Northern Thailand News
Northern Thailand news, Chiang Mai news, business, tourism, and culture—stay updated with breaking stories, local events, and travel insights from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pai, and beyond. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Northern Thailand news source.
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Sponsored Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Over 70 people exposed to rabies in northeast Thailand
Over 70 people have been exposed to rabies in Thailand’s northeast provinces of Surin and Buriram. In Surin, 67 people were found to be at risk for contracting the disease, while seven people in Buriram were at risk, adding up to a total of 74 people at risk, according to the chief of the Disease Prevention and Control Office 9.…
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Chiang Mai tackles PM2.5 pollution with giant vacuum cleaner
Thailand‘s Disaster Department is testing out a giant vacuum cleaner as a way to tackle the PM2.5 dust pollution problem that plagues the northern city of Chiang Mai every ‘burning season.’ Every year, farmers around Thailand send their forests and fields up in smoke because it’s the cheapest way to prepare to plant new crops causing PM2.5 levels to shoot…
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Tarmacked forest in Thai conservation area sparks outrage
Netizens are scratching their heads at the Department of National Park‘s decision to tarmac a forest inside a conservation area at a wildlife sanctuary in Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand. No space at all was left around the tree trunks to allow the trees to breathe and grow. An outraged Facebook user posted a picture of the newly tarmacked…
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Family of 5, including 3-month-old baby, brutally murdered in northern Thailand
Police are investigating the brutal murder of five members of an indigenous Hmong family in the northern province of Tak. The culprit behind the crime remains at large. The youngest victim was a mere three months old. The community leader of Baan Sirirak in the Wang Chao district of Tak promptly informed the police after making the grim discovery of…
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Thai Bonnie and Clyde arrested after hitting 32 petrol stations in Isaan
More than 50 police officers joined forces to arrest a Thai Bonnie and Clyde who robbed 32 petrol stations after the scoundrels ran circles around officers in several provinces of the Isaan part of Thailand. One of the suspects worked as a PT Petrol station manager and used insider information to rob other branches under the same brand. They stole…
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Police shot dead in high-speed chase with suspect
A patrol officer from Pak Chong Police Station in the Isaan province of Nakhon Ratchasima was shot dead on duty while chasing a motorcycle rider who looked suspicious last night. The search for the gunman is underway. The body of 28 year old lance corporal police officer Autthapon Boonme was found on the side of Khao Thai Sayan-Pak Chong SAO…
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Man arrested in fake army uniform did it to get attention from girls
Police arrested a man for theft on Monday and discovered that he had a penchant for dressing up in fake Royal Thai Army (RTA) uniforms. He stated that he wore the soldier costume to draw female attention and had no intention of committing any crimes using the uniform. Officers from the Non Sung Police Station in the Isaan province of…
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Armed drug smugglers killed in clash with border rangers in Chiang Rai
Two armed drug smugglers were killed in a clash with border rangers in Chiang Rai along the Thai-Myanmar frontier on Thursday. Pha Muang Force spotted a small group of armed men with backpacks in the forest near Ban Huai Kra in the Mae Fa Luang district on Thursday evening. The officers told the men to stop for a search, but…
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The best International Schools of Northern Thailand come together for the Annual Chiang Mai Education Fair
Press Release Connect with Northern Thailand’s best international and bilingual schools and discover great opportunities for your children offered nowhere else at the TASA Chiang Mai Education Fair on 18th February 2023. The Annual Chiang Mai Education Fair, organized by Thailand Academic Study Associates, brings together over 20 international and bilingual schools for the largest international education fair of the…
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2-year online romance ends when Swedish man dies in motorbike crash
A heart-wrenching tragedy played out when a Swedish man lost his life in a motorcycle crash in Roi Et province. The 50 year old had been in the country for just five days, visiting his Thai girlfriend whom he had met online two years prior. He arrived just a few days earlier to finally be with his Thai love. The…
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Dinosaur footprints found in Kalasin park
Phu Faek forest park, located in the northeastern province of Kalasin, is known for its rich history and geological significance. Recently, the park has made an exciting discovery of fossilized dinosaur footprints. The Department of Mineral Resources, along with park officials, were notified of the finding by a local villager from Ban Nam Kham, in Phu Laen Chang sub-district. Upon…
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Chiang Rai activist sentenced to 28 years for royal defamation
A Chiang Rai activist will now spend the next 28 years behind bars after being charged with royal defamation. Mongkol Tirakote, an activist and online clothing vendor was charged with two separate royal defamation cases after posting defamatory comments online. According to The Hindu, the kingdom’s lese-majeste laws are among the harshest in the world with rights groups saying they…
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Narcotics police seize 6 million meth pills in Chiang Rai
Thai narcotics police seized 6 million meth pills in the northern Chiang Rai province earlier this week. Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said yesterday that officers stopped a timber truck and two scout cars in the Wiang Pa Pao district. This was after officers had been alerted that a large number of drugs were to be transported from Mae Fah Luang…
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Thief leaves an apology note in Chiang Mai, Thailand
A thief stole over 12,000 baht from an electrical appliances store in Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand on Sunday morning and left behind a note apologising for his crime. CCTV footage captures a masked assailant, a man estimated to be around 30 years old, breaking into an electrical appliance store next to Wat Tha Mai-i Temple in Chiang Mai’s…
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12 year old girl abused and abandoned by family in Isaan
A 12 year old girl physically abused by her stepfather and grandparents was left abandoned on a roadside in the Isaan province of Nong Bua Lamphu. Fortunately, a warm-hearted local took pity on the girl and helped to find her aunt. Rattiya Anusuriya found the abandoned 12 year old alone and shivering in front of her house in the Na…
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Delivery driver saves family from fire in northeast Thailand
Yesterday, netizens helped to reunite a restaurant owner with the Grab delivery driver who saved him and his family from a fire in the middle of the night earlier this month in Buriram province in northeast Thailand. On January 16 at 3am, a raging communication cable fire broke out in front of the Chan Chao Thai curry restaurant in the…
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Jealous Thai wife accepts job at brothel after tracking cheating husband to the den of iniquity
A jealous Thai wife who suspected her husband was cheating tracked him down to a brothel in Chiang Mai and was promptly offered a job. She accepted. The unnamed wife told a reporter that she had been suspicious of her husband’s adulterous affairs for a while and curiosity got the better of her so she checked his wallet, reported Bangkok…
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Man to join monkhood after surviving mini bus accident that claimed 11 victims
A 20 year old man who survived a mini bus accident on the Friendship Highway in the Isaan province of Nakhon Ratchasima is planning to join the monkhood to pray for the 11 victims who were killed in the accident. The white mini bus, which was travelling from Amnart Charoen to Bangkok, overturned and caught fire at 9.30pm last Saturday,…
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Approval sought for 70 million baht junk boat-shaped skywalk in northeast Thailand
Government officials in northeast Thailand are seeking approval for a 70 million baht budget for a new boat-shaped skywalk in the Isaan province of Sa Kaeo called the “Khao Chakan Skywalk.” The Khao Chakan Skywalk will be made of glass and made in the shape of a “junk” sailboat, a type of classical Chinese sailing ship used in Southeast Asian…
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Statue mixing Hindu and Buddhist themes draws tourist in northeast Thailand
Tourists and worshippers alike are oohing and aahing at a statue in northeast Thailand that combines Hindu and Buddhist themes. The Sri Suk Ganesha statue in Udon Thani province portrays the Hindu deity Ganesha, sitting on the coils of Naga, a Thai serpent god. Naga’s nine heads stare down at Ganesha, who holds several objects in his eight hands. Worshippers…
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Woman working at karaoke bar in Thailand vanishes in suspicious circumstances
Police are trying to locate a woman who went missing in strange circumstances after leaving the karaoke bar she works at with a male customer five days ago in Leoi province in northeast Thailand. The manager at Bai Fern Karaoke Bar filed a missing persons report with the police on Wednesday, January 18, three days after 38 year old Phantiwa…
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Himalayan cherry trees bring splash of colour to northeast Thai province
Himalayan cherry trees are bringing a splash of colour to Thailand’s northeast province of Loei. Over 100,000 of the trees are now brimming with blossoms, known locally as ‘tiger queens’ or ‘nang phaya sua kroang.’ A swarm of tourists is now visiting Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park to delight at the pink and red blossoms. The trees are spread…
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Northeast Thai farmer is ‘selling’ fresh air
One northeast Thai farmer is ‘selling’ fresh air. The farmer, 52 year old Dusit Kachai, charges visitors 1,000 baht per person for the first hour they stay at his farm. The farm is located on the edge of Chaiyaphum province’s Phu Laen Kha National Park, which has clean air, forests, and mountain streams. Dusit said… “The first hour costs 1,000…
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Chinese New Year festival lights up city in northern Thailand
The Chinese New Year festival is lighting up in one of Northern Thailand’s major cities. Last night, a large crowd gathered in Nakhon Sawan to watch fireworks, dragon, and lion dances, and pole-climbing. The theme for this year’s Chinese New Year festival in Nakhon Sawan is ‘the dragon flies toward the sky and the flowers bloom.’ The festival along the…
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Monk who attacked teen granddaughter found hanged
A violent monk who attacked his 17 year old granddaughter with a hammer was found hanged in a forest. Investigating officers report that he was found yesterday but is believed to have been hanging dead there after committing suicide for about a week. Last Saturday, officers from the Phibun Mangsahan Police Station were called to the scene where the monk had…
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Drug traffickers killed in N Thailand gun battle
Five suspected drug traffickers were shot and almost 500,000 methamphetamine pills were seized after a skirmish in Chiang Rai province Thursday. A military patrol came across the suspected smugglers carrying backpacks in the early hours of Thursday in the area where the forested borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, long a lucrative hub for the illegal drug trade. Refusing…
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Community craft centre exploiting indigenous Karen weavers
Members of the Bang Kloi Karen community employed as weavers in a community craft centre have accused the centre of exploiting indigenous workers. The Karen workers claim they suffer poor working conditions and are paid less than the minimum wage. Activist Anchalee Ismanyee said weavers are paid much less than the official minimum wage in Phetchaburi province of 335 baht…
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Woman kidnapped and left for dead in deep forest in Northern Thailand
National Park rangers rescued a 65 year old woman who was kidnapped by two unidentified men yesterday and left for dead in a deep forest in the northern province of Lampang. The leader of the Wian Kosai Nation Park, Prawit Jaikam, reported to the media that he received a message from a woman, in Baan Pang Ma O in the…
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Two 10 year old schoolchildren killed after reckless sedan crashes into school bus
Two 10 year old schoolchildren were killed and another 19 were injured after a reckless sedan driver crashed into a school bus. The smash caused a collision between a school bus and a minibus on a road in the northern province of Phichit. The incident happened on the Phichit-Saklek Road in the Mueang district of Phichit at 5.30pm yesterday, January…
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Violent monk flees scene after leaving teenage girl for dead
A violent monk is on the run after attacking his 17 year old granddaughter with a hammer and leaving her for dead at a temple in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani last Saturday. Police believe that a letter found at the scene suggests the monk had a crush on the girl and was jealous of a friendship she’d recently…
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