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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Four others rescued in Tham Luang before the Mu Pa 13
PHOTO: British cavers, Rick Stanton and John Volanthe Dramatic new stories out of a “Hidden Earth” cave-community event where it’s been revealed that the, now famous, Mu Pa 13 weren’t the only people trapped inside the caves in Chiang Rai. Two of the British divers who were part of the Tham Luang rescue effort, extracting the Mu Pa football team from…
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12 million meth pills, half tonne of ‘ice’ seized in Chiang Rai
Been a busy day in northern Thailand as police grapple with the transporting of drugs across the borders. First, this morning there was a motorcyclist with a backpack full of meth pills. Now a much larger shipment has been intercepted. The Nation reports that Chiang Rai police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 12 million methamphetamine pills and 521 kilograms…
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TAT plan to boost tourism to secondary locations, and Thai Airways’ bottomline
The TAT – Tourism Authority of Thailand – is coming to the rescue of the beleaguered national carrier, Thai Airways. They are going to promote 20 flight routes in 10 provinces for the rest of this year. This is in response to instructions from the Thai government for state-owned enterprises to work together to boost income for the airline which…
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Australian expat and Thai wife go missing
PHOTO: Sanook – Alan Hawk and his wife Nott Suddaen A man has been released on bail as police continue their investigation into the mysterious disappearance of an Australian man and his Thai wife in northern Thailand. Alan Hawk (name transliterated from Thai) and his wife Nott Suddaen, both 61, were reported missing on Thursday by a concerned friend. The friend…
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Chiang Rai Governor Prajon hosts seminar to develop SEZs in northern Thailand
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times Chiang Rai Governor Prajon Prachsakul presided over the opening of the Special Economic Zone Policy Committee seminar held at the Teak Garden Resort. The seminar was designed to mobilise the development of special economic zones and promote public participation in the northern province project. According to the Chiang Rai Times, Governor Prajon told attendees that the…
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Order a 37K brand name bag online – a 100 baht plastic bottle arrives in the mail
INN are reporting that a 25 year old Khon Kaen woman has made a complaint to police saying that she had ordered a 37,000 baht second-hand brand name bag online but all she received was a plastic bottle. The woman says that hen she opened the package all she found was a plastic bottle with a Kung Fu Panda logo…
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Police in Phayao chase an ambulance loaded with illicit drugs
A dramatic chase in Phayao’s Dok Khamtai district last night (Sunday) has resulted in police seizing half a million methamphetamine pills, a large amount of crystal methamphetamine and ketamine… from an ambulance. The twist is that the ambulance was being used by the drug-trafficking gang as a cover-up for their operation. The Nation reports that Phayao police were alerted at…
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Cave film starts shooting in November
A Thai film telling the story of the Tham Luang cave rescue is due to begin rolling cameras in November. It’s working title is ‘Nang Non’ in Thai (The Cave in English) Tom Waller, an Irish/Thai filmmaker, gave a presentation about the project at the Toronto International Film Festival. ‘Nang Non’ is the working title of the film, also the…
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Elon Musk accuses cave rescuer of being a ‘child rapist’
Elon Musk, the man behind the Tesla electric car and a billion dollar tech empire, has again attacked the British Chiang Rai resident who was part of the large international effort to rescue the Mu Pa 13 from the Tham Luang Caves in July. In an email to BuzzFeed News, the Tesla CEO launched into his third verbal assault on…
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2 dead and 11 injured in Udon Thani road crash
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times Two people have been killed and 10 injured after their passenger van smashed into a trailer-truck in Udon Thani yesterday (Monday). The accident happened on Dong Rai-Ban Phue Road in Ban Khao around midday. A 38 year old truck driver, Aniroot Jadpong, from Udon Thani, fled the scene following the incident but later reported to police. He…
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Truck carrying gas cylinders flips over in Udon Thani
Cooking-gas cylinders have toppled out of an overturned six-wheel truck on the Mitraparp Highway in Udon Thani’s Mueang district. The incident happened yesterday prompting the police to seal off the scene as a safety precaution. The fully loaded truck lost control while heading towards the Muang Udon Thani Museum. The crash injured two people on board. The potential of a…
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Van crash injures 14 pre-schoolers
A passenger van carrying 25 children to a nursery in Chiang Rai’s Wiang Pa Pao district has crashed into the rear of a truck, injuring the van driver and 14 of the children. The accident on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai road in Moo 6 village in Tambon Wiang Ka Long happened at around 7:20am this morning. The van driver 59…
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US Ambassador thanks Chiang Rai locals for looking after US rescue team members
PHOTO: Ten northern artists led by Master Saravuth Kammoonchai, took turns working on the statue – The Nation Glyn Davies, the US Ambassador to Thailand, toured Chiang Rai province yesterday to thank those who welcomed the US team during the multinational rescue operations to help rescue the young Mu Pa Academy football club members in June. He visited Wat Rong Khun,…
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How to get 300,000 Instagram followers – US ABC TV interviews Mu Pa team
PHOTO: Adul Samon – ABC News The 12 Mu Pa football players and their coach say they wanted to thank for the world for the outpouring of love and support that went into rescuing them from a harrowing subterranean ordeal. It was the first independent interview with the team sanctioned by the Thai government and the boys’ minders. 14 year old…
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Flood watch on Phetchaburi, Nan, western provinces
An update on the flood situation in many parts of the country. PHOTOS: The Nation Phetchaburi Water levels in the Phetchaburi River are rising dangerously from the overwhelmed Kaeng Krachan Dam. The dam is now 109 per cent full and 22.46 million cubic metres of water are being released every day into the river. “The river’s water level has already…
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Heavy rains leave provinces on flood alert
Tropical storm Bebinca has now moved westwards into Myanmar as it continues to weaken but it’s left a trail of floods behind as home and farmland across the the north and north-east as rivers and canals swelled with the heavy rains. Around Petchaburi the situation is still perilous for residents in the wake of the Kaeng Krachan Dam. In Chiang Rai, a large…
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Police ‘good nature’ is actually a really bad idea
In a bizarre piece of policing and an even more bizarre reaction on social media, Thai Rath has posted some video of traffic police tying a band of cloth around a father and daughter who were stopped at a checkpoint – neither with motorbike helmets. The video was posted on the Facebook page of police in the north-east with a policeman tying…
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Weather and dam authorities say they’re ready for the impact of Bebinca
Authorities say they’re well prepared for tropical storm Bebinca, with emergency response teams in full readiness and, importantly, with water levels being lowered in every dam in the storm’s path, leaving room for greater water inflows. The Meteorological Department issued warnings yesterday saying the storm will bring heavy downpours throughout the upper regions of Thailand and may trigger flash floods in…
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New Ferrari slams into tree in Korat
Been a bad week if you’re a supercar owner in Thailand. Photos from Daily News show a red plate Ferrari that collided with the back of an 18 wheel truck on the Friendship Highway (Mitraphap) in the Si Khiw area of Nakhon Ratchasima. The accident also involved a Chevrolet car that ended up under the truck in the roadside ditch.…
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Chiang Rai venue chosen to move the buildings for judges on Doi Suthep
PHOTO: Thai PBS Thai PBS is reporting that judicial administrators have agreed to ask the Agricultural Techniqe Department in Chiang Rai for the use of a 40-rai plot of their plants research centre to construct new offices and housing tor the Region 5 Appeals Court. The request follows a protracted protest from Chiang Mai residents about the special housing for…
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Good news from dams in the north-east
Whilst provinces bordering the Mekong River, and areas in Phetchaburi downstream of the hillside dams, are all under threat from flooding at the moment, the situation is a lot better in the lower north-east provinces. The Irrigation department has issued assurances today about the water situation covering some 77 dams in the region. The Nation reports that 77 reservoirs in…
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British cave rescuer honoured in his home town
Another of the international rescue team, who flew into Chiang Rai last month to assist with the cave rescue, has been honoured. Richard Stanton, one of the British cave divers involved in the risky Tham Luang rescue operation, has been bestowed with the Coventry Award of Merit. The award was made in his home town of Coventry, where he lives.…
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The miracle at Tham Luang Caves
The Thaiger would like to thank the incredible dedication, skill and commitment of all the rescuers, from around the world. Thank you.
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11 of the Mu Pa team complete their ordination, coach Ekkapol stays on
A provincial committee is being set up to screen approaches made to the 12 Mu Pa football players and their coach to attend various events and activities. Chiang Rai’s new Governor Prajon Pratsakul was speaking to reporters after the team made a courtesy call on him. They were accompanied by Phra Khru Prayut Jetiyanukarn, acting abbot of Wat Phra That…
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4.8 million meth pills and nearly a tonne of ‘ice’ seized in Chiang Rai
The Nation is reporting that a suspected drug mule has been arrested along with a huge haul of 4.8 million methamphetamine pills and 978 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice). The drugs were seized after two pickup trucks sped through a checkpoint in Chiang Rai early this morning. Army rangers made the arrest after giving chase from the checkpoint in Ban Sai…
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Korat dog gets shot with an arrow
A poor dog in Korat had a bad day earlier but it ended up a better day thanks to some good Samaritans. The stray dog in Nakhon Ratchasima underwent emergency treatment this morning (Thursday) after it was found crying in agony with a fish-hunting arrow embedded in its side. 51 year old Natthawut Chuckling heard the dog in distress and…
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Floods hit five villages near the Tham Luang cave rescue site – Chiang Rai
PHOTO: Local News2010A month ago the local villagers near the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai were volunteering with food and helping hands. Now they’re fighting to save their homes. Mountain run-off last night (Monday) has hit five villages in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, near where the young Moo Pa (Wild Boars) football team was recently rescued from the…
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‘The Heroes’ unveiled in Chiang Rai
A 13 x 3 metre mural has become the latest step in immortalising the Tham Luang cave rescue for generations to come. The mural will shortly be moved to be part of an exhibit which will be constructed at the front of the mouth of the caves. “The Heroes” is a canvas painting which portrays the story and the many,…
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Sing Buri and Chiang Rai – major drug busts
Police in Sing Buri, central Thailand, say they’ve cracked open a major drug syndicate with the arrest of key members. A major drug-trafficking ring’s members were arrested along with 11,600,000 methamphetamine pills and some 700kg of crystal methamphetamine or “ice”. The announcement from the deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan yesterday. Following a tipoff by undercover police on…
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The Mu Pa 13, minus one, attend blessing ceremony before becoming novice monks
PHOTOS: The Nation Eleven of the Mu Pa football team rescued from the Chiang Rai cave in Mai Sai, along with their assistant coach, participated in a Buddhist ritual this morning (Tuesday) in more carefully stage managed media appearances in the aftermath of the rescue. The ceremony honours the cave’s resident Phra That Doi Wao spirit. This afternoon they will have…
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