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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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Phuket provincial government shut down in anti-Yingluck protests
PHUKET: Thousands of Phuket residents stormed Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, forcing the provincial government to shut down in protest of “Thaksinocracy” and the Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra administration. “Phuket residents came here without being called on, which shows that they truly don’t want this government any more,” said former Rassada Mayor Suratin Liangudom. “We have prepared a bouquet of…
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Phuket Gazette World News: US bombers enter China-disputed airspace; Ukraine riots; No Syria rebel ceasefire for Geneva; Mexico deports cartel teen beheader
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Defying China, U.S. bombers fly into East China Sea zone Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers on a training mission flew over disputed islands in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, Pentagon officials said yesterday, defying China’s declaration of a new airspace defense…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: PM slapped by censure; Tourism may lose B25bn; Bullion bonanza; More rain for South
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt fights censure, protests The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A political battle took place on two fronts yesterday, with anti-government protesters besieging more government ministries and the opposition beginning its no-confidence onslaught against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in the House.Thousands of demonstrators, protesting against a government-backed bill…
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Triathlon champion Chris McCormack takes reins of Thanyapura Phuket
PHUKET: Thanyapura Phuket has appointed multiple world champion athlete, Chris McCormack, as Executive Chairman of the island’s world-class megaplex as it takes a big stride into the future with the establishment of Thanyapura International to take its unique and ground-breaking “Thanyapura Active Healthy Lifestyle” concept to the world.Mr McCormack will take up the reins at Thanyapura Phuket on December, 1,…
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Slashed woman dies after Phuket hotel fall, roommate found dead
PHUKET: A Chinese tourist has died after falling from the second-floor balcony of a Phuket Town hotel this morning while bleeding heavily from deep lacerations.Jiang Chengyuem, 42, left a suicide note behind before leaping from The Pago hotel balcony with cuts across her throat, wrists, chest and stomach, said Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Prawit Engchuan.Chinese tourists who were part…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Honduras wins two presidents; Pope meets Putin; Israel sends aide to US for Iran talks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Honduras leftist disputes Sunday vote count, supporters march Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Leftist Honduran presidential candidate Xiomara Castro refused on Monday to accept partial official results that show her conservative rival on course to win Sunday’s election, and a group of her supporters took to the streets.Castro,…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: PM Yingluck extends ISA; Suthep calls for people’s government; Floods ease in South
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM extends ISA and insists she won’t resign or dissolve House The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra last night extended the invocation of special internal security law to cover entire Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district and Pathum Thani’s Ladlumkaew district.Since October 18,…
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Marine safety summit sails forward with local, international support
PHUKET: Safer Phuket, a new marine-safety non-government organization (NGO), made a splash today with the announcement of the Coastal Water Safety Summit in January at the PIMEX Boat Show. The announcement comes in the wake of over 200 tourists being stranded on nearby islands over the weekend due to heavy weather (story here), and fatal rip currents on Phuket’s west-coast…
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Victory is Sweet for Swiss Olympian at 20th Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: Swiss Olympian Ruedi Wild has triumphed once again at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, successfully defending his title from his debut performance in the iconic endurance event last year. In the women’s field, Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest’s headliner from Australia, Melissa Hauschildt, newly-crowned 2013 ITU Long distance World Championship and 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, who made her LPT debut…
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Six protesters injured in bus crash home, recovering in Phuket
PHUKET: Six of the Phuket protesters injured in a bus crash on Saturday, while en route to anti-government rallies in Bangkok, were transferred to Phuket hospitals last night. “They were transferred from hospitals in Surat Thani and arrived in Phuket at about 9pm,” protest co-ordinator Amnuay Kumban told the Phuket Gazette. The six were admitted to Vachira Phuket Hospital, Provincial…
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Don’t risk tourists’ lives, warns Royal Thai Navy
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy has warned all tour operators to obey orders to stay in port during dangerous weather conditions following navy ships being dispatched to rescue tourists stranded at Koh Racha and the Similan Islands over the weekend.“If the ports are ordered to close due to the weather, please do not launch your vessels. We understand it is…
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Man with throat slashed found in Patong pond
PHUKET: Police are looking to identify a man whose body was found in a lagoon behind the Patong Municipality offices early yesterday morning. The man’s throat had been slashed and his torso had been stabbed at least 17 times, reported officers at the scene (map here). “The body was found at 8am by local tuk-tuk driver Pattanapong Sombat, 36,” Maj…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bangkok braces for huge protests; Pheu Thai calls emergency meeting; Floods ravage South
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Huge marches to gridlock Bangkok The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Bangkok faces paralysis today as huge crowds of anti-government protesters set out on symbolic marches across the capital in a move that protest leaders are calling an attempt to overthrow the so-called “Thaksin Shinawatra regime”.The enormous crowd…
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Ruedi Wild and Melissa Hauschildt win 20th Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: Preliminary results are in, and it was Ruedi Wild of Switzerland and Melissa Hauschildt of Australia who won this year’s Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT). Mr Wild won the men’s class with a time of 02:34:41, while Ms Hauschildt was the top women finisher in 02:45:24.This year is the 20th edition of the LPT.For full results and pre-coverage of the…
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Storm sinks Phi Phi ferry, ravages longtail, speedboat fleet
PHUKET: Heavy seas at Phi Phi Island this morning sunk a large passenger ferry, beached a cargo boat and heavily damaged at least six speedboats and 20 longtail boats, officials have confirmed. The Andaman Jet Wave ferry, registered to carry 250 passengers, had yet to begin its daily operations of carrying tourists to and from Krabi and Phi Phi, explained…
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Phuket Airport resumes domestic flights as storm abates
PHUKET: Flights at Phuket International Airport have resumed normal service after the storm this morning resulted in hours-long delays, forcing at least hundreds of travellers to seek refuge in the departure lounge. “From about 9am to 11am some domestic flights had to be delayed because of the weather,” Phuket Airport Director Pratuang Sornkham confirmed. “However, all the flights are back…
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Port closed, yachts beached as storm lashes Phuket
PHUKET: Local authorities this morning ordered Phuket Rassada Port closed as strong wind and waves lashed the coast and driving rain wreaked havoc with motorists across the island.Hundreds of tourists waited dockside as the ban took effect, as Rassada Port, located on the east side of Phuket Town, is a major jump-off point for tourists boarding ferries and tour boats…
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Phuket Gazette World News: World Bank raises Philippine typhoon aid to almost $1bn, death toll exceeds 5,000; Australia-Indonesia spy tensions rise; More dead in Latvia supermarket collapse
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community World Bank raises Philippine typhoon aid package to almost $1 billion Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: World Bank said it raised to almost $1 billion (£616.2 million) its financial aid package to support relief and reconstruction in typhoon-devastated areas in the central Philippines, as the toll of death…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Flood scheme talks turn fracas; Pheu Thai vows tit for tat; Typhoon donation scamsters caught
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tensions boil over at flood scheme hearing The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A melee occurred at a public hearing yesterday in Samut Songkhram on the effects of the government’s Bt350-billion flood-prevention and water-management programme, after a large number of protesting residents angrily pressured government officials in charge…
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Phuket Customs catch Indian drug mule with B15mn of ya ice
PHUKET: Customs officers arrested a drug mule attempting to smuggle 4.5 kilograms of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) into Phuket from Delhi, India, yesterday.The 37-year-old Indian woman, Aizawl Lalchhuanthangi, was presented at a press conference yesterday at Phuket International Airport.“When Ms Lalchhuanthangi’s suitcase went through the x-ray machine our officers were suspicious, as it showed up all black inside – making…
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Imprisoned Russian pays B310k for damage to statue of Phuket abbot
PHUKET: The Russian tourist who damaged a statue of a revered Phuket abbot during a drunken spree last month has had relatives wire in 310,000 baht to pay for a new statue to be built. Oleg Fomenko, 31, remains incarcerated at Phuket Prison following his arrest on October 24. He faces charges for damaging a statue of revered historical abbot…
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Phuket Rotary Club continues push for Philippines relief
PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach has collected over 226,000 baht through its Philippines Typhoon Haiyan Disaster Relief Fund. However, the club is pushing for more donations in light of the desperate need of those in the affected areas. Half of the funds raised will be sent directly to the Disaster Fund of Rotary District 3860, based in the…
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Chinese tourists on Phuket ladyboy tour safe after bus dies on Patong Hill
PHUKET: An entire busload of 35 Chinese tourists were quickly and safely evacuated from a tour bus after its engine died while climbing the steep road up Patong Hill last night. The tourists were en route from the Aphrodite ladyboy show on the bypass road to the famed Simon Cabaret ladyboy show in Patong when the bus broke down just…
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Body found off Phuket believed to be missing Singaporean student
PHUKET: A Phuket speedboat returning from dropping tourists off at Koh Hei today reported the grisly discovery of a body floating about seven kilometers south of Phuket. Police suspect that the body found is that of missing Chinese national and Singaporean student Gao Yang, who slipped from the rocks at Phuket’s Promthep Cape late Wednesday afternoon (story here). Officers from…
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Phuket Opinion: Russian cold warms memories of Phuket
PHUKET: With all the recent talk about the influx of Russian tourists and expats to our island, I jumped at the chance to attend a Phuket Gazette exhibition in Moscow and see how the other half lives, as it were. Moscow, like any other large European city, has a wealth of grand historic architecture, museums, galleries and cultural attractions –…
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Phuket Opinion: Being connected helps save lives
PHUKET: We offer our sincerest condolences to the families of the many victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines last week, and commend the multiple relief efforts still underway here in Phuket to help residents on the islands of Samar and Leyte, the most badly affected areas. Among those who deserve praise are some familiar names, such as…
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British tourist alleges attacker in hotel room before balcony fall
PHUKET: Police are waiting for the results of a toxicology report for British tourist Romany Mitchell after she told them her drink in Phuket was spiked. The tests were ordered after the 21-year-old student from Edinburgh reported to police that she was fleeing an assailant in her hotel room before she plunged from the second-floor balcony of the building on…
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Police arrest man for rape of 10-year-old in Phuket
PHUKET: Police arrested an alleged pedophile for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in Phuket on November 11.The 24-year-old man, who lived across the street from the girl and her parents, faces charges of separating the child from her parents, molesting a person under the age of 15 and rape.Police took the man from Nakhon Sri Thammarat into custody under…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Scams, accidents place tourism at risk; Pheu Thai blasts court; House accepts censure; Jakkrit’s wife probed over safe deposit; Hollywood set on fire
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Scams, accidents scare away tourists The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Thailand’s attractiveness to foreign tourists is under threat from fraud and poor safety standards.After a recent bus accident in Chon Buri that injured 26 Russian tourists, the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) recently urged Thai authorities…
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![Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest – Let the games begin! [VIDEO] | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAzNjIgMjIwJz48L3N2Zz4=)
Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest – Let the games begin! [VIDEO]
PHUKET: It’s here and it’s going to be big! Laguna Phuket Triathlon schedule. Click here for more details. Challenge Laguna Phuket Press Conference in Bangkok. The much-anticipated Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest 2013 will kick off with the legendary Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) on Sunday (November 24) which is celebrating its 20th anniversary and will finish with the Challenge Laguna Phuket a…
![Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest – Let the games begin! [VIDEO] | Thaiger](https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/phuketsports_2013112116226136_pVYgqOQmxCTXbMPAGuQSQVGqWcxyRzEIuSpvwJnr_jpeg.jpg)
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