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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Forecast for poor air quality returning to Bangkok
Smog, smoke and haze problems have returned to the capital and its neighboring provinces. Nine areas were found to contain levels exceeding the 50-micron safety level yesterday. Blaming the poor air quality on weak low-altitude air flow, the pollution control department predicts that the situation might further deteriorate. The department pleaded for cooperation from members of the public by not burning anything in open areas and…
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American tourist attacked by gang on Koh Phi Phi
An American photographer and blogger says he was injured after being attacked by a gang of men on Koh Phi Phi this week. Stephen Trimble revealed on his Instagram account that he was walking along the beach when he spotted a girl’s possessions being stolen while she was swimming. He says he yelled at the man to stop. The man…
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Alcohol ban this weekend and the following weekend of the election
There will be a 24 hour alcohol ban this weekend as well as on the weekend of the general election on March 24. Sunday, March 17 will feature a day of pre-voting where alcohol sales and distribution will be forbidden from 6pm on Saturday, March 16 until 6pm on Sunday, March 17. That will precede the ban on the following…
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Two Nigerians arrested, one still at large, over investment scam
PHOTO: INN News Immigration chief Lt-Gen Surachate Hakparn has announced the arrest of two Nigerian scammers who posed as officials at a financial institution to defraud investors. They were also found to have overstayed their visas. Arrested were 55 year old Emmanual Olichagew and 41 year old Friday Ochiaga at a rented room in Bangkapi, Bangkok. Surachate says that a…
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Only the US and Canada left flying the Boeing 737 Max aircraft*
The US and Canada remain the only two country’s left flying the Boeing 737 Max 8 model aircraft in any substantial numbers (*there are a few smaller airlines and nations but very few remaining). Otherwise most of the world’s aviation authorities have either grounded the planes or closed access to their airspace for the operation of the popular new Boeing…
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UPDATE: Regulators ground the Boeing 737 Max 8, but not in Thailand
PHOTO: Thai Lion Air won’t be grounding their Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft The digital flight data recorder for Flight ET302 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya was located yesterday morning Citizens of 35 countries are among the 157 people killed, including 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians and eight passengers each from China, Italy and the US Multiple…
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Body of baby boy tied to stroller found off Pattaya beach
WARNING: Some readers may find the following story disturbing PHOTOS: Pattaya Law Enforcement / Rak Siam A body of foreign baby boy in a stroller was found floating near a beach in Pattaya yesterday. Pattaya City Law Enforcement say they were notified by locals that a body of baby was found floating near a pier at Laem Bali Hai in…
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“Nothing to do with the election” – Deputy PM Prawit
Senior government security officials are claiming the series of bomb blasts last weekend in the southern provinces of Phatthalung and Satun are related to insurgency activities in the predominantly Muslim region. They say there is no connection with the upcoming election and that the timing is just co-incidence. The South has been racked by violence from an ongoing insurgency since…
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Despite the dangers, Thai police chief says ‘OK’ to pickup passengers over Songkran
SCREENSHOT: GamerGirl566 (video below) Police are not going to impose restrictions for people riding in the back of pickup trucks over the Songkran holidays this April. The national deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul has said it’s OK for passengers to ride in the tray space at the back of pick-ups “as long as they are deemed safe”. Last year suggestions…
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Shoppers said ‘no’ to 237 million plastic bags at 7-11 in three months
More than 237 million plastic bags have been left unused at Thailand’s 7-eleven stores in the past three months – valued at more than 47 million baht. But the media release from CP All, the local franchise owners of 7-eleven, doesn’t announce how many plastic bags were actually used during the same period. The sole operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores…
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Ethiopian Airlines crash – a second new Boeing 737 falters after take off
PHOTO: A brand new Boeing 737 Max 800 for Ethiopian Airlines All 157 people on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa that crashed yesterday morning have died, the airline has confirmed. The airline said in a statement… “We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in accident today.” The plane is…
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Long queues and poor arrangements greet early Thai voters in KL
PHOTO: Thai PBS A long queue of waiting voters spilled out of the Thai embassy compound in Kuala Lumpur during yesterday’s early voting. Over 4,000 Thai nationals working in Malaysia turned up at the Thai embassy in KL yesterday to cast their ballots. The actual Thai election day is on March 24 but foreign embassies provide opportunities for Thai expats to cast their vote…
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Bangkok gold shop thief gets away with jewellry valued at 3 million baht
by Kittipong Maneerit A gold shop at a Big C in Rama 4, Bangkok’s Khlong Toei district, was robbed yesterday afternoon.Police are searching for a man in his mid-30s, wearing a shaggy wig, who stole gold ornaments worth a combined 3 million baht.The thief is described by police as about 35, 170 centimetres in height, heavyset and wearing a wig…
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“Might undermine the Thai constitutional monarchy” – Charter Court
The Constitutional Court has disbanded the Thai Raksa Chart Party for nominating a member of the Royal Family as its candidate for PM in the forthcoming election. The ruling said that such a move “might undermine” the Thai constitutional monarchy system, which placed the monarchy above politics. The court ruled unanimously to dissolve the party under Article 92 of the…
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Constitutional Court dissolves Thai Raksa Chart party and bans party members
The Thai Constitutional Court has ordered the dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart Party for naming Prince Ubolratana, a member of the Royal Family, as its prime ministerial candidate. The Court claims this action undermined Thailand’s constitutional monarchy. The court has also banned all 14 members of the party’s executive board from politics for 10 years in a stunning decision that…
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Air quality for Thailand – March 7
Central Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Northern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to…
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Air quality for Thailand – March 6
Central Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Northern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Southern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants…
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Thailand to ban import of plastic waste
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is proposing to the Thai cabinet a total ban on the import of plastic waste into Thailand. The ban would start in 2020. Thai PBS reports that the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Gen Surasak Karnjanarat says, that as imports of plastic waste are to end next year, Thailand will increase recycling of…
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Thanathorn’s “unfinished 1932 mission” questioned
PHOTO: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit appears on Channel 3 “May I ask what is the 1932 unfinished mission that Thanathorn, the party leader, announced he will complete?” The Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s controversial remarks, that one of the party’s policies is to complete the ‘unfinished mission of the 1932 coup makers’, has provoked a strong reaction among Thai royalists. The…
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Future Forward deputy leader admits sharing fake news
The Future Forward party deputy leader Lt-Gen Pongsakorn Rodchompoo has told the Technology Crime Suppression Division police that he shared a fake news story about Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan. But he claims he had no way of knowing that it was fake. Thai PBS reports that Pol Lt-Gen Surachet Hakparn, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, posted in Facebook today saying…
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Same same but not very different – Election 2019
By Jintana Panyaarvudh Campaigning ahead of the March 24 election is getting a little too heated in the view of some observers. The old habit of slinging mud between rival politicians has revived prompting critics to raise concerns. “The world has evolved but Thai politicians have failed to develop or employ new, creative methods in their campaigns to attract voters,”…
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Air quality for Thailand – March 4
Central Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Northern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive…
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Chiang Mai kids are demanding action on air pollution
PHOTOS: Facebook / Pharadon Phonamnua Children and their parents in Chiang Mai are sick of the poor air quality in the northern capital and have issued a new Facebook challenge with the hashtag #CleanAirAct. The Facebook page has their photos taken with an “anti-PM2.5 dust” flags, they want action and they want it NOW. Campaign organiser Pharadon Phonamnuai, pointing out that…
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14 injured in bus crash in Prachuap Khiri Khan
PHOTO: ปูดำนิวส์ A tour bus has flipped over in the middle of the main road through Prachuap Khiri Khan last night around midnight. The accident happened at the Phetkasem Road 371 kilometer marker (distance from Bangkok). Up to 14 people have been injured in the incident, four of them seriously. The injured were rushed to hospital as rescuers helped free…
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Chinese resurgence, Russian stability feature in tourist arrivals for the start of 2019
The Chinese returned in numbers at the start of 2019 giving the Land of Smiles a spectacular start for the year with a total of 3.7 million visitors in January 2019. This was a nearly 5% rise in total tourist numbers from the same month last year. Mainland China continues to lead Thailand’s source market with just over a million arrivals…
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Saying no to ‘Say No’ campaigns – Tackling Thailand’s plastic bag problem
Some timid but long overdue steps are now being taken towards reducing Thailand’s plastic waste. Baby steps to start with but there is no doubt that the issue has now entered the Thai national psyche. In reaction, so far, Thai businesses have, for the most part, made only cursory PR efforts at tackling the bigger problem but, again, it’s a…
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Day One of burning ban – Chiang Mai still choking on poor air quality
PHOTOS: The Nation Air pollution remains above the official safety limit in and around Chiang Mai today – the first day of a 50 day ban on all burning. Next door, in Mae Hong Son, the level of PM2.5 micron airborne particulates measured 93 micrograms per cubic metre of air, nearly double the safe limit of 50mcg. Chiang Mai measures…
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Air quality for Thailand – March 1
Central Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Northern Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Southern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants…
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American man and Thai woman arrested in Chiang Mai cannabis factory raids
PHOTOS: The Nation Narcotics police in Chiang Mai have arrested a 44 year old American man and a 37 year old Thai woman in separate raids on two houses in Mae Rim district. Police alleged the houses were used as cannabis production facilities. Police allegedly found cannabis in multiple forms – dried, liquid, tablets as well as plants. Inside one…
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Future Forward leader Thanathorn spared detention, for now
The leader of a pro-democracy party, Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, and two of his colleagues were spared detention in a case involving criticism of the junta on TV last week. Dashing earlier speculation that the trio would be held in custody, the attorney-general ordered them freed for now, saying they had voluntarily turned themselves in. Bail bond was also…
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