, has won this year’s Laguna Phuket Traithlon in 2 hours, 35 minutes and 15 seconds. It was the 25-year-old Australian’s first appearance in the event, though he already has a significant international profile, having won the French Grand Prix and the ITU Hokkaido in Japan in 2001 and the ITU Luxembourg last year.…
-
Phuket roads ‘getting safer’
PHUKET TOWN: More than 500 motorbike riders turned up at Saphan Hin yesterday to pick up free crash helmets and listen to a road safety speech given by Deputy Transport Minister Nikorn Chamnong. The event was part of a government “Turn on your light, put on your helmet” campaign to increase road safety awareness in the 20 provinces with the…
-
Lucky numbers bring big bucks
PHUKET TOWN: Lucky car number-plate Kor Jor 9999 brought 1.2 million baht at an auction at Royal Phuket City in Phuket Town yesterday. The same bidder picked up 8888 for 560,000 baht. About 200 people, most of them businessmen or representatives of car dealers, attended to bid for four-of-a-kind and other quirky plates favored by drivers with money to splurge.…
-
Ammunition found in toilet
PHUKET TOWN: One hundred rounds of assault-rifle ammunition and two mortar rounds were found hidden in the ceiling of the toilet of a home in Phuket Town yesterday. The house owner, Somkid Khunsang, 35, reported the finding to the police and believes that the munitions, discovered by a plumber, were left by previous occupiers. K. Somkid told the Gazette that…
-
Holiday moved from this year to next
THAILAND: The Cabinet has declared January 2 next year a special holiday for government employees, but New Year’s Eve, December 31, will be a working day, a government spokesperson said yesterday. The switch in holdays allows state employees to enjoy a long weekend from January 1 to January 4. The Bank of Thailand had also directed banks to operate on…
-
Road safety crackdown for New Year
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Udomsak Usawarangkura, has anounced plans for a police crackdown to reduce road accidents over the New Year holiday period from December 29 to January 4. A death toll of zero for Phuket is the aim following a campaign last New Year that saw three die on the roads, with 400 injured. At checkpoints around the…
-
Two old women attacked; one dead
CHALONG: Police are searching for a man following an attack on Friday morning that left a 66-year-old woman dead and her 70-year-old friend injured. The dead woman has been named as Teema Lakkoh and the injured woman as Maewan Bangjak. Pol Maj Sanae Panmee of the Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the women were out sifting through trash…
-
Police target teenage gangs
PHUKET TOWN: In a move to improve public safety, police have launched a campaign targeting wayward youngsters, with special attention being given to teenage gangs. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Veerayuth Sittimalic told the Gazette today that the crackdown began two weeks ago with after-dark patrols at Saphan Hin, long a hotspot for teenage gang violence. He explained that…
-
2,000 join mass dance
PHUKET TOWN: A sea of yellow shirts filled Surakul Stadium yesterday as 2,000 people in Phuket joined in with the nationwide “Yellow Shirt Power Dancing 2003” event. More than 8.2 million people around the country took part in the fun, aimed at persuading people to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day. The activities began at 2 pm with…
-
Immigration warning over 90-day reporting
PHUKET TOWN: An Immigration official has advised foreigners holding any type of one-year visa extension that they must visit their local Immigration office every 90 days to confirm their identity and address – or face a 2,000 baht fine. “You will not be charged a fee for registering but you will be fined if you are late,” Capt Krissarat Nusen…
-
Bloop gun ammo found in trash
PHUKET TOWN: Municipal trash collectors on Thursday found two rounds for an M79 “bloop gun” wrapped in newspaper and dumped in trash. The 40mm rounds were discovered in front of the Phuket Bus Terminal. Sorn Damri, who found the two projectiles, said, “We stopped to pick up garbage in front of the bus terminal. That’s when I saw [the ammunition],…
-
“OTOP’ sales to get boost in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The provincial government has announced that work on a 1.4-million-baht packaging factory for goods produced under the “One Tambon One Product” (OTOP) scheme is almost complete. The facility, located in an existing building that has been extensively renovated, occupies a 150-square-wah site next to Kathu District Offices. Suthep Wuthisak, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Development Office, told the…
-
Angry islanders in Phi Phi protest
PHI PHI: Boats to this tourist hotspot stopped running for about seven hours today after some 300 angry people assembled at the island’s pier, blocking incoming and outgoing traffic. The mob were protesting against an order to use a new pier in Krabi, three kilometers away from the old one in Krabi Town. They argued that it was too far…
-
Lucky draw settles election recount
THALANG: Yongyut Kongsorn was convinced that the counting of votes in the election in Moo 6, Tambon Sri Soontorn, for two seats on the Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) was inaccurate. The result had been very close. According to the initial count after the poll on August 30, Olarn Krailert came first with 119 votes, followed by Trairong Khamwiset with 118…
-
Andamans, Phuket set for closer links
PHUKET TOWN: A signing ceremony establishing the Phuket Chamber of Commerce (PCC) and the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) as “Chambers of Friendship” will take place on November 30, it was announced today. Pamuke Achariyachai, Chairman of the PCC, made the announcement at a press conference today at The Metropole hotel in Phuket Town. At his side was…
-
Violin karaoke faces the music
PHUKET TOWN: A 3 am swoop by police on the Violin karaoke bar on Phang Nga Rd on Saturday netted seven ‘VIP’ patrons and six hostesses drinking after hours. Officers found the after-hours party padlocked behind reinforced doors, front and rear. It took them an hour to saw through the locks. The 13 people arrested, who were each fined 100…
-
Cabinet approves zero import duty on boats
BANGKOK: The Cabinet today approved the axing of the 30% import duty on boats brought into Thailand for either commercial or personal use, but have yet to set a date for introducing the zero rate. The announcement follows expectations among the local boating community that the tax would be dropped by the end of the year, and just 11 days…
-
Cannabis bust at Heroines’ Monument
THALANG: Police manning a checkpoint at the Heroines’ Monument arrested a man in the early hours of Sunday after finding 100 grams of cannabis resin on his person. Kanchanaburi-born Monsit Mapiyaphan, 31, aroused the interest of officers after he got off the back of a friend’s motorcycle and tried to walk past the checkpoint. Pol Lt Col Chanuchan Pongsuwat, Inspector…
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.