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 Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Police arrest key suspect in Nakhon Nayok murders
Standing shirtless in the sun on the roadside, a local man in Nakhom Nayok had a rude awakening this morning when police arrested him as a key suspect in the murder of two men and the wounding of another earlier this month. The man was arrested this morning when around 300 local and provincial officers searched the Bang Somboon area…
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Star Petroleum vows to seal underwater pipeline and “clean up” oil slicks in Rayong
Star Petroleum Refining, the petrochemical company behind 3 separate oil leaks about 20 kilometres off the Rayong coastline, has now been approved by Map Ta Phut Provincial police and Marine Department to seal leaks in their underwater pipeline. The company says that works have begun today, starting with clearing the most recent oil leak of around 12,000 spare metres that…
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PM Prayut insists former police investigator into human trafficking in Thailand can return from exile
Following the human trafficking of Rohingya people at the border of Thailand and Malaysia reported yesterday, PM Prayut declared that Thailand “was serious about human trafficking”, and the situation was “improving”. He also said that the former Thai policeman in exile in Australia, who shared the story about the case back in 2015, left the country “by himself “and insisted…
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Prosecutors decide today if officer who fatally struck pedestrian will stand trial
Prosecutors will today decide whether to indict a police officer who fatally struck a pedestrian while riding a Ducati motorbike at speed. Norawich Buadokw was off duty and riding the un-licenced superbike when he hit Bangkok ophthalmologist Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul on a pedestrian crossing. The incident happened on Phaya Thai Road in the Ratchathewi district of the capital on January…
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Saudi Arabia will have flights to Thailand available starting February 28
After Thailand and Saudi Arabia patched things up last month after decades of cold relations, flights from Saudi Arabia to Thailand will be available starting on February 28. Thai International Airways also plans to have direct flights between Bangkok and Riyadh in May. Thai tourism authorities have set a lofty goal of 20 billion baht from an expected 200,000 Saudi…
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Thai tourism industry demands Covid restrictions to be lifted, PM urges caution
The Thai Prayut Chan-o-cha is calling on all 77 provincial governments to do everything they can to reduce the spread of the latest Covid surge in Thailand. There has been more than 18,000 new infections over the past 2 days. Today, Thailand logged 18,953 official new cases with numerous additional un-official cases which have been registered from ATK tests. So…
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Thailand will purchase stealth jets if United States okays
Thailand will purchase Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth jets if the United States approves it. In January, Thailand set aside US$413 million for four jets, but one Thai air marshal said Thailand wants to buy as many as eight. A US State Department spokesperson said the department doesn’t confirm or comment on proposed transfers or sales until congress has been formally…
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Is the new Boeing 737 Max safe to fly? New Netflix documentary argues the case against Boeing
A new Netflix documentary, directed by Rory Kennedy, is a withering and forensic critique of the Boeing company and their complicit cover up of problems with their new Boeing 737 Max aircraft. “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” lacks overt drama or re-enactments of screaming passengers, but it catalogues a two decade-long decent from a company paranoid about safety to a…
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Thai officials talk of replacing second PCR test for Test & Go entry with ATK
Day 5 requirements of Thailand’s Test & Go entry scheme has been discouraging some potential tourists from travelling to Thailand. Not only is a second RT-PCT test needed on the fifth day of their stay (the first test on arrival), but travellers are required to book a night at a hotel approved by the Safety and Health Administration while the…
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7 arrested for alleged sex with underage girls, police looking for more suspects
Seven people were arrested for allegedly having sex with underage girls in the southern province of Surat Thani. A 14 year old girl also faces human trafficking charges for allegedly enticing other teen girls into prostitution. With one of the suspects being the son of a politician, Police Lieutenant General Surachate Hakparn, known as “Big Joke,” says all suspects will…
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Launch of Bangkok’s two new electric rail lines delayed
Due to construction material complications, the debut of Bangkok’s two new electric rail lines, the Yellow and Pink lines, scheduled for later this year, is likely to be pushed back until no later than next year, according to Bangkok Mass Transit System. The delay will give contractors extra time to deal with obstacles and hurdles in importing construction materials from…
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Expats want to leave Hong Kong- but that’s an expensive thing to do
After two years of Covid-19 restrictions and political crackdowns in Hong Kong, expats there want to leave. But doing that costs a lot of money in shipping, and pet relocations. It’s not just finances that keep Hong Kong Expats from moving. People who move often have to wait months after shipping their belongings to actually receive them. Hong Kong has…
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UK pedicab driver adopts tuk tuk tactics, forced to return lassies’ swindled quid
A pedicab driver in London who swindled two female passengers out of 180 pounds has been forced to return the money, after the Westminster City Council requested a crackdown on the city’s bicycle rickshaw “nuisance.” The driver originally charged 18 pounds for a 3 minutes trip, but then increased the price by a factor of 10 at the last minute,…
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Move Forward MP accuses government of hiding spread of African Swine Fever
A Move Forward MP accused the government of covering up the spread of African Swine Fever in a parliamentary debate yesterday. The MP, Padipat Suntiphada, said ASF spread across the country in 2020 as a direct result of the government covering it up when it first hit in 2019. When the disease was first discovered, 300,000 pigs died either from…
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Tourism operators submit letter to PM calling for all entry restrictions to be lifted
A number of groups representing tourism operators in the south and east of the country, as well as the Thai Hotels Association, are calling for all entry restrictions to be lifted from next month. The Bangkok Post reports that the groups have written an open letter to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and other government officials, calling for the country to be…
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Thailand’s hotel operators call for PCR testing on arrival to be dropped
The Thai Hotels Association says the government must drop the PCR testing requirement for foreign visitors if there’s going to be any hope of salvaging the country’s tourism industry. THA president Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi says demand for the revamped Test & Go scheme is lower now than when it was first launched in November, due to high season coming to…
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Another leak found in underwater oil pipeline off the Rayong coast
Another oil leak in the pipeline off the coast of Rayong has been reported by the Star Petroleum Refining Public Company, which has sent a letter to the Map Ta Phut Provincial Police Station asking permission to repair the pipe and prevent further environmental damage. Since late January, oil leaking from the pipes have polluted Rayong’s Mae Ramphueng Beach, with…
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Teenager allegedly strangles grandmother to death in Isaan
A teenager in Thailand’s Isaan region, with the help of her boyfriend, allegedly strangled her 62 year old grandmother to death and then dumped the body in a garbage bin, leaving it in a forest by a roadside in another province. Reports in Thai media say the suspects admitted to killing the grandmother because they want to steal 100,000 baht…
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How internet-addicted are Thais? A new report finds out.
You guessed right, Thais are more internet-addicted than the average person around the world. A report by an analyst group called DataReportal found that in 2021, Thais spent an average of nine hours and six minutes a day on the internet. The global average was almost seven hours per day. Out of that time, an average of five hours and…
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PM Prayut orders Thailand Pass to be improved, says tourists are essential
After some glitches with the Thailand Pass, which is required to enter the country, the system is being improved to make it more convenient for those travelling to Thailand. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered government agencies to quickly fix the system to ensure there are no delays with the approval process, adding that foreign tourism is essential for reviving Thailand’s economy,…
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It’s official: Vietnam will reopen to tourists on March 15
In a move made three months earlier than planned, Vietnam will completely reopen to tourists starting March 15. Visitors to the country will still have to quarantine for 24 hours, and test negative for Covid-19 before departure and upon arrival. The Vietnamese government said in a statement that the reopening is part of its new response to controlling Covid-19, which…
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Despite Covid-19, tourism authorities still optimistic about this coming year
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is keeping its chin up, and has high hopes for tourism income this year. The TAT governor told the Bangkok Post today he hopes to target wealthy travellers, skilled professionals, and remote workers. The target age groups include millenials and retirees alike. He says the goal for tourism this year is to earn the country…
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3 men arrested after allegedly selling tiger, leopard skins to undercover police
Three men were arrested yesterday after they were allegedly caught selling clouded leopard and tiger hides to an undercover officer. Along with three live leopard kittens, tiger and leopard hides valued at two million baht were seized by national park officers and police at a resort in Kanchanaburi, which borders Myanmar. Officers had received a tip that illegal wildlife traders…
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Thailand’s crazy cannabis laws explained
Thailand’s recent changes to the laws around cannabis have sparked confusion across the country, with many questioning, “Is weed legal now?” Well.. not the weed that will cause a high. There’s a limit on the plant’s psychoactive component, known as THC, so you won’t get stoned when you order a cannabis-infused tea or dish topped with a pot leaf. Those…
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Interpol Red Notices issued for 2 Canadians wanted for Phuket hit job
Interpol has issued Red Notices for both suspects wanted in the targeted killing of an Indian national in Phuket. Alleged gang member Jimi “Slice” Sandhu was gunned down in the car park of his villa near Rawai beach on the evening of February 4. Police are searching for 2 ex-servicemen from Canada in relation to the killing, believed to be…
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Makha Bucha Day 2022: All about the public holiday in Thailand
For Thai Buddhists, Makha Bucha, also written Māgha Pūjā, is a day of abstinence, reflection and visits to the local temple, which culminate in picturesque candle-lit ceremonies in the evening. For those who don’t follow the Buddhist traditions, it’s a day of no alcohol sales. In fact, there is always a 24 hour alcohol ban imposed on the day, from…
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Six police officers investigated for allegedly demanding bribes, not reporting drug seizure
Six Thai police officers were transferred from their positions and now face disciplinary action after they allegedly demanded a bribe and for not reporting their drug seizure with the department. The officers in the Isaan province Nakhon Phanom allegedly demanded a bribe from a man running a delivery service for the release of two of his employees who had been…
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Travel Guide: Top places to retire in Asia 2022
Retiring in Asia is a dream for many, with fond memories of short or longer travel to some of the humid and exotic countries in the region. All that exquisite cuisine, diverse sceneries, fascinating histories, intriguing temples, tropical adventures, colourful nightlife, and markets and malls for shopping. Lots of shopping. So it’s easy to become enamoured with all things “Asia.”…
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Domestic travel demand weakened by rising Covid infections, high prices
A spike in daily new infections, coupled with high prices for goods and services, has stymied the recovery of domestic tourism. La-Iad Bungsrithong from the northern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association says this is despite government schemes such as We Travel Together and other incentives designed to attract visitors, such as local events. “Bookings from the fourth phase of…
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Koh Phi Phi officials say keep sea clean after pregnant shark trapped in hat dies
The head of Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park is advising people to keep the Andaman Sea clean after divers found a pregnant blacktip reef shark dead, her body stuck in what appears to be part of a woven straw hat that had unravelled and gotten tied up in coral. In a video from the divers, the brim and top…
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