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

    How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?

    Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....

  • Making pillows out of recycled plastic drinking straws

    Making pillows out of recycled plastic drinking straws

    PHOTOS: The Nation What to do with all those used plastic drinking straws. Here’s one local government’s attempt to re-use the plastic scourge of Thailand and put it to good use. The Nakhon Chiang Mai Municipality says they’ve been successful in turning used drinking straws into pillows. The ‘straw’ pillows will be distributed to the region’s bed-ridden patients and elderly to…

  • Thai Government suffers first defeat in lower house

    Thai Government suffers first defeat in lower house

    PHOTO: Thai PBS Highlighting the Government’s frail grip on power, the ruling Palang Pracharat government, together with its 19 coalition partners, suffered its first defeat in the lower house yesterday. The matter was over a parliamentary regulation that would specify the House speaker’s impartiality in the performance of their duties. Regulation Number 9 was debated at length in the Lower…

  • Lottery winner gets arrested for handing out free meth pills

    Lottery winner gets arrested for handing out free meth pills

    PHOTOS: Workpoint News Congratulations. You’ve just won two grand prize Thai lottery tickets – a total of 12 million baht. So what do you do with the winnings? You distribute methamphetamine pills to your friends for free, of course. The Ban Paew police arrested the vegetable seller-turned local millionaire after winning the lottery ticket last year and turning his kind generosity…

  • Organisers meet with immigration over TM30 petition – full report

    Organisers meet with immigration over TM30 petition – full report

    (This post, re-published with permission, has been edited by The Thaiger to clear up the grammar and spelling without changing any of the intentions or meanings. Here it is, in full…) Yesterday, I met the Officer Longtor at Korat immigration. He was very nice, very polite and we had a conversation in Thai. I had with me a copy of…

  • Flood warnings for six southern provinces, and provinces east of Bangkok

    Flood warnings for six southern provinces, and provinces east of Bangkok

    Forecasts for Phuket and Bangkok below… People living in six southern provinces, and some provinces east of Bangkok, are being warned to brace for possible flooding and flash floods due to heavy rain forecast until Sunday. The warning is due to the strengthening of the southwestern monsoon, which is looming over the Andaman Sea, the Gulf and the southern region,…

  • 170 billion baht stimulus to focus on tourism as economy plateaus

    170 billion baht stimulus to focus on tourism as economy plateaus

    Inbound tourism to Thailand is about to get a boost with a proposed 170 billion baht government stimulus package . The Finance Ministry will submit the full plan to Cabinet on August 19. Lavaron Sangsnit, the director general for the fiscal policy office, says the package aims to boost inbound tourism, and promote travel within the country by Thai and…

  • Thai transport minister agrees to taxi fare hikes in Bangkok

    Thai transport minister agrees to taxi fare hikes in Bangkok

    The Ministry of Transport has given approval for taxi fares in Bangkok to go up within a month. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob met with representatives of four Bangkok taxi groups and officials of the Land Transport Department to discuss demand by taxi drivers to hike taxi fares. Taxi drivers have been pleading for an increase for years and have staged…

  • Young elephant injured by trap in Rayong

    Young elephant injured by trap in Rayong

    PHOTO: Nation TV Wildlife officials are tracking a young wild elephant whose front left leg has become infected after being caught in a snare. They want to capture it and treat its injury. The assistant chief of Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, Tantikorn Puangsakul, says officials of the Khao Noi wildlife protection unit spotted the small elephant staggering in…

  • Koh Samui taxi driver killed, two tourists taken to hospital

    Koh Samui taxi driver killed, two tourists taken to hospital

    PHOTO: Sanook.com Police have now filed a full report on an an incident back on July 19 when a taxi driver was killed and two tourists critically injured driving on the Khao Laem Yai Hill, Koh Samui. Sanook.com reports that a taxi, a yellow and brown Toyota Fortuner SUV, hit the footpath on the Khao Laem Yai hill in the northwest…

  • Swedish man and Thai wife robbed in broad daylight riding motorcycle in Pattaya

    Swedish man and Thai wife robbed in broad daylight riding motorcycle in Pattaya

    PHOTOS: Stefan and Tippawan report the robbery to Pattaya police – 77kaoded.com A Swedish man and Thai partner were robbed whilst riding their motorbike in broad daylight in Pattaya. 52 year old Stefan Hujanen from Sweden and his 32 year old wife Tippawan were riding a motorcycle between North Pattaya and Pratumnak Hill last Saturday around 11am. Outside the Muang Pattaya Hospital…

  • Shortcuts on the way for motorists to bypass Lam Salee intersection in Bangkok

    Shortcuts on the way for motorists to bypass Lam Salee intersection in Bangkok

    PHOTO: The Nation The BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) is looking for help from the Metropolitan Police Division 4 to find suitable shortcuts so motorists could avoid the notorious Lam Salee intersection. The Nation reports that BMA deputy governor Sakoltee Phattiyakul says the intersection has long been notorious for traffic snarls and the situation has just become worse with delays caused…

  • Ministry probes rented electronic monitoring ankle bracelets from China

    Ministry probes rented electronic monitoring ankle bracelets from China

    The Thai Justice Ministry is investigating the electronic monitoring ankle bracelets rented by the Department of Probation from a Chinese company. A Thai company has complained that the device can be removed by the offenders wearing them without the department being alerted. Thai PBS reports that the complaint was filed by Aekkaphol Kongphutorn, representative of Fort Corporation, one of the…

  • 17 year old killed after school bus careers off road in Chumpon, 18 injured

    17 year old killed after school bus careers off road in Chumpon, 18 injured

    PHOTO: Facebook/Tongsiasiangtueng Rescue A bus crew has been killed after a tour bus travelling from Hat Yai to Bangkok for a mathematics competition ran off the road and hit a tree. The driver and 18 student were all injured. The bus ran off the main road in Chumpon, about half-way through the journey north. Police and foundation rescue workers headed…

  • Two Burmese migrants killed in Lampang van crash, 7 others injured

    Two Burmese migrants killed in Lampang van crash, 7 others injured

    PHOTOS: Lampang13.com Two Burmese migrants have been killed and seven others injured when a passenger van crashed on the road from Tak to Chiang Rai. The van transporting them from Tak to Chiang Rai hit a tree on a Lampang road early today (Tuesday) around 3.40am in Lampang province. The van fell into the ditch in the middle of the divided…

  • Friday’s homegrown terror attacks in Bangkok – what we know

    Friday’s homegrown terror attacks in Bangkok – what we know

    Police continue their investigations to unravel the people behind last Friday morning’s bomb blasts around Bangkok and the likely related case of two unexploded devices found outside Royal Thai Police HQ the night before. At this stage police acknowledge that the attacks were most likely more about gaining attention rather than hurting citizens or tourists although four people were slightly…

  • Bangkok crews practice for the Royal Barge Procession in October, a rare event

    Bangkok crews practice for the Royal Barge Procession in October, a rare event

    The Royal Thai Navy has just finished rehearsing the royal barge procession, which is the final part of the Coronation of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua (Rama X) this year. Whilst His Majesty’s coronation was held in and around the Grand Palace between May 2-4 this year, the royal barge procession caps off the celebrations. The royal barge…

  • 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…

  • South Korean fugitive arrested in Chon Buri, and two other immigration cases

    South Korean fugitive arrested in Chon Buri, and two other immigration cases

    by Jessada Chantharak A 29 year old South Korean man, wanted for alleged involvement in an online gambling operation in his home country, has been arrested in Chon Buri. Police allege he had been “laying low” in Thailand for two years. The man was wanted under a Seoul Central District Court arrest warrant issued on May 2, 2017, and by…

  • Injured sea turtle rescued by tour boat operator in Phuket – VIDEO

    Injured sea turtle rescued by tour boat operator in Phuket – VIDEO

    PHOTO: Nikorn Marine An injured sea turtle has been rescued by a tour boat operator in Phuket today. The boat crew of Nikorn Marine found a sea turtle while sailing the ‘Nichakorn 2’ near Coral Island, off Chalong. The turtle was found injured, trapped in a fishing net, with its rear left flipper missing, though the wound seemed old and…

  • New Parliament House opens for sittings of MPs next week

    New Parliament House opens for sittings of MPs next week

    PHOTO: Artists impression of a completed Parliament House not he banks f the Chao Phraya. Only the parliamentary meeting halls are complete for use at this stage The Thai Parliament speaker Chuan Leekpai is ordering tight security at the new Parliament House in Bangkok’s Kiak Kai area for an inaugural meeting today. He declined to answer when asked by reporters…

  • Police look for for three men, two women following Friday morning’s Pratunam fires

    Police look for for three men, two women following Friday morning’s Pratunam fires

    Whilst small explosions were going off around Bangkok last Friday during the peak hour between 7-9am, there was also a fire reported in the Pratunam area, famous for its clothes markets and popular with locals and tourists. At this stage police believe the fires may be part of the wider blast incidents on Friday morning. Read some of The Thaiger…

  • Thai police suspect southern insurgents in co-ordinated ATM explosions in Pattani

    Thai police suspect southern insurgents in co-ordinated ATM explosions in Pattani

    PHOTO: Charoon Thongnual Suspected insurgents have blown up three ATMs in two districts in the Southern Thai province of Pattani, near the Malaysian border. The assailants escaped with banknotes from one of the ATMs. At this stage local police and security officials suspect insurgents were responsible for the bombings, but are still considering if the incidents could have been related…

  • Most Thai motorcycle riders don’t wear crash helmets

    Most Thai motorcycle riders don’t wear crash helmets

    Only 45% of Thai motorcycle users wear crash helmets, that includes riders and pillion passengers. With young people under 18 the results are a pitiful 22% of users wearing any head protection, even less for children. Dr. Werapan Supanchaimart, vice chairman of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, said at a seminar yesterday that the Thai Roads Foundation and Road Safety Watch…

  • Immigration police spruik more successes with their biometrics systems

    Immigration police spruik more successes with their biometrics systems

    Immigration police have arrested three more unwanted foreigners for crimes committed in Thailand. The arrests follow people stopped at Immigration queues trying to enter the country last week. In reporting on the success of the biometric systems, police say the new systems helped identify the people and crimes they been allegedly involved in, even though the process of taking all…

  • Thai Airways announces extra flight to Europe and Australia

    Thai Airways announces extra flight to Europe and Australia

    Thai Airways International is adding fights to Paris, Vienna and Melbourne effective starting October 27 through to at least the end of March next year. Flights to Paris will increase from daily to 10 a week, but it will also involve a downsizing of aircraft from the mega A380 to a mix of the Boeing 777-300 and the smaller A350-900…

  • Thailand and EU prepare for signing of a strategic trade partnership

    Thailand and EU prepare for signing of a strategic trade partnership

    Thailand and the European Union are ready to sign a draft Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to promote bilateral trade and investment in the future. Federica Mogherini, an EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and vice chairwoman of the European Commission, met today with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha during her visit to Thailand to attend the ASEAN Plus Foreign…

  • New Airbus A220 drops into Bangkok during Asia Pacific tour

    New Airbus A220 drops into Bangkok during Asia Pacific tour

    Perfectly timed with Boeing’s woes and uncertainty over its 737 Max aircraft, Airbus is touring the Asia Pacific displaying its new A220-300 jet on a two-week demonstration tour. The new 143 seat aircraft flew executives from leading Thai airlines over Bangkok yesterday to secure some sales, especially Thai Airways who are in the market to freshen up their garage of…

  • More tickets go on sale today for the Bangkok theatre performances of The Lion King

    More tickets go on sale today for the Bangkok theatre performances of The Lion King

    Due to high demand, the Bangkok theatre season of The Lion King live at Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre has been extended. Bookings are open for the extended season today. The Lion King is on its way to Thailand for the first time for an exclusive season of performances starting September 14 and will now run until October 27. For more details about…

  • Red flags up at Bali Hai – weather warnings for Pattaya area

    Red flags up at Bali Hai – weather warnings for Pattaya area

    PHOTO: The red flag warnings at Bali Hai pier are more precautionary than reflecting the weather situation – The Pattaya News Red flags went up at the Bali Hai Pier yesterday warn tour boats about the Thai Meteorological Department’s weather warnings in regard to tropical storm Wipha, currently sitting over northern Vietnam. Tropical Storm Wipha, which formed in the South…