Thailand News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, and lifestyle—get breaking updates from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. Stay informed on Thai society, economy, tourism, and expat life with The Thaiger.
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Weird World News: Fake plastic surgeon takes advantage of transsexuals; a massive tumor gets lopped off; and a little girl gets liposuction for Christmas
Phuket: Put a little on, take a little off: with the New Year in full swing everyone seems worried with how they look. This week’s Weird World News line-up features some of the more disturbing makeover headlines of the week, from having an 89 kilogram tumor removed to giving a seven-year-old girl a voucher for liposuction.Filling up the trunk with…
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New Year goes off with a final bang
A NEW Year’s Eve celebration went horribly wrong for one family on Koh Samet after a woman shot three bullets into the air to mark the start of 2012. As Rampha Suphasi, 48, lowered her gun it accidentally discharged again, hitting her husband Thanakit Suphasi in the chest. Mr Thanakit, also 48, promptly fell down dead. Police arrived at the…
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Phuket Media Watch: Disaster status declared amid floods in South; Phuket not severely affected
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hospital patients evacuated, military on standby in Hat Yai Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Songkhla, Yala and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces in the South have been inundated by flash flooding after days of heavy rain. Disaster status – signified by red flags – has been…
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Phuket Media Watch: 12 killed in pick-up truck in Buri Ram
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 12 killed were enroute to family funeral Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Police and rescue workers called to the scene of a road accident in Buri Ram province yesterday found a tour bus severely damaged and a pick-up truck in a roadside ditch. Inside the truck,…
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Khon Kaen crazy nicking knickers
PHUKET: Police in Khon Kaen nabbed a thief with an unusual haul mid-December – more than 1,000 pairs of used women’s underwear. The kinky culprit, Pathanin Kawikul, 26, told officers he used the undergarments – which he stole over a period of more than five years – for sexual gratification. Police were alerted to Mr Pathanin’s bizarre activities when Phornphat…
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Weird World News: Christmas tree thief leaves trail of pine needles, UK bans fun, new research links researchers to the Grinch and a peek into our ‘Santa Files’
PHUKET: With the merriment of Christmas just a few days away, what better way to get in the festive spirit than to pay homage to a few Grinch-like tales of bitterness and to take a peek to see what Santa has been up to this year. Christmas decorations and snowball fights banned in UK THE United Kingdom wins first place…
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Border agreement reached by Thailand and Cambodia; Burma and Thailand economic co-operation
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Agreement reached to withdraw troops from border The Nation / Phuket Gazette Thailand and Cambodia agreed yesterday to comply with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to withdraw troops from the disputed border area near the Preah Vihear Temple following a meeting of the General…
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Phuket Media Watch – death toll from flooding in Thailand reaches 740
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death toll from flooding in Thailand reaches 740 Phuket Gazette The death toll from months of severe flooding across Thailand has reached at least 740, the country’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported on Friday. About 3,652 villages in 80 districts of nine provinces in the…
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Man burns brother in a bizarre urine-provoked attack
PHUKET: An elderly Samut Prakan man allegedly doused his own cancer-stricken younger brother in gasoline before setting him on fire in a case of almost unbelievable savagery last week. Before launching the attack, Thawat Limyothin, 61, was apparently hit by drops of liquid that fell from the ceiling below a room in which his brother Kiatchai Limyothin, 50, was convalescing.…
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Weird World News: Money, money, money”¦ makes us act a bit funny
PHUKET: Men of money made headlines this week with outrageously-outlandish expenditures, financial flops and the odd smart investment. Sweet heavens… how much is the dessert? THE record for the world’s most expensive dessert was gobbled up by a British diamond merchant this week. Carl Weininger spent UK£22,000 (about1.063 million baht) on a chocolate pudding with strawberry champagne caviar and glazed…
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MP questions love for flood victims
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Love motel floated boats for flood relief Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An opposition MP Friday came up with “new information” to support his allegation of irregularities involving the government’s Flood Relief Operation Centre (FROC). Phuket Gazette partner newspaper The Nation reports that at a press conference at…
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Aussie pays Bt40mn ‘boybride’ price
PHUKET: An Australian man wed his young Thai boyfriend in Chiang Mai yesterday, forking over 40 million baht in “boybride price” to the man’s family for the privilege. The traditional ceremony took place at the Chiang Mai home of Mr Chaiyanon “Un” Worasilp, a 27-year-old from Chachoengsao province, whose first name is unfortunately translated by the on-line Google Translation service…
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Thaksin to get Thai passport as ‘New Year’s gift’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand to ‘soon’ issue passport for fugitive former premier Thaksin Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand will issue a passport for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra “very soon”, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said yesterday. Phuket Gazette partner newspaper The Nation quotes Surapong as saying that the passport…
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Anti-graft alliance vows to keep close watch
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community “Clean Thailand DIY” campaign The NationThe Anti-Corruption Network (ACN), an alliance of private watchdog groups, yesterday launched the “Clean Thailand DIY” campaign to monitor the government’s spending of Bt800 billion earmarked for post-flood recovery efforts. ACN chairman Pramon Sutivong said the group is inviting people to…
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Phuket misses out on Dance Festival as it moves to Chiang Mai
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dance Festival moves to Chiang Mai due to flooding The Nation Thanks to the flooding, the Dance Center has not only postponed its International Dance Festival but relocated it from Bangkok and shortened it. It’s set for tomorrow. “This is the 11th edition and the first…
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Yingluck falls ill; Police denies rumors about key burglary suspect
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yingluck cancels events after falling sick The NationAccording to a source close to the prime minister, Yingluck appeared faint, complained of a headache and vomited during a lunch break at Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi. She had earlier inspected a flooded area of Pak Kret district…
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Phuket Media Watch – Deep South flower pot bomb injures monks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Flower pot bomb injures monks The Nation Nine people, including three monks, were injured in a bomb attack by suspected insurgents in the Deep South province of Pattani recently. The monks were collecting alms on Sai Charoen Pradit Road in Pattani City when a 3-kilogram bomb…
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Phuket Media Watch – Passing on Thaksin pardon
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Passing on Thaksin pardon The Nation The government appeared to bow to political pressure last week when it backtracked on a plan to grant former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra a pardon on the occasion of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 84th birthday. The People’s Alliance for Democracy…
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Weird World News: Technology fads with “Robocop’ prison guards, indestructible iPads and the “Hi honey’ banner vending machine
PHUKET: Technology is great for providing distractions, but this week’s Weird World News round-up is all about the latest gizmo goings-on designed to get your attention, and keep it. ‘RoboCops’ to patrol South Korean prisons SOUTH Korean prisons will deploy a fleet of robot guards to keep inmates in line. And at one billion won (about 27 million baht) apiece,…
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Weird World News: Teens tampon booze craze, man sues dating company for “ugly’ brides and prisoner uses guts for glory
PHUKET: This week’s weird news round-up is a subtle blend of depraved, deplorable and detestable happenings from the around the globe. Health Risk: Teens using vodka-soaked tampons to get drunk PHOENIX Police say a craze that involves teenage girls dousing tampons with vodka and inserting them into their “parts” to get drunk is on the rise and needs to be…
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Weird World News: Refusing to age gracefully with the pensioner graffiti gang, the great-granny denied booze for no ID and the rock dad “too old to dance’
PHUKET: With age comes wisdom, right? Well not for these wrinkled and wizened hell-raisers who found themselves in the world media headlines this week for all the wrong reasons. Elderly graffiti gang Old Skool Massive on the loose A BRITISH gang of pensioners known as the Old Skool Massive have been terrorizing their neighbors with graffiti, attacking homes and cars…
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Weird World News: Stuck in the middle of a tree, a swing and the Amazon with misguided men and lone alien
PHUKET: Men behaving like children and a little green alien found themselves stuck in some unfamiliar places this week. The alien was the only one who didn’t need to be rescued. Oh to be young again: Man spends night stuck in child’s swing A CALIFORNIA man was stuck in child’s swing for nine hours overnight after taking a US$100 bet…
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Weird World News: Grrrrrrrrrreat escape in Ohio, monster mistake for giant slipper man and tears for loveable crocodile Pocho
PHUKET: Animals leaped into the world’s news headlines this week with scary, silly and sad stories to report. The great Ohio escape: Monkey still AWOL, feared eaten by lion A FUGITIVE monkey who has been on the run from Ohio police since Tuesday night is presumed dead, eaten by one his “big cat” accomplices. One of the 18 tigers or…
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Weird World News: The Superhero of Seattle, Moss Man and Superman fan in high jinks
PHUKET: Superheroes and villains made headlines around the world this week in bizarre, botched and bone-headed acts of super silly proportions. Masked ‘superhero of Seattle’ arrested for assault IN SEATTLE, Washington, they really do have a superhero watching over the city at night. But there’s just one problem: He was arrested this week for assault. The “superhero of Seattle”, also…
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Weird World News: Recipes for disaster when entertaining guests
PHUKET: If you’ve ever had a friend or date come over for a meal only to wince in disgust, spit out a half-chewed mouthful of goop, make a few nonsensical excuses and promptly leave, then it’s safe to say you’re a dud in the kitchen. If you don’t know a courgette from a zucchini or a spatula from a spade,…
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Tush-tattooed teens end clerical career
NAKHON SAWAN: A monk at a local temple in this central Thailand province has been defrocked after tattooing the buttocks of two 15-year-old schoolgirls. In a single session, Phra Theera Chaya Chansophana tattooed the two girls and nine male students, all of whom were wearing school uniforms when they arrived to see him. Parents and teachers of the teens claim…
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Weird World News: Young people doing stupid things
PHUKET: Most adults dread old age because it means you can’t do the things you could when you were young. But if the following stories are anything to go by, those getting on in years should feel blessed with the wisdom that comes with age. The weird, dangerous and idiotic things young people are getting up to around the globe…
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‘Lanky Gecko’ and his house of lizards
CHIANG MAI: An animal-crazy man in Chiang Mai has shacked up in an apartment with 23 large geckos and chameleons, living with the lizards as if they were pet cats and dogs. When a reporter from Khao Sod went to visit Suiti Saelim’s apartment in Fa Ham subdistrict, there were lizards everywhere: under the bed, on the mattress, on the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: DNA tests proposed for migrant workers; Rubber farmers fight on; Mahouts fear losing elephants
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Proposal to DNA-test migrant workers panned The Nation/Phuket GazettePHUKET: Prompted by concerns over the ease with which foreigners will be able to travel in and out of Thailand once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) commences in 2015, the Institute for Forensic Medicine (IFM) is calling on the…
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Weird World News: Goody for Guinness 2012
PHUKET: It’s that time of year again, when the book dedicated to all things weird, tall, short, big and bizarre hits the shelves of bookstores around the world this week – it’s time for the next volume of Guinness World Records. Here a few of the 4,000 records – half are new – soon to be turning heads and dropping…
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