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 This Christmas, give the gift of health: essential options for expats in Thailand
The holiday season is here, bringing warmth, joy, and a chance to reflect on the year gone by. As an expat in Thailand, this Christmas is a great time to invest in something that truly matters: health. Whether for you...
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Woman accuses Thai politician of sending her unsolicited pictures of his genitals
A Thai woman accuses a famous political party spokesperson of sending her unsolicited photos of his genitals and threats via Facebook. The woman filed a police complaint, with evidence, at Sutthisan Police Station in Bangkok today. She accused the spokesperson of violating the Computer Crimes Act by disseminating obscene material online. The 40 year old victim said the man sent…
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Car shot by unidentified gunman on road near MBK in Bangkok
A motorist is in shock today after an unidentified teenage gunman shot at him while he was driving near MBK shopping mall in Bangkok. Chawinroj Ritmangkornsook travelled from Samyan, down Phaya Thai Road, and stopped to park his white Toyota Yaris at the Rajamangala Institute of Technology Uthentawai Campus, when he witnessed the teenager walking close to the institute’s fence…
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5 million baht fine and 1 year jail sentence for those breaking new data laws
People who break the new data laws face a fine of up to 5 million baht and a 1 year jail sentence. The Royal Thai Police issued this warning ahead of the new Personal Data Protection Act which came into effect today. Under the new law, people can post pictures and video clips of themselves with others for personal purposes…
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As Thailand opens more, police prepare for more international crime
A senior Thai police inspector told Thai media that Royal Thai Police plans to redouble its efforts to fight international crime as the country opens up more and more with the ease in Covid-19 restrictions. The inspector, General Wisanu Prasatthongosot, told Daily News that Thailand is located at a crossroads in the region that makes it an ideal spot for international crimes…
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Former Deputy Bangkok Governor says the city has already spent most of the 2022 budget
The Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party and former deputy Bangkok governor, Samart Ratchapolsitte (2004 – 2006), said Bangkok has only of 94 million baht left in its budget, and it might be insufficient for the new Bangkok governor Chandchart Sittiphun to achieve his announced policies. According to the media, Bangkok receives a budget of around 80 billion baht per…
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Pattaya, the land of sex, drugs, and film production?
Pattaya is known for a lot of things- drug busts, violent fights, and other various scandals. But one Thai government agency is hoping to make Pattaya a “City of Film” in the next 5 years, between 2022 and 2027. Can Thailand’s Sin City become a movie-making destination? Thailand’s Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration is promoting the tourist hotspot as…
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Phuket marine centre works to heal injured sea turtle
A marine centre in Phuket is working to nurse an injured sea turtle back to health. The turtle was spotted washed up by strong waves on the sands of Kata Beach earlier this week. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources arrived on the scene after a hotel staff alerted them of the struggling little snapper. The DMCR found the…
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Thailand’s tourism ranking drops down a notch
Thailand’s place on a list of countries ranked for travel and tourism development has fallen a notch below where it stood last year. Thailand fell from it’s spot in 35th place out of 117 countries in 2021, to 36th place, on the Travel and Tourism Development Index. The index is based on scores from 1-7, where 1 is the worst…
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Bangkok police arrest 6 Taiwanese nationals for crypto fraud
Police in Bangkok have arrested 6 Taiwanese men following a raid on a house in the Prawet district of the capital. The men are accused of conning over 500 people, mostly fellow Taiwanese or Chinese nationals, through fraudulent online cryptocurrency investment schemes. According to a Bangkok Post report, the arrests happened when officers from the Police Cyber Taskforce, accompanied by…
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Go City tourist app boost to Bangkok
A new tourist app has been launched in Bangkok by global travel giants Go City that allows culture buffs to visit more than 30 attractions for the price of one ticket. The London-based sightseeing tour agency invested around US$35 million in preparation for the resumption of international travel after pandemic restrictions eased to help operators digitalise their ticketing services, and…
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Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand advises airlines of new entry rules effective today
International airlines have been issued with a notice from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, advising them of revised rules for entry to the kingdom from today. CAAT chief, Suttipong Kongpool, says all international airlines serving Thailand are required to screen and categorise passengers into 3 groups. The first group is the fully vaccinated passengers, who, if suspected of having…
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Proposal to develop Koh Tao, Samui, and Koh Phang Ngan as “entertainment islands”
Another day, another idea, as Thailand desperately tries to revive its decimated tourism sector and by extension, the economy. While things are looking up since entry restrictions were eased, suggestions for further improvement continue to circulate. One such proposal is to develop and market 3 islands in the Gulf of Thailand as an “entertainment cluster”. Tourism operators on Koh Samui,…
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BREAKING: Bangkok has a new governor
The Election Commission today confirmed the independent candidate, Chadchart Sittipunt, as the new Bangkok Governor. The 56 year old won by a landslide with over a million votes, and almost 52% of the vote, on Sunday, May 22. It was the first governor’s election in 8 years and he is the 17th person to be in charge of Bangkok. There…
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Three woman caught smuggling heroin from Thailand into India
Three women were arrested at a hotel in Itarsi, India, with 200 million rupees’ – or 87.8 million baht’s – worth of heroin on Saturday. The women allegedly smuggled the heroin into the Indian city of Bengaluru from Thailand via an international airline, according to India’s Narcotics Control Bureau. The woman managed to get the heroin through both Thai and…
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Ex Thai prisoner convicted of child sex offences willing to be castrated
A high-profile paedophile says he is willing to be castrated to stop him reoffending in the future. Child sex offender Bradley Pen Dragon announced he is happy to be chemically or physically castrated today after he won his release from a prison in Australia. The 62 year old will be allowed to leave prison next month subject to more than…
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BREAKING: Court sentences British man who murdered and chopped up Thai woman
UPDATE: Court sentences British man who murdered and chopped up Thai woman At 1:30pm this afternoon, Kanchanaburi Provincial Court sentenced Shane Kenneth Looker to 8 years in prison for murdering Laxami “Look” Manochat in 2014. The court ordered Shane to pay a total of 12.5 million baht to Look’s family. The court initially sentenced 51 year old Shane to 16…
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Migrant labour shortage threatens Thai food export industry
The threat of global food shortages due to the ongoing Russia Ukraine war has prompted several countries to buy and stock-pile food from Asia. The Thai food industry has witnessed a surge in larger international orders, but the honeymoon phase could be brief since a major labour shortage in the food sector remains unresolved, according to the Chairman of the…
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Transport Ministry expects 22 million travellers will pass through Thai airports in 2022
The Transport Minister, Saksayam Chidchob, says every airport in Thailand is ready to welcome more travellers entering from June 1. The Minister also set a target expecting 22 million travellers to enter this year. So far, the number has just clicked over the 1 million mark (mid-May). Yesterday, Saksayam visited Suvarnabhumi Airport for for an official before the changes to…
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Tangmo: 5 of 6 suspects charged with “recklessness causing death”
Prosecutors have ordered the indictment of 6 suspects in relation to the death of Thai actress Nida “Tangmo” Patcharaveerapong, who drowned in the Chao Phraya river in February during a boat trip with her friends. All 5 people on board the boat have been charged with “recklessness causing death.” Yesterday, superintendent of Muang Nonthaburi Police Station reported that the prosecutors…
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Hotels are expected to see a large jump in earnings
Thai property giant Singha Estate predict a large jump in hotel revenue in 2022, and a considerable increase in real estate sales, following the return of international travellers after Thailand’s reopening. Once hotels revive, earnings from the hotel sector will increase from 4.5 billion baht in 2021 to 9 billion baht in 2022, according to the Chief Financial Officer of…
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Japan tour packages more expensive due to Covid restrictions
The Japan National Tourism Organisation announced entry rules for tour companies allowed to enter Japan with their groups on June 10 for the first time since the pandemic in 2020. With immigration restrictions and requirements, Covid-19 screenings, and increasing operating costs, it’s predicted the prices will be 30 to 40% higher than packages offered before the outbreak, according to the…
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A Texas-like school tragedy avoided thanks to quick-thinking Police in Pattaya
A Robb Elementary School-like tragedy was avoided thanks to quick-thinking police in Pattaya. A crazed gunman shot and killed 19 children and two adults last week at the Texas primary school in an incident that shocked the world. Thankfully another tragedy was avoided when police reacted instantly to the danger of a man high on drugs, who threatened to harm…
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Police arrest Scottish man wanted since 2014 in Pattaya
Yesterday, Thai police arrested a 46 year old Scottish man in Pattaya who was convicted of possessing indecent images of children in May 2014. William Dempster fled the UK eight years ago before he could be sentenced and has been on the run in Thailand ever since. The Royal Thai Police, Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency worked together…
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Demonstrators storm UN building to protest NPO law
Demonstrators swarmed around the United Nations Building to the Government House this morning to denounce a government bill on non-profit organizations. Hundreds of vociferous anti-NPO demonstrators avoided a number of barriers, including barbed wire on different sections of Ratchadamnoen Road leading to government house in Bangkok, but still managed to voice their opposition to a law that will affect the…
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Chadchart’s commitment to purging the metropolis of corruption
Newly elected governor Chadchart Sittipunt revealed he plans to stamp out corruption as part of his flagship “Bangkok’s Nine Good” policy. Corruption in Thailand has been a national issue for decades. The kingdom is ranked 110th out of 180 countries evaluated in Transparency International‘s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index. The index examines public sector corruption, countries whose public sectors are perceived to be…
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UPDATE: Compensation promised after teenage passenger killed in police chase
Following last week’s report of a teenager who was killed after the motorbike she was a passenger on crashed into a police pickup, the police officers have now promised to pay compensation to the victim’s family. No charges have been filed against the police at this stage as the case is still under investigation. On May 27, a car accident…
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Chon Buri gunman shoots 3 people “because he was slapped in the face”
A man shot three people, killing two and seriously injuring another in Ban Bueng district in the eastern province of Chon Buri on Saturday night. The gunman said he was drinking alone outside a convenience store when a group of men drinking around a nearby table criticised his personality. He said one of the men slapped him in the face,…
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Half a million Indian tourists to enter Thailand in 2022
Thailand hopes to welcome around 500,000 travellers from India by the end of 2022 after latest statistics revealed over 100,000 Indian tourists have entered the country since January. And it’s great news for the Thai economy as holiday makers from India have the potential to bring in over 22 billion baht in revenue. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is trying…
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Thai woman allegedly murdered in Oman after being thrown from 4th floor of condo
A Thai woman is claiming that her Omani husband murdered her Thai friend. She claims her friend was thrown from the 4th floor of a condominium in Oman after fighting with her husband. Last Friday, the Facebook user Pawarisa Oil posted a sympathy message to her friend, saying that her friend was thrown from a building in Oman. Pawarisa said…
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Thai government expects 1 million tourists per month by the end of the year
The Thai government has refuted the opposition’s claim that it is ignoring the plight of the country’s tourism sector. According to a Nation Thailand report, spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana says the government’s decision to cancel Test & Go has revived the tourism industry, with around 20,000 foreign arrivals now entering the kingdom each day. Thanakorn adds that if this trend continues,…
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