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.
-
Sponsored New in July: Save 10% for life on family health plans in Thailand
Cigna has a special offer this July for families in Thailand. When you sign up three or more people on a family health plan, you will save 10% on your premiums for life. This deal helps you get affordable, high-quality...
-
Phuket’s Big Buddha project cleared of wrongdoing
PHUKET: An internal inquiry by the Royal Forestry Department’s Community Forestry Management Bureau has found no wrong doing by any parties involved in the Phuket Big Buddha project. The inquiry was launched after a flood of complaints, led Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak, demanding a completion date from the project’s managers, the Mingmongkol Faith 45 Foundation. The complaints have now…
-
Wildlife activist supports Forestry, National Parks merger
PHUKET: A well-known wildlife activist has told the Phuket Gazette that he supports the planned merger of the Royal Forest Department and the Department of National Parks (DNP), Wildlife and Plant Conservation. The merger was announced on July 11 by Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, who heads the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry that controls both departments. Once the merger gets the green…
-
Krabi drug rehab student drowned in escape, says friend
PHUKET: Eyewitness reports are now indicating that the student who died after escaping a youth drug rehab facility in Krabi last week was not beaten to death by teaching assistants, as initially reported, but rather drowned during his escape. Allegations that student Maha Manitaya was beaten to death by the teaching assistants at Por Noh Klong Gom School prompted more…
-
Phuket Opinion: New ‘guide-lines’ needed for tourism
PHUKET: One chronic tourism-related problem that periodically bubbles to the surface of the local media here in Phuket is that of illegal foreign guides conducting tours for fellow countrymen. While the problem was originally mainly centered around illegal Korean guides, its scope has expanded over the past decade due to robust growth in the inbound markets from both Russia and…
-
Phuket Life Music Festival to honor “The Stars’
PHUKET: Phuket-born Jaruwat “Dome” Cheawaram, better known as “Dome The Star” after winning the popular television singing contest, will headline the Phuket Life Music Festival 2012, to be held in Phuket Town on August 14. The concert will be held at Anuphas Field, near the Phuket bus terminal on Phang Nga Road, from 7pm to 10:30pm. Other live acts to…
-
Drug rehab youths escape facility after friend beaten to death
PHUKET: More than 200 youths escaped from the drug rehabilitation center at Por Noh Klong Gom School and sought the protection of a local mosque in Krabi on Thursday after one of their classmates was allegedly beaten to death by teaching assistants. The school, although in Krabi, serves as a drug rehabilitation center for about 800 troubled youths from throughout…
-
Queen’s Cup Hua Hin International Triathlon 2012 starts August 19
PHUKET: Following the successful Columbia Trail Masters 2012, sponsored by the Phuket Gazette at Thanyapura earlier this year, the idyllic fishing village of Kao Tao, 10 kilometers south of Hua Hin, will host the 4th edition of the Queen’s Cup Hua Hin International Triathlon 2012 on August 19. The event will honor Her Majesty the Queen’s 80th birthday. The event…
-
Phuket T20 Cricket gets under way
PHUKET: The T20 cricket league kicked off last weekend with Neill Culpan scoring 57 not out, helping current champions Laguna defeat last season’s runners-up Patong in the first game. Patong won the toss and chose to bat first. They didn’t start well, losing opener Richie Desmond for five with only 12 runs on the board. Manesh Sadarangani scored 32 not…
-
Poll: Is Phuket’s property market over-developed?
PHUKET: Tanan Tanpaiboon, former head of the Phuket Real Estate Association, recently warned that over-development in the Phuket real estate sector risks creating a “bubble” that could burst, sending real estate prices tumbling due to oversupply. What do you think will be the overall trend in real estate prices on Phuket over the next five years? To have your say…
-
Phuket FC set for home battle with PTT Rayong
PHUKET: Soccer fans who missed out on seeing Phuket FC’s new line-up which was successful against Songkhla on Wednesday will have their next chance tomorrow evening when the Islanders are set to host PTT Rayong FC. Kick off for the league match, to be played at Surakul Stadium, will be at 6:30pm. Aside from seeing some of Phuket’s new signings…
-
Phuket Business: Transit investors; Travelmob makes a move
PHUKET: A Thai-Australian consortium was the latest multi-national delegation to express interest in constructing the Phuket mass-transit, light-rail project which Cabinet gave provisional approval for at the mobile Cabinet meeting in Phuket in March. Thai Rail Tech company representative Sirichai Prasertwaree and Neil Heaton, general manager of the Hong Kong branch of United Group Limited (UGL), on July 10 met…
-
Phuket gold shop damaged in youth street brawl
PHUKET: A group of eight students attacked two others in front of a gold shop in the heart of Phuket Town yesterday morning. The attack, at about 10:15am, was launched in front of a hardware and electronics store on Ong Sim Pai Road in front of Kaset Market. The two students who were set upon ran to the Sri Thong…
-
Alcohol linked to Phuket vegetable dealer’s death
PHUKET: Phuket Police believe that cardiac arrest, possibly triggered by excessive alcohol intake, may have caused the death of a man whose body was found by the side of a road in Sakoo yesterday afternoon. Tah Chat Chai Police were notified of the discovery at 2:45pm. At the scene in Sakoo Village 4, off the old airport road near Nai…
-
National News: HFMD update – another death; Insurgents change tactics; 92 Thais jailed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Second HFMD fatality reported Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is believed to have claimed its second life in Thailand – a young Cambodian boy living in Rayong. Rayong Public Health chief Kris Pansuk yesterday identified the victim only as…
-
Fire rips through car parts warehouse in Patong
PHUKET: A fire believed to have been started by an electrical fault destroyed a car parts warehouse in Patong this afternoon.No one was reported injured in the blaze, but the damage caused has been estimated at around 100,000 baht.Responding to a call at about 12:30pm, 23 firefighters with six fire trucks and an ambulance rushed to the scene on 50…
-
British Ambassador calls for “safety first’ when travelling
PHUKET: British Ambassador to Thailand Asif Ahamd has repeated his call for UK nationals to exercise caution when travelling to Thailand and to make sure they have adequate insurance coverage when they do visit. “I have seen the sadness and anguish of victims and relatives after incidents which, if thought through, are entirely avoidable. Like the majority of visitors and…
-
Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease under control in Phuket
PHUKET: Following the outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) in Thailand which caused the death of a 2-year-old toddler in Bangkok last week, the situation in Phuket is largely under control, health officials say. Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) Chief Dr Sak Tanchaikul told the Phuket Gazette that more than 10,000 cases of the viral disease have been…
-
AirAsia bookings offline this weekend
PHUKET: Thai AirAsia this weekend will temporarily suspend its online booking facility for all flights to and from Bangkok after October 1. The news comes as the budget carrier prepares to move its operations from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. Starting at 10pm on Friday, technicians will be reprogramming airport codes to reflect the change from…
-
Road warriors: Phuket FC down Songkhla, 1-0
PHUKET: A second-half goal by midfielder Marcio Santos was all Phuket FC needed to snatch three points on the road at Songkhla FC, in a match played in front of a small crowd of fans at Jiranakorn Stadium in Haad Yai. It was just the second road win of the year for the Islanders. The goal came when the Brazilian…
-
Phuket Gazette: Red Bull’s Baumgartner jumps from 96,640 feet
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO: Felix Baumgartner completed the final milestone remaining before he attempts to achieve his dream of becoming the first person to break the speed of sound in freefall. According to preliminary data, his test jump from a 5.3 million cubic-foot balloon achieved an altitude of…
-
National News: Five police killed in Yala; Flood warnings; Thais get out of Syria
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Pickup bomb kills five policemen in yala Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Five police officers were killed yesterday and another wounded by a car bomb attack in Yala’s Raman district. The six man squad from Tha Thong Police Station, which was assigned to escort teachers…
-
Phuket hotel investments surge in 2012
PHUKET: Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is predicting that Phuket will be one of Asia Pacific’s hotel investment hot spots in 2012, following record sales in the first half of the year. Investment in the hotel property sector in Phuket is expected to exceed 10 billion baht (US$315m) for the full year for first time ever in 2012. Mike Batchelor, Managing…
-
Phuket AMCHAM puts “Best Green Tourism Practices’ on the agenda
PHUKET: The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Greater Phuket Chapter is co-ordinating with local environmental welfare group SEEK to hold a seminar focusing on Best Green Tourism Practices in Phuket. The seminar, to be held at the Holiday Inn Patong on August 24, will highlight how sustainable green programs, ranging from recycling, energy and water savings and more, can help…
-
British tourist, 47, drowns at Patong Beach
PHUKET: An English tourist who ignored warnings not to swim in dangerous surf at Patong Beach yesterday became the latest monsoon-season drowning victim in Phuket. Patong Police received a report of the incident at 8:15am. Among the officers who rushed to the scene were Patong Police Superintendent Jirapat Phochanaphan and his deputy Kittipong Klaikaew. Pol Sub Lt Thawatchai Srimai told…
-
Project to reverse Patong traffic flow hits a speed bump
PHUKET: A long-awaited plan to reverse the direction of one-way traffic flow in Patong was expected to take effect in June, but has been delayed as work to complete a new roundabout at the north end of the beach road has fallen behind schedule. The 4.2-million-baht Laem Petch Circle project was delayed due to the need to remove utility poles…
-
Phuket Gazette: Ronnie Barker’s son arrested on child porn charges
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ronnie Barker’s son arrested on child porn charges after 8 years on the run Phuket Gazette / News Wires PHUKET: Adam Barker, son of British comedian Ronnie Barker, appeared in a London court yesterday after being on the run for more than eight years, police said.…
-
Truck driver charged after Phuket woman crushed in rush hour
PHUKET: The driver of a six-wheeled truck with a dual-axle trailer in tow has been charged with reckless driving causing death after his trailer clipped a 58-year-old woman riding a motorbike to work this morning.The woman, Prapha Charoensiri, fell on to the road and died instantly after she was crushed under the wheels of the juggernaut.Maj Kittiphum Tinthalang of Phuket…
-
Thailand News: Weather warning issued as Vicente moves on
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: The national weather bureau is warning of heavy rain and possible flooding, as well as forest run-off, this week due to the effects of Typhoon Vicente. The Meteorological Department today issued a warning for those living in the northeast, north as well as the eastern…
-
Aussie tourist who cried ‘rape’ in Phuket deported today
PHUKET: Stevie Rochelle Bamford, the 21-year-old woman convicted of falsely reporting that she was raped in Patong, was deported to her native Australia today. Patong Police escorted Ms Bamford to Phuket Immigration Headquarters at midday in preparation for her return flight. The officer escorting her said Ms Bamford was scheduled to board a flight home with her boyfriend this afternoon.…
-
Outrigger to buy Phuket’s Laguna Beach Resort
PHUKET: Outrigger Hotels and Resorts announced today in a press release that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the 254-room Laguna Beach Resort, located on Bang Tao Bay on the northwest coast of Phuket. The transaction is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2013. The press release did not stipulate how much the resort was being…
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.