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.
-
Would-be bomber causing Stockholm lock-down surrenders to police
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Would-be bomber causing Stockholm lock-down surrenders to police Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A man who had threatened to set off explosives in the heart of Stockholm on Thursday, prompting an hours-long lockdown in the Swedish capital, finally gave himself up to police, a spokesman said.…
-
Lethal Suarez gives Uruguay 2-1 win over England
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Lethal Suarez gives Uruguay 2-1 win over England Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Luis Suarez struck twice including a dramatic late winner to earn Uruguay a 2-1 victory over England in a pulsating World Cup Group D match on Thursday. Restored to the lineup after injury,…
-
Heavy rains, floods hit Bulgaria; 10 people killed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Heavy rains, floods hit Bulgaria; 10 people killed Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Torrential rains and floods hit Bulgaria on Thursday, killing at least 10 people, cutting off electricity, blocking roads and sparking evacuations, officials said. Heavy rainfall in the Black Sea resort city of Varna…
-
Ukrainian ‘Pedo Heaven’ expat arrested in Phuket gets 30 years for child porn
PHUKET: Ukrainian Maksym Shynkarenko, arrested in Phuket in 2009, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison on child pornography charges. Shynkarenko, 35, pleaded guilty to starting and operating a hard-core child pornography website for three years, for which a federal judge in New Jersey on Tuesday sentenced him to three decades in prison, reported Reuters. In January, Shynkarenko admitted…
-
Phuket residents rail against Kata beachfront land stake
PHUKET: More than 100 Phuket residents gathered for three hours yesterday to halt the construction of a fence along Kata Beach, on land adjacent to Club Med Phuket, arguing that it was encroaching on public land. “We don’t understand how someone can build on this land; it is along the beachfront,” said Karon resident Wichit Yaowarot. “We want officials to…
-
Police say leads exhausted in death of 7-year-old Nong Dear
PHUKET: The investigation into the death of a seven-year-old girl whose body was found dismembered in a Chalong forest late last year has reached a standstill. Nong Dear disappeared on her way home from a relative’s house on December 6 (story here) and her remains were found in a nearby wood on December 19 (story here). “This is a very…
-
After recent damage, Krabi seeks ways to protect ancient fossils
PHUKET: Recent storm damage to fossil formations in Krabi’s famous Shell Cemetery has prompted local officials to declare the area off-limits and to request a budget to build a seawall at the site. “The fossils are 75 million years old,” said Pinij Engchuan, chief of Hat Noppharat Thara National Park. “They have been slowly cracking since the tsunami in 2004…
-
Turtles wash ashore in high seas
PHUKET: Two sea turtles that washed ashore at Mai Khao Beach during recent rough weather are being treated at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). “A Hawksbill was found on June 11 and an Olive Ridley was found yesterday,” said Kittipan Supkoon of the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation (click here). “The Hawksbill is about 8-10 years old and 40…
-
Migrant worker exodus hits agriculture, construction sectors
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Migrant worker exodus hits agriculture, construction sectors The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Of the more than 100,000 Cambodian workers who fled Thailand, 60-70 per cent were in the construction and agricultural sector in the East, permanent secretary for Labour Jeerasak Sukhonthachart said yesterday. Over the…
-
NCPO targets taxi mafia at Suvarnabhumi Airport
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Smart-card system for cabs to eliminate mafia role at Suvarnabhumi Airport The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will introduce a smart-card system for the taxi queue at Suvarnabhumi Airport in a bid to end the “mafia-style operation” there.…
-
Iraq asks US for air support to counter rebels
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Iraq asks US for air support to counter rebels Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Iraq has asked the United States for air support in countering Sunni rebels, the top U.S. general said on Wednesday, after the militants seized major cities in a lightning advance that has…
-
King Felipe VI to be sworn in
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community King Felipe VI to be sworn in as Spain’s royals try to update Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Spain’s new king, Felipe VI, will be sworn in on Thursday in a low-key ceremony which monarchists hope will usher in a new era of popularity for the…
-
Rohingya camp conditions in Myanmar ‘appalling’ – U.N. official
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rohingya camp conditions in Myanmar ‘appalling’ – U.N. official Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A senior U.N. aid official said on Tuesday she had witnessed a level of human suffering never seen before in camps for some 140,000 stateless Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, displaced…
-
After years of pressure, Japan bans possession of child porn
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community After years of pressure, Japan bans possession of child porn Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Japan’s parliament voted on Wednesday to outlaw possession of child pornography after years of international calls for a crackdown, but avoided a clampdown on sexually explicit manga comics and animation depicting…
-
Mayor denounces reports that legal Phuket beach club structures face demolition
PHUKET: In an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette, Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-ann Samran this afternoon denied English-language reports in Phuket that buildings on the east side of the beachfront path at Surin Beach would be demolished. The news comes amid a flurry of reports about the demolition of beach club structures encroaching on the sand at the beach as…
-
Syria air strike kills 20 in refugee camp
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Syria bombing kills 20 in refugee camp near Jordan border -activists Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Syrian army helicopters bombed a refugee camp along the Jordanian border on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people, mostly children and women, residents and opposition activists said. They said the…
-
Israel re-arrests former Palestinian prisoners in hunt for teens
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Israel re-arrests former Palestinian prisoners in hunt for teens Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Israel re-arrested 51 Palestinians freed in a 2011 prisoner swap deal, the army said on Wednesday, in the sixth day of a hunt for three missing teenagers believed abducted in the occupied…
-
China scolds Vietnam for ‘hyping up’ South China Sea oil rig row
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community China scolds Vietnam for ‘hyping up’ South China Sea oil rig row Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: China’s top diplomat scolded Vietnamese officials during talks in Hanoi on Wednesday for “hyping up” a row over a Chinese oil rig drilling in disputed waters in the South…
-
Junta to court martial anti-lese majeste law lecturer
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Anti-lese majeste law lecturer arrested and faced military court The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The junta has detained and charged Thammasat University law lecturer Worajet Pakeerat for defying a junta order to report. Worajet, who is known for his campaign against the lese majeste law,…
-
Power-mongering turns ugly as rift divides Phuket taxi drivers
PHUKET: Amid news of taxi ranks being torn down at Phuket west-coast beaches over the past week, the taxi co-operative at Central Festival Phuket shopping mall has split into opposing factions and its president has appealed for help to close the rift. The co-operative was to serve as a model for taxi management in Phuket and was part of a…
-
Phillipp Graf von Hardenberg takes the reins at Thanyapura
PHUKET: It takes one look at Phillipp Graf von Hardenberg’s resume to understand why he was appointed the new President and CEO of Phuket’s Thanyapura. Hailing from Germany, Mr Graf von Hardenberg wears many hats: business coach, entrepreneur, financier, educator, hotelier and if that is not enough – fundraiser and philanthropist. He has turned around the fortunes of the first…
-
Pinkeye outbreak leads to cancellation of Phuket FC vs Phang Nga FC warm up match
PHUKET: In a statement posted on the Phuket FC official Facebook page, the club confirmed that tomorrow’s match against Phang Nga FC will not take place. The reason? A pinkeye outbreak. “Due to at least five of Phuket FC players suffering from pinkeye – a condition that can easily spread to other players – the warm up game between Phuket…
-
Putin, Poroshenko discuss possible ceasefire in east Ukraine
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Putin, Poroshenko discuss possible ceasefire in east Ukraine Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, discussed a possible ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and the deaths of two Russian journalists there in a late night telephone conversation, the Kremlin…
-
Migrant boat sinks off Malaysia, 42 missing
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Overloaded boat sinks off Malaysia, 42 Indonesians missing Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An overloaded wooden boat carrying 97 suspected illegal Indonesian immigrants sank off Malaysia’s western coast early today, with rescuers searching for at least 42 missing people, Malaysian officials said. The passengers included women…
-
Sunken pillar at Chalong Marina poses threat to boats
PHUKET: Officials have posted a line of small red and white flags to mark a large metal pillar that lies submerged near Chalong Pier and is a possible danger to passing boats. The pillar, called a stanchion, had been attached to a pontoon and was part of the Chalong Marina still under construction. “The pillar broke during last weekend’s storm,”…
-
Rooney hits back at media following England criticism
PHUKET: Wayne Rooney has criticized sections of the media who questioned his form and speculated that the England forward had been relegated to training with the reserves at their base in Brazil. The Manchester United striker came in for criticism following a muted performance in their opening 2-1 defeat by Italy in Group D on Saturday, with the Daily Mirror…
-
Generating a passive income stream
PHUKET: The whole point of retirement planning is to get to a point where you no longer need to actively work to provide you with the things you need or want. This can be accomplished by saving enough money that you can draw it down slowly until you die, but the downside of this approach is that you obviously never…
-
Thailand braces for US verdict on human-trafficking record
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand braces for US verdict on human-trafficking record The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand is holding its breath as it waits to hear if the United States will downgrade or praise the nation for its human-trafficking record. Officials at the foreign ministry are confident that…
-
Junta makes assurances to stop the exodus of migrant workers
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Junta makes assurances to stop the exodus of migrant workers The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: To stem the exodus of much-needed migrant workers, notably Cambodians, the junta and the authorities yesterday quashed rumours of a crackdown, gave another chance to their employers and vowed to…
-
U.S. captures suspected leader of 2012 Benghazi attack
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community U.S. captures suspected ringleader of 2012 attack in Benghazi Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The United States said on Tuesday it had captured a suspected ringleader of the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, a raid that killed four Americans including the…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.