leah

Leah is a translator and news writer for the Thaiger. Leah studied East Asian Religions and Thai Studies at the University of Leeds and Chiang Mai University. Leah covers crime, politics, environment, human rights, entertainment, travel and culture in Thailand and southeast Asia.
  • Thailand NewsFour Thai teens win award for pioneering parasite-killing invention

    Four Thai teens win award for pioneering parasite-killing invention

    Four high school students from Yala in southern Thailand won the New Gen Inventors Award 2023 for inventing a herbal product made from galangal leaves which kills parasites in raw foods in less than six minutes. Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha praised the children for creating a practical product from readily available herbs which will improve the Thai population’s physical…

  • Thailand NewsMosquito bite in Thailand causes Dutchman to lose both legs

    Mosquito bite in Thailand causes Dutchman to lose both legs

    A Dutchman living in Nakhon Rathasima in Thailand is on a mission to spread awareness about “flesh-eating bacteria” (necrotising fasciitis) after a mosquito bite led to the amputation of his left leg and lower right leg. Long-term expat, 62 year old Ed Olieslagers from the Netherlands, went to the hospital in April last year after a mosquito bite became inflamed and…

  • Thailand NewsThai cave survivor ‘found unconscious in dormitory,’ says Coach Zico

    Thai cave survivor ‘found unconscious in dormitory,’ says Coach Zico

    The Wild Boars team captain ‘Dom‘ – one of 12 boys saved from a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018 – was found unconscious in his dormitory room in England on Sunday before tragically passing away on Tuesday, according to the foundation sponsoring his studies. President of the Zico Foundation, Kiatisuk “Coach Zico” Senamuang, told the press via Zoom that…

  • Pattaya NewsPattaya gains condom vending machines

    Pattaya gains condom vending machines

    Sex in Sin City just got safer as condoms were loaded into vending machines in two areas of Pattaya in the Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand, yesterday. The initiative is part of the National Health Security Office’s new campaign “Love Bang Love Safety” which aims to tackle teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The project is being piloted in Pattaya, the…

  • Thailand NewsThai schoolgirl dies from electric shock while charging phone

    Thai schoolgirl dies from electric shock while charging phone

    In a series of events becoming too familiar in Thailand, a 13 year old schoolgirl was electrocuted while charging her phone and was found dead by her grandmother. A frayed extension cable is believed to be the cause. On Monday at 1.30pm, officers at Ban Na Police Station in Nakhon Nayok province were informed a child had died from an…

  • Thailand NewsThai cave rescue survivor dies in accident in England

    Thai cave rescue survivor dies in accident in England

    Dom, one of 12 boys saved in the Tham Luang cave rescue mission in northern Thailand almost five years ago, has died in an accident in England, UK, where he went to study football. A Buddhist monk and Dom’s former teacher, Supatpong Methigo, broke the news on Facebook this morning. The monk said he was informed by Dom’s grandmother, who…

  • Tourism NewsThailand to charge foreign tourists entry fee from June 1

    Thailand to charge foreign tourists entry fee from June 1

    Thailand‘s Cabinet yesterday approved the collection of an entry fee from all foreign tourists. It is expected to come into effect on June 1. Foreigners arriving by air will be charged 300 baht (US$8.79) and those arriving by land/sea will be charged 150 baht (US$4.40), as proposed by the National Tourism Policy Committee two weeks ago. Holders of Thai passports,…

  • Thailand NewsYoung Englishwoman needs surgery after hit-and-run on Thai island

    Young Englishwoman needs surgery after hit-and-run on Thai island

    A 20 year old Englishwoman is seriously injured and awaiting surgery after she was struck and abandoned after a hit-and-run crash on Koh Phi Phi island in southern Thailand last week. Ruby Spry, from Penzance in Cornwall, was driving a motorbike through the small island last Wednesday when a motorbike coming the other way drove on the wrong side of…

  • Thailand NewsEnglish-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…

  • World NewsThai 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…

  • Thailand NewsMost 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…

  • Thailand NewsWild 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…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket 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…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket 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…

  • Crime NewsThai 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…

  • Thailand NewsUK police go to Thailand to solve woman’s mysterious murder 19 years ago

    UK police go to Thailand to solve woman’s mysterious murder 19 years ago

    Nearly 19 years after a Thai woman‘s half-naked body was found in a stream in the Yorkshire Dales, UK police officers have come to Thailand to try and solve the suspected murder case. Police want to question David Armitage, her husband who now lives in Thailand, and the woman’s parents. Hikers noticed the body of Lamduan Armitage, formerly Lamduan Seekanya,…

  • World News3 Thais, 1 Malaysian handed death penalty for businessman’s murder

    3 Thais, 1 Malaysian handed death penalty for businessman’s murder

    On Friday, a court in Thailand sentenced four people – three Thai and one Malaysian – to the death penalty over the murder of a businessman in Songkhla province seven years ago, despite none of them pulling the trigger. Songkhla Provincial Court sentenced two more defendants, the gunman and his driver, to life imprisonment. In December 2014, 54 year old…

  • Thailand NewsBuilding under construction collapses in Bangkok injuring 5

    Building under construction collapses in Bangkok injuring 5

    Over 100 Burmese workers fled to safety as a four-storey building under construction in Bangkok collapsed yesterday. Five people were injured. At 4pm, officers at Makkasan Police Station were informed that an unnamed building collapsed onto construction workers on Soi Wat Uthai Tharam, Kamphaeng Phet 7 Road, Huai Kwang district. Police, officials from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation…

  • Northern Thailand NewsGive your lover shallots this Valentine’s Day, suggests PM Prayut

    Give your lover shallots this Valentine’s Day, suggests PM Prayut

    The smell of red onion is in the air this Valentine’s Day in Thailand as Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha invites the public to send shallots to their lover instead of a red rose this year. PM Prayut is pushing shallots as a symbol of love this V-day to support shallot farmers in Srisaket province in northeast Thailand. The shallots grown…

  • Thailand NewsChiang Mai tackles PM2.5 pollution with giant vacuum cleaner

    Chiang Mai tackles PM2.5 pollution with giant vacuum cleaner

    Thailand‘s Disaster Department is testing out a giant vacuum cleaner as a way to tackle the PM2.5 dust pollution problem that plagues the northern city of Chiang Mai every ‘burning season.’ Every year, farmers around Thailand send their forests and fields up in smoke because it’s the cheapest way to prepare to plant new crops causing PM2.5 levels to shoot…

  • Thailand NewsExplosion at Thai army bomb fuse factory

    Explosion at Thai army bomb fuse factory

    A huge explosion occurred at a Royal Thai Army (RTA) bomb fuse factory in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province causing a thick column of smoke in central Thailand at approximately noon today. The factory makes fuses for explosive devices and is part of the Incendiary Factory Division, a Royal Thai Ordnance Department facility where explosives are made for Thailand’s armed…

  • Crime NewsAlleged gambling kingpin’s lawyer surrenders rare Lamborghini to Thai police

    Alleged gambling kingpin’s lawyer surrenders rare Lamborghini to Thai police

    The ultrarare 40 million baht Lamborghini belonging to alleged macau888 gambling kingpin Benz Daemon has been handed over to Thai Cyber Police – complete with a new paint job – by the suspect’s lawyer. Benz Daemon, who fled to Hong Kong, has not yet returned to Thailand to face his charges but police say he is expected any day now.…

  • Thailand NewsSuspected Jimi Sandhu hitman in Canadian jail wants to face trial in Thailand

    Suspected Jimi Sandhu hitman in Canadian jail wants to face trial in Thailand

    A Canadian man accused of being a hitman in the murder of Indian gangster Jimi Sandhu in Phuket last year said he wants to face trial in Thailand despite having to potentially face the death penalty. Canadian Forces veteran Matthew Dupre is one suspect accused of murdering Sandu in February last year on behalf of a Canadian-based gang. Sandu did not…

  • South Thailand NewsRailway bomb attack in southern Thailand injures 8 security officers

    Railway bomb attack in southern Thailand injures 8 security officers

    A bomb attack at a railway in Narathiwat province in southern Thailand yesterday injured eight subdistrict security officers. Officers at Rueso Police Station were informed that subdistrict security officers were injured by an explosion while on duty overseeing the safety of the railway line in the area of Duyae Village, Sao Or subdistrict, Rueso district. Assailants planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs)…

  • Thailand NewsThai cops go above and beyond to help Chinese tourist return home

    Thai cops go above and beyond to help Chinese tourist return home

    Good eggs from the Royal Thai Police force in Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand, helped a Chinese tourist get her passport back in the nick of time before her flight back to China last night. At 10pm, officers at Chang Phuak Police Station received a call from a distressed Chinese tourist. The tourist rented a car from a car rental…

  • Thailand NewsElderly Thai woman survives wild elephant attack

    Elderly Thai woman survives wild elephant attack

    Netizens think it’s a miracle that an elderly Thai lady survived being trampled on by a wild elephant in Prachin Buri province in eastern Thailand yesterday. The victim, 71 year old Winit On-On, aka “Grandma Winit,” was watering her eucalyptus plants at her home in Phanom Sarakham district when she bent down to pick up her hose. When Grandma Winit…

  • Thailand NewsNepali man caught smuggling 5.6 kilograms of hashish into Thailand

    Nepali man caught smuggling 5.6 kilograms of hashish into Thailand

    A Nepali man was arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday after customs found 5.6 kilograms of hashish hidden in his luggage with an estimated value of 560,000 baht. At 6.45pm, airport customs officials inspected a suitcase belonging to a man flying in from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. As the unnamed Nepali national passed through with nothing to declare, customs…

  • Thailand NewsThai immigration chief asks reporter, ‘Do you have a husband?’ to dodge question

    Thai immigration chief asks reporter, ‘Do you have a husband?’ to dodge question

    In an interview about the macau888 gambling case, Thailand’s Chief of Immigration dodged a female reporter’s question by responding, “Do you have a husband?” The interview followed the interrogation of police officer Kunakorn “Bright” Khajohnboonthaworn who was accused of being one of four brothers operating the illegal gambling website macau888. According to the police force, Captain Bright proved his innocence…

  • Bangkok NewsDrunk police officer crashes car into restaurant in Bangkok, 3 in ICU (video) | Thaiger

    Drunk police officer crashes car into restaurant in Bangkok, 3 in ICU (video)

    Three people are seriously injured in intensive care after a drunk police officer crashed his car into a restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday night. The owner of the “Mala” (Chinese spicy hotpot) restaurant in Bang Khen district said they are scared justice will not be served because the drunk driver is a police officer. At 10.55pm on Monday, officers…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok man electrocuted to death charging his phone

    Bangkok man electrocuted to death charging his phone

    A young Thai man was found dead in his room in Bangkok this morning clutching a phone on charge. Police say he was electrocuted to death. At 8am, officers at Rat Burana Police Station were informed of a death in a rented room in the Bang Mod subdistrict, Thung Khru district. Police, doctors from Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital, and rescue workers from…