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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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Sponsored Thailand health insurance that covers chronic conditions: What expats need to know
The Thaiger key takeaways Managing chronic conditions in Thailand requires health insurance that covers specialist visits, medications, tests, and hospital stays. Cigna offers high-coverage plans with access to top hospitals, direct billing, and telemedicine support for convenient long-term care. Expats...
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Taiwanese man arrested at Don Mueang Airport with 7 kilos of heroin
PHOTOS: Daily News 38 year old Chern Kwan Lin from Taiwan was about to board a flight to his home country at Don Mueang International Airport yesterday. But he never reached the plane. The Taiwanese national was arrested with 7.2 kilograms of heroin hidden in prickly heat tins. The drugs were concealed in 18 tins of Prickly Heat powder. Mr.…
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Ministry pulls travel cash incentive scheme
Easy come, easy go. The Finance Ministry has scrapped the plan to subsidise Thai’s travel expenses to the tune of 1,500 cash per person. The program was aimed at up to 10 million people for travel in any of the 55 second-tier tourist provinces, part of a scheme to promote domestic tourism outside the well-trodden tourist traps. But the ministry…
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New iMac models – same, same but 2.4 times faster
by Paisal Chuenprasaeng “The all-in-one design looks elegant and sleek. Everything – display, processor, graphics, storage and memory – is contained inside one simple enclosure.” More powerful yet just as slim and sleek as earlier models, Apple’s new iMac is now powered by 8-core Intel 9th-generation processors and its graphic horse power is unleashed by superfast Radeon Pro Vega graphics.…
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Omura’s whale sighted of Koh Similan in Phang Nga
PHOTOS: Wow Andaman Omura’s whale has been sighted off the Koh Similans in Phang Nga this week. Tour guides from the Wow Andaman Tour were on a speedboat with tourists at the Koh Similans. They say they sighted an Omura’s whale near the boat. Marine biologist Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat says, “There are many endanger marine species which areoften sighted in…
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Family alleging sex abuse of four of their children may be forced to move
PHOTOS: The Nation A family who who have made official reports alleging that four of their children were sexually abused by an ‘influential’ local man in Chumphon’s Lang Suan district, claim they are being harassed and may have to move. They claim that three female family members, aged 6, 10 and 14, and their 9 year old boy, were sexually assaulted…
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Tourist arrivals stagger and drop 1% – March figures
What goes up must go down, or at least falter occasionally. Newton’s law of gravity applies to just about everything, including’s Thailand’s rise and rise of tourist traffic. At some stage the numbers will actually (horror!!) start to plateau and even go down. For the first quarter this year the numbers have actually stalled. The Kingdom suffered a combined drop in…
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Thai owner and two Chinese fined for not reporting change of address within 24 hours
PHOTO: Naew Na A Thai property owner and two Chinese nationals have all been fined for not abiding by the law that states that a foreigners’ location must be reported within 24 hours when they have changed addresses. Naew Na used the word “property” in its report so it’s not known if the premises was a private dwelling, Airbnb-style or hotel.…
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Two Aussie cave diving doctors holiday in Phuket
Today at the Phuket International Airport officials welcomed Dr.Richard James Harris and Dr.Craig Challen, Australian divers who were part of the rescue team that recovered the 13 young footballers from the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai last July. The two doctors devised the plan to train other divers about anaesthesia and medically sedate the Mu Pa team so they…
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One killed, two injured in Pattani shootings
One person has been killed and two others injured during two separate shootings in Pattani province on Thursday night. In Sai Buri district, a 24 year old Narathiwat-based paramilitary ranger volunteer Pathompong Kaewthong and his 22 year old wife Nureehan Dengla, were shot and wounded in Tambon Kadunong while riding home on their motorcycle after shopping at a local market.…
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German hotelier claims he paid 800,000 baht bribe to operate his unlicensed villa on Samui
PHOTOS: Channel 7 A German man has told investigators yesterday that he paid ‘some Thais’ 800,850 baht after they threatened to shut down his luxury villa during construction. 47 year old Ulrich Schmidt claims he was visited during the construction phase of his Best World Vision Villas project and he paid the ‘tea money’ in the belief it would allow…
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Boat carrying a Bangkok school group sinks at Chumpon pier
A boat carrying up to 40 schoolchildren has sunk after hitting underwater rocks next to a pier in Chumpon province last Monday. The vessel “Mattha” was carrying around 50 people, including the group from a school in Bangkok on a snorkelling day trip around the nearby islands. But when the boat returned later in the day, the tide was out…
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Man found dead in pickup with charcoal burner in Rassada, Phuket
A man has been found dead inside a pickup truck with a coal burner also inside the vehicle in Rassada this morning. Police were notified of the situation in Soi Muen Sri in Rassada. Police and emergency responders arrived to find the man’s body in the parked pickup truck. The man was identified as 28 year old Weerawat Pakdeewirot from…
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Army commander visits Phuket residents to discuss water shortage
Lt Gen Pornsak Poonsawat, the Commander of the Fourth Army Region (Southern) in Nakhon Si Thammarat, came to Phuket to visit residents over water shortage issues in Rassada. Lt Gen Pornsak says “we were contacted from the Phuket Governor that Phuket is facing serious water shortages. We have come here with water trucks to help residents to join with other…
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Five metre king cobra caught in Trang – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Trang DDPM (Kantang) / Rak Trang News / Maetee Mueangkaew A five metre king cobra has been caught in Trang, in southern Thailand, yesterday. 74 year old Amphon Srisombat, a resident at a house in Kantang district, Trang, called staff at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation to explain that the king cobra was inside her house. A DDPM…
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Sri Lankan death toll revised down
The Sri Lankan Health Ministry has revised down the death toll from last Sunday’s deadly terror attacks on churches and upscale hotels. The latest official toll is now 253, down from the previous death toll, which stood at 359. In a statement, the health ministry claimed the previous death toll released by the ministry was 290, and not 359 as…
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Freak storm batters Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok
A random summer storm has struck Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport this afternoon. The freak storm affected more than 18 flights and stranded 3,000 passengers whilst the storm battered the area north of the main city. At least one flight was re-directed to the nearby Suvarnabhumi Airport and another to U-Tapao Airport. Strong winds caused a Lion Air mobile airstair to…
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Power outage hits parts of Thalang
Electricity was shut off in Thalang today. The The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) announced the outage. Residents of Thalang have had to endure blackouts from 9am to 4.30pm today as the PEA continues its work on high power voltage systems in the area. Areas being affected are from Makprok PTT Gas Station to Baan Mueang Mai Intersection and from Baan…
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Chumpon plantation owner faces accusations of child sex abuse
“Jan said ‘Surin’ often took her daughter to his home. When the girl was seven years old, however, it was revealed that ‘Surin’ had allegedly molested or raped her over the previous five years.” In the latest in a string of serious child abuse cases, relatives of the alleged victims, in this case three girls aged 6, 10 and 14…
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Driver killed and 10 Burmese workers injured in Tak crash
by Pipat Jongmeekwamsook A van driver has been killed and 10 migrant workers injured after the passenger van careered into a roadside ditch and hit a tree in Khamphaeng Phet in Thailand’s central west today. The 27 year old van driver was killed and 10 Burmese workers were injured when their vehicle crashed in Khamphaeng Phet’s Kosamphee Nakhon district early…
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Chinese tourist caught stealing GoPro from couple – VIDEO
A Chinese man has been caught stealing a camera from a Spanish couple in Chiang Mai. The incident happened on Tuesday and was captured on CCTV. The Spanish tourists had been visiting Wat Phra That Doi Suthep when they put a GoPro camera on the bench they had been sitting on. After realising they’d left the camera there, they returned but…
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Three million baht Central Pattaya stormwater roadworks – FAIL
PHOTO: A representative of the City Engineering Department inspects two side streets in the Soi Arunothai Community. Central Pattaya residents are complaining that 3 million baht in roadworks has been a waste of money – Pattaya Mail Three million baht spent but not a lot to show for the considerable investment. Central Pattaya residents say that nearly 3 million baht…
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Mystery luxury house found under construction overlooking Bang Wad Dam in Kathu
PHOTOS: Chatchanon Na Thalang A luxury house, under construction, has been found on the Nark Herd Hills overlooking Bang Wad Dam in Kathu. The issue came to light after aerial photos of the house went viral in local social media. Yesterday officials paid a visit to the new house. A man name Taweep Phonputchai from Bangkok, a representative of the…
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World Bank downgrades Thailand’s 2019 GDP growth to 3.8%
The World Bank is downgrading Thailand’s growth projections to 3.8% from 3.9% for 2019. This compares to last year’s 4.1% GDP. The Bank says that export growth has shrunk to 5.7% from last year’s 5.9%. The World Bank’s senior economist for Thailand, Mr. Kiatpong Ariyapratya, says that the Word Bank also projects that Thailand’s growth rate for next year would…
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Police defend theft charges on British backpacker Chris Dodd
PHOTOS: Chris Dodd, BBC Police are defending their actions when they charged a British backpacker with theft after he picked up a mobile phone at Chiang Mai airport last February. 29 year old Chris Dodd spent 10 days in jail in February after he was charged with stealing the phone belonging to a German tourist and remanded in custody by…
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Residents protest the Phuket Governor over water shortages
Local residents in Rassada have picketed the Phuket Provincial City hall to demand answers from the Phuket Governor over the current water shortages. Phuket Governor Pakkaphong Tavipattana told the media yesterday they are managing to solve water shortage problems in Phuket throughout this dry season. Whilst claiming that there was no ‘drought crisis’ in Phuket the Governor said… “All local…
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British national and five Burmese arrested in Krabi over working illegally
Koh Phi Phi Police have been cracking down on illegal workers on the island’s and have arrested a British national along with five Burmese yesterday in Krabi. Police arrested 28 year old British man Benjamin Richard Stone at a restaurant on Koh Phi Phi yesterday. The arrests follows police receiving a tip-off that the suspect was illegally selling tour packages…
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Raid on 18 foreign-owned Koh Samui hotels, owners arrested
FILE PHOTO Army, police and municipal officials have raided 18 hotels on Koh Samui claiming that they are illegally owned by foreigners. The hotels in questions are on a mountainside on the Gulf island, the second largest island in Thailand. Officials carried out the search and raids on Chaweng Noi Mountain in Moo 6 village in Tambon Bophut and found…
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American arrested at airport after stealing speedboat in Krabi
PHOTOS: Pudam News An American tourist has been arrested after stealing a speedboat on Koh Phi Phi to drive to Krabi. Koh Phi Phi Police Chief Col Kritsapas Detinthasorn says, “We received a report from Ms Apissamai Sangjan that her speedboat, which was moored at Ao Nang Beach, was stolen on April 19. An allegedly drunken tourist jumped in, started…
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Phuket’s seastead couple remain elusive
The Seastead may be under 24 hour guard at the Port of Phuket but the couple who were staying in the structure offshore from Phuket, and have become the international face of the seastead experiment, remain elusive. According to Phuket’s deputy police chief Pol Colonel Witoon Kongsudjai, their mobile phone signal identified the couple’s last known location as Tarutao Island…
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Man found dead after missing in Nakhon Si Thammarat forest for ten days
PHOTOS: Krabi Pitak Pracha Rescue Foundation A man who has been missing since Songkran in the Nangnon Mountain Ranges in Nakhon Si Thammarat, has been found. The Krabi Pitak Pracha Rescue Foundation report that the body of the man was found in the forests on Nangnon Mountain Range, Thungyai District in Nakhon Si Thammarat yesterday. A team of rescue workers from…
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