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.
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Sponsored Thailand vs. the West: What expats save on healthcare each year
Healthcare in Thailand is much cheaper than in Western countries, making it a great choice for expatriates looking for affordable medical care. Both public and private healthcare options offer high-quality services, with savings of up to 80% on procedures like...
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Maya Bay reopening likely to be postponed | VIDEO
Maya Bay, on Koh Phi Phi Leh, in between Krabi and Phuket, was slated for a reopening on January 1. But now there’s a building swell of local support to keep the famous Bay closed, for a while anyway. A Line group used by the Marine National Park, along with tour operators and other stakeholders, has revealed a groundswell of…
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Junior police officer facing attempted murder for allegedly shooting at a Bangkok bus
A junior police officer is facing attempted murder charges after he fired a gun at a passenger bus in Bangkok’s Bang Chan district on Tuesday. A video of the incident shared on social media shows a motorcyclist, cutting off the bus, forcing it to stop. He walked up to the bus driver and then went back to his motorcycle where…
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Fiji tourism reopening after nearly 2 years of Covid-19 closure
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama announced the island nation has reopened its borders for international tourism for the first time since many of the world’s borders closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic nearly 2 years ago. Fiji’s population of just 1 million people have struggled without the tourism that makes up a lion’s share of the economy after borders closed…
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Chumphon flood makes main North-South highway impassable
In Chumphon province, the highway connecting Bangkok to the South of Thailand has been hit with a flood so bad it has been impassable. After 300 millimetres of rain fell on the Chumphon districts of Lang Suan, Sawi, and Thung Tako on Tuesday, the main artery travelling the whole of southern Thailand was flooded in several areas. The battered province…
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Pro-democracy activist Panusaya given temporary release to sit university exam
Political activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, aka, “Rung”, has been given temporary release to sit an exam and submit university reports. Thai PBS World reports that the activist was freed from Bangkok’s Central Women’s Correctional Institute at around 8pm last night. She was met by her parents and supporters, having spent 17 days behind bars. The pro-democracy activist is being tried on…
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Muang district in Ayutthaya allow to serve alcohol in restaurants
The CCSA seems to be slowly rolling out the lifting of the alcohol ban in Thailand on a province by province, and sometimes district by district, basis. Muang district in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya is the latest district to receive the green light to ease Covid-19 restrictions and allow alcohol to be served in restaurants. The district in Ayutthaya has…
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TAT predicts 500,000 travellers before 2022, 133,000 arrived so far
After 1 month of Thailand’s reopening, the Kingdom saw over 133,000 arrivals total from countries around the world, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand is confident that the goal of 500,000 international travellers will be met, despite the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 that has seen countries scrambling to limit or block travel from at-risk countries. In the month of…
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Former Deputy PM Suthep indicted over construction contracts
The National Anti-Corruption Commission has filed an indictment against former Deputy Prime Minister and protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban accusing him of irregularities in police constructions contracts. The charges were filed yesterday in the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders and are regarding projects to build police stations and housing over 10 years ago. Suthep who has been jailed…
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Cabinet sets aside over 5 billion baht to improve Bangkok’s public transportation
Yesterday, the two biggest transportation groups in Thailand, Bangkok Mass Transit Organisation (BMTA) and the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), received subsidies from the Cabinet to cope with the loss as well as increase their liquidity. A total of 5 billion baht was given, with 2.28 billion going to BMTA and 3.38 billion going to SRT. The Cabinet has also…
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Men arrested at Bangkok airport for allegedly smuggling drugs valued at 95 million baht
Two Pakistani men were arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday for allegedly trafficking 30.6 kilograms of ketamine and 1.1 kilograms of heroin hidden in instant tea packages. Officers say the drugs had a street value of 95 million baht. The two residents of Karachi, who travelled to Thailand by an Emirates flight through the United Arab Emirates, were arrested for…
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Cha-am permitted to sell alcohol in restaurants from December 1
While tourist areas all across Thailand are fighting to be allowed to sell alcohol, Cha-am will be the next tourist pilot area to get to sell drinks. The Phetchaburi Provincial Communicable Disease Committee is preparing to test allowing restaurants and shops to sell alcohol in the tourist city until 10 pm. The trial run of the new permission will be…
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Bangkok’s SRT Red Line launches commercial service, fares 12 to 42 baht
After four months of trial operation, commercial services on the Red Line commenced yesterday, with fares ranging from 12 baht to 42 baht, with its operating hours extended until midnight every day. The director-general of SRT Electrified Train Co., Suthep Panpeng, said that with the termination of free services, ridership will initially drop by 20% to roughly 8,000 per day,…
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Tourism officials welcome Czech movie filming in Phuket and Krabi
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is celebrating Thailand’s re-opening to international movie stardom once more. The southern provinces of Krabi and Phuket are being used as locations for a Czech movie currently being filmed in the kingdom. Nation Thailand reports that a film crew, consisting of 22 actors, directors, producers, and technicians are in Thailand to film a romantic comedy…
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Bomb attack damages vehicles carrying ballot boxes from local election in Yala
A bombing in the Deep South province Yala damaged several vehicles carrying ballot boxes from a local election. After the polls closed on Sunday for the Bannang Sata tambon administration organisation elections, eight vehicles were used to take the ballot boxes to the district office. As the vehicles drove on a rural road at around 7:55pm, a parked motorcycle exploded. A…
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No plans to reverse re-opening, despite Omicron variant – Tourism Ministry
Thailand’s Tourism Minister says there will be no going back for the country’s re-opening plans, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant. According to a Bangkok Post report, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says closing the borders is not an option anymore. “Nobody wants another border closure as it was really difficult for us to re-open the country. Our economy still suffers from…
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Thai man dies by flurry of bullets while going to get 2nd Covid shot
A 27 year-old Thai man has died after receiving a flurry of bullets from a gunman who had stopped the vehicle in which he was travelling. The man, Ampol Bunthong, a native of Phetchabun, was shot 10 times, according to police. The attack occured at about 8:20am this morning, at the Saraphi junction in Muang district. Ampol was riding with…
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Survey reveals most respondents oppose legalising pornography in Thailand
A new survey is revealing that a majority of respondents oppose legalising pornography in Thailand. The National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, conducted the survey over the phone between November 22nd and the 24th. The 18 years of age and older respondents with varying levels of education and occupations seemed to point towards a vast majority of Thais…
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An aquatic meal with Olga Belka – taking art to new depths
by Baz Daniel I am sitting at the edge of the gorgeous Kata Rocks infinity pool at sunset with the world’s only underwater portraitist, who as far as I can tell, is probably also a mermaid. Her name is Olga Belka and she is as gorgeous and exotic as you might expect of someone with such a gorgeous and exotic…
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Hua Lamphong (Bangkok Train Station) – History and future | VIDEO
Bangkok’s historic Hua Lamphong is being closed down by the middle of December. Here’s a look at the legendary station’s past and future, plus a look at the local neighbourhood and working life at the station. The iconic station has been open for over 100 years and been the host of many happy, and sad, arrivals and departures. Please don’t…
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New variant could dampen Thailand’s reopening enthusiasm
Thailand was the first country in Asia to more fully reopen to foreign travellers, and it is seeing a slow recovery, with more bookings for hotels, and new faces along shopping strips and markets in the country. November 1 was the launch of the Thailand Pass and a broader reopening to fully vaccinated travellers and tourists from 63 low-risk countries.…
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Thailand’s nightlife venues and bars told to keep closed until January 16
Thailand’s nightlife cat and mouse game between authorities and desperate bar and nightlife businesses will continue until the middle of January 2022. Following deliberations from the CCSA yesterday, entertainment venues will have to keep their doors closed until at least January 16. To put an exclamation mark after the latest announcement, the Thai government has also extended the emergency decree…
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Amnesty International under investigation for defending activists
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that Thai authorities have opened an investigation into human rights group Amnesty International after they spoke out against the prosecution of anti-government protesters. An opposing group of protesters who are devoted to the monarchy called for Amnesty International to be barred from Thailand. On Thursday, the group of royalists gave the government a letter saying that…
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“Omicron” – a new Covid variant triggers travel alarms as flights disrupted
A reminder today that there is still more steam left in the Covid-19 coronavirus. Just as the world started to peek from behind the curtain of uncertainty, another Covid “variant of concern”, named Omicron, has been discovered. The World Health Organisation says Omicron has a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggests an “increased reinfection risk”. Officially, it is…
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Phuket traffic police deny Facebook accusal of targeting tourists
After a Facebook post showing a motorbike checkpoint accused police of destroying tourism, the Phuket Provincial Police fired back. The post was made in Thai in the Phuket Sandbox – SHA Plus Facebook group on Sunday and went viral as it blamed traffic police for robbing foreigners now that tourists are returning. The post was accompanied by photos of a…
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Transport Ministry says Thai land bridge will become transit port to rival Hong Kong
The transport minister is feeling optimistic about a new land bridge development which will connect the southern provinces of Ranong and Chumphon. The Bangkok Post reports that the project will link Chumphon, on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand, to Ranong, on the Andaman Sea. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob says the result will be a transit port with…
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Thailand entry may be simplified by switching to antigen test
At the CCSA meeting on Friday, the Ministry of Public Health will propose easing entry requirements by replacing RT-PCR tests with a much cheaper and faster antigen test. Health authorities report that Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul will propose the revision at Friday’s meeting to be enacted from December on. The simplifying of the required Covid-19 test is part…
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Travel agents call for tourism fee to be postponed until industry recovers
The Association of Thai Travel Agents is urging the government to postpone the implementation of a new tourism fee until the sector has fully recovered. Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn says Thailand has averaged around 3,000 – 4,000 foreign tourists per day, since re-opening on November 1. According to a Bangkok Post report, he says confidence is low ahead of the coming high…
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Foreign Minister shrugs off lack of invite to democracy summit
Thailand’s Foreign Minister has shrugged off the fact that Thailand has not been invited to a democracy summit being hosted by the US. Thai PBS World reports that Don Pramudwinai says the event is, “nothing more than pure politics”. The summit is scheduled to take place from December 9-10 and Thailand has been left off the guest list. Controversially, Taiwan…
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Drug trafficking suspect’s escape foiled by pipe in the road
Police in the Muang district of Suphan Buri had an unusual sidekick in the apprehension of a suspected drug trafficker – a large water pipe that blocked the road and prevented his escape. The suspect was being set up in a sting operation but became suspicious and fled, leading police on a chase that might have ended differently if the…
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Pattaya mayor expresses frustration over no entertainment venues
In Pattaya, the fight goes on to allow alcohol in restaurants and to reopen entertainment venues, at least in time for New Year’s festivities. After petitions and protests from various sectors, business groups, and tourism associations, Pattaya City Mayor Sonthaya Khunploem is again calling for nightlife businesses to be allowed to reopen in the city famous, or perhaps infamous, for…
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