South Thailand News
Southern Thailand news, Phuket news, Koh Samui news, and Krabi updates—stay informed on business, tourism, and local events from Trang, Songkhla, Yala, and beyond. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Southern Thailand news source.
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Tropical storm Pabuk claims first victim
PHOTO: Abdulloh Benjakat A trawler has sunk off the coast of Pattani province due to stormy seas caused by tropical storm Pabuk. Reports say one fisherman has died with another missing. Four managed to make it back to shore safely. The body of Pramote Wondsuman has been identified, while the missing man is only known by his first name, ‘Chalong’. The…
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Pabuk edges closer to southern Thailand
PHOTO: Aljazeera “Officials expect the conditions to persist into Saturday.” Aljazeera is reporting that tropical storm Pabuk is forecast to make landfall on Friday evening in Nakhon Si Thammarat coastal islands bringing torrential downpours and strong winds to more than a dozen other provinces in the south. The region is home to one of the world’s biggest natural rubber plantations…
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Pabuk: Warnings for coastal residents to stay indoors
by Pratch Rujivanarom Strong gale conditions and surging seas are pounding the coastlines of three provinces this afternoon. The Meteorological Department is warning residentsto stay indoors and away from the coast. The provinces affected so far include Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla. Department director-general Phuwieng Prakhammintara says Tropical Storm Pabuk was expected to have greater affect on southern coastlines as…
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Pabuk: Koh Tao awakens to ‘business as usual’
Our Koh Tao ‘man on the spot’, Adrian, says that the island currently has heavy rains with some wind, and thunder but that wind is not currently strong. He reports that people are going around their business as usual. “Yesterday a lot of people left the island as we saw the last two ferries leaving around 3pm and they…
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Thai woman, who won lottery in 2017 and donated 2 million baht, wins again
PHOTO: Shin Min Daily News 53 year old Suwana from Ang Thong in the south of Thailand, can’t believe her luck, as she wins top lottery prize for the second year running. In 2017, she was the lucky winner of 30 million baht – the top prize – and has since proceeded to donate over 2 million baht to build…
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Precautions taken in the south for Pabuk
FILE PHOTO With the impending arrival of tropical storm ‘Pabuk’, everyone in the coastal regions are bracing for landfall. Koh Samui officials have been ordered to monitor all shipping and tour boats, while all tourists spots and national parks have been told to prepare to close. Phuket airport is already on high alert, urging all passengers to double check their…
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Pabuk: A very rare event – Remembering ‘Harriet’ in 1962.
The last major tropical storm to hit the southern coastal Gulf region in January was back in 1962. It started, just like Pabuk, as a weather system off the western coast of the Philippines. In this case on October 19, 1962. After making its way across the South China Sea and scooting across the bottom of southern Vietnam, the system…
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Pabuk: Tourists flee Gulf islands of Koh Phangan, Samui and Koh Tao
“Waves could reach seven meters high in the Gulf of Thailand.” Thousands are departing some of the tourist hot spots including Koh Phangan and Koh Tao as the region’s first tropical storm for January in 30 years heads northwest across the Gulf of Thailand. Tens of thousands of tourists are reported to be fleeing the Thai resort islands of Koh…
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Dead whale washed up on Nakhon Si Thammarat coast
A dead whale, believed to be a bruda whale, the largest species in the Gulf of Thailand, has been found washed up on a beach near the Laem Talumphuk reserve, Amphoe Pak Phanang in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The dead mammal was spotted this morning by villagers who noticed the strong smell. The whale measured over 10…
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Angthong National Marine Park closed for 3 days due to approaching storm
The Angthong National Marine Park, off the coast of Surat Thani province, is closing for three days from tomorrow (Thursday) as tropical storm ‘Pabuk’ is expected to hit the southern Gulf coast. The decision has been based on weather warnings from the TMD, which says the storm “Pabuk” will bring unseasonal heavy downpours and high waves in the Gulf of…
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Brother and sister plucked from surf in Nakhon Si Thammarat – VIDEO
VIDEO and PHOTOS: Keerati Songlerd A boy and a girl, who are brother and sister, have been hauled out from surf in Nakhon Si Thammarat, on the southern Gulf coast. Video clips and photos have been posted on a personal Facebook ‘Keerati Songlerd’ yesterday with a message reading “Two kids have been pulled out of the surf. An elder brother…
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“Pabuk” heads towards southern provinces
An unseasonal, and quite unusual, tropical depression is heading towards southern shores including all Thai provinces south of Phetchaburi. The Thai Meteorological Department is issuing regular warnings about the storm’s progress from the South China Sea and into the southern Gulf of Thailand. “On 2 January 2019, tropical storm “PABUK” over the lower South China Sea located at latitude 6.0…
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Security stepped up following multiple attacks in Narathiwat
PHOTO: Thai PBS Security in 14 districts of the Narathiwat has been stepped up after suspected militants attacked a tambon defence volunteer’s base in Ra-ngae district and detonated several home-made bombs targeting power poles and bridges in four districts on Friday night. Narathiwat is the Kingdom’s southern-most province, bordering Malaysia. Four motorcyclists and pillion riders were injured by bomb shrapnel…
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Southern intelligence contradicts Deputy PM over Songkhla bomb motives
The deputy PM General Prawit Wongsuwan, and national security chief, is linking the Wednesday night bomb attacks in Songkhla to local politics in the southern province. This contradicts intelligence units on the ground who suspect the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) were behind the blasts, in an attempt to disturb the southern business hub. The BRN are the main political organisation…
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Deputy PM links last night’s Songkhla attack to local issues
Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan, and defence minister, has linked last night’s Songkhla bomb attacks to politics in the southern province. He says he is confident that the incidents had nothing to do with insurgency in the deep South, claiming that security authorities already knew who was behind the Samila Beach attack. “The aim was to cause chaos during the New…
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Three bombs found on a Songkhla beach after blasts damage famous mermaid statue
A bomb squad has discovered three explosive devices at Samila Beach in Songkhla province, hours after two blasts damaged the landmark mermaid statue. The types of bombs are still unknown. The three explosives were found at the beach during a search after last night’s explosions. The landmark golden mermaid statue at Samila Beach was damaged by two explosions on Wednesday…
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Defence volunteers robbed of their guns in Pattani
by Pares Lohasan Police a hunting for six males suspected to have seized guns and bullets from 10 village defence volunteers assigned to guard a local school in Pattani province’s Sai Buri district last night. The suspects made off with four shotguns and 20 bullets. Sai Buri police superintendent Pol Colonel Montri Khongwatmai led forensic police to inspect Ban Seu…
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Last Full Moon Party for 2018 attracts 30,000
Authorities claim over 30,000 tourists flocked to Hat Rin on Koh Phangan for the Saturday night (well, Sunday morning really), monthly full moon party, the final party for 2018. The party kicked off at 1am on Sunday morning and wound up at 7am. Most of the local hotels were full with highly inflated prices for the monthly gathering whilst many…
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Happy ending for Malaysian tourist at Betong immigration
What appeared as a bad end to the holiday of a Malaysian tourist has ended up with a much happier ending. Immigration police have returned a wallet with cash and credit cards to the Malaysian tourist on yesterday after he dropped it in front of an immigration counter on Friday night. The tourist, Low Han Ben, reclaimed his purse at…
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Patient dies after jumping from balcony at Chumphon hospital
PHOTO: Khet Udomsak Hospital A distressed patient diagnosed with colon cancer has died after jumping from the 4th floor of a hospital in Chumphon’s main city district last night. Police say 53 year old Boonchuay Disapong died of his injuries after being rushed to the ICU unit following the fall. He had been admitted to the Khet Udomsak Hospital and…
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Pickup truck crashes into canal in Phatthalung killing two
The driver of a pickup, along with his passenger friend, were killed and two women injured early today. The pickup careered off the road, hit a bridge, and dropped into a canal in Phatthalung’s Kong Ra district. Police say the accident happened in front of a mosque in Moo 6 village in Tambon Klong Chalerm. The pickup was stuck in…
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If your motorbike is stolen, just wait a few days
Not only did he get his motorbike back, but he should go out and buy a lottery ticket. What are the chances…? The owner of a stolen motorcycle got his transport back three days later after a man ran out of petrol just in front of him in Songkhla’s Muang district on Tuesday. The owner of the motorcycle, identified only…
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Troops on stand-by to assist flooded southern provinces
PHOTO: Thunder Road Reporters, Samui Deputy PM and defence minister Prawit Wongsuwan has ordered the three armed forces to head south with troops and equipment to help the areas hard hit by flooding. The Meteorological Department is warning southerners to brace for more to come. Gulf coast provinces from Chumpon to Songkhla have been battered with heavy rains for the past…
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Southern provinces battered by heavy rains and floods
PHOTO: Flooded Samui roads – Facebook/Thunder Road Reporters “The city Mayor says the municipality had arranged for medical staff to be on stand-by to help patients at evacuation centres already set up to deal with potential flood crisis in Nakhon Si Thammarat.” Heavy rain has been battering the southern regions of the Gulf coast for the past few days and…
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Southern militants escape after gunfight in Narathiwat
by Santhiti Khorjitmet Fighting between soldiers and eight armed militants has erupted on a remote mountain range in the southern province of Narathiwat in the Taway mountains. According to reports, both sides fired more than 100 rounds of ammunition during the confrontation near a suspected insurgents’ base in the Rangae district. Though two suspects were believed to have been injured, all…
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33 cats mauled to death at Hat Yai temple
“The animals were apparently tranquillised and so were helpless when attacked by the dogs.” Police in Hat Yai have been hunting for the driver of a pick-up truck seen dropping off 36 cats at a temple yesterday before 33 of them were mauled to death by stray dogs. A villager filed a complaint with police after finding the 33 cat…
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Man marries Thai ladyboy without ‘checking gender’
PHOTO COMPOSITE: Thai Rath A Danish man has married a Thai ladyboy without doing a full ‘due diligence’ on the gender of his future spouse. But things seems to have worked out anyway. Thai Rath has reported on a marriage ceremony in Thailand’s south last Saturday where the groom was a man from Denmark and the bride was a man…
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Pregnant dugong killed by boat propellor
by Khanitta Sitong A heavily-pregnant dugong, found off Koh Libong in Trang a week ago, has had an autopsy to investigate the cause of death. It was the fifth dugong in the area killed by speedboats this year. The findings indicate that this dugong too came into contact with a local boat propellor. The dugong’s decomposing carcass was found on…
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Government to give cash handouts to oil palm planters
The National Oil Palm Committee, led by Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan, plans to give away 1,500 baht per rai cash handout to 150,000 oil palm planters in a massive subsidy for their production cost. The subsidies arrive with almost perfect timing for the ruling NCPO in the lead up to the national election in February and the rise of the…
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Mother killed by moving train, 2 year old daughter survives
A mother and her 2 year old daughter fell from a train at a station in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The mother died while the girl survived with minor injuries. The incident took place at the Klong Chandee railway station at 10am this morning. Police say 21 year old Benjawan Duangsuwan died at the scene. Her daughter was sent to Por Than…
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