Hot News
Thailand hot news, breaking stories, crime, politics, tourism, and business—stay updated with in-depth reports and exclusive interviews on the latest events across the country. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Thailand 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...
-
“Palang Pracharat will not rush to form government”
PHOTO: Palang Pracharat party leader Dr. Uttama Savanayana “He also called on the Pheu Thai-led alliance to stop calling themselves the “pro-democracy camp” and their rival parties “pro-dictatorship”, pointing out that both camps had been elected by the people.” The Palang Pracharat party leader Uttama Savanayana says there is no need for the party to rush to form a government because the official election results have yet to be…
-
Count continues amid surging complaints
Four days after the national election and we are still no closer to knowing the ‘winner’ as the county’s Election Commission continues the counting of the remainder of the votes amid accusations of delays and mishandling of ballots in some locations. 95% of the voting has now been completed. The EC says that the results after counting the remaining 5%…
-
Patong announces ‘Songkran Festival on the Beach’ schedule
Patong Municipality has announced details for this year’s ‘Songkran Festival on the Beach’ in Patong which will be held at Bangla Park on April 11-13, at the end of Bangla Road. April 11 Sand pagoda forming contest Miss Songkran Beauty Contest Thai dancing shows April 12 Shows from entertainment operators EDM music show April 13 Food offering to monks on…
-
Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam disses Pheu Thai ‘coalition’
“The final seat tally is subject to change since the commission has only announced 95 per cent of the voting results.” Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam has called Wednesday’s announcement of a Pheu Thai-led coalition preparing to form a government merely psychological strategy that will not bear fruit. “The truth will be known after May 9 when the Election Commission endorses…
-
Six parties poised to announce coalition government at 10am
Six pro-democracy parties, led by Pheu Thai, are announcing their intention to form a coalition government this morning. The number-crunchers say, even without the support of BumJaiThai and the Democrats, they have 252 house seats to form a majority government (they need at least 251 seats in the 500 seat parliament). The parties siding with Pheu Thai to form the…
-
EC urged to clear public doubt, announce results immediately
by Pratch Rujivanarom Facing a major public outcry over suspicious election processes and problematic vote counting, the Election Commission has been warned by both international and local election observers to promptly resolve all public doubts and prevent the escalation of political problems and conflicts. During the release of an interim report by Asian Network for Free Election (ANFREL) in Bangkok…
-
Whoops. The Thaiger was down
We sincerely apologise for our service being down for three hours this afternoon. The situation was out of our control but the Thaiger Team did a magnificent job getting everything sorted. We are committed to bringing you fast, reliable news, in Thai and English and will work hard to ensure that this type of interruption to services doesn’t happen again.…
-
Pheu Thai now claims to have the numbers to form a coalition. So does Palang Pracharat.
Pheu Thai Party, which at this stage has emerged as the winner of the most lower house seats after the general election, says they’ve gathered enough support from political allies to form a coalition government. The party’s secretary general Phumtham Vechayachai made the claim at a meeting this morning. He said Pheu Thai and other parties now command enough MPs…
-
Petition aims to impeach Election Commissioners
PHOTO: Election Commission chief Ittiporn Boonpracong – The Nation More than 670,000 people have signed a petition at the change.org website calling for the Election Commission’s five commissioners to be ‘stood aside’ pending an investigation in the aftermath of the March 24 Thai election. Petitioners contend that the election was marred by mistakes, blunders and tampering. The campaign could actually become…
-
Parties race to cobble together a working coalition
Day Two following the election and the only thing that is clear is that nothing is clear at this stage. Pheu Thai and Phalang Pracharat are both claiming the right to form a government with support of like-minded parties. The two rival parties, the pro-democracy Pheu Thai and the pro-Junta Phalang Pracharat, are locked in a close battle to form…
-
Sea turtle dies after getting tangled in a fishing net – Prachuap Khiri Khan
PHOTOS: The Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand A series of photos that convey everything we should be concerned about in Thailand’s marine ecology. A Green Sea Turtle, tangled in a fishing net, has been washed up on a beach in Prachuap Khiri Khan. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources reports that they were notified that a dead sea…
-
Election: The problems ahead, Tuesday
PHOTO: The political dance of horse-trading begins. Prayut Chan-o-cha in campaign mode And so we awake on the second day since the election. With 95% of votes counted we’re in firm territory now as far as voting trends are concerned . So we can start guessing which way the new parliament might be formed. Here are the main issues for…
-
Police checking 50, mostly, minor violations post election day
Police around Thailand are prosecuting 50 alleged violations of election laws and continue to monitor the post-poll situation for further signs of potential trouble. The Royal Thai Police say they’re on alert for ‘ill-intentioned groups’ fomenting post-election chaos, national police deputy spokesman Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen said this morning. The 50 cases under investigation include buying votes, deliberate destruction of ballots…
-
Alleged Greek murderer of Phuket beautician remains at large
PHOTO: Dimitrios ‘Dim’ Chairopoulo, wanted and believed to be living in Greece Local Phuket police are yet be informed of the latest in an international hunt for a Greek alleged murderer Dimitrios Chairopoulos. He remains wanted as a suspect in the murder of local beautician 43 year old Niramon ‘Bea’ Aewkaew in Phuket during February. Cherng Talay police say they want…
-
Democrats toppled in Phuket
PHOTO: Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva resigned the leadership position last night amid dismal polls around the country The Democrat Party in Phuket, once a reliable strong-hold of Democrat votes, has yielded its customary monopoly, ceding two House seats to the junta-aligned Phalang Pracharat Party. The unofficial tally, as of late last night, gave Phalang Pracharat’s Sutha Prateep na Thalang…
-
UPDATE: Latest poll results, Monday 11am
RESULTS: Election Commission Updated poll results as of 11am this morning. The latest votes reveal some changes in the total seats each party has now won. There are also some changes to the wins of the small parties. Pheu Thai continues to pull ahead, Future Forward continues its very impressive showing as a brand new party and the Democrats, with their…
-
UPDATE: Election results – what it all means
The Election Commission says the official results of the Thai general election will be announced today. By the close of counting last night around 92% of the votes had been counted. The bleary-eyed commission decided to delay the announcement until this afternoon. The EC chairman says the announcement of winners in each constituency had to be deferred because expat’ votes…
-
Reports of vote tampering will be investigated by police
A leading international polling monitoring organisation claims it’s not confident there wasn’t any tampering in yesterday’s election at polling booths. The vice president of People’s Election Network listed a number of election irregularities reported by some of their volunteer observer network raising doubts about the Election Commission’s efficiency. They say they had 600 observers out amongst polling booths throughout the…
-
Counting continues today. Phalang Pracharat and Pheu Thai lead the way.
Pheu Thai and Phalang Pracharat were running neck-and-neck last night as ballots were counted around the country. The major parties swapped poll position as the night went on. As of 10.30pm, with 92 per cent of the votes counted, the pro-junta Phalang Pracharat appeared to have beaten Pheu Thai with a total of 147 seats – 92 constituency MPs and…
-
Election count – 8.45pm
Many of the vote counts from outlying booths from out of the city are starting to come in. For now, it’s neck and neck with Pheu Thai and Palang Pracharat party with a strong showing from Future Forward. The phone calls will surely be underway between leaders of the Pheu Thai and Future Forward about a possible coalition. At this…
-
UN election monitors spread across Bangkok and beyond
PHOTOS: The Nation Foreign observers representing the United Nations have fanned out across the capital and its outskirts today to monitor the long-delayed election. Today’s national election, the first since 2011, is also the first since the military-backed NCPO seized power in May 2014. Four four-member teams wearing pale-blue vests were assigned to polling stations in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Pathum…
-
Chiang Mai ‘s tourism holds up despite smoke and smog
by Siriarpa Kamjan, ttgasia.com Chiang Mai’s current poor air quality and smoke haze is raising concerns on the potential impact on tourism as Thailand’s Songkran water festival approaches. Smog has been a yearly occurrence in Northern Thailand, but this year the situation appears to be the worst with Chiang Mai topping the air pollution ranking and the media tracking daily…
-
2,821 days
It’s been 2,821 days between July 3, 2011 until today, March 24, 2019. July 3, 2011 was the last time Thais voted in a general election. That time Pheu Thai, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, won 265 seats in the 500 seat parliament. It was only the second time in Thai history that a single party won more than half of the seats…
-
His Majesty urges Thais to elect ‘good people’ in today’s election
His Majesty the King has quoted from a speech delivered by his father, the late King Bhumibol, to urge voters to elect “good people” to rule the country. The Royal Household Bureau announced at 8.44pm that His Majesty had instructed the Lord Chamberlain to quote from a royal speech delivered by King Bhumibol at the sixth gathering of National Boy…
-
Hazardous: Chiang Mai again leads the world in air pollution
Chiang Mai is back on top of the world’s list of most air-polluted cities, according to the AirVisual.com website. AirVisual reports at 1.45pm that the air quality index (AQI) of Chiang Mai on Saturday stands at 471 (##!!??!!) , much higher than the 100 AQI safety standard (the WHO lists the safety limit as 50 on the AQI scale). It’s…
-
Ban on alcohol for 24 hours, starts today at 6pm
Thais go to the polls tomorrow (Sunday) for the first time since 2011, which also means there will be a 24 hour alcohol ban this weekend, starting this evening. Alcohol sales and distribution will be forbidden from 6pm on Saturday to 6pm on Sunday. Officials say weddings, parties and other celebrations can still be organised for these dates but there…
-
Everything you need to know about tomorrow’s vote
by Kanjana Lao, Nation Graphics Seven million new eligible voters will impact the outcome of tomorrow’s election, the first since 2011. The many new young voters, and the new election system, means that an outcome is very difficult to predict. But here’s Thai Election 2019 1.01 for newbies, thanks to The Nation.
-
Deputy PM promises ‘no coup’ after the election
Thailand’s Deputy PM General Prawit Wongsuwan is hosing down speculation that there could be another coup after the March 24 general election if the votes don’t support the pro-military parties. Responding to questions about his role in maintaining peace and order around this Sunday’s election, General Prawit says there is “nothing to worry about”, including the situation in the three southernmost provinces of Yala,…
-
Some election results out by 8pm Sunday night
More than 92,000 polling stations will be operating this Sunday for the national poll to elect a new Government. Seven million new voters, eligible since the last poll in 2011, will make a new impact on the election results making predictions more complex than in the past. Election results will start dribbling out of smaller polling booths just an hour…
-
800 million baht of drugs seized in three recent busts
by Jessada Chantharak Police have seized a total of eight million methamphetamine pills, 2,070 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 1,546 grams of cocaine with an estimated street value of 800 million baht from three recent drug busts. Four suspects were arrested and a fifth was killed during arrest. The report from the national police deputy commissioner Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan.…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.