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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. 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,...

  • Chinese gangs in Thailand take another hit as “Tony” falls

    Chinese gangs in Thailand take another hit as “Tony” falls

    Chinese gangs in Thailand are in more trouble as police arrested another suspected gang boss in Bangkok Wednesday. Teams of police raided 34 locations in eight provinces, at the behest of deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn. Big Joke, as Surachate is playfully known, said that in Samut Prakan, a company was identified as owning a private aircraft…

  • Pattaya Police warn city’s taxi riders to behave after sexual assault case

    Pattaya Police warn city’s taxi riders to behave after sexual assault case

    Pattaya Police warned the city’s motorcycle taxi riders to behave or else lose your taxi permits and driver’s license. The warning comes on the back of a taxi rider sexually harassing a customer who turned out to be a Thai TV talent show singer. Pol. Col. Kullachart Kullachai summoned a meeting with the city’s motorcycle taxi drivers to make them…

  • Thai-Italian Business Summit highlights the importance of a shared vision

    Thai-Italian Business Summit highlights the importance of a shared vision

    The Thai-Italian Chamber of Commerce (TICC) held the “Thai-Italian Business Summit” on November 29 at the Four Seasons Chao Phraya Hotel. The event was attended by over 200 attendees who were welcomed by TICC President Federico Cardini, who highlighted the importance of cooperation in promoting Italy in Thailand. The opening address was followed by the speech of HE Paolo Dionisi,…

  • Percentage of HIV infections rising among young Thais

    Percentage of HIV infections rising among young Thais

    In a worrying new trend, the percentage of AIDS infections has been rising among young Thais. According to the director of the Disease Control Department’s Division of AIDS, nearly two-thirds of new HIV infections are in young people. The director, Dr Cheewanan Lertpiriyasuwat, said this was much higher than the global average of around 30%. One HIV/AIDS prevention organisation, M…

  • Unexploded MK-82 bomb found in Songkhla forest

    Unexploded MK-82 bomb found in Songkhla forest

    Rangers found an unexploded MK-82 bomb in the forest of Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern province of Songkhla. The authorities believe the bomb was left over from the Communist insurgency in Thailand over 40 years ago. The Communist insurgency in Thailand was a guerilla war lasting from 1965 until 1983, fought mainly between the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) and…

  • Iranian forces kill young man for celebrating World Cup loss

    Iranian forces kill young man for celebrating World Cup loss

    Iranian authorities have once again confronted individual expression with lethal force. Security forces in the country’s northern city of Bandar Anzali have killed a young man for celebrating the national football team’s elimination from the World Cup. Security fatally shot the man in the head last night after he honked his car horn. The man killed, 27 year old Mehran…

  • Thai police seize 8 businesses in Phuket owned by Chinese gangster Tuhao

    Thai police seize 8 businesses in Phuket owned by Chinese gangster Tuhao

    Tuhao‘s can of criminal worms continues to open as police revealed they seized eight businesses in Phuket, southern Thailand, owned by the notorious Chinese gangster. Yesterday, police seized eight businesses each spanning 10 rai of land in Phuket’s Mueang district, including a jewellery company featuring a snake farm, two real estate companies, a latex company, a herbal medicine company, and…

  • Planning a small conference? Try Thailand’s super-luxury villas

    Planning a small conference? Try Thailand’s super-luxury villas

    If you are planning an international get-together, or a training conference for local staff, why waste your time and money on a decaying Bangkok hotel meeting room with ugly furniture, toxic air conditioning and a buffet prepared by the kitchen intern? Try a super-luxury villa. Thailand is home to some of the most spectacular meeting spots in the world. And…

  • Bangkok ranked No.6 in the top 10 best cities for expats

    Bangkok ranked No.6 in the top 10 best cities for expats

    Bangkok ranked sixth in the Top 10 Cities in the World for expats in 2022 in an InterNations poll. InterNations is a global social network for expats that operates both online and offline in 420 cities across the world. The network provides insider information on many expat destinations and also allows expat communities in each city to share and exchange…

  • Man armed with a pen gun arrested at seminar visited by PM Prayut

    Man armed with a pen gun arrested at seminar visited by PM Prayut

    The Thai Air Force bomb squad quickly dealt with a potential threat to the life of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha when an abusive man with a pen gun turned up at a seminar the PM was addressing. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOC) arrested the armed man yesterday at the seminar in the northern province of Chiang Rai. PM Prayut joined…

  • Racism scandal looms as Prince William and wife Kate arrive in US

    Racism scandal looms as Prince William and wife Kate arrive in US

    Prince William and his wife Kate have arrived in the US for the first time in eight years, amid another racism scandal that has seen his godmother resign from the royal household. Susan Hussey, one of William’s six godmothers, recently resigned after repeatedly asking a black British woman where she was “really” from. According to France 24, the Prince and…

  • Indonesia’s environmental protection plan- trust the billionaires

    Indonesia’s environmental protection plan- trust the billionaires

    Indonesia’s environmental protection plan will take the revolutionary step of selling off “development” rights – not “protection” rights – to an entire archipelago of more than 100 coral islands next week. More or less anyone who happens to have enough cash washing around offshore is welcome to bid. The Widi reserve in Indonesia is described by Sotheby’s – those bastions…

  • Europe wakes up to US profiteering from Russia-Ukraine conflict

    Europe wakes up to US profiteering from Russia-Ukraine conflict

    It appears Europe has finally woken up to Sleepy Joe’s foreign policy and US profiteering from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The war in Ukraine has been blamed for higher fuel costs, the rise in inflation, austerity, and an economic meltdown throughout the world. Yet everything in the US garden appears to be rosy, profits are blooming and life goes on as…

  • ‘Pinky’ the alleged Forex 3D scammer released on bail after 3 months behind bars

    ‘Pinky’ the alleged Forex 3D scammer released on bail after 3 months behind bars

    UPDATE Savika “Pinky” Chaiyadej was released on bail for 5 million baht yesterday after being detained for over three months inside Central Women’s Correctional Institution in Bangkok. Thailand’s Criminal Court granted bail to Pinky on the condition that she does not leave the country, must inform the court within seven days if she changes her address, and must report to…

  • North Korea forces citizens to change names for a more idealistic sound

    North Korea forces citizens to change names for a more idealistic sound

    North Korea’s government is reportedly forcing its citizens to change their names to sound more ideological. Such names that mean “super beauty” or “loved one” are being swapped for those that mean “loyalty” or “bomb.” One resident of the country says names have evolved since the early 2000s as people learned more about the outside world. In the past, residents…

  • Thailand’s southern islands are reeling in tourists

    Thailand’s southern islands are reeling in tourists

    South Thailand’s holiday hotspot islands are reeling in tourists once again. The islands of Koh Samui, Koh Tao, and Koh Pha Ngan have seen 2.3 million tourists arrive on their shores in the past 10 months, according to the director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)’s office for the islands. This has generated over 40 billion baht in revenue.…

  • Missing Australian teacher in Koh Samui found

    Missing Australian teacher in Koh Samui found

    A missing teacher on Koh Samui island has been found alive, but her current condition is unknown. The Australian woman, Jessica Desai, 38, is of Indian descent and was reported missing since November 25. Desai is a teacher at Oonrak International School in Koh Samui. Her information was posted to numerous Koh Samui Facebook groups with hopes of finding her.…

  • Cabinet seems to have ignored 4am nightlife proposal

    Cabinet seems to have ignored 4am nightlife proposal

    It seems that the push for 4am closing times for nightlife venues is meeting stiff opposition. But entertainment venues aren’t giving up, offering new arguments and proposing plans to solve the points of contention. Meanwhile, the briefing released after a Cabinet meeting yesterday that was expected to discuss the curfew extension did not make any mention of the 4am proposal.…

  • Tuhao’s Chinese gang buys 50 homes in Bangkok luxury village with cash

    Tuhao’s Chinese gang buys 50 homes in Bangkok luxury village with cash

    Tuhao the alleged Chinese drug tycoon and his gang of “businessmen” bought 50 houses in a luxury village in Bangkok – with cash, police say. The gangs’ constant partying drove all 16 remaining Thai households out of the village. Bangkok South Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant to search an entire village in Bangkok’s Soi Laselle area after finding evidence…

  • Bus flipped in Tak injuring 44 Burmese workers, killing 3

    Bus flipped in Tak injuring 44 Burmese workers, killing 3

    A bus full of Burmese workers overturned in the Tak provinces, killing three and injuring 44 more. The bus was transporting Burmese migrant workers from the northern province across the country to work in the southern province of Songkhla. The accident took place yesterday evening in the Mueang district of Tak. Mae Toh Police were notified about the bus that…

  • Intoxicated Pattaya woman left uninjured after overturning car

    Intoxicated Pattaya woman left uninjured after overturning car

    An intoxicated Pattaya woman escaped injury after overturning her car in the early hours of this morning. The woman, Nantakan Surinthorn, remarkably walked away from the vehicle with little more than a few minor scrapes and bruises after she crashed her car into a parked truck, before overturning it. The 26 year old bar owner admitted to Pattaya police that…

  • Woman who allegedly scammed victims for over 30 million baht arrested in Pattaya

    Woman who allegedly scammed victims for over 30 million baht arrested in Pattaya

    Another day, another major scam in Thailand. A woman who allegedly scammed victims for over 30 million baht has been arrested in Pattaya. Police arrested the woman, 24 year old Patcharee Maneesri, at a condominium in the city following an arrest warrant from the Loei Provincial Court for fraud and a loan scam imported into a computer system. Patcharee was…

  • Bangkok BTS Skytrain fares to increase next year

    Bangkok BTS Skytrain fares to increase next year

    Global inflation is rising and so is the cost of a ticket on Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain. The BTS Skytrain will get a little bit pricier on January 1, 2023, according to an announcement made by the Bangkok Transit System Corporation (BTSC) today. Fares on the Sukhumvit (Mo Chit – On Nut) and Silom (National Stadium – Saphan Taksin) lines will…

  • Police put brakes on car rental thief in Bangkok

    Police put brakes on car rental thief in Bangkok

    A car rental thief was arrested in Bangkok today after twocking more than 100 motors from car rental shops throughout several provinces of southern Thailand. Members of the Haad Yai Airport Car Rental Business Association in the southern province of Songkhla, and car rental shops in Pattalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krabi, Phuket, Yala, and Narathiwat filed complaints with police that…

  • Driver furious with Bangkok shopping mall after foreigner accidently causes damage to her car

    Driver furious with Bangkok shopping mall after foreigner accidently causes damage to her car

    A foreign man accidentally damaged a car after he tripped on the pavement in front of a Bangkok shopping mall, pulling a large, heavy advertising board onto the vehicle. The car owner thanked the foreign man for paying for the damage to the car but she condemned the shopping mall because she believed they should cough up. Premvadee Bunchatherawate shared…

  • Iran promises Thailand it won’t attack Israeli tourists

    Iran promises Thailand it won’t attack Israeli tourists

    Iran promised Thailand that it won’t attack Israeli tourists on Thai soil. The Thai government informed Israel’s government yesterday that it had received a commitment from Iran not to attack Israeli targets in Thailand, according to an Israeli Foreign Ministry cable and two Israeli officials. Iran, and Iran-backed forces, are believed to have been behind attacks on Israelis and Jews…

  • Japan is the No.1 tourist destination among Thais

    Japan is the No.1 tourist destination among Thais

    A new study reveals that the top five tourist destinations among Thai tourists include Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The study by Visa surveyed 2,000 Thai people about their most desirable holiday destinations. The top three deciding factors when choosing where to go include travel expenses (65%), weather (49%), and desire to visit new places (48%).…

  • 10,000 Angkor Wat residents facing mass eviction

    10,000 Angkor Wat residents facing mass eviction

    The UNESCO world heritage site of Angkor Wat, the largest religious complex in the world, is facing a humanitarian crisis. About 10,000 people who live in and around the site have been told that they must move before the new year. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen describes it as “voluntary relocations,” but residents being pushed out of their homes and…

  • Popcorn promotion: people capitalise on all you can eat

    Popcorn promotion: people capitalise on all you can eat

    A Bangkok cinema might have underestimated the Thai people’s veracity for a bargain. On Monday, the cinema located in a mall in central Bangkok held an “all you can eat” popcorn promotion and dozens of locals took full advantage. The theatre offered all-you-can-eat popcorn for 199 baht and did not make any restrictions on containers, for example, requiring the popcorn…

  • Violent criminals in Thailand to be tagged for 10 years after release to protect women

    Violent criminals in Thailand to be tagged for 10 years after release to protect women

    Soon, criminals put away for violent crimes against women in Thailand will have to wear an electric monitoring (EM) ankle bracelet for up to 10 years after their release. The new law – Measures for the Prevention of Repeat Offenses in Sexual or Violent Crimes Act – aims to reduce the chance of reoffending, prevent violence against women and make…