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.
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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Phuket truck accident: 45 gas cylinders hit the road
PHUKET: A tire blowout on a delivery truck left Phuket’s central artery strewn with 45 filled gas cylinders this morning. Fortunately none of the vessels exploded and there were no serious injuries. The accident occurred at around 9am on Thepkrasattri Road southbound in Mai Khao, near the entrance to Blue Canyon Country Club. By 9:30am local police, firefighters and rescue…
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Grave guidance solves missing person mystery
PHITSANULOKE: In an eerie tale just in time for Halloween, a man was arrested in this northern province after being fingered for murdering his young wife by an unlikely source: her ghost. Four months after her disappearance, the spirit of 21-year-old Ratree Thongdee reportedly appeared to her mother, Somjit Jitprajak, in a dream. The apparition told her that she had…
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Phuket IT update: ‘Facebook for Business’ seminar on Saturday
PHUKET: Computer guru Woody Leonhard will speak at two upcoming IT seminars in Phuket, starting with an encore of the popular Phuket Software Park seminar Using Facebook to Drive Business in Patong on Saturday morning. PhuketSchool.com director Sitthichai “Mr X” Laoveerakul gave the Facebook presentation last month at a Software Park Phuket meeting. Khun Woody and several Computer Clinic members…
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Culture update: The slow death of the Phuket dialect
PHUKET: Developed over generations in isolation from the mainland, Phuket’s unique version of the southern Thai dialect is dying out, diluted by the huge influx of migrant workers, the tourism boom, mass media and a slew of other factors. The Phuket dialect is unique. Compared with other versions of southern Thai, it tends to be slower and more flowing than…
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Phuket Software Factory wins APICTA 2010 award
PHUKET: A Phuket-based software development company was among six Thai firms winning an APICTA 2010 information and communication technology award last week. The Phuket Software Factory won a merit award in the “e-Health” category of the Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Awards (APICTA) 2010, held in Malaysia. The Phuket Software Factory was founded by Dr Kongkiat Kespechara to improve…
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New international hospital under construction in Krabi
PHUKET: A new private hospital under construction in Krabi Town has prompted talk among local residents of less reliance on medical facilities in Phuket. The 120-bed facility, under construction by Krabi Nakharin Company, will be located on Pisalpop Road. The management company has links with, but is independent from, the group that runs the 135-bed Nakharin Hospital in Nakhon Sri…
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Increase in violent crime reports in Phuket
PHUKET: There has been a sharp increase in violent crime over the past 12 months, recently-released statistics by the Phuket Provincial Police reveal. The figures compare the numbers of reported crime cases for fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010, which ended on September 30. The statistics show a 72.9% increase in reported cases of “heinous crimes”: group muggings, armed…
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Bt1.5b resort to open in Phuket in 2012
PHUKET: A new 350-room, five-star luxury resort will open in the South Patong hillsides of Phuket by the end of 2012. News of the 1.5-billion-baht project was announced by Bangkok-based hotel and resort consultants Mai-BS (Thailand). The firm is headed by Klaus Rauter, former general manager at Andara Villas and Suites. “We are extremely proud of having been selected and…
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Arson suspected in Phuket Town car blaze
PHUKET: Police are investigating a presumed arson attack that turned a parked car into a ball of flames in Phuket Town last night. First on the scene, a soi off Phuket Road near Bang Neaw Shrine, were emergency rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation. Although equipped with three chemical sprayers, they could do little but watch as the flames completely…
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Kajonkiet to open international school in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket parents seeking English-language education for their children will have a new option from May next year, when a new Kajonkiet international school is scheduled to open in Kathu. The Kajonkiet group of schools, already the largest provider of private bilingual education in Phuket, hopes to open its first international school in time for the start of the international…
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Highway robbery in Phuket
PHUKET: Three teenagers held up a pair of young women at gunpoint in Thalang early Sunday morning and stole their motorbike. News of the hold-up was reported to Thalang Police by Wirach Rawdboot, the older brother of one of the victims. The woman, with a female friend riding pillion, was driving her Yamaha Fino home from work along a quiet…
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Phuket ramps up flood-relief efforts
PHUKET: The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in Phuket has joined the relief effort for flood victims in Thailand’s north and northeast. Charoensamanakij Temple, behind Phuket Provincial Court, is the collection point for supplies. The group is liaising with the Kusoldharm Foundation to arrange transport for the supplies to hard-hit areas. PAD Phuket coordinator Aparat Chartchutikumjorn said donated items include…
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Asia’s best golfers signed up for Phuket Pro-Am charity event
PHUKET: More than 20 international golf stars are confirmed to play in Phuket’s first-ever Pro-Am golf charity event on November 5. With more pros signing up, organizers of the 2010 Phuket Property Dot Com Pro-Am Invitational expect a total of about 30 professionals to take part. Among the star-studded lineup are Simon Yates (Scotland) and Scott Hend (Australia) – each…
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PHUKET OPINION: Road lines too cheap to catch attention?
PHUKET: There are some grandiose schemes underway to accommodate the rising number of vehicles plying Phuket’s roads, which is growing at a higher rate than ever with some 500 new registrations every month. Few hold out much hope that the stranglehold on public transport by the island’s widely detested syndicates will ever be seriously addressed – at least in areas…
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Phuket poll: Will the drug testing of hotel staff help?
PHUKET: The Gazette on Friday reported that Phuket City Police and hoteliers in Phuket City Police District will launch a “White Hotel” project that will eventually subject hotel staff to mandatory drug testing. Do you think this could be an effective step toward reducing the problem of illegal drug use? Have your say in the latest Phuket Gazette readers’ poll…
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Phuket drivers ‘the worst’: Gazette poll
PHUKET: Phuket drivers don’t think much of fellow road users, with more than 80% saying they are worse than drivers abroad, the results of the latest Phuket Gazette reader’s poll reveal. In the poll launched a week ago, readers were asked: How would you rate the overall behavior of motorists in Phuket compared to those in other places, outside of…
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Phuket City hotel staff to face mandatory drug testing
PHUKET: Mandatory drug testing is part of an initiative by Phuket City Police aimed at ridding the district’s hotels and guesthouses of illegal drugs. Representatives of 75 accommodation establishments met yesterday for a briefing on the initiative, dubbed the “White Hotel” project. The scheme is the brainchild of Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Chaiwat Auykham, who wants to create a…
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Phuket sea gypsies protest water shortage
PHUKET: Phuket Police and local officials are in meetings with leaders of the Rawai Sea Gypsy community this afternoon following a street protest that held up traffic for about an hour this morning. About 250 members of the community took part in the protest, which began at about 8:30am on a section of Wiset Road near Rawai Pier. At the…
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Phuket Thailand Open: Brazilians Franca and Da Silva top seeds
PHUKET: Larissa Franca and Juliana Felisberta Da Silva of Brazil, currently the world’s number-one women’s beach volleyball team, have been ranked as top seeds for the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open. The tournament, with PTT as the main sponsor, is the last stop on the 2010 Swatch FIVB Beach Volley World Tour to be held on Karon Beach November 2 to…
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Relatives of Aussie fall victim in Phuket notified
PHUKET: Relatives of the Australian tourist who died of head injuries sustained in a bathroom fall in Patong earlier this week have been notified, the Australian diplomatic mission in Thailand has confirmed. Australian Honorary Consul for Phuket Larry Cunningham told the Gazette this morning that relatives of the deceased, Joseph Edward Thoms, were notified of his passing at 9:30pm yesterday.…
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Phuket flood relief ready to roll
PHUKET: Two trucks loaded with disaster relief supplies for Northeast flood victims will roll out of Phuket today, with a third set to leave tomorrow. The first load of donations, collected by the Kusoldharm Foundation, will leave Phuket this afternoon for flood-stricken Nakhon Ratchasima province. More donations collected by the Red Cross at Provincial Hall will depart Phuket by truck…
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Aussie tourist dies in Phuket bathroom fall
PHUKET: An Australian tourist died of a head injury apparently sustained after he slipped and hit his head on the bathroom floor in a Phuket guesthouse. Kathu Police at 4:20pm yesterday received a report that a foreign man was discovered dead in the bathroom of his rented room on the third floor of the Vech Guesthouse on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi…
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Phuket tunnel project to begin in 2013: Patong Mayor
PHUKET: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin told a crowd of supporters recently that he expects work on the Patong Tunnel Project to begin in 2013. Speaking at a “Patong Future Plan” public rally at Patong Sports Field on the beach road earlier this month, Mayor Pian presented his plans for easing problems that have arisen from the fast pace of development…
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Body of Russian tourist recovered off Phuket
PHUKET: Local fishermen have found what they believe to be the body of missing Russian tourist Alexey Agaponov, who went missing off Nai Thon Beach Monday afternoon. Phuket Marine Police Lt Jirayuth Onthong told the Gazette that local fisherman called in the gruesome discovery at 6:30pm yesterday. The body was found in a rocky area at Koh Krata, a small…
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Phuket’s Patong Municipality gets UN award for disaster management
PHUKET: In an unexpected development , the United Nations has named Patong Municipality in Phuket as a “role-model city” for disaster management planning. The award ceremony, attended by Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukhabaan, was held on October 13, which is designated as both International Day for Disaster Reduction and the ASEAN Day for Disaster Management. The Municipality was selected because…
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Phuket Marine Police continue search for missing Russian’s body
PHUKET: Marine Police are still searching for the body of Russian tourist who disappeared in rough surf at a Phuket Beach on Monday afternoon and is now presumed dead. Alexey Agaponov disappeared off Nai Thon Beach the same day the Russian Embassy in Bangkok confirmed that a 50-year-old Russian had drowned at Surin Beach, further south down the Phuket coastline.…
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Aldhouse extradition: UK kickboxer in custody for Phuket murder
PHUKET: Fugitive British murder suspect Lee Aldhouse has been remanded in custody at City of Westminster Magistrates after his arrest on a Thai extradition request, the Birmingham Post has reported. The Birmingham native is wanted for the stabbing murder of 23-year-old US Marine DaShawn Longfellow in Rawai in August. According to the report, Mr Aldhouse will undergo a review hearing…
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Phuket pitches in for JW Marriott world record Thai dining attempt
PHUKET: There are still seats left at the tables throughout Phuket tonight for what organizers expect to be the world’s largest-ever Thai dinner party. Marriott chefs have created a Thai menu that will be served up simultaneously to diners in 3,400 Marriott hotels in 69 countries. Thus far about 80 people have made reservations for the meal at the JW…
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Phuket launches relief effort for Isarn flood victims
PHUKET: An operations center set up at Phuket Provincial Hall is accepting donations to help the more than 100,000 people affected by devastating floods in Thailand’s central and northeastern regions. Seven people have died so far from the floods, with tens of thousands more displaced. Nakhon Ratchasima, the worst hit province, had to evacuate one of its main hospitals. The…
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Similans park chief warns Phuket dive tour operators
PHUKET: The chief at the Mu Ko Similan National Park has warned that tour operators entering the park without a permit after its November 1 reopening may face a 10,000 baht fine – or even have their tourism license revoked. The warning follows park officers at the Similans over past few weeks handing out booklets explaining a number of regulations…
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