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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Indian currency cons arrested on Samui
Thai TV Channel 7 has featured the arrest of two Indian citizens who were attempting to rip off currency exchanges on Koh Samui. The scam works as follows… the Indians would bring 10 x US$100 dollar bills to a currency exchange booth, to change to Thai currency. One would then ask to recount the US dollars and take out two…
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Agama Yoga founder Swami Vivekananda accused of sexual assault
The founder of the Koh Phangan based yoga and tantra school Agama, Swami Vivekananda Saraswati, has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault. He claims to be the “brilliant exponent of a unique and modern trend of thinking in Yoga” who “has reached high states of spiritual realisation.” Agama Yoga is one of the world’s largest yoga training centres. Swami’s…
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Two gibbon touts arrested on Samui – three gibbons rescued
Yesterday we posted the story about Samui beach touts hawking a baby gibbon for tourist photos – a lucrative little cash business at 100 baht per photo. But the practice is frowned upon my may westerners these days and remains illegal in Thailand. Facebook blogger Arkadiy Kulev was keen to see the touts arrested. Today (Thursday), Samui police have arrested two…
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Baby gibbon used for photo-ops in Samui
PHOTOS: Facebook/Arkadiy Kulev “Endangered gibbon used to entertain tourists on Chaweng Beach in Koh Samui, Thailand.” On Phuket it’s the slow loris which is the ‘cute-creature-for-100-baht-photos’. In Samui they’ve gone for a baby gibbon. A foreign resident on Koh Samui has exposed that a baby gibbon was used for selling photos at Chaweng Beach, resulting in an uproar among expats…
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Two race finale wraps up successful 2018 Samui Regatta
PHOTO: Java Yachting The sun teased and the wind held steady on the final day of the 2018 Samui Regatta. Race Officer Ross Chisholm set two windward/ leewards for the keelboat and multihulls classes while it was a three-race showdown for the Hydrofoil Kites off Mae Nam Beach. It’s been a week of dominance by Kevin and Tom Whitcraft and…
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Breezy Day 4 sets up final day showdown at 2018 Samui Regatta
The Multihull class enjoying the breeze on Day 4 of the 2018 Samui Regatta. Thursday’s day off for the keelboats and multihulls was greeted with glorious sunshine, zero breeze and finished in the afternoon with a refreshing storm. Nothing lost from a sailing perspective and following the storm Samui Regatta was re-booted with 10-15 knots of fresh breeze today and…
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Seconds in it on Day 3 of Samui Regatta
Performance Cruising on Day 3 of 2018 Samui Regatta. Day 3 of the 2018 Samui Regatta started off with a whimper. The storms of yesterday had gone and the sun was out in force, hopes were high for a return to the tropical sailing conditions which have made Samui Regatta so famous. Come start time all the ingredients were there,…
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Search resumes for missing Russian on Samui
Samui officials have resumed a search for a female Russian tourist who went missing on Koh Samui more than a month ago. She is said to be suffering dementia. 39 year old Inna Obukhova was last seen at Centra Coconut Resort Samui on April 20. The operation is being assisted by a sniffer dog from the Nakhon Si Thammarat Border…
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French cybercrime suspect arrested in police raid – Samui
PHOTOS: Samui Police Frenchman Jonathan Verron, an alleged leader of a hacker group that stole data from a British financial institution and demanded a ransom to keep it secure, has been arrested on Koh Samui this morning (Friday). Crime Suppression Division Fifth Command and Technology Crime Suppression Division police had French embassy staff on hand when they raided a house…
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Samui Regatta kicks off May 26
From May 26-June 2, the Samui Regatta is on at the Centara Grand Beach Resort Samui in the waters off the island’s Chaweng Beach. It’s the final event in the annual Asian Yachting Grand Prix Championship. Now in its 17th year, the Samui Regatta has been hosted by Centara Grand Beach Resort Koh Samui since its inception. Each year, a fleet…
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May Event Round-Up
with Paul Poole (South East Asia) May is typically the month of the popular Hua Hin International Jazz Festival and this year is no different. For two days from 18-19 May, the seaside resort transforms into a mecca for jazz lovers with performers and fans arriving from all over the world. This year’s highlights include Austrian-born Simone Kopmajer and New…
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Who’s keeping Thailand’s beaches clean?
PHOTO: Daily News Every week there are volunteers heading to the beaches of Phuket to pick up rubbish, mostly washed ashore and landing on the beaches. Some of it has washed out Phuket’s drains and just making its way back to shore. Other rubbish comes from passing boats and fishing fleets. One group, Clean The Beach Bootcamp, organised bi-weekly by…
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Samui jet ski operators scoop Russian tourist out of the surf
SCREENSHOT by Sanook.com A Russian tourist has been pulled out of the Samui surf by a Jet Ski. The female tourist was swimming at Chaweng Beach on Koh Samui when witnesses say she appeared to get caught in a rip and dragged out to sea. Jet Ski operators at the beach heard the woman’s screams but was was caught in…
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Murder, rape, dead bodies in pools – The toll of dead young British tourists visiting Thailand
PHOTO: Luke Miller (left) was found dead at the bottom of a pool in Koh Tao in 2016 Why is there a mounting toll of young Brits dying, often in mysterious circumstances, in Thailand? 60 or so unexplained, or poorly explained, deaths in just 24 months actually. Britian’s Daily Mail Online has dug deep into the vault of strange disappearances and…
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‘Death Island’ in the news again after alleged rape of British woman
Koh Tao, off Koh Samui in the Surat Thani province, is in the spotlight again after a British woman claimed a 26 year old French man had raped her in a hotel on the island. The woman, whose name has been withheld, first alerted her mother in the UK to the alleged attack. The British Embassy in Bangkok stepped in…
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Boracay’s closure sparks global travel fallout
By Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com The biggest worldwide tourism story going is that of the trending closure of the iconic resort island of Boracay in the Philippines. In a bold move President Rodrigo Duterte who termed the island a “cesspool” is banning tourist visits from April 26 through October 25. For an island that last year hosted over 2 million…
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Phuket gets Number Two in list of Top Asian Destinations
The trip advisor list of Asia’s top 25 destinations is in. Good news… Thailand has five locations in the Top 25 reader-voted list. Bad news, Thailand’s not Number One. The Indonesian island of Bali has come in Number One with Phuket in Number Two spot. Hanoi in Vietnam is in Number 3, Cambodia’s Siam Reap Number 5 and the mega-city…
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Rabies: Genuine outbreak or misinformed panic?
By Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation Over the past few weeks, rabies has dominated social media in Thailand. The debate has been covered – and in some cases inflamed – by the traditional print and broadcast media across the country. Some people are now advocating what has been described as “Set Zero”, a massive country-wide slaughter or impounding of all stray…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, March 20
MH370 has NOT been found | Bar owner in Pattaya bashed unconscious | 10 million baht worth of marijuana seized in Chumpon | Officials concerned over damage on Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao | Nok Air being asked to ‘please explain’ over poor on-time record | 103 ‘practice bombs’ found near Vachira Hospital Bangkok.
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Naked tourist hugs a rock in Samui. But not just any rock!
Samui residents are calling on police to locate and arrest a naked foreign tourist who was photographed hugging Hin Ta rock, which is regarded by local residents as a symbol of Koh Samui in Surat Thani. The photos show the unidentified woman walking around and hugging the rock, which resembles a phallus, to pose for photos. They were posted on…
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The legacy lives on – International Gill Dalley’s Remembrance Day
PHOTO: John & Gill Dalley (soidog.org) February 13 is known by Soi Dog Foundation as the International Gill Dalley’s Remembrance Day, in order to honour the kind heart of the co-founder of the foundation, Gill Dalley, who had dedicated her life working on the strays’ issue in Thailand. Gill Dalley founded the Soi Dog Foundation in 2004 with her husband,…
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Introducing Thaiger Property – 8,000+ listings for Phuket
Phuket Gazette/The Thaiger are proud to launch our new ThaigerProperty.com website. In Phuket, alone, there are more than 8,000 properties for sale on the website and, around Thailand, nearly 40,000 listings – by far the largest selection available. Some of the properties are exclusive, some are ‘motivated sellers’ and there’s also rental listings as well, making it a very comprehensive…
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THAIGER TODAY Friday, January 26
Latest announcements about Smart Visa | Re-enactment of Israeli mob hit in Samui | 3 road deaths on Patak Road, Karon in 24 hours | Police raid illegal hostels in Koh Pha Ngan | Monster drug haul in BKK | Bans on catching and eating seahorses AND official bans on smoking on some Thai beaches starts next week.
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, January 25
THAIGER TODAY, Thursday, January 25…. The ‘S’ word in Bangkok | Why can’t our taxis work like this? | AIDS levels dropping in ASEAN | PM pleads with media to drop Prawit ‘chatter’ | Charged Israeli mobsters heading to Samui to recreate crime | Philippines volcano sparks evacuations.
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, January 23
3 killed and many more injured in latest Yala bombing | Another bus with Chinese tourists ends up in a road ditch in Chiang Mai | Later on the Israeli mob hit on Samui | Central Pattana introduce cashless technology at 4,000 stores | Bullets flying in Hat Yai yesterday | Exports up 9.9% over past 12 months.
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UPDATE: “Gangland revenge.” Brutal murder of an Israeli man on Chaweng Beach
By Supachai Petchathevee Revenge appears to be the motive in the brutal murder of an Israeli man by his two compatriots on Koh Samui Island on Sunday. 24 year old Dolev Zuarez and 26 year old Eval Bokal were arrested at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok about five hours after they allegedly killed 34 year old Maor Mallil and injured…
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THAIGER TODAY Monday, January 22
Israeli hit squad kills one in Koh Samui | ‘Taxi OK’ App and reforms launched this Thursday | Spot checks at Chalong Pier reveal shortcomings on some boats | Couple arrested at Don Mueang after alleged murder in Pichit | Total of four arrested over Phuket Airport baggage thefts.
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Two Israelis arrested over suspected mob hit in Samui
Two Israeli men were arrested at Don Muang International Airport on Sunday night for allegedly stabbing to death a fellow Israeli and seriously injuring his girlfriend on Koh Samui earlier in the day. Police said 24 year old Dolev Zuarez and 26 year old Eval Bokal were arrested soon after arriving at the airport at 9.30pm. They had flown to…
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WEDNESDAY NEWS BRIEFING – All your local news in 3 minutes
Sort of back to normal today, whatever that means. The news never stops and there’s plenty of it around today. Let’s see what news stories are in our inbox this morning… PM urges big effort on final day of reporting period PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging officers to strictly enforce traffic laws and provide security for people on the…
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Tropical storm ‘Tembin’ weakens but rain still forecast for the weekend
Storm Tembin has been weakened by cold wind, but is still causing heavy rain along the east coast of the southern region and rough sea conditions in the Gulf of Thailand, while cool weather and light rain covered the rest of the country. The Meteorological Department issued a weather update today stating that Tembin had degraded into a low-pressure area…
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