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 What is the 5 year visa for the digital nomad in Thailand?
The Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) is a great option for digital nomads, remote workers, and freelancers who want to stay in Thailand for a long time. This multiple-entry visa is valid for five years, allowing stays of up to 180...
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Thailand hopeful to draw Indian tourists with new travel bubble
Ah yes, another travel bubble proposal. This time with India. Thailand hopes to fix its plundered tourism economy by drawing in more Indian tourists with a new plan between the two countries known as the Thai-Indian Air Travel Bubble. A spokesperson for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said the ATB will give extra convenience to people travelling between Thailand…
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Volunteer teams clean trash and weeds from Phuket canal
Two volunteer organisations are joining forces to clear garbage and weeds from the Bang Yai Canal, which runs from Samkong into Phuket Town on Phuket’s east coast. The organisations are the Royal Thai Volunteers and the Rak Bang Yai Club, who announced the cleanup plan on video teleconference yesterday. The groups say they hope to clear the “bad smells” coming…
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Bangkok is back – Thailand’s capital roars back to life
OPINION Before the pandemic, Bangkok was the most-visited city on the planet – a thriving hive of energy and activity which attracted over 22 million international visitors per year. Then, without warning, it all went quiet. Now, following the reboot of the Test & Go re-entry into Thailand on February 1, 2022, Bangkok is back. The city is welcoming the…
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Thailand, post Covid. What needs to change?
OPINION As Thailand starts to peer out from behind the Covid curtain, many expats and potential travellers are wondering if much will change after 2 years of lockdowns, closures re-openings and re-entry ‘plans’. Will we see changes in visas, property ownership, entry requirements and business laws? One of our YouTube commenters wrote in with his current ‘wish list’ (below). As…
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Second oil leak from undersea pipeline discovered in waters off Rayong
Officials in Rayong are once again dealing with an oil leak from an undersea pipeline belonging to Star Petroleum. According to the Pollution Control Department, the oil slick has been spotted in the Map Ta Phut sea. Department boss Atthaphol Charoenchansa says Star Petroleum has confirmed that around 5,000 litres of oil have created the slick, which extends for about…
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Thailand ranks 72 in Democracy Index 2021
The Economist Intelligence Unit has officially deemed Thailand a “flawed democracy” out of four categories: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes. It ranked Thailand 72 out of 167 countries in its “Democracy Index 2021,” which ranks countries for how democratic they are. The EIU says democracy has declined across the globe since 2020. That year, 49.4% of…
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Government expected to postpone tourism fee until they decide how to collect it
A 300-baht tourism fee which was set to be introduced from April 1 now looks likely to be postponed. The Bangkok Post reports that officials have not yet decided how best to collect the levy. Implementation is expected to be pushed out by around 2 months, although tourism operators have said they’d like to see the idea ditched completely, at…
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Police in Phuket find guns suspected to have been used to murder Jimi Sandhu
Police have found two guns at a beach in Phuket which they believed were used in the recent murder of 32 year old Jimi “Slice” Sandhu, a notorious gangster from Canada. Sandhu, who was born in India, was deported from Canada for “serious criminality” in 2016. He entered Thailand by private jet on January 27 carrying a fake Canadian passport…
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Phuket conservationists butt heads with locals on coral reef
Conservationists are fighting to stop a bay being dredged in Ao Kung in Pa Khlok, on Phuket’s east coast, as they say it will damage nearby coral reefs. A former village headman says the bay needs to be dredged because fishing boats have a hard time getting to the port at low tide. At a meeting with representatives of local…
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Criminals pretend to be police, scam Swiss man in Phuket
Scammers went after a Swiss national living in Phuket when they pretended to be police, and told him he had to pay a fine for receiving funds through illegal activities. The “police” contacted the man, Alain, saying a FedEx package couldn’t be delivered. Since Alain was expecting a FedEx package, he listened. The story then changed to say Bangkok police…
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BTS promotes Samsung’s ocean cleanup campaign in ‘Galaxy for the Future’ MV
In a new music video, South Korea’s BTS is promoting the recycling of ocean-bound plastics and the use of eco-conscious packaging for the new Samsung Galaxy S22 Series smartphones. The MV capped off last night’s Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event, which saw the release of Samsung’s newest devices, with an eco-friendly emphasis on their Galaxy for the Planet initiative and the…
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Insurance companies “hesitate” to give Covid-19 insurance to foreign tourists
After facing losses from Covid-19 claims from local cases, many Thai insurance companies are indicating that they are hesitant to provide Covid-19 insurance for foreign tourists entering Thailand under the current regulations. The deputy governor of marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand said only a few companies are now interested in joining the Test & Go programme, the…
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Oil-affected Rayong beach will host Valentine’s Day event to celebrate reopening
Love will conquer all, including an oil spill off the Thai coastline. The Rayong beach where oil reached its shores last month will host a Valentine’s Day event called “Rayong in Love” to celebrate the beach’s reopening. The event at Mae Ram Phueng Beach will start on Saturday, February 12, and end on Monday, February 14. The Rayong governor said…
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Pattaya drunks steal road signs to pay for more booze
Three drunk men in Pattaya cut up several road signs and planned to sell the parts for money to buy more booze. Police saw the three men with hardware tools, stealing signs on main roads in the Pattaya and Banglamung area. Police arrested one man, 27, and he’s now being charged for theft. The other two men fled the scene.…
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Thailand Pass hotlines, emails for assistance with registration process
Thailand Pass hotlines were launched to assist travellers with registering for the various programs to enter the country at the moment. We know aspects of it are a pain in the arse, but for people wanting, or needing, to get back into Thailand at the moment, the Thailand Pass is not that difficult to navigate. And The Thaiger has some…
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Songkran to be cancelled if daily Covid numbers hit 30,000 – DDC
Thailand’s famous water festival Songkran might be cancelled for another year if the daily Covid-19 cases reach 30,000 cases per day, the Department of Disease Control says. The massive water gun fight, celebrating the Thai New Year, was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to coronavirus concerns. The DDC warns that Songkran, which is April 13 to 15 this year,…
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Government cracks down hard on pork hoarders
After Songkhla authorities accused one food company of hoarding 200 tonnes of pork in January, the government is on a mission to crack down on pork hoarding. Authorities have gotten more strict about storage and receiving procedures, and inspected 24.48 million kilograms of pork. They then seized 1.07 million kilograms of it that was hoarded. Pork prices are finally lowering…
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Travellers can register for the Thailand Pass no less than 24 hours before their trip
For those planning a trip to Thailand, travellers will need to register for the required Thailand Pass QR code no less than 24 hours before a trip, but the Thai government is highly recommending that travellers register and plan a trip at least seven days in advance as the processing time before approval can take three to seven days. For…
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Democrat politician jumps ship to join Move Forward Party
A prominent MP, formerly part of the Democrat Party, has resigned and joined the opposition Move Forward Party. The MP, Tawil Praisont, said he had been considering leaving the Democrat Party for quite some time because it didn’t want to decentralise local administrative organisations, especially after Thailand’s 2019 general elections. Tawil said he started to regularly meet with a Move…
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Thai police track down, arrest suspect in bank robbery case
Police arrested a man suspected of robbing a bank in the central province Saraburi and running off with around 210,000 baht in cash. In an expedited investigation, with local police promising to find the suspect within the week, officers tracked down and arrested 33 year old Weerachai Auttaparp at his house about 10 kilometres from the bank. Videos from the…
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Minimum daily wage in Thailand looks set to increase to 492 baht
The Labour Ministry is expected to approve a rise in Thailand’s daily minimum wage from 336 baht to a flat rate of 492, according to a Nation Thailand report. The sharp increase comes just 2 years after a previous hike and is expected to mainly favour labourers. It’s understood that 2 agencies representing workers in the Tripartite Wage Committee have…
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Phuket police have CCTV footage of fatal gangster shooting
Police investigating the murder of an Indian gangster shot dead in Phuket on Friday night say they have security camera footage of the incident. According to a Bangkok Post report, officers are reviewing CCTV footage of the moment 32-year-old Jimi Sandhu was gunned down outside his villa in Rawai, in the south of the island. His body was found in…
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Health Minister signs document removing cannabis with low-THC from narcotics list
The Public Health Minister Autin Charnvirakul signed a document to remove cannabis from the ministry’s list of Category 5 narcotics. It will be in effect within 120 days after the announcement from the Royal Gazette. Cannabis with a concentration of the psychoactive component THC exceeding 0.2% is still illegal. The minister says getting high off cannabis is still illegal, with heavy…
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Police search for bank robber who stole more than 200,000 baht in cash
Police are searching for a man who robbed a bank in the central province of Saraburi and ran off with 210,000 baht in cash. Officers say they want to make an arrest within the next seven days and have offered a 10,000 baht reward to anyone who has information that leads to an arrest. Thai media says the man was…
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Man allegedly attacks neighbour in Bangkok, claiming revenge for black magic
A 47 year old man from Sri Lanka was arrested after he allegedly attacked a neighbour, smashing a glass bottle on his head and then stabbing him with the broken glass. Reports say he claimed the victim had used black magic against him to cause him pain. The victim, who is also 47 years old, says he was eating dinner…
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China’s Tencent restores original ‘Fight Club’ film ending, cuts nudity after censorship backlash
In an unusual reversal of censorship, Chinese tech company Tencent has restored the original ending of the 1999 cult film “Fight Club.” The sudden turnaround comes after intense backlash from Chinese netizens who were familiar with the movie’s plot and significant negative publicity about the change in international media. But of course, they cut out the nudity, keeping in line…
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Officers seize monitor lizards, monkeys from farm suspected of exporting to restaurants
A farm owner was arrested for allegedly raising and exporting water monitor lizards and macaque monkeys in the northern province of Phichit. Officers say they suspect the farm was exporting the animals to Cambodia, and then to Vietnam and China to be sold to restaurants, according to the commander of the National Resources and Environmental Crime Division. When officials arrived…
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Tourism revenue hits record low across all 77 provinces in Thailand
Tourism revenue has plummeted across each of the 77 provinces, according to data from Thailand’s tourism ministry. The Bangkok Post reports that income from both foreign and local tourism reached an historic low in 2021, dropping by nearly 70%. Meanwhile, the revenue gap between Bangkok and other major provinces remains wide. In 2021, Bangkok posted the highest revenue at 62.7…
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Samsung builds phones with old fishing nets, bets you’ll pay premium prices
Your next Samsung smartphone will certainly come with a hefty price tag, despite presumably less premium materials. But you can feel good about it because, who knows, you might be saving the whales. In a Sunday press release on their website, Samsung announced it has created a new material “made with repurposed ocean-bound discarded fishing nets,” which it plans to…
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Calls for campaign to teach drivers to stop at red lights (yes, really)
The secretary-general of the Medical Council of Thailand has called for a campaign to educate Thai drivers about the need to stop at red lights and pedestrian crossings. In a post on his Facebook page, Ittaporn Kanacharoen says drivers need to be taught about the rights of pedestrians and the need to give way at zebra crossings and red traffic…
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