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.
-
Phuket hit-and-run Russians now fugitives
PHUKET: Chalong Police are seeking arrest warrants for two Russians who have fled the country amid an investigation into a fatal hit-and-run of a 16-year-old boy in Phuket in the early hours of April 5. Thananbavorn “Lotus” Durongpan was struck and killed while riding his motorbike along Patak Road near Chalong Circle, just after 1am, explained Capt Thada Sodarak of…
-
Wolfpack gore the Galahs to retain Cricket 7s title
PHUKET: Australia’s Wolfpack retained their title by winning the 11th Annual Phuket International Cricket Week 2014 Kata Group International Cricket 7s at Republic Phuket Football Ground last weekend. Captained by Australian Indoor Cricket Team champion Will Badger, the Wolfpack fought back to defeat the Galah Cricket Team, who had been admirable opponents during the Kata 7s. Wolfpack had defeated Phuket…
-
Phuket survives Day 6 of Songkran road-safety campaign
PHUKET: No road deaths were reported in Phuket yesterday, the sixth day of the Songkran Seven Days of Danger national road-safety campaign, but one more injury was added to the official tally. During the 24 hours from midnight on April 15 to midnight on April 16, only one victim of a road accident was reported admitted to a hospital for…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Search continues for South Korea ferry sinking survivors
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Search continues for South Korea ferry sinking survivors Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: South Korean coastguard and navy divers resumed searching on Thursday for about 290 people still missing, many of them students from the same high school, after a ferry capsized in sight of land.…
-
Miss Universe Australia 2010 plays in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket hosted Miss Universe Australia 2010 for the Songkran holiday while she was in town shooting an Australian TV program to showcase tourist destinations in Thailand. Jesinta Campbell, 22, was chosen by Australian travel show The Getaway to be the face of a six-episode series covering tourist hot spots in Phuket and Phang Nga, said Anoma Wongyai, Director of…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: More than 300 people missing after South Korean ferry sinks
More than 300 people missing after South Korea ferry sinks Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: More than 300 people were missing after a ferry sank off South Korea, the coastguard said on Wednesday, with a three-fold increase in the number of passengers unaccounted for put down to a miscalculation by officials. The ferry was carrying 477 people, of whom 164…
-
Phuket Songkran heatwave claims three lives on same day
PHUKET: Doctors at Patong Hospital have confirmed that three foreigners died yesterday after collapsing from heatstroke. Russian tourist Igor Kiselev, 59, was rushed to hospital for medical treatment after he passed out at Karon Beach, Patong Hospital Director Sirichai Silpa-archa confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this morning. “He died en route to the hospital. Medical staff tried for one hour…
-
Road death tally holds steady on fifth day of danger
PHUKET: Phuket’s road death toll remains at one after “five days of danger”, but four injuries were added to the casualty tally after yesterday. Between midnight on April 14 and midnight on April 15, four road accidents were reported, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket). Three involved motorcyclists, two of whom had blood alcohol…
-
Get ready to shred some waves in Kao Lak
PHUKET: The high season is nearly over, traffic is fading to near tolerable levels and the lines of beach chairs are slowly receding. However, for those who brave monsoon weather and killer rip tides to test their skills on the west coast surf breaks, the high season is just beginning. Surfing in Phuket is definitely a seasonal undertaking, with surfable…
-
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Prem mediator plan falters; Songkran toll hits 204; Police chief wants proactive officers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Toll hits 204 as revellers start returning The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: As large numbers of people yesterday started to travel back to work from the Songkran holidays – and many others continued to enjoy water splashing in their home towns – the Road Safety…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Hundreds rescued as cruise liner sinks off South Korea
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cruise liner sinks off South Korea Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: One person has been found dead in a South Korean ferry that is sinking off the southwest coast, a coast guard official said on Wednesday. There was a loud impact and noise before the ferry…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Jordanian ambassador seized in Libya
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Jordanian ambassador seized in Libya, kidnappers demand prisoner release Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Jordan’s ambassador to Libya was kidnapped on Tuesday by gunmen who demanded an Islamist militant be released from a Jordanian jail in exchange for the diplomat’s freedom. The masked gunmen shot and…
-
Former police volunteer tests positive for drugs, case goes to Phuket public prosecutor
PHUKET: Drug test results came back positive for former tourist police volunteer Garry Halpin, who has spent the last four months in Phuket Provincial Prison. The drug test results were the last piece of evidence the police needed before sending the case to court (story here). It has now been handed over to the public prosecutor. “The prosecutor will formally…
-
Phuket Songkran road toll stands at 1 dead, 17 injured
PHUKET: After four days of the Songkran Seven Days of Danger national road safety campaign, Phuket’s death and injury toll stands at one dead and 17 people injured in 17 accidents. Five accidents which resulted in five people being admitted to hospital for treatment of injuries occurred in the 24 hours ending at midnight last night, the Department of Disaster…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Undersea drone hunt for Malaysian plane foiled by depth
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Undersea drone hunt for Malaysian plane foiled by depth Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A U.S. Navy underwater drone sent to search for a missing Malaysian jetliner on the floor of the Indian Ocean had its first mission cut short after exceeding its 4.5 km (2.8…
-
Baby sea turtles wash back to shore after annual turtle release
PHUKET: Two baby sea turtles washed ashore two Phuket beaches on Sunday afternoon shortly after a turtle release took place in Mai Khao. “Villagers in Mai Khao and Karon called the Phuket Marine Biological Center [PMBC] after they found the stranded baby turtles on the beach,” an officer from the Marine Endangered Species Unit of the PMBC told the Phuket…
-
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Songkran death toll hits 161; Red shirt Ko Tee cut adrift; Gen Prem urged to resolve crisis
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Drunk driving ramps up Songkran road death toll The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Some 161 people have been killed and 1,640 injured in 1,539 road accidents in the first three days of Songkran – with most accidents the result of drink driving, the Road Safety…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Obama blasts Russia in tense call with Putin over Ukraine
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama blasts Russia in tense call with Putin over Ukraine Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: U.S. President Barack Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russia’s actions in Ukraine were not conducive to a diplomatic solution of the crisis in that country, and the…
-
Body of missing Phuket three-year-old found in Nai Harn lagoon
PHUKET: The body of missing 3-year-old Kongpob “Nong Gorya” Chuerket was found in the lagoon at Nai Harn Beach yesterday afternoon, police confirmed. Nong Gorya went missing on Thursday from his home in Rawai, and was last seen crossing the road while his parents were busy working at their store in the construction camp where they live (story here). “We…
-
Ghost rider becomes first Phuket fatality in Songkran Seven Days of Danger
PHUKET: A woman speeding on a motorbike in the wrong lane has become Phuket’s first recorded fatality during this year’s Songkran Seven Days of Danger national road-safety campaign. Nannika Boonchorn, 27, from Chaiyaphum, died after she collided at high speed with a motorbike with a sidecar at about 4pm yesterday. The accident happened on Baan Thungkha – Kuandindaeng Road, which…
-
B320mn wastewater plant project at Bang Tao Beach stalls
PHUKET: As black water continues to spill over Bang Tao Beach in Cherng Talay, local officials report that the 320-million-baht wastewater-treatment project scheduled for completion next year has stalled. “Our big wastewater treatment project is only 30 per cent complete, but construction has now stopped,” Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), said on Saturday. “The…
-
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Songkran spirit soaks nation; Koh Tee harbored in Isarn, say Dems; Road toll hits 102
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thais forget their woes The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Songkran festival appears to have cooled down Thai politics, at least for a short while, given the reduction in political violence, and a break in politicians’ activities during the five-day holiday, which began on Saturday.…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Ukraine readies military against pro-Russian rebels
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ukraine readies full military operation against pro-Russian rebels Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Ukraine’s armed forces plan to launch a “full-scale anti-terrorist operation” against pro-Russian separatists, acting president Oleksander Turchinov said on Sunday, raising the risk of a military confrontation with Moscow. Angered by the death…
-
Search begins for missing Phuket toddler
PHUKET: Police have launched a search for a missing three-year-old boy last seen near the family home in a construction camp in Rawai late Thursday afternoon. Kongpob Chuerket, nicknamed “Nong Gorya”, was wearing a blue singlet emblazoned with an Angry Birds motif and light blue shorts when he disappeared, said Lt Kraisorn Boonprasop of the Chalong Police told the Phuket…
-
Sponsor can’t prevent Phuket kratom arrest
PHUKET: Amid the bustle of holiday travellers at Phuket Bus Terminal 2 yesterday, officers arrested a man after confirming that the box he retrieved from a bus contained kratom leaves. The arrest of Polawat Jay-yeng, 25, occurred after a tip-off to Suthee Sirianant, Chief Administration Officer of Phuket City District Office. “Mr Polawat picked up a Sponsor drink box from…
-
Speed, seats and safety targeted in Songkran bus blitz
PHUKET: Extra buses, drug and alcohol tests for drivers and GPS to monitor speeds have been ordered to ensure that holiday travelers make it home safely for the Songkran holidays. Ten extra buses were on standby at Phuket’s Bus Terminal 2 yesterday to cope with the 50 per cent increase in travelers as officials rolled out new disciplinary regulations for…
-
Phuket maintains zero road fatalities in Seven Days of Danger
PHUKET: As of 9am today, no deaths had been reported in Phuket during the Songkran holiday Seven Days of Danger safety campaign. Two motorcycle accidents were reported yesterday, but neither involved serious injuries. At 6:21pm, Ampan Jansanoi, 35, lost control of her motorbike while riding in Phuket Town. Three hours later, at 9:25pm, Pongsakorn Sangkasee, 21, was involved in an…
-
Travel a la carte
PHUKET: When I first came to Thailand, I came to travel. I went north and south, south and east. Sadly, since I moved here permanently, I find myself lacking the time to explore this country, and if I manage to secure some time off, I travel abroad. Luckily, there is a way to travel even when short on time and…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: African exodus to Europe continues
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Libya’s coastguard detains more than 400 immigrants en route to Europe Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Libya’s coastguard has detained more than 400 immigrants, mostly from the Horn of Africa, in its waters in the past two days as they tried to illegally cross to Europe…
-
Phuket rental shops send passport pictures to Bangkok via smartphone application
PHUKET: Nearly one-third of rental shops in Patong have started to send photos of renters’ faces and passports to the Interpol branch in Bangkok via the messaging application Line in an effort to identify stolen passports and protect against passport theft on the island. The push for tighter security follows the news that two passports stolen in Phuket had been…
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.