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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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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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Three reported dead in Lombok earthquake – Indonesia
PHOTO: Nusa Tenggara Barat Disaster Mitigation Agency A shallow 6.4 magnitude earthquake has struck the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok this morning. At least three people are reported to have been killed. Lombok is 100 kilometres east of Bali. The United States Geological Survey reports that the quake hit at 6:47 am local time today. The epicentre is believed to…
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33 households evacuated in Nan – more landslides feared
PHOTO: Thai PBS As floods and torrential rain continue to plague northern Thailand, including neighbouring regions in Myanmar and Laos, 33 households in a mountainous village in Bo Klua district of the northernmost province of Nan have been ordered to immediately evacuate to a temple five kilometres away for fear that they might be struck by a landslide. Bo Klua…
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Thaksin claims election delays in birthday comments – UK
Thaksin Shinawatra, the fugitive former Thai PM, is still firing missives in exile – this time in comments his 69th birthday in London. A spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) yesterday insisted that there was no change in the schedule for the next election. Maj-General Piyapong Klinphan debunked speculation by former PM Thaksin Shinawatra about a change…
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Gotcha! Phuket’s crocodile caught at Layan Beach
Phuket’s elusive crocodile has finally been caught at Layan Beach. The ‘Yanui’ crocodile (named by local Phuket reporters after the original beach it was sighted) has been caught at Layan Beach early today after more than ten days of search operations, sightings, drone photos and lots of people pointing out to sea. The crocodile was eventually caught by the Surat…
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Kathu Street Festival, preserving culture and tradition
The tenth annual Kathu Culture Street Festival is on until Sunday night (July 29) and is being held on Wichit Songkhram Road, showcasing the cultural heritage of one of Phuket’s oldest and most vibrant communities. Vice Governor Snith says, “this is the second time that I am taking part in the Kathu Culture Street Festival. The festival is important to…
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Online poker casino smashed in Klong Toei raid
Thailand’s favourite crime buster, Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakpal, aka ‘Big Joke’, has arrested 58 Chinese nationals running casino operations in an upmarket tower block in Bangkok’s Klong Toei district. Daily News is reporting that a large cache of evidence in the form of computers, notebooks, phones and account books was recovered during the raid on two sections of the…
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Australian doctor reveals about the complicated sedation of Mu Pa 13
Dr Richard Harris, the Australian doctor involved in the Tham Luang cave rescue, has revealed new details about the sedation of the young football team, following a ceremony at Government House in his home city of Adelaide on Thursday where he received a standing ovation. Thai PBS reports that Dr Harris spoke about howhe taught the other divers how to…
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Phuket honours HM The King on his 66th birthday
A host of special ceremonies are being held across Phuket today to honor and celebrate HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun’s 66th Birthday. The first ceremony, which got underway at 6.30am, was presided over by Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong offering alms to 67 monks as part of a blessing ceremony to honor HM The King at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town. Also…
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Clawing back the tiger population
(10 minute read) The plight of the Indochinese Tiger is a particular passion for The Thaiger. As a leading sponsor of SaveWildTigers.org we applaud all the work being done in Thailand and around South East Asia in support of the survival of the species. By Piyaporn Wongruang Ahead of the Global Tiger Day on Sunday, July 29, lead tiger researchers and…
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Two day booze ban finishes tonight at midnight
The sale or serving of alcohol will remain prohibited in Phuket until midnight tonight (Saturday) as part of a nationwide ban commemorating the start of Buddhist Lent. Yesterday (Friday) alcohol was banned for the main Buddhist annual holiday, Asanha Bucha Day. “Alcohol sales are prohibited from midnight Thursday until midnight Saturday.” Alcohol may be sold in only one location: hotels.…
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Kathu Culture Street Festival until Sunday night
The tenth annual Kathu Culture Street Festival is on until Sunday night (July 29) and is being held on Wichit Songkhram Road, showcasing the cultural heritage of one of Phuket’s oldest and most vibrant communities. Vice Governor Snith says, “this is the second time that I am taking part in the Kathu Culture Street Festival. The festival is important to…
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Phuket’s croc watch takes to the skies over Layan Beach
Phuket’s latest crocodile escapee was spotted from a drone yesterday (July 27) afternoon near Layan Beach. The drone spotted the crocodile 200 metres from Layan Beach at 3pm yesterday. Cages have been set up along the beach and around rocks with chicken meat to tempt the hungry crocodile. The lone crocodile has been drifting with the current northwards along Phuket’s west…
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Sing Buri and Chiang Rai – major drug busts
Police in Sing Buri, central Thailand, say they’ve cracked open a major drug syndicate with the arrest of key members. A major drug-trafficking ring’s members were arrested along with 11,600,000 methamphetamine pills and some 700kg of crystal methamphetamine or “ice”. The announcement from the deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan yesterday. Following a tipoff by undercover police on…
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Myanmar tourism growth stalls in first half of 2018
(4 minute read) Myanmar has seen a slight contraction in tourist number during the first half of t2018. Tourist arrivals still reached 1,722,049 visits, a drop of 2%, according to the latest update by Hotel and Tourism Ministry. Thai tourists remain the top source market but China is catching up. Other tourists are coming from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Vietnam…
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Krabi tackles macaque population control
Krabi officials have neutered 157 monkeys in Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park as part of its operation to control the macaque population. The program echoes a similar program conducted to reduce the numbers of mischievous monkeys in Phuket during June. The monkeys are captured, neutered and re-moved to a new home where they can live in peace…
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Serbians on the run after trying to fire-torch their way into a Chiang Mai ATM
PHOTOS: Sanook Two Serbians are on the run after trying to use a make-shift fire-torch to break into a Bangkok Bank ATM in Chiang Mai. Sanook report that the pair tried to use a gas canister for cooking to help cut their way into the ATM next to the Ratchaphak University. But the walls of the ATM was too thick and…
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Phrae bus crash – 35 university students injured
Thirty-five students from the Uttaradit Rajabhat University have been injured following a bus and car collision on the Rayong to Chaing Mai road last night (Thursday). Four of the students and the unidentified car driver were seriously injured and the rest suffered minor injuries, including the 52 year old bus driver Wichien Phromtha. Pol Lieutenant Apichat Chuathong of Huai Rai…
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Lucky amulet or lousy shot? Cha-am man escapes gun attack.
Sanook is reporting that Cha-Am police found three casings from a 9mm gun near the Bor Prakhon housing estate by Soi 2 in Nong Ta Phot sub-district yesterday. A man was allegedly shot at six times by his son-in-law but not a single bullet hit him. The man claims that his good luck came from an amulet he bought a…
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Gang of four kids steal BKK woman’s Honda Wave
Four young Thais have been caught red-handed stealing a woman’s motorbike in Thonburi, on the western banks of the Chao Phraya in Bangkok. Posted by Wanchana Ariya, she laments about the “youth of today” and the “future of the nation” in her Facebook page. The footage showed a group of four boys stealing the bike in the Wong Wian 22 area of…
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Former US pilot shoots himself dead at house in Chiang Mai
PHOTO COMPILATION: Ban Muang A 62 year old former US pilot has shot himself in Chiang Mai on Wednesday. Ban Muang is reporting that the man’s Thai wife heard a single shot ring out at their house on the Rattanakosin Road in Chiang Mai. The woman ran to a bedroom where her husband was dead from a bullet wound to the…
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Rescuers search for 131 missing persons in Laos flooding
Laotian rescuers are continuing their search for 131 missing people. They have been missing since Monday’s fracture of the banks of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower dam causing devastating floods to villages in the southern Laos province of Attapeu. The Laos PM Thongloun Sisoulith says, “Impact of this flooding is enormous.” The Vientiane Times is reporting that the disaster…
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Aid and rescuers pour into southern Laos to help flood victims
PHOTO: The Nation Rescuers from Thailand and China are arriving at Laos’ flooded southern district of Attapeu to assist local soldiers in search and rescue efforts following the collapse of a saddle dam belonging to a major dam construction project that caused massive downstream flooding. The dam broke its banks on Monday night. Scores of Laotians remained on the missing…
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Phuket crocodile spotted off Laypang Beach
Phuket’s latest crocodile escapee was spotted from a drone yesterday (July 26) evening near Laypang Beach, north of Bang Tao Beach. The crocodile catching team were notified by local fishermen at 6pm that the crocodile was seen swimming in the water near Laypang Beach. The drone spotted the crocodile near an island off the shore of Sirinat National Park area.…
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16 billion USD wiped off Facebook shares
Facebook has had a horror day on the share market as it starts rolling out new privacy policies which are cutting into the company’s bottomline. Mark Zuckerberg, personally, lost 16 billion US dollars in the market rout. CNN reports that Facebook shares plunged 19% on Thursday after executives warned that revenue growth would slow as the company focuses on user…
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SHOW DC host photographic exhibition celebrating His Majesty’s 66th birthday
A photo exhibition to celebrate the 66th birthday of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebyavarangkul is being held at SHOW DC in Bang Kapi, Bangkok, until July 31, 2018. A total of 66 royal photos from His Majesty’s youth through to today are on display in a unique layout that forms the shape of “66” in Thai numerals. A book…
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Croc tracks found on Bang Tao Beach
Traces of a crocodile claw footprints have been found at Bang Tao Beach today (July 26) as the crocodile search operation has struggled to find the shy reptiles citing strong wind and waves along the west coast. The crocodile search team claim they’ve found the croc-prints which, believed to be of the missing crocodile at Bang Tao Beach. The search…
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Miracle as amulet “saves” father and son in Chiang Mai
Sanook is reporting that Thai media are hailing the survival of a father and son as a miracle. The father and his three year old boy walked away from a horror crash on the Chiang Mai-Lampang highway. 30 year old Chat was travelling along Route 11 on his way home with his son from Lamphun to Muang district of Lampang.…
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Search continues for missing Indian tourist at Karon Beach
A search is continuing for an Indian man who has been missing in the seas off Karon Beach since yesterday (July 25). Karon Police were notified at 5pm yesterday that a tourist was missing. Another Indian man had already been taken to hospital after being pulled from the sea. Karon Municipality is reporting that yesterday, lifeguards rescued one Indian tourist…
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GPS tourists trackers and mandatory travel insurance – BKK travel fair seminar
PHOTO: South China Morning Post Two great suggestions at a Bangkok travel fair, both aimed at making things easier for Thai authorities without improving safety for tourists. At the Thai Chic Travel Fair seminar held in Bangkok yesterday (Wednesday), officials suggested that making it a mandatory requirement for all foreign visitors to Thailand to have travel insurance would ease the…
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Two gibbon touts arrested on Samui – three gibbons rescued
Yesterday we posted the story about Samui beach touts hawking a baby gibbon for tourist photos – a lucrative little cash business at 100 baht per photo. But the practice is frowned upon my may westerners these days and remains illegal in Thailand. Facebook blogger Arkadiy Kulev was keen to see the touts arrested. Today (Thursday), Samui police have arrested two…
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