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 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...
-
Thailand sporting round-up
– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ratchanok and doubles players in semis PHUKET (The Nation): Teen sensation Ratchanok Inthanon overpowered the in-form Sung Ji-hyun in a thrilling hard-fought encounter on Friday. The 17-year-old, who has won the world junior meet three times in succession and is ranked No 11 in the world, was the lone…
-
Coastal development destroying reefs off Phuket
– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Coastal development destroying reefs off Phuket PHUKET (The Nation): Massive land development in Phuket province will be strictly controlled by environmental regulations after findings that large amounts of sediment caused by construction has destroyed a large area of coral reefs and marine ecosystems. Over 250 square kilometers of coral…
-
Man fights for life after Phuket motorbike crash
PHUKET: A man is in critical condition after his motorbike was hit by a car at a u-turn on Thepkrasattri Road in Phuket early yesterday morning. Thalang Police were notified of the accident just after midnight. Arriving at the scene, the northbound lane of Thepkrasattri road about one kilometer south of the new Tesco Thalang shopping mall, they found Apichet…
-
Owner confesses to working elephant to death, mutilating carcass
PHUKET: The owner of the elephant found mutilated in Krabi on Thursday has confessed to working the animal to death. Local villagers had discovered the gruesome remains, now identified as that of 49-year-old elephant Plai Boonam. The front of the head had been hacked off and the elephant’s tusk was missing. In response, Krabi Muang District Chief Yutisak Akeakkara and…
-
Phuket Opinion: Phuket land probes “a plus’ for Phuket
PHUKET: Cynics may see the effort by the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) to investigate officials who allegedly colluded with investors to steal state land in Phuket as just the latest in a series of politically-inspired witch hunts. However, we should hold out hope for any effort to expose corruption, especially when elected officials and “civil servants”…
-
Prompong probes more suspect Phuket land titles
PHUKET: Government Spokesperson Prompong Nopparit, in his capacity as vice president of the Parliamentary Committee for Anti-Corruption and Misconduct, yesterday led an inspection tour of land in the hills behind the Kathu Waterfall. Joining Mr Prompong was the parliamentary anti-corruption committee president, Pol Lt Gen Wirote Pao-in. Both Mr Pompong and Lt Gen Wirote are Pheu Thai party list MPs.…
-
Phuket baby elephant probe hinges on DNA maternity tests
PHUKET: Officers who led the raids on three elephant camps in Phuket late last month are back on the island to continue their investigation into whether all the elephants at all three camps were legally obtained. The investigation focuses on three camps: the ATV @ Hill Adventure Tour camp on the road to the Big Buddha image in Chalong; the…
-
Phuket Customs seizes Bt20mn in illegal diesel
PHUKET: Phuket custom officials have raided a Malaysian ship and seized about 100,000 liters of illegally imported diesel fuel near Koh Racha Noi. The fuel on the Singa Maju, estimated to be worth more than 20 million baht, was being sold to fishing ships in the area. Following a tip off, customs officials, led by Rakop Srisupaat, Chief of the…
-
Phuket sets heavy security for PM Yingluck Cabinet visit
PHUKET: Phuket will be under a high-level security crackdown ahead of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s visit for the Cabinet meeting on Monday and Tuesday. The news came at a meeting of Royal Thai Armed Forces intelligence staff with Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Phuket Provincial Hall. Also at the meeting to discuss the security plan were Phuket Provincial Police Commander…
-
Phuket withdrawal: Kasikorn Bank services to go offline
PHUKET: All Kasikorn Bank online services across Phuket will go offline from 9:30pm on Saturday to 5am on Sunday as the bank shuts down its national network for system maintenance. The shutdown will affect all Kasikorn online services, including all ATMs and all Kasikorn debit card, credit card and K-Express cash card services. Any Kasikorn Bank cards used in ATMs…
-
Possessed former security guard has fatal fall
PHUKET: A former security guard fell 10 floors to his death from his home and former workplace after claiming he was being haunted and possessed by ghosts. Khathayut Sukkhlum, 36, was fired from his job at the Sinsetthee Resident Town 1 building in the Hua Mark area of Bangkok about three months prior to his death. His broken body was…
-
Weird World News: Young Guns set fire to castle, plunge down trash chute and take walk of shame
PHUKET: We were all young, free and stupid once. Let’s not forget that when we cast judgment on this trio of troublesome Young Guns who made the cut in this week’s Weird World News.Smoking is bad for castlesTWO Slovak boys are suspected of setting flame to a 14th century Gothic castle in Bratislava this week. Police believe the pair were…
-
Phuket Gazette: Elephant butchered in Krabi
PHUKET: Livestock officials in Krabi are investigating the death of a male elephant found partially decapitated on a remote hilltop rubber plantation in Khao Khraam District yesterday afternoon, the Phuket Gazette has learned. The discovery of the carcass was reported to the Gazette by Khao Khram tambon chief Karim Laklaeng at about 2pm yesterday. [Reader discretion advised. Some readers may…
-
PM Yingluck orders budget airlines to move to “Bangkok LCC’
PHUKET (The Nation): In a move that will affect all tourists flying from Bangkok to Phuket on low-cost airlines, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has ordered all low-cost carriers (LCCs) to move operations to Don Mueang Airport. The move is aimed at improving air and runway traffic at Suvarnabhumi Airport, but the plan is unlikely to ease the current turmoil frustrating…
-
Phuket MICE tourists in Patong bus crash
PHUKET: Another bus full of passengers in Phuket, this time for a seminar, crashed into a house at the bottom of Patong Hill this morning. Nine of the passengers were taken to Patong Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Lt Thanakrit Kiawyai of Patong Police told the Phuket Gazette that the accident happened at about 6:50am. “The bus had about…
-
Phuket Land Office voices support for corruption probe
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Land Department has voiced support for the ongoing investigation into allegations that corrupt government officials colluded with private investors to have land title deeds issued on state land. “The investigation by the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission [PACC] into illegally-issued land documents in Phuket will serve as a deterrent to other people who might be…
-
Phuket drug duo arrest lands Bt1mn haul
PHUKET: Phuket Police arrested a husband and wife who they say were found in possession of drugs with an estimated street value of more than one million baht. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha announced the arrests at Phuket City Hall today, adding that a total of seven people were arrested in two separate police operations during the past week. At the…
-
Health Minister pushes for unified emergency healthcare by April 1
PHUKET (The Nation): Private hospitals are willing to join a government plan to provide unlimited emergency medical treatment to all patients covered by healthcare schemes, starting on April 1, Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri has announced. Mr Witthaya said that he had been discussing the plan with executives of hospitals, including private ones, across the country since March 8. All…
-
Phuket business: Tourism campaign lures swingers; Tourism and hotel college enrolls for May
PHUKET: With the Thai summer just around the bend, club swingers are among the latest tourist group that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has set its sights on. In a bid to increase golf tourists to the country by 10%, TAT this year has partnered with MasterCard to launch the “72 Hours Amazing Thailand Golf Paradise” campaign. All in,…
-
Phuket Business: Sansiri sales on the up
PHUKET: Amid an oversupplied and flooded real estate market, many new developers in Phuket are struggling to close project sales. In contrast, Bangkok based mega developer Sansiri Plc has received promising feedback from buyers on the island. In the five months since taking on Phuket, the Bangkok giant has invested nearly 2.7 billion baht (approx US$ 90 million) in four…
-
Phuket business: Tax filing deadline approaches
PHUKET: For anybody who generated income in Thailand last year – regardless of where or how they were paid – the personal income tax filing deadline is March 31. In this two-part series, the Phuket Gazette will outline the need-to-know basics for filing personal income tax in Thailand. First, we will cover taxable income, deductions and tax certificates. In the…
-
Phuket Gazette: African news round-up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community UN to meet with central African governments to fight Lord’s Resistance Army PHUKET (News Wires): The United Nations (UN) yesterday said it will meet in Uganda with government officials from central Africa next week to establish a comprehensive regional strategy to combat the Lord’s Resistance Army…
-
Myanmar rushes headlong into brave new world
SPECIAL REPORTPHUKET: The Japanese salary-man’s blue suit brushed past the backpacker’s Bob Marley t-shirt as they passed in the guest house hallway.“No rooms. Fully booked,” said the desk clerk.The Japanese man was on his way to shore up a lease on a garment factory and the Irish backpacker was here in Myanmar to see the wonders of Inle Lake and…
-
Phuket Heroines brought to life in Battle of Thalang
PHUKET: A large crowd attended last night’s highly-stylized re-enactment of the Battle of Thalang in Phuket last night. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha chaired the opening ceremony for the event, which got underway at 7:30pm at Thalang Victory Memorial Field. Gov Tri played the part of Rama I, while his deputy Chamroen Tipayapongtada played his arch-enemy, the commander of the Burmese…
-
WFFT charges top DNP officials with defamation
PHUKET: A Dutch-born wildlife activist has filed defamation charges against top-ranking Thai officials of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) for claiming his shelter in Petchaburi was involved in the torture and trade of protected wildlife species. The charges are the latest salvo in the battle between the DNP and the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT),…
-
US Consular Outreach in Phuket
PHUKET: The American Citizen Services section of the United States Embassy in Bangkok will be at the Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort in Karon on Thursday morning as part of its “consular outreach” service. Consular staff will be available to provide following services from 8am until noon: • Passport renewal applications • Notarial services • Embassy registration and/or address change…
-
Phuket Gazette: New horned dinosaurs found in Canada
– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Scientists discover two new horned dinosaurs in North America PHUKET (News Wires): Scientists at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Ohio have discovered two new plant-eating horned dinosaurs which lived between 75 to 83 million years ago, it was announced yesterday. The fossils were found in Canada. The…
-
Phuket business: A speculative investment
PHUKET: I remember as a young kid growing up in the US often seeing bumper stickers on cars with slogans about freeing Burma. When I was I first planning to move to Phuket, Thailand I still had no idea where Burma was, as the maps now showed some country I had never heard of called “Myanmar” bordering the Kingdom to…
-
Phuket Airport “black taxis’ given ultimatum
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport Director Prathuang Sornkham and Wantha Phummararossukontha, Assistant Director of Phuket Provincial Transport Office (PPTO), have warned illegal taxi drivers to obtain the correct license plate or face stiff fines. Mr Wantha said action was being taken as many passengers had complained of overcharging by “black plate” taxi drivers, and the concerns he had received from legitimate…
-
Official corruption: PACC names Phuket “model province’
PHUKET: The ongoing probe into official corruption by government officials in allowing land title deeds to be issued on state land should shore up investor confidence, the Phuket governor says. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha told the state-run MCOT news agency that the probe by the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) began in secrecy six or seven months ago in Phuket,…
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.