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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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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Fire destroys 7 speedboats on Koh Mak
Disaster struck the island of Koh Mak in Trat province over the weekend when seven speedboats docked at Thong Lang Bay were destroyed in a fire. A group of tourists from the mainland who had taken a day trip to the holiday island were briefly stranded as the speedboats to transport them back burned and sank. Local villagers came to…
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Doi Kloselo tourist attractions threatened by hydropower dam
In Mae Hong Son province, Doi Kloselo tourist attractions are to be created in a desperate attempt by locals to stop a planned hydropower dam on the Salween River. The Salween is one of Asia’s last largely free-flowing rivers. About 3,300 kilometres long, the Salween flows from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea, primarily within southwest China and…
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Floating beach club party barge requests to anchor in Phuket
A floating beach club barge in Phuket is seeking approval to anchor in Patong Bay. The 500-gross-ton vessel, called the Sawasdee, has luxury party amenities like a bar and swimming pool and can accommodate 500 guests with a crew of 35. The Phuket office of the Marine Department reported that the boat is currently anchored in Patong Bay, where it…
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Man bites dog: Dog-eating Thai man gets three months
A dog-eating Thai man has been sent to prison for three months for killing, cooking and eating his pet dogs, according to the Soi Dog Foundation. The charity said on Facebook yesterday that concern was raised by Soi Dog mobile clinic staff who encountered a puppy in the Chalerm Prakiat district of Nakhon Si Thammarat with a deep laceration to…
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Nephew of former Pattaya deputy mayor surrenders on shooting charges
After losing control and shooting a British man in a road rage incident, the nephew of a former deputy mayor of Pattaya turned himself in yesterday. The 32 year old man identified only by his first name Apichat surrendered to police in Pattaya. According to Apichat’s account of the incident, the deputy mayor’s nephew was driving his car when he…
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Koh Pha Ngan packed with back to back parties
Business in Koh Pha Ngan has been booming with the biggest New Year’s Eve Countdown party in three years followed by the first Full Moon Party of 2023. Tens of thousands of visitors flocked to the island to take part in the (nearly) all-night beach party last night. The event was a success, though not quite as big and rowdy…
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Alibaba’s Jack Ma enjoys a visit to Bangkok
Billionaire Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba and Yunfeng Capital, has been enjoying his time in Thailand, visiting popular tourist attractions in the capital city of Bangkok. He was recently seen at the famous Michelin star Jay Fai street food and the Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium. The Chinese businessman ate at Thailand’s most famous street food stall and stopped to take…
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Indian travel slowing due to new restrictions
The massive Indian demographic for Thai tourism has been slowing due to new Covid-19 travel restrictions the Indian government has implemented. Travellers returning from Thailand are now required to take an RT-PCR test, an expensive inconvenience that is discouraging many from travelling. The so-called meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) segment and independent travellers have been particularly put off by…
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Teacher shot by 6 year old student in US
A shocking and disturbing incident occurred at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia in the US yesterday. A 6 year old student shot and wounded a teacher, a woman in her 30s, during an altercation in the classroom. The teacher was taken to a local hospital with injuries believed to be life-threatening, but there has reportedly been “some improvement”…
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Monk accused of raping his daughter
A 42 year old monk in Samut Prakan has been arrested for raping his daughter after visiting her for New Year blessings. On December 28, Naen, a 14 year old girl from a family with a history of sexual abuse, was violently raped by her father, Wirachai, a monk at a temple in the Greater Bangkok area province of Samut…
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Next Level Adventures ft. Paddy Doyle | Thaiger Podcast Ep.19
Youtuber, Traveller and dreamer. He quit his job as a primary school teacher, sold his belongings and hopped on his 94 Honda Dream motor bike to visit all 77 provinces of Thailand, to follow his passion for creating videos, travelling and living the Thailand dream. Paddy Doyle is an extreme example of what a hard-working man can achieve. He has…
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Global food prices, hunger hit record highs
Global food prices for grain and vegetable oil were the highest on record last year, even after falling for nine months in a row, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said, as Russia’s war in Ukraine, drought and other factors take the blame for inflation and global hunger. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in food prices, dipped…
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Blood alcohol content limit for drivers in Thailand should be set at 0%
The Centre for Alcohol Studies (CAS) urged relevant departments to consider setting the blood alcohol content (BAC) limit for drivers in Thailand at 0%, instead of 0.05%, because drivers with 0.05% of BAC in their system still cause fatal road accidents. The legal BAC is set at 0.05% in Thailand. This means that motorists in the country can drive if…
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Young Welshman seriously injured in motorbike accident in Koh Samui, Thailand
A 28 year old Welshman remains in a government hospital in Koh Samui, southern Thailand, after a motorbike collision on Boxing Day. Adam Davies, from Dinas Cross in Pembrokeshire, sustained multiple injuries including a fractured skull in three places, bleeding in the brain, a punctured lung, five broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, broken shoulder blade, fractured ankle, and other minor…
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Island redemption: Stray human saves himself through stray dogs
A stray Northern Irish entrepreneur is now looking after stray dogs in Koh Samui, but only after nearly drinking himself to death. Niall Harbison founded successful Irish social media companies Simply Zesty and Lovin Dublin before selling them for seven-figure sums, according to Belfast Live. Niall moved to Brussels at an early age where his father was a diplomat and…
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Man stabs 14 year old girl to death upon release from prison in northeast Thailand
A man released from prison three days ago stabbed a 14 year old girl to death as she got off the school bus in Roi Et province in northeast Thailand this morning. The assailant, 36 year old Preecha Wichaisorn, followed the school bus on a motorbike until it reached Ban Lao Wittayakhan School at 8am. As the students were getting…
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2 missing Maniq men presumed dead in a cave in southern province
Authorities believe the two Maniq men who went missing a week ago died in a mountainous cave in the Kong Ra district in the southern province of Pattalung. People from the Maniq ethnic group, also known as Sakai, asked local forest rangers and a rescue team to search for the two men, Tong and Waeng Rakkongra, who went missing a…
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Woman hit with 6.5 million baht parking fee in Thailand
A Thai woman was hit with a 6.5 million baht ($US190,870) parking fee after leaving her car for just two hours at a shopping mall car park in Nonthaburi province, just north of Bangkok, in central Thailand. CH3‘s programme “Nai Krasae” (“Trending”) reported yesterday that an unidentified woman parked her car at a “well-known shopping mall.” The name of the shopping…
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71 year old British man shot dead in Chon Buri
A 71 year old British man was shot dead on a road in Chon Buri province in the early hours of this morning. It is believed that the murder was motivated by an adulterous affair. The police are currently searching for the gunman. A 29 year old Thai man, Kittikhun, notified the officers at Huay Yai Police Station after he…
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Dell plans to stop using Chinese-made chips by 2024
US computer maker Dell is planning to stop using Chinese-made chips in its computers by 2024. Amid economic tensions between the two countries, the company is also telling its suppliers to reduce the amount of other Chinese-made components in its products. According to Nikkei Asia, the world’s third-largest computer maker told suppliers as early as last year to cut down…
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Sign of corruption? Bangkok station’s US$1-million name change
When His Majesty the King renamed Bang Sue Grand Station, “Krung Thep Abhiwat Central Terminal,” in September, some quiet questions were asked if the Bangkok station’s US$1-million name change was really necessary. Yesterday, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob has been obliged to assure a puzzled public that an investigation into the 33 million baht (US$1 million) cost of the new nameplate…
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Locals panic after Bengal tiger footprints spotted in community
Locals in the Chong Sadao sub-district in the central province of Kanchanaburi sought help from the authorities after mysterious footprints of a tiger were spotted in the community. Chong Sadao sub-district chief Wasan Soonjirat reported to the media that he was notified about the tiger footprints at 8.30am yesterday, January 5. The footprints were discovered near the community and forest…
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Thailand’s long-distance trains to relocate to new Bangkok rail hub from January 19
The State Railway of Thailand is relocating 52 train services from Hua Lampong Station to Bangkok‘s new central rail hub – Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal (formerly Bang Sue Junction) – from January 19. Passengers catching long-distance, rapid and express train services will depart from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district from this date onward. Inbound trains…
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1 killed and 1 injured in explosive disposal mission
One officer was killed and another injured during an explosive disposal mission at the old military base of the Royal Thai Army Rangers in the Khun Harn district of the Isaan province of Sisaket. The director of the National Park Conservative Area Administration Office Unit 9, Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn, told the media that the incident happened at 10.37am yesterday, January 5.…
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Heavy rain, flash flooding forecasted for six of Thailand’s southern provinces
Heavy rain to very heavy rain and flash flooding is expected to hit six of Thailand’s southern provinces from today until Sunday. According to Thai PBS World, the Meteorological Department says that the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat are expected to see heavy rain over the next three days. Three other southern provinces of Songkhla, Phatthalung, and Nakhon…
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Pravin Kumar appointed as general manager of Hyatt Regency Koh Samui
Press Release KOH SAMUI (DECEMBER 22, 2022) – Hyatt Regency Koh Samui, the island’s best luxury beachfront resort in the vibrant area of North Chaweng, is pleased to announce the appointment of experienced general manager Pravin Kumar. With over 20 years of hospitality experience, Mr Kumar brings to Hyatt Regency Koh Samui a wealth of industry knowledge in the luxury…
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Thailand’s official year-end population lower than in 2021, females outnumber males again
Thailand’s official year-end population has been recorded at 66,090,475 as of December 31, 2022, with females outnumbering males again. According to Thai PBS World, the latest census data was provided by the Central Domicile Registration Office. The population consists of 65,106,481 Thai nationals with 983,994 waiting to receive Thai citizenship. Of the recorded number of Thai nationals, 31,755,032 are males…
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Pattaya Beach is second most popular beach in the world
Pattaya Beach was named the second most popular beach in the world on TikTok. The most popular beach prize goes to Bondi Beach in Australia. The UK luxury holiday company, Destination2, created a list of the most popular beaches across the world on TikTok. The company conducted the research on TikTok by creating a specific hashtag for the dream beaches…
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VIDEO: Angry farang chases Thai-French woman who rejected him in Pattaya
An angry farang (Westerner) of unknown nationality chased a half-Thai half-French woman around the pool at a Pattaya hotel in eastern Thailand when she rejected his advances on Monday. Twitch streamer ‘Justketh’ was live-streaming at the hotel’s pool where only she and the older man were present. Keth told The Thaiger… “He had been sitting in the pool and drinking…
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Man attacked by teenagers on Airport Rail Link train
A man was attacked by a group of teenagers while travelling on an Airport Rail Link train last night. The victim insisted that he did not know the offenders. A woman who witnessed the assault recorded a video of the incident and shared it on the local news Facebook page, Let Me Know If You Wanna Be Famous, Return Ver.…
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