Hot News
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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‘Yellow shirt’ leaders facing possible prison sentence
The Thai Appeals Court has upheld a previous court decision over the involvement of 5 key Thai politicians and activists in violent 2008 demonstrations. A Thai TV news presenter and 3 former leaders of the disbanded People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), widely known as the “Yellow Shirts”, face a year in jail without suspension over their involvement in the 2008…
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New wages for Thailand’s skilled workers
Thailand’s cabinet has approved new wages for construction workers, industrial arts workers and service workers. The new wages are expected to come into effect 90 days after the announcement was made on Tuesday. In the construction industry, tilers considered ‘level 1’ will earn 465 baht per day. Those considered level 2 will earn 550 baht a day. Level 3 tilers…
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3 cannabis medications added to Universal Healthcare Coverage
Three traditional cannabis based medications have been added to Universal Healthcare Coverage, commonly known as the gold card scheme, by the National Health Security Office. The three medications include: paralysis treatment, treatment for sleep problems and food consumption, and treatment for muscular pain and limb numbness. The three were approved by the NHSO board meeting on May 2nd, according to…
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Thailand’s government will likely keep diesel subsidies
After much drama and anxiety over announcements that Thailand’s diesel price could eventually jump to 40 baht per litre, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has announced yesterday that the government will likely extend its subsidy programme that is due to end on May 20. The current subsidy has helped keep the price at about 32 baht per litre, even though the actual…
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Minister of Digital Economy and Society wants 42 websites banned
Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, the Minister of Digital Economy and Society, has asked the court to ban access to 42 websites including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook pages that are spreading the controversial Lazada advert. He was responding to a contracted ad on e-commerse platform Lazada, where 2 influencers, Nara Aniwat and Thidaporn “Nurat” Chaokuwiang wear hi-so clothing, who royalists deemed to be…
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Shootout between a drug dealer and police, 2 dead
Before dying from 3 gunshot wounds to the abdomen by a team of police officers, a drug dealer was able to shoot 2 police officers, killing one and wounding another. The incident happened in Suphan Buri, a central province of Thailand, just north of Bangkok. The small time drug dealer, 40 year old Phakphum Wareenil was contacted on his Facebook…
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Museum Siam launches Ukraine exhibition and Ukrainian language audio guide
Museum Siam in Bangkok will hold a photography exhibition entitled “Diverse Ukraine” to showcase Ukraine’s diverse national costumes from May 9 – May 29. The museum has also launched a Ukrainian language audio guide for their longstanding “Decoding Thainess” exhibition which explores what it means to be “Thai,” giving Ukrainian tourists the opportunity to learn about Thailand’s history, culture and…
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300,000 travellers arrive in Thailand during first week of May
About 300,000 international travellers have arrived in Thailand within the first week after the Thailand Pass program was simplified and the Test & Go and Sandbox schemes scrapped on May 1. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he’s “happy with the number of visitors” according to Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana. A proportion of the ‘visitors’ continues to be Thais. After removing the…
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Labour Minister says government considering increasing minimum wage to 492 baht
Thailand’s Labour Minister says the government is considering increasing the daily minimum wage to 492 baht. Suchart Chomklin was addressing the Anti-Fake News Centre in an attempt to clarify rumours circulating on social media, according to a Nation Thailand report. “The ministry has discussed the raise with representatives of workers’ unions and businesses based on the rate submitted by the…
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Anutin to give away 1 million cannabis plants to Thai households from next month
Thailand’s kind-hearted Public Health Minister says he will offer households a million cannabis plants for free from next month. Anutin Charnvirakul’s generous gesture is to mark June 9, from when people will be legally permitted to grow cannabis plants in their own homes. However, it will have to be medical-grade cannabis only and can only be used for medicinal purposes.…
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Norwegian man found hanged in Pattaya home
A 74 year old Norwegian man has been found dead in his Pattaya home’s toilet over the weekend. Police say they were horrified at the scene of the man’s death on Saturday evening. The man had cuts on his wrists, a slit throat, and he was hanging on a rope that was connected to the ceiling with a pool of blood…
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Durian valued at 120 billion baht will be shipped to China this year
Thailand will export durians to the vale of 120 billion baht to China this year, about a 10% increase, according to Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Chalermchai Sri-on. The Chinese government has set strict controls against fruit imports during their Covid-19 pandemic response. Thailand exported 875,100 tonnes of durian to China last year, valued at 109 billion baht. Thailand’s durian…
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Government economic agency says China’s zero-Covid policy hurting Thai economy
China’s relentless pursuit of a zero-Covid status, coupled with tough import restrictions, is having a negative impact on the Thai economy. So says the Thai economic planning agency, the National Economic and Social Development Council. According to a Nation Thailand report, the NESDC says it’s watching China closely, after a strict lockdown was enforced in Shanghai and other cities. “China’s…
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Burmese man killed in Surat Thani flash flood, more wet weather to come
A Burmese man has died after being washed away in a flash flood in Surat Thani over the weekend. According to a Bangkok Post report, heavy rainfall has damaged 3 districts in the southern province. The body of 30-year-old Sai Chan, from Myanmar, was recovered on Saturday. The man had been reported missing after he drove his motorbike through a…
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Nightlife venues in “blue zones” want permission to re-open from June 1
Thailand’s nightlife venues are demanding to be allowed re-open for business in “blue zone” tourism areas from June 1. According to a Bangkok Post report, the proposal is one of several being submitted to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today. Sa-nga Ruangwatthanakul from the association of Khao San Road business operators says the proposals are being put forward by over 10 associations…
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Tourism operators not getting their hopes up, still wary of government U-turns
Despite a further easing of entry restrictions at the start of the month, with the lifting of PCR testing on arrival, Thailand’s tourism sector is not getting its hopes up. According to a Bangkok Post report, tourism operators are concerned about several factors that have left them uncertain about any potential recovery. Chief among these is the risk of new…
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Phuket prepares reforestation activity for National Tree Day
National Tree Day is coming up next Friday, May 13, and Phuket is getting ready to celebrate! Phuket authorities plan to host a public event where people can come and plant trees. The event will start at Wat Kosit Viharn Temple, off Thepkrasattri Road in Rassada, and move to Toh Sae National Forest reserve, which is behind the temple off…
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South African woman, jailed in Thailand, gets to speak to mother
A young South African woman, 23 year old Ashley Oosthuizen, sentenced to life in a Thai prison has finally been able to speak to her mother after nearly 3 months of Covid ‘quarantine’ (as there was an outbreak in the prison). She was sentenced after being accused and convicted by a Thai court of accepting a package of MDMA at the Koh…
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Tourists returning to Bangkok’s Khao San Road
The president of a business operators association on Bangkok’s tourist-trap of Khao San Road says the tourism numbers are making a comeback. This news comes following Thailand Pass‘s eased entry requirements for foreign arrivals, making travelling to Thailand slightly less tedious since May 1. The president told the Bangkok Post that the number of tourists to the walking street still doesn’t…
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After big reopening, Krabi’s Maya Bay to temporarily close again
Just four months after its epic reopening in January, officials are announcing that Thailand’s Maya Bay, located on Koh Phi Phi Leh in Krabi, is planning to temporarily close again from August to September this year. The bay had reopened in January after closing in 2018, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, because of how much tourism had damaged the ecosystem.…
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Lazada apologises for controversial advert
E-commerce platform Lazada has removed a controversial advert from their website which was criticised by Thai netizens as both making fun of disabled people and being offensive to Thailand’s monarchy. Lazada have since issued a statement apologising for the advert. Lazada is a huge online store where people and companies can sell from their own inventories on the platform, based…
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Former Democratic member taking shots at Pheu Thai Party
The unofficial electioneering is in full swing in Thailand. After Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of exiled former-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, predicted the Pheu Thai Party would win the upcoming election by a landslide, Suthep Thaugsuban has declared that he will oppose them and “Thaksinocracy.” Suthep was a former leader of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, a protest movement against the…
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Police find 1 million meth pills in Chiang Mai pickup truck
In yet another mass drug bust in Thailand’s north, police found 1 million methamphetamine pills in a pickup truck they stopped at a drug checkpoint in the Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai. The police arrested four people who were in the truck on Monday. After investigating, they then got a warrant to arrest another man, and another woman. The…
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Thai woman arrested for selling macaques via Facebook
Today, a Thai woman was arrested in Hat Yai district, Songkhla province, for selling protected wildlife via Facebook. Undercover police pretended to be interested in buying a macaque so they could arrest the woman this morning. One macaque, a basket and a bottle of milk were seized by police. The woman was buying macaques and reselling them for a higher…
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Beauty brand wants to end forced haircuts in Thailand’s schools
The Thai office of one American beauty brand wants to push Thai schools to ditch their mandatory haircuts for students. This news comes after the brand, Dove, has started working with Girl Guides, Thailand’s version of Girl Scouts, to empower women to reach their fullest potential. This week, Dove launched a campaign called #LetHerGrow, and released an ad about the…
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Several officials in Thailand wanted over child trafficking involvement in south
After several raids this week, police are investigating several officials over a sex trafficking case in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani. The director-general of Thailand’s Department of Children and Youth has been charged for hampering an investigation into a trafficking ring. Several other officials found to be involved in the ring include the chairman of a local savings…
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In a ranking of the world’s top tourism destinations, Thailand slips in at number 4
It may have its critics, particularly in light of recent ham-fisted and bureaucratic attempts to revive tourism, but Thailand remains one of the most popular destinations in the world. At least, that’s what a study by financial services provider Visa has found. Nation Thailand reports that Thailand sits at number 4 among the world’s top tourism destinations, according to the…
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Japan’s PM says entry restrictions to ease by next month
Japan’s PM announced yesterday that in June, visitors can enter the country “as smoothly as other G-7 nations”. Apart from China, Japan is the last Asian country that still hasn’t opened its border to foreign tourists. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country has only been letting in foreigners who are either studying abroad, foreign dignitaries, or people…
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Anutin proposes getting rid of the Thailand Pass – for Thai returnees only
Thailand’s Public Health Minister wants to get rid of the Thailand Pass. But don’t get too excited, Anutin Charnvirakul is proposing scrapping it for Thai returnees only – at least for now. According to a Bangkok Post report, the health minister says he will submit the proposal to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. However, when asked whether the emergency…
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Celebrity dentist accused of ‘online’ sexual assault by masturbating in front of two sisters
A “celebrity dentist” who is famous on Thai TikTok, now stands accused of sexual assault after 2 female teenagers file a complaint saying he made a video call and masturbated in front of their faces. 13 year old and 17 year old teenagers contacted a local news page to ask for help. ‘อยากดังเดี๋ยวจัดให้ รีเทริน์ part 3’ revealed on their private…
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