- Thailand News
Top 10 most popular stories at The Thaiger in 2019
There has been plenty of news around in 2019 for Thailand. The Top 10 stories ranked by their significance by our writers is very different from the Top 10 stories you searched for and clicked on at The Thaiger. Some other stats. You clicked on The Thaiger 81,177,191 times (up to December 29) during 2019, the busiest month was October…
- Economy News
Thailand becomes the 6th biggest fruit exporter in the world
“The most popular exported Thai fruit are tropical fruit such as durian, mangosteen and longan, of which Thailand is the largest exporter in the world.” Thai fruit has gained a lot of popularity in foreign countries being recognised for its good taste and quality. Tax waivers from free trade agreements for exports to partner countries have raised the value of fruit exports…
- Road deaths
159 people dead after first three days of Thai holiday campaign
PHOTO: VOA 159 people have died in the first three days of the Christmas/New Year holiday 7 day safety campaign. During those three days there has been 1,504 crashes resulting in 1,549 injuries. The numbers take into account last Friday up to midnight Sunday night. The capital, Bangkok, has registered the highest death toll and the highest number of drink-driving…
- Tourism News
Flydubai introduces daily Dubai-Krabi flights
PHOTOS: Tourism Authority of Thailand More routes from more locations into Thailand’s secondary airports has been the story of 2019 aircraft arrivals. Now the Tourism Authority of Thailand has welcomed flydubai’s inaugural flight on the Dubai-Krabi route. It arrived at Krabi International Airport two weeks ago. The budget airline out of the United Arab Emirates is operating a daily flight on the…
- World News
New research poses grim projections for world’s coastal cities
GRAPHIC: The New York Times • More than 20 million people in southern Vietnam, nearly a quarter of the total population, currently live on land that will be underwater by 2050. • In Thailand, more than 10% of the population live on land that will be inundated in 30 years. Bangkok is already suffering inundations, complicated by the city sinking…
- Crime News
Phuket police arrest eight drug dealers along with weapons and ammunition
On December 29, Phuket police arrested eight drug dealers and also seized a collection of drugs and weapons. In the first case, police arrested 29 year old Auttarit Chuachit and 28 year old Taweewan Suwannapo for possessing methamphetamine pills and Kratom leaves along with a gun and ammunition. They were arrested at the parking under a condominium on Thepkasattri Road…
- Tourism News
TAT forecasts a 2.5% increase in tourist numbers for next year
Last week tourist arrivals in Thailand surpassed 38,260,000, the total 2018 arrival number. Now Thailand has broken through the 39 million international tourist barrier, just two days before the end of the year. The 39 millionth tourist was from Russia. 2019 had a shaky start with the arrival of Tropical Storm Pabuk in the first week of the new year.…
- Road deaths
Thai road toll jumps to 109 after first two days of seven day campaign
Road incidents during the first two days of the seven day New Year holiday period have risen to 974. The southern province of Surat Thani, just north of Phuket, had 33 incidents and 37 people injured. Chiang Rai and Nakhon Sawan have had the highest death toll with 6 deaths each. Police have been instructed to tighten up traffic checks…
- Environment News
Turtle release at Maya Bay to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Tsunami
by Robb, Five Star Thailand Tours Koh Phi Phi Leh’s most famous tourist attraction, Maya Bay has been a controversial topic in recent years. The bay remains closed. However, tourists are still able to visit the National Park to swim and snorkel along the outskirts of the bay. A rope strung across the bay prevents visitors from going inside the bay…
- Tourism News
Indian visitors to Thailand help break tourist arrival record
With a few days left to go in 2019, Thailand has already stepped over last year’s record arrivals of 38,260,000. The 38,260,000th visitor to Thailand in 2019 arrived on December 20, a tourist from India, Devanshi Deepak Kesaria. Thailand has exceeded last year’s record for foreign tourist arrivals. This final result for tourist arrivals into the Kingdom in 2019 will end…
- Crime News
Three Bangkok police fired after proof of extortion emerges
UPDATED STORY Three policemen who worked out of the Thonglor Police Station, on the eastern edge of Bangkok city, have been suspended from their duties las Friday, pending a full enquiry. Thai Rath reported that the three had been relieved of their duties after allegedly receiving a bribe from a French businessman. The three policemen were identified as Maj. Phitsanupol…
- South Thailand News
Songkhla jail escapee recaptured after a day on the loose
A prisoner who managed to escape from the Songkhla Provincial ail has now been recaptured at a rented house in Singhanakhon district. Police were able to locate him yesterday around midday. The Corrections Department had offered a 200,000 baht reward the day before for any information leading to the arrest of Dalok-Ani MaPrasit who escaped from the provincial prison Officiers…
- World News
ASEAN aiming to develop Universal Healthcare Coverage for all member states
PHOTO: Pacific Health Care Promoting universal healthcare coverage for citizens is now a common goal of ASEAN member states. The aim is to grant people access to healthcare without barriers to improve nations’ health and wellbeing of all citizens. Universal healthcare is a hallmark of civilised governments around the world with the UN describing UHC as a right of all…
- Tourism News
Phuket Sky Way cable car will provide tourists with a new view of the island
PHOTOS: Phuket People’s Voice The committee of economy development, bringing together both government and private sectors, has agreed to allow a cable car project on Phuket as the island’s new landmark. It has been revealed that the cable car design is finished and the Environmental Impact Assessment will be commissioned soon. At the moment the working title for the project…
- Business News
Central “deeply appalled” by Nazi pics at their Christmas display
UPDATE: The family of one of the people in the photo, has contacted The Thaiger and asked us to remove the photo. We have blurred one of the faces to comply with their wish after a discussion on the matter. “Three French hens, Two turtle doves and a pair of Nazi’s in a Bangkok shopping centre”. A cultural collision, a…
- South Thailand News
CCTV footage from Thai prison posted on Youtube live – VIDEO
It’s no secret that Thai prisons are a place you should avoid. Cramped, dangerous, hot, unsanitary. Even the notorious Bang Kwang Central Prison in Bangkok has earned the name ‘Bangkok Hilton’, mocking its less-than-confortable living conditions. Now some leaked CCTV footage from a prison in Chumpon, southern Thailand, has been leaked and shared on YouTube. Channel 31 reporting of the footage below……
- Hot News
Solar eclipse today across Thailand. Here’s how to watch it.
CAUTION: Looking at the sun directly and without proper equipment is dangerous and can cause blindness. Read more, along with some guidelines for viewing the solar eclipse, HERE. How it will look in your area below… The skies will darken across Thailand around midday today. The further south you are, the darker it will get as the moon moves over…
- Crime News
Chinese phone scam gangs using Thailand to hack into WeChat app
Police have raided a hotel in the Ratchada district of Bangkok after being tipped off that a group of young Chinese were spending all the time in their rooms. Hotel staff became suspicious after they were calling room service for all their meals, never venturing outside and refusing to allow the housekeeping staff in to clean the rooms. The Economic…
- Bangkok News
Samut Sakhon temple Abbot accused of sexual abuse of up to 19 temple novices
PHOTO: Police The acting abbot at a temple in Samut Sakhon has been arrested following allegations that he held captive and sexually abused a list of young novice monks. It’s been reported that the youngest was only 8 years old. Samut Sakhon is just to the east of Bangkok, facing the Gulf of Thailand. 40 year old Phra Khru Sangkharak Saksit…
- Business News
Dream Group scales back their Asia hotel expansion plans
New York-based Dream Hotel Group’s plans to expand in Asia have turned into somewhat of a nightmare. The Group has closed its regional office in Bangkok shortly after hiring new executives to push forward with expansion earlier this year. A Pattaya ‘Dream’ has also failed to eventuate this year. The push in Asia, which kicked off last year with the establishment…
- Economy News
Plearn Wan ‘retro’ shopping village to close its doors in Hua Hin
Yesterday, December 24, the founder and owner of Plearn Wan Company, operator of Plearn Wan shopping village in Hua Hin and Plearn Wan Panich shopping experiences at multiple locations around Thailand, Phattra Sahawat, posted that the Hua Hin shopping village will close down on January 31, 2020. The rambling retro shopping experience would attract families on weekend trips from Bangkok…
- Road deaths
French man killed after a motorcycle incident on the cliff-road to Kamala, Phuket
PHOTO: Phuket Hotnews On December 23, Kamala police received a report about a motorcycle accident on the Patong – Kamala cliff-road (Kuan Yak Curve), in front of the Ocean Wind Hotel. The man’s body was found lying in grass, besides his motorbike at 9:50am. At the scene, police found the body of 35 year old Karim Elmir, a tourist from…
- World News
The Chinese sneezed and south-east asian tourism caught cold
PHOTO: asia.nikkei.com Things have gone a bit quiet on the tourist front. Thai authorities and people affected by the downturn are wringing their hands as the rise and rise of tourism in the Land of Smiles has seen it first sustained reversal in fortunes for two decades. But it’s not just in Thailand. It’s not as if the tourists are…
- Tourism News
Where are Thai airbnb customers staying over the holiday period?
Where are the people booking share accomodation staying for the Christmas and New Year period? • Tokyo, Osaka and Hokkaido are among the top five trending destinations where Thai travellers usher in another year • Seoul is the most-booked overseas destination for Thai travellers on New Year’s Eve • Chiang Mai is the most popular domestic destination for Thai travellers…
- Crime News
Fakes valued at 50 million baht found in raids in Saraburi
PHOTO: INN News That’s another 50 million baht worth of counterfeits off the streets. The Department of Special Investigation has seized counterfeit goods in a series of raids, with a street value of around 50 million baht and including some 158,000 items. In this case, the fakes were mostly brand name eyeglasses and clothing accessories. The DSI, Department of Intellectual Property…
- Politics News
Thais split over the holding of the ‘Skywalk’ rally in Bangkok – Poll
PHOTO: Khaosod English Thai people have been surveyed on their attitudes towards the December 14 “Skywalk” rally held by the Future forward Party. They responded to a recent NIDA poll conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration. The controversial rally was held on the busy Pathumwan skywalk, outside MBK and linking the National Stadium BTS station. The event attracted around…
- Phuket News
Whale spotted near Similan Islands – VIDEO
A scuba diving instructor has posted a video of a whale spotted near the Similan islands off the coast of Phang Nga. The whale is thought to be a blue whale species. The post was on his Facebook page called ‘Num Sasita Thippayawat’. In the post there is also a video of a pod of dolphins swimming alongside the boat…
- Health
Wellbeing, chronic disease and integrative medicine
Re-printed with permission from expatlifeinthailand.com by Sevcan Gast, MD Since 1946, the WHO (World Health Organisation) has defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (1). Wellness, a more recent term, is “the pursuit of overall health in a physical and mental matter. It is a multidimensional state…
- Bangkok News
Early morning fire destroys plastics factory south of Bangkok
PHOTO: Sutthiwit Chayutworakan – Bangkok Post A fire has destroyed a plastics manufacturer in southern Bangkok. The fire also destroyed an adjacent mattress warehouse. The incidents happened early this morning. Despite all the stock, equipment and three pick-ups parked out front being destroyed, there were no casualties in the blazes. More than 10 fire crews rushed to the scene on…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Over 30,000 displaced in Narathiwat floods, southern Thailand
Out of almost nowhere, and amidst a looming drought for many parts of the country, heavy rains have left flooded areas in Narathiwat, in Thailand’s deep south, displacing over 30,000 people. Soldiers, government officials and volunteers yesterday rushed to the assistance of 37,171 people hit by unseasonal floods in five districts of the southern Thai province, according to Thai Rath.…
