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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    Answers to the most common questions about international health insurance

    If you’ve been thinking of staying in Thailand long-term, you’ve probably already asked the big question, “Do I actually need international health insurance?” It’s a question that often comes up among expats, digital nomads, retirees, and even frequent travellers. Sure,...

  • English-born Buddhist monk Ajahn Jayasaro becomes Thai

    English-born Buddhist monk Ajahn Jayasaro becomes Thai

    HRH the King may have bestowed Thai nationality upon famous farang Buddhist monk Ajahn Jayasaro back in 2020 but it took almost three years to get his Thai ID card. On Sunday, Phra Ajahn Jayasaro took photos for his new Thai ID card in Nakhon Ratchasima province in northeast Thailand. On March 9, 2020, King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand bestowed Thai…

  • Man walks over ‘500 miles’ and ‘500 more’ to marry his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day

    Man walks over ‘500 miles’ and ‘500 more’ to marry his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day

    The man who walked over “500 miles” and almost “500 more” and “to be the man who wakes up next to” his love, today arrived at his destination. Suthep “Maew” Prompjit walked 1,200 kilometres to prove true love still exists and met his girlfriend for the first time, after talking on social media for nearly six months. They start a…

  • Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province sees large tourism rise in 2022

    Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province sees large tourism rise in 2022

    Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province saw a significant rise in the number of tourists visiting in 2022, with the number of both domestic and international tourists showing a substantial increase. The province is home to the world-famous, scenic seaside town and district of Hua Hin. The data, released by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), reveals an almost five-fold increase…

  • Don’t wank during video calls, warns police

    Don’t wank during video calls, warns police

    A day after Royal Thai Police warned women to be wary of “sextortion” on Valentine’s Day, men have been told not to wank during video calls. Police reckon it could lead men open to blackmail by fraudsters using fake profile photos of attractive women. Pol Col Siriwat Deephor, deputy chief of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), reported that dozens…

  • Thai Vietjet to launch only direct Bangkok – Okinawa route

    Thai Vietjet to launch only direct Bangkok – Okinawa route

    Budget airline Thai Vietjet is expanding its wings with new direct flights between Bangkok, Thailand, and Okinawa in Japan, in collaboration with leading Thai travel agency Tourladfah Co., Ltd. The new route is the only nonstop service between the two major Asian hubs. The route between Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and Okinawa’s Naha Airport will fly twice per week on Thursdays…

  • Pattaya Police and rescuers stop American man from jumping to death

    Pattaya Police and rescuers stop American man from jumping to death

    A potential tragedy was averted in Pattaya as quick-thinking police and rescuers stopped an American man from jumping to his death. The 67 year old man was rescued from a 20th-floor ledge of the Arbour Hotel and Residence on Third Road on Saturday. Police and rescue volunteers from the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation spoke to the man for four hours…

  • Pays to be single! Filipino single staff get bonuses

    Pays to be single! Filipino single staff get bonuses

    This Valentine’s Day, how much is your relationship worth? No really, exactly how much? Because employees of the town hall in one city in the Philippines are getting bonus pay for being single on Valentine’s Day. The incentive comes as a thank you from Mayor Matt Florido, a lifelong bachelor himself, who’s giving extra salary to single staff members of…

  • Most visited websites in Thailand in 2023

    Most visited websites in Thailand in 2023

    A new data report reveals some fascinating trends among Internet users in Thailand in 2023, including which websites are visited the most. ‘Digital 2023: Thailand’ reports data, insights, and trends revealing how people in Thailand use digital devices and services. At the start of 2023, there were 61.21 million Internet users in Thailand. Thailand’s total population was recorded at 71.75…

  • A Valentine’s Day surprise: agency spots heart-shaped forest in Chiang Rai

    A Valentine’s Day surprise: agency spots heart-shaped forest in Chiang Rai

    Nature nerds will be delighted to learn on Valentine’s Day (today) that Thailand’s space technology agency has discovered a heart-shaped forest in the northern Chiang Rai province. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) added a unique touch to the celebration of Valentine’s Day by releasing an incredible aerial photo of the forest. The photo was captured by the…

  • Lifull Connect acquires FazWaz in Thailand, forming exciting PropTech partnership with Dot Property

    Lifull Connect acquires FazWaz in Thailand, forming exciting PropTech partnership with Dot Property

    Lifull Connect, the largest real estate aggregation network in the world, has announced its acquisition of FazWaz in Thailand. This strategic move brings together two major players in the region’s PropTech ecosystem, Dot Property and FazWaz, forming an exciting partnership. Dot Property, which owns and operates Thailand-Property.com and dotproperty.co.th, is Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing real estate marketplace. It has recorded significant…

  • Woman files lawsuit after cheating husband infected her & now dead baby with HIV

    Woman files lawsuit after cheating husband infected her & now dead baby with HIV

    A woman sought assistance from a renowned Thai lawyer to file a lawsuit against her husband after he infected her and their baby with HIV after cheating on her. Sadly, the virus later killed their newborn baby. The famous Thai lawyer, Kirdphon Kaewkird, revealed the woman’s story on Facebook account yesterday. He said… “I am depressed… I received a call…

  • Earthquake hits Phang Nga

    Earthquake hits Phang Nga

    Although Thailand doesn’t experience catastrophic earthquakes like those that have hit Turkey and Syria, there are occasional tremours in the region. Yesterday afternoon, the southern province of Phang Nga was rocked by a 3.7 magnitude earthquake, following two others around the country in the wee hours. The earthquake shook the Thana subdistrict in Kapong district, Phang Nga province. The trembler was…

  • Feeling lonely on Valentine’s Day? Name a cockroach after an ex and feel better

    Feeling lonely on Valentine’s Day? Name a cockroach after an ex and feel better

    Single and feeling a little lonely on Valentine’s Day, then why not name a cockroach or rat after an ex and feed it to an animal to make you feel better? No, we’re not kidding and it’s more common than you think. Naming a cockroach after a former lover is the brainchild of San Antonio Zoo in Texas. The zoo…

  • Wild gaur gores woman leaving her seriously injured in northeast Thailand

    Wild gaur gores woman leaving her seriously injured in northeast Thailand

    A woman who went out looking for red ant eggs is seriously injured after she was gored by wild gaur in a rural area of Nakhon Ratchasima province in northeast Thailand yesterday. At 2.40pm, the village chief of Ban Phong Ta Long in Pak Chong district, Chamras Phusuman, was informed that someone was severely attacked by a wild gaur in…

  • Mystery surrounding monkeys disappearing from temple

    Mystery surrounding monkeys disappearing from temple

    A monkey mystery has been forming in the northeast province of Loei, complete with unexplained clandestine g-men. Tham Pha Mak Ho Temple was a popular hangout for hundreds of monkeys, but they have been disappearing in big numbers recently. An investigation has been launched in the Wang Saphung district in the sparsely populated Isaan province following the mysterious disappearance of…

  • Woman accuses famous durian shop owners in Thailand of brutal rape and assault

    Woman accuses famous durian shop owners in Thailand of brutal rape and assault

    A woman filed a complaint with the police claiming her employers raped and brutally assaulted her but the police refused to investigate the claim. The police advised both parties to settle the matter amongst themselves. The couple, who run an online durian business in the Pluak Daeng district in the central province of Rayong named Mon Thong Durian, Online Fruit…

  • ‘No roses on Valentine’s Day!’ Bangkok election commission advises candidates

    ‘No roses on Valentine’s Day!’ Bangkok election commission advises candidates

    It turns out roses on Valentine’s Day aren’t a good idea for everyone. The director of the Election Commission’s Bangkok branch yesterday advised candidates in the upcoming general election on May 7 not to hand out roses on Valentine’s Day. The director, Samran Tanpanit, said that roses handed out on such special occasions could be considered by authorities as a…

  • Bangkok lottery retailer scammed out of 36,000 baht in fake lottery ticket fiasco

    Bangkok lottery retailer scammed out of 36,000 baht in fake lottery ticket fiasco

    A Bangkok lottery retailer filed a complaint with the police after she was tricked into buying 400 fake tickets worth 36,000 baht by a big lottery dealer in the Isaan province of Khon Kaen. The victim, Paiwan, and her husband filed a complaint at Rattanathibet Police Station on February 10 at 3pm after she realised that she had been scammed.…

  • Conflicting reports emerge on Canadian man reportedly mugged in Patong

    Conflicting reports emerge on Canadian man reportedly mugged in Patong

    UPDATE Conflicting reports are emerging on the Canadian man who was allegedly mugged in Patong on Friday night. Earlier, Phuket Tourist Police said that the man, 28 year old William Lamarche Saint Louis, told them that five men violently mugged him near Patong Beach. Saint Louis said he had been drinking at a bar before going for a walk at…

  • Phuket fishing crew rescued after almost one month at sea

    Phuket fishing crew rescued after almost one month at sea

    A Phuket fishing crew survived for nearly one month at sea after their boat, the Soi Sakul Petch, suffered engine failure a week after it departed from the island in southern Thailand on January 19. The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) launched a huge search operation after losing contact with the boat, combining marine and air searches, and reached out to…

  • Nearly 2,000 Chinese flights to enter Thailand in coming months

    Nearly 2,000 Chinese flights to enter Thailand in coming months

    Nearly 2,000 Chinese flights are set to enter Thailand in the coming months. Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAT) authorised1,910 flights from China to enter the kingdom, with 671 expected to arrive in February and 970 slated for arrival in March, according to CAAT president Suttipong Kongpool. In addition, the CAAT has received 6,318 flight requests for the period from February…

  • Phuket police can’t catch foreigner stealing tourists’ credit cards for shopping sprees

    Phuket police can’t catch foreigner stealing tourists’ credit cards for shopping sprees

    A foreign man has made a habit of stealing credit cards from tourists in Phuket, southern Thailand, to go on expensive shopping sprees. He has managed to avoid arrest so far. The same foreign man of unknown nationality is pickpocketing tourists in the Patong area of Phuket and using fake passports to make purchases of expensive items in bulk like…

  • Australia and New Zealand best places to survive nuclear apocalypse

    Australia and New Zealand best places to survive nuclear apocalypse

    As Valentine’s Day casts its mushroom-cloud shadow over ambivalent or forgetful lovers everywhere, it’s heartening to know where the best places to survive a nuclear apocalypse really are. A recent study by the University of Otago, Wellington, reaches the same conclusion as every other such survey in living memory. ‘Continuing’ civilisation It’s probably best not to survive, but if you…

  • Thai woman accuses Philippines airport officers of attempted theft

    Thai woman accuses Philippines airport officers of attempted theft

    A Thai woman accused customs officers at Manila International Airport in the Philippines of attempted theft. She said the officers tried to steal 40,000 yen (about 10,000 baht) from her bag. The Thai woman, Saruta Jansila, shared her unnerving experience at the Ninoy Aquino Intl Airport (Manila) in the Philippines on a Facebook group named People Who Like to Roam…

  • Phuket rescuers bring French tourists lost in forest to safety

    Phuket rescuers bring French tourists lost in forest to safety

    Phuket rescuers brought two French tourists lost in a forest to safety between last night and this morning. The tourists, a man identified only as Victor, and his girlfriend, had arrived in Phuket earlier yesterday and decided to go for a walk on a local beach. The couple followed a trail up the Nai Thon mountain but found themselves lost and…

  • Man accuses son of drugging him and killing his wife to steal 65 million baht

    Man accuses son of drugging him and killing his wife to steal 65 million baht

    A Thai millionaire accused his son and daughter-in-law of drugging him and killing his wife to steal 65 million baht. The millionaire claims that he was held captive over a two-year period before finally managing to escape in May last year. The 67 year old man, who was not identified, filed a complaint at Chanchoengsao Police Station on Saturday, February…

  • Man cut off his penis after child sexual abuse charges

    Man cut off his penis after child sexual abuse charges

    After being accused of child sexual abuse, a man in Indonesia attempted to end his own life in a cringy, gruesome way. The man got into his shower and cut off his penis. The incident took place in the Sikka regency, an area on the island of East Nusa Tenggara (neighbour to the famous Komodo island) on Saturday. The Bola…

  • Thai man accuses Canadian man of murdering his sister in Phuket

    Thai man accuses Canadian man of murdering his sister in Phuket

    A Thai man accuses a Canadian man of murdering his younger sister who was found hanged in a nail salon in Phuket, southern Thailand, last week. He says the Canadian assaulted, held hostage, drugged, and blackmailed his sister just days before her death. She reported him to the police three days prior to being found dead. The Canadian allegedly offered…

  • Thai police swoop to close down another illegal Chinese operation

    Thai police swoop to close down another illegal Chinese operation

    Thai police swooped on yet another illegal Chinese business operation, leading to the arrest of one man. Officers from the Consumer Protection Division (CPD) in Thailand conducted searches in two different locations in Prawet District in Bangkok and Samut Prakan province and seized counterfeit cosmetics and low-quality medical supplies worth an estimated 14 million baht. During the raids, a Chinese…

  • Report finds most Thais don’t understand climate change

    Report finds most Thais don’t understand climate change

    A recent report by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) has revealed that most Thais have a limited understanding of the impact of climate change on the planet. Only 35% of Thais believe that the use of fossil fuels should be reduced. This reflects a general lack of awareness about climate change and what causes it. Oddly, the…