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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Digital nomading in Chiang Mai? What US$1,000 a month really gets you
Chiang Mai has become a popular destination for digital nomads due to its low living costs, rich culture, and active remote work community. The city offers affordable housing, tasty food, reliable internet, and many co-working spaces, making it a great...
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Trump draws boos as he bristles at ‘War on Women’ question
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Trump draws boos as he bristles at “war on women” question Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: White House contender Donald Trump, known for his inflammatory rhetoric, reacted with pique at a Republican presidential debate yesterday when asked about his past comments calling women “fat pigs”, “dogs”,…
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Video Report: Boat Arcade to open next month
PHUKET: With a lot of activities for children and their doting parents, the brand new Boat Arcade, branding itself as the ‘East Coast Edutainment & Family Center’, expects to be a smash hit when it opens its doors next month. The two-storey, high-street style shopping, dining and edutainment complex is dedicated to the island’s international community. Located at the Boat…
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Phuket tourist saves turtle from fishing net
PHUKET: A tourist saved the life of a sea turtle on Lay Pang Beach by alerting lifeguards after finding it entangled in a discarded fishing net on Tuesday morning. “We helped to cut the turtle free after the tourist told us about it,” Aknek Santrawa, a lifeguard of Angsana Laguna Phuket, told the Phuket Gazette. The approximately one-year-old turtle had…
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Food still on table as armed drug dealer gives police the slip
PHUKET: Police are hunting an armed drug dealer who managed to flee his home before officers arrived last night to seize a cache of drugs worth more than 5 million baht and a number of firearms. “When we arrived at the suspect’s home at Si Suchat Grand View 5 in Rassada, the air conditioner was still on and there was…
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School laptop thief arrested at worker camp
PHUKET: Police arrested a Myanmar national on Tuesday for allegedly swiping laptops costing an estimated 240,000 baht from Satree Phuket School’s science and math center last month (story here). “We were able to arrest the suspect, known only as Mr Lek, at about 2pm in a worker camp. At his place were seven of the 10 stolen laptops and the…
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Facebook post helps identify drowned woman
PHUKET: Facebook users were able to identify the woman who plunged to her death off Rawai Pier yesterday, after pictures of her body were posted on the social media platform. Witnesses saw Sriwann Sarapoo, 49, walk down the pier in the heavy rain at about 8:30am. “We were told that she walked to the end of the pier, where the…
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Police fatally shoot ax-wielding man at Nashville movie theater
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police fatally shoot ax-wielding man at Nashville movie theater Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: A man with a history of mental health issues who wielded an ax and a pellet gun at a Nashville-area movie theater was shot dead by police on Wednesday, authorities said. The…
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Malaysia confirms wing part washed up on beach is from missing MH370
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Malaysia confirms wing part washed up on beach is from missing MH370 Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: A piece of a wing that washed up on an Indian Ocean island beach last week was part ofthe wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, Malaysia said on Thursday,…
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Australia says initial MH370 debris drift models gave wrong clues
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia says initial MH370 debris drift models gave wrong clues Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Initial models of where potential debris from a missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet mightfirst wash up had incorrectly identified Indonesia as the most likely location, the Australian body leading the search…
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German justice minister sacks top prosecutor over treason row
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community German justice minister sacks top prosecutor over treason row Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Germany’s government sacked the top public prosecutor on Tuesday after he accused the justice ministry of interfering in a widely criticised treason investigation against a news website. In a rare clash between…
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India floods derail two trains, killing at least 20; hundreds rescued
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community India floods derail two trains, killing at least 20; hundreds rescued Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Two express trains were partially swept off a flooded bridge over a river in centralIndia overnight, killing at least 20 people and injuring 100, the government said on Wednesday. Divers…
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A Decade Ago: Tsunami warning issued in Phuket
PHUKET: More than seven months after the devastation of the tsunami tore apart communities along the Andaman coast and swept away entire villages in Indonesia, Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) issued a tsunami warning. An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale had struck the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, only 664 kilometers from Phuket, but no tsunami rose from…
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Police officer’s son caught dealing drugs from barracks
PHUKET: A police officer’s son, along with three other men, were arrested with nearly three million baht worth of drugs at a residence at the Ao Luek Police Station barracks in Krabi on August 2. The four men were caught in possession of one kilogram of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and nearly 8,000 pills of ya bah (methamphetamine). Ao Luek…
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Unique Four Regions Fair’ to start on Mother’s Day
PHUKET: A special ‘Unique Four Regions Fair’ will take place on Mother’s Day, HM Queen Sirikit’s birthday, on August 12 and continue through August 16 at Sanam Chai Park in Phuket Town. Organized by the Royal Thai Navy’s Phuket-based Third Area Internal Security Operations Command [ISOC] and sponsored by the provincial police and municipality, this nationwide event is the fourth…
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Australian weather bureau: El Nino has emerged and is expected to strengthen
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community El Nino has emerged and expected to strengthen – Australian weather bureau Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: An El Nino is now well established and continues to strengthen, the Australian Bureau ofMeteorology (BOM) says, with models indicating that sea-surface temperature anomalies in the central Pacific Ocean…
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Japan A-bomb survivors speak out against nuclear power, decry Abe’s view of war
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Japan A-bomb survivors speak out against nuclear power, decry Abe’s view of war Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: When Atsushi Hoshino set out to revive a group representing atomic bomb survivors in the rural northeast Japanese prefecture of Fukushima 30 years ago, one topic was taboo…
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Obama administration faces criticism over human trafficking report
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama administration faces criticism over human trafficking report Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: Several U.S. politicians sharply criticized the Obama administration on Monday over an annual global report on human trafficking in response to a Reuters article chronicling how senior U.S. diplomats had watered down rankings…
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Swedish tourist falls from Phuket hotel
PHUKET: A Swedish tourist and a Thai woman took a tumble from the balcony of their room at the Phuket Paradise Hotel in Patong early this morning. “When we arrived at the scene, Dahlin Erik Conny, 33, was unconscious and Numpueng Kumpuong, 26, was crying out in pain on the ground,” said Lt Col Jessada Saengsuree of the Patong Police.…
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Kratom user takes anger out on ATM
PHUKET: An unruly kratom user was arrested at his apartment in Rawai this morning after CCTV footage showed him smashing the screen of an ATM on his way home from Phuket Town. “We received the report of the broken ATM at about 4am this morning. At the scene, we found a big piece of concrete, as well as a smashed…
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High ranking officials mourn death of “Pink Panther’
PHUKET: Numerous Phuket officials showed up to pay their respects to former Phuket senator and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon ‘The Pink Panther’ Upatising, who lost his battle against cancer Sunday morning (story here). The well-established politician had been dubbed Phuket’s ‘Pink Panther’ for his use of pink to brand his public projects and his ability to turn…
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Opinion: Fishing for change
Capt Preecha Tuntiruk, 41, of the Third Naval Area Command is head of Phuket’s Port In-Port Out (PIPO) Center. Originally from Samut Songkhram, Capt Preecha graduated from the Royal Thai Naval Academy in 1997. Here, he talks about why PIPO is necessary in Phuket and what role it takes in fighting the battle against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing vessels.…
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Syrian jet crashes into market, 12 killed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Syrian jet crashes into market, 12 killed Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: At least 12 people were killed when a Syrian army fighter jet crashed into a busy marketplacein the rebel-held northwestern town of Ariha on Monday, a monitor said. Most of the dead were civilians…
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TMD fails to issue weather warning
PHUKET: Despite today’s torrential rains, which led to flash flooding in several parts of the island, the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has yet to issue any weather warning for Phuket. “The TMD did report that there would be rain fall all day, which could cause landslides. However, no warnings have been issued,” Santhawat Riwleung, chief of the Department of Disaster…
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Mobile phone thieves knock over Phuket shop
PHUKET: Police are searching for a team of thieves that made off with more than 30 mobile phones and about 10,000 baht in cash early Saturday morning. The thieves created a key for the shop shutter of Sapum Mobile on Thepkasattri Road in order to break in. However, they were unable to access the more expensive mobile devices, such as…
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Patong Police in deep water, must assess damage
PHUKET: Patong Police are knee deep in water as their station was inundated by flooding this morning. “There is about one meter of water in some parts of the station. It happened so fast this time that we were unable to clear everything,” Deputy Superintendent Akanit Danpitaksat of the Patong Police told the Phuket Gazette. “We will just have to…
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Cruising through “Green Season’
PHUKET: Phuket has been recognized as a world-class cruising destination for many years, with the majority of sailors visiting during the ‘high’ season months. This period is noted for its favorable weather that keep the skies clear, cruising grounds sheltered and beaches packed. However, it is the ‘green season’, from June to October, that is becoming a popular alternative, offering…
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Opinion: Taking up space
PHUKET: If you have ever been to Tesco Lotus or Big C – I will go out on a limb to say that most of us on the island have – did you ever park your vehicle in a handicapped parking spot if you are not handicapped? I hope not. If you have, stop being selfish and give the spot…
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Up in the air: Bangkok Airways flies to Hat Yai
PHUKET: Bangkok Airways will launch a new service between Phuket International Airport (HKT) and Hat Yai International Airport (HDY) starting in late October. Tasara Taksinapan, the carrier’s media relations manager, recently confirmed the new route with the Gazette’s ‘Up in the Air’, but said that the carrier had yet to issue an official press statement about the service, which will…
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Box jellyfish sting kills woman in Koh Phangan
PHUKET: A Thai tourist died after being stung by a box jellyfish while swimming off Koh Phangan in Surat Thani on Friday night. Police revealed that Chayanan Surin, 31, had travelled to the island from Bangkok with friends and went swimming at around 8pm in Tambon Ban Tai where she was stung. She was pronounce dead at Koh Phangan Hospital…
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Funeral rites announced as Phuket mourns the death of Paiboon Upatising
PHUKET: Former Phuket senator and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising died this morning at Bangkok’s Thonburi hospital. Mr Paiboon had been fighting colon cancer for several years, succumbing to it at 1.09am today. Funeral rights for Mr Paiboon will begin at 3pm tomorrow, Monday, August 3, at his family home on Vichitsongkram Road, near Surakul Stadium. Many…
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