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.
-
Phuket downpour causes truck slide on Patong Hill
PHUKET: Police have urged motorists throughout Phuket to slow down and exercise more caution than usual during the current spate of very heavy thundershowers passing across the island. The call for safer driving follows heavy rain this afternoon causing a six-wheeled truck lugging sacks of rice over Patong Hill to slide backwards down the hill into the path of traffic…
-
Phuket floods strike, sink Patong Police Station again
PHUKET: The Patong Police Station flooded for the third time in two weeks as another heavy rainstorm pummeled Phuket earlier this afternoon. “The water is up to our hips at the station,” said Lt Col Suttichai Tianpho of the Patong Police. “The computers and case files have remained on the second floor since the last flood. Now we are moving…
-
Gen Prayuth officially appointed 29th prime minister of Thailand
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prayuth officially appointed 29th premier The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Junta chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha today was officially installed as the 29th prime minister of Thailand. In a ceremony at the Army headquarters in Bangkok, Gen Prayuth received a royal command appointing him to the…
-
Full Metal Dojo brings MMA to Patong once more
PHUKET: “Full Metal Dojo 2: Protect Your Neck” saw fighters from around the globe (including Thailand, Sweden, France, Canada, Philippines, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Japan and more) enter the cage. History was also made as a professional Thai-against-Thai women’s MMA bout took place inside the kingdom for the first time. FMD veteran Michael Dubois took care of business in under 30 seconds,…
-
Homeless Brit found sleeping rough in Phuket
PHUKET: A homeless British man and his Thai girlfriend were picked up by police early this morning after they were discovered sleeping rough in Phuket. Alarmed villagers called police after the couple were discovered huddled together in front of a Cherng Talay house, Sub Lt Jira Cherdchay of the Cherng Talay Police explained. “At the house when we arrived, we…
-
Police crack Phuket drug network: nab three suspects, ya ice
PHUKET: Police are hoping to take a local drug kingpin into custody soon after three dealers were arrested and nearly one kilogram of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) was seized in two separate raids last week. Phuket Provincial Police last Wednesday arrested Wiwat Mungsuree, 30, and Eaknarong Iadkham, 34, who were found in possession of 136.54 grams of ya ice. “During…
-
Phuket splashes out on education, health in B1.4bn budget
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) has named health and education as its top priorities in its budget request for fiscal year 2015. The PPAO Council voted to splash out on the two critical areas on Friday, when PPAO President Paiboon Upatising revealed the draft budget of 1.445 billion baht. The PPAO is aiming to spend 407.6 million baht…
-
British children, abducted by Thai mother, reunited with father in Pattaya
PHUKET: British school children Annie and Aleena Day, abducted by their Thai mother in June while on holiday in Thailand, have been reunited with their father in Pattaya. “I’ve got them. They’re with me now,” a tearful Robert Day told Pattaya radio station Fabulous 103FM late Friday night (click here). Onwarat Gamlem, the 36-year-old non-custodial mother of the children, was…
-
Education gets lion’s share of the budget
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Education gets lion’s share of the budget The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Entrusted with the mission of schooling some 12 million children and improving educational quality, the Education Ministry is set to get 20 per cent, or Bt502.245 billion of the planned expenditure in the…
-
Low rain spurs fear of drought in North
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Low rain spurs fear of drought The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Despite being in the middle of the wet season, there are already fears of drought in the North, as the volume of rain has been unseasonably low, leaving two key dams in the region…
-
California wine country rocked by 6.0 quake, dozens hurt
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community California wine country rocked by 6.0 quake, dozens hurt Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 6.0 magnitude earthquake rocked wine country north of San Francisco early on Sunday, injuring more than 100 people, damaging historic buildings, setting some homes on fire and causing power outages around…
-
Broad-daylight burglars make off with jewellery, cash from Phuket home
PHUKET: Burglars bashed in the front door of a Phuket home and made off with about 150,000 baht of loot yesterday. “Three people live in the house in Thalang: me, my son and my wife. Nobody was home when the thieves broke in. We had all left the house in the morning and didn’t return until about 6pm that evening,”…
-
British expat one of four in Phuket on Ebola watchlist
PHUKET: A British expat is one of four people still being monitored by the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) for possible signs of Ebola. Health officials at Phuket International Airport this month added Ebola to their watchlist as a precaution against the deadly virus being carried to the island by visitors (story here). “We are monitoring all tourists arriving from…
-
Phuket Marine Police tackle drug-fuelled violence in fishing industry
PHUKET: Four men tested positive for methamphetamine yesterday when Phuket Marine Police conducted a spot check of fishermen in an attempt to stomp out drug-fuelled violence on fishing boats. “We did the drug tests to prevent drug-related violent clashess,” Col Chatchai Sakdee of the Phuket Marine Police told the Phuket Gazette. The positive test results from four of the 169…
-
Over easy: Russian flips BMW in Phuket
PHUKET: A 24-year-old Russian national suffered only minor injuries after flipping the BMW she was driving on Thepkrasattri Road. “Irina Mishina told us that she was heading toward Phuket Town when one of her back tires blew out. She then lost control of the car, and swerved into the median,” Lt Col Sanit Nookong of the Thalang Police said. The…
-
WHO warns of ‘shadow zones’ and unreported Ebola cases
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community WHO warns of ‘shadow zones’ and unreported Ebola cases Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Families hiding infected loved ones and the existence of “shadow zones” where medics cannot go mean the West African Ebola epidemic is even bigger than thought, the World Health Organization said on…
-
Phuket Police adopt rapid-response policy for missing children
PHUKET: Anxious parents of missing children no longer have to wait 24 hours before police can take action to find them, under a new policy revealed by Phuket City Police Superintendent Sermpan Sirikong last week. “Now, when someone in your family goes missing, you can inform police immediately,” said Col Sermpan. The new policy came into sharp focus this week…
-
Facing up to the brutal reality of Phuket’s missing children
PHUKET: The welcome news that the Royal Thai Police no longer need to wait 24 hours before launching a search for a missing child is one of the greatest leaps forward in policing policy in years (story here). A regular reader would not have to flip through a pile of back issues of the Phuket Gazette to know of the…
-
Video Report: Call rings out across the Kingdom for Miss Phuket Universe beauties
PHUKET: A call went out for the fairest of them all in Thailand, as organizers look to draw the Kingdom’s top beauties for Miss Phuket Universe. “This is the first time Phuket has searched for a beautiful woman to represent the island for Miss Universe Thailand,” said Miss Phuket Universe public relations representative Chanitsanan Theppabut. However, the competition isn’t just…
-
Officials probe baby elephant chained in Phuket parking lot
PHUKET: A woman elephant trader will present herself to the Livestock Office tomorrow to prove she has legally acquired a baby elephant that is being kept on a small chain in the parking lot of a Phuket market. Officers from the Phuket Livestock Office this week moved quickly to investigate a tip-off that the baby elephant was bound on a…
-
Would-be looter bungles Phuket ATM raid
PHUKET: A would-be looter, or looters, left empty-handed after a failed attempt to break into an ATM machine and steal its cash contents early this morning. Police received a call at around 6am informing them that the Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) ATM in front of the mega SuperCheap complex on Thepkrasattri Road had been damaged in an attempted robbery. “There…
-
From disqualification to contention for Tringale
PHUKET: A week after disqualifying himself for a scoring decision at the PGA Championship, Cameron Tringale turned the page and fired an opening 66 on Thursday to put himself near the top of the leader board at The Barclays. Tringale said he felt a sense of relief in putting the incident behind him – at a cost of $53,000 (1.69…
-
Roving metered taxis to hit Phuket’s streets by September
PHUKET: A fleet of newly registered roving metered taxis will be hitting the streets by September 1, the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) chief told the Phuket Gazette today. “We registered 80 metered taxi drivers during our one-stop registration service from August 9-12 [story here]. Since then, more than 30 additional drivers have applied to register and become metered taxi…
-
Djokovic, Federer favoured for grand slam sequel
PHUKET: Top seed Novak Djokovic and number two Roger Federer are favoured to wage another title showdown in the last grand slam of 2014, although some emerging young guns have other ideas for the U.S. Open starting on Monday. Djokovic and Federer’s path to a championship clash could be less troubled than usual with the absence of last year’s winner…
-
Navy leads raid on Koh Raet residents
PHUKET: Officials yesterday warned residents on Koh Raet, off the east coast of Phuket, that their buildings will be torn down in 30 days if documentation authorizing construction cannot be produced. The alleged land owner, Pithirat Phitipak, told Commander Pornprom Sakultem of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command and other officials that she bought the seven-rai site in 2008.…
-
Police hunt teenagers behind Phuket knife attack
PHUKET: Police are searching for a gang of Phuket teenagers who reportedly attacked a security guard at Villa Market in Cherng Talay last night, leaving the guard with a four-inch gash in his head. The security guard, Methee Yaemmen, 26, told police that he had no idea who the suspects were or why they would attack him. “I went to…
-
Abandoned girl, 12, receives royal helping hand
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community HM The King extends help to abandoned girl, 12 The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: His Majesty the King has graciously extended his help to a 12-year-old girl who had been fending for herself virtually all alone for years. The girl had lived alone in her…
-
Student loan ceiling to be reduced
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Student loan ceiling to be reduced The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The student loan ceiling for educational institutes is likely to be reduced soon as more than half of the loans granted so far have not been repaid, the Education Ministry said. It has also…
-
Gen Prayuth voted to become next premier
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NLA votes Gen Prayuth to become 29th premier The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Legislative Assembly yesterday voted unanimously for junta chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha to be the 29th prime minister of Thailand. He was the sole candidate for the job. Prayuth was widely…
-
WHO to convene on Ebola outbreak, treatments
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community WHO to convene on Ebola outbreak, treatments Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday it would convene talks early next month on potential treatments and vaccines to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The infectious disease has killed…
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.