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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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    What do you need before moving from the US to Thailand?

    The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...

  • Cool weather in central and northern Thailand, strong wind, waves in the south | Thaiger

    Cool weather in central and northern Thailand, strong wind, waves in the south

    Temperatures are dropping throughout the North, Northeast and Central regions. Frost is even on some mountaintops. The Thailand Meteorological Department says the cool weather is due to the high-pressure system from China covering the upper part of Thailand. Bangkok today reports a temperature drop with a low of 16-18 degrees Celsius, while the Central region is expected to have cool…

  • New illicit drug cocktail on Bangkok’s streets | VIDEO | Thaiger

    New illicit drug cocktail on Bangkok’s streets | VIDEO

    Watch the video here… WARNING: This article contains content related to drugs and drug use. A cocktail of narcotics known to police as “K powdered milk” or “K Nompong’ in Thai, is suspected to be linked to a number of deaths among young Thais in Bangkok. The “K powdered milk” is a mixture of ketamine, heroin, methamphetamine and a sleeping…

  • Cannabis café: Prachin Buri hospital opens “Taste of Ganja” restaurant | Thaiger

    Cannabis café: Prachin Buri hospital opens “Taste of Ganja” restaurant

    Cannabis is now on the menu at a Thailand hospital restaurant, but don’t expect to get high from the meals seasoned with cannabis leaves. Only parts of the plant that contain very, very low traces of the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, are legal for consumption. The THC-rich, euphoria-inducing buds are still illegal and classified as a Category 5 narcotic.…

  • National police investigate narcotic drug cocktail suspected of causing 6 deaths in Bangkok | Thaiger

    National police investigate narcotic drug cocktail suspected of causing 6 deaths in Bangkok

    The national police are investigating what they say is a new illicit drug cocktail suspected of being linked to 6 deaths in Bangkok on Sunday. While autopsy results declaring the cause of death have not been released yet, police say 6 people in Bangkok died on the same day apparently after consuming the drug mixture “K powdered milk.” National police…

  • Phuket is hit with a triple Covid crisis | VIDEO | Thaiger

    Phuket is hit with a triple Covid crisis | VIDEO

    Phuket has had a triple hit over the past 12 months. Firstly with the original Covid-19 outbreak and lockdowns back in April and May in 2020, then again just before Christmas and New Year when the new clusters emerged in Samut Sakhon and the eastern coastal provinces, further dampening even local traveller traffic to the island, then some further restrictions…

  • Police raid 5 homes and businesses suspected of gambling, arrest 21 people | Thaiger

    Police raid 5 homes and businesses suspected of gambling, arrest 21 people

    Police arrested 21 people on gambling charges after 5 raids in Bangkok over the weekend. While deputy chief of the Central Investigation Bureau, Jiraphop Phuridet, says the raids on January 8 and 9 are part of a nationwide crackdown initiated by the national police chief after a Covid-19 outbreak at a Rayong gambling den, the raids busted what seems like…

  • At least 6 deaths in Bangkok suspected to be caused by new illicit drug cocktail | Thaiger

    At least 6 deaths in Bangkok suspected to be caused by new illicit drug cocktail

    A cocktail of narcotics known as “K powdered milk” is suspected to be linked to a number of deaths among young Thais in Bangkok. Nation Thailand says the narcotic mix is suspected to have caused 6 deaths and others were found unconscious after taking the “K powdered milk.” Thai PBS reports that 7 young Thais have died from unexplained reasons…

  • Dead whale found washed up on Koh Samui beach | Thaiger

    Dead whale found washed up on Koh Samui beach

    A dead Bryde’s whale was found washed up on Koh Samui’s Choeng Mon beach yesterday. By the look of the rotting carcass, said to be around 11 metres long, marine resource specialist Thon Thamrongnawasawat says he believes the whale died several days ago. The cause of death is currently under investigation by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Thon said…

  • Former Thammasat professor blames partnership between officials and leaders for 2nd wave | Thaiger

    Former Thammasat professor blames partnership between officials and leaders for 2nd wave

    A former Thammasat University lecturer is claiming that the current surge in new infections of Covid-19 in Thailand is a result of the so-called “Covid mafia” which he defines as corrupt officials working closely with local influential figures to carry out illegal activities. Kaewsan Atipothi claimed that these alleged co-operative actions between leaders has enabled illegal gambling and human trafficking gangs,…

  • Pattaya motorbike taxi commended after returning wallet to foreigner | Thaiger

    Pattaya motorbike taxi commended after returning wallet to foreigner

    A Pattaya motorbike taxi driver is being commended online after finding and returning a lost wallet to a foreigner. The woman, 43 year old Kelaya Supaphol, was dropping off a customer by the McDonald’s on Pattaya’s Second Road when she says she saw the wallet on the ground. She picked up the wallet and checked inside, with another motorbike taxi…

  • Domestic air travel drops 60 percent at start of 2021 | Thaiger

    Domestic air travel drops 60 percent at start of 2021

    Thailand’s domestic air travel is seeing a 60% drop in the early weeks of the new year, thanks to the recent Covid-19 outbreaks around the country. The Department of Airports drew the figure from 20 airports under its supervison nationwide, according to Apirat Chaiwongnoi, the acting Director-General of the department. Such domestic passengers at those airports also dropped in numbers…

  • 16 foreigners, 5 Thais arrested in Pattaya for illegal gambling | Thaiger

    16 foreigners, 5 Thais arrested in Pattaya for illegal gambling

    Pattaya police have arrested 16 foreigners and 5 Thais for illegal gambling in a Pattaya condo. They raided the Espana Condominium & Resort at 1am yesterday morning, arresting the lawbreakers, after receiving a tip that an illegal gambling casino was being hosted at the condo. Officials found 21 people gambling inside rooms 517 and 518 located on the 5th floor.…

  • Mor Chana app – what you need to know | Thaiger

    Mor Chana app – what you need to know

    So what’s going on with the new Mor Chana app? As far as the Thai Government is concerned, it’s part of their fight to track and trace the Covid-19 virus during this current outbreak. More Chana is a contact tracing tool. In essence, the app will allow you to check in when you go to different locations around Thailand, enter…

  • Man arrested for allegedly stabbing a woman to death at Pattaya Beach | Thaiger

    Man arrested for allegedly stabbing a woman to death at Pattaya Beach

    A man was arrested for allegedly stabbing a woman to death on Pattaya Beach. More than a dozen people at the beach yesterday morning saw a man stab a woman multiple times with a pocket knife, according to Pattaya City Police. Witnesses told police the man and woman had a verbal argument before the altercation became physical. The witnesses gave…

  • Leaders of German Embassy rally meet with police, prosecutors | Thaiger

    Leaders of German Embassy rally meet with police, prosecutors

    13 political activists who led thousands of protesters to the German Embassy in Bangkok last October have met with police and prosecutors in the capital. They face charges of violating section 112 of the Criminal Code for the October 26 rally at the embassy. The aim of the gathering was to submit a petition calling on the German government to…

  • Thai Air Asia says new Covid outbreak has destroyed business | Thaiger

    Thai Air Asia says new Covid outbreak has destroyed business

    The executive chairman of Asia Aviation, the largest shareholder in Thai Air Asia, says the Covid-19 resurgence has “destroyed the low-cost carrier”. Tassapon Bijleveld says that, even without a national lockdown, bookings have plummeted. “Travel sentiment has plunged lower than last year. This is different this time because people are voluntarily skipping their travel plans even without a nationwide lockdown…

  • Men arrested for dumping dead body on the side of a Bangkok road | Thaiger

    Men arrested for dumping dead body on the side of a Bangkok road

    Bangkok police arrested 2 men who allegedly dumped a dead man’s body on the side of the road in the Nong Khaem district. The suspects allegedly told police that they had invited 33 year old Chalit Nensap to a party, but he then overdosed on methamphetamine and died. To avoid potential drug charges from police, the men decided to get…

  • Struggling massage parlours petition government for financial assistance | Thaiger

    Struggling massage parlours petition government for financial assistance

    Representatives of Thailand’s spa and massage parlour industry are pleading with the government to provide some form of tailored financial aid to offset the impact of Covid-19. Yesterday, the Charawi Association for the Conservation of Thai Massage submitted a letter to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, who also chairs the government’s Covid-19 task force. In it, they call on his administration to…

  • Protesters call rally in Bangkok to support activists charged over German Embassy petition | Thaiger

    Protesters call rally in Bangkok to support activists charged over German Embassy petition

    Pro-democracy activists have called a protest at Thung Mahamek police station in Bangkok, in a show of solidarity with 13 protesters arrested for delivering a petition to the German Embassy. Last October, members of the pro-democracy Ratsadon group led a march of thousands of people to the German Embassy on Sathorn Road. The protesters’ plan was to submit a petition…

  • Media censorship during the Covid era | VIDEO | Thaiger

    Media censorship during the Covid era | VIDEO

    Censorship of opinions and comments has become increasingly challenging for publishers and platforms in the time of Covid-19. No other world health emergency has attracted such enormous coverage, facts, misinformation and outright nonsense. And the concurrent rise and rise of social media as an information source has helped the spread of important public health information but also the inaccurate, and…

  • U-Tapao airport halts commercial flights due to Covid-19 outbreak | Thaiger

    U-Tapao airport halts commercial flights due to Covid-19 outbreak

    Commercial flights in and out of U-Tapao International Airport are suspended for the rest of the month due to the Covid-19 outbreak in Rayong and Chon Buri, which are classified as “red zone” provinces under maximum control. The domestic flights, which include flights to the popular destinations Phuket and Chiang Mai, could be suspended longer if the coronavirus situation in…

  • Construction of new Bangkok rail links set for completion this year | Thaiger

    Construction of new Bangkok rail links set for completion this year

    Bangkok residents will see construction of a number of rail projects finally completed this year, with hopes this will do something to alleviate traffic problems in the capital, as well as improving air quality. The Bangkok Post reports on 4 electric rail routes it’s hoped will be up and running later this year. The Pink Line This 34.5 kilometre track…

  • PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to form committee to investigate illegal gambling | Thaiger

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to form committee to investigate illegal gambling

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the Thai government to form an investigation committee to crackdown on illegal gambling in response to the outbreak at a Rayong gambling venue. The spike in cases linked to illegal activity has caused problems for health officials who have been trying to track down elusive gamblers to contain the spread of the virus. The prime…

  • No travel ban on British arrivals, quarantine facilities tighten rules | Thaiger

    No travel ban on British arrivals, quarantine facilities tighten rules

    While there’s no ban on travellers from the United Kingdom, quarantine facilities are tightening disease control measures for British arrivals after a new, faster-spreading Covid-19 variant was reported in the European country. British arrivals must now stay in their room for the majority of the stay under new measures set by the Department of Disease Control. The department ordered ASQ…

  • Thai PM pledges financial assistance for workers affected by Covid-19 restrictions | Thaiger

    Thai PM pledges financial assistance for workers affected by Covid-19 restrictions

    “We’ll find the money.” This is the promise from PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, who’s instructing the Ministry of Finance and other relevant agencies to come up with measures to help workers who have been affected by the Covid-19 resurgence. The PM has pledged economic assistance for those who have lost their jobs, are currently being furloughed, or whose businesses have had…

  • Thai officials crackdown on “lèse majesté” social media pages and posts | Thaiger

    Thai officials crackdown on “lèse majesté” social media pages and posts

    In a crackdown on social media posts critical of the Thai Monarchy, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society says they plan to pursue legal action against Facebook and Twitter for failing to remove content that violates the country’s draconian lèse majesté law. Social media users who make insulting posts about the Thai Monarchy can also be charged. So far, the…

  • 392 killed in road accidents during New Year holiday’s “7 Dangerous Days” | Thaiger

    392 killed in road accidents during New Year holiday’s “7 Dangerous Days”

    Nearly 400 people were killed in road accidents in Thailand over the New Year holiday week known as the “7 Dangerous Days.” Motorcycles were involved in the vast majority of accidents while speeding and drink-driving were the most common causes of accidents. From December 29 up until yesterday, 392 people died in accidents, a 5% increase from last year’s toll…

  • YouTube blocks music video with pro-democracy protest footage after legal complaint | Thaiger

    YouTube blocks music video with pro-democracy protest footage after legal complaint

    A music video by a pro-democracy movement band was blocked on YouTube in Thailand due to a legal complaint from the government, according to the message posted on the video’s page. The band Rap Against Dictatorship, also known as RAD, made a post on their Facebook fan page saying that the music video for their song “Reform” was blocked on…

  • NE Monsoon in South – warnings of heavy rain and flash floods | Thaiger

    NE Monsoon in South – warnings of heavy rain and flash floods

    South of Thailand is expected to face the northeast monsoon that is expected to bring in heavy rain that may cause flash floods. With the prevailing monsoon in the upper and the lower part of the Gulf of Thailand, some southern provinces, including Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat are likely to be affected by strong winds and waves that…

  • Thai VietJet offers passengers change of flights during Covid outbreak | Thaiger

    Thai VietJet offers passengers change of flights during Covid outbreak

    Thai VietJet, along with all the other Thai domestic airlines, is being impacted by a drop in traffic during the current list of restrictions during the latest Covid-19 outbreak in Thailand. According to Thai Residents, “for passengers who booked tickets and made payments before January 1, 2021 with travel date between January 5 – 3, 2021, can change their travel…