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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 Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Supporters raise 17 million baht to open Vipassana Mindfulness Centre in Nakhon Pathom
More than 150 students and supporters of world renowned Buddhist teacher and author Ajarn Supawan Green gathered for the inauguration of an international mindfulness centre in Puttamonthon, Nakhon Pathom, to the west of Bangkok, on Sunday, March 21, 2021. Construction of the ‘Bring your Mental Self Back Home Centre’ was made possible with financial and technical support from patrons of…
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More on the “sandbox” plan to reopen Phuket to foreign tourists, idea to be pitched to CCSA
The so-called “sandbox” travel bubble idea, which would allow vaccinated travellers from certain low risk countries to enter Thailand without undergoing quarantine, will be pitched by the tourism officials at Friday’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration meeting. Phuket is set to be the first area to try out the sandbox model once the scheme is approved. If the CCSA moves…
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Police officer’s son caught on camera firing shots at Thai restaurant
The son of a local police officer and 2 other men were caught on camera firing shots and pointing guns at employees at Thai barbeque restaurant in the southern province Trang. Surveillance camera footage shows the men parking a pickup truck nearby and the man, identified as the police officer’s son, holding a gun and then shooting it at the…
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Banyan Tree Krabi – Bringing Thailand’s luxury brand to Krabi
Krabi is a fabulous place to stay and home to some of Thailand’s most beautiful views and landscapes. Some of Thailand’s best known brands have already built resorts in the area but there was one of Thailand’s key hospitality brands missing… the iconic luxury brand of Banyan Tree. But here it is, after just over two years of painstaking and…
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Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand condemns shooting of reporters at Bangkok protest
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand has issued a statement condemning the shooting of reporters at an anti-government protest in Bangkok at the weekend. Saturday night’s protest, around the Sanam Luang area of the capital, ended with at least 33 people injured, including 3 reporters. The statement referred to United Nations guidelines that say rubber bullets should only ever be…
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Thai hoteliers want Emergency Decree to be used to speed up vaccines
Thailand’s hoteliers are wanting the Emergency Decree to be used to speed up vaccinations to fast track the scheduled reopening of the country by July. They say PM Prayut should use the power of the decree to let companies import vaccines with the FDA helping the move by approving more vaccines at reasonable prices. William Heinecke, founder and chairman of…
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Protest leader Parit sentenced to 15 days’ additional detention for contempt of court
Pro-democracy activist Parit Chiwarak, aka, “Penguin”, has been handed an additional 15 days’ detention for contempt of court. The leader of the Ratsadon group is already being held at Bangkok Remand Prison on other charges. The new ruling relates to a March 15 incident, in which Parit tried to read a statement at the end of a court hearing, during…
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Man falls asleep while allegedly robbing a home in Phetchabun – VIDEO
A 22 year old man was arrested on burglary charges after the homeowner found him asleep in his daughter’s bed at his home in the central province Phetchabun. Apparently, the man had broken into the house at around 2am, but felt sleepy, so he turned on the air conditioner and laid down on the bed, Thai media reports. When the…
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Phuket and Koh Samui request bulk deliveries of AstraZeneca Covid vaccines
Now Thailand’s Covid vaccine roll out has begun, it is starting to gather speed. The southern resort islands of Phuket and Koh Samui have made requests to the Public Health Ministry for enough doses to vaccinate the majority of the islands’ residents in anticipation of an early return to some semblance of tourism. Both holiday islands have a high reliance…
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“Samui Wonder Island” safe and sealed travel scheme to launch in July
Under the new safe and sealed foreign travel campaign “Samui Wonder Island,” foreign visitors will be able to visit Koh Samui under disease control measures starting in July. Travellers will undergo a rapid Covid-19 swab test on their second or third day at the alternative state quarantine hotel or resort. The results will come back within 3 hours. If the…
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Health minister says locals on Phuket and Koh Samui will be vaccinated before tourists return
Thailand’s health minister is reassuring the public that there will be enough vaccines to immunise locals, particularly on the popular holiday islands Phuket and Koh Samui, before Thailand reopens to foreign tourists. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says 800,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine arrived in Thailand over the weekend. He says 100,000 doses will go to Phuket and…
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Thailand’s media organisations issue joint statement in wake of political violence
The 6 organisations that represent Thailand’s media have issued a joint statement, calling on all sides in the current political conflict to show restraint. The statement comes following ugly scenes at Saturday’s anti-establishment protest in Bangkok. At least 33 people were injured near Sanam Luang, including police officers and journalists. Police officers used tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets…
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Thai PM to chair National Security Council meeting today following protest violence
The Thai PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha, is set to chair a meeting of the National Security Council today, following violent clashes between police and pro-democracy activists at the weekend. The police have been sharply criticised by academics and protesters, after water cannon, tear gas, and rubber bullets were used against protesters in the capital on Saturday. According to media reports, the…
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Bangkok police defend action taken during Saturday protests
The Metropolitan Police Bureau has defended its officers amid strong opposition to actions taken against protesters in Bangkok on Saturday. Clashes between police and pro-democracy activists have left at least 33 people injured, including 13 police officers and 3 journalists. According to a Bangkok Post report, a news reporter from Channel 8 TV was injured after being struck by a…
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33 people injured and 5 arrested in last night’s protests near the Grand Palace in Bangkok
33 people, including protesters and attending police, ended up casualties of last evening’s anti-government protests according to Erawan Medical Centre. The protest, reacting to the seizure of books discussing the Thai Monarchy and including pro-democracy speeches from last year, started off in Sanam Luang during the afternoon. But it quickly escalated after police erected a wall of shipping containers preventing…
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Anti-government Bangkok protest descends into scuffles between activists and police
PHOTOS: Free Youth Facebook page Last night’s Bangkok protests around Sanam Luang, adjacent to the Grand Palace, the Democracy Monument and along Ratchadamnoen Nok Road, descended into clashes between a small rump of anti government protesters and riot police. It was a night where less was said and most of the events became theatre for the troupe of journalists pursuing…
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Thai tourism operators want more stimulus plans in time for Songkran
Tourism operators are wanting the government to set forward more stimulus plans in time for the Thai new year of Songkran. Fearing a rather unprofitable holiday, they are asking the government to step up incentives in addition to the existing subsidy program. Yesterday the CCSA determined some basic guidelines for Songkran 2021. Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Domestic…
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Thai activist to submit petition against charter amendment bill voters
An activist says he is lodging a petition next week against those who voted in favour of Thailand’s charter amendment bill. Srisuwan Janya says he will submit the petition to the National Anti-Corruption Commission against a total of 206 MPs and 2 senators who voted in favour of the bill, despite the votes not being enough to make the bill…
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Thai government ditches water fights for Songkran – back to basics for 2021
So we’re going to have Songkran this year but not as we know it. The CCSA and Public Health Ministry have formally taken the ‘song’ out of Songkran for 2021. They have determined that there won’t be any foam parties, no activities where you get together with all your friends for Songkran activities and no ‘water splashing’, a polite way…
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Thai Airways challenging claims of over US$7 billion from leasing companies and Rolls Royce
Thai Airways is questioning claims from the lessors of some of its aircraft and Rolls-Royce, who service some of their aircraft engines. The airline is currently in the middle of lengthy bankruptcy proceedings as the court wades through thousands of creditor claims. The lessor and maintenance claims total over $US$7 billion. Thai Airways says that it’s not liable for the…
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Thai PM receives 3 finger salutes for his birthday from “well – wishers”
Thailand’s PM is celebrating his birthday with “well – wishers” displaying the 3 finger salute to his motorcade. The pro-democracy demonstrators didn’t hold back their displays of discontent as his motorcade made its way to the Government House. The Dern Thalu Fah, or Walk Through the Sky, demonstration group used loud speakers as they shouted, “Prayut, get out! Down with…
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Bus driver of student field trip arrested after police find 600 kilograms of methamphetamine onboard
A chartered bus driver, who recently took students on a field trip, was arrested after police found 600 kilograms of methamphetamine in the bus’ luggage compartment. 53 year old Amorn Chatawittayakul, the driver, was stopped at the Tha Yang intersection on Phetkasem Highway in Thailand’s central Petchaburi province at about 8pm last night. The bus was headed back from a…
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Krabi airport to double passenger capacity with new terminal
Krabi airport is planning to double its passenger handling capacity with a third terminal expected to open by October. The move is planned alongside the reopening of Thailand to international tourists. A new runway is also being built, costing almost 942 million baht. The Department of Aviation says the runway is expected to be completed on time and will increase…
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Spotted dolphin found cut open on Phuket beach, park officers investigate
National park officers in Phuket have launched an investigation after a spotted dolphin was found slashed open on the rocks on the shore of Sirinat National Park’s Ao Sai Khu bay. Its body had a deep gash across its head and another from its head to its tail. The spotted dolphins are classified as protected animals under Thailand’s Wildlife Conservation…
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Pattaya to hold logistics forum to renew efforts of making it a technology hub
Pattaya is holding a logistics forum next week with renewed hopes of making the city a major technology and convention hub. The forum will be held on March 25 at the Amari hotel, which will also feature an online format for those who cannot attend. Strict Covid-19 measures will be in place such as temperature checks, mandatory mask wearing, social…
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Pattaya bar owners waiting for CCSA to allow later closing hours
Pattaya bar owners are waiting for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration to allow businesses to close at later times, as a decision is expected today to reveal new provincial risk assessments. If Chon Buri province, which features Pattaya, is determined to be a “green” zone by the CCSA, the businesses would be allowed to stay open past midnight, with…
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Detained protest leaders taken out of their cells at 2am for Covid-19 testing, Justice Ministry says
The Ministry of Justice has denied that there were any sinister motives behind prison officers’ late-night attempts to remove 3 detained protest leaders from their cells. Fellow detainee and human rights lawyer, Anon Nampa, claims the multiple attempts to remove the activists, the latest of which took place at 2am, constituted intimidation. However, the ministry insists prison officers were attempting…
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Mother of drowned boy scout accuses school director of negligence
A woman is accusing a school director in the Isaan province Kalasin of negligence after her teenage son drowned during a boy scout challenge at a nearby swamp. Teachers did not notice 15 year old Noppakao Sita was missing. His body was found later that night at around 8pm after a long search by local divers. Teachers running the scout…
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More methamphetamine found on Thailand beach, suspected to be linked to sunken vessel
More packages of methamphetamine have washed up on a Thailand beach, this time on the shore of Koh Chang, an island in the Gulf of Thailand off the coast of Trat. Police have speculated that the drugs, all in similar packaging, may have been from a vessel that sank while carrying a shipment of drugs from Vietnam. In earlier reports,…
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Thai officials target alleged wildlife trade kingpin, seize 330 million baht worth of assets
In what some consider a major breakthrough in the ongoing crackdown on the illegal endangered species trade, Thai authorities targeted a suspected wildlife trafficking kingpin, freezing his bank accounts and seizing millions worth of assets. Thai officials say last Friday’s operation was aimed at the alleged kingpin of the illegal wildlife trade in Asia, Boonchai Bach, who is Vietnamese with…
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