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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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Phuket police hunt hit-and-run truck driver
PHUKET: Police are hunting a truck driver who ran over two men on a motorcycle, killing one and critically injuring the other, near the underpass at the Central Festival Phuket intersection this morning. “At the scene, there were two victims lying in the road and a badly damaged motorbike nearby,” said Lt Patcharee Wongboon of the Wichit Police. “Witnesses said…
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Phuket welcomes new acting marine chief
PHUKET: The new acting chief of the Phuket Marine Office has been named as Surachai Burapanontachai. Mr Surachai was transferred from the Samut Songkhram Marine Office where he served as its chief, to fill the position left open by former Phuket Marine Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut, who was transferred to Nonthaburi on February 26 (story here). “I am glad to be…
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Mexico City issues pollution alert over high ozone concentration
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Mexico City issues pollution alert over high ozone concentration Phuket Gazette / Reuters MEXICO CITY: Mexico City’s government ordered traffic restrictions on Tuesday and recommended people stay indoors due to serious air pollution, issuing its second-highest alert warning for ozone levels for the first time in…
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Four Breitbart journalists quit after alleged Trump rally assault
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Four Breitbart journalists quit after alleged Trump rally assault Phuket Gazette / Reuters United States: Two reporters and two editors from Breitbart News resigned to protest how the conservative website handled an alleged assault last week on one of the reporters by a senior aide to…
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PM boosts security in south after attacks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM boosts security in south after attacks Phuket Gazette / Reuters NARATHIWAT: Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha told the army on Monday to increase security in the southern provinces following attacks over the weekend. Seven soldiers were injured following multiple gun and bomb attacks in Narathiwat,…
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Dengue claims life of 9-year-old Krabi girl
KRABI: A nine-year-old Krabi girl died from dengue fever in Trang on Saturday after being hospitalized for four days. The parents of Kanyanat Noochaikaew, from Lam Thap district, expressed their grief and disbelief at her funeral yesterday. “We can’t possibly express how heartbroken we are. We never thought our family would face such a fate,” said her father Thavorn Noochaikaew.…
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A Decade Ago: Phuripat and lost at sea
PHUKET: Unless bald or in the military, most people have changed their haircuts over the span of a decade. But not ‘Phuket’s Jet-ski Champion’, former local Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut. However, he did change his name. In the March 11-17, 2006 issue of the Phuket Gazette, Mr Phuripat was still using the name Surin Theerapkulpisut as he questioned whether…
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Opinion: Travelling at light speed
Sirigate Apirat is the project secretary of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTPP). He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Ramkhamhaeng University and has been serving as an analyst at the OTPP since 1995. Here he talks about the issues and benefits of the proposed light rail system on Phuket. PHUKET: Phuket’s light rail…
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Petition launched to stop wild animal exploitation in Thailand’s tourist spots
PHUKET: Phuket-based animal welfare organization the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) has launched an online petition to get the Prime Minister’s backing to put a stop to wild animals being used in the tourist trade in the region and other tourist destinations in Thailand. The campaign, ‘Stop the Killing and Exploitation of Wild Animals for Tourism’, was launched yesterday. “We…
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Taxi passengers recovering after fatal crash on Phuket bypass road
PHUKET: Three passengers travelling in a taxi that collided with a crane on the bypass road on Saturday are recovering in hospital and expected to be discharged later this week. Police are still investigating the circumstances of the collision, which resulted in the death of the taxi driver (story here). The three Chinese passengers, each of them aged 25 years…
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Phuket hit and run kills one, injures two
PHUKET: Phuket police are hunting a hit-and-run driver who killed an unidentified man and injured two people in Wichit this morning. Witnesses said a Toyota Fortuner of an unknown color was heading toward Phuket Town when it struck two motorcyclists, before crossing lanes and fatally injuring a third motorcyclist. “The collisions took place at about 7:40 this morning in front…
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Nok Air announces more flight cancellations
PHUKET: Nok Air is cancelling an additional 56 flights per day until March 26, according to Ampawan Wannako, deputy director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation. The company has submitted a notice to the department, blaming the cancellations on a shortage of pilots. The budget airline earlier said it would resume all cancelled flights from Friday onwards, after it had…
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Second car bomb in a month kills 32 in Turkish capital Ankara
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Second car bomb in a month kills 32 in Turkish capital Ankara Phuket Gazette / Reuters ANKARA: A car bomb tore through a crowded transport hub in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding 125 in the second such attack…
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Feadship’s Asian market blooming
PHUKET: Well ahead of the incredibly successful inaugural Thailand Yacht Show (TYS), Feadship Royal Dutch Shipbuilders were making superyacht waves while expanding into the the Asian region. “At this moment, Feadship is building multiple yachts in different sizes and in different models for Asian and Asia-based clients. The product and the brand appeals to the most discerning yachtsmen in the…
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Texas festival apologizes after Muslim Olympian told to remove hijab
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Texas festival apologizes after Muslim Olympian told to remove hijab Phuket Gazette / Reuters US: Organizers of the South by Southwest (SXSW) arts festival said on Sunday they apologized to U.S. Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad after a volunteer said she must remove her Muslim head covering to…
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Eight killed, seven injured at SCB head office in Bangkok
BANGKOK: At least eight people were killed and seven injured in a freak accident at the Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) head office in Bangkok last night. The incident, which was initially thought to be a fire or gas cylinder explosion, was announced to be a fault in the fire extinguishing system in an emergency press statement released by the bank…
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Island View: Island of lost souls
PHUKET: The recent death of American national Nathan D House is just one of many incidents in which people travel to this tropical paradise to end their lives. Though the death of Mr House is still under investigation, the note he supposedly left behind, as well as a website under his name detailing his well-articulated thoughts surrounding the topic of…
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Disrobed Phuket monk busted for gathering alms
PHUKET: Police arrested a disrobed monk for donning sacred attire and collecting alms in Phuket yesterday morning. Police were alerted to Somsak Donlakorn, 54, by local abbot Phra Kru Mettapirom. “By the time we arrived, Mr Somsak had already collected 4,200 baht,” explained Lt Preechaphat Sangnoi of the Phuket City Police. “We asked to see his monkhood registration, but he…
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Deal offered to mafia who mend their ways
BANGKOK: Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan has offered to conditionally let off mafia-style figures with ‘dark influence’ in cases where evidence is weak. However, he warned that they will have to mend their ways. Hundreds of police and military officers are on the lists of ‘dark’, influential figures who are being targeted in the government’s ongoing crackdown. “If there is…
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![Family of lost-and-found 3-year-old might lose him again [video] | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAzMjggMjIwJz48L3N2Zz4=)
Family of lost-and-found 3-year-old might lose him again [video]
PHUKET: The three-year-old who was found in the jungles of Phuket after having gone missing for six days was released from hospital on Monday. He is now in the care of the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families while a committee considers whether or not his family is capable of raising him. Jetsadakron Chaiyo, nicknamed Nong DJ, went missing from…
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Trang fishermen asked to help slow-moving male dugong
TRANG: A senior marine official has urged Trang fishermen to help a male dugong (sea cow) believed to be entangled in a dragnet. Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, the head of Phuket Marine Biological Centre’s Rare Sea Animal Division, said the animal was spotted during the division’s latest annual survey of the seagrass zone off the province. “We have been monitoring him and…
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BREAKING NEWS: One dead, three injured in Phuket taxi crash
PHUKET: A Phuket taxi driver died after crashing into a crane on the shoulder of the bypass road at about 10am today. Three Chinese tourists in the north-bound vehicle were injured. Police identified the driver as Teerawat Phetdam, 35. Rescue workers and police are at the scene. — Kritsada Mueanhawong
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Police urged not to rule out foul play in death of Phuket man
PHUKET: The family of a man, whose body was found under a Phuket City Municipality water tower this morning, is urging police not to rule out foul play. The body of Sompong Vijit, 30, was discovered by a municipality staffer who was walking by the area. “Yesterday evening, Mr Sompong went out to collect cans and bottles for recycling. When…
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Four busted smoking heroin in Phuket
PHUKET: Four men were arrested for smoking heroin in Phuket yesterday evening. The men were found in a bamboo shack in Thalang with 40.2 grams of heroin and drug paraphernalia, confirmed Capt Suchart Luecha of the Thalang Police. The men were named as the Somchai Chuanchit, 51; Wissarut Dujpayak, 28; Jaturong Nakasarn, 25; and the property owner Sanong Ngankaeng, 46.…
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Finance: Will 2016 be the year of the bear?
PHUKET: There’s an old saying on Wall Street that might unnerve investors: “As goes January, so goes the year.” Unfortunately, January 2016 was a very bad opening for stock markets. In fact, it was one of the worst openings in one hundred years, as the Dow Jones industrial average fell about 5.5 per cent while NASDAQ fell almost eight per…
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Opinion: Push for preventive medicine in Phuket
PHUKET: We hope that Nora Galgoczy speaking openly about contracting the incredibly common sexually transmitted disease Human papillomavirus (HPV) and her subsequent battle with cervical cancer will inspire at least some of our readers to take a more proactive approach in preventing the life-threating or debilitating medical conditions out there that are largely preventable, thanks to modern medicine. Over the…
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Phuket honorary consuls request better coordination with airport
PHUKET: Phuket honorary consuls on Wednesday pushed for better access and resources for providing support to foreigners during emergency situations at Phuket International Airport. “We have requested a contact point, as well as a contact person, who will – in case of an emergency – allow us to quickly get all the necessary information and provide whatever services we can,”…
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Get tested: Phuket cancer survivor says you could be next
PHUKET: The months leading up to July 2015 were the self-described happiest times of Nora Galgoczy’s life. The 29-year-old Hungarian expat was freediving, climbing and in love. She also had cervical cancer, but she didn’t know it. “I expected that I would feel something: something odd, something bad or just something. I thought cancer didn’t attack people like me,” Ms…
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B4bn Phuket land seizure not to impact Big Buddha
PHUKET: Despite photographs of Phuket’s Big Buddha appearing along side news stories about the seizure of land valued at 4 billion baht in the same area, the iconic statue will be unaffected by the Anti-Money Laundering Office’s (AMLO’s) investigation. The AMLO transaction board resolved to seize a 45-rai plot and a 19-rai plot of land along Freedom Beach and in…
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Phuket east coast to airport speedboat taxi proposed
PHUKET: The honorary consul to Phuket from Norway proposed on Wednesday that a speedboat taxi service be put in place along the island’s east coast, connecting Phuket International Airport with Chalong. “There are very few options for locals and tourists to get from the airport to Chalong that are both convenient and affordable,” said Pornphan Sittichaivijit, the Royal Norwegian Honorary…
![Family of lost-and-found 3-year-old might lose him again [video] | Thaiger](https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1_2016312113345769_rjwlOOhAdINVHECBlItlyGOYWFqKNuWEdSpshXsK_jpeg.jpeg)
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