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.

The Thaiger is your essential resource for staying connected with Thailand’s captivating blend of tradition and modernity. To remain in the loop with the country’s most trusted news source, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.

  • Sponsored

    The 5 common types of markets to start trading

    Just getting started on trading? You’re probably wondering about the types of markets available and which one you should trade. This decision can be daunting for beginners since each market offers unique opportunities with varying risk levels and potential returns....

  • PHUKET FINANCE: Don’t let a ‘wall of worry’ cut you off from a bull market

    PHUKET FINANCE: Don’t let a ‘wall of worry’ cut you off from a bull market

    PHUKET: Although the economic numbers coming out of the United States are not exactly impressive, the S&P 500 has been hitting all time highs and at the end of April, was up some 14.5% since the start of the year, while gold, the ultimate investment of market contrarians, plunged the most in 33 years. In other words, the US stock…

  • Long-awaited Patong Phuket Immigration office to re-open Thursday

    Long-awaited Patong Phuket Immigration office to re-open Thursday

    PHUKET: The Patong Immigration office, scheduled to re-open almost a year and a half ago (story here), will open on Thursday, and provide limited immigration services in addition to general immigration information. The office, located on Thaweewong Road next to the Patong Tourist Police Volunteers office (map here), will provide 90-day resident reporting services. In addition, hotels will be able…

  • Prison products to hit Phuket streets

    Prison products to hit Phuket streets

    PHUKET: The 10th annual Southern Prison Products Fair gets underway at Saphan Hin this evening and continues to June 17.The fair showcases products made by inmates in the 14 southern provinces.“There are many handmade products for sale at fair prices, including good quality furniture,” said Phuket Prison Chief Rapin Nichano.“The project is excellent for prisoners because 50 per cent of…

  • Phuket International Boat Show 2014 sponsorship opportunities

    Phuket International Boat Show 2014 sponsorship opportunities

    PHUKET: A number of commercial sponsorship and partnership packages are now available for the next Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX), which will celebrate its eleventh anniversary next January. Sponsorship experts, Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co Ltd, will represent PIMEX 2014 in its drive to attract new sponsors and partners, offering several package tiers (click here for site). Andy Dowden…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Egyptian war talk; Rains leave 40 dead; Thwarted Taliban attack; Mandela still serious; Suspected Taliban behead boys

    Phuket Gazette World News: Egyptian war talk; Rains leave 40 dead; Thwarted Taliban attack; Mandela still serious; Suspected Taliban behead boys

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egypt “war” talk raises Ethiopia Nile dam stakes Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Egypt does not want war with Ethiopia but will keep “all options open”, President Mohamed Mursi said yesterday, turning up the heat in a dispute over a giant dam Addis Ababa is building across the…

  • Phuket Police find Swedish expat dead in Chalong | Thaiger

    Phuket Police find Swedish expat dead in Chalong

    PHUKET: A Swedish expat was found dead in Chalong yesterday evening. The body of Aino Marianne Seppala, 57, was found lying on a couch in her living room. Ms Seppala’s right hand was heavily bandaged and a variety of medications were on the coffee table, said Wuttiwat Liang-boonjinda of the Chalong Police. There was no evidence of violence in the…

  • Swedish domino effect nets another Phuket drug dealer

    Swedish domino effect nets another Phuket drug dealer

    PHUKET: Two gun-stashing drug dealers were scooped up on Friday in the wake of a drug bust that netted a Swedish national in Karon last month. Hasachai Khaokhem and Suvimon Chaikhun were arrested on Friday when police recognized them from a description given last month by drug dealer Nattharin Dansathaporn, 29. Mr Nattharin was found based on information supplied by…

  • Laguna Phuket International Marathon sees fun and fund-raising

    Laguna Phuket International Marathon sees fun and fund-raising

    PHUKET: Michael Page of the UK won the eighth Laguna Phuket International Marathon (LPIM) when the annual running festival took to the island’s roads over the weekend. More than 4,000 entrants of all ages and abilities from 45 countries competed on a variety of distance courses in an atmosphere of community fun and charity fund-raising. Page finished the 42 kilometer…

  • V for Thailand unmasks Phuket unrest

    V for Thailand unmasks Phuket unrest

    PHUKET: Thousands of Phuket residents donned white Guy Fawkes masks and joined anti-government group “V for Thailand” to protest the current administration’s running of the country. “We are not a mob, we have gathered to let the government know that their management of Thailand has failed,” said a statement issued under the name of V-Phuket to the media during the…

  • Rainstorm drowns out Phuket FC

    Rainstorm drowns out Phuket FC

    PHUKET: The rainstorm that swept over the island last night forced officials to abandon the football match between Phuket FC and PTT Rayong; the decision was made more than halfway through the 0-0 deadlock at Surakul Stadium. Attending the half-match last night were several VIP guests of Phuket FC President Pamuke Achiriyachai, including Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut, Mr Pedro Moreira,…

  • Weather warning for Phuket, Andaman as Patong’s streets flooded

    Weather warning for Phuket, Andaman as Patong’s streets flooded

    PHUKET: The flood waters from last night’s deluge have cleared from Patong’s streets, but the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued a weather warning for Phuket and the Andaman region forecasting more heavy rain until at least Friday. A two-hour torrential downpour last night flooded major streets in Patong, including the party district of Soi Bangla, to depths of half…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: NSA leak Snowden seeks refuge in Hong Kong; Germany evacuates as Elbe floods; Nazi diary undusted; Tanks in Beirut

    Phuket Gazette World News: NSA leak Snowden seeks refuge in Hong Kong; Germany evacuates as Elbe floods; Nazi diary undusted; Tanks in Beirut

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ex-CIA man says exposed U.S. spy scheme for better world Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: A former CIA employee working as a contractor at the U.S. National Security Agency revealed in an interview published on Sunday it was he who leaked details of a top secret U.S. surveillance…

  • UK’s Page wins Laguna Phuket Marathon | Thaiger

    UK’s Page wins Laguna Phuket Marathon

    PHUKET: Michael Page of Great Britain won the Laguna Phuket International Marathon 2013 this morning, completing the 42km circuit in 2 hours 41 minutes and 2 seconds. Officials have yet to confirm the results, but according to the preliminary times posted by official timekeeper Championchip Thailand (click here), Page crossed the finish line 10 minutes ahead of Yasuhiro Saito of…

  • Laguna International Marathon: 4,100 runners to conquer Phuket tomorrow

    Laguna International Marathon: 4,100 runners to conquer Phuket tomorrow

    PHUKET: A total of 4,100 runners – aged 13 to 80 years old and representing 45 countries – have registered to compete in the five races of the 8th Laguna Phuket International Marathon (LPIM), with runners set to take their marks as early as 4am tomorrow. Speaking to the Gazette this afternoon, shortly after marathon registration closed, Roman Floesser of…

  • British national busted for dealing heroin on Phuket

    British national busted for dealing heroin on Phuket

    PHUKET: A Phuket Marine Police sting operation last night busted a British national with 6.1 grams of heroin smuggled onto Phuket from Koh Samui. John Robert George Cawley, 22, was caught in a Rassada rental room at about 11:30pm in possession of the category 1 drug stuffed into seven plastic bottles, said Phuket Marine Police Inspector Chatchai Sakdee. Marine Police,…

  • Hundreds of Phuket residents come together for World Ocean Day 2013

    Hundreds of Phuket residents come together for World Ocean Day 2013

    PHUKET: Nearly 500 local students and other participants joined together at the Phuket Aquarium in celebration of World Ocean Day 2013 this morning. “For this special day we encourage people to become more aware of the problems facing our oceans, and the need for them to take action,” Sombat Poovachiranon of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) said. The United…

  • Video Report: Phuket slams the brakes on tour bus neglect

    Video Report: Phuket slams the brakes on tour bus neglect

    PHUKET: The dramatic crash of a tour bus that plowed into a home in Patong on Tuesday night has prompted the Phuket Land Transportation Office (PLTO) to warn that under new measures tour bus companies found to repeatedly fail safety requirements stand to have their commercial passenger permits revoked permanently. “This includes tour companies and independent operators hired by tour…

  • Team Phuket Today to take on LPIM

    Team Phuket Today to take on LPIM

    PHUKET: Avid viewers of the Phuket Today show will no doubt be aware that, for the past several weeks, the TV show’s presenters have been training for this year’s Laguna Phuket International Marathon (LPIM). Isaac Stone Simonelli, who also has the challenging job of running the editorial news department of the Phuket Gazette you are currently reading; Tara Sudlow, lifestyle…

  • Phuket Sports: Monaco, Montreal, modifications – F1

    Phuket Sports: Monaco, Montreal, modifications – F1

    PHUKET: A crash laden Monaco was good for Mercedes; Nico Rosberg, now probably their number one driver, led from start to finish. This is not a harbinger of things to come in 2013; Monaco is a special race. Monaco, Spa and Suzuka are often quoted as the three tracks where driver skill can overcome technical differences between their cars. But…

  • Phuket Football: Islanders face uphill battle

    Phuket Football: Islanders face uphill battle

    PHUKET: Phuket FC’s inconsistent start to the season continued after they beat their Phang Nga Bay rivals Krabi 2-0 on May 29 in front of a raucous crowd: The team then traveled to Saraburi and lost 1-0 after Mario Neto scored a late winner. The Islanders are in fifth place, three points behind Bangkok FC in the last automatic promotion…

  • Special Report: Breaching walls for Phuket tsunami safety

    Special Report: Breaching walls for Phuket tsunami safety

    SPECIAL REPORT: Tsunami evacuation drills have become part of Phuket life since the devastating waves struck our shores in 2004. But has familiarity bred contempt for safety in the west coast village of Kamala? The Phuket Gazette reports. PHUKET: Phuket recently hosted a full-scale tsunami drill (story here), with rescue workers practicing the actions they would take should a wall…

  • Phuket Opinion: Stop the tour bus insanity

    Phuket Opinion: Stop the tour bus insanity

    PHUKET: The latest crash of a tour bus descending into Patong highlights yet again the need for tour bus operators – and drivers in particular – to take personal responsibility for the safety of passengers under their care. If it can be considered as such, the only good fortune in this latest tragedy is that no lives were lost and…

  • Phuket Opinion: Coordinate manpower to corral illegal taxis

    Phuket Opinion: Coordinate manpower to corral illegal taxis

    Manaporn Likitmanon, a 31-year-old Songkhla native, was a Police Investigator at Samut Sakhon Immigration from 2008 to 2012 before returning south last year to become a Highways Police Inspector covering the tri-province area of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi. Here he talks about how to solve the problem of metered and illegal taxis in Phuket. PHUKET: We have received many…

  • Phuket bank stabbing witnesses confirm murder-suicide

    Phuket bank stabbing witnesses confirm murder-suicide

    PHUKET: The two women present in the Bank of Ayudhya meeting room yesterday watched when Phonthakorn Teerabenjakul, 51, pulled out a knife and stabbed Piboon Vachwanichsanong, 71, to death, and then killed himself, police say (story here). “The women saw the whole thing,” Phuket City Police Inspector Yongyuth Kongmalai told the Phuket Gazette today. “They said there was no fight…

  • Phuket Opinion: The heart in darkness

    Phuket Opinion: The heart in darkness

    PHUKET: The island’s streets, along with those in the other 13 Southern provinces, were plunged into darkness for a couple of hours on the evening of May 21, due to the Kingdom’s biggest power outage in three decades (story here) The blackout sparked Thai netizens into a conspiracy theory frenzy, with rumors of everything from a terrorist attack to a…

  • Phuket Police: Mixed up shoes offer only lead to Cinderella snatch thief

    Phuket Police: Mixed up shoes offer only lead to Cinderella snatch thief

    PHUKET: Police barely have their shoe in the door for a case against a pair of snatch thieves after a botched attempt to grab an Irish woman’s purse led to a motorbike crash and a lost flip flop.Hannah Louise O’Hagan, 27, was driving a motorbike to her boyfriend’s place at Baan Term Fun Housing Estate yesterday evening after a trip…

  • Phuket Gazette World News: Obama urged to press China; Privacy debate; Letter gives hope; 165 Migrants saved; Search ends; Russian navy deploys to Med

    Phuket Gazette World News: Obama urged to press China; Privacy debate; Letter gives hope; 165 Migrants saved; Search ends; Russian navy deploys to Med

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Lawmakers, activists urge Obama to press Xi on China prisoners Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: U.S. lawmakers and 30 human rights groups yesterday urged President Barack Obama to use a weekend summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to press for the freedom of 16 prominent political…

  • Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Suu Kyi takes center stage; Rice loss touches 400bn; Beams tumble; Tax losses hit 20bn; Elephant poachers arrested

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Suu Kyi takes center stage; Rice loss touches 400bn; Beams tumble; Tax losses hit 20bn; Elephant poachers arrested

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Suu Kyi steals the limelight The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: As in Bangkok last year, Myanmar’s democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi was in the spotlight when over 900 participants gathered for the biggest international event the country has hosted in decades. Participants at the…

  • Mosquito virus news buzz batted down by Phuket Public Officials

    Mosquito virus news buzz batted down by Phuket Public Officials

    PHUKET: The news buzz across the Pacific that has worked its way back to Thailand after a Canadian woman was forced to turn to the American Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to identify a mysterious malady has been batted down by Phuket Public Officials.The 45-year-old Canadian tourist, who visited Bangkok and Phuket, was bitten repeatedly by mosquitoes, reported The Canadian…

  • Phuket event encourages mindful consumption for World Environment Day

    Phuket event encourages mindful consumption for World Environment Day

    PHUKET: Taking part in a global initiative to increase awareness about environmental concerns, Phuket held an event in line with the theme of World Environment Day (WED) this year: Think. Eat. Save. The event in Phuket was held at Vachira Phuket Hospital yesterday morning. “The theme this year strives to encourage people to think about how to reduce the amount…