News
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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Into Day Five: Rescuers battle rising water
Rescuers are considering tunnelling through the roof of the Chiang Rai cave as a last resort. Dead end caves and heavy rain is blocking efforts to find the 12 teenage footballers and their football coach. The group has been missing since Saturday afternoon in the flooded Chiang Rai caves. In Tham Luang cave, a team of divers led by Navy SEALs…
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Chiang Mai: Axe-wielding monk attacks abbot and nun at temple
A small quarrel has led to an abbot being attacked by a monk with an axe in Mae Rim, north-west of Chiang Mai city. Chiang Mai City news reports that the assault took place at Huay Pha Pu in Pong Yaeng, Mae Rim, after a quarrel broke out between an 58 year old monk and a newly appointed acting abbot,…
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Saudi Arabian dies after trip to Koh Naka
A Saudi Arabian citizen has died following a trip to Koh Naka yesterday (June 25). Thalang Police were notified by staff at the Thalang Hospital last night. A body of a man, identified as 56 year old Alanazi Ali Awad M from Saudi Arabia, was at Thalang Hospital when police arrived. 38 year old Sarawut Denser, a tour guide, told police…
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Pattaya: Chinese and Vietnamese tourists dotting Pattaya landmark with stickers
Pattaya Update News is reporting that they’ve received numerous complaints from angry locals who are furious with Chinese and Vietnamese tourists for defacing a famous Pattaya landmark. They report that the Asian tourists have been pasting stickers, used to identify tour members and tour groups at the temple of Wat Nong Yai in Bang Lamung. Trees, pillars, walls, vegetation and…
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Phuket locals protest against pork processing factory
Locals in Mai Khao are protesting against a company who is planning to construct a pork processing factory. Locals at Baan Dan Yid and Baan Dan Yut are protesting against the private company’s plans after a notice was placed on June 8 at the area to build the processing plant. Prawat Pimanprom says, “The company has submitted a construction license with…
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Chiang Mai: Gas tank explosion kills man, destroys half the house
A faulty gas tank has exploded in the home of a man in Saraphi, south-west of Chiang Mai’s city centre, killing him instantly. The explosion also destroyed half the man’s home. This incident happened over the weekend. Police rushed to the scene at a house in Nong Pheung, Saraphi. Police entered the home and discovered a man who had been…
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Chiang Rai: King expresses concern over the safety of the trapped team
His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn has expressed concern over the safety of the 13 missing people in the Chiang Rai caves. Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda, quoting the principal private secretary to the King says His Majesty has been closely followed up the rescue operations. As the commander of the national public disaster prevention and mitigation, General Anupong will fly to…
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Myanmar: Sacked – Top general accused of involvement in Rohingya crackdown
PHOTO: Major General Maung Maung Soe amd defacto Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi Myanmar is accused of a crackdown in Rakhine state that has, so far, forced 700,000 Rohingya to flee. The UN and major western powers describe the crackdown as “ethnic cleansing”. In response, Myanmar’s military now says it’s sacked a top general who was named in fresh EU…
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Chiang Rai: Search continues for missing teenagers in flooded cave
The desperate search continues today for 12 children and their coach from a local football team who went missing in a Chiang Rai flooded cave on Saturday afternoon. Rescue teams will search to the end of the limestone cave that is believed to be the fourth longest cave in Thailand. So far, searchers have found children’s slippers, footprints and palm…
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Motorbike driver dies after collision with power pole
A man has died following an accident in Koh Kaew last night (June 25). The Phuket City Police were notified of the incident at 10.30pm near Bansapam Mongkolwittaya School in Koh Kaew. Police and rescue workers arrived at the scene to find a Honda motorbike at the base of the power pole. Police found traces of the collision on the…
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Phuket Police hunt for the thief of the heroine statue sword
A thief has stolen a sword which was part of a statue of the Phuket’s Heroines which was in a temple in Thalang. Read more HERE. Khun Prasong, who was a previous Thepkrasattri Mayor, says, “Muang Gomarapat Temple is an important place for Phuket people. This is a place where the annual ‘Thalang Victory Day’ is being held every March.…
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Woman dies in Phuket Town road smash
A woman is reported dead following an accident in Phuket Town this morning (June 26). The Phuket City Police were notified of the incident at 5.30am at an intersection in front of Phuketthaihua Asean Wittaya School on Wichit Songkram Road in Phuket Town. Police and rescue workers arrived at the scene to find a damaged motorbike, a car, a van…
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Chiang Rai: The search continues this morning
Department of Defence personnel have arrived at the Chiang Rai cave since last evening and brought along high-capacity water pumps to assist with the removal of water from the caves. Emergency responders and officials still have high hopes of finding the team and their coach alive and well. The media have been gathering at the Cave complex visitor centre and…
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Phuket airport’s domestic terminal officially launched
Phuket airport’s domestic terminal renovation was officially launched yesterday (June 25). The opening ceremony was held at the Phuket International Airport and hosted by the Airport of Thailand (AOT) president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn. Khun Nitinai says, “The Phuket International Domestic Terminal upgrade project is now complete with new facilities and world standard security services. The airport is now available to service up to…
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Election date delay mooted
Dates for the forthcoming election, earmarked for February 2019 for the last year, are now in flux again following yesterday’s meeting between potential future political players and the NCPO. The election is likely to take place some time between February 24 and May 5 next year, this from the Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam at yesterday’s meeting. It is the first time…
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Deputy PM Prawit calls the Time Magazine article ‘factually innacurate’
It hasn’t even landed on the magazine stands yet and already the Time magazine article is causing controversy. Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan is denying that the government or the NCPO has banned the distribution and sale of Time magazine’s Asia edition for July 2 issue. Read our story about the Time Prayut feature HERE. Prawit is reported by Thai PBS…
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Khon Kaen: Playtime turns into horror with 9 yearly girl shot
PHOTO: File Photo By Kritmet Loho The shooting took place while the girl was playing with two boys, ages 10 and 11, at a house in Tambon Moung Wan. A Khon Kaen physician is pleading with parents to keep weapons away from children after a 10 year old boy accidentally shot and seriously wounded a nine year old yesterday (Sunday).…
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UPDATE: Today’s Chiang Rai cave search timetable – 12 missing
A rescue team, which now includes a Navy SEAL unit, are continuing search for the missing 12 young footballers and their coach. The 13 have been trapped inside a cave in Tham Luang Khunnam Nang Non Forest Park in Mae Sai district since Saturday. A flash flood that hit the area prevented the missing group from leaving the cave after…
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Pattaya: Thai woman falls to death from apartment building
A Thai woman has died after falling from a room on the fifth floor of a Pattaya apartment early on today (Monday). Police are holding her Australian boyfriend for questioning following the incident at 2.30am at Min Mansion in Tambon Nong Plue, Bang Lamung district. Police say 28 year old Wilawal Poolsukserm fell from her room and died on the way…
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Krabi student killed outside school
VIDEO. A student in Krabi has died after driving on a motorbike and colliding with a parked SUV in front of a school in Krabi. The accident happened in front of Khlong Thom Ratrangsan School in Krabi at 4pm on Friday (June 22). The driver was 17 year old Pichai Phusit Songguea, a student of a college in Krabi. Pichai…
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Two arrested in Phuket drug crackdown
The Phuket City Police have arrested two suspects found with kratom on Saturday (June 25). Police arrested 51 year old Watcharin ‘Gor’ Saeiw at a house in Phuket Town. He was found with many small bags of kratom weighing about 3 kilograms. Watcharin was taken to the Phuket City Police Station where he has been charged with illegal possession of Category 5…
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Update: Rescue in Chiang Mai – 11 teenagers and their coach missing in cave.
The 11 missing teenagers and their football coach are still believed to be still alive but remain trapped inside the innermost sections of the cave where they’re believed to be safe but separated by flooding waters. Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn headed to the Thamluang-Khunnam Nang non park in Mae Sai district to supervise the continuation of the search and…
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Update: Man ‘dismembered ex-girlfriend’ – Bangkok
By Kornkamol Aksorndech After a head and mutilated body parts were found in Bangkok’s north-eastern suburbs on Saturday morning police went to work to find the perpetrator of the crime. It took them less than 24 hours. Original story HERE. UPDATE: The former boyfriend of a woman whose mutilated body was found on a remote road in Bangkok’s Klong Samwa…
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Krabi: Erosion threatens fossils on Andaman coast
By Sitthichai Sikhawat Known as ‘The 75 million-year-old shell cemetery’, the mollusk fossil-filled beach at the Andaman coastal province of Krabi is now facing erosion after being damaged by strong currents over the past two years, a senior official at the Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park said on Sunday. Conserving the 40 centimetre thick fossil layer on…
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Thief steals heroine statue sword
A thief has stolen a sword which was part of a statue of Phuket’s Heroines in a temple in Thalang. A facebook user ‘Prasong Trairat’ posted a photo on his personal Facebook yesterday (June 24) with a message reading “The sword of the grandmothers (reference to the heroines’ name by locals) disappeared last night. The thief is not aware of…
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Man found dead in Thalang bathroom
A Thai man has been found dead inside the bathroom of his house in Thalang yesterday (June 24). The Thalang Police were notified of the incident at a house at the Prompan Housing estate in Paklok yesterday afternoon. Police and rescue workers arrived at the scene to find the body of a 27 year old man lying on the floor.…
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Indonesia: Selamat Datang. Work here? Then learn the language.
Living as an expat in south east asia has enough challenges, with paperwork, immigration demands, visas, visa runs, cultural differences. For businesspeople it can be increasingly demanding with requirements for ‘owning’ and running a business. Imagine, in Thailand, if having to learn the Thai language was an actual requirement. Many of us living here enjoy learning the local tongue, but…
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Bangkok: Invitation accepted – 30 political parties will meet for talks Monday
Thirty Thai political parties have accepted the invitation to meet Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan at tomorrow’s (Monday) meeting hosted by the government. The government promised this ‘getting to know you session’ as part of the roadmap towards the next election, scheduled for February. Gen Prawit says the meeting scheduled for June 25 will be attended by representatives of at least…
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Chiang Mai: European tourist catches Legionnaires’ Disease in hotel
A European tourist, his nationality has not been named, has succumbed to the Legionnaire bacteria in a Chiang Mai hotel. A public health official in the northern city admits that the tourist went down with Legionnaires’ Disease after staying in Chiang Mai. He says that foreigners tend not to have resistance to the legionella bacteria that causes the condition. But added that…
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Bangkok: Crackdown on Grand Palace scammers
Another crackdown. This time, on one the oldest tourist scams on the books. Bangkok Post reported that 87 people were rounded up in an operation around the Grand Palace in Bangkok following complaints of foreign visitors being pressured into purchasing unwanted services. “A total of 87 people were arrested in the operation of which 68 were booked for violating traffic regulations…
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