News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
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Sponsored Top 5 luxury villas in Phuket and Koh Samui for your next holiday
Ask people to name the most beautiful places in Thailand, and you'll often hear Phuket and Koh Samui being mentioned. Who would disagree? One is renowned for its bustling nightlife, vibrant culture, and lively beach scene, while the other is...
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A Phuket success story: British siblings’ locate saviors nearly a decade after the tsunami
PHUKET: A Facebook hunt led by British siblings for a man and woman who helped them during the devastating 2004 tsunami is over; their guardians have been found. Upin Sengmuang, a small shop owner on Tri Trang Beach, learned today that she and her partner Pitchat were being sought by Emily and Ben Willgrass, who had posted a message on…
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Sirinath National Park land tug-of-war continues as chief files complaint against illegal landowners
PHUKET: The Sirinath National Park chief is set to file a complaint against three people who are attempting to upgrade allegedly illegally issued SorKor 1 documents into land title deeds. “Tomorrow morning I will file a complaint to Tah Chat Chai Police against Nakorn Wongsrithong, Chan Pongpa and Anoma Fangsen for encroaching on national park land,” said Sirinath National Park…
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Phuket lawyers push mediation as alternative to court
PHUKET: Lawyers and Phuket officials promoting mediation as an alternative to civil lawsuits held their annual informational event today to raise awareness of the option. “The purpose of our event, Mediation 2014, is to encourage people involved in civil lawsuits to settle their cases outside of court. It tends to be a much swifter process and is offered free of…
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Twelve killed, 120 hurt in Moscow subway accident
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Twelve killed, 120 hurt in Moscow subway accident Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Twelve people were killed on Tuesday and up to 120 injured when a Moscow underground train derailed between two stations during the morning rush hour, the Emergencies Ministry said. Russia’s investigative committee said…
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It’s raining snakes: enormous Phuket python seeks shelter
PHUKET: A four-meter-long python gave an unsuspecting Phuket Town resident a fright this morning. “I was cleaning and had just started on the back room of my house when I saw a big snake lying on the floor,” said 67-year-old homeowner Boonsaner Kullavanit. The startled Ms Boonsaner immediately called Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers, who arrived at the house on Surin…
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Video goes viral of Phuket beach club emptying trash bags in sand
PHUKET: A video posted on YouTube showing Surin beach club staff burying the contents of black garbage bags in the sand is not a matter of concern, says Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-ann Samran. “I saw the video a long time ago and had my staff check it out,” Mayor Ma-ann told the Phuket Gazette today. In the video, taken a…
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Phuket mayor seeks B60mn for seawall to stave off coastal erosion
PHUKET: The Cherng Talay mayor will ask the nation’s military leaders for 60 million baht to build a seawall to prevent coastal erosion at Phuket’s Surin Beach. “We are collecting documents to accompany the budget request, such as plans for the seawall and evidence showing how much damage is done each year by coastal erosion,” Mayor Ma-ann Samran told the…
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Navy tears down Phuket beach restaurants at Nai Yang
PHUKET: About 100 Navy personnel and national park officers are this morning continuing their “mop up” operation after tearing down 11 restaurants and bars at Phuket’s Nai Yang Beach yesterday. “We notified these vendors that they were encroaching on national park land and ordered them many times to remove their buildings, but they ignored us,” Sirinath National Park Chief Kitiphat…
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Train rape suspect to appear in court tomorrow
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Train rape suspect to appear in court tomorrow The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prachuap Khiri Khan police confirmed yesterday that the rape and murder case of a 13-year-old girl on a Nakhon Si Thammarat-Bangkok train would be handed over to the public prosecutor tomorrow. Provincial…
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Tourist’s body found in Chiang Mai lake
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tourist’s body found in Chiang Mai lake The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The body of a South Korean tourist was found in a large man-made lake in Chiang Mai’s Hang Dong district yesterday. Police believe Song Tae Khy, 22, drowned while swimming with his friends…
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Egypt launches initiative to halt Israel-Palestinian conflict
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt launches initiative to halt Israel-Palestinian conflict Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Egypt launched an initiative on Monday to halt fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants, proposing a ceasefire to be followed by talks in Cairo on settling the conflict in which Gaza authorities say more…
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Crackdown on tourist visas sees dozens turned away per month at Phuket’s main portal to Malaysia
PHUKET: Tourists unable to prove the legitimacy of their trip to Thailand are being turned away despite having tourist visas issued by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed Lt Col Banphot Kittivira, deputy superintendent of the Immigration checkpoint at Sadao. The Sadao checkpoint, the portal for Phuket visa runners bound for Malaysia, sees about 100 foreigners denied entry into the…
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No flash flood warning for Phuket – yet
PHUKET: Despite heavy rains throughout Phuket today, the local office of the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has confirmed that no warning has been issued for flash floods or landslides on the island. “We haven’t been told to issue local warnings,” Santhad Panbanpeaw, director of the Phuket TMD office, told the Phuket Gazette. “The current wet weather is the same as…
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Accor steps into high-end ring with Grand Mercure Patong Phuket
THE ACCOR Group’s latest high-end hotel in the province is aiming to quickly ween itself off the source of its current success, TripAdvisor, and use agent-sourced revenue streams to hit its 2014 goal of gross revenue exceeding 160 million baht. “Phuket is an agent-based destination. It’s the bread and butter of the business. It would be too risky to rely…
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Phuket bag handler nabbed for swiping tourist’s Mac laptops
PHUKET: Tourist Police on Saturday arrested a bus bag handler in Phuket for stealing two laptops from a Chinese woman last week. Ywei Guo, 24, boarded the Trang-Phuket bus in Krabi Town last Wednesday. Only after arriving in Phuket did Ms Ywei notice that her Macbook Pro and Macbook Air were missing from her bag, which had been loaded into…
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Thai dessert seller found drowned under sidecar in canal
PHUKET: A woman who sold Thai desserts was found drowned, trapped under her sidecar in the Klong Koh Pee canal on the outskirts of Phuket Town, yesterday. Police called to the scene in Soi Sakdidet 9 in Wichit at 9am saw the wheels of a sidecar above the water, said Lt Jarus Laempan of the Wichit Police. After 20 minutes,…
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Phuket Pearl Group to promote and sell its products in overseas markets
PHUKET: Phuket Pearl Group, a large Thai cultured-pearl producer, plans to promote its “Amorn Pearl” trademark internationally. President Amorn Intorncharoen said last week that the company realizes that to become the leading pearl trader and integrated farm operator in the region – in the face of the seamless trade promised by the fast approaching AEC integration – trademarks and brand…
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Java on fire to win Phuket Multihull Solutions Regatta
PHUKET: Mick Coleman and his crew on Java blazed around the course off the east coast of Phuket over the weekend to win the Racing Multihull Class in the Phuket Multihull Solutions Regatta. Java mastered wind blasts of up to 30 knots to score four firsts and two second-place finishes, amassing a total of just six points to lift the…
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EC defends its proposals to overhaul political system
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community EC defends its proposals to overhaul political system The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Election Commission (EC) yesterday denied that its reform plan put to the National Council for Peace and Order last week came at the expense of politicians, saying its intentions were above-board…
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Anti-graft agency probing rice deals, links to ministers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anti-graft agency probing rice deals, links to ministers The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Anti-Corruption Commission sub-panel is deeply probing alleged irregularities in the rice-pledging scheme’s financial transactions to identify possible nominees linked to five former ministers under investigation, NACC deputy secretary-general Warawit Sukboon…
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Taekwondo star: ‘My coach hit me’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Taekwondo star: ‘My coach hit me’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Taekwondo Association of Thailand will launch an investigation into national coach Chai Young Seok after his charge – Asian Championship bronze medallist Rungrawee Kurasa – alleged he physically assaulted her. The 23-year-old taekwondo…
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Germany’s strength in depth delivers ultimate prize
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Germany’s strength in depth delivers ultimate prize Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Germany’s impressive strength in depth proved the decisive factor in their 1-0 extra-time World Cup final victory over Argentina on Sunday as Lionel Messi failed to deliver the golden touch for the South Americans.…
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DNP chief locked and loaded: targets high-ranking officials over Phuket land snatching
PHUKET: More than 1,000 rai of Phuket land illegally owned by former ministers, deputies and provincial governors will be returned to the public, said Samak Donnapee, director of the Bureau of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP). “The 92 plots being taken back are in Sakoo and Cherng Talay,” confirmed Sirinath National Park Chief Kitiphat Tharapiban to the Phuket…
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Phuket police hunt human smugglers after rescuing debt-trapped Burmese fishermen
PHUKET: Fast action by the Phuket Marine Police freed two Myanmar nationals who were trapped in indentured labor on a fishing vessel as Thailand continues its campaign to rebut its downgrade to the lowest tier on the US State Department’s “Trafficking in Persons” report. “We take this issue very seriously,” Lt Col Panya Chaichana of Phuket Marine Police told the…
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Phuket Opinion: It’s up to all of us to save the foolish from Phuket’s rips
PHUKET: A friend and I who were surfing in Kata last year came across two young Phuket natives who had gotten into trouble when they were pulled into deep water. We put them on our boards and swam them in to shore, only to watch one of them fade away in front of our eyes. The sight of the 20-year-old’s…
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Phuket Opinion: Taxing alcohol – a taxing issue
Sean Gabb is Director of the Libertarian Alliance in London and has written on subjects as diverse as gay marriage, handicapped parking and second-hand smoke. From 1991 to 1992, he served as Economic and Political Adviser to the Prime Minister of Slovakia. He is the author of 20 books, including novels and poetry. His new novel, The Break, has been…
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Ban monkey business
PHUKET: The recent introduction of two gibbons rescued in Phuket into the wilds of Northern Thailand is a landmark achievement for the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand (WARF) and the many affiliated groups and volunteers who played roles in making it happen. We join the rest of the island in thanking them all and wishing them the best of…
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Marine Police ramp up inspections to promote Phuket boat safety
PHUKET: Marine police are in the midst of a blitz on Phuket tourist boats and crew to promote safety over the four-day holiday weekend. “It’s our responsibility to continually check on the boats and strictly enforce regulations to ensure the safety of passengers, especially during the long holidays, when more people are expected to be in Phuket,” said Lt Col…
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Gaza toll passes 100; Israel to counter rockets ‘with all power’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Gaza toll passes 100; Israel to counter rockets ‘with all power’ Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ori Lewis PHUKET: An airstrike outside a family home early Saturday pushed the Palestinian death toll past 100 in four days of cross-border fighting as Israel…
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Military silent on ‘cash for clearance’ at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: Navy officers have fallen silent over their investigation into immigration officials at Phuket International Airport who allegedly solicit cash payments from tourists to clear immigration queues. On Wednesday, one of the top-ranking officers who led a Monday raid of the airport declined to reveal to the Phuket Gazette whether or not his officers were continuing their investigation into the…
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