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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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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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Poll set for Sunday amid fears of further violence; Man shot, gunman caught; Reds to rally nationwide
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Poll set for Sunday amid fears of further violence The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The decision to go ahead with the February 2 election would only mount pressure on the caretaker government because it would provide “ammunition” to the protesters, a leader of the People’s Democratic for…
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Mission to replace detached tsunami warning buoy departs from Phuket
PHUKET: A 10-day mission departed from Phuket late yesterday to replace a tsunami warning buoy in the Indian Ocean. The original buoy was severed from its anchorage months ago (story here). National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) Chief Somsak Khaosuwan chaired the mission launch, which is to be carried out by experts on board the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center research…
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B12mn canal extension project to begin in March
PHUKET: A 12-million-baht project to dredge the Koh Kaew Canal and deepen the existing approach channel from Phang Nga Bay will begin in March.The six-month project was approved at a public hearing led by Governor Maitri Inthusut at the Royal Phuket Marina last Thursday.“Our officers found that the canal is not deep enough for big boats or yachts and could…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Police rescue hundreds of Rohingya in raid on suspected traffickers’ camp
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai police rescue hundreds of Rohingya in raid on suspected traffickers’ camp Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Thai police have rescued hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from a remote camp in a raid prompted by a Reuters investigation into human trafficking, police officials said on Monday.Police detained 531 men,…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Sri Lanka says international war crimes probe would bring chaos
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sri Lanka says international war crimes probe would bring ‘chaos’ Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: An international inquiry into war crimes in Sri Lanka would bring “chaos,” and the government’s national reconciliation process must be given several more years to work, a top aide to Sri Lanka’s president…
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Phuket Gazette World News: World Bank warns Myanmar on corruption as it unveils $2bn in aid
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community World Bank warns Myanmar on corruption as it unveils $2 billion in aid Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The World Bank on Monday warned Myanmar against corruption as it unveiled a $2 billion aid package designed to provide better health care and improve supplies of electricity.Despite the country’s…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Protesters mourn Suthin, murder witness steps up; Election date looms; Rice corruption plagues Yingluck
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Govt may let EC decide election date The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The caretaker government is likely to pass the hot potato of rescheduling the February 2 elections over to the Election Commission (EC) when caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra meets election commissioners today.A source in the…
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US embassy consular outreach clinic in Phuket
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok will hold an Outreach Visit at Le Meridien Hotel in Karon on January 29. Consular staff will be available from 8am to midday to provide the following services: • Passport renewal applications (US$110 or 3,410 baht for adult passports, US$105 or 3,255 baht for a minor’s passport). • Notarial Services…
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Phuket lucky license plate auction pulls up short of the mark
PHUKET: The Phuket Lucky License Plate Auction fell short of a 30-million-baht goal this year (story here) with bidders handing over just 23mn baht for road-safety campaigns and traffic-victim rehabilitation programs. The two-day auction organized by the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) was held at the Phuket Merlin Hotel (map here) on Saturday and Sunday. More than 300 license plates…
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Phuket Town to enjoy Chinese acrobats, but no fireworks for Year of the Horse
PHUKET: A troupe of 50 acrobats from China will headline the entertainment in Phuket Town to usher in Chinese New Year this Friday. The Henan Acrobatic Troupe will perform nine chapters of their “Chinese fairy tale” repertoire, explained Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising. “They will also perform other splendid shows, but there will not be a fireworks…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Chalerm gives protesters 72 hours to quit
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Chalerm tells protesters to leave govt offices in 72 hours or face arrest The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Caretaker Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, the director of the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO), today issued an ultimatum to protesters to halt their siege of government offices…
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Lone voter casts ballot in Phuket poll shutdown
PHUKET: Phuket protesters arriving late to shut down the polling station in Thalang yesterday resulted in one lone voter casting a ballot in the advance voting for the February 2 national election. “We cannot reveal who that person was, but he arrived and voted before the protesters turned up at about 9:30am,” said polling station chief Chaiya Khamsaad. Once the…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Syrian government to allow women, children to exit war zone
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Syria talks bring offer of exit from siege of Homs Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The Syrian government offered to let women and children leave the besieged city of Homs on Sunday as negotiators from the warring sides discussed humanitarian gestures on a second day of face-to-face talks…
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Phuket Gazette World News: At least 21 people dead after Indian tourist boat capsizes
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community At least 21 people dead after Indian tourist boat capsizes Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: At least 21 people died after a boat carrying Indian tourists capsized off India’s Andaman Islands, officials said on Sunday.“A boat with some 40 odd people sank earlier today,” Anand Prakash, Chief Secretary…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Police name gunman in Maryland mall shooting; motive still unclear
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police name gunman in Maryland mall shooting; motive still unclear Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A gunman who shot and killed two people at a Maryland mall was a 19-year-old who lived with his mother in a nearby Washington suburb and arrived at the shopping centre in a…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Tunisia approves new constitution, appoints government
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tunisia approves new constitution, appoints government Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Tunisia’s national assembly approved the country’s new constitution on Sunday in one of the final steps to full democracy three years after protests erupted into an uprising that toppled autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.Just before the constitution’s…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Quebec premier vows ‘never again’ after 32 die in senior residence fire
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Quebec premier vows ‘never again’ after 32 die in senior residence fire Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Quebec Premier Pauline Marois on Sunday said a fatal fire in a seniors’ residence was “unacceptable” but stopped short of saying her government would make sprinklers mandatory in homes for the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Anger, violence rock voting in capital; Poll blockades across South; Northern snow just frost
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anger and violence rock voting in capital The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Advance voting for the national election was disrupted yesterday by violence, with the murder of an anti-government protest leader and a dozen people injured. This includes voters who wanted to cast ballots.Police have said they…
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Phuket landlord, son, slain in lease dispute
PHUKET: A Phuket landlord and her son were gunned down in front of their family home in Thung Thong yesterday afternoon amid a heated a dispute over continuing a lease for a local curry shop that sold sugarcane juice. Police arrived at the scene (map here) at about 4:30pm to find Boonlet Thanom-anantakun, 42, standing next to the house with…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Anti-Thaksin protest leader slain in public shooting
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anti-Thaksin protest leader slain in public shooting The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Suthin Taratin, one of leaders of People’s Army to Overthrow the Thaksin Regime, was killed by a gunshot to the head as he was leading a blockade at an advance polling station in Bangkok’s Bang…
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Phuket election alcohol ban starts tonight
PHUKET: Phuket will face an alcohol ban starting at 6pm tonight ahead of the advance voting tomorrow for the February 2 national election.“According to the Election Act, all alcohol sales in Phuket are banned from 6pm tonight through to midnight tomorrow because of the advance voting for the MP elections,” Phuket Election Commission (PEC) Director Kittipong Thiengkunakrit confirmed to the…
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Phuket Local Food Festival serves up a treat
PHUKET: The sixth annual Phuket Local Food Festival started at Saphan Hin last night, with Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut serving up healthy portions of local delicacies. “This is a great fair that all tourists should know about because it shows how beautifully unique Phuket is,” Governor Maitri said. “In addition to our beautiful beaches, we have a special culture and…
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Phuket traffic chief sets sights on B30mn record licence plate auction
PHUKET: The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) is hoping to raise a record 30 million baht from the annual Lucky Licence Plate Auction being held in Phuket Town this weekend. The two-day event at the Phuket Merlin Hotel (map here) began today at 9:30am, with 301 licence plates to go to the highest bidders. All licence plates to be auctioned…
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Phuket Gazette World News: Peru clears former government leaders after probe of forced sterilizations
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Peru clears former government leaders after probe of forced sterilizations Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Peru has closed an inquiry into whether former president Alberto Fujimori and his cabinet members forcibly sterilized thousands of indigenous women as part of a birth control campaign that targeted the rural poor.Prosecutor…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Election can be delayed – court; Japan cancels all tours to Thailand; Govt scrambles for B130bn to pay rice farmers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Poll can be deferred: court The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The February 2 election can only be postponed if the ongoing protests are brought to an end and there is no boycott of the election, a government figure said yesterday following a Constitutional Court ruling that the…
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Mum mourns murdered son at Phuket sentencing
PHUKET: The mother of Maxim Schantz, who was murdered in Phuket two years ago, arrived today at Phuket Provincial Court for the sentencing of one of her son’s murderers, Johan Sebastian Ljung. “Maxim was a very good son. He was beautiful. He had his father’s eyes,” Yvonne Schantz, 55, told the Phuket Gazette. “I had two children: Maxim and his…
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Thailand third worst in the world for road deaths; Phuket killing someone every three days
PHUKET: Over 300 people from throughout Southern Thailand yesterday concluded a two-day seminar geared to develop methods to reduce road-traffic deaths. Thailand currently ranks third in the world in annual road-death rates, with 38 fatalities per 100,000 people. Only Niue (a Polynesian island whose name translates to “Behold the Coconut”) and the the Dominican Republic have higher rates, said Thanapong…
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Special Report: Donation denial leaves blood in short supply
Special Report Pim Hoogeveen, a 61-year-old Dutchman, offered his blood to save a life. He responded to an urgent call for A-negative blood donations. His donation was refused. The Phuket Gazette’s Shela Riva investigates the process behind donating blood on the island – the restrictions and the rewards. PHUKET: The recent call by the Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) for…
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Phuket Opinion: Putting the brakes on tourist bike accidents
Paitoon Sillapavisut, 41, is a Nakhon Sri Thammarat native who graduated from Ramkhamhaeng University in Business Management. He has been the senior manager of the Phuket branch of Road Accident Victim Protection Co Ltd Since 1998. Here, Mr Paitoon talks about what causes visitors to have motorcycle accidents on the island and suggests what measures should be taken to prevent…
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Phuket Opinion: Race against a fading pulse
PHUKET: The sustained work of the Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) in organizing blood donation drives that have saved countless lives over the years should be applauded. However, it might be time to reconsider some of the more restrictive criteria over who can donate blood when it is a matter of life and death. Thanks to relatively recent advances in…
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