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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Blue and Purple MRT lines testing contactless payment from Saturday
Public transportation in Bangkok like the MRT, BTS, buses and boats have been working their way towards a contactless payment system, and this Saturday the first trial runs will begin. The guinea pig for the contactless payment using Visa or MasterCard will be the Purple Line and Blue Line of the Mass Rail Transit system. Beginning on January 29, commuters…
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Thailand and India strengthen relations, plans to work together on trade, tourism
After a break, Thailand and India plan to work together on trade, maritime activity, and tourism. In an interview with the Bangkok Post, India’s ambassador in Thailand said it was important to remember the overlaps between the two countries in culture, language, and religion. Earlier this month, the Indian embassy launched a competition for the best logo promoting bilateral relations…
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Minimum wage hike proposal up to 492 baht per day being studied
A proposal is being evaluated to raise the minimum wage to 492 baht per day, a significant increase from the 313 to 336 baht per day lowest wage now. The hike proposed is a significant one and the Ministry of Labour is researching the impact of such a large wage. The proposed large increase in the lowest wage legally offered…
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Thailand will raise 12% fewer pigs this year, livestock department says
Thailand’s livestock department says farmers will probably raise 11.8% fewer pigs this year. Already, male pig breeders have dropped 41.1%, while female breeders have dropped 11%. The department general said this is because of economic conditions during the pandemic, and also farmers not having too many pigs in case of disease outbreaks. There are 107,000 pig raisers in the country,…
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Fake news: report it, don’t share it, urges PM and government
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging people to report fake news rather than share it, especially regarding Covid-19. He says that misinformation shared online through social media is causing confusion in the residents of Thailand and people should help to weed out bad information so facts are more clear and easier to find. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has…
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Tourists turn their backs on Rayong over 330 baht antigen testing requirement
Tourists have hit back at the eastern province of Rayong after officials imposed a mandatory antigen testing requirement on all visitors. According to a Nation Thailand report, all arrivals in the province must have a negative antigen test result, certified by a doctor, no more than 72 hours before arrival. Tourists have expressed their anger on social media, with most…
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Thailand decriminalises cannabis, extracts with high-inducing THC still an illicit drug
Thailand’s health minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, has confirmed that the Narcotics Control Board has approved the removal of cannabis from the Category 5 list of controlled drugs. According to a report from the Associated Press, Anutin says the drugs that remain on the list are opium, magic mushrooms, and extracts of cannabis containing more than 0.2% by weight of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).…
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Police investigate driving speed of officer in fatal bike collision with pedestrian
Bangkok police investigating the speed of a “big bike” involved in a fatal collision with a woman on a zebra crossing say they expect to reach a swift conclusion. Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul, an ophthalmologist with the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, died when she was struck by the Ducati bike as she used a zebra crossing on Phaya Thai…
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Thailand’s FDA plans “Cannabis Sandbox” entry scheme for tourists
A “Cannabis Sandbox” entry scheme is being discussed to draw in marijuana enthusiasts from overseas. Yes… we said cannabis. But don’t get too excited. When the government talks about cannabis, they mean parts of the plant with low (very low) traces of the psychoactive component THC. The Thai Food and Drug Administration mentioned the idea of a “Cannabis Sandbox” for…
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CCSA clarifies details on Test & Go, registration opens at 9am on February 1
Registration for Thailand’s quarantine exemption scheme known as Test & Go is reopening next week after being closed for the past month due to the emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in Thailand. Starting at 9am on February 1, fully vaccinated travellers from any country can apply for a Thailand Pass QR code to enter with (almost) quarantine-free travel, but…
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Former MP to file lawsuit over campaign poster using his photo to mock him
One former member of parliament has filed a lawsuit against another politician for using a photo of him to mock him in a campaign poster. The image shows the former MP of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party, Sira Jenjaka, under a magnifying glass behind a Move Forward Party candidate with a message calling for volunteers to help catch those who…
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Domestic tourism stimulus scheme gets 9-billion-baht budget approval for phase 4
The government’s domestic tourism stimulus scheme enters phase 4 from February, with Cabinet approving a 9-billion-baht budget. “We Travel Together’ (Rao Tiew Duay Kan) will run until July, according to a government spokesperson. According to a Thai PBS World report, participants can benefit from a 40% discount on hotel rates, up to a maximum of 3,000 baht a night and…
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Death of Bangkok doctor on zebra crossing highlights danger of Thai roads – again
In the last World Health Organisation report into road deaths in Southeast Asia and Asia, it probably won’t come as a surprise to learn that Thailand came top. According to the 2018 report, the kingdom had an average of 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people. This compares to 26.4 in Vietnam and 23.6 in Malaysia, followed by Myanmar (19.9), Cambodia (17.8),…
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Police officer charged in fatal big bike collision with pedestrian enters monkhood
A police officer who hit a woman with his Ducati bike as she was on a zebra crossing has been ordained as a monk. According to a Bangkok Post report, 21-year-old Narawich Buadok chose to enter the monkhood to make merit for the killing of Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul last Friday afternoon. The Bangkok ophthalmologist was mown down as she was…
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Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Minister infected with Covid-19
Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Minister has Covid-19. The minister, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, is currently in hospital with a fever and headache. He says he may have contracted the virus on a trip to Chiang Mai last Thursday. It remains unknown which variant he contracted. The infection has not reached his lungs, however, other members of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party…
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Thailand Wellness Sandbox entry launching in coastal districts of Hua Hin, Cha-am
In an effort to draw in a tourist base focused on health and wellness, the Thailand Wellness Sandbox entry programme is launching in the coastal region of Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Hua Hin district and Phetchaburi’s Cha-am district. These locations were selected for the first tier of the Wellness Sandbox project. Officials are looking into adding more destinations later on. The…
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Government to make more Covid insurance options available to foreign tourists
The Thai government wants to offer more Covid-19 insurance options to foreign tourists whose own insurance doesn’t cover hospitels or hotel isolation in cases of asymptomatic infection. According to a Bangkok Post report, the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says officials are in talks with the Office of the Insurance Commission. Yuthasak Supasorn says premiums could start at…
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Thailand tourism industry hopeful with the return of Test & Go
With the reintroduction of the Test & Go program, that allows fully vaccinated people to enter Thailand with a Day1 and Day 5 PCR test, businesses in the tourism industry are hopeful for a more sustained growth in international travellers from February and beyond. The program was reinstated, albeit with some revisions that were not met with a particularly welcoming…
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Government plans to gather data, combine tourism databases
In an effort to organize data and bolster tourism for the future, government agencies are looking at merging the databases of tourism-related agencies, businesses, and organizations. They plan to create a unified database in order to bring together all the information in an organized system. A campaign was launched, supported by the Department of Tourism, the Department of Provincial Administration,…
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New Sandboxes announced, but are they redundant after February 1?
(All the information in this article is based on CCSA announcements last Thursday and published articles on the Tourism of Thailand website and other government media) Businesses in the entertainment, nightlife, bar and sex industry in Pattaya are breathing a sigh of relief as international tourists will, again, be able to visit the seaside party town as part of the…
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Woman complains police didn’t pursue rape case for 5 months
A woman brought her lawyer to the Klong Tan Police Station after waiting 5 months for a response to her reporting an alleged rape at a party in Klong Toei in August. The incident took place in the Bangkok district at a hotel where the 27 year old Thai woman was hired to be a bartender. The woman said she was…
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Plans shot down for property incentives to attract foreigners
A proposal to attract foreigners by lengthening property leaseholds from 30 years to 50 years and allowing foreign condo ownership to increase over the 49% current restriction was shot down today by the Centre for Economic Situation Administration. The committee, headed by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, rejected those proposals but did seem open to foreigners being permitted to own up to…
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Thai PM sings away his political blues
With some of the former members of the ruling Palang Pracharat coalition turning against him (and forming their own new political party), and the expulsion of 21 renegade MPs, it’s been a septimana horrabilus (bad week) for the Thai PM. But, when things are bad it’s time to whistle a happy tune, or at least break out into song whilst…
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Thumbs down for Thailand’s Test & Go Version 2
Test & Go V2.0 has received a universal thumbs down by Thaiger readers and viewers. Or just about anywhere else in the online comments space. The rebooted, and slightly more complicated, Test & Go option, part of the three-part Thailand Pass online re-entry program, was relaunched on Thursday for travellers arriving after February 1. Initially launched on November 1, and…
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Nippon Steel makes $763 million acquisition of 2 Thai steelmakers
Japan is making a move to invest in Thai steel. Nippon Steel Corp, the largest manufacturer of steel in Japan has announced a strategic deal to buy stakes in two major steelmakers in Thailand. The deal is reported to be worth as much as US $763 million – about 25 billion baht. The giant steelmaker has been interested in acquqiring…
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Cannabis removal from Thailand’s narcotics list up for discussion
Cannabis is a small step forward toward decriminalisation following the endorsement by the Public Health Ministry’s narcotics control committee draft miniserial announcement excluding cannabis with low THC content from the country’s narcotics list. Cannabis extracts with more than 0.2% of the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, will still be illegal. The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (not to be…
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Storms in Northern Phayao province create a snowlike sight
“When it snows in Thailand” sounds like an alternative version of “when pigs fly”, a snappy way to say that something will never happen. But, photos in the Phu Kamyao district in the Phayao province in Northern Thailand show a thin layer of snow-like ice on the roads after heavy storms. The province sits on the Laos border and includes…
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No early election, no Cabinet reshuffle says Thai PM
The Thai PM says he has no plans to call an early election or to reshuffle his Cabinet after 21 MPs loyal to him were pushed out earlier this week. The Bangkok Post reports that Prayut Chan-o-cha has also distanced himself from the ouster of Thamanat Prompow and 20 other MPs, who have been accused of sowing division within the…
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Sealed route proposal for asymptomatic infected tourists gets lukewarm reception in Phuket
Phuket officials have responded less than enthusiastically to a suggestion that infected asymptomatic tourists be allowed to travel via a sealed route. Pichet Panapong, the province’s deputy governor, says he believes infected tourists should stay in their hotel rooms. According to a Bangkok Post report, he’s already said as much to the immigration chief who initially made the suggestion. Pichet…
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Tourism operators want cost of PCR tests reduced when Test & Go resumes
Following the CCSA’s decision yesterday to resume Test & Go from February 1 (with some changes) tourism operators are urging the government to make PCR testing more affordable. The revamped Test & Go entry scheme now requires overseas arrivals to book a hotel on day 1 and again on day 5 of their stay – and to take a PCR…
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