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.
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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...
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Indonesian busted at Samui airport with 3kg of cocaine in suitcase
KOH SAMUI: An Indonesian man has been detained by police after picking up a suitcase stuffed with 3 kilograms of cocaine at Samui International Airport on Thursday (July 14). The suspect, named by police as Djemmy Petrus Mokodompit, 48, had arrived on Koh Samui a week earlier, on July 8, on a Bangkok Airways flight from Singapore. The unaccompanied suitcase…
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Aussie drunk driver arrested after hit and run
PHUKET: An Australian man is under arrest after he allegedly hit several parked vehicles in what police reported as a drunk driving incident in Cherng Talay early this morning. Police received a report from Somchai Choomrak, 52, at Baan Pa Sak in Cherng Talay at around 4:30am. Mr Somchai stated that the suspect left his Honda Jazz parked in the…
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Government takes back more land, angers locals
PHUKET: Locals are furious after government officers demolished plantations and houses in Thalang on Thursday. “This is incredibly unfair,” said Sorasid Saksuay, a representative of the 200-member community, talking to the press yesterday. “We’ve been living here since before 1998.” A Suan Pa Bang Kanun census in 1998 registered community members and property claims. The area, spread out over some…
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Fake monks charged for begging in Patong
PHUKET: Two monks with fake ordination certificates and a bank book were arrested by Patong Police yesterday. According to reports from locals, Tanai Jai-uea, 52 and Bundit Sairat, 42, have been regular food beggars at the Sai Nam Yen intersection on Rat Uthit 200 Pee Road in Patong for two years. “They were not doing alms rounds like other monks…
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Analyzing the luxury car industry in Phuket
PHUKET: Behind the closed doors of the glitz and glamor of the luxury car business in Phuket, are a host of complicated market forces at play. Let’s take a closer look at the factors that come together in the day-to-day running of this business. Millennium Auto, located on the Bypass Road, sells some of the most renowned luxury brands in…
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Deadly man-of-war spotted off Phuket beaches
PHUKET: Deadly Portuguese Man-of-War have been spotted floating off several of Phuket’s popular beaches this week. Phuket Lifeguard Club President Prathaiyut Chuayuan told the Phuket Gazette today that the venomous siphonophore are a common occurrence off Phuket shores during the monsoon season and warned swimmers to be extra vigilant to ensure they do not risk getting stung by them. The…
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Condo conundrum
PHUKET: Your ownership of a condominium or your ability to rent it out has nothing to do with whether or not you have a work permit, Phuket Employment Office Chief Pitool Dumsakorn has told the Phuket Gazette. Legal ambiguities over real estate regulations distressed foreign owners last week, when Phuket Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat announced a crackdown on condominium complexes…
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Island View: Irrefutable commandments for Phuket farangs
PHUKET: Remember, I am the whiteness of thy skin. Despite how burned thou may become, I have led thee out of the land of the West, out of the bondage of actual behavioral standards. These are my commandments to you, Chosen People! THOU shalt not pay less than 200 baht for a taxi fare, regardless of the distance or length…
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Gulu opens up about RPM sale
PHUKET: The Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) is on the market. The announcement of the ‘luxury lifestyle development’s impending sale comes as a surprise to many industry analysts, particularly as RPM Chairman Gulu Lalvani has often referred to the development as his legacy. Just last year, Mr Lalvani announced a 5 billion baht investment plan for the marina. In an exclusive…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Mythological Tree of Women
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Opinion: Phuket chosen as ‘model city'”¦ again
PHUKET: While the media narrative abroad regarding our Land of Smiles has focused on such lofty issues as democratic development, freedom of expression, human rights and so forth, it is somehow reassuring to know that here on the ground the saying plus ็a change, plus c’est la m๊me chose still seems to apply as far as daily life is concerned.…
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Truck attacker kills up to 80 in Nice Bastille Day crowd
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Truck attacker kills up to 80 in Nice Bastille Day crowd Phuket Gazette / Reuters NICE, FRANCE: An attacker killed up to 80 people and injured scores when he drove a heavy truck at high speed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French…
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Marina developers to fight encroachment charges
KRABI: The developers of the Port Takola Yacht Marina in Krabi have been charged with land encroachment after Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) officers raided the site on June 29. The DMCR officials said that during the raid more than 100 officers inspected the marina property to determine whether or not it was encroaching on government land. After…
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Tourists thanked by Ao Nang officials for beach cleaning
KRABI: Public officials in Krabi began picking up trash that had washed ashore along a two kilometer stretch of Ao Nang beach yesterday. The officers were joined by private companies, as well as tourists, who pitched in to clear the beach after the heavy rains and strong surf washed trash up along the Ao Nang shoreline. Krabi officials said they…
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Dolphin dies despite locals’ efforts
PHUKET: A lost and weakened dolphin found at Rawai beach last night has died, despite rescuers attempts save the mammal. Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos told the Phuket Gazette that he received a report around 5pm from locals that they had found a dolphin in trouble off Rawai beach. “We immediately called the Phuket Marine Biological Center’s (PMBC) Endangered Species Unit,”…
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Phuket Transport Office vows to continue crackdown
PHUKET: Five hundred seventy-three drivers were arrested during a three-day crackdown in Phuket, July 3-5, according to officials from the Department of Land Transport (DLT). Royal Thai Army personnel and Phuket law enforcement officers set up checkpoints across the island, in what DLT officials called an “attempt to boost Thailand’s image”. DLT director-general Sanit Promwong said on July 5 that…
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ASEAN in disarray over Chinese claims
BANGKOK: China’s territorial claims to the South China Sea are expected to be dealt a blow today as the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague (PCA) is scheduled to announce its decision on seven issues advanced by the Philippines against the People’s Republic. The PCA, one of the world’s oldest and most widely-respected bodies for resolving international disputes, is…
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Implications of Phuket’s aging population
PHUKET: Financial constraints and dramatic changes in employment numbers are expected to hit Phuket over the next 15 years, as an increasing percentage of the province’s population grows old. The Phuket Statistical Office estimates about 34,000 out of the 379,000 registered residents across the province are aged 60 years or older. That’s 9.2 per cent of the island’s population, and…
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Opinion: Sorting out messy overhead cables
PHUKET: Wichan Praenam is a Phuket native and the manager of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), Thalang Office. He has been working in this position since 2014. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from Phuket Rajabhat University. Here he talks about unorganized overhead cables and the progress the PEA has made to improve the situation. As…
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Rescue operation underway to save injured dolphin
KRABI: The Royal Thai Navy was working to save the life of an injured dolphin found stranded on a beach on Lanta Noi Island in Krabi yesterday. Locals found the fatigued cetacean with a damaged left fin on Lang Sod Beach and called the Navy for help. Lieutenant commander Peerapat Pattanasopon of the Third Naval Area Command rescue unit said…
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Scarce hauls concern local fishermen, conservation officials
PHUKET: As fishermen across Phuket and Krabi returned to shore after the July 1 reopening of the season, their meager catches furrowed foreheads and drew exasperated sighs. Fish stocks are dwindling, and many of western Thailand’s captains and deck hands are worried as a fog of uncertainty obscures the future of their industry – and livelihoods. “Every year it keeps…
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Teenaged tourist critically injured by speedboat propeller
PHUKET: A speedboat crew member was charged for reckless driving and causing injury after a Chinese tourist was severely injured when he got caught in the boat’s propeller on Wednesday. Li Yuheng, 18, was aboard the Poseidon 959 along with 33 other tourists. The boat was headed from Phuket to Phi Phi and was moored at Pileh Bay for tourists…
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Experts predict Phuket’s housing market is headed for positive territory
PHUKET: After a long lull in the province’s real estate market, experts believe at least 5 billion baht will be invested into the market between the last fiscal quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year. The Phuket Real Estate Association (PREA) president, Thanusak Pungdet, made the announcement yesterday, after reportedly meeting with developers and reviewing market…
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Woman killed in Phuket Town shooting
PHUKET: Police are searching for suspects who allegedly shot a woman in the head yesterday morning in Phuket Town. Phuket City Police responded to a reported attack on a souvenir shop on Phang Nga Road a little after 4am. The Phuket Gazette has confirmed that the woman is a hilltribe, non-Thai citizen from Chiang Mai, named Wenlang Sae-Lee. The 22…
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Finance: Anyone can play the market
PHUKET: You don’t need a brokerage account or a financial adviser to get involved in the market. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are index funds that can be accessed through a low-cost online platform and give an almost identical return as those of the underlying market they represent. However, you can still lose a fortune very quickly if you don’t know…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: You need an expensive car
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.For…
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1,000 free WiFi hotspots planned for Phuket
PHUKET: One thousand free WiFi hotspots are to be made available in Phuket in time for the tourist high season at the end of this year. “The hotspots will be made available in Phuket Town and Patong by December, at the latest, as part of Phuket’s development as a ‘smart city’, said the provincial head of the Software Industry Promotion…
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Opinion: Implications of the Hotel Act on Phuket
PHUKET: Despite the additional damage it may inflict on Phuket’s long moribund property market, the Thai Hotels Association (THA) is justified in pushing the government for better enforcement of the Hotel Act. This legislation was intended to create some semblance of a level playing field over the vast and varied Thai lodgings industry, but its reasonable objectives have not been…
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Delayed again: Samkong Underpass completion pushed to August
PHUKET: The expected completion date of the Samkong Underpass has been postponed yet again, from July 31 to mid August, the Highways Department confirmed today. “At this stage, the project is about 83 percent complete,” said Patiwetwottisak Sookhii, the new director of the Phuket Highways Office. “However, due to the rainy weather, we have asked for more time to finish…
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Police capture mobile phone thief, alleged rapist
PHUKET: A suspected mobile phone thief was arrested last night after police tracked him down when he used the stolen phone. Wiwat Wiroondok, 20, was arrested at his rented accommodation in Kamala at about 10pm. He had a Samsung phone, a watch and several other items believed to have been stolen. “A woman named ‘Kan’ reported to police that about…
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