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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Thailand News: Park fees cut; BMA told to pay; Myanmar opium output rises
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community New parks chief cuts entry fees Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Admission fees to 29 national parks have been significantly reduced thanks to an order signed by new Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) chief Rerngchai Prayoonvej. Rerngchai signed documents yesterday canceling rules…
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Hermaphrodite blocked from Thai monkhood
PHUKET: A young man in Lampang province wants to ordain as a monk at his local temple, just like nearly all Thai Buddhist men do at some point during their lifetimes. But Krittapak Duangchai, 30, has a problem: his local temple will not ordain him as he is a hermaphrodite. The budding monk possesses a vagina as well as a…
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Thailand News: Petty officer killed and 3 troops seriously wounded in IED attack
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rebels hit Tak Bai in lead-up to anniversary Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Just days before the eighth anniversary of Narathiwat’s Tak Bai massacre, the province erupted in violence over the weekend, with attacks continuing yesterday after five simultaneous incidents in the Tak Bai district…
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Thai Post stamps on 7-Eleven rumors
PHUKET: Readers of Queer News may know someone collecting the “Love Thailand” stamps currently being given out with purchases at 7-Eleven convenience stores across the country. The stamps can be exchanged for a variety of prizes, including light bulbs, whitening cream and even a satellite receiver box from media company True. The one thing they can’t do is send letters.…
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Weird World News: Cashing in on big money, or not
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News Roundup runs the gambit from a US$1 bank robbery, to a space diamond bigger than Earth, with a half-billion US dollars in between. One dollar, enough for Federal Prison? A “polite” US man was arrested after robbing his local bank for US$1 [30 baht] in an apparent attempt to be charged with a federal…
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Obese abbot breaks all the rules
PHUKET: Keen readers of Queer News will know that monks behaving badly and keeping contraband in their quarters is hardly a rarity in Thailand. But the abbot of Phra Si Maha Phot Temple in Mukdahan might just have set an all-time record for such shenanigans. Early last month, Mukdahan City Police Station officers were alerted to the possibility that something…
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Thailand News: Thaksin visits Hong Kong amid cabinet reshuffles
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thaksin’s Hong Kong visit ‘not linked’ Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s visit to Hong Kong this weekend has nothing to do with the Cabinet reshuffle or the selection of a new Pheu Thai Party leader, the ex-PM’s legal adviser told the media…
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Weird World News: Where dreams come true
PHUKET: Daydreaming has been the noble art of little boys and girls around the world from time immemorial, and in honor of those dreams the Phuket Gazette‘s Weird World News roundup lands headlines of a helicopter delivery of about half a million baht for candy to the creation of the biggest Ferris wheel in the world, and for those who…
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Weather News: Bangkok gets biggest soaking in 100 years
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rainfall highest in 100 years, BMA claims Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) yesterday insisted that rainfall in the capital this month has been the highest in 100 years. “I have clear information,” said Sanya Sheenimit in his capacity as chief…
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Thailand News: Big three apply for 3G; Tantawan rejected
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community As expected, only big three apply for 3G spectrum auction Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: It’s clear now that the big three in the cellular service industry will be the only bidders for the long-awaited 2.1-gigahertz spectrum on October 16. The spectrum will be used for third-generation…
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Thailand News: Failure to join CLMV could cost millions
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Reluctance to join single-visa scheme could prove to be costly Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Thailand has to revise its strategy concerning a regional single visa scheme, or it could lose millions of tourists to neighboring countries, which are kicking off the “CLMV Single Visa”…
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Woman cheats death with fake funeral
PHUKET: Friends and family of 80-year-old Kulap Chomduang gathered at Sop Tui Temple in the northern province of Lampang for her funeral in early August. Mrs Kulap had been suffering from a variety of health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer of the uterus. But there was a catch: Mrs Kulap wasn’t dead. Since then, Mrs Kulap has…
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Official probe finds Tiger Disco failed to meet fire-safety regulations
PHUKET: The findings of an official investigation into the Tiger Discotheque fire that killed four people on August 17 were publicly released yesterday. They cite failure by nightclub management to adhere to multiple fire-safety regulations. The report, compiled by the Building Society Inspectors and Officers Association (BSA) and the Association of Siamese Architects (ASA), did not cite the cause of…
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Thailand News: Protest forces US embassy to close early
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anti-US protest forces embassy to shut early Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Five companies of anti-riot policemen were deployed to guard the US Embassy in Bangkok yesterday as about 400 Muslims staged a protest against the US government over an anti-Islam film. “Destroy America!” the…
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Weird World News: Small time heroes make headlines
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News Roundup is an epic run-down of all the small “heroes” that recently found their way into the world’s headlines: Volleyball Visionary, Sir Smoke Not and Peter Magic. Volleyball strike to head saves ‘victim’s’ life A 60-year-old man in Hawaii was watching his grandson play indoor volleyball when the ball struck him in the head…
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Thailand News: RKK declare cease-fire in Deep South
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Talks with separatists in South a success: Prayuth Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: One hundred suspected insurgents led by a man allegedly involved in the 2004 military camp raid yesterday met the Fourth Army region commander in Narathiwat to declare they would cease fighting in…
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Viagra facing stiff competition in Thailand
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai version of ‘Viagra’ to be launched next month Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) will launch its erectile dysfunction drug “Sidagra” on October 15 at a fraction of the price of Viagra.The treatment for the men’s disorder has already been registered with…
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Ghostly visit leads man to mom’s body
PHUKET: A man in Ayutthaya claims he discovered the gruesome body of his own recently murdered mother after her ghost came back to tell him what had happened to her. The body of Mrs Sukkhapha, 56, (full name not reported) was discovered in a field on July 31. She had been sexually mutilated. Mrs Sukkhapha’s remains were found in a…
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Weird World News: The missing link: A woman, chimps and Bigfoot
PHUKET: The “Missing Link” riddles headlines in this week’s Weird World News Roundup as a Bigfoot impersonator gets hit and killed by not one, but two teenage girls driving cars; a woman unable to link the description of a missing person to her own identity joins a search party for herself; and a Chimpanzee’s carry-on tradition ‘missing link or not’…
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‘Furious masturbators’ flash Phuket expat motorist in midday moment of madness
PHUKET: An American expat has told of her shock at witnessing two men furiously masturbating by the side of the road in the Patong-Karon hills. Long-term expat Amy Bensema, 36, was driving her motorbike home on August 19 when she spotted two naked “Asian-looking men” masturbating and shouting obscenities at passing cars and motorbikes. The incident happened just after 4pm,…
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Weird World News: New York City abuzz over obsessed beekeeper
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News Roundup is full of colonizing fears: from busy bee activity in New York City to South Africa taking on the elephantine issue of birth control. Only the unflappable British remain unconcerned, especially now that UFOs officially “pose no threat” of colonizing their country. Britain safe from UFOs It is official at last: Britain is…
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Thailand News: Sex trade – playing with the devil
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Transvestites, women warned against sex trade in Mideast Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Many Thai male cross-dressers get legitimate jobs in Oman as masseuses but choose to also offer sexual services on the side, a Thai embassy official in Muscat said Panida Somao said the laws…
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Phuket Gazette: Women with kind hearts preyed upon
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ‘Suicidal’ man preys on women with kind hearts Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: A woman noticed a “suicidal man” on a Web board, felt his pain and decided to reach out with a caring heart. While the man soon said she had become the light…
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Phuket Gazette: Army files complaint against Thaksin’s lawyer
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prayuth files complaint against Thaksin’s lawyer for defamation Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: Army commander-in-chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has asked police to take legal action against red-shirt lawyer Robert Amsterdam and a Thai female interpreter for allegedly defaming the Army.On Friday, Prayuth had a legal officer, Colonel…
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Thailand News: Verdict delay in war weapon case
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Verdict on eight Thais in war weapon case “could take two weeks” Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: The trial of eight Thais, arrested in Myanmar on charges of possessing war weapons, was scheduled to end today, but it could take two weeks before the court…
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Thailand News: Group to appeal; Myanmar decision expected; Forest fires
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rayong people to appeal against court verdict on land documents Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Local residents from Rayong’s Mae Ramphueng area will be appealing to the Supreme Administrative Court against the lower court’s decision to drop their complaint over the land rights documents held…
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Thailand News: US Visa given to Thaksin not a political issue
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Politics not involved in visa given to Thaksin : US ambassador Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: The issuing of a visa to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was done under United States laws and had no bearing on domestic politics in Thailand, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney…
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Thailand News: Billboard kills worker; Senator shoots relative; Thai Olympics review
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fatality spurs BMA to check billboards Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: More than 900 billboards across Bangkok will be inspected, and if they are found to be unsafe they will be torn down, Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday. The measure was announced after Janya…
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Thai News: AirAsia seeks hub; Prissana bowls over judges; Kaew’s goldrush
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community AirAsia seeks Don Mueang for budget hub Phuket Gazette / The NationPHUKET: AirAsia, Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier, has urged the Thai government to promote Don Mueang Airport as a regional hub for low-cost carriers.“Its international airport tax should be lowered from Bt750 to Bt250,” Tony Fernandes, chief…
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Thailand News: Myanmar allows visits to Thai detainees
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Myanmar allows relatives to visit Thai detainees for first time Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: For the first time since their arrests on July 4, almost all of the 92 Thais detained in Myanmar were given a chance to meet with their relatives yesterday. The…
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