News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
-
Sponsored
What’s not covered by health insurance in Thailand?
Health insurance in Thailand has important limits that everyone should know. Many policies do not cover pre-existing conditions, motorcycle accidents, extreme sports, or specific treatments. These gaps can lead to unexpected costs during emergencies. Coverage for outpatient care and hospital...
-
Health system staggering under foreign laborers
PHUKET TOWN: Health officials here have urged the Thai government to force employers of foreign manual laborers to bear the cost of medical treatment for their workers. Their plea came after revelations that the health system is staggering under the increasingly heavy costs of providing health care to both legal and illegal laborers. Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, chief of the Phuket…
-
Public invited to IBAP luncheon
PHUKET TOWN: In keeping with its policies on transparency, the International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) is inviting the general public to attend its inaugural meeting next week. The event, a luncheon beginning at noon on Tuesday, September 26, at Royal Phuket City, will feature brief speeches by Dr Prasit Koysiripong, president of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization; Khun Piriya…
-
Double alcohol ban during elections
PHUKET: Elections this weekend will put a considerable dent in drinkers’ plans, with bans on the sale of alcohol affecting both Muang District and Patong. A by-election in Muang District to fill a vacant seat in the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) will be held on Saturday, so the sale and distribution of all alcoholic beverages will be barred in…
-
Governor vows to walk to work
PHUKET: To raise awareness about the worldwide Car-Free Day campaign tomorrow, Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut has announced that he will be walking from his house to his office. Unlike Trang Governor Chalermchai Preechanont, who told the press that he would ride a bicycle to work tomorrow, Governor Charnchai told the Gazette that he would walk instead. “It’s not very far…
-
Seven laborers electrocuted in canal
PHUKET TOWN: Seven laborers working in a canal next to the bypass road were rushed unconscious to the Wachira Phuket Hospital today after being electrocuted. The men – six Cambodians and a Thai – were working in the canal when an excavator working alongside them tangled a power line, breaking the cable, which dropped into the canal and electrocuted the…
-
Solution found to hotel tax dispute
PHUKET: A special committee set up by Provincial Governor Charnchai Soontharamut appears to have come up with a compromise solution to the disagreement between hotels and the Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) over the OrBorTor’s planned tax on hotel rooms. According to the solution, hammered out on Friday, hotels will pay the tax from October 1, but at a reduced rate…
-
Blackout canceled
PHUKET: Following its announcement of September 6 concerning planned blackouts, the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) today said that the blackout scheduled for Friday (September 22) has been canceled. On that day there was scheduled to be a blackout from Chalong Circle to Baan Laem Promthep, including Viset Rd, Baan Bangkontee, Baan Saiyuan, Nai Harn Beach, Ao Sane, Baan Kokmakham,…
-
Warrants out for four in stabbing case
CHALONG: Arrest warrants have been issued for four men, one a policeman, who were involved a brawl in a karaoke restaurant in Karon last week that ended in the stabbing death of 23-year-old Supradit “Ad” Boonyawat. The killing sparked a heated protest on Friday by about 100 villagers who massed at the Chalong Police Station to demand justice for Supradit.…
-
Port murders hit double digits
PHUKET: A man believed to be a Burmese fisherman was found dead on the shore opposite the Rattanachai dry dock in Phuket’s fishing port early yesterday morning. The murder was the tenth this year in the same area. Pol Capt Chaum Kaosrisuwan of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the man, as yet unidentified, had died from eight…
-
Skal Club gets new committee
PHUKET: The Skal Club of Phuket has elected a new committee. The members are: Eric Hallin, President; Andy Dowden, Vice President; Suwit Auttayatmavitaya, Treasurer; and Alan Cooke, Secretary.
-
Thai economy continues fragile: World Bank
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s economic recovery is on track but remains fragile, volatile and uncertain, the World Bank said today. Thailand’s recovery will remain difficult as long as the ongoing process of financial and corporate reform lags behind most of Asia, the bank said in a report on East Asia. “The pace and quality of the financial and corporate reforms continues…
-
Angry villagers demand justice in stabbing case
CHALONG: Nearly 100 villagers joined a heated protest yesterday evening at the Chalong Police Station to demand justice for a villager stabbed to death a week earlier. The case concerns 23-year-old Supradit “Ad” Boonyawat, who was stabbed to death during a brawl in a karaoke restaurant in Karon on September 9. The brawl allegedly involved eight people, including the owner…
-
Couple ‘delivered drugs with laundry’
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Police detectives yesterday arrested a husband and his wife on charges of selling ya bah (methamphetamine). Pol Capt Somkid Boonyarat identified the couple as Somkiet Charoenjit, 25, who has a small laundry business, and Malee Sorn-un, 29, a singer. Detectives had been watching Somkiet and Malee for a while, Capt Somkid said. They had gathered evidence…
-
Norwegian murder suspect arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Thai Immigration Police yesterday arrested a Norwegian man accused of brutally murdering his 3-month-old son in Norway, and then fleeing to Thailand. Morten Storborg, 32, was arrested in Rawai at the Phuket Island Resort, five days after arriving in Thailand. Pol Col Apirak Hongtong, superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Police, told the Gazette that Storborg was arrested and then…
-
Jet Ski accident victim flown to Phuket
PHI PHI: The Phuket Police Aviation Division (PPAD) dispatched a helicopter to Koh Phi Phi yesterday morning to pick up a Swedish tourist injured in a jet-ski mishap. Dr Somchai Viriyakhattiyaporn, a brain surgeon at Bangkok Phuket Hospital, told the Gazette that he received a phone call at 10:30 am yesterday from a Swedish insurance agency, informing him that a…
-
Vegetarian festival sponsors upset Chinese residents
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s native Chinese residents are unhappy that two private companies involved in organizing the annual Vegetarian Festival seem to be commercializing this traditional event. Amnuay Sa-nguannam, Vice Governor of Phuket, chaired a committee meeting yesterday at Phuket Provincial Hall to discuss the festival’s plans with representatives from government offices, private organizations, and Phuket’s Chinese shrines. At the meeting,…
-
Donation center to help flood victims
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Government opened a temporary donation center yesterday to help people hit by recent floods in the north and northeast. The center has been set up in the Phuket Provincial Welfare Office at the Provincial Hall, Narison Rd, and is accepting donations of money, consumer goods and food. “We have received a lot of help from…
-
Monks make complaint about stray dogs
PHUKET TOWN: A committee of monks from Wat Langsarn on Narisorn Rd, behind the Provincial Court House, have written a letter to the Muang Municipality complaining about nearly 30 stray dogs living in the wat’s compound. Udom Tansakul, an official at the Municipality, said that the letter, received yesterday, requested that his office remove the dogs. “The main problem is…
-
Dolphin rescued at Nai Harn Beach
NAI HARN: Villagers at Nai Harn Beach found two striped dolphins trapped in shallow waters this morning. One dolphin was lying on the beach in obvious distress. Its body was covered with wounds from scraping on the rocks. The other dolphin was swimming in shallow water nearby. The villagers contacted a biologist at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), Kongkiet…
-
Pavena raid fails to free sex slaves
TUB LAMU: Politician Pavena Hongsakul, champion of abused women in Thailand, yesterday accompanied police on a raid on a brothel in this Phang Nga village in a bid to free women believed to have been forced into prostitution. But she and the police came away empty-handed, the owner of the brothel having apparently been tipped off minutes before they arrived.…
-
Tourist raped on Koh Samui
KOH SAMUI: A 26-year-old Norwegian tourist was allegedly raped by a sorng taew (local bus) driver around midnight yesterday. The woman, identified by police as Gry Slaem, told police that she had been drinking with a friend and had fallen asleep. When she woke, her friend was gone and she did not know the way back to her room at…
-
Still no sign of fugitive mayor
PHUKET: Almost a year after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of involvement in a murder, the former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, is still being sought by police. Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Deputy Superintendent of Investigation at Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that a team of Provincial Special Duty Squad officers had…
-
Flyers A win Patong 7s soccer
PATONG: Patong Flyers A won the 2nd Annual Patong Sevens soccer championship yesterday, beating their opponents 3-1. The win, however, came at the expense of their good friends on the Patong Flyers B squad – both teams are sponsored and managed by Peter Koch, owner of the Austrian Restaurant in Patong. Organizers were considering canceling the final game of the…
-
Deadly rat disease “found in Phuket’
PHUKET TOWN: Health authorities in Phuket are waiting for the results of lab tests being performed in Bangkok to confirm a doctor’s diagnosis that a Phuket Town man has contracted the potentially deadly disease, leptospirosis. The victim is Thaweeporn Thongterm, 24. He reported to Phuket International Hospital on Monday evening suffering from symptoms which, said Dr Ekachai Singtiraj, were strongly…
-
PTA moves to new offices
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) this morning opened its new offices on the bypass road, opposite the Nissan showroom. It previously had offices in the Tourism Authority of Thailand building on Phuket Rd. At the ceremony, Sombat Atiset, managing director of the Kata Thani Hotel and Beach Resort, was officially installed as the new president of the PTA.…
-
Power company schedules blackouts
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced scheduled blackouts for the month of September. The PPEA will be clearing tree branches and installing orange insulating covers on power lines in these areas. The blackouts will last from 9 am to 4 pm. September 12: from Kwang Rd to Chalong Circle, including Chaofa Nai Rd, Moo Baan Tiwarathanee, Baan…
-
Laced-drink robbers using killer drug
PHUKET TOWN: The Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, today issued a warning to residents and tourists not to accept drinks from friendly strangers. He said that the police have recently had reports of a number of cases of people being drugged with laced soft drinks before being robbed. But in a sinister new twist to…
-
Phuket police launch websites
PHUKET: Two police departments in Phuket have created websites to improve communication with the public. The Phuket Immigration Police have set up a website at https://www.phuketimmigration.com“>https://www.phuketimmigration.com. There, anyone may report aliens who break the law, appear to present a security threat, or are “behaving strangely”, the Superintendent of Phuket Immigration Police, Col Apilak Hongtong, explained. The Phuket Provincial Police website…
-
Meningitis makes a deadly comeback
PHUKET: In the first seven months of this year, 15 people have died in Thailand of meningococcal meningitis. Of these deaths, two were in Phuket. The highest rate of infection was in the South, where 16 people contracted the disease. Six of them died. Next was Central Thailand, where 13 were infected, resulting in another six deaths. In the North…
-
Danish tourist dies at waterfall
THALANG: Mrs Dorthe Malakiassen, a 41-year-old Danish tourist, died at the Ton Sai waterfall on Friday. Pol Capt Surat Muagsri of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the victim, a guest at the Thara Patong Hotel, went to the waterfall in Thalang with her husband and two friends around 2:30 pm. “After arriving, they went swimming and were…
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.