Chiang Mai News

Chiang Mai news, politics, business, culture, and tourism—stay updated with breaking stories, local events, and expat insights from Thailand’s northern hub. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Chiang Mai news source.

  • Sponsored

    5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)

    Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...

  • Chiang Mai police release Singaporean accused of attacking Thai wife with a scythe

    Chiang Mai police release Singaporean accused of attacking Thai wife with a scythe

    PHOTO: Chiangmaione.com Police have released a Singaporean man accused of using a scythe to attack his Thai wife in a Chiang Mai street. Following the attack, it’s understood that the man called an ambulance to take his wife to hospital, and then surrendered to police. The Singaporean says the couple, who have two young children together, frequently argued about his…

  • Mae Hong Son school inundated by flooding in Thailand’s north

    Mae Hong Son school inundated by flooding in Thailand’s north

    The clean up is continuing today at a school for hilltribe children in Mae Hong Son’s Mae Sariang district in far north Thailand was hit by mountain runoff and floodwaters from last week’s heavy rain. The Ban Pho Sor School in Tambon Saohin was inundated by mountain runoff following heavy rains late Friday and into Saturday. The school provides education for…

  • Canadian man found dead, with throat cut, in northern Thailand

    Canadian man found dead, with throat cut, in northern Thailand

    A 60 year old Canadian man has been found with his throat slashed at a Chiang Mai guesthouse. The man’s body was discovered by the housekeeper, who alerted the police. The man, who has been named as Kevin Thomas, had been staying at the property in Suthep district for several months. It’s not yet known if the cut to his…

  • Burmese drug smuggler shot in northern Thailand shootout

    Burmese drug smuggler shot in northern Thailand shootout

    PHOTOS: Manager Online A Burmese drug suspect has been killed in a shootout with Thai police and soldiers while attempting to ship drugs across the border into Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district early today. The man was believed to be a fighter with the Shan ethnic group in Myanmar and a part of a group of 30 drug smugglers. A…

  • 65 year old tourist from Finland found dead in northern Thai resort

    65 year old tourist from Finland found dead in northern Thai resort

    PHOTO: Tourist Police Division 2 กองบังคับการตำรวจท่องเที่ยว 2 A tourist from Finland has been found dead at a resort in Pai, Mae Hong Son, yesterday morning, north-west of Chiang Mai. The 65 year old, Kari Rajasolo, was found dead in his room by a caretaker at the small resort in tambon Mae Na Toeng about 8am. The resort is situated in…

  • Mae Sa and Tad Mork waterfalls in Chiang Mai closed

    Mae Sa and Tad Mork waterfalls in Chiang Mai closed

    PHOTO: Mae Sa waterfall Doi Suthep-Pui National Park officials in the north of Thailand have closed the Mae Sa and Tad Mork waterfalls after heavy rainfall have caused high water flows and slippery paths “that may endanger tourists”. Mae Sa waterfall is approximately 30 minutes drive north-west from Chiang Mai and Tad Mork waterfall about an hour drive north-west of…

  • Thai farmers reluctant to scale down use of ‘toxic’ herbicides

    Thai farmers reluctant to scale down use of ‘toxic’ herbicides

    Thai farmers say they oppose the proposed bans on herbicides paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. The Thai government plans to phase out three chemical weed killers, widely used by Thai farmers, by the end of this year. Farmers say they oppose the restrictions of use because the chemicals provide higher crop yields, according to Thai PBS who headed out into the…

  • Lanterns grounded in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong world record attempt

    Lanterns grounded in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong world record attempt

    Enthusiastic enforcement of the TM30 form is one thing. Backing down on modern new public buses in Bangkok is another. But now the Thai government have gone too far! Officials in Chiang Mai have ordered the cancellation of a major sky lantern event, including a Guinness world record attempt, planned for the Loy Krathong festival in November, caving in to…

  • American admits to smashing windshields after being shown CCTV in Chiang Mai

    American admits to smashing windshields after being shown CCTV in Chiang Mai

    An American tourist has been arrested after damaging three cars while drunk in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. 34 year old Jesse Edward Lee was arrested after a local resident posted about a foreign vandal on Facebook. The post warned about the man damaging three cars in the Tha Pae area of Chiang Mai. Lee allegedly told police that he did…

  • Woman leaves behind 10 kilos of gold at Chiang Mai Airport

    Woman leaves behind 10 kilos of gold at Chiang Mai Airport

    PHOTOS: sanook.com A mysterious backpack was left laying around the Chiang Mai International Airport on Monday this week at 8.30am. It turned out that a passenger travelling with NokAir, heading to Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, had left the black backpack at a security checkpoint on the way to her flight. Police have reported the story now that the owner…

  • Potential for retirement properties in Thailand

    Potential for retirement properties in Thailand

    by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com While a number of property offerings in Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and more recently in Bangkok have promoted themselves as retirement-centric offerings, the jury is still out on the broad success of the sector. Despite retirement communities and assisted living being mainstays in Western countries like the US, UK and Australia, these are…

  • ‘Wipha’ whips up some storms and floods around Chiang Mai

    ‘Wipha’ whips up some storms and floods around Chiang Mai

    PHOTOS: Entry to a local school turns into a river – The Nation Flooded roads are slowing down traffic and movement around the Chiang Mai area as a result of the fallout from tropical depression ‘Wipha’ which crossed the North Vietnam coast, heading westward towards Thailand, over the weekend. Om Koi district saw flooded road sections, while a large tree…

  • Chiang Mai’s Wat Suan Dok closed off after tourists take ‘inappropriate’ pics

    Chiang Mai’s Wat Suan Dok closed off after tourists take ‘inappropriate’ pics

    PHOTOS: Workpoint News Tourists are being warned about taking photos at a “Royal Family Burial Site” in Chiang Mai province. Locals say tourist have been taking “inappropriate” photos at the Old Lanna Royal Family Burial Site located in Wat Suan Dok. The pictures were posted on Instagram. The photos, according to Worpoint News, have “caused great concern to living relatives…

  • UPDATE: ‘Flight of the Gibbon’ ride in Chiang Mai open again

    UPDATE: ‘Flight of the Gibbon’ ride in Chiang Mai open again

    UPDATE: We have been contacted by the Flight of the Gibbon management and assured that the popular zipline attraction is open again and sorted out from its previous problems. They have been open again since June 2019. PHOTOS: Guruchiangmai The ‘Flight of the Gibbon’ zipline ride in Chiang Mai has been ordered to temporarily shut down while an investigation continues…

  • Power bank explodes in backpack at Chiang Mai Airport – VIDEO

    Power bank explodes in backpack at Chiang Mai Airport – VIDEO

    Thankfully the passenger wasn’t on a plane at the time. The woman had just arrived at the Chiang Mai International Airport. The first explosion was in her backpack which she quickly shrugged off and it fell to the ground. (Watch the video, bottom left at the beginning) Then, as security came to get a quick video of the incident on…

  • “Worst in ten years” – Chiang Mai hotels

    “Worst in ten years” – Chiang Mai hotels

    Hoteliers and business in Thailand’s main tourist areas continue to be at odds with the official narrative trotted out by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. This time hoteliers in Chiang Mai are reporting tourism in Thailand’s north is the worst in ten years at the moment. A report in ThaiVisa says that bookings are 40% down when compared to the…

  • Second hand car dealers arrested over 5 year old scam in Chiang Mai

    Second hand car dealers arrested over 5 year old scam in Chiang Mai

    PHOTO: Daily News Police in Chiang Mai say they have arrested a married couple involved in an alleged scam of 52 people in the northern Thailand city. The incidents were reported to police five years ago. 55 year old Anucha “Teng” Dorkmaingam and his 39 year old wife Warawee or Suthicha Suphan were arrested at a Chiang Mai restaurant. Daily…

  • Lampang public servant on the run after murdering wife and attempting suicide

    Lampang public servant on the run after murdering wife and attempting suicide

    A senior public servant from Lampang is on the run after allegedly strangling his wife then fleeing after failing to successfully hang himself from the stair handrails in his house. Lampang is a province south-east of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Sanook.com reports that a two page will was found on a desk in the house. Serm Ngam police responded to…

  • UPDATE: Air Force pilot killed in Chiang Mai jet training crash

    UPDATE: Air Force pilot killed in Chiang Mai jet training crash

    PHOTO: Squadron Leader Naruephol Lertkuson A Royal Thai Air Force jet trainer crashed in Chiang Mai province killing a pilot and injuring one other. Eyewitnesses say the pilot ejected safely from the aircraft but one crew member was found dead near the crash scene having ejected from the crashing plane too late. The incident happened in Tha Wang Tan of the…

  • Frisky teenagers warned that they are being watched whilst in Thai cinemas

    Frisky teenagers warned that they are being watched whilst in Thai cinemas

    PHOTO: ร่วมแสดงความคิดเห็น Smile, you’re on Chiang Mai’s candid camera. Chiang Mai cinema staff are watching you while you are watching movies at the cinema. But, according to a source at one of the leading northern cinemas, the same is happening around Thailand. And some of the amorous advances are being caught on camera and shared on social media by staff. Chiang…

  • Chiang Mai teenager survives big bike collision but loses leg – VIDEO

    Chiang Mai teenager survives big bike collision but loses leg – VIDEO

    A 13 year old Chiang Mai teenager is lucky to escape with his life after a high-speed crash in front of the Sri Arun Market in the San Kampaeng district of Chiang Mai. The person posting video of the incident estimated he was traveling at 150 kph when he hit another motorbike, before sliding into a car at high speed.…

  • Chiang Mai hotels battle disruptors

    Chiang Mai hotels battle disruptors

    by Bill Barnett Thailand’s northern tourism hub of Chiang Mai has become a victim of its own volume-driven success. According to hospitality data provider STR, market-wide hotel occupancy for the first five months of the year is down 5.1%, compared to the same period in 2018. In the newly released C9 Hotelworks Chiang Mai Hotel Market Update, the comparison between…

  • Chiang Mai protesters petition Governor over Rinkham Intersection upgrade

    Chiang Mai protesters petition Governor over Rinkham Intersection upgrade

    An activist group is taking its protest about the upgrading of an intersection in Chiang Mai to the local governor. The Chiang Mai Highway District Office 2, which has been tasked with overseeing the project, and Chiang Mai governor Supachai Iamsuwan will hold a press conference to address residents’ concerns at the Chiang Mai Government Complex next Tuesday. The proposed…

  • 14 injured when Chinese tour bus flips at ‘Curve of a Hundred Corpses’ in Chiang Mai

    14 injured when Chinese tour bus flips at ‘Curve of a Hundred Corpses’ in Chiang Mai

    PHOTO: Facebook/Ruamduaychuaykan Foundation Fourteen people have been injured after a Chinese tour bus overturned at the notorious ‘Curve of a Hundred Corpses’ near Chiang Mai yesterday. All were taken to Doi Saket Hospital. Three passengers were seriously injured in the incident that happened around 3.30pm. The incident happened on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai road in Doi Saket district, according to…

  • Lost and found: 5.4 million meth pills and ‘ice’ discovered in Chiang Mai cave

    Lost and found: 5.4 million meth pills and ‘ice’ discovered in Chiang Mai cave

    PHOTOS: Maesai news online 5.4 million methamphetamine pills and 185 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine have been found hidden in a cave north of Chiang Mai. A border patrol police and Army troops from the 5th Cavalry Taskforce in the Chiang Dao district found the drugs in a cave in Ban Tham Klaeb in Tambon Ping Khong yesterday while patrolling the area. The…

  • Chiang Mai’s red bus drivers plan mass protest against Grab

    Chiang Mai’s red bus drivers plan mass protest against Grab

    The war to dominate Chiang Mai’s local public transport sector is hotting up with the drivers of the city’s Rot Daeng vans (red song taews) planning a mass protest against the growing popularity of the Grab Taxis. Sanook reports that Bunniam Buntha, representing Chiang Mai’s Rot Daeng drivers, says they plan to assemble the 2,465 members in a mass protest. Sanook…

  • Dog viciously attacks child in Chiang Mai – owner offers 3,000 baht compensation

    Dog viciously attacks child in Chiang Mai – owner offers 3,000 baht compensation

    A Chiang Mai mother is calling for action after her 11 year old son was mauled by a dog (guess the breed) that escaped from a local restaurant near their house. “Nong Saeng” was playing with friends in a car park near “The Fusion” at a construction site in Muang district where his family lived. The dog attacked the boy, ripping a…

  • “Not one of Chiang Mai’s traditional massage ladies” – Porn video investigation

    “Not one of Chiang Mai’s traditional massage ladies” – Porn video investigation

    PHOTO MONTAGE: Daily News Thai police and the Department of Public Health in Chiang Mai have been investigating the porn video featuring a foreigner that has caused ‘outrage’ among northern Thai netizens who claim the video gives the wrong impression of Thai massage culture. Read The Thaiger story HERE. But police say that only the front of buildings was depicted…

  • Chiang Mai netizens outraged after porn movie released online

    Chiang Mai netizens outraged after porn movie released online

    Chiang Mai locals are sharing their outrage over a porn video shot in a local massage shop where the massage ends up in a lot more than just a happy ending. The clip is called “Thai VIP Massage” and is credited to ThaiSwinger.com. Manager Online reports that netizens are calling for the police to investigate the adult movie shot in…

  • Motorbike riders injured in Chiang Mai underpass – VIDEO

    Motorbike riders injured in Chiang Mai underpass – VIDEO

    PHOTOS: Chiang Mai Traffic Police Many motorbike passengers and drivers have been injured as they headed down and stopped inside the Fa Harm Underpass in Chiang Mai yesterday. Chiang Mai News reports that the accident happened at 6pm last night inside the Fa Harm Underpass on Super Highway Road, northbound. Police and emergency responders arrived at the scene to find…