leah

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.
  • Tourism News

    Apply now: TAT offers 500,000 baht to travel Thailand for 4 months

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is recruiting one lucky explorer to travel around Thailand for four months and document their adventures. The chosen “Tourist of Thailand” will receive 504,000 baht in spending money for their trip, travel vouchers, and other prizes. The TAT’s job advertisement reads… “Do you want to travel all over Thailand for free? It’s not hard!…

  • Tourism News

    Thailand’s Tourist Police earn praise for assisting stranded French and Canadian tourists

    Thailand’s Tourist Police received praise in Thai media for assisting a French tourist and a Canadian tourist in need of help in Sa Keao province in eastern Thailand yesterday. Pol. Lt. Col. Jiraphat Khaewsiri, from the Sa Keao Tourist Police force, lead a patrol yesterday when he spotted a foreign woman walking along the Suwannasorn Road. As soon as she…

  • Crime News

    Car saleswoman brutally raped and murdered in Thailand, family demands death penalty

    The family of a young used car saleswoman who was brutally raped and murdered in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Saturday is calling for the serial rapist responsible to be punished with the death penalty. Police arrested a 40 year old suspect, Nathapol Panpadungsap, in Mueang district at 3.30pm on Sunday. He has a long criminal history and was most…

  • Road deaths

    War weapons and drugs found in wreckage of fatal crash in Thailand

    A bus and a pickup truck collided in Lop Buri province in central Thailand this morning, killing three people and injuring seven more. Police were shocked to find a stash of drugs, weapons, and ammunition inside the pickup. Officers from Khok Samrong Police Station were informed of a serious crash along the Phahonyothin Road in Moo 12 in Huay Pong…

  • Thai Life

    Vet in Thailand removes 21 pebbles from ‘Jelly’ the pet frog’s belly

    A Thai woman took her pet Budgett’s frog “Jelly” to see a vet in Bangkok, Thailand, after she found it looking fatter than usual. An x-ray revealed that the frog ate 21 pebbles and was in some serious trouble. Yesterday, Chulalongkorn University’s Veterinary Medical Aquatic Animals Research Centre (VMARC) posted a series of photos of Jelly’s ordeal on Facebook. VMARC…

  • Crime News

    Bangkok court fines man 1,000 baht for punching ‘master complainer’ Srisuwan

    UPDATE A court in Bangkok, Thailand, ruled yesterday that the man who physically assaulted “master complainer” Srisuwan Janya last year must pay a fine of 1,000 baht. Srisuwan, however, demands 1 million baht in compensation. The attack came after Srisawan accused Nose Udom – the nation’s favourite comedian – of violating the law with the anti-governmental standup sketches on his…

  • Transport News

    3 words banned at Thailand’s airports

    Unless you want to land yourself a prison sentence and a hefty fine, there are three words you should avoid saying in Thai airports and during flights, warns Airports of Thailand (AOT). AOT took to Facebook yesterday to remind passengers of their policy of what is unacceptable to say and do in an airport following the controversy caused by a…

  • Thai Life

    Lucky fisherman finds whale puke worth 3 million baht on Thailand beach

    A lucky fisherman stumbled across 3 kilogrammes of rare whale puke – or ambergris – while taking a stroll on the beach in Rayong, eastern Thailand, on Sunday. If genuine, he can sell the “floating gold” for 3 million baht (US$87,931). Ambergris (“grey amber” in French) is a rare and valuable material produced in the digestive system of some species of…

  • Thai Life

    Elephant moves fallen tree blocking road in Thailand (video)

    An elephant moved a fallen tree blocking the Lampang – Phrae Road in northern Thailand during a storm on Monday, allowing traffic to resume as normal. The moment was captured on Facebook Live. The owner of the elephant, Weerawat Triyot, said that he was on his way back to Chaiyaphum province after taking his 16 year old elephant Dan Siam…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Man caught smuggling 45 crab-eating macaques out of Thailand

    A Thai man was arrested on a highway in Udon Thani province in northeastern Thailand yesterday with 45 crab-eating macaques stuffed into 13 boxes inside his car. He confessed that he was taking the monkeys to the border to be smuggled into neighbouring countries, most likely to be experimented on or killed for their brains. The monkey trafficker, 44 year…

  • Bangkok News

    Lululemon to open store in Thailand this July

    Canadian athletic apparel, accessories, and footwear brand lululemon athletica will open a store in CentralWorld in Bangkok this July. It will be the brand’s first store in Thailand. The brand did not give an exact date in July for the store’s opening on CentralWorld’s first floor opposite H&M Home – joining the mall’s newly-opened American burger joint Shake Shack. Lululemon…

  • World News

    Singapore ignores UN’s pleas and executes man over 1kg of cannabis

    Singapore ignored pleas from the United Nations and executed a man this morning found guilty of conspiring to traffic 1 kilogramme of cannabis. At dawn, 46 year old Tangaraju Suppiah was hanged at Changi Prison in eastern Singapore, the Singapore Prison Service reported. His family received his body and a death certificate at the prison this morning. Tangaraju was sentenced…

  • Thailand News

    Girlfriend of Australian tourist found dead in Thai police custody suspects foul play

    UPDATE The girlfriend of the Australian man who was found dead inside the detention room at a police station in Phuket, southern Thailand, on Monday says her boyfriend was “not suicidal” and had every intention of returning to his family. Police arrested 31 year old Matthew Michael Winder for being drunk and disorderly at around 5.45am and detained him at…

  • Crime News

    Thailand’s Supreme Court upholds death penalty for school director who killed 3 in gold shop robbery

    The Supreme Court of Thailand ruled today that the death penalty will be upheld for the former primary school director who shot dead three people – including a two year old child – and wounded another during a gold shop robbery in Lop Buri province three years ago. On January 9, 2020, then-39 year old Prasitthichai “Golf” Khaokaew entered the…

  • Thailand News

    Two booze ban days coming up in Thailand

    In case drunkenness influences voters to tick the wrong box in Thailand‘s upcoming elections, alcohol sales will be banned nationwide for two Saturdays next month – early voting day and Election Day. No alcohol may be sold from 6pm on May 6 until 6pm on May 7, as well as from 6pm on May 13 until 6pm on May 14.…

  • Bangkok News

    Bangkok’s luxury condo market is booming

    Bangkok’s luxury condo scene is booming with rent at some high-end condominiums now hitting 100,000 baht per month, reports BangkokBizNews. Sanchai Khu-Ekachai, Director and Head of Research and Consulting at Knight Frank Thailand Co., Ltd. said… “The condo market began to recover because of demand from foreigners affected by the Russia – Ukraine war, especially condos in Bangkok. Russian tourists stimulated…

  • Thailand News

    Injured young Brit transferred to UK for treatment after 3 months in Thailand hospital

    UPDATE 2 The young British man who sustained life-threatening injuries in a motorbike crash in Thailand in February has finally returned home to the UK after undergoing four surgeries in three months at Bangkok Hospital. The 24 year old ice hockey player from Blackburn, Josh Richardson, returned on a flight on £20,000 flight on Thursday accompanied by a doctor, two…

  • Crime News

    Thai man fined and sentenced to prison over craft beer review

    A court in central Thailand fined a man 150,000 baht and handed him a six-month suspended prison sentence for posting a picture and review of a craft beer on Facebook. He paid an additional 150,000 baht to be released on bail. In 2020, Artid Sivahansaphan posted a review on the Facebook page “Daek Beer Hai Plia Kaem,” a beer review…

  • Crime News

    Elderly Swedish man attempts to smuggle 3kg of heroin into Thailand

    An elderly Swedish man who was arrested at an airport in Zimbabwe with 3 kilogrammes of heroin bound for Thailand earlier this month appeared in court yesterday. On April 8, detectives from Zimbabwe’s CID Drugs and Narcotics Harare received information that 71 year old Hans Arne Ingemar Pettersson was in possession of drugs that he intended to smuggle to Thailand…

  • Phuket News

    Australian man dies in police detention in Phuket, Thailand

    An Australian man died inside the detention room at Patong Police Station in Phuket, southern Thailand, yesterday. Police say that he hanged himself with the rope from his shorts, reports KhaoPhuket. Police said that 31 year old Matthew Michael Winder of Australian nationality was found dead inside the detention room at 12.45pm, having been arrested for being loud and disorderly on Sunday…

  • Business News

    Thailand is the biggest exporter of condoms in the world

    Condoms are among five products that Thailand exports more than any other country in the world, according to data from the global trade insights website kidka.com, reports Prachachat. Today, the Ministry of Commerce’s Director of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, Poonping Naiyanapakorn, revealed that Thailand was the champion exporter of five outstanding Thai products in 2022… Fresh Durian Thailand…

  • World News

    Malaysians urged to take out insurance before driving in Thailand

    An activist is urging Malaysians who wish to drive while travelling in Thailand to take out full insurance coverage policies to reduce problems in the case of an accident. Abdul Halim Othman, also known as Cikgu Joe Satun, is a Malaysian activist living in Satun province in southern Thailand. He said the issue of insurance should be taken seriously because…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Tour bus driver flees scene after crash in Thailand, 1 dead, 40 injured

    A tour bus driver fled the scene after losing control and crashing in Maha Sahakham province in northeast Thailand this morning. One person was killed in the crash and 40 more people were injured. At 12.05am, officers at Rat Charoen Police Station were informed that a Thai Sriram Company’s tour bus from Ubon Ratchathani to Bangkok lost control and crashed…

  • Transport News

    Grab Thailand relaunches premium services with ‘The Ultimate 5 Senses Experience’

    Grab Thailand is ramping up its premium on-demand ride-hailing service by reintroducing “GrabCar Premium” with the concept of “The Ultimate 5 Senses Experience,” in collaboration with Spotify and Chol Aromatique. This strategic move is aimed at creating an impressive user experience through an astonishing ambience appealing to all five senses, targeting urban people – especially white-collar workers and foreign tourists – who…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Pregnant elephant tramples mahout to death in northeast Thailand

    A pregnant elephant trampled its 60 year old mahout to death in Buriram province in northeast Thailand yesterday. The deceased’s wife said the elephant was moody because of the extremely hot weather. Officers at Satuek Police Station were called to Ban Nong Kaen village in Sanam Chai district after receiving a report that an elephant killed its owner. Police found the…

  • Thailand News

    Thailand’s Tourist Police under fire for carrying famous lawyer’s luggage (video)

    Thailand‘s police chief Pol. Gen. Damrongsak Kittipraphat ordered an urgent investigation into a video of Tourist Police officers assisting with the luggage of a famous lawyer at Suvarnabhumi Airport after the clip sparked concerns that the act was inappropriate and outside of the officers’ specified duties. Chief Damrongsak held a conference yesterday at the Royal Thai Police (RTP) Headquarters to…

  • Transport News

    Thailand’s Raja Ferry temporarily suspends Pha Ngan – Sumui route

    Raja Ferry Port Company suspended all ferry services between Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Samui in Surat Thani province in southern Thailand from Sunday – Wednesday (April 23-25). The company made an official announcement on Saturday… “Raja Ferry Port will suspend ferry service from Pha Ngan to Samui and Samui to Pha Ngan route from 23-25 April 2023. Customers who…

  • Crime News

    Ladyboy assaults and robs Taiwanese tourist in Bangkok (video)

    A Taiwanese tourist thought he lost his wallet during Songkran celebrations on Silom Road in Bangkok last weekend. However, upon inspecting a short video that his friend took, he realised that his wallet was stolen by a ladyboy he was sexually harassed by. In the 13-second-long clip, the Taiwanese tourist is pictured trying to get away from a ladyboy who…

  • Northern Thailand News

    YouTuber finds human skull on banks of Mekong River in Thailand

    A YouTuber found a human skull while filming content on the banks of the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom province in northeast Thailand yesterday. At 6pm, Chanathip Chapuban – aka Mukdahan Moss – was riding a motorbike and filming content for his YouTube channel when he noticed something by the water on Sai Thong Kot Boon Beach (Si Khotrabun Golden…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Mor Lam stage collapses during strong winds in northeast Thailand

    A newly installed Mor Lam stage collapsed during strong winds in Bueng Kan province in northeast Thailand yesterday shortly before a concert was set to begin, sending performers and attendees fleeing in all directions. Strong winds brewed as Mor Lam fans piled in to watch the Rabiab Watasin Mor Lam Group perform a free concert on a huge stage at…