Tara Abhasakun

Tara Abhasakun

A Thai-American dual citizen, Tara has reported news and spoken on a number of human rights and cultural news issues in Thailand. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in history from The College of Wooster. She interned at Southeast Asia Globe, and has written for a number of outlets. Tara reports on a range of Thailand news issues.
  • Bangkok News

    Bangkok authorities remove transformers belonging to lot that caused fire

    Bangkok’s Metropolitan Electrical Authority yesterday removed 2 network transformers belonging to the same lot that caused a fire in Chinatown last month. The fire in the historic Sampeng market killed 2 people. The blaze was caused by a transformer exploding at a 3 storey shophouse, according to a preliminary inspection. Now, MEA officials plan to inspect the transformers to make…

  • South Thailand News

    Songkhla officials investigate migrant smuggling network

    Officials and police in southern Thailand’s Songkhla province are investigating an illegal migrant smuggling network. On Monday, officials and immigration police set up an ambush in a forest in the Hat Yai district. Illegal Burmese migrants had been staying there. After the authorities waited through the night and into the next day, 2 pickup trucks showed up, and the migrants…

  • Phuket News

    Army helps repair houses of elderly and disabled in Phuket

    The Royal Thai Army has helped repair and renovate the homes of elderly and disabled people in Phuket’s Thalang district. Many elderly and disabled residents in the Mai Khao subdistrict have been hit hard after 2 years of Covid-19 restrictions, and can’t afford to renovate their houses. The subdistrict had received about 20,000 baht per house to support repairs for…

  • World News

    Burmese migrants reportedly stab Chon Buri man in revenge for deportation

    A group of Burmese migrants has reportedly stabbed a man in Chon Buri province who they believed helped get them deported in the past. Yesterday the 3 attackers crashed into the victim on 2 motorbikes, knocking him to the ground, and then stabbed him multiple times, according to the victim’s son, Phuwadol. Phuwadol says the attackers then dashed away on…

  • Thailand Travel

    Thailand’s latest ‘soft power’ move- Muay Thai

    Su su! Thailand’s tourism authorities are promoting a new Muay Thai campaign to promote the famous Thai sport to the world. Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, is world renowned as a uniquely Thai sport. People come from all over the world like to give it a try, whether they want to take it up seriously as a sport or just…

  • Krabi News

    Cargo boat capsizes off Krabi

    A cargo boat capsized off Krabi province in southern Thailand on Monday, with 7 crew members rescued. The Royal Thai Navy and the Krabi Marine Police searched the waters for the crew members after they were alerted that the boat had lost contact with its parent company. After searching for nearly 2 hours, the rescuers found the stranded crew members.…

  • Crime News

    Pattaya man taken to hospital after smoking cannabis

    A man has been taken to a hospital after smoking Cannabis on Pattaya Beach. Rescue workers believe that the man, 29 year old Seksan, may have suffered a panic attack after experiencing unfamiliar symptoms from smoking the Cannabis. The incident happened between last night and this morning. Seksan said he had only smoked it once in the past, many years…

  • Bangkok News

    Bangkok governor invites public to ‘plant a million trees’

    Bangkok’s new governor Chadchart Sittipunt is continuing to voice his commitment to bettering the city. His latest move is to invite Bangkok dwellers to plant a million trees throughout the Thai capital. Chadchart said today that 700,000 of the trees have been planted so far, and officials want more people to participate. Now, 56 year old governor says that City…

  • World News

    Thousands of Laotian travellers arrive after Thail pass scrapped

    Now that Thailand Pass is ‘resting in peace,’ thousands of Laotian travellers are heading to the kingdom. On Friday, the day the Thailand Pass was scrapped, about 3,618 Laotians crossed the Thai-Lao friendship bridge into the northeast city of Nong Khai. About 710 cars with foreign licenses were counted driving into Thailand there. Last month, a government spokesperson said the…

  • Bangkok News

    Bangkok is best city in Southeast Asia according to travel mag

    Bangkok is at the top of a list of the 2022 10 best cities in Southeast Asia, ranked by travel magazine Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia. The list was published last week. The next 9 best cities in Southeast Asia, in order, are: Singapore, Danang, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Chiang Mai, Hong Kong, Saigon, Phenom Phen, and Jakarta. So why is…

  • World News

    Burmese military bombs Karen village, kills 2

    Peace remains out of sight for minority groups living under the Burmese military. On Friday night, a Burmese fighter jet bombed a Karen village just a few hundred kilometres away from Myanmar’s border with Thailand. Two villagers were killed, 3 were wounded, and 92 were forced to flee to Thailand. Even though the Burmese military had reportedly meant to drop…

  • Phuket News

    Look out for Phuket’s Spider-Man ice cream seller

    Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. An ice cream seller in Phuket’s main city district is putting smiles on children’s faces by dressing up as a super hero. But the man, 35 year old Witoon, has a backstory that’s not so cheerful. He once made his living singing at restaurants and venues, but Covid-19 restrictions changed all that. Left…

  • Bangkok News

    Proposal for telecom providers to help tidy up Bangkok cables

    Bangkok officials proposed at a meeting yesterday that telecom service providers should do their part in tidying up overhead cables around the city. The proposal comes a week after a fatal fire was believed to have been caused by a transformer exploding at a 3 storey shophouse. The fire broke out in a historic market in Bangkok’s Chinatown, killing 2…

  • World News

    Thai and Cambodian officials meet with Burmese junta

    Thai and Cambodian officials have been meeting with the Burmese junta in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyitaw this week. A delegation led by Lieutenant General Apichet Suesat of the Royal Thai Army met with Burmese junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. The 2 parties discussed how to help the Burmese military’s peace talks, and establish stability in Myanmar. The Thai delegation met…

  • Pattaya News

    Pattaya Tourist Police find missing elderly American woman

    Pattaya Tourist Police yesterday found an elderly American woman who went missing from her home in Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri province. The woman’s family had reported her missing the night before after she had gone on a walk. As the police were searching for the woman, Shirley, she came into the Bang Lamung police station to ask for…

  • South Thailand News

    Travel to Surat Thani, it’s where the fun begins | Jay and Natty’s Adventures

    The Thaiger‘s Natty and Jay recently went on a long weekend trip to Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani, and they’re dying to show our viewers their adventures. People typically see Surat Thani as a passing point to somewhere exciting like Koh Samui, Koh Tao, and Koh Phangan. But The Thaiger’s top news presenters want people to know about Surat…

  • Economy News

    Price of made-to-order food surge in Thailand

    Price inflation continues to rear its head in Thailand and across the globe. The latest item to get more expensive is made-to-order food. The average price per dish of made-to-order food bumped up by about 3.7 baht or 6.7% in May, according to a year-on-year comparison by the food delivery app Line Man Wongnai. The report said that dishes with…

  • Pattaya News

    Chon Buri woman jumps from balcony, claims boyfriend held her against her will

    A woman in Chon Buri jumped from her balcony last night to escape her boyfriend, who she claims held her against her will in an apartment for about a year. Rescue workers took the 28 year old woman to a local hospital for moderate injuries after she jumped from the third storey balcony. But Nong Prue police told The Pattaya News that…

  • Eastern Thailand News

    UPDATE: Resort in eastern Thailand denies media claims

    UPDATE A resort in eastern Thailand has released a statement yesterday denying media claims that police accused its foreign directors of wrongdoing. The statement refuted other claims as well, and said police have not issued arrest warrants on any of the resort’s directors. The accusations are in light of a fire that gutted one of the resort’s villas in March.…

  • World News

    North Korea says “unusual things” near border caused Covid-19 outbreak

    North Korean state media says its Covid-19 outbreak was caused by 2 people touching so-called “unusual things” near the border with South Korea. The state-run agency KCNA did not, however, specify what theses “unusual things” were. KCNA said the 2 people who touched the things were an 18 year old soldier, and a 5 year old child. The two reportedly…

  • Eastern Thailand News

    Police tracking down British nationals after March fire in eastern Thailand

    After a fire gutted a resort villa in Thailand’s eastern province of Trat in March, 3 executives are being charged. The charges include causing a fire by negligence, causing damages to people’s property, endangering other persons, and allowing others to use the building for hotel business without obtaining a license from the local officials. The massive fire broke out at…

  • Thailand Weather Updates

    Storm ‘Chaba’ to impact Thailand, meteorologists say

    Thailand’s monsoon season is still alive and kicking, with a new storm potentially on the way to bring more winds and gusty rain to parts of the country from today (Friday) until tomorrow (Saturday), particularly in the north-east areas of the country. The Thai Meteorological Department said a tropical storm ‘Chaba’ is currently moving through the upper South China Sea.…

  • World News

    Sri Lanka’s doctors and nurses demand fuel and medicine

    Sri Lanka’s medical staff is suffering from a shortage of fuel and medicine. Doctors and nurses say they are struggling to find enough fuel to get to work, even though they are designated, essential workers. On top of this, the island nation is suffering power cuts and shortages of food and medicines. On Wednesday, over 100 medical staff from the…

  • Crime News

    Thailand’s Prayut orders drug crackdown

    Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered a crackdown on illegal drugs in the country. At an anti-drug award ceremony yesterday, Prayut urged local officials to continue cracking down on drug rings, as well as their financial supporters. However, the PM also stressed that rehabilitating addicts need occupational training to help them rebuild their lives. Prayut also brought up the need…

  • Central Thailand News

    UPDATE: Central Thailand gold robber was a chief correctional officer

    UPDATE The man who robbed a gold shop in central Thailand yesterday has been arrested, and found to be a chief correctional officer. The man held up a gold shop in the province of Pathum Thani, stealing 6 necklaces. Altogether, the necklaces were worth about 450,000 baht. The thief snatched the pricey necklaces from a shop in a Tesco Lotus…

  • Bangkok News

    On top of fire this week, Bangkok’s Chinatown deals with house collapse

    Bangkok’s Chinatown has had a rough week. After a fire killed 2 people in the Samphanthawong district on June 26, a house collapsed this morning in the same district. The district is located beside the Chao Phraya River. The house’s owner said the 2 storey house was built 260 years ago and was the first Chinese-style building to be built…

  • South Thailand News

    Songhla food festival hopes to draw tourists with its Hat Yai fried chicken

    A food festival in Songkhla province’s city of Hat Yai is promoting the city’s chicken fried chicken to tourists. The festival, called Street Food Festival @ Hatyai, kicked off in the southern city yesterday and will continue until July 3. Foodie bloggers and Youtubers have praised Hat Yai’s fried chicken in the past. Now, the chairman of Songkhla Chamber of…

  • World News

    Malaysian arrested in Bangkok for wildlife trafficking, claims he came for cannabis

    A Malaysian national arrested in Bangkok yesterday for alleged wildlife trafficking claimed he came to the kingdom for cannabis oil business. The man, 58 year old Boon Ching Teo, is allegedly a key trafficker in a global network. He was reportedly dubbed ‘the godfather’ of wildlife trading by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and is wanted by US authorities.…

  • Pattaya News

    Chon Buri police stop former military sergeant from jumping off school roof

    A police negotiation specialist managed to talk a man out of jumping from a school roof in Chon Buri province yesterday. According to Thai media, the man was a first-class sergeant major in the military, but his mother took him home after he appeared to have some psychotic symptoms. The man had demanded to speak with his commander and his…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai protestors send Prayut a message, despite thousands of police

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha received a message after visiting the northern province of Chiang Mai yesterday. A group of protestors known as Kiat Lampang ‘greeted’ Prayut outside the airport. The group had announced on its Facebook page… “Come and welcome and chase out Prayut! At the international airport, Chiang Mai, today will definitely follow and chase him all day.” Prayut later…