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.
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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Covid-19 update: 1 new imported case, no deaths (29 August)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported a single coronavirus today – an asymptomatic returnee from the Netherlands in state quarantine – bringing the total in Thailand to 3,411 since the outbreak began. A CSSA spokesperson said said the new case is 30 year old employee who arrived in Thailand on August 15 and stayed at a state quarantine facility…
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Si Racha blaze incinerates 50 golf carts
A fire at a golf course in in Chon Buri province’s Si Racha district last night destroyed over 50 golf carts. The damage is estimated in the tens of millions of baht. Firefighters were notified of the fire at a golf course in the Bang Phra sub-district at around 10:30pm. A video of the blaze can be seen here. Fire…
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Couple shocked in Pattaya as homeless woman gobbles their ice cream – VIDEO
A couple in Pattaya were shocked yesterday when a homeless woman approached and ate their ice cream while they were recording a video. The video was posted on Facebook and can be seen here. The couple who posted it, 29 year old Pat and 26 year old Nam, told The Pattaya News that as they were eating Bingsu ice cream…
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UN decries “enforced disappearance”, calls for an end
The United Nations is calling on all countries in Southeast Asia to criminalise state abductions and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The organisation’s Human Rights Office says it’s “profoundly concerned” over continuing reports of enforced disappearances, after Wanchalearm Satsaksit, an activist living in exile, was abducted in Phnom Penh on June 4,…
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Spokesperson says “Phuket Model” won’t be enacted nationally anytime soon
The deputy government spokesperson Traisulee Traisoranakul said yesterday that the so-called “Phuket Model”, the island’s proposed “safe and sealed” program to reintroduce tourism from October, will not be implemented in the near future and rolled out to the rest of the country. She also encouraged Thai people ti “go on vacation to help the local economy”. She made no mention…
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Bangkok police say they’ll charge “rioters”
Bangkok police say they’ll press charges against pro-democracy activists who caused chaotic scenes in support of their colleagues yesterday, even throwing paint on some officers. Supporters of the pro-democracy activists who arrived at Samran Rat police station to acknowledge charges stemming from a rally on July 18, broke police barriers and 1 of them threw a container of paint at…
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3 Nabbed for illegal online gun sales
Authorities in Thonburi, just south of Bangkok, yesterday announced the arrest of 3 Thai men for selling guns online. a GSG .22 calibre semiautomatic pistol, a .22 pen gun, a magazine and a great deal of ammunition, along with many tools. They were arrested in the Petchkasem area west of the capital. Bangkok. Police say 25 year old Sukkasem or…
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There is no date for the reopening of general tourism in Thailand, except Phuket
Deputy government spokesperson Traisulee Traisoranakul says Thailand will not be “fully reopened to foreign tourists” along the lines of Phuket’s “safe and sealed” model, because the government and CCSA has to consider too many details. Thailand’s largest island, Phuket, is going to be a pilot program for the partial re-opening to any tourist that wants to visit – but with…
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Man steals 10,000 baht from Chon Buri hospital donation boxes
A 37 year old man was arrested for allegedly stealing donations from 2 hospitals in Chon Buri. Police say Arnon Kruanamkam took off with 10,000 baht in stolen donations. Arnon allegedly took money from the donation boxes in Bang Bueng Hospital and Panat Nikhom Hospital. Surveillance camera footage shows Arnon taking the money, police say. They arrested him in Rayong.…
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35 illegal migrants arrested near Burmese border
Authorities in Kanchanaburi arrested 35 illegal Myanmar migrants and their 2 drivers in the Sai Yok district of the large western province early this morning. 2 pickup trucks travelling on a local road in tambon Sri Mongkhol were stopped for a search around 3:40am at a checkpoint manned by soldiers, police and immigration officers. 15 illegal Burmese migrants were found…
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Protesters push through barricades at Bangkok police station
Paint was splattered on a police officers and police barricades were pushed away by a crowd of people protesting the recent charges filed on 15 activists involved in the July 18 rally. The protesters were able to force their way to the Bangkok’s Samran Rat police station’s front entrance and the charged activists entered to confront police. Police recently charged…
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Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe to step down over health
Japan’s media today reported that PM Shinzo Abe will resign over health issues, in a shock development that will end a record-setting tenure with no clear successor decided. There was no immediate confirmation, and the reports came just hours before Abe was to hold a press conference about his health. The news sent Tokyo stocks tumbling more than 2%, the…
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Democrat MP gets 2 years in prison for vote buying
Both Democrat MP Thepthai Senpong and his brother have been sentenced to 2 years in prison for election fraud. If the verdict is upheld by a higher court, Thepthai would be banned from politics for the next decade. The Court found Thepthai and his brother Manote guilty of vote buying. Thai PBS says the illegal bribes took place at a…
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New lease on life for 7 of Thailand’s budget airlines
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today threw a lifeline to 7 of Thailands’ domestic low-cost airlines, beginning with the injection of 24 billion baht in soft loans for the struggling aviation sector, battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Representatives of Thai Air Asia, its long haul division Thai Air Asia X, Thai Smile, Thai Lion Air, Thai Viet Jet, Bangkok Airways and Nok…
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Human Rights Watch talks protests, democracy and foreigners attending protests
The Thaiger spoke to Brad Adams, the Asia Director for Human Rights Watch about some of the challenges of the current Thai government and the protests that are showing no signs of abating. Do you think the student movement, alone, will be enough to press the Thai government to make meaningful changes? The students are playing a leading role in…
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19 year old arrested for allegedly recruiting teens for prostitution
A 19 year old woman was arrested for allegedly recruiting young girls on social media for prostitution. Police say some of the girls that she recruited for sex work were teenagers. Some of them as young as 15 years old. The woman used Twitter to lure the girls in and provide them with prostitution work. Police did not report the…
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Should foreigners go to protests and get involved in Thai politics?
Should foreigners get involved in the Thai protests? Is it any of our business? Is there a danger of being targeted and thrown out of the country? Most foreigners, certainly the vast majority, will say they’re uncomfortable even discussing local politics with Thais, especially THAT other big topic. Most are happy to walk the beaches, explore or sit in the…
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Police do nothing as alleged gangster threatens Phuket family
A Phuket woman has posted a video on Facebook showing a local man harassing her family. The incident happened in the southern province’s Kathu District. The man, who she claims is a gangster named “Dam”, says the woman’s father owes him money. Thai Residents reports that police have been notified but have done nothing. The gangster, carrying a gun and…
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Satellite captures flood devastation in Thailand’s lower-north
The devastation wreaked by heavy floods in Sukhothai and Phitsanulok, provinces in the lower-north of the country, can be seen from space. A report in Nation Thailand says an Italian satellite, Cosmo Skymed-1, has captured photos that show over 125,000 rai of land is submerged as a result of heavy rainfall in the area. PHOTO: Nation Thailand Around 100,000 rai…
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Sex doll mistaken for dead body
A sex doll in a cardboard box dumped near the side of the road was thought to be a dead body. A man who found the box quickly called emergency responders to the scene. The man found the box partially hidden in tall grass near his home in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok. He opened the box and saw…
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65 year old Bangkok man in apparent suicide at Chao Phraya bridge
A man reportedly jumped to his death from Bangkok’s Krung Thep Bridge into Chao Phraya River yesterday. Around 2pm officers at Bang Kho Laem Police Station learned of a body spotted in the river near the bridge that that connects Bang Kho Laem district in Bangkok with Thonburi district. The 65 year old Thai man was about 165 centimetres tall,…
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Environmentalists concerned with rise of takeaway trash during lockdown
How much plastic do you toss in the garage bin when you’re done eating your takeaway order? An environmentalist says 1 person throws away about 1.5 kilograms of trash each day. With many stuck at home during the lockdown period, food delivery sales skyrocketed, but so did the amount of trash each person throws away. Thai environmentalists are concerned and…
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Officials say no signs of mental illness in man who fell to his death in Pattaya quarantine
The deputy director-general of the Department of Mental Health says a 30 year old Thai man who fell to his death while in state quarantine in Pattaya displayed no signs of mental illness. Samai Sirithongthavorn says the man underwent physical and mental tests while on board the repatriation flight returning him to Thailand from Israel. The Pattaya News reports that…
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Thai Government puts wheels in motion for constitutional reform
The coalition government has approved a motion that sets the stage for the 2017 Thai Constitution to be amended. A report in the Bangkok Post today says a 200 member panel is being formed to oversee the process. Members will include 150 elected writers, as well as senators and academics, while student representatives may nominate a further 50 members. It’s…
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2 Koh Tao divers awarded for their involvement in the 2018 cave rescue
2 foreign diving instructors in Koh Tao were honored for their role in rescuing the 13 young men from the flooded Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai back in 2018. More than 100 foreigners involved in the rescue have been granted the Most Admirable Order of Direkgunabhorn, an award granted by the Thai Monarch. A ceremony in Surat Thani was…
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Border securty tightened as Myanmar virus cases surge
A significant surge in Covid-19 infections in neighbouring Myanmar has prompted authorities in the northern border province of Tak to tighten border security. More than 200 new cases have been confirmed since early last week, compelling Myanmar to shutter schools nationwide. Authorities say all border passes in the Mae Sot district and roads to the central city districts will be…
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Experts agree: “Boss” was speeding
A police panel probing the alleged mishandling of the case said yesterday that every expert who has weighed in believes Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, heir to the Red Bull drinks empire, was definitely speeding when he hit the motorcycle of a senior policeman and dragged him some 100 metres, killing him. The panel’s deputy chairman, assistant national police chief Jaruwat Waisaya,…
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CCSA considers another 2 groups of foreigners for return to Thailand
The next batch of returnee categories is now being considered by the CCSA. This time, foreigners with permanent residences who have been stranded overseas for the past 6 months, and long-term foreign residents, will receive priority when the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announces the next date for the next phase of lifting the shutters on Thailand’s borders. The chairman…
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Expats to be offered travel deals at Bangkok event
Ready to go on a holiday? Expats are being offered some travel deals to boost domestic tourism. The Tourism Authority of Thailand plans to hold an event next month for foreigners. “Expat Travel Deal 2020” is September 11-13 from 10am to 10pm at Quartier Gallery at Bangkok’s EmQuartier shopping centre. It’s free to attend. Travel agencies from all over the…
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Pattaya beach vendors pay parking fees to attract visitors
In a bid to attract beachgoers and day trippers, Pattaya’s beach bed, umbrella vendors and boat operators are paying visitors’ parking fees. They say fewer tourists visit Pattaya beach as there are no free parking spaces and traffic enforcement officers are strict compared with nearby Jomtien Beach. 63 year old Nikom Apidet, a boat operator seen placing a sign that…
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