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    Why health insurance costs more each year and how expats in Thailand can save more money

    Each year, many expats living in Thailand see their health insurance premiums go up and often without a clear reason. This can be frustrating, especially when you're trying to plan your budget. But by understanding why prices rise and learning...

  • A New Year’s message from the Phuket Governor | Thaiger

    A New Year’s message from the Phuket Governor

    SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR OF PHUKET Tri Augkaradacha took up the position of Phuket Governor in October 2009 after serving almost four years as vice governor. Having already reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 years, he will finish his career in the civil service at the end of October this year. Since his appointment as Governor, he has…

  • Wishing all a very happy New Year | Thaiger

    Wishing all a very happy New Year

    PHUKET: One would guess that quite a few of Phuket’s residents were up well past their usual bed times last night as 2011 slipped into history and 2012 dawned. It’s probably likely that for an equal number it was business as usual, with 3am considered a respectable time for turning in. Regardless, what to do now that those long made…

  • Phuket boosts water-safety as New Year countdown nears | Thaiger

    Phuket boosts water-safety as New Year countdown nears

    PHUKET: As the Seven Days of Danger road-safety campaign continues across Phuket, the Marine Police are joining the effort on the water by stepping up safety checks and deploying vessels to conduct 24-hour operations. The moves comes as Phuket struggles to accommodate the huge influx of tourists who have arrived for the island’s “peak season” in tourism, a period that…

  • Gov Tri gets Red Cross Fair underway | Thaiger

    Gov Tri gets Red Cross Fair underway

    PHUKET: Scores of people turned out last night the opening night of the Phuket Red Cross Fair in Phuket Town, with many people among the huge crowd hoping to win the top prize in the popular lucky draw: a brand-new Honda City car. The 11-day fair, being held at the Central Stage Area at Saphan Hin, was declared officially underway…

  • Russian tourist dies in fall at Phuket home | Thaiger

    Russian tourist dies in fall at Phuket home

    PHUKET: A Russian tourist died in a fall from an interior balcony at a holiday rental home in Kathu, central Phuket, early yesterday morning. Thung Thong Police received a report at 2:45am that Russian tourist Anton Oleynikov, 32, had died in the fall at the private residence at Loch Palm. Police Duty Officer Chana Suttimard said that Mr Oleynikov and…

  • Phuket Media Watch: North Korea defiant; Fires rage in Los Angeles; Sailor rescued 5 days after ship sinks off Vietnam | Thaiger

    Phuket Media Watch: North Korea defiant; Fires rage in Los Angeles; Sailor rescued 5 days after ship sinks off Vietnam

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community North Korea warns South Korea on ‘hideous crimes’ Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: The North Korean military on yesterday said the South “will pay for its hideous crimes” during the mourning period for Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il, and warned it may launch a retaliatory strike…

  • Phuket yachting community remembers lost sailor | Thaiger

    Phuket yachting community remembers lost sailor

    PHUKET: Friends of long-term Phuket expat Leslie Beasley, who was found dead on a yacht moored in Chalong Bay on December 23, have told the Gazette about their shock and sadness over the local sailor’s death. Mr Beasley was looking after the yacht for the owner, who is currently overseas. His body was discovered after the owner had repeatedly failed…

  • Russians in hospital after tour van smash | Thaiger

    Russians in hospital after tour van smash

    PHUKET: Four Russian tourists on their way to a Phuket magic show got a painful dose of reality on Thursday night, when the passenger van they were riding in collided with a delivery truck south of Patong. The accident happened at about 7pm on Wiset Road in front of Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort on the first day of the…

  • ‘Colorful Phuket Countdown 2012’ now underway | Thaiger

    ‘Colorful Phuket Countdown 2012’ now underway

    PHUKET: The clock is now ticking at Sanamchai in Phuket Town, where the “Colorful Phuket Countdown 2012” got underway at 8pm last night. The opening ceremony was chaired by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, who took a stroll though a 20-meter-long “under the sea” tunnel of lights and decorations. He was accompanied by Paiboon Upatising, president of the Phuket Provincial Administration…

  • Phuket police nab sacrilegious burglar | Thaiger

    Phuket police nab sacrilegious burglar

    PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Wednesday arrested a serial thief caught with stolen religious objects, jewelry and other items. Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai said Wichit resident Eakkat Tipmart, 29, confessed to burglarizing the Phuket Town apartment of Saengduan Chaigma. It was just the latest burglary in a string of similar thefts, Col Chote said. Ms Saengduan, 39, reported to police…

  • New Phuket Police chief orders holiday crackdown | Thaiger

    New Phuket Police chief orders holiday crackdown

    PHUKET: Newly-installed Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangku has ordered all officers on the island to strictly enforce the law and ensure public safety over the New Year holiday now underway. Chonasit Wattanavrangkul, whose last assignment was as Songkhla Provincial Police Commander, took over the position from Maj Gen Pekad Tantipong in the latest police reshuffle announced on Christmas Day.…

  • Phuket employers urged to hire disabled workers | Thaiger

    Phuket employers urged to hire disabled workers

    PHUKET: With the Phuket labor shortage reaching critical levels, authorities are encouraging employers to hire more disabled workers and are advising large organizations that they are legally required to do so. Officials from Phuket Provincial Office, Phuket Provincial Employment Office and the Human Development and Security Office held a recent meeting to inform employers about the subject at the Phuket…

  • Disgraceful strategy | Thaiger

    Disgraceful strategy

    PHUKET: “We have been done in the past – like with Woodgate. We should have surrounded the referee to get him sent off.” Stephen Hunt, Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder, suggests his team mates need to follow the example of other sides by ganging up on officials to encourage correct or even harsher decisions. Hunt was referring to their recent match against…

  • Phuket events slated to inject B370mn into local economy | Thaiger

    Phuket events slated to inject B370mn into local economy

    PHUKET: A number of large events being held in Phuket this month are expected to generate as much as 370 million baht in revenue, government officials were told yesterday. The news was announced at a meeting yesterday morning at Phuket Provincial Hall. Phuket Governor Tri Aukaradacha chaired the meeting, which was attended by representatives from various government departments. Buayan Suwanmanee,…

  • Snakes in a sack seized on Koh Lanta | Thaiger

    Snakes in a sack seized on Koh Lanta

    PHUKET: A fruit seller has been caught smuggling protected snakes onto Koh Lanta in Krabi province, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket. Pin Sangduk, 43, was found with eight live snakes stuffed into fertilizer sacks in the back of his pickup truck, which was otherwise loaded with fruit. Mr Pin was caught when Sgt Maj Terdsak Rakdaeng of Koh Lanta…

  • Soi Bangla Phuket’s number one attraction: Poll | Thaiger

    Soi Bangla Phuket’s number one attraction: Poll

    PHUKET: Soi Bangla is the number one “must see” tourist attraction in Phuket, according to the results of a recent Phuket Gazette online survey. On December 6, the Gazette asked readers: Phuket has so many tourist attractions that most visitors to the island do not have enough time to see them all during their stays. Given this fact, which of…

  • Phuket Media Watch: Asian regional round-up | Thaiger

    Phuket Media Watch: Asian regional round-up

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Explosions at Myanmar warehouse kill at least 15 Phuket Gazette / News Wires At least 15 people were killed on early yesterday morning when a fire caused a series of explosions at a government-owned warehouse in the former Myanmar (Burma) capital of Yangon, officials said. Dozens…

  • Phuket raids land 15mn baht in pirated goods | Thaiger

    Phuket raids land 15mn baht in pirated goods

    PHUKET: Two separate raids in Phuket over the past week have netted pirated copyrighted goods with a combined street value of more than 15 million baht. Prayut Maneechote, director of the Customs Bureau regional head office in Haad Yai, on Monday announced that a team of his officers had traced an illegal importing network of pirated goods to a warehouse…

  • Phuket Media Watch: Russian round-up | Thaiger

    Phuket Media Watch: Russian round-up

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Russia’s first hybrid vehicle to go on sale next year Phuket Gazette / News Wires Russian automobile manufacturer Yo-Auto on Tuesday announced that it will be offering the country’s first hybrid vehicle late next year. The company’s billionaire co-owner Mikhail Prokhorov spoke on national television on…

  • No short-term solution for Phuket Airport Immigration bottleneck | Thaiger

    No short-term solution for Phuket Airport Immigration bottleneck

    PHUKET: Tourists waiting up to an hour and a half to clear immigration during peak periods at Phuket Airport are unlikely to receive any reprieve until a separate international terminal is completed. Pol Maj Wannee Songsanguan of Phuket Airport Immigration told the Gazette that her office was well aware of the situation, but could do nothing more to speed up…

  • Brazilian found dead in Phuket guesthouse | Thaiger

    Brazilian found dead in Phuket guesthouse

    PHUKET: A Brazilian tourist was found dead in his Phuket hotel room on Tuesday after he and a male friend brought two Patong bar hostesses back to their room. The body of the deceased, 30-year-old Daniel Rocha Jordan Brasileiro, is under examination at Patong Hospital. A member of the staff at the guest house where the pair were staying said…

  • Phuket Business: a collective island soul | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: a collective island soul

    PHUKET: Life in the brick house is in full holiday swing. Gargantuan cement trucks ante for position alongside monster buses teeming with an endless array of travelers. Despite a rising urban swell that is pushing development heavenwards, there has to be more to Phuket’s economic success story than bricks, mortar and an endless amount of infinity swimming pools. I tend…

  • Phuket Media Watch: Hope for Kashmir; Girl Rescue; Virginity tests | Thaiger

    Phuket Media Watch: Hope for Kashmir; Girl Rescue; Virginity tests

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community India, Pakistan consider demilitarizing Kashmir border Phuket Gazette / News Wires The governments of Pakistan and India are considering a proposal to demilitarize the border of the disputed region of Kashmir, according to media reports yesterday. A senior Pakistani foreign ministry official told The Express Tribune…

  • FC Phuket fans attacked by blog site | Thaiger

    FC Phuket fans attacked by blog site

    PHUKET: “The club, with its finances and its future as up in the air as a corner kick, also has to pay a 20,000 baht fine.” A local blog uses this woefully inappropriate simile in commenting on FC Phuket’s uncertain future and the aggressive actions of a few supporters at the club’s last home game. Perhaps the blogger is unfamiliar…

  • FC Phuket’s ‘Ko Lek’ to step down | Thaiger

    FC Phuket’s ‘Ko Lek’ to step down

    PHUKET: FC Phuket manager Narubas “Ko Lek” Aryupong revealed today that he will withdraw from running the team next season due to the current financial crisis.“A lot of money is needed to run a football team in Division 1. Yearly expenses reach over 40 million baht and I cannot afford that anymore. I will run a team in Division 2…

  • Club Med Phuket sets up swim zone at Kata Beach | Thaiger

    Club Med Phuket sets up swim zone at Kata Beach

    PHUKET: A second swim area has been cordoned off at Kata Beach in Phuket, but lifeguards continue to worry about the safety of swimmers and snorkelers who venture outside the float ropes and into the path of speedboats and jet-skis. Safety issues at the popular west coast beach were highlighted earlier this month when Russian tourist Nikolai Nefedov, was hit…

  • Phuket Media Watch: Man dressed as Santa kills family members | Thaiger

    Phuket Media Watch: Man dressed as Santa kills family members

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Man dressed as Santa kills six family members at Texas home Phuket Gazette A man dressed as Santa Claus shot and killed six of his family members at a home in Texas on Christmas Day, police said yesterday. He then turned the gun on himself. The…

  • Phuket aglow with tsunami memorial ceremony | Thaiger

    Phuket aglow with tsunami memorial ceremony

    PHUKET: A dignified silence settled over Patong Beach yesterday evening as hundreds gathered to light candles in remembrance of the people who were killed or went missing in the 2004 tsunami that devastated Thailand’s west coast. The Light Up Phuket memorial service was attended by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising and Dutch Honorary…

  • Phuket Business: a modern gold rush | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: a modern gold rush

    PHUKET: As my latest trip to the UK continues, I was thinking “What can I get my dearest for Christmas this year?” I’m not the biggest fan of shopping trips and love nothing more than having a fixed plan in place to minimize the whole experience. Being Christmas, though, I thought I should give this a little more time and…

  • Weeding out hype in Phuket’s health-conscious market | Thaiger

    Weeding out hype in Phuket’s health-conscious market

    PHUKET: Health and environment are two buzzwords that are being heard a lot nowadays across the globe and Phuket is no exception. Health-conscious segments of local markets continue to grow and an increasing number of producers are looking to exploit this consumer base. What was once a niche market has turned into an ‘eco green everything’ fad. Indeed, many consumers,…