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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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...
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Phuket Gazette World News: Russian plane crash leaves 50 dead; Bachelet leads in Chile; Tornadoes rip Midwest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Boeing airliner crashes in Russian city of Kazan, 50 killed Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A Boeing 737 airliner crashed on Sunday in the Russian city of Kazan, killing all 50 people on board and spotlighting the poor safety record of regional airlines that ply internal routes across…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Pheu Thai prepares for worst; Armed men among protesters; Russians hurt as tour bus flips
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pheu Thai braces for the worst The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The ruling Pheu Thai Party is preparing for the worst-case scenario on Wednesday when the Constitutional Court announces its ruling on the proposed amendment of the Constitution, a decision that could bring the government down.The opposition…
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Muay Thai legend Buakaw fights in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket fight fans will have an opportunity to watch legendary MuayThai fighter Buakaw Banchamek in action in Patong… tomorrow night (November 18), in a special exhibition match at the Patong Boxing Stadium on Sainamyen Road. Buakaw, a two-time K1 World Max champ with well over 300 fights, is far and away Thailand’s most famous currently-active pugilist. In the Patong…
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Lanterns not cleared for Loy Krathong lift-off in Phuket
PHUKET: Airports of Thailand (AoT) Phuket warned those celebrating Loy Krathong today that releasing lanterns in the Air Safety Zone surrounding the international airport could result in charges carrying a sentence of up 20 years imprisonment or death. The hefty penalty is cited in Thailand Air Navigation Act, BE Section 6(3). “People like to release lanterns during Loy Krathong, especially…
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Phuket Opinion: Preserving the essence of Phuket
General Manager of Business and Network Development at DaimlerChrysler (Thailand) Co Ltd, Pannate Rangsinturat, 36, is a Phuket native. She graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a degree in international relations and has earned a master’s degree in European studies from Cambridge University. Here she talks about the changes she sees when she returns to Phuket and how they can be…
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Special Report: The ongoing battle for a place to call home
Special Report: A poor community of less than 500 people who mostly make a living from picking through the trash at Saphan Hin have made a plea to the Phuket Governor for help in expediting their claim to live in a protected mangrove forest on the outskirts of Phuket Town. Will the villagers finally get a place to call home?…
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Phuket Opinion: Level ground
PHUKET: It is astounding to be in a place where so many “haves” and “have-nots” co-exist in such close proximity. We live on an island where trucks packed with rain-soaked illegal migrant workers are such a common sight that many of us have grown impervious to their suffering as we wait and hope for the traffic light ahead to turn…
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Loy Krathong festivities muted in Phuket
PHUKET: There will be muted celebrations for one of Thailand’s largest holidays, Loy Krathong, the “Festival of Light”, tomorrow in respect of the recent passing of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara Somdet Phra Sangharaja.Traditionally, thousands of people across the nation release krathong, lotus-shaped floats traditionally made of banana leaves, with a small offerings of food, flowers, joss…
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Taxi man “Brother Pom’ plays down DSI allegations of queue jumping
PHUKET: The leader of the Central Festival Phuket taxi group, who stands accused by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) of queue hopping, told officers not to worry about how he runs the shopping mall’s taxi network. “This is not a big thing to focus on… I would like to let the DSI know that they don’t need to worry…
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More babies for China; Iran nuclear deal on horizon; Weak rules threaten UN climate plan for forests
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China to loosen one-child policy, end labour camps Reuters / Phuket GazetteChina will ease its family planning policies and abolish a controversial labour camp system, according to a key document issued after a ruling Communist Party meeting, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.Couples will be…
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Chinese charge forward with Phuket consulate
PHUKET: Chinese officials confirmed that a consulate in Phuket will be operational by next year in order to cater for the dramatic increase in Chinese nationals visiting the island.“The plan to establish a Chinese consulate in Phuket has been approved. However, we still need to find a place for it, as well as personnel,” the Chinese Consulate General in Songkhla,…
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Phuket Filipinos rally for typhoon relief
PHUKET: The Filipino community in Phuket will stage a fundraising event this Sunday to collect donations and raise much-needed cash to support victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the central Philippines last week. The event will be held at the Basketball Gymnasium at Saphan Hin (map here), where hundreds of Filipinos working and living in Phuket congregate each week…
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Norwegian tourist drowns at Karon Beach
PHUKET: A Norwegian tourist drowned after being caught in heavy surf at Karon Beach, on Phuket’s west coast, yesterday. Kata-Karon chief lifeguard Uten Singsom reported his staff seeing the man, named by police as Chris Roger Hangsao, 55, having difficulty coping with the large waves. “There were big waves, up to about two meters high,” Mr Uten told the Phuket…
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Phuket hotel maid dies in service lift accident
PHUKET: A hotel maid died at a Phuket resort yesterday afternoon when her neck was broken by a service lift being activated while she was leaning inside, trying to retrieve a clothes iron.Karon Police arrived at the Phuket Peach Blossom Resort in Karon to find the body of Jaruwan Prasit, 21, inside the lift shaft, lying on top of the…
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Phuket Business: FoodPanda to change eating habits
PHUKET: You didn’t buy this luxury villa to be forced to leave it every time you feel hungry. So if you’re tired of fast food and pizza – the most common delivery foods – there is a new solution for you. Online food delivery company, Foodpanda has just entered Phuket and plans to change islanders’ dining habits. The Phuket Gazette…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Ongoing occupation angers Tamils; Relief efforts gain momentum; Priest kidnapped by gunmen
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Army occupation angers Sri Lankan Tamils four years after war ends Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The threats came by text message, a phone call and a delivery of two cow skulls. The message was clear: stop protesting against the army’s occupation of your land or you will…
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Phuket joins Philippines typhoon relief effort
PHUKET: The Phuket chapter of the Red Cross Society has joined the relief effort to provide assistance to victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the central Philippines last Friday. “Right now we can only accept donations of money, which we will send to our head office in Bangkok,” Phuket Red Cross staffer Sarawut Rukkhaw told the Phuket Gazette. “We…
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Phuket residential areas hit by water shutoffs
PHUKET: Water supply was suspended in parts of Phuket today for the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) to carry out maintenance work.“We stopped the water supply along the Tha Rua-Muang Mai Road in Pa Khlok. Residences in that area were affected,” PWA officer Sasivimol Sangprakong said.The water was shut off to fix a burst main in front of the Thalang…
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Man slain by single gunshot in Rawai
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a 28-year-old man who was slain by a single gunshot to the head near Rawai Beach early this morning.Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Jumroon Plaidoung was notified of the murder at about 3:30am.“When we arrived at the scene, an unregistered rental house about 150 meters from the beach, we found the body of Khin…
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Phuket illegal taxis given New Year deadline
PHUKET: Fed up with the delay in illegal taxi drivers complying with the law, Phuket officials have established a December 31 deadline for taxi drivers to become legal. Phuket officials have long been flexible in trying to accommodate local taxi drivers’ concerns, Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada told a provincial transportation committee meeting on Tuesday. “In the past, we kept extending…
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Phuket Sport: Singapore wins international cricket sixes competition
PHUKET: The Phuket Cricket Group (PCG) hosted the inaugural Sunseeker Thailand International Cricket Sixes event at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) over November 8-10. The competition saw Phuket’s local cricketer’s line up against international teams from Australia and Singapore in an action-packed, fun-filled three days.The first two days comprised of round robin matches which were followed by a great night…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Israel warns of war from Iran nuclear deal; Aquino under pressure over typhoon aid; Congo ready to formalize rebel defeat
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel warns of war from Iran deal, sees big sanctions cut Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday that a “bad deal” with Iran on its nuclear programme could lead to war and his aides challenged U.S. assertions to have offered Tehran…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Life on Cambodian border returns to normal; ATM skim gang in Songkhla; Luxury cars seized
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Life on the border returns to normal The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: All 47 schools in the border province of Si Sa Ket reopened yesterday as there was no backlash from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Preah Vihear Temple.The schools, all in Si Sa…
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Patong Police chief told to clear parking spaces for tourists – or be transferred
PHUKET: The chief of police in Phuket’s premier tourism town of Patong has been ordered to clear beach road parking spaces for tourists by December 31 – or face being transferred.The news came after a video conference between Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Arun Kaewwatee and Police Region 8 Commander Panya Mamen yesterday.“Lt Gen Panya ordered the superintendents of the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Restraint urged on Preah Vihear ruling; 10 hurt as train derails; Fundraiser for typhoon victims; Realty growth continues despite woes
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt urges restraint on Preah Vihear ruling The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The government and military have held back on making definitive comments on the Preah Vihear case, waiting to see what transpires from a meeting with their Cambodian counterparts.As villagers living along the border cheered and…
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Major blackout to hit southern Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced a major blackout scheduled to affect residents and businesses in Chalong tomorrow. PPEA staff will be carrying out maintenance work on high-voltage power lines. “We will replace power cables in many areas this month to prevent unscheduled blackouts and fluctuations in power supply,” PPEA Operations Chief Yongyuth Podbutr told the Phuket…
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Phuket ATM robbers were “amateurs’, says expert
PHUKET: A welding expert today branded the thieves who last week used a blowtorch to steal 1.6 million baht from an ATM at Phuket’s Boat Lagoon as “amateurs”. Stuck for clues in tracking down the bandits, Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Serm Kwannimit today brought welding expert Wisut Pumsiri to inspect the scene of the crime (story here). “I believe…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Typhoon survivors beg for help; Rioters clash with police in Warsaw; Women’s rights – poll
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Philippine typhoon survivors beg for help as rescuers struggle Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Dazed survivors begged for help and scavenged for food, water and medicine on Monday, as relief workers struggled to reach victims of a super typhoon that killed an estimated 10,000 people in…
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Driver blamed for Phuket tour bus crash
PHUKET: Police have given a Phuket tour bus driver seven days to present himself to face charges for the Patong Hill accident that saw 49* university students rushed to hospital Saturday afternoon. The 32-year-old driver, Manit Sawadee, is to be charged with reckless driving causing serious injury. The bus Mr Manit was driving plunged backward and slammed into a roadside…
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Safety helmet found at Phuket motorbike fatality scene
PHUKET: A man carrying a full-face helmet was found dead on the airport bypass road after falling from his motorbike early yesterday morning. Police were called to the scene, about one kilometer from Thepkrasattri Road (map here), at 2:30am. “The victim was identified as Thanapon Pawatpongphan, 44,” said Capt Santi Prakobkan of the Tah Chat Chai Police. “It seems as…
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