South Thailand News

Southern Thailand news, Phuket news, Koh Samui news, and Krabi updates—stay informed on business, tourism, and local events from Trang, Songkhla, Yala, and beyond. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Southern Thailand news source.

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    How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?

    Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....

  • Pabuk edges closer to southern Thailand

    Pabuk edges closer to southern Thailand

    PHOTO: Aljazeera “Officials expect the conditions to persist into Saturday.” Aljazeera is reporting that tropical storm Pabuk is forecast to make landfall on Friday evening in Nakhon Si Thammarat coastal islands bringing torrential downpours and strong winds to more than a dozen other provinces in the south. The region is home to one of the world’s biggest natural rubber plantations…

  • Pabuk: Warnings for coastal residents to stay indoors

    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…

  • Pabuk: Koh Tao awakens to ‘business as usual’

    Pabuk: Koh Tao awakens to ‘business as usual’

    Our Koh Tao ‘man on the spot’, Adrian, says that the island currently has heavy rains with some wind, and thunder but that wind is not currently strong. He reports that people are going around their business as usual. “Yesterday a lot of people left the island as we saw the last two ferries leaving around 3pm and they…

  • Pabuk: Friday awakes with the storm surging up the Gulf coastline

    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…

  • Precautions taken in the south for Pabuk

    Precautions taken in the south for Pabuk

    FILE PHOTO With the impending arrival of tropical storm ‘Pabuk’, everyone in the coastal regions are bracing for landfall. Koh Samui officials have been ordered to monitor all shipping and tour boats, while all tourists spots and national parks have been told to prepare to close. Phuket airport is already on high alert, urging all passengers to double check their…

  • Pabuk: A very rare event – Remembering ‘Harriet’ in 1962.

    Pabuk: A very rare event – Remembering ‘Harriet’ in 1962.

    The last major tropical storm to hit the southern coastal Gulf region in January was back in 1962. It started, just like Pabuk, as a weather system off the western coast of the Philippines. In this case on October 19, 1962. After making its way across the South China Sea and scooting across the bottom of southern Vietnam, the system…

  • Pabuk: Tourists flee Gulf islands of Koh Phangan, Samui and Koh Tao

    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…

  • PABUK: Latest information on the path of the storm across the Gulf

    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…

  • Angthong National Marine Park closed for 3 days due to approaching storm

    Angthong National Marine Park closed for 3 days due to approaching storm

    The Angthong National Marine Park, off the coast of Surat Thani province, is closing for three days from tomorrow (Thursday) as tropical storm ‘Pabuk’ is expected to hit the southern Gulf coast. The decision has been based on weather warnings from the TMD, which says the storm “Pabuk” will bring unseasonal heavy downpours and high waves in the Gulf of…

  • Brother and sister plucked from surf in Nakhon Si Thammarat – VIDEO

    Brother and sister plucked from surf in Nakhon Si Thammarat – VIDEO

    VIDEO and PHOTOS: Keerati Songlerd A boy and a girl, who are brother and sister, have been hauled out from surf in Nakhon Si Thammarat, on the southern Gulf coast. Video clips and photos have been posted on a personal Facebook ‘Keerati Songlerd’ yesterday with a message reading “Two kids have been pulled out of the surf. An elder brother…

  • “Pabuk” heads towards southern provinces

    “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…

  • Seven dead after murder/suicide at New Year party in Chumphon

    Seven dead after murder/suicide at New Year party in Chumphon

    PHOTO: Thinnakorn, right, speaks to his family following the murders by Prasit Leelahakhunakorn A 41 year old is dead after killing six of his relatives, including his two children aged 6 and 9 and then turning the gun on himself. The incident happened during a new year party at their home in Chumphon. Police were alerted to the shootings just…

  • Southern intelligence contradicts Deputy PM over Songkhla bomb motives

    Southern intelligence contradicts Deputy PM over Songkhla bomb motives

    The deputy PM General Prawit Wongsuwan, and national security chief, is linking the Wednesday night bomb attacks in Songkhla to local politics in the southern province. This contradicts intelligence units on the ground who suspect the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) were behind the blasts, in an attempt to disturb the southern business hub. The BRN are the main political organisation…

  • Deputy PM links last night’s Songkhla attack to local issues

    Deputy PM links last night’s Songkhla attack to local issues

    Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan, and defence minister, has linked last night’s Songkhla bomb attacks to politics in the southern province. He says he is confident that the incidents had nothing to do with insurgency in the deep South, claiming that security authorities already knew who was behind the Samila Beach attack. “The aim was to cause chaos during the New…

  • Three bombs found on a Songkhla beach after blasts damage famous mermaid statue

    Three bombs found on a Songkhla beach after blasts damage famous mermaid statue

    A bomb squad has discovered three explosive devices at Samila Beach in Songkhla province, hours after two blasts damaged the landmark mermaid statue. The types of bombs are still unknown. The three explosives were found at the beach during a search after last night’s explosions. The landmark golden mermaid statue at Samila Beach was damaged by two explosions on Wednesday…

  • One dead and two injured in ambulance crash in Trang

    One dead and two injured in ambulance crash in Trang

    PHOTOS: The Nation An ambulance has collided into a truck in Trang province today. The crash killed an assistant nurse and injured two others. Police say the accident occurred on a bypass road in the province’s Huai Yot district before 6am. The ambulance belongs to the Wattanapat Hospital Trang. The ambulance was on its way back to the hospital after…

  • Last Full Moon Party for 2018 attracts 30,000

    Last Full Moon Party for 2018 attracts 30,000

    Authorities claim over 30,000 tourists flocked to Hat Rin on Koh Phangan for the Saturday night (well, Sunday morning really), monthly full moon party, the final party for 2018. The party kicked off at 1am on Sunday morning and wound up at 7am. Most of the local hotels were full with highly inflated prices for the monthly gathering whilst many…

  • Happy ending for Malaysian tourist at Betong immigration

    Happy ending for Malaysian tourist at Betong immigration

    What appeared as a bad end to the holiday of a Malaysian tourist has ended up with a much happier ending. Immigration police have returned a wallet with cash and credit cards to the Malaysian tourist on yesterday after he dropped it in front of an immigration counter on Friday night. The tourist, Low Han Ben, reclaimed his purse at…

  • Patient dies after jumping from balcony at Chumphon hospital

    Patient dies after jumping from balcony at Chumphon hospital

    PHOTO: Khet Udomsak Hospital A distressed patient diagnosed with colon cancer has died after jumping from the 4th floor of a hospital in Chumphon’s main city district last night. Police say 53 year old Boonchuay Disapong died of his injuries after being rushed to the ICU unit following the fall. He had been admitted to the Khet Udomsak Hospital and…

  • Co-ordinated triple attack at Yala security bases

    Co-ordinated triple attack at Yala security bases

    Insurgents have initiated a triple attack at police and army targets. The attacks took place last night. In a near-simultaneous attack, insurgents in Yala province fired guns at a police station, a civilian defence post and an Army post. Luckily no one was injured in the planned attacks. The Lam Mai police station in Moo 6 in Muang district came…

  • If your motorbike is stolen, just wait a few days

    If your motorbike is stolen, just wait a few days

    Not only did he get his motorbike back, but he should go out and buy a lottery ticket. What are the chances…? The owner of a stolen motorcycle got his transport back three days later after a man ran out of petrol just in front of him in Songkhla’s Muang district on Tuesday. The owner of the motorcycle, identified only…

  • Troops on stand-by to assist flooded southern provinces

    Troops on stand-by to assist flooded southern provinces

    PHOTO: Thunder Road Reporters, Samui Deputy PM and defence minister Prawit Wongsuwan has ordered the three armed forces to head south with troops and equipment to help the areas hard hit by flooding. The Meteorological Department is warning southerners to brace for more to come. Gulf coast provinces from Chumpon to Songkhla have been battered with heavy rains for the past…

  • Southern provinces battered by heavy rains and floods

    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…

  • Heavy December rain hits Nakhon Si Thammarat this morning

    Heavy December rain hits Nakhon Si Thammarat this morning

    by Krissana Thiwatsirikul Several areas of Nakhon Si Thammarat province have experienced heavy flooding this morning following sudden downpours over Saturday night and into the early hours of the morning. Southern provinces facing the Gulf of Thailand have all experienced some rain the last 24 hours. Water drainage systems were overwhelmed, sending excess volumes across the surface of many of…

  • 33 cats mauled to death at Hat Yai temple

    33 cats mauled to death at Hat Yai temple

    “The animals were apparently tranquillised and so were helpless when attacked by the dogs.” Police in Hat Yai have been hunting for the driver of a pick-up truck seen dropping off 36 cats at a temple yesterday before 33 of them were mauled to death by stray dogs. A villager filed a complaint with police after finding the 33 cat…

  • Man marries Thai ladyboy without ‘checking gender’

    Man marries Thai ladyboy without ‘checking gender’

    PHOTO COMPOSITE: Thai Rath A Danish man has married a Thai ladyboy without doing a full ‘due diligence’ on the gender of his future spouse. But things seems to have worked out anyway. Thai Rath has reported on a marriage ceremony in Thailand’s south last Saturday where the groom was a man from Denmark and the bride was a man…

  • Pregnant dugong killed by boat propellor

    Pregnant dugong killed by boat propellor

    by Khanitta Sitong A heavily-pregnant dugong, found off Koh Libong in Trang a week ago, has had an autopsy to investigate the cause of death. It was the fifth dugong in the area killed by speedboats this year. The findings indicate that this dugong too came into contact with a local boat propellor. The dugong’s decomposing carcass was found on…

  • Dead man washed up on Nakhon Si Thammarat beach

    Dead man washed up on Nakhon Si Thammarat beach

    The decomposed body of a man has washed up onto a beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Police said the unidentified body was spotted on the shores of the beach in Moo 9 village in Tambon Na Saton in Hua Sai district on Saturday morning. Police say the man appears to have been dead for about a week and the body…

  • Mother killed by moving train, 2 year old daughter survives

    Mother killed by moving train, 2 year old daughter survives

    A mother and her 2 year old daughter fell from a train at a station in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The mother died while the girl survived with minor injuries. The incident took place at the Klong Chandee railway station at 10am this morning. Police say 21 year old Benjawan Duangsuwan died at the scene. Her daughter was sent to Por Than…

  • Surat Thani monk arrested over molestation allegations

    Surat Thani monk arrested over molestation allegations

    Surat Thani police have served an arrest warrant on a 35 year old monk at the Wat Dang Nai. Sanook is reporting that Phra Mongkhon faces charges of molesting under 15 year old boys. The arrest of the monk follows an official complaint made by a parent to police back in April who claimed her 13 year old son had…