PHUKET: Despite what the Director of the Department of Rural Roads Phuket office told the Phuket Gazette yesterday (story Read more...

PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok will hold an Outreach Visit at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort in Karon tomorrow, June 20.

Consular staff will be available from 8am to midday to provide services on:

• Passport renewal applications (US$110 or 3,300 baht for adult passports, US$105 or 3,150 baht for a child’s passport).

• Notarial Services and Certified Copies (US$50 or 1,500 baht), includes income affidavits for retirees in Thailand. Read more...

Award Recognizes Highly Rated Hotels Through Traveler Reviews On The World’s Largest Travel Site   Stunning Horizon, Pattaya’s premier rooftop restaurant & bar at Hilton Pattaya   PATTAYA, Thailand – June 5, 2013 – Hilton Pattaya today announced that it has received a TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence for the third year in a row. The [...] Read more...

A group of 700 Vietnamese tourists were left to fend for themselves in Bangkok after a Vietnamese travel agent failed to pay its Thai partner for their transport and hotels. Read more...

BANGKOK, 19 June 2013: International tourist arrivals to Thailand posted a growth of 19.09%, January to May, this year, according to the latest Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ data. Released late last week, the ministry’s research registered 10,688,133 trips during the first five months up from 8,974,610 visits during the same period last year. If [...] Read more...

Vasiliy Tubaev, a visitor from Russia, had a gun pointed at his head by a Thai man, in what appeared to be a misunderstanding over a Thai woman in Phuket. Read more...

BANGKOK, 19 June 2013: Kasikorn Research Centre estimates international tourist arrivals to Thailand this year will reach a record of 25.4 million visits and generate Bt1.14 trillion (+15.9%) in revenue on the back of a boom in Chinese and Russian travel. The centre said value-for-money will continue to be an important factor to lure foreign [...] Read more...

BANGKOK, 19 June 2013: Tourism Council of Thailand says the country should move ahead by adding new tourism products and building quality rather than concentrating on competition from neighbours. Tourism Council of Thailand president, Piyaman Techapaibun, said Thailand should not be preoccupied with competition, noting Myanmar had just released details of its first tourism master [...] Read more...

Latest A speedboat propeller killed a Chinese tourist on a day-trip from Phuket to Phi Phi. The second death of a Chinese tourist within 48 hours is likely to trigger a reaction from ''safety first'' envoys. Read more...

PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has confirmed that the stingers found washed ashore at Surin Beach this week are bluebottles, also known as Portuguese man o’ war.

The stingers found so far are juveniles, reported Phuket Gazette reader Daren Jenner.

“The presence of these bluebottles on the west coast started about five days ago with the onset of strong southwest monsoon winds blowing them in from the Indian Ocean,” he said. Read more...

PHUKET: The Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok, Jonathan Kenna, yesterday placed the carrying of weapons on the streets of Phuket into the spotlight at a meeting with the Phuket Governor.

“I told the governor that the safety of the tourist is the most important issue,” Mr Kenna, speaking in Thai, told the press following a closed-door meeting with Governor Maitri Inthusut at Provincial Hall this morning.

“Governor Maitri and the Australian Embassy agree that we need to work together to protect the life and property of Australian expats and tourists during their stay in Phuket,” he added. Read more...

Latest Phuket history was made today as final official approval was given for the Phuket airport to beaches bus service to roll to Patong soon. Getting to Kata-Karon will take a little longer. Read more...

Latest Phuket history was made today as final official approval was given for the Phuket airport to beaches bus service to roll to Patong any day now. Getting to Kata-Karon will take a little longer. Read more...

Latest Krabi says it has been voted by TripAdvisor users as Thailand's best beach destination, turning the tables - or at least the umbrellas and loungers - on its old rival, Phuket. Read more...

Pattaya’s tourist boom in the last two years has led to many optimistic claims about the future.  City Hall has suggested that Pattaya will become the Thai Riviera, to rival the French version, whilst investors have predicted the resort will be the film-making capital of Southeast Asia or an entertainment centre to put Disney World [...] Read more...

Sophon Cable TV held a thank-you party for subscribers at Central Festival Pattaya Beach and awarded gifts ranging from a round-trip holiday for two in Singapore, to motorbikes and the latest-generation iPhones and iPads.  Ratkit Hengtrakul and Suwat Ratchawattanakul represented the company; the event was opened by Ronnakit Ekasign, Pattaya deputy mayor. Read more...

Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Bangkok celebrates the first anniversary of its Social Hour and the global roll-out of Sheraton Hotels & Resorts’ signature wine program. More than 100 guests were on hand for the festivities including (from left): Graham Brooke, hotel director of Food & Beverage; Keith Hardie, hotel general manager; Khunying [...] Read more...

Benihanas has received a TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence award. The accolade, which honours hospitality excellence, is given to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding reviews on TripAdvisor.  Benihana,  on the second floor of Royal Garden Plaza, is the Japanese steakhouse  famous for the entertaining and culinary skills of their chefs as they prepare Teppanyaki at customers’ [...] Read more...

Latest A French couple arrested by Phuket Immigration officials and fined for their honesty are ''outraged'' at the latest claims. They want to know if other passengers suffered the same treatment. Read more...

The Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (Exat) board has approved a proposal to raise tolls on Bangkok's urban and suburban expressways by at least five baht. Read more...

Contradictory reports from South that suspect was tied to an insurgent group. Read more...

The Royal Thai Police revealed that Songkhla ranked fourth in terms of the number of areas most at risk of human-trafficking crimes at 642, after Bangkok's 1,108, Chumphon's 997 and Prachuap Khiri Khan's 848 locations. Read more...

The Foreign Ministry has called back a female Thai diplomat who allegedly assaulted an Egyptian woman at a Cairo hotel - as a precaution for her safety, after she was reported to have been threatened. Read more...

The world soccer-governing body Fifa has threatened to suspend Thailand's membership unless Thai club Pattaya FC withdraws a lawsuit that brought about the cancellation of a Football Association of Thailand (FAT) meeting at the weekend. Read more...

PHOTO ALBUM An argument during a birthday party at a country music club on Phuket leads to a fight and the knifing to death of one man and the stabbing on another. Read more...

Latest Taxi and tuk-tuk drivers on Phuket - notorious for extortionate fares - could be dressed in neat uniforms and have hospitality lessons for the Beach Games 2014, says Phuket's governor. Read more...

The SET-listed KCE Electronics Plc, one of the largest printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers in Southeast Asia, plans to more than double its production capacity by building a 4.67-billion-baht factory in Bangkok's Lat Krabang district. Read more...

Phuket News UPDATE British man ''pushed to death in Bangkok by Brit'; Thailand rice bill of $4.46 billion; Taliban in peace talks; Budget airline blasted; Phuket property upbeat; Aussies in World Cup. Read more...

Phuket News UPDATE British man ''pushed to death in Bangkok by Brit'; Thailand rice bill of $4.46 billion; Taliban in peace talks; Budget airline blasted; Phuket property upbeat; Aussies in World Cup. Read more...

PHUKET - Australia has called for better safety of Australians visiting Phuket, now called the most dangerous place in the world for Australians despite being one of the country's top holiday destinations. Read more...

PHUKET: A Chinese tourist on holiday with friends in Phuket drowned this afternoon while on a day trip to Koh Racha Yai, about 25 kilometers south of Phuket.Capt Wuttiwat Liang-boonjinda of the Chalong Police named the victim as Li Ran, 28.Ms Li was tr... Read more...

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s government has acknowledged losing more than $4.46 billion in a much-criticized scheme to support rice prices that ended up dislodging the country from its top spot as the grain’s exporter. Prime Minister’s Office Minister Warathep Rattanakorn said Tuesday the government’s sales of the rice failed to cover the sum it paid Read more...

PHUKET: A man wielding a knife and wearing a pink raincoat jumped over the counter of a convenience store in Thalang early this morning and made off with the contents of a cash register.Police responding to a call at 3:45am found the two female employe... Read more...

The cabinet is yet to discuss proposals to reduce the pledging price of rice, because it is waiting for the National Rice Policy Committee to provide further details on the existing scheme, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said. Read more...

The cabinet is yet to discuss proposals to reduce the pledging price of rice, because it is waiting for the National Rice Policy Committee to provide further details on the existing scheme, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said. Read more...

PHUKET: A Phuket Town motorbike taxi driver died after strong wind toppled a marquee covering the stage at Saphan Hin last night, sending speakers crashing down on him.Police and rescue workers arrived at the 10th Annual Southern Prison Products Fair (... Read more...

A suspect in the bombing at Soi Ramkhamhaeng 43/1 in Bangkok on May 26 was arrested in Muang district of Narathiwat province late Monday night, Pol Maj Gen Suchart Theerasawat, deputy chief of the Southern Border Provinces Police Operations Centre, sai... Read more...

PHOTO ALBUM A Rohingya woman who fled a shelter north of Phuket in the belief that she was being trafficked to join her husband was instead kidnapped and raped, she says. Read more...

Part 1 of this article is available here The Nation on June 5: The government yesterday ordered immediate verification of the status of the rice-pledging scheme in a bid to determine its profitability – and counter a warning by Moody’s rating agency that the controversial policy could hurt the Thai economy and cause a downgrade Read more...

PHUKET: Paul Norris, Phuket’s renowned “DJ Doris” on Phuket Island Radio 91.5FM, is out of intensive care and recovering at Bangkok Hospital Phuket.

Mr Norris suffered a head injury in what is believed to have been a motorbike accident in Patong early Saturday morning. Read more...

Better late than never. The Yingluck government is finally back-peddling on its most ambitious and, perhaps, most destructive populist policy, the rice pledging scheme -- which set the purchase price of paddy about 40% above market price and cost taxpa... Read more...

Economists believe the government is failing to manage the country's financial matters effectively, according to a survey by Bangkok Poll released on Tuesday. Read more...

Award Recognizes Highly Rated Hotels Through Traveler Reviews On The World’s Largest Travel Site Read more...

Honoured as a Top Performing Resort as Reviewed by Travellers on the World’s Largest Travel Site Read more...

Latest A young Chinese man has drowned off Racha island on a snorkelling day trip despite warnings by the Chinese ambassador that Phuket must pay greater attention to safety in the water. Read more...