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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
-
Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
-
Patong vendors’ leader arrested
PHUKET TOWN: The President of the Patong Vendors’ Association was arrested on Tuesday night by Phuket Town Police for carrying an unlicensed firearm into a popular downtown restaurant. Somwang “Lae” Wonghan, 39, was taken into custody by police at about 11:20 pm as he sat in the new Chilli Phuket pub on Dilok Uthit Rd 1. Fellow diners contacted police…
-
Concern over missing divemaster
KAMALA: Police and workmates say they are concerned for the safety of a divemaster who vanished after a party at a bar in Kamala last Saturday (November 29). Phikun “Nori” Srisaksungnoen, 25, from Kamala, had been celebrating with colleagues after returning from diving off Phi Phi. She was last seen at 10 pm, leaving behind her car and her two…
-
Buffalo meat smugglers thwarted
KOH KEAW: Veterinarian Jirayu Niranvirot of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office [PPLO] – working on a tip-off – today discovered two tons of smuggled buffalo meat in a pick-up truck outside a house in the Baan Na Nai area of Koh Keaw. Illegally-imported Australian cheese was also found. Sunart Wongchawalit, Chief of the PPLO, told the Gazette that the market…
-
Day of protests in King’s Cup
PHUKET: Winds of up to 20 knots made for some of the most exciting racing so far on the third day of the King’s Cup Regatta off Kata Beach today. The stiff breeze, choppy conditions and a congested start in the Racing and Premier Cruising classes resulted in a large number of protests being lodged. Some of these were still…
-
Paradorn to play at Laguna
CHERNG TALAY: Thai tennis hero Paradorn “Ball” Srichaphan will play two exhibition matches at the Laguna Beach Resort on December 20 and 21. The matches are part of the Paradorn Super Tour, a round-robin tour also taking in Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen, and featuring world No 11 Paradorn, Thailand’s top woman player Tamarine “Tammy” Tanasugarn, Mark Philippoussis of Australia…
-
King’s Cup: Hi Fidelity moves ahead
PHUKET: In the first of two races today in the Racing Class of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, veteran sailor and 2001 winner Neil Pryde steered Hi Fidelity to provisional honors, followed by Spanish boat Pris Play with Fred Kinmonth’s Stella-Minter-Ellison finishing third. The highly rated Thai boat Pasaya, which is being chartered by a team from Switzerland this year…
-
Wildlife sanctuary goes for double-pricing
THALANG: Khao Prataew Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) will begin collecting standard entrance fees of 200 baht from foreigners and 20 baht from Thais next week, the Chief of the sanctuary, Awat Nitikul, has announced. K. Awat told the Gazette that the park – which includes the Tonesai and Bangpae waterfalls – attracts about 4,000 tourists a month. Most of the foreigners…
-
Immigration to close during holidays
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has issued a reminder to foreigners that it will be closed during three coming public holidays. Pol Capt Krissarat Nusen said that if a foreigner’s scheduled visit to the PPIO fell on a public holiday, he or she could visit on the next working day without penalty – “but only on that…
-
Pricey pawing
PATHUM THANI: Udomdech Rattanasathien, Secretary to Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan, led a team of department officials and police on a raid at another dubious treatment facility, also in Phatum Thani, on October 7. This raid followed complaints by a female patient that she had been sexually assaulted during treatment – by a well-known monk. The woman said her treatment…
-
Massively massaged
PATHUM THANI: When it comes to traditional Thai massage, some like it harder than others. But few people suffering from stiffness or poor circulation want to emerge from massage treatment looking as if they had just gone five hard rounds in a Muay Thai fight – which was the type of service a renegade massage parlor in Pathum Thani had…
-
Plis Play takes line honors in King’s Cup
PHUKET: The first race in the 17th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta started with good winds gusting up to 15 knots when the action got underway off Kata Beach today. Under overcast skies with some rain the night before, racing started in good winds which hung around during the early afternoon instead of dropping off early, as in past regattas. Race…
-
Phuket and Andamans sign memorandum
KATA: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop trade links with its counterpart from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The agreement is supported by the two associations’ respective governments, but comes over objections by some Port Blair-based NGOs that fear improved links could introduce social vices to…
-
Aids rise troubles health chief
PHUKET TOWN: A worrying rise in the rate of HIV transmission on Phuket has led to the Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, Dr Wanchai Sattayawuthipong, warning about the island’s secret sex industry. Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura revealed in his message for World Aids Day that the infection rate among pregnant women had increased in the year to June…
-
Planet’s purple people in a spin
PHUKET TOWN: Police raided the newly-opened Planet Concert Hall disco in Phuket Town soon after midnight on November 29 and checked revelers for drugs and proper ID cards. Ten of the 486 people at the disco on Weerapong-Hongyok Rd tested positive when their urine samples turned purple and will be required to check with police in 10 days when the…
-
Police hit underground lottery vendors
PHUKET TOWN: Seven vendors of underground lottery tickets were arrested on Friday, and 17,680 baht cash, a number of illegal lottery tickets and ticket sales records were seized. Masquerading as punters, officers led by Phuket Provincial Security Affairs Chief Nikorn Torhiranyapreuk bought tickets from the vendors between noon to 4 pm, then turned around and arrested them. K. Nikorn named…
-
Australian wins Laguna Triathlon
CHERNG TALAY: Simon Thompson from Canberra, Australia, has won this year’s Laguna Phuket Traithlon in 2 hours, 35 minutes and 15 seconds. It was the 25-year-old Australian’s first appearance in the event, though he already has a significant international profile, having won the French Grand Prix and the ITU Hokkaido in Japan in 2001 and the ITU Luxembourg last year.…
-
Lucky numbers bring big bucks
PHUKET TOWN: Lucky car number-plate Kor Jor 9999 brought 1.2 million baht at an auction at Royal Phuket City in Phuket Town yesterday. The same bidder picked up 8888 for 560,000 baht. About 200 people, most of them businessmen or representatives of car dealers, attended to bid for four-of-a-kind and other quirky plates favored by drivers with money to splurge.…
-
Ammunition found in toilet
PHUKET TOWN: One hundred rounds of assault-rifle ammunition and two mortar rounds were found hidden in the ceiling of the toilet of a home in Phuket Town yesterday. The house owner, Somkid Khunsang, 35, reported the finding to the police and believes that the munitions, discovered by a plumber, were left by previous occupiers. K. Somkid told the Gazette that…
-
Jet-ski crash kills second tourist
PATONG: A young Swedish tourist was killed in a jet-ski crash off Patong yesterday – almost exactly one month after the death of a 13-year-old German prompted officials to decide they must take steps to prevent more fatalities in the wildcat jet-ski rental industry. But proposed action to rid the island of unregistered jet-skis and strictly control legitimate beachside operators…
-
Holiday moved from this year to next
THAILAND: The Cabinet has declared January 2 next year a special holiday for government employees, but New Year’s Eve, December 31, will be a working day, a government spokesperson said yesterday. The switch in holdays allows state employees to enjoy a long weekend from January 1 to January 4. The Bank of Thailand had also directed banks to operate on…
-
Two old women attacked; one dead
CHALONG: Police are searching for a man following an attack on Friday morning that left a 66-year-old woman dead and her 70-year-old friend injured. The dead woman has been named as Teema Lakkoh and the injured woman as Maewan Bangjak. Pol Maj Sanae Panmee of the Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the women were out sifting through trash…
-
Police target teenage gangs
PHUKET TOWN: In a move to improve public safety, police have launched a campaign targeting wayward youngsters, with special attention being given to teenage gangs. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Veerayuth Sittimalic told the Gazette today that the crackdown began two weeks ago with after-dark patrols at Saphan Hin, long a hotspot for teenage gang violence. He explained that…
-
“Troublemaker’ found drowned
PATONG : The body of a drowning victim discovered 70 meters off Patong Beach on Sunday morning has been identified by police as that of 42-year-old German national Jürgen Schweiker. Mr Schweiker’s body was discovered by a local jet-ski operator, still clutching one of a string of floats used to demarcate the swimming area along the beach. Pol Lt Col…
-
2,000 join mass dance
PHUKET TOWN: A sea of yellow shirts filled Surakul Stadium yesterday as 2,000 people in Phuket joined in with the nationwide “Yellow Shirt Power Dancing 2003” event. More than 8.2 million people around the country took part in the fun, aimed at persuading people to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day. The activities began at 2 pm with…
-
Bloop gun ammo found in trash
PHUKET TOWN: Municipal trash collectors on Thursday found two rounds for an M79 “bloop gun” wrapped in newspaper and dumped in trash. The 40mm rounds were discovered in front of the Phuket Bus Terminal. Sorn Damri, who found the two projectiles, said, “We stopped to pick up garbage in front of the bus terminal. That’s when I saw [the ammunition],…
-
“OTOP’ sales to get boost in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The provincial government has announced that work on a 1.4-million-baht packaging factory for goods produced under the “One Tambon One Product” (OTOP) scheme is almost complete. The facility, located in an existing building that has been extensively renovated, occupies a 150-square-wah site next to Kathu District Offices. Suthep Wuthisak, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Development Office, told the…
-
Judges order Patong mayor to step down
PATONG: Chalermsak Maneesri was today ordered to step down as Mayor of Patong after two Provincial Court judges found that allegations of cheating in Patong Municipality elections in November last year were proven. Visawa Sasismith, Phuket’s Deputy Governor (Palad), told the Gazette that the court handed down its decision this morning. The judges ordered that a new election be held…
-
Angry islanders in Phi Phi protest
PHI PHI: Boats to this tourist hotspot stopped running for about seven hours today after some 300 angry people assembled at the island’s pier, blocking incoming and outgoing traffic. The mob were protesting against an order to use a new pier in Krabi, three kilometers away from the old one in Krabi Town. They argued that it was too far…
-
Andamans, Phuket set for closer links
PHUKET TOWN: A signing ceremony establishing the Phuket Chamber of Commerce (PCC) and the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) as “Chambers of Friendship” will take place on November 30, it was announced today. Pamuke Achariyachai, Chairman of the PCC, made the announcement at a press conference today at The Metropole hotel in Phuket Town. At his side was…
-
Violin karaoke faces the music
PHUKET TOWN: A 3 am swoop by police on the Violin karaoke bar on Phang Nga Rd on Saturday netted seven ‘VIP’ patrons and six hostesses drinking after hours. Officers found the after-hours party padlocked behind reinforced doors, front and rear. It took them an hour to saw through the locks. The 13 people arrested, who were each fined 100…
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.