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 9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...
-
Indian tourist in Pattaya reportedly missing over US$6,000
An Indian tourist in Pattaya is reportedly missing over US$6,000 after staying at a hotel in the city for just two days, The Pattaya News reported yesterday. The man, 45 year old Vivek Singhal, told Pattaya officials that he had arrived at his hotel on October 5. Two days later he realised that the US$6,600 he had left in the…
-
“Black Sunday” flash mob protest on Bangkok BTS
Protesters staged a flash mob against PM Prayut Chan-o-cha on a Bangkok BTS train yesterday, The Standard reported. The demonstrators held placards with messages including “Prayut may be some people’s hope but he is the despair of the nation.” The protesters were dressed in black, and some also wore black sunglasses. The flash mob’s leader, Sombat Boonngamanong, said the “Black…
-
Police let off CNN reporters with 5,000 baht fine over invasive massacre reporting
Deputy police chief ‘Big Joke‘ has done a 180 degree turn on CNN, letting off reporters with just a 5,000 baht fine (US$132) each for their invasive coverage of the daycare centre massacre in Nong Bua Lamphu province in northeast Thailand. On Saturday, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn insisted on prosecuting two members of CNN staff for breaking into the crime…
-
Bangkok road sweeper dies in hit-and-run
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is to pay 1.6 million baht in compensation to the family of a road sweeper who died in a hit-and-run incident on Kanchanapisek Road in the capital yesterday. The driver is on the run and there was no CCTV camera footage at the scene. The 59 year old woman road sweeper, Somsi Yimchalam, was hit…
-
Curbing meth in Bangkok a focus after massacre
Following the horrific daycare centre massacre in Nong Bua, where the killer had been battling drug charges, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced plans to focus on getting meth out of the capital. After a rash of drug-related crimes including the daycare centre massacre and another similar from the next day when a man was arrested outside of his child’s school…
-
Debt, drugs and death in Phatthalung midnight murder mystery
The story has emerged in today’s Bangkok Post of a Phatthalung woman who was making her way to the hospital after escaping the clutches of her abusive husband. Already in a state of shock, 26 year old Dararat Songnui was further traumatised by the site of her husband’s corpse by the road. Suphamit Chandee had been stabbed to death. A…
-
Phuket International Airport predicts 30,000 passengers daily
High season is starting this month in Phuket, and the airport is predicting up to 30,000 travellers per day. The increase in air traffic to the popular tourist destination coincides with the airport’s 34th anniversary. And to celebrate, passengers and flights – both domestic and international – are ramping up. International carriers such as Aeroflot from Russia, Pegasus Airlines from…
-
Andaman Sea coast set for UNESCO recognition
Three conservation areas on the Andaman Sea are to be nominated for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognition by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa. As the islands prepare to welcome tourists on October 15, Varawut was inspecting a maintenance and waste collection project on Koh Miang of the Similan Islands in Phangnga province. Reports in…
-
Miracle at nap time – the girl who survived
Three-year-old Ammy slept through the whole thing. During the assault by the crazy killer who burst into her daycare centre, Ammy slumbered on, unnoticed by the man with the knives. Ammy has a habit of completely wrapping herself up in her blankets, and according to her mother, Panomphat Srithong, that might have saved her. Panomphat was working at an electronics…
-
Gun laws in Thailand to be discussed by House committee
An upcoming meeting of the House Committee on Police Affairs will address gun control measures in the wake of the daycare centre massacre just days ago. The vice chairman of the committee who serves as the deputy secretary-general of the Democrat Party announced plans to consider several actions to allow more responsible gun ownership in Thailand. One idea on the…
-
Once bitten… English financial advisor who took chunk out of Thai investors
Foreign financial “advisors” have been defrauding the country’s ex-pats for decades. Does seeing the arrest of Briton Mark Kirkham mean that the Thai economic police are finally catching up with them? Probably not, and why would you expect them to? Kirkham, according to financial blogger Andrew Drummond, looked every inch the upstanding member of the community on his arrest at…
-
Guns, drugs and mental health – questions for a grieving nation
Since at least 37 people were killed in Thursday’s daycare centre massacre, Thailand has been forced to ask itself some very uncomfortable questions. Gregory Raymond is a lecturer in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs researching Southeast Asian politics and foreign relations. Writing for Australia’s ABC News, Raymond identifies some areas that should be of concern to everyone…
-
Armed, drunk father tried to snatch his child from school
One day after a former police officer killed his wife and child and slaughtered 24 children and 13 others at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu, another man was stopped and arrested before he could commit a similar act. In the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, an inebriated armed man was arrested near a school trying to grab…
-
Finnish CEO detained for alleged mistreatment of 1,100 Thai berry pickers
Finnish police have arrested and detained the CEO of berry company “Polarica” under suspicion of human trafficking. CEO Jukka Kristo allegedly “deceived” 1100 Thai berry pickers and housed them in “poor conditions.” This year, Kristo’s company flew around 1100 Thais to Finland to work as berry pickers – an industry that heavily relies on a foreign workforce. The CEO has…
-
Thai woman & foreign men charged for child sex trafficking in Pattaya
Police arrested a Thai woman and three foreign men for rape and sex trafficking teenagers aged under 15 years old in Pattaya. Officers from Mueng Pattaya Police Station reported yesterday that the teenagers, aged between 12 and 15, were trafficked from Beer Bar in Soi Bua Khao on September 11. According to a Police TV report, Beer Bar secretly offers…
-
Massacre in Thailand: No drugs detected in system of daycare centre killer
It comes as a great shock that no drugs were detected in the body of the ruthless killer who massacred 37 people – including 24 children under 6 years old – yesterday at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province in northeast Thailand. The former policeman was dismissed from the force for failing a drug test. He appeared in…
-
More than 1 million baht payout to massacre victims
The families of the adult victims of the daycare centre massacre in the northeastern province of Nong Bua Lamphu will receive up to 1 million baht in compensation. Kom Chad Luek news agency reported the Rights and Liberties Protection Department under the Ministry of Justice is investigating the loss from the Nong Bua Lamphu massacre and will offer compensation to…
-
Pakistan’s transgenders dragged back into Dark Ages
Early last month, Pakistani Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan proposed the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights amends the Transgender Protection Act of 2018, leading to a firestorm of online abuse on both sides of the argument. Despite its desire to be known as a conservative society with strong Islamic inclinations, Pakistan is one of only a few countries with legislation…
-
Thais unhappy with Prawit’s response to daycare centre massacre
The Thai people were not impressed with the insensitive statement delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan about the daycare centre massacre yesterday. Thai reporters asked Deputy PM Prawit how he planned to prevent a similar scenario in the future. He said… “What can I do about it? He is a drug addict.” Prawit offered his condolences to the victim’s…
-
Colleagues reveal daycare killer prone to mood swings
Former colleagues of the daycare centre killer revealed Panya Khamrap had a long history of drug use, behavioural problems and bad mood swings and was not popular at work. The 34 year old disgraced cop reportedly armed with a shotgun, pistol and meat cleaver murdered 37 people, including 24 children, butchered while they slept at the nursery in Nong Bua…
-
Japan bomb squad called to empty case full of sex toys
Although certain suspicious objects can indicate that a bomb squad is needed, a suitcase in Japan featured items that can cause a different kind of explosion. The bomb squad was, indeed, called to investigate an abandoned suitcase in the Shimomata neighbourhood of Kakegawa town in Japan. But, the objects found inside the suitcase were not what one would consider as…
-
World’s oldest dog Pebbles dies at age 22
The world’s oldest dog, Pebbles, has died at the age of 22 in the United States. Since May of this year, the Toy Fox Terrier held the Guinness World Record for being the world’s oldest dog. After seeing headlines about TobyKeith, a 21-year-old chihuahua from Florida who was named the world’s oldest living dog, Pebbles’ owner, Julie Gregory, realised that Pebbles was…
-
Thailand daycare centre massacre: Death toll rises to 37
The death toll of the massacre at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province, northeast Thailand, yesterday has risen to 37 after another victim died from their injuries in hospital. Including the attacker, who fatally shot himself, 38 people were killed in total. He killed 24 young children, including 21 boys and three girls. At 12.50pm, 34 year old former policeman…
-
5 reasons why Thailand educators shouldn’t miss Bett Asia in Bangkok this year
Sponsored The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a number of fundamental changes in our way of life, including in the way we learn. Online education, which had previously only been available to a select few, suddenly became the standard everywhere. This shows how educational technology, or EdTech, has been an important key that enables learning despite the lockdowns and disruptions. It…
-
Thailand’s 5 national parks raise entry fees for foreigners by 100%
Thailand’s five national parks announced new entry fees to their attractions and they’re stinging foreigners in the pocket, increasing entrance costs by 100%. Entry fees for Thai people remain the same. The Department of National Park, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation Facebook page posted a two-page document about the new entry fees last Friday, September 30. Khao Yai National Park in…
-
Australia sets goal of preventing any more species from going extinct
Australia has set an ambitious environmental goal of preventing any more species from going extinct. To do this, the country’s labour government has set another ambitious goal of conserving over 30% of its land mass by 2030. The new 10-year plan was announced on Tuesday. Australia’s new conservation plan will focus on 20 places and 110 species. The areas include…
-
Mass shooting in Thailand: 36 dead, including 24 children, 12 injured
The death toll of the mass shooting at a nursery in Nong Bua Lamphu province, northeast Thailand, this afternoon is 36 in total, including 12 adults and 24 children. The gunman opened fire at a nursery in Na Klang district where most of the victims were shot. He fled in a pickup truck and shot more victims from inside the…
-
Police snag 2.5 meth pills in checkpoint stings
A massive 2.5 million methamphetamine pills and 700 kilos of crystal meth have been found by police in Lampang, Chiang Mai and Phrae provinces. Eighteen suspects were arrested and eight vehicles impounded in three separate cases, according to top cop Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas at a press conference yesterday. According to reports in the Bangkok Post, two pickups fully loaded…
-
BREAKING: at least 32 dead in massacre at daycare centre in northeast Thailand
This story has been updated. A man killed at least 32 people, mostly young children, in a gun and knife attack at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province in northeast Thailand this afternoon. Many more are injured. The perpetrator escaped and police are attempting to track him down. Police identified the attacker as 34 year old Panya Khamrap,…
-
Shark warning – illegal Chinese money lenders nailed in Pattaya
Sixteen Chinese nationals suspected of running an illegal online money-lending business were arrested during a police raid in Pattaya on Wednesday. Following a tipoff, police and immigration officers in Pattaya’s Bang Lamung district, raided a three-storey townhouse at around 3pm on Wednesday. The officers were given information that a gang of foreign nationals were using the house as their operational base,…
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.