Hot News
Stay updated with the latest Hot News in Thailand, featuring in-depth reporting and analysis of local events and goings on! We bring you breaking news, in-depth reports, and exclusive interviews covering a wide range of Thailand-focused topics, from Crime and Politics to Tourism and Business.
To keep up with the hottest news, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
-
Bangkok governor looks for Chinese cash to create smart city
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt yesterday revealed he had a working dinner with the Chinese Ambassador to discuss a number of projects beneficial to the capital, including the city’s upcoming outdoor film festival, Chinese teachers, and the development of a smart city. Developing Bangkok as a smart city comes hot on the heels of an announcement by the Eastern Economic Corridor…
-
Bike racing tourists arrested in South Pattaya
South Pattaya locals fed up with noisy bike racing tourists finally got their wish when two racers were arrested in the early hours of this morning. Last month, locals complained about the tourists on Second Pattaya Road getting in the way of other drivers. Between last night and this morning, residents near Soi Yensabai and Soi Sunee complained that bike…
-
E-ganja highly popular with Chiang Mai teens & govt officials
Vendors in the northern province of Chiang Mai have revealed that their best e-ganja customers are either wealthy teenagers or government officials. E-ganja, like an e-cigarette, is a portable electronic device that simulates smoking. But unlike e-cigarettes, the e-ganja electronic device includes cannabis oil instead of tobacco. One of the positives of using an e-ganja electronic device is that it…
-
Police shoot grenade-yielding man holding woman hostage in northeast Thailand
Police shot and injured a man who, armed with a grenade, held a woman hostage for three hours this morning in Khon Kaen province, northeast Thailand. After hours of failed negotiation, a SWAT team was called in, who shot the man in his left shoulder and saved the hostage. At 9am, officers at Muang Khon Kaen Police Station received a…
-
Police search for 3 rogue cops & soldier involved in illegal gun trade
Arrest warrants have been issued for three rogue cops and a soldier for selling illegal firearms to the criminal underworld in the southern province of Phattalung. The Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, reported a huge police investigation is still ongoing to determine the sources of firearms used by the different offenders. In the first…
-
Police fire 30 shots at suspected child rapist in central Thailand
Thai police yesterday fatally shot a man wanted under suspicion of raping a child. The police were about to arrest the man when he allegedly fired a single shot at the police. In response, police fired over 30 shots at the man’s car, instantly killing him at a petrol station in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province in central Thailand. According…
-
Boat capsizes in eastern Thailand, survivors cling to buoy for hours
A fishing boat capsized in eastern Thailand’s Trat province yesterday, forcing 7 crew members to cling to a buoy for about 10 hours. Amidst the stormy waves, a patrol boat finally came and rescued the exhausted survivors, and brought them to a nearby hospital. The boat’s skipper, Aswin, told officials that he had decided to drop anchor at the buoy,…
-
Nearly 1,000 hotels in Phuket are currently considered “illegal”
NB: The photo of this property bears no resemblance to the content of the following story. Phuket is home to 994 small hotels which are facing closure as a result of their unauthorised use on public property. The building control laws were discovered to have been broken by about 53% of the investigated properties. Environmental laws were found to be…
-
CAAT allows food and drinks to be served on domestic flights in Thailand
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has given airlines the green light to serve food and drinks again on domestic flights in Thailand. Yesterday, the CAAT announced that director Sutthiphong Kongpool signed regulations to allow passengers on domestic flights in Thailand to be served food and drinks again, under strict Covid-19 prevention measures, effective immediately. The measures include that…
-
Thailand moves into top 10 of best countries to live for expats
A new survey has seen Thailand climb into the top 10 best countries to live for expats. A survey by InterNations, in the Expat Insider 2022, revealed Thailand has climbed six places to No.8 in the top 10 countries to live for foreigners from last year’s 14th place. But it’s not all good news for the ‘farang’ community in the…
-
Wind plunges trees onto houses in Phuket
Thailand’s stormy season is raging on and causing some inconveniences to the people of Phuket. Earlier this week, strong winds plunged trees and cables onto houses in the island province’s Kamala district. Altogether, 5 different areas of the Kamala district were impacted. One tree fell into the middle of the road, and some trees brought down power poles. A large…
-
Ex British squaddie commits suicide at Pattaya shooting range
A former British Army soldier yesterday committed suicide at Pattaya Shooting Park & Adventure in the Huai Yai subdistrict, Bang Lamung district, Chon Buri province. The man, reportedly named Ian Joseph, lowered his head, pointed the gun toward his right temple, and pulled the trigger of a 9-millimetre rented gun as staff stood nearby in shock. The 36 year old…
-
Pattaya sex pest flashes woman in laundromat
A Pattaya man was feeling particularly confident at “making the first move” with a woman at a laundromat this week. So confident that he allegedly flashed his private parts at the woman, and then tried to approach her. The 37 year old woman under the pseudonym ‘Tik’ is a rescue worker and said she often has to run errands at…
-
4 day coffee festival near Bangkok starts today
Bangkok’s coffee lovers have something to look forward to for the next few days. A 4-day coffee festival starts today at Impact Exhibition Hall 5-7, located in Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok’s city centre. According to Thailand Coffee Fest’s Facebook Page, the event will be held from today until July 17 (Sunday) from 10am-8pm. The festival, titled Thailand Coffee Fest…
-
Airlines battle high operation costs, ask for government help
With tourists slowly returning to Thailand, airlines are fighting to stay afloat as they battle soaring operating costs, especially with the high price of fuel, and are calling for government assistance. The surge in passengers this month and over this 5-day weekend may not be enough to offset the coming low season after over 2 years of limited travel during…
-
Move Forward MP accused of sexually assaulting 4 teen girls
Move Forward city councillor Arnuparb Tarntong has been released on 100,000 baht bail today after reporting to the police to recognise charges of sexual assault have been made against him by four teenage girls. Police informed Arnuparb last night that two 16 year olds and two 18 year olds had accused him of inappropriate behaviour and had to appear at…
-
State of emergency declared in Sri Lanka as president flees country
A state of emergency was declared in Sri Lanka as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled for his life on a military jet amid mass protests over the nation’s economic crisis. The 73-year-old president left the country on a jet heading for Maldives with his wife and two security officers. He plans to travel to a third country, yet unnamed, the Sri…
-
Bhumjaithai didn’t push cannabis legalisation for recreational use
The Bhumjaithai Party who pushed for the decriminalisation of cannabis now says they are shocked to find people are using the drug recreationally. In a Facebook post yesterday MP Suphachai Jaismut said that his party had campaigned for the legalisation of marijuana strictly for medicinal purposes. The Bhumjaithai never intended the use of cannabis for anything more than improving the…
-
Ex Democrat MP probed for part in alleged 30 million baht graft
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) yesterday reported former Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party, Witoon Nambutr, could face prosecution for allegedly demanding 30 million baht in backhanders related to a state utility construction project in 2013 and 2014. Department secretary-general Niwatchai Kasemmongkol revealed the commission found grounds for the allegations against Witoon, a former Democrat MP for Ubon Ratchathani, when…
-
Where to see tonight’s ‘supermoon’ in Thailand, even in the rain
Today marks the world’s biggest celestial event of the year, with the full moon orbiting at its closest point near the Earth, creating a “supermoon” or “buck moon.” Once the sun goes down tonight in Thailand, the sky will reveal the biggest, brightest moon of the year that can be seen by the naked eye… provided that it isn’t cloudy…
-
Chuwit all but names Bangkok ‘drug pub’ and illegal soapy massage joint
“It’s full of young people partying, owned by a Chinese man who operates without a care in the world thanks to connections in the Land of Smiles.” That’s the description of former Thai politician and soapy massage king Chuwit Kamolwisit as he waxed lyrical about a fully operational soapy massage and ‘drug pub’ joint in central Bangkok that he claims…
-
Ferry routes resume operation in Surat Thani after storms
After all boats in Surat Thani were cancelled on Monday due to storms, with partial service resuming yesterday, Ferry routes are in full service today – though scrambling and late. In addition to the ferries that had been running before the fierce and windy storms shut everything down, Seatran Ferry has relaunched its service to Koh Phangan from the mainland…
-
Thailand gets into gear with 234 billion baht road investment
The Ministry of Transport got into gear yesterday and agreed to invest in five road construction projects worth about 234 billion baht to make life easier for Thailand’s car owners. The Ministry of Transport signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Highways (DH), Department of Rural Roads (DRR), and Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat), to oversee the first…
-
Floods in Buriram, northeast Thailand
Two days of continuous heavy rainfall has caused “the worst floods in 10 years” in parts of Buriram province, northeast Thailand. Heavy rainfall during the early hours of yesterday morning caused flash flooding in Ban Dan district while most people were sleeping. Around 30 houses and restaurants, as well as village roads and agricultural land, have been damaged in the…
-
Taxi driver punches woman after she requests him to go faster
A Bangkok taxi driver is wanted for assault after he punched a female passenger in the face after she asked him to speed up a little bit. The Facebook page, อยากดังเดี๋ยวจัดให้ รีเทริน์, Let Me Know If You Want to Be Famous Return Part 3, posted a video of the male taxi driver attacking his female passenger who recorded the incident.…
-
SOS & Allianz Ayudhya hungry to feed Thailand
Scholars of Sustenance joined hands with Allianz Ayudhya to launch Thailand’s first Cloud Food Bank in a bid to redistribute over 600 tons of surplus food by the end of the year. Bangkok-based SOS is an international food rescue foundation committed to feeding people suffering from starvation while Allianz Ayudhya is a leading Thai insurance company with a conscience. Globally,…
-
Police raid 14 scam call centres in Pattaya, resulting in one arrest
Cyber police and officers from Thai mobile phone operator AIS yesterday raided 14 rental accommodations used to operate call centre scams in Pattaya and made one arrest. Officers investigated 16 venues in total but only 14 were being used for criminal activity, in the Bang Lamueng district of Pattaya, where AIS detected a signal the call centre scam gang used…
-
Dead sea turtle with plastic lodged in its throat washes up on Phuket beach
A dead sea turtle with plastic lodged in its mouth and throat washed up on Mai Khao Beach in Phuket yesterday, July 11. Winai Seh-ew, the village chief of Mai Khao subdistrict in Thalang district, received a call from lifeguards at Mai Khao beach to say a big Hawksbill turtle carcass had washed up on the shore. Upon inspection, the…
-
Mother arrested after forcing 9 year old daughter into prostitution
A mother was arrested yesterday for forcing her 9 year old daughter into prostitution. The 26 year old woman, Chantra, was arrested after she posted sexy pictures of herself on Facebook, adding she had a child sex video and underage sex photos for sale. The post soon went viral on social media resulting in members of the public contacting police.…
-
Uber: leaked documents show unethical, possibly illegal tactics
Uber has long been known for their very aggressive growth into the ride-sharing market around the world but leaked private documents now show that many of its tactics were morally questionable and potentially illegal. The leak has been called The Uber Files and has been analyzed by dozens of news organizations to exubertract information from the 124,000 records that were…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.