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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Police seize 2.5 billion baht in Mekong drug raids
Police seized almost 2.5 billion baht worth of assets after raids across eight provinces in northeast Thailand. The Narcotics Control Agency piloted the arrest of the Mekong Spirit Network, a large drug trafficking group. Deputy national police chief Chinnaphat Sarasin said drug squad officers raided 30 locations across eight provinces. During the raids, they seized 2.5 billion baht (US$70 million) in…
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Phuket hotels see labour shortages as tourism swells
Maybe hoteliers didn’t believe in the government’s rosy tourism predictions. Hotels in Phuket are reporting a labour shortage as Russian tourists pour into the holiday island. Now they are rallying the government to market hospitality jobs in Phuket to attract foreign workers. They say Thai people just don’t want maintenance, kitchen, and food and beverage jobs. The president of the…
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‘Bus full of prostitutes’ disgusts Berlusconi’s Monza millennials
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi plans to arrange “ a bus full of prostitutes” for his Monza side if they manage to beat top Serie A rivals. At a Tuesday Christmas dinner with the Monza players Berlusconi, 86 years old, said… “If you win against one of these top teams, I’ll bring a bus of whores into the locker…
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Thai navy officer arrested for drug smuggling in Isaan
A Thai navy officer was arrested in the Sattahip district of Chon Buri after the police found he was involved in a drug smuggling ring in the Isaan province of Nong Khai. The president of the Help Crime Victim Club, Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, filed a complaint to the commissioner of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) on October 25 pointing out that…
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Ratchaburi locals urge foreign tourists to wear face masks
Residents in the central province of Ratchaburi urge foreign tourists to wear face masks while travelling in Thailand because the Covid-19 situation is expected to be more serious during the High Season. Channel 3 reported that they received a complaint from locals in Ratchaburi about the use of face masks among foreign tourists. Locals said that most Thai people still…
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Man faked death to break up with his wife
A Thai man hated his wife so much that he faked his death to escape her unhappy clutches. A 35 year old married man named Bird, from Udon Thani in northeast Thailand, left a suicide note for his wife on Tuesday, December 13 saying he was going to end it all because he could not take any more of her…
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Court awards torture victim 6.7 million baht
Justice was served today as a woman and her two accomplices were sentenced by the court to over 14 years in jail and fined millions of baht after ruthlessly torturing a male victim. The Sing Buri Provincial Court handed down the ruling yesterday for the horrific crime against her employee uncovered one year ago. Last year the brother of the…
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Security guard accidentally shot dead by his pen gun
A Hua Hin Airport security guard accidentally shot and killed himself with a pen gun in the western province of Phetchaburi last night. He accidentally dropped the gun on the floor and it went off, shooting him dead. Officers from Cha-am Police Station and medical workers from Cha-am Hospital rushed to the house in the Cha-am district of Phetchaburi after…
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Whale with broken spine makes last journey of 3,000 miles by performing breaststroke
A whale with a broken spine has apparently defied all odds after journeying 3,000 miles by performing the breaststroke. The humpback whale, nicknamed Moon, was spotted off the coast of British Columbia with a visibly crooked lower body that researchers say was caused by being hit by a boat. But, the whale persevered by doing the breaststroke for a whopping…
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Major Qatar corruption scandal allegedly involving Greek MEP
There’s been a major corruption scandal allegedly involving a Greek member of the European Parliament (MEP). MEP Eva Kaili has been stripped of her role as one of the EP’s 14 vice presidents. Belgian prosecutors announced on Sunday that they had charged four people with corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation. The charges are part of an…
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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in Bahamas for fraud
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested for fraud in the Bahamas with a judge denying his bail. US prosecutors allege he committed fraud and violated campaign finance laws. His bail was denied based because he is considered a “great” flight risk. A judge ordered him to be sent to the Bahamas’ department of corrections until February 8, 2023. Bankman-Fried…
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13 online gambling houses raided, 1 billion baht assets seized
Cyber police raided 13 online gambling houses in Bangkok and Chiang Rai and seized money and assets worth over 1 billion baht including cash, luxury cars, watches, designer bags, and plots of land. Police reported details of the arrests at a press conference yesterday, December 13. The ball started rolling on smashing the illegal operation when the officers spotted a…
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Ultimate guide to the best Thailand bitcoin jackpot games
Who said Crypto was dead? It’s merely the ‘Crypto-Winter’ we’re living through now! So for those who didn’t yet sell everything at a huge loss, what can you do with all these bitcoins and other cryptos that will help you to recover or grow your digital wealth? Why gamble it all at some ‘digital casino’ of course and watch it…
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Survey reveals most popular things to do for tourists in Thailand
Thailand’s Tourism Authority says a recent survey has revealed the most popular things for tourists to do when visiting Thailand. The survey showed that an overwhelming majority of respondents said that eating Thai food was at the top of their lists, with almost 91% choosing it as their favourite thing to do. Although this doesn’t come as a surprise to…
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Chiang Mai officials steal Thai Identity for Chinese woman
A district chief, village chief, community leader and a resident in the Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai province have been charged with stealing a Thai identity to create a Thai ID card for a Chinese woman. Each member of the fraudulent group received 800,000 baht for processing the ID card. Police stumbled on the stolen identity case while investigating…
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For the gazillionth time, transgender thieves steal from Indian man in Pattaya
For what seems like the gazillionth time this year, transgender thieves have stolen cash and belongings from an Indian man in Pattaya. The two thieves snatched a wallet and a mobile phone from the 50 year old expat and restaurant owner on Pattaya Beach Road early yesterday morning. The unnamed man told Pattaya police that two transgender individuals had tried…
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Woman returns home to Mali after birthing 9 babies
Last year a woman from Mali gave birth to a baby in a hospital in Morocco. And then another. And another. And another and another and another and another and another and another. In total, the woman became the proud mother of a record-setting nine children – the world’s first nonuplets. Yesterday, the woman and her new brood of babies…
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Global football union ‘shocked and sickened’ that Iranian player could be executed
UPDATE The global football players’ union FIFPRO took to Twitter yesterday to announce that it was “shocked and sickened” that Iranian football player Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution. The tweet read… “FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country. We stand in solidarity…
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FTI threatens to raise prices if govt hikes energy costs
It appears tourism won’t be the only thing on the rise in Thailand next year. Thai industries appear to be holding the government to account, threatening they will hike prices if the price of electricity is raised in the new year. Entrepreneurs under the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) warned it will increase product prices by 5-12% if the government…
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Thieves ransack a Patong rental house
Thieves ransacked a rental house in Patong, stealing almost everything including doors and window panes. The house owner, 44 year Phatsamon Chompanat, reported the incident to Patong Police on Monday. Phatsamon said she had left her house locked when she left Phuket two years ago. She said she occasionally came back to visit the house to clean it. When she went…
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GrabTukTuk to be launched in Phuket next year
GrabTukTuk revealed it will be launching a new app in Phuket at the beginning of next year to provide about 100 tuk tuk cars for the beach resort’s locals and tourists. Phuket tuk tuk driver Suchart Nitiwaranuluck was hailed by tourists and criticised by his peers in April after he offered a very affordable 50 baht for a round trip…
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A bikini thief spotted on CCTV arrested in Chiang Mai
An audacious bikini thief was arrested after breaking into a house and a builder’s merchant in Chiang Mai before making off with cash, an iPhone and other goods The owner of the builder’s merchants posted CCTV footage of the daring burglar on Facebook yesterday. The video reveals the woman climbing over a 3-metre gate behind the shop in a two-piece…
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7 year old girl falls from mum’s bike, killed by oncoming public bus in Bangkok
A seven year old girl was tragically killed on a Bangkok road yesterday while travelling to school. The child fell from her mother’s white Yamaha Scoopy motorcycle and was run over by an oncoming public bus. The driver drove on without stopping, later saying he did not notice the girl. A rescue team and medical workers from Sirirat Hospital rushed…
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Woman allegedly nabs 100,000 baht from gullible man in Pattaya
Another dating app crime has occurred in Thailand, this time in Pattaya. A woman allegedly nabbed money and valuables worth 100,000 baht from a man she met via a dating app. The victim targeted, Jack, told Pattaya City Police yesterday that he thought he had met a nice woman named ‘Plaeng.’ Jack said that he and Plaeng talked for a…
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Swedish man falls from Patong hotel
A Swedish man fell from a Patong hotel on Monday. The man, 64 year old Bo Peter Svensson, fell from the second floor of a hotel on Sawatdirak Road near the Sai Namyen Intersection. Rescuers found Bo with several injuries and rushed him to a nearby hospital. The hotel owner, 52 year old Supaphon, told police that Bo had checked…
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Marketing in Thailand as a Foreigner: Volume #3 The Marketing Noises
Sometimes, It’s Okay to Wear Socks and Sandals Foreign marketers sometimes need to be bold enough to wear socks and sandals in a tropical country like Thailand to stand out. If you wonder why: READ HERE. In the last article, I discussed the most basic yet essential criterion if you should follow your marketer instinct to invest in new localised…
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Driver suffers seizure, crashes into two motorcycles, killing 1
A sedan driver suffered a seizure this morning causing his car to crash into two motorcyclists, killing one, and injuring another on Setthakit 1 Road in Samut Sakhon province. The accident happened in rush hour today at 8.30am. The 51 year old driver, Wichian Chanla, was injured and sent to a hospital while his four passengers escaped unharmed. Wichian’s black…
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Zookeeper seeks compensation after being bitten by wild monkeys
A zookeeper is demanding compensation from Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chon Buri after she got bitten by wild monkeys at work. The animal keeper said she paid nearly 100,000 baht for treatment but got only 3,000 baht from her employer in return. A 54 year old woman named Mon, who worked at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, yesterday filed a…
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Air pollution threatens water supply in Tibetan Plateau for two billion people
The Tibetan Plateau – also known as “The Roof of The World” and the “Asian Water Tower” – is the world’s largest and highest plateau. As the third largest storage of ice in the world, it is the source of several important Asian rivers and a crucial source of water for up to two billion people. A new study reports that…
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Young bride-to-be dies in drink driving incident 17 days before wedding
A young bride-to-be died in a tragic drink driving incident 17 days before her wedding. The drunk driver crashed his 18-wheel truck into her boyfriend’s car, and the vehicle collided with the 27 year old as she stood on the roadside. The incident happened on National Highway Road No. 33 in front of a factory where the bride worked in…
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