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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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  • Boat capsizes in eastern Thailand, survivors cling to buoy for hours

    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”

    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…

  • UPDATE: Mother who pimped out 9 year old daughter jailed alongside 2 pedophiles

    UPDATE: Mother who pimped out 9 year old daughter jailed alongside 2 pedophiles

    UPDATE The Criminal Court of Thailand yesterday jailed a mother of two, who pimped out her 9 year old daughter into prostitution, and two pedophiles. Under Thai indecency law, an offence to a child not yet over 15 years of age, shall be punished with imprisonment of 10 to 20 years, and fined between 20,000 to 40,000 baht, or imprisonment…

  • CAAT allows food and drinks to be served on domestic flights in Thailand

    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…

  • Wind plunges trees onto houses in Phuket

    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

    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…

  • 4 million Thais to travel during 5-day ‘long weekend’ – TAT

    4 million Thais to travel during 5-day ‘long weekend’ – TAT

    The main factors affecting Thais travelling during this long holiday period between July 13 and July 17 continue to be the local high inflation and expensive petrol prices (also affecting airline prices). During the holidays, it’s predicted that there will be nearly 4 million Thais travelling around the country, spending an estimated 14 billion baht. With the current spike in costs,…

  • Pattaya sex pest flashes woman in laundromat

    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…

  • Airlines battle high operation costs, ask for government help

    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 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…

  • Man stabs construction worker to death in Bangkok

    Man stabs construction worker to death in Bangkok

    A construction worker was stabbed to death by his colleague last night in Bangkok. At around 7pm, police were called to a house in Don Mueang district where they found 31 year old Wanchai “Nong” Inthuwanit lying dead in a pool of blood, having been stabbed 7 times in the head, throat, and right shoulder. Police tracked down the suspected…

  • State of emergency declared in Sri Lanka as president flees country

    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…

  • Ex Democrat MP probed for part in alleged 30 million baht graft

    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

    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…

  • Bangkok plans to give city’s hawkers a roof over their heads

    Bangkok plans to give city’s hawkers a roof over their heads

    Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt has turned his attention toward the city’s cluttered street vendors as his never-ending crusade to clean up the capital continues. The 56 year old city chief revealed the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is preparing to set up hawker centres as a permanent solution to the chaotic street vendor stalls strewn throughout the city. Hawker centres are…

  • Chuwit all but names Bangkok ‘drug pub’ and illegal soapy massage joint

    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…

  • Thailand gets into gear with 234 billion baht road investment

    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

    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…

  • Objections to chemical castration law in Thailand

    Objections to chemical castration law in Thailand

    Objections have been raised to a controversial new law being pushed through by the Thai Senate that allows sex offenders the choice of having their prison sentences reduced if they agree to chemical castration. The Thai Senate approved the bill on Monday but the act hasn’t become law just yet. The legislation was first passed in the Lower House in March…

  • Taxi driver punches woman after she requests him to go faster

    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.…

  • Police raid 14 scam call centres in Pattaya, resulting in one arrest

    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

    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…

  • Chiang Rai police arrest 2 women driving with 1 million meth pills

    Chiang Rai police arrest 2 women driving with 1 million meth pills

    In Chiang Rai, a car was tracked down and stopped that contained 2 young women, and 1 million meth pills. The car was pulled over in Wiang Chiang Rung district, where the 2 women were promptly arrested after a search revealed multiple bags full of methamphetamine pills. Police were ready for the arrest, after receiving information from the Drug Suppression…

  • Mother arrested after forcing 9 year old daughter into prostitution

    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.…

  • UPDATE: Woman’s corpse “naked and covered in bite marks” found in northeast Thailand

    UPDATE: Woman’s corpse “naked and covered in bite marks” found in northeast Thailand

    UPDATE: Today, police arrested the man suspected of murdering his wife, Daeng, whose body was found naked and covered in bite marks at her home in Buriram on Monday. Police detained and arrested Nithipot, aka “Dao” at a relative’s house in Huai Thalaeng district in Nakhon Ratchasima province this morning. Police brought him back to Buriram for questioning at Phutthaisong…

  • Vistara launches new nonstop Thailand – India route

    Vistara launches new nonstop Thailand – India route

    Vistara Airlines is launching nonstop flights between Mumbai and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport 5 times per week, starting next month on August 5. Vistara’s 3 cabin Airbus A320neo aircraft will operate the route on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The new route is the airline’s second service to the Thai capital. In August 2019, Vistara launched direct flights between Delhi…

  • 8 million tourists to enter Thailand by the end of 2022 – BoT

    8 million tourists to enter Thailand by the end of 2022 – BoT

    There are now about 30,000 international tourists entering Thailand every day. By the end of 2022, the total number of tourists could hit 8 million. This is 2 million above the Bank of Thailand’s prediction of 6 million if the current pattern continues until the end of this year. According to the bank’s data, the first five months of 2022…

  • Four year anniversary of Phuket’s sinking of the ‘Phoenix’ – 46 people drowned

    Four year anniversary of Phuket’s sinking of the ‘Phoenix’ – 46 people drowned

    This week commemorated the fourth anniversary of the rescue of the 13 members of the Wild Boar football team from the Tham Luang Caves in Chiang Rai, a story that gripped international audiences. That story had a happy ending. But the ongoing drama in northern Thailand masked a much sadder story, that of the sinking of the tour boat, the…

  • Thai passenger traffic and flight schedules on the increase

    Thai passenger traffic and flight schedules on the increase

    Domestic travel in Thailand is in for a good July, with two long weekends and airlines starting to add to their schedule, resuming flights and frequency that have been otherwise subdued. The Aeronautical Radio of Thailand and the International Air Transport Association are reporting an increased pace of domestic flights in Thailand, matching the general global trend. Nopasit Chakpitak, the…

  • Storms cancel ferry service for Koh Samui, Pha Ngan, and Tao

    Storms cancel ferry service for Koh Samui, Pha Ngan, and Tao

    While Surat Thani has been gearing up for a huge holiday weekend, the weather has other plans. Scattered storms with extremely high winds have disrupted power as well as ferry schedules, with Surat Thani Governor Wichawut Jinto ordering the cancellation of all ferry services today until at least tomorrow, including to the popular tourist islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha…