Koh Samui News
Stay up to date on the latest happenings in Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao with The Thaiger. Our team delivers up-to-date news, insightful analysis, and exclusive stories from this popular part of the Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Keep your finger on the pulse of Samui’s ever-evolving tourism, economic, and cultural scene, as well as its thriving beach entertainment and nightlife. Stay informed about local events, transportation updates, and expat experiences in this vibrant collection of Islands.
The Thaiger is your go-to source for all things Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao. Don’t miss out – subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to stay connected with the city’s most trusted news source.
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Sponsored A healthy tomorrow starts today: Celebrate the great American Smokeout day
The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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Banyan Tree Samui hailed as eco-friendly leader in Thailand
The Banyan Tree Samui has become the first and only hotel in Thailand to be awarded “Gold Certification” at a single-property level by Earthcheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking, certification and advisory group for travel and tourism. Although other hotel chains have received similar accolades from EarthCheck at a group level, Banyan Tree Samui stands alone as the sole property…
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7,000 pirated items seized in Samui sting
Thailand’s favourite neighbourhood crime buster, Big Joke and his tourist police taskforce, have been working the markets of Koh Samui – the distribution network selling pirated goods on the island. Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakpal says he was following orders from PM Prayut Chan-ocha to stamp out piracy. The deputy head of the tourist police was pictured on the Tourist Police…
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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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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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Burmese maid returns bag containing $11,000 to tourist
Daily News is reporting that a tourist from the Netherlands has thanked a Burmese maid at his hotel on Koh Samui. 37 year old Sawee Let Mau showed it was not just the Thais who are high up in the honesty stakes. Sawee found the green bag under some stairs – it contained AUD$ to the tune of 280,000 baht –…
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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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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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Variable conditions test sailors on Day 2 of 2018 Samui Regatta
Early morning thunder and lightening made way for a wet and breezy start to Day 2 of the 2018 Samui Regatta. The four classes lined-up in 10 knots of wind topping out at 15, and it was the IRC classes off first with a quick windward/ leeward. They were then sent on the same course as the Performance Cruising and…
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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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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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Private investors being wooed over planned marina for Samui
Samui is looking to establish the island’s first marina and is currently looking to investors for the project in the Gulf of Thailand. Asia Pacific Superyachts reports that Koh Samui has succeeded in attracting international five-star brands, a strong luxury villas market as well as quality golf courses. The report says that superyacht sailors are now coming to the region…
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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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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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Nikki Beach to take over management of luxury Chiang Mai hotel
By Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com In a somewhat surprise announcement, Nikki Beach Worldwide has signed on as operator of Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi hotel. Nikki has assumed management of the property and the rebranding process reportedly will be done by the middle of the year. Nikki Beach became known to Phuketians when they launched the Nikki Beach Club at the northern end…
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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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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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THAIGER TODAY Wednesday, February 28
PM responds to ‘sex tourism’ remarks | Extra long Songkran | Shoot-out on Samui’s Chaweng Beach | Big crackdown on illegal immigrants along Soi Cowboy last night | High-speed rail gets go ahead between Don Mueang and Rayong | PM pushes election date forward to February | Two Americans held in Chiang Mai over fake US bills.
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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 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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Tight security in Samui for re-enactment of Israeli hit-and-run attack
Two Israelis accused of killing a compatriot on Koh Samui will re-enact the alleged crime on Sunday surrounded by dozens of heavily armed police. 24 year old Dolev Zuarez and 26 year old Eval Bokal were arrested at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport about five hours after they allegedly killed 34 year old Maor Mallil and injured his girlfriend, Rashel Oshana,…
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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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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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Boat Lagoon Yachting announces mega shipment of private yachts
Boat Lagoon Yachting, Thailand’s largest importer and distributor of luxury yachts, has made history in the region’s yachting industry with the importation of the largest single shipment of luxury yachts, worth over 1,400 million baht. The shipment comprises nine luxury yachts manufactured in the UK by Princess Yachts, with sizes ranging from 19 metres to a superyacht of over 30…
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