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.
-
Sponsored Thinking of retiring in Thailand long-term? Here’s your health checklist before the move
Thinking of retiring in Thailand long-term? Thailand is a popular choice for retirees because of its beautiful landscapes, warm climate, and affordable living. Cities like Chiang Mai and coastal areas offer a relaxed lifestyle with friendly communities. The country also...
-
Another Phuket taxi driver arrested for assaulting a tourist
PHUKET: Karon Police yesterday arrested a taxi driver for threatening and assaulting a tourist with a piece of bamboo. Narongsak “Petch” Kongsawat, 19, was arrested at the taxi rank in front of the Centara Grand Beach Resort, Phuket, at about 4:30pm. “Police identified themselves, showed the arrest warrant and took Mr Narongsak to the police station for questioning over an…
-
Missing Chinese tourist suffering from Alzheimers found in Phuket Town
PHUKET: A 59-year-old Chinese tourist who was reported missing two days ago and suffers from Alzhiemer’s disease was found last night. The last sighting of Deshen Zhaun, before he was found, was at at 3pm when he entered Madam Massage in the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town, said the man’s son-in-law, Wichit Sae-Ju. “When I returned to pick him…
-
Desperate Phuket mother turns to spirit medium to find missing daughter
PHUKET: The mother of missing 7-year-old Nong Dear has resorted to consulting a spirit medium after police efforts have failed to yield any results in the week the girl has been missing (story here). “It’s been a week now; I know police are working hard, but they are still unable to find my daughter,” Jaroon Papkaew said. “I didn’t know…
-
Russia Beyond the Headlines – all about it, in a language you can understand
PHUKET: The latest issue of the Phuket Gazette, on newsstands across the island this weekend, includes our launch edition of Russia – Beyond the Headlines (RBTH).Like the China Daily we pioneered two years ago as a free supplement for our valued readers, RBTH delivers insights into its host country’s relationships with Thailand and Asia. It also explores Russian culture, sports,…
-
Tesco Lotus opens new Phuket department store in Chalong
PHUKET: Tesco Lotus today opened its new Chalong Phuket Department Store on Chao Fa West Road.The store offers a wide range of fresh food and groceries, as well as a large variety of housewares, electronics, toys and furniture. The store complex has 72 commercial tenants including banks and leading restaurants. The Tesco Lotus store will create 170 jobs in the…
-
Man caught exposing his “big gun’ to Patong ladies
PHUKET: A man who thought it was a good idea to show all the ladies along his street in Patong that he had a big gun in his pants has been arrested and charged with possession of an illegal firearm. He was also charged with carrying a naked weapon in a public place. Officers were alerted to the man’s antics,…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Kim Jong Un executes uncle; France calls to extradite Kazakh billionaire; 15 wedding guests killed in drone strike
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has powerful uncle executed Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: North Korea said on Friday the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, previously considered the second most powerful man in the secretive state, has been executed for treason, the biggest upheaval since the…
-
Phuket Opinion: Providing justice for aggrieved consumers
PHUKET: A friend came to see me the other day. He had a problem. He had fully paid for a pool to be built at his rental house. The pool, measuring only 6m x 8m, took the contractor 11 months to build – and within a few months of completion, it was falling apart. The concrete on the pool terrace…
-
Phuket Opinion: Mixing danger
PHUKET: The recent claim of drink spiking by a young British tourist who survived a two-storey fall from her Patong hotel room is just the latest in a long string of similar accusations by foreign tourists, the vast majority of which go unreported. Reliable sources in several units of the local Tourist Police have over the years said that claims…
-
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Abhisit pleads not guilty to murder; Reform tussle; 2-yr-old shot in Pattani; DSI hits abortion-pill websites
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ex-PM Abhisit pleads not guilty to murder charge The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is determined to appear in court to fight accusations that he is responsible for the deaths and injuries of many people during the bloody dispersal of red-shirt demonstrators in…
-
Phuket’s iBless Philippines donations reach typhoon victims
PHUKET: Funds and relief goods collected for victims of Typhoon Haiyan under the iBless Philippines campaign have been sent to the Philippines, and more fund raising events are in the works. “We sent 139,468 baht and 2,700kg of emergency relief goods to the Philippines on November 29,” Bernardita Sanchez, an iBless committee member, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday. Some of…
-
Patong ghost-resort owners ordered to clear way for residents
PHUKET: The absent owners of an abandoned resort in the foothills overlooking Patong have been given three months to respond to an order to allow access across their 200-million-baht plot of land – or face a court order to do so.Phuket Vice Governor Somkiat Sangkhaosutthirak delivered the news yesterday at the site of The Crest resort, on Phra Barami Road,…
-
Faulty Phuket public lighting deals deadly electric shock
PHUKET: A construction worker died from an electric shock yesterday afternoon when he leaned against a barbed wire fence to urinate. “The fence was accidentally electrified by a frayed wire,” said Lt Peerasit Noopayan of the Cherng Talay Police. A nearby light pole was leaning to one side, and the frayed wire which supplies it with electricity came into contact…
-
Thai stars to shine at Phuket’s Patong Carnival
PHUKET: Thai pop stars Sarunyu “Ice” Winaipani and Rattapoom “Film” Toekongsap are among the headline acts to perform at this year’s Patong Carnival, which is held annually to usher in the tourism high season. Also on the bill of performers to entertain the crowds are renowned Thai country music bands Maleehuana and Kangkeng, and nationwide star Bow Wee. This year’s…
-
Health woes blamed for Swedish expat suicide in Phuket
PHUKET: A Swedish expat who had repeatedly told his girlfriend he wanted to die because of health problems killed himself yesterday after sending his girlfriend out to buy lunch.When Kotchamon Boonraksa, 38, returned to the house in Rawai an hour later, the doors and windows were locked. “I called his phone again and again, but he didn’t answer,” she said.…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Cameron, Obama in Mandela funeral selfie; Rio plundered in storm; Ukraine protest holds fast; Aussie gay marriage illegal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Cameron defends Mandela funeral selfie with Obama Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday defended his behaviour at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in South Africa after he was criticised at home for posing with U.S. President Barack Obama for what some said was…
-
Krabi Police ramp up tourist security as trial looms for Bobby Carter murder suspects
PHUKET: Police in the tourist area of Ao Nang, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, have beefed up patrols and launched a tourist-friendly campaign to heighten security ahead of the huge influx of visitors expected during the tourism high season. The move to boost safety comes as the public prosecutor prepares to bring to trial three musicians for the stabbing…
-
Phuket Governor affirms Phuket Prison’s “white’ status
PHUKET: A pre-dawn search of Phuket Prison today failed to uncover any drugs or contraband being hidden by prisoners. The mass raid of the entire compound was held to establish the facility’s status as a Department of Corrections “White Prison”. Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusutwas led about 100 officers, including Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Arayapan Pukbuakao and Phuket Prison Chief…
-
Phuket Gazette World News: Uruguay legalizes marijuana; Ukraine riot police advance; US nowhere near Afghan troop exit
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Uruguay becomes first nation to legalise marijuana trade Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Uruguay became the first country to legalise the growing, sale and smoking of marijuana on Tuesday, a pioneering social experiment that will be closely watched by other nations debating drug liberalisation.A government-sponsored bill approved by…
-
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Bangkok deadlock; Academics fear coup; No bail for Abhisit; Tortoises snared at airport; B77mn ya bah bust
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Game reaches dead end The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra fought back tears yesterday when asked by reporters to respond to the anti-government group’s demand that the whole Shinawatra clan leave the country.In a shaky voice, her eyes welling with tears, she said…
-
Aussies dominate 2013 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
PHUKET: Australian entries won four of the 14 scheduled classes, followed by Japan with three classes racked up, in the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, sailed off Kata Beach all last week. As expected, in the Phuket Dinghy Series, raced as an integral part of the Regatta proper, Thai sailors – boys and girls – reigned supreme in the Optimists, the…
-
Baby abandoned in front of Phuket mayor’s house
PHUKET: Police are questioning residents in the central Phuket area of Srisoonthorn after a baby was found abandoned in front of the local mayor’s house on Sunday. A maid discovered the newborn boy in front of Mayor Worrawut Songyot’s house when she arrived for work at 9am. “When we arrived, the infant male was wrapped in a yellow towel. His…
-
Compulsory healthcare for foreigners a matter of choice: Poll
PHUKET: A clear majority of Thai nationals believe foreigners should not be compelled to buy health insurance when entering Thailand, but fewer than half of all tourists and expats living in the country shared that view, at least according to the results of the latest Phuket Gazette online readers’ poll. The poll – asking “What is the best insurance solution…
-
Body believed to be western woman retrieved from water off Ranong, brought to Phuket
PHUKET: The body of a woman believed to be a westerner was found by a fishing boat off Ranong on November 30, and brought to Phuket yesterday.The woman was estimated to be 40-50 years old, about 170-180cm tall, and had white hair. She was wearing a green shirt and brown underwear when she was found, said Capt Weerachart Srira of…
-
No amnesty for Phuket foreigners waiting for work permits
PHUKET: While illegal taxi, tuk-tuk and tour van drivers continue to work freely in Phuket under a government pledge of immunity from arrest, foreigners waiting for work permits will receive no such protection. In their long-accommodating efforts to encourage drivers working in the tourism industry to become legal, the provincial government has granted amnesty to all illegal transport drivers in…
-
Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Suthep declares People’s Revolution; Yingluck emotional in announcing dissolution; Feb 2 election; Mega-projects in doubt
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community People’s revolution declared The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: His Majesty the King endorses House dissolution decree, national election set for February 2; some academics agree with protesters, but urge both sides to talk and find a solutionSuthep Thaugsuban, leader of the anti-government protest, announced last night that…
-
Phuket visa-run van crashes in Malaysia
PHUKET: A KBV Visa Run van that left Phuket for Penang last night collided with a motorbike in Malaysia at about 9:30 this morning. Ukrainian Dmytro Kolot, 30, was in the van and called a Russian friend in Phuket, Oleg Spitsin, to report the accident. “Dmytro was sitting next to the driver. He said the van was travelling at a…
-
Patong ATM thieves caught with skimming equipment re-enact crime
PHUKET: The trio of professional thieves who were busted in Bangkok after robbing an ATM in Phuket were caught with what police believe to be ATM skimming equipment in addition to safe-cracking tools. Yesid Alexander Ledesma Gutierrez, 50, Luis Fernando Guarin Suta, 44, and Carlos Arturo Amariles Marin, 57 have all confessed to the blowtorch robbery, and took part in…
-
Romanian arrested with 3kg of cocaine at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: Customs officers at Phuket International Airport arrested Romanian Pop Florin, 52, on Friday night after finding more than 3kg of cocaine in his baggage. Acting on a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Customs officers from Bangkok came to Phuket to assist in the arrest, Phuket Airport Customs Director Montira Cherchoo explained. “Mr Florin departed Sao Paulo,…
-
Phuket protest march becomes victory parade
PHUKET: Thousands of jubilant anti-government protesters are gathered outside of the main government buildings in Phuket Town, celebrating the decision of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra earlier today to dissolve her government. The protesters, however, vow to carry on protesting until the People’s Council proposed by Suthep Thaugsuban, the former deputy prime minister and protest leader in Bangkok, is set up.…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.