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 Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
-
No drugs, no phones, Phuket Prison to gain ‘White’ status
PHUKET: Phuket Prison is to be awarded “White Prison” status after regular inspections of the provincial detention facility declared it free from drugs and illegal mobile phones. Department of Corrections Deputy Director General (Administration) Somsak Rangsiyopas announced the news at Phuket Prison yesterday at the opening ceremony of a scout training program for young inmates. “We have had many inspections…
-
Police arrest three foreigners for B30mn jewelry heist
PHUKET: Police have arrested four people in connection with the theft of 30 million baht of jewelry in Phuket yesterday morning while they were heading for the Malaysian border. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that the suspects were arrested by Trang Highway Police officers at a checkpoint in Sikao District, in Trang province. The…
-
Phuket Election: Aroon Solos re-elected Rawai Mayor
PHUKET: According to preliminary results of the local election yesterday in Rawai, at the southern end of Phuket, Aroon Solos has been re-elected Mayor of Rawai Municipality. The preliminary count gave Mr Aroon with 3,715 votes, said Kittipong Thiengkunagrit, director of the Phuket Election Commission. Mr Aroon’s only opponent, Yutthana Jundee, garnered 1,972 votes. Just over 60 per cent of…
-
Phuket Sports: FC Phuket in southern stalemate
FC Phuket played Southern regional rivals Phatthalung FC, which ended in a 1-1 draw, in a heated match last night in Phatthalung Town. Following a tense yet scoreless first half, Phatthalung’s leading scorer Siwapong Jarersin broke the deadlock three minutes into the second half, his sixth of the season. Phuket answered seven minutes later with a strike by Thawadech Aunthong…
-
Phuket Red Shirt Village rally just a “test’, says local leader
PHUKET: One of the men named responsible for organizing a red-shirt rally near Nai Yang Beach yesterday has denied any intent of establishing a “red-shirt village” in Phuket. The true aim was to determine how many people would protest against such a rally, said Surin Yotharak, a local village leader in Tambon Sakoo, the subdistrict immediately south of Phuket International…
-
BREAKING NEWS: Phuket Police launch manhunt for three foreigners in B30mn jewelry heist
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has received confirmed reports that police have launched a manhunt for three foreign men who carried out a smash-and-grab robbery of about 30 million baht in jewelry this morning. The three men allegedly smashed the windows of a Toyota Avanza parked behind the Big C supercenter on the bypass road at 9:45am with an umbrella and…
-
Phuket discount products fair to counter rising prices
PHUKET: In a bid to offer some relief from the spiralling cost of living in Phuket, the Phuket Provincial Cooperatives Office is holding a “discount products fair” in front of its offices in Phuket Town. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak yesterday officiated the opening of the week-long fair on Damrong Road, in the old government quarter of the town around…
-
Poll: Will Bang Khu underpass project improve Phuket traffic?
PHUKET: The final design for the 450-million-baht underpass at the Bang Khu Intersection in Koh Kaew has been approved. Although Thepkrasattri Road will be widened to eight lanes in the area, southbound traffic will still have to wait at a stop light before accessing the bypass road. In our new poll, the Phuket Gazette asks readers how this project will…
-
Phuket joins Andaman fight against coastal erosion
PHUKET: Phuket has joined an Andaman-wide project spearheaded by the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Haad Yai Campus to combat coastal erosion throughout the region. At the recent sea gypsy Loy Reua ceremony at Laem Tukkae last weekend, newly-elected Rassada Mayor Phudit Raksaraj explained to the Phuket Gazette that Rassada Municipality was working with the PSU Haad Yai Campus and…
-
Phuket Town power cables going underground
PHUKET: Phase two of the project to remove the unsightly cables that have been obscuring the classic Sino-Portuguese shopfronts along the streets of Old Phuket Town for decades continues today as workers pull down the power poles along Deebuk Road. The removal of the power poles on Deebuk Road today follows the removal of overhead power cables and the corresponding…
-
Phuket authorities call for peaceful red-shirt rally on Sunday
PHUKET: With concerns of 500 members arriving to join the red-shirt rally in Phuket on Sunday, and at least 1,500 yellow-shirt supporters staging a mass rally at Phuket Provincial Hall at the same time, Phuket authorities yesterday called for both sides to respect each other group’s democratic rights and to not engage in any conflict. The news came at a…
-
“Minute man’ robber makes off with B19k at gunpoint
PHUKET: A man masked by a motorbike helmet robbed a Family Mart store in Chalong at gunpoint early this morning, making off with more than 19,000 baht in less than a minute. Phuket Police believe the man is responsible for at least two other gunpoint robberies of 24-hour convenience stores carried out in the past week, one in Patong and…
-
Pheu Thai’s Prompong guarantees action in Phuket Freedom Beach land title probe
PHUKET: Government Spokesman Prompong Nopparit has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that the investigation into two land titles being illegally issued for 65 rai at Phuket’s pristine Freedom Beach has now been handed over to the Land Department and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for further action. Speaking to the Gazette yesterday, Mr Prompong also confirmed that the Parliamentary Committee…
-
Weird World News: When punishment takes an unusual route
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News roundup shatters the foundations laid out by many great nations that claim “cruel and unusual punishments [shall not be] inflicted”, as a hometown speedster has his car turned into a tree house, a horror film clown threatens your child (by request) and a suicide-kit saleswoman’s business gets smothered with a mere US$1,000 fine after…
-
Phuket earthquake victims receive government payout
PHUKET: Residents in Phuket’s Srisoonthorn subdistrict whose homes were damaged by the April 16 earthquake received payouts from the government yesterday to assist in repairing their living quarters. Thalang District Chief Naruenart Supattaraprateep led the proceedings in handing out cash cheques provided by the Phuket Provincial Office to 410 residents. The funds were made available through the Provincial Office’s 50-million-baht…
-
Protestors rally against red-shirt villages in Phuket
PHUKET: Hundreds of members of the “We Love Phuket Club” arrived at Provincial Hall this morning to submit a letter of complaint against a planned rally by red-shirt activists at Nai Yang Beach on Sunday.“We Love Phuket Club” President Boonsupaa Tanthai said that the red-shirt rally would be led by Surin Yotharak and Suchart Phetcharat, who are both locals of…
-
Brisk business at Phuket City Pawnshop as schools re-open
PHUKET: The Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop is reporting brisk business this week as parents pawn off gold to pay for back-to-school supplies for their children. Mr Boonsong Korecharoen, accountant and acting manager of the shop on Kamoraphat Road, told the Phuket Gazette that recently they had been dealing with a daily volume of about 400 people. About 99 per cent…
-
Grounded dive boat back in Phuket
PHUKET: The dive boat forced to ground on Koh Gai island after its hull cracked in stormy weather last weekend was re-floated and towed back to Phuket yesterday. Though frightened, none of the 16 people on board the Parapis 7 during the grounding were reported as suffering any injuries, according to eye-witnesses who carried out the rescue. Narong Chaimo, general…
-
Phuket go-go dancer survives suicide plunge
PHUKET: A broken-hearted transgender person is in intensive care at Patong Hospital after surviving a suicide plunge from a Phuket hotel last night. A local media report listed the identity of the survivor as “Nong Yok”, a 33-year-old dancer at a night venue named as the “Russia A-Go-Go” club. According to the report, Nong Yok tried to end her life…
-
Pile-driving tower crushes three homes in Krabi
PHUKET: Residents of a small community in Khlong Hin subdistrict, Krabi, got a rude awakening yesterday morning when a 15-meter-high pile-driving tower came crashing down onto their homes. Fortunately there were no injuries, but three homes were flattened and 10 motorbikes badly damaged. Ao Leuk District Police duty officer Prasan Khongkaew was notified of the accident at 8:30am. Racing to…
-
Phuket offers new twist in War on Drugs
PHUKET: The Koh Kaew Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) has launched a project that may be a precursor to a shift in strategy in the War on Drugs in Phuket. The organization is inviting drug users who wish to turn their lives around to join a rehabilitation camp under the “One Local Administration Organization, One Drug Rehabilitation Camp” project. As part…
-
Phuket beach tout turf war targets Cambodians
SPECIAL REPORT A FURIOUS beach brawl between rival groups of migrant Thai and Cambodian beach peddlers in February has led Karon Municipality to draft regulations to register all peddlers and rid the sands of illegal alien workers. Phuket Gazette senior reporter Atchaa Khamlo reports. PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak arrived at the Karon Municipality office in Kata on April…
-
Phuket’s poor turn out for annual alms festival
PHUKET: More than 1,000 of Phuket’s poorest people were at the Kusoldharm Foundation headquarters in Phuket Town yesterday to receive donations of food as part of the annual Te Krajard merit-making ceremony. Starting at 2:30pm, Foundation President Benjawan Tamphanuwat led Kusoldham workers in handing out 4,800 packs of rice, each weighing five kilograms, as well as packs of other dry…
-
Phuket very tolerant of gay lifestyles: Gazette poll
PHUKET: Phuket society is very tolerant of people with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lifestyles, according to the results of the latest Phuket Gazette readers’ poll. The poll, run to coincide with the Phuket Pride Festival held in Patong late last month, asked readers: “Overall, how tolerant is Phuket society of LGBT lifestyles compared to other places you have…
-
Weird World News. The unsinkable, unthinkable and unshrinkable
PHUKET: This week’s Weird World News roundup is a tribute to the titanic accomplishments of vehicles as a big boat is redesigned to handle icebergs, a new motorized toilet speed record is set and BMW gets a stiff lawsuit for its motorbike allegedly causing a two-year long erection. Unsinkable – isn’t that what they said the first time? An Australian…
-
Phuket sports: Saraburi ‘Warlords’ pound FC Phuket, Thai FA Cup commences
PHUKET: FC Phuket suffered their third loss of the season, losing 1-0 to the Saraburi FC “Warlords” on Saturday afternoon at Surakul Stadium. The loss was a disappointment for the Southern Sea Kirin, who hit the road to kick off their Thai FA Cup campaign this week. An early goal by Saraburi’s Panuwat Promyen was all that was needed to…
-
Phuket City Police chief transferred amid underage nightlife staff probe
PHUKET: Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chitchai has been removed from active duty pending an investigation into underage staff working at Phuket Town nightclubs. Col Chote told the Phuket Gazette today that he received the instant transfer order on Saturday. “I received the order from Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul on Saturday to transfer to Phuket Provincial Police Station…
-
Expert in earthquake-proof building design helps ease Phuket fears
PHUKET: One of Thailand’s leading experts in earthquake-proof building design has offered to conduct computer simulation tests to ensure that major buildings in Phuket do not succumb to the recurring tremors the island has been experiencing since April 16. The news was delivered directly to Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha by Assoc Prof Dr Paiboon Panyakapo, who heads the Engineering Institute…
-
Samson Kiplagat Tennai celebrates Phuket Trail Masters win
PHUKET: The second edition of the Columbia Trail Masters event was held at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) on Sunday morning with far larger than expected crowds and participants making it a huge success. There were more than 350 runners of all ages competing in a 3km fun run, a 10 km trail run, and a 21.5km half…
-
Greater Phuket: Cyclists join Krabi Town 140-year celebrations
PHUKET: A cycling enthusiast impressed crowds at the 140th anniversary of Krabi Town over the weekend, managing to pedal all the way from Greater Bangkok with his disabled father riding in tow in a three-wheeler. Kittipong Kongkaew, who runs a coffee shop in Tibet, was among members of the Thai Cycling For Health Association that set off from Samut Prakan…
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.