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.
-
Breaking News: At least one dead in Phuket cement truck smash
PHUKET: At least one person died when a cement truck slammed into a pick-up truck and sedan on Kata Hill at about 5:19pm today. The cause of the fatal accident and number of other injuries or fatalities that occurred has yet to be confirmed by the Phuket Gazette. — Chutharat Plerin
-
Breaking News: Army leads blitz on illegal Phuket taxi, tuk-tuk drivers
PHUKET: A huge force of 1,150 police, volunteers and army personnel arrived in Phuket today and so far have arrested 73 illegal drivers of taxis, tuk-tuks and other commercial vehicles that prey on vacationing foreigners holidaying on the island. The arrests were carried out along the west coast of Phuket, in the Thalang, Kata-Karon, Cherng Talay, Kamala police precincts. No…
-
Coup puts dent in Phuket hotel occupancy numbers
PHUKET: Hotel occupancy has taken a hit in coup-time Phuket with cancellation and booking rates falling short of last year’s numbers. Though figures vary between the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office and the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA), both agencies agree that the coup has affected the tourism industry. “Booking cancellation rates are up about 10 per cent compared…
-
Karon Mayor arrested for taxi-mafia connections
PHUKET: Tawee Thongcham, mayor of Phuket’s tourist-popular beach area Kata-Karon, was arrested today for his alleged connection to the powerful taxi mafia. “Mr Tawee surrendered himself to police after a warrant for his arrest was issued,” said Maj Gen Paween Pongsirin, who once served as Phuket City Police and is now a deputy commander of the Royal Thai Police Region…
-
Phuket landslide, flood warning issued amid heavy rainfall
PHUKET: Phuket residents are urged to beware of possible landslides and flooding as heavy rain is expected to pummel the island for the next four days. “From June 4 to June 8, heavy rain is expected throughout Thailand, but provinces in Central Thailand on the gulf coast and many in the south are at high risk for landslides and floods,”…
-
Prison Products Fair returns to Phuket
PHUKET: The 11th Annual Prison Products Fair will get underway on Friday at Saphan Hin, on the outskirts of Phuket Town. “The fair is held to showcase the inmates’ hard work and offer their handmade products for people to buy,” said Phuket Provincial Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon. On display and for sale will be a wide range of products handcrafted…
-
Air bookings to Thailand plunge after coup, data shows
PHUKET: Airline bookings to Thailand have collapsed, a travel association said on Sunday, after the military took over the government on May 22, hitting the tourism sector that accounts for 10 per cent of the economy. The coup followed months of protests that weakened the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, forced ministries to close for weeks on end, hurt…
-
Video Report: Phuket light-rail garners support, residents query impact on Old Town
PHUKET: The effects Phuket’s long-awaited light-rail system will have on Phuket Old Town was a point of contention during the second public hearing for the project yesterday. Of the 370 Phuket residents in attendance, many voiced their support for the project, while others expressed their concern on how the tracks, which are planned to dominate some roadways through the heart…
-
Bosnia floods unearth grim wartime mass grave
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bosnia floods unearth grim wartime mass grave Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Floods in Bosnia last month have unearthed a secret mass grave containing corpses with hands tied behind their backs, apparently Muslim Bosniak victims of the country’s 1992-1995 war, an official said on Tuesday. “We…
-
Obama defends Bergdahl Taliban prisoner swap deal
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obama defends deal that freed soldier amid growing demands for hearings Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: President Barack Obama defended on Tuesday the prisoner swap deal that freed a U.S. soldier from Taliban captivity in Afghanistan, and the Army pledged to investigate the circumstances of his…
-
Saudi MERS deaths jump to 282 ahead of Hajj
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Saudi MERS deaths jump 282 ahead of Hajj Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Saudi Arabia announced a jump of nearly 50 percent in deaths from a new virus on Tuesday after re-examining old data that also showed the number of infections since 2012 was a fifth…
-
Phuket property and island promoter Graham Doven dies
PHUKET: Long-term Phuket expat and property guru Graham Doven, 62, died at Mission Hospital in Bangkok at 4pm today after a long illness. The Phuket Gazette has yet to be informed of arrangements to mark Graham’s passing, though a memorial ceremony is expected to be held on the island to honor a man who helped propel Phuket into the major…
-
Breaking News: Curfew lifted in Phuket
PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order today lifted the curfew in Pattaya, Samui and Phuket. The news is heralded as bringing much welcome relief to tourism businesses and nightlife venue operators in the three popular tourist destinations. Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut paid a visit to Phuket’s premier party town last night to personally receive a formal request from…
-
Emerald EPL Masters Tour comes to Phuket
PHUKET: They might be past their prime, but still have a lot to prove to themselves, their fellow footballers and the spectators. “Once you’re on the pitch, the fighting spirit kicks in and you give your best. These guys don’t want to make fools of themselves,” says Paul Parker, former Manchester United player, and member of England’s national football team,…
-
Phuket Governor assures Patong that NCPO wants to get the party re-started
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut paid a visit to Phuket’s premier party town last night to personally receive a formal request from Patong nightlife venue operators for the curfew to be lifted, and assure them that progress was being made to further relax the curfew. The governor was greeted by hundreds of business operators at about 7pm, many of whom were…
-
Phuket’s new top cop to arrive today
PHUKET: A deputy commander at the Royal Thai Police Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani is to arrive in Phuket this morning to be installed as Phuket’s new top-ranking police officer later today. Maj Gen Krajang Suwannarat was officially promoted to the post of Phuket Provincial Police Commander in an order promulgated yesterday. “Maj Gen Krajang is to arrive in…
-
Police fear Yala pickup in deadly hijack may be used as car bomb
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police hunt for pickup after fatal shooting The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Following the fatal shooting of a Yala man in Pattani’s Nong Chik district on Sunday, police yesterday hunted for the victim’s pickup out of fear that the attackers may have taken it to…
-
Ubon businessman kills himself after receiving NCPO summons
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ubon businessman kills himself after receiving NCPO summons The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An Ubon Ratchathani businessman took his life yesterday after being summoned by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), but the local police chief doubts if the suicide was linked to…
-
World War II bomb found at Bangkok MRT project site
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community World War II bomb found at Bangkok MRT project site The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A vintage aerial bomb discovered yesterday at a site near Bang Sue train station marked for construction of a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train station was secured by the Air…
-
Government officials return to work
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Government officials return to work The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Government officials returned to work yesterday as Government House and the Interior Ministry opened for the first time since anti-government protests kicked off – eventually leading to the coup. Pol General Adul Saengsingkaew, the deputy…
-
At least 12 Vietnam students killed in Thai van crash
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community At least 12 Vietnam students killed in crash The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Twelve Vietnamese students and a Thai van driver died after their chartered vehicle collided head-on with an 18-wheel truck in Chaiyaphum’s Kaeng Khro district yesterday morning. The van burst into flames after…
-
Spain’s King Juan Carlos abdicates to revive monarchy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Spain’s King Juan Carlos abdicates to revive monarchy Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Spain’s King Juan Carlos said on Monday he would abdicate in favour of his son Prince Felipe, aiming to revive the scandal-hit monarchy at a time of economic hardship and growing discontent with…
-
Legal tour guides furious over police arrests, demand illegal guides be targeted
PHUKET: About 100 angry tour guides protested at Chalong Police Station today after 23 legal members of a local Chinese tour guide association were brought in for questioning this morning. Three members of the association had been attempting to collect evidence of illegal guides operating in the popular tourist destination when they were taken into police custody. “We do not…
-
Cocaine blues: Phuket tourist busted with over 20g of “paradise white’
PHUKET: A Phuket sting operation netted two tourists in possession of more than 21 grams of cocaine last night. “An undercover officer met with the 46-year-old suspect, Nigerian tourist Colins Ifeanyi Ugwoeruchkwu, to buy drugs in Patong,” said Tourist Police Division 5 Superintendent Jirapop Phuridet. “When Mr Ugwoeruchkwu arrived on Soi Nanai 2, off Nanai Road, we searched him.” Officers…
-
Dazed and confused: Swedish tourist loses hotel, saved by police volunteers
PHUKET: A confused Swedish tourist located his guesthouse after two days of being lost in Patong thanks to the combined effort of the Tourist Police Volunteers and Region 8 Police Volunteers. Karl “Tommy” Berglund, 67, left his hotel shortly after checking in on Thursday night to go for a walk, taking just a little cash and leaving his room key…
-
Phuket sailor breaks two records
PHUKET: “I’m hoping it will take me no more than 48 hours,” Yassine Darkaou told me when I met him in Ao Yon in Cape Panwa, on Wednesday May 28, minutes before he took off for his record breaking journey. A grueling 77 hours later he reached the shore again, with not one, but two records in his possession, neither…
-
2022 Wold Cup vote must be re-run if corruption proved, says Goldsmith
PHUKET: The vote for the hosting of the 2022 World Cup must be re-run if corruption allegations surrounding Qatar’s winning campaign are proved to be accurate, Lord Goldsmith, a member of FIFA’s Independent Governance Committee, said on Monday. A British newspaper on Sunday claimed it had evidence that around $5 million (3 million pounds) was paid to officials in return…
-
Lion Air roars into Southern Thailand
PHUKET: Regional low-cost carrier Lion Air has launched services to several new destinations in Thailand, with its Thai subsidiary Thai Lion Air, aiming to establish Hat Yai Airport (HDY) as a second hub in Thailand. Executive Managing Director of Thai Lion Air, Andi Burhan, said that the carrier’s decision to use a 72-seat ATR 72-600 prop plane, the first ATR…
-
Breaking News: Furious tour guides protest at Chalong Police Station over arrest
PHUKET: About 100 angry Phuket tour guides descended on Chalong Police Station today to protest the arrest of a legal tour guide. “Police arrested a legal tour guide. Why aren’t they looking for the illegal guides? Why are they targeting us?” asked protest leader Jaifu Sae-lee. An investigation into officers at the Chalong Police Station concluded earlier this year. Shortly…
-
Phuket top cop flip-flop: Gen Ong-art gets his marching orders
PHUKET: Phuket’s top-ranking police officer, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiwruangnont, earlier this afternoon received his marching orders to report to the Royal Thai Police Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani – effective immediately. The news comes just hours after Gen Ong-art publicly confirmed that he had not received any transfer orders (story here). However, Gen Ong-art told the Phuket Gazette that…
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.