Koh Samui News
Koh Samui news, tourism, business, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, local events, and expat insights from Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted island news source.
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Pabuk: Warnings for coastal residents to stay indoors
by Pratch Rujivanarom Strong gale conditions and surging seas are pounding the coastlines of three provinces this afternoon. The Meteorological Department is warning residentsto stay indoors and away from the coast. The provinces affected so far include Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla. Department director-general Phuwieng Prakhammintara says Tropical Storm Pabuk was expected to have greater affect on southern coastlines as…
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Pabuk: Surging up the coast towards Koh Samui
PHOTO: Vikasa Yoga Retreat The tropical storm ‘Pabuk’ is due to make landfall on the Surat Thani islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao later this afternoon, after sweeping up the southern Gulf coast this morning. At this stage authorities report plenty of rain and strong winds but limited damage. When the storm hits Samui later today it…
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Pabuk: Regular updates throughout today following the storm up the coast
Storm Watch – 8.30am Rough seas off the coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat yesterday afternoon as tropical storm Pabuk approached land. Tens of thousands of tourists have been evacuated from local coastal communities and some tourists have evacuated the popular islands of Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan which are in the path of the storm today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h86FqX2CzBc Storm Watch…
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Pabuk: Friday awakes with the storm surging up the Gulf coastline
30,000 people are estimated to have been evacuated from coastal districts in Nakhon Si Thammarat whilst some tourists are taking precautions of leaving the Gulf holiday islands, airports close, boats remain at mooring and schools are shut. Thailand’s southern Gulf coast prepares for winds up to 95kph, heavy downpours and floods. From Nakhon Si Thammarat up to Chumpon provinces, emergency…
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Pabuk: Heading for Koh Samui, Surat Thani
The projections of ventusky.com show ‘Pabuk’ making its way up the Gulf of Thailand in a north-westerly direction. According to the map model, the storm is likely heading for Koh Samui and likely to make mainland landfall further up the coast around Chumpon. But the fallout from the storm will certainly affect the entire southern coastline from Nakhon Si Thammarat,…
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Pabuk: Tourists flee Gulf islands of Koh Phangan, Samui and Koh Tao
“Waves could reach seven meters high in the Gulf of Thailand.” Thousands are departing some of the tourist hot spots including Koh Phangan and Koh Tao as the region’s first tropical storm for January in 30 years heads northwest across the Gulf of Thailand. Tens of thousands of tourists are reported to be fleeing the Thai resort islands of Koh…
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Pabuk: Koh Samui poised for first New Year tropical storm in 68 years
The mirror.co.uk is reporting that there are fears for residents and tourists on Koh Samui as the island braces for the onslaught of tropical storm Pabuk. Pabuk has formed within a mass of thunderstorms and could be the first cyclone to hit Thailand in January in 68 years. Southern Vietnam has already been hit by torrential rain and the cyclone…
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PABUK: Latest information on the path of the storm across the Gulf
Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada has designated six seaside districts of the central southern coast province as disaster zones and ordered the evacuation of residents by tonight. The evacuations are a safety precaution he said. He says that all schools in these districts will be closed today, while schools in the main city area of Nakhon Si Thammarat will…
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“Pabuk” heads towards southern provinces
An unseasonal, and quite unusual, tropical depression is heading towards southern shores including all Thai provinces south of Phetchaburi. The Thai Meteorological Department is issuing regular warnings about the storm’s progress from the South China Sea and into the southern Gulf of Thailand. “On 2 January 2019, tropical storm “PABUK” over the lower South China Sea located at latitude 6.0…
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Unseasonal storms predicted for the South
Southern provinces are under warnings from the Thai Meteorological Department following official notifications yesterday. They’re also predicting that other parts of Thailand will have cooler temperatures during the forecast period. “Downpours and waves up to four metres are expected in the Gulf of Thailand from Thursday, beginning with Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, Krabi, Trang…
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Helping Koh Samui fight the garbage glut
Photos and story by Laurie Maitenaz An article by guest writer Laurie Maitenaz, a resident of Koh Samui, seeks to focus attention on the long-term garbage accumulation problems on the island. Most of his 11-point-plan to reduce garbage are things we can all action around the Kingdom. Let’s make 2019 the year of garbage reduction – think globally but act…
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New Year weather around Thailand
It might be the middle of the annual high season but the ‘high season’ weather isn’t co-operating. Although generally fine weather has been the trend in the past few days there are a few unseasonal fronts coming to different parts of the country, according to the Thai Meteorological Department. In the central/southern provinces, including around Hua Hun and Gulf islands…
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Southern provinces battered by heavy rains and floods
PHOTO: Flooded Samui roads – Facebook/Thunder Road Reporters “The city Mayor says the municipality had arranged for medical staff to be on stand-by to help patients at evacuation centres already set up to deal with potential flood crisis in Nakhon Si Thammarat.” Heavy rain has been battering the southern regions of the Gulf coast for the past few days and…
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Koh Samui balancing on tourism razor’s edge
PHOTO: www.thekalasamui.com “…shrinking Chinese demand due to the economic slowdown and depreciation for the yuan versus the baht” The time has come to open the discussion about the troubling drop in one of Thailand’s leading resort destinations, Koh Samui. Looking into the island’s performance numbers, according to data from international hospitality benchmarking group STR, at the end of August room…
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Burmese man arrested for selling ‘ice’ on Samui
FILE PHOTO A Burmese man has been arrested last night while allegedly delivering crystal meth to fellow Myanmar citizens on Koh Samui where he has been illegally living for the past 10 years. Police say 35 year old ‘Chaw’ was arrested while driving to allegedly deliver the drug to his buyers, believed to be other Myanmar nationals working in the…
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Thai couple arrested with ice in Samui
FILE PHOTO A Thai couple have been arrested on suspicion of selling crystal methamphetamine (ice) on Koh Samui. 25 year old Tantikorn Prommet and 23 year old Patsuda Jaisawang were arrested by police at their rented room on the island at 5.30pm yesterday (Monday). Two packs of crystal methamphetamine, weighing 100 grams in total, were found in the room. The…
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Minister says Samui waste problem a priority
Following international coverage of waste buildup on Koh Samui, the government has promised prioritisation of garbage management nationwide, and has scheduled a meeting on the issue next week. Minister of the Interior Gen Anupong Paojinda has responded to foreign news outlets reporting over 300,000 tons of waste has accumulated on the resort island of Koh Samui by saying the government is…
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Ode to the Honda Click
No helmets, but a lot of effort, some cameos by local dogs and a drone, brings together a heart-felt ode to the ubiquitous Hand Click, the favourite scooter rental for Thai tourists for a decade. This unlikely, hastily organised boyband duo deserves 10 out of 10 for effort but a lower score for their singing and fashion sense. Filmed on…
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‘Rape never happened’. Thai police conclude Koh Tao probe
A teen who claimed to have been drugged and raped on Koh Tao in June has failed to confirm the site of the attack, identity of the attacker or how the attack happened while being questioned in the UK, Thai police officers said. British police also handed over a T-shirt the 19 year old woman wore on June 25, the…
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Koh Tao alleged rape case wrapped up
According to Thai PBS, Thai police have wrapped up an investigation into allegations by a 19 year old female British backpacker that she was drugged, raped and robbed on Koh Tao. Police claim that, following their investigations, there is simply a lack of credible evidence. Speaking at a media gathering this morning, national police chief, Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, declared…
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Koh Tao rape investigation team returns from UK tomorrow
Thai police expect to finalise their investigations next week into the alleged rape of a British tourist on Koh Tao a few months ago. The immigration police chief Maj-Gen Surachate Hakparn has been leading the investigation. Representatives of the Royal Thai Police team travelled to the UK last month to interview the 19 year old British woman who claimed to…
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4,000 pills and a 25 year old nabbed at Samui Post
A man has been arrested on Koh Samui after collecting a parcel containing 4,000 methamphetamine pills and 500 grams of crystal methamphetamine from a private post office. Acting on tips-off, troops, police and provincial officials staked out at the post office in Tambon Mae Nam and nabbed 25 year old Nattapong Nakwetcharin after he arrived to pick up the parcel.…
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25 yo British woman claims she was raped on Koh Phangan but later recants
A 25 year old British woman has accepted that she was not raped on Koh Phangan as she had previously claimed. Hospital tests and CCTV indicated there was no evidence a crime had occurred. Sanook is reporting that the woman admits that her fears were completely unfounded. She has been named only as ‘Joanna’. Her distraught father had contacted the British…
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Police swarm into Koh Phangan for tonight’s Full Moon Party
Authorities are out in force at tonight’s Full Moon Party on Hat Rin, the beach-home of the monthly Full Moon party on Koh Phangan. The Office of the Narcotics Control Board has arrived in the Surat Thani province to crack down on drugs in the popular archipelago of islands off the Surat Thani province coast. They say Koh Phangan is…
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Thai police head to the UK to interview the alleged Koh Tao rape victim
The British Embassy in Thailand has given approval to a request by Thai police to visit the UK and question a woman who claims she was drugged, raped and robbed on Koh Tao in June. This was revealed by deputy tourist police chief Surachate Hakparn. “The police team investigating the rape claim will be heading to the UK soon,” he…
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Koh Tao businessman’s death was suicide – Surat Thani police
PHOTO: The Alvaro Diving shop on Koh Tao owned by Pattarapol Ekpathomsak Investigating police are ruling a Koh Tao businessman’s death as a suicide. The man yesterday threatened to kill himself on a Facebook Live post then, when he’d ended the post, went ahead with his threat. The man’s name is Pattarapol Ekpathomsak. He owned a diving school, shop, bar and…
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Koh Tao businessman announces his suicide, then kills himself
PHOTO: Facebook/Diver Nino A Koh Tao dive shop and bar owner has broadcast a clip of himself announcing his suicide and then apparently killing himself just minutes before rescuers got to him. Police and rescuers rushed to a two-storey house at a housing estate in Surat Thani’s Muang district after learning that a man living there might commit suicide. Upon…
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Warning for boats going to sea in Phuket
The Phuket Marine Office has made an official announcement for boats to be “careful when going to sea until September 18, due to Typhoon Mangkhut. The announcement was issued yesterday (September 12) stating that “the Typhoon Mangkhut in the Pacific Ocean is likely to move through The Philippines and Taiwan during the period from September 14-15.” “It will then move…
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Thailand’s winners in the Conde Nast Traveller awards
PHOTO: Conde Nast Thailand has been voted the world’s Best Country for People by readers of Conde Nast Traveller magazine in the 2018 Readers’ Travel Awards. Thailand was voted into third spot in the ‘Best Country’ category behind European winners Italy and Greece. But Thailand scored Number One in the ‘Best Country For People‘ category. But the Conde Nast love continues…
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Suspects cite ignorance of the Computer Crime Act for sharing Koh Tao rape claims
“I want to ask for mercy for him as he acted out of ignorance.” If police and officials were hoping the ‘nothing happening here’ strategy would force the media to stop reporting about Koh Tao, the opposite is happening. Now, The Nation reports that the families of some of the 12 suspects detained for sharing content from the US-based CSI LA…
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