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.
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Sponsored Top 10 reasons for expats to get a comprehensive health insurance in Thailand
Moving to Thailand offers plenty of excitement and adventure, but the local healthcare system can be complex to navigate as an expat. From unique health risks to high costs at private hospitals, having a comprehensive health insurance plan is essential....
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Save power – government will pay half to clean your aircon
To help people struggling with the rising costs of electricity, the Thai government has offered to cover half the cost of having your aircon cleaned. A dirty air conditioner with a clogged filter can be unhealthy, and can significantly increase your aircon bill, so the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is repeating its previous “Clean Your Air for the…
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China requests a five-time increase in flights to Thailand
A rise in Chinese tourism to Thailand may be on the horizon shortly as the Civil Aviation Administration of China has requested quintupling the number of flights between the two countries. There are currently three flights a week between Thailand and China but the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand announced that they received a letter from the CAAC asking to…
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China’s new battery charges EV revolution in Thailand
Great news for Thailand’s commuters as they get on board with the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. A new battery has been developed to ensure travelers can get to their destination faster and uninterrupted. Chinese car manufacturer Great Wall Motor (GWM) has developed a new 20Ah sulfur-based solid-state prototype battery that could expand the range of electric vehicles to 1,000km per…
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Election Commission discussing prime minister term limit today
With what many believe to be the end of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s eight-year term limit just three days away, the Election Commission will discuss today the legal debate over if he can remain in the prime minister seat in any capacity beyond August 24. That date marks eight years since PM Prayut took office, and the current constitution allows a…
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Policewoman blames mental illness for torturing her maid
A policewoman facing accusations of torturing a female soldier who worked as her maid, turned herself in yesterday, claiming she has mental health issues. The twisted tale involved a 43 year old policewoman with the Special Branch Bureau claiming to be a senator’s wife and manipulating a 30 year old woman to work in indentured servitude for several years. The…
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100 masseuses in Phuket complain of 150 baht massage shop
Local massage shops in Phuket are complaining that another massage shop allegedly owned by a foreigner is offering unfair and possibly illegal half-price services. A coalition of about 100 masseuses banded together to file an official complaint, gathering at Phuket Provincial City Hall to ask for action from authorities on the matter. Karon Traditional Thai Massage Community Enterprise Group led…
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Heavy rain expected for next few days in 40 Thai provinces
If you live in Thailand and you’re not already packing an umbrella with you every time you leave the house, now might be a good time to start. The country’s meteorological department said today that it expects heavy to very heavy rain to pour down on 40 of Thailand’s provinces until Monday (August 22). The rains will likely hit these…
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Baldwin deflects blame, expects no charges over gun accident
In a rare interview regarding the tragic gun accident on the set of his film “Rust” which left the cinematographer dead, Alec Baldwin deflected blame and said he didn’t believe anyone would be criminally charged over the incident. The accident happened when a prop gun that Baldwin was to fire toward the camera somehow was loaded with live ammunition which…
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Thailand’s CCSA talk tourist stats, visas on arrival & home isolation
Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Administration Situation (CCSA) met with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha today, August 19, to talk about coronavirus-related topics and foreign arrivals. The CCSA said Thailand is transiting into the “post-pandemic stage.” The CCSA said Thailand’s Covid situation is improving and its classification is changing from a “serious communicable disease” to a “communicable disease under surveillance.” Home Isolation…
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Alleged kidnapper arrested, girl reunited with parents after months
A man who allegedly kidnapped a young girl in Phuket in February was arrested in South Thailand on Tuesday. The victim, a 13 year old girl, has been reunited with her parents. The suspect, 33 year old Somsak, allegedly kidnapped the girl on Rawai Beach in the main city district of Phuket, where she had been selling flowers. The girl’s…
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New govt bill on cannabis hopes to clear blurred lines in Thailand
A new government bill on cannabis and hemp use revealed that people will be allowed to grow no more than 15 cannabis plants for household use while selling and advertising cannabis and cannabis-based products online and in vending machines will be prohibited. The House committee spokesperson scrutinising the latest cannabis and hemp bill yesterday announced the amendment will go before…
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Famous Thai actress “Pinky” jailed for Forex-3D scam, denied bail
Famous Thai actress Savika “Pinky” Chaiyadej, her mother Sarinya Chaiyadej, and her elder brother Surayuth Chaiydej were among 19 people arrested yesterday for allegedly defrauding people of money via a “Forex-3D scam.” Thailand’s Criminal Court denied Pinky and her relatives’ bail requests, fearing the defendants would flee if they were granted temporary release. Pinky, Sarinya, and Sarayuth are accused of…
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Sri Lanka’s exiled president to head home after Thailand stay
Sri Lanka’s exiled president is planning to finally head home next week after staying in Thailand. The ousted leader, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has been on quite a journey ever since 100,000 angry protesters forced him to flee Sri Lanka on July 14. He first travelled to the Maldives and then to Singapore, where he was granted a temporary residence but without…
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‘Win’ motorbike taxi drivers protest against GrabBike in Bangkok, Thailand
In Bangkok, “Win” motorbike taxi drivers in orange jackets have monopolised the streets for years, whipping customers from place to place in record time, until the arrival of the Grab. Today at 12.30pm, more than 150 Win drivers honked their horns outside the Ministry of Transport in Bangkok to demand the removal of Grab’s GrabBike feature, which they say is…
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2 fake monks make up to 40k baht per day scamming villagers in northern Thailand
Police arrested two men dressed up in orange robes at a market in Tak province, northern Thailand, yesterday morning. The “monks” were walking around the market asking for donations from merchants and customers. Locals said the pair have been at it for years. At 9am, officers from Wang Chao Police Station received a call that “monks” were walking around a…
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Man stabs wife’s secret lover to death in rice paddy in central Thailand
A man stabbed his wife’s suspected secret lover to death in a rice field last night in In Buri district in the central province of Sing Buri. Police are still tracking down the assailant, who fled the scene on a motorbike. At 9.55pm, officers from In Buri Police Station went to investigate after they received a report that two men…
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2 men on a motorcycle rob a gas station in Chon Buri
Police are on the lookout for two opportunist thieves who robbed a gas station in Chon Buri yesterday. The two men arrived at the PTT gas station. No. 114/22, Village No. 2, Nong Samsak Sub-district, in the Ban Bueng subdistrict on a motorbike wearing full-face helmets and robbed about 6,000 baht in cash before fleeing the scene. Pol. Lt. Col. Ekachai Pakwat,…
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Thai govt open to cannabis recreation, not pot-smoking tourists
Thailand’s Public Health Minister made contradictory statements yesterday regarding the recreational use of cannabis. In one statement Anutin Charnvirakul said he was open to the further liberalisation of the drug and in another, he said pot-smoking tourists are not welcome in Thailand. “We don’t welcome those kinds of tourists,” said The 55 year old Bhumjaithai Party leader at a “Meet…
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Mystery 911 emergency service call turns out to be a monkey
American police officers responded to a 911 (emergency) call in a remote area three and a half hours north of Los Angeles only to find an unlikely caller – a monkey in a zoo. The incident took place at Zoo to You, a wildlife conservation park in the quaint town of Paso Robles, California, known for its wineries and military…
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Instant noodles, a staple budget food, fighting to increase prices
There is perhaps no symbol more synonymous with living on a tight budget than dining cheap with a cup of ramen instant noodles. So it’s an extra kick for those struggling during this time of hyperinflation in Thailand and around the world that instant noodles manufacturers have requested expedited permission to raise prices on their products. The Internal Trade Department…
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Thailand Transport Ministry seeks foreign loans for new bridges
The Thai Transport Ministry revealed it is seeking foreign loans to build two new bridges in the southern provinces of Pattalung, and Krabi. The Rural Road Department, under the Transport Ministry, reported yesterday that they met with the Public Debt Management Office, and the World Bank, about the budget for two huge bridge projects in the south of Thailand. The…
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Motorcycle rider killed in multi-vehicle pile-up near Bangkok
A motorcycle rider died yesterday in a multi-vehicle pile-up in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok. Four vehicles were involved in the accident, including two motorbikes, two public buses, and a sedan car. The accident happened because a motorbike suddenly broke to allow an elderly person to cross the road, beneath a pedestrian overpass on Pibulsomgklam Road in the Mueng district of…
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Hong Kong man goes to Thailand to meet ‘lover,’ gets trafficked to Myanmar
A man from Hong Kong travelled to Thailand in July to meet his “lover” who he met online three years ago. Upon arriving in Bangkok, he was captured by a human trafficking gang and taken to Myanmar, where he was detained, abused, and forced to work as a fraudster for one month. After his family paid a ransom, 28 year…
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Electricity prices soar 18% to 4.72 baht per unit next month
Electricity prices are already at a record high rate of 4 baht per unit, topping an eight-year old record, and have now been approved to surge another 18%. When global oil prices rocketed up to US$110 per barrel in 2014, Thai energy prices hit 3.96 baht per unit. Coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for all forms of…
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Nearly 1,000 locals protest over fatal road in central Thailand
About 1,000 residents gathered on the Pluak Daeng-Bor Win Road in the central province of Rayong to protest against a five-year unfinished road project that has been the scene of ten fatal accidents. Last Sunday, a local representative, Chairat Ngentuam, invited residents affected by the incomplete Pluak Daeng-Bor Win Road to protest in the project area. Residents turned out in…
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UPDATE: Foreigner faces prison for parrotfishing in Thailand
UPDATE: The foreign parrotfishes have been caught and detained by police in Phuket, southern Thailand, and faces legal action. Thailand’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Warawut Silpa-archa made the following statement this morning… “Yesterday, August 15, at 3.30pm, Roslan Benedia of Dutch nationality was detained and questioned at a police station in Phuket over a video he posted on…
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Frenchman dies after being hit by sailor’s car in Phang Nga
A Frenchman was killed on a zebra crossing in the southern province of Phang Nga after being hit by a sedan car driven by a Thai sailor. The suspect driving the vehicle denies he hit and killed the Frenchman despite a security camera clearly showing otherwise. Officers from Khao Lak Police Station were notified on Saturday night about the accident…
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Jealous Swedish man stabs Thai boyfriend in the chest in Pattaya, Thailand
A Swedish man stabbed his boyfriend in the chest yesterday at a condominium in Pattaya, Chon Buri province, after misunderstanding that he was having a love affair with another man. Police are still trying to track down the Swedish man, who went on the run after the attack. At 5pm yesterday, Sawang Boriboon Foundation received a report that a man…
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Thailand ranks as fourth most popular destination among Chinese travellers
Chinese tourists are finally returning to Thailand. International flights out of China have increased 200% this month compared with the same period last month. Out of those flights, Thailand is the fourth most flown-to destination by mainland Chinese tourists, according to the Variflight civil aviation data service. South Korea came in first place, Japan came in second and the United…
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Thailand sentences musician to 6 years for royal defamation
A Thai musician was sentenced to six years in prison today after Thailand’s Criminal Court found him guilty of being defamatory toward the royal family in 2016. Parinya Cheewinkulpathom, aka “Port Fai Yen,” a member of the Fai Yen band, was accused of posting three messages on Facebook deemed critical of the Thai royal family. The 37 year old was…
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