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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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    How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?

    Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....

  • Thai man turns to knife crime because his ex-wife ‘wants a farang husband’

    Thai man turns to knife crime because his ex-wife ‘wants a farang husband’

    A 40 year old Thai man stabbed his ex-mother-in-law on Saturday night in Buriram province in northeast Thailand. He told police that he lost it because he heard that his ex-wife “wants a farang husband.” When Chutiphon heard that his 36 year old ex-wife Suthani was looking for a Western husband, he drank himself into a hole and climbed over…

  • Thai govt earned 2.02 trillion baht in 10 months but still borrowed

    Thai govt earned 2.02 trillion baht in 10 months but still borrowed

    The Fiscal Policy Office of Thailand revealed the kingdom filled its coffers with 2.02 trillion baht in the past ten months but still had to borrow about 658 billion baht to overcome its deficit. The Director of the Fiscal Policy Office of Thailand, Pornchai Theerawet, yesterday revealed that Thailand earned 2.02 trillion baht in the first 10 months of the…

  • Opening day of 2022 welfare sees 1.86 million people register

    Opening day of 2022 welfare sees 1.86 million people register

    Yesterday marked the opening date for registration for state welfare for 2022, and people flooded the registration process both online and in person. By 3pm on the opening day, officials reported that 1.86 million people across Thailand had already registered for the state welfare card project. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, who also serves as the director-general of…

  • Study uses mobile data to improve domestic tourism trends

    Study uses mobile data to improve domestic tourism trends

    A new study used mobile data from mobile operator DTAC’s customers to analyse their movements and extrapolate strategies for increasing domestic tourism within Thailand. The study was conducted by Chulalongkorn University, the National Digital Economy and Society Commission, and Boonmee Lab, and used data from June 2020 to October 2021 of 10% of DTAC’s customers who fit the travel parameters…

  • Humpbacked beggar illegally earning over 100,000 baht a month sent back to Cambodia

    Humpbacked beggar illegally earning over 100,000 baht a month sent back to Cambodia

    A compassionate Thai man says he feels deceived after he tried to help a disabled Cambodian beggar get treatment only to discover he earned over 100,000 baht per month illegally. Guntouch “Gun” Pongpaiboonwet, aka Gun Jom Palang, last week announced on Facebook that he would contact the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (M-Society) to help the Cambodian man…

  • Suspect in alleged rape case provides court with video

    Suspect in alleged rape case provides court with video

    UPDATE: Aphidit reveals secret video of him and actress in court to request bail The Thai actress allegedly drugged and raped was shocked that the man accused, Aplidit “Em” Intulasksana, showed the court a video he secretly recorded of the incident. The singer-songwriter actress, and her lawyer, Sittha Beerbangkird, visited the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok and witnessed…

  • Hike on traffic fines delayed, but ticket prices will be consistant

    Hike on traffic fines delayed, but ticket prices will be consistant

    Writing news in Thailand frequently means announcing something and then the next day announcing the opposite. And true to form, the new major hike in penalty fines for traffic violations announced before the weekend and scheduled to go into effect yesterday… have been retracted. But when they do go into effect, repeat offenders will be further penalised, and a new…

  • Constitutional Court may make prime minister decision Thursday

    Constitutional Court may make prime minister decision Thursday

    The decision on Prayut Chan-o-cha’s future and the prime ministership may be decided this week as the Constitutional Court scheduled a special meeting on Thursday to discuss it. Last Thursday his legal team submitted a 30-page document that lays out his defence against all the arguments regarding his term limits to the Constitutional Court. The court will review this document,…

  • UPDATE: Chaiwat denies murdering Karen activist ‘Billy’ in western Thailand

    UPDATE: Chaiwat denies murdering Karen activist ‘Billy’ in western Thailand

    UPDATE: Chaiwat denies murdering Karen activist ‘Billy’ in western Thailand Former superintendent of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, denies all allegations that he and three other national park officials abducted and murdered Karen activist Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen in 2014. Last month, Chaiwat and three others were indicted after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) found additional evidence that Billy…

  • Knife-wielding Taiwanese druggie arrested for trying to steal a car

    Knife-wielding Taiwanese druggie arrested for trying to steal a car

    A drug-crazed Taiwanese man was arrested yesterday at a petrol station in the central province of Ayutthaya after he threatened victims with a knife and tried to steal a car. The 28 year old Ou Jui Hao was out of his mind from the effects of methamphetamine as he tried to rob a car at a petrol station on the…

  • Super Poll: Most Thais welcome acting PM Prawit as the next PM

    Super Poll: Most Thais welcome acting PM Prawit as the next PM

    A Super Poll research centre survey has revealed that the majority of Thai people trust the judicial administration of Thailand and are willing to give a chance to caretaker Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan to serve as the kingdom’s next PM. Super Poll research centre director Noppadon Kannika yesterday announced the result of the survey titled Trust the Court, the Peaceful…

  • Allegedly drunk Brit kills Thai man in car crash in central Thailand

    Allegedly drunk Brit kills Thai man in car crash in central Thailand

    An alleged drunken Englishman killed one Thai man and injured another in a car crash in Rayong province in the central part of Thailand. Locals who know the foreign driver told police he is regularly drunk and often drives in the wrong direction. The Englishman, 70 year old Stephen Peter Hobbs, was arrested yesterday after he reversed his pickup into…

  • Bridge over troubled waters for Thailand-bound Russian snowbird tourists

    Bridge over troubled waters for Thailand-bound Russian snowbird tourists

    Russian travellers have ritually sought out islands in the tropical sun since the demolition of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Hellbent on escaping bitterly cold winters, these snowbirds in the lead-up years to the pandemic became the second largest international source market for Phuket’s mass market tourism surge. Now, coming out of the pandemic in the age of a return…

  • Nurse embezzles 15.7 million baht from dead man’s bank

    Nurse embezzles 15.7 million baht from dead man’s bank

    A 46 year old nurse faces time in prison for allegedly stealing almost 16 million baht from a dead man’s bank account. Satang Thongramphan from Phitsanulok province in northern Thailand transferred 15.7 million baht from the man’s account to hers using his stolen smartphone via a mobile banking app. Police arrested the woman at her house in Phitsanulok, Muang district…

  • Phuket hotels team up with HSMAI for digital tourism and travel marketing workshop

    Phuket hotels team up with HSMAI for digital tourism and travel marketing workshop

    Phuket’s tourism industry continues to wait and wonder when Mainland Chinese will be allowed to travel overseas, in the wake of China’s zero-Covid policy. As Thailand’s leading resort island moves towards the high season, hoteliers are looking to bridge the China gap and look to new markets to replace the expected lower volume of travel-challenged Russian tourists. Addressing these challenges is…

  • Machine invented to replace monkeys climbing coconut trees

    Machine invented to replace monkeys climbing coconut trees

    Monkeys climbing coconut trees have been an icon in Thailand for years, but have also drawn the ire of animal rights groups like People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Now the Agriculture Department has invented a machine that can help farmers climb coconut trees themselves, eliminating the need to train and use monkeys to harvest coconuts. PETA released…

  • Hopefuls assess and prepare to run for prime minister

    Hopefuls assess and prepare to run for prime minister

    While the Constitutional Court is mulling over when Prayut Chan-o-cha’s term as prime minister officially ends, with the suspended PM submitting his defence on Thursday, several hopefuls eyeing the premiership have assessed their chances and taken steps in preparation. The Sang Anakhot Thai Party (translating to “Building Thailand’s Future”) intends to nominate former Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and has…

  • Maid abuse case shines light on layers of corruption

    Maid abuse case shines light on layers of corruption

    On the surface, the policewoman who beat her maid is appalling enough, but as details unfold, they uncover multi-layered rotten corruption laying bare countless cases of abuse of power all the way to the top and connected to the acting prime minister. Not only did the maid endure the abuse in exchange for a pass into the Royal Thai Army,…

  • A work week of heavy rain coming up in Thailand

    A work week of heavy rain coming up in Thailand

    This coming week is probably a good time in Thailand to pack your umbrella before going to work every day if you don’t already. A work week of heavy rain is coming up in Thailand as the monsoon season pushes on. From Monday to Friday, September 5-9, the Thai Meteorological Department predicts more rains across most regions of the country.…

  • Driver who blocked van at Phuket pier: “We are NOT taxi mafia”

    Driver who blocked van at Phuket pier: “We are NOT taxi mafia”

    A scuffle between taxi drivers at the Rassada Pier in Phuket on Friday, with three female and one male tourist trapped in the middle, has taxi drivers at the pier arguing that they are not mafia. The travellers had just returned from Koh Phi Phi just after 10am and chose not to use their transportation from the stand at the…

  • UPDATE: Prayut calls in army to help with Phuket floods

    UPDATE: Prayut calls in army to help with Phuket floods

    UPDATE After floods wreaked havoc in Phuket yesterday, General Prayut Chan-o-cha has today called in the Royal Thai Army for some backup to help the island province’s victims, and pump out flood water. Prayut has ordered army officers to pump out water in the area around the Phuket International Airport. He has also ordered to officers to help victims in…

  • Traffic fines see a hefty price spike on Monday

    Traffic fines see a hefty price spike on Monday

    Bad and disobedient drivers better get it out of their systems quickly over the weekend! On Monday, increased fines for traffic offences – some rather steep – will go into effect in Thailand after the Land Traffic Act is updated. Yesterday, the Director of the Traffic Management Center and Deputy National Police Chief laid out a list of hefty new…

  • LTR visa: will the benefits lure expats to drive the economy?

    LTR visa: will the benefits lure expats to drive the economy?

    The new 10-year long-term resident visa was launched on Thursday to convert visitors into expats by offering benefits and tax breaks to attract foreigners from around the world. Though, they’ve made clear that they’re looking only for the top-tier wealthy travellers to move to Thailand and take advantage of the LTR visa. The new visa is only offered exclusively to…

  • 10 year old girl allegedly forced into child labour & abused by parents

    10 year old girl allegedly forced into child labour & abused by parents

    Non-profit organization Zendai yesterday rescued an abused 10 year old girl they found selling snacks at a petrol station in the Ayutthaya province of central Thailand. The child had wounds and bruises on her body and face. Zendai (เส้นด้าย) posted a video of the girl on their Facebook page highlighting her plight… “One of our team found this girl selling…

  • VIDEO: Phuket Airport and surrounding areas engulfed by floods

    VIDEO: Phuket Airport and surrounding areas engulfed by floods

    Floodwater is being pumped out of Phuket Airport and surrounding areas following heavy rainfall. No flights have been cancelled yet but the airport has requested passengers to arrive three to four hours before their scheduled departure time. “Heavy rain in Phuket province has resulted in flooding at Phuket Airport. Urgent remedial action is being taken in all flooded areas,” said…

  • UPDATE: German activist gets a warning from Thailand police

    UPDATE: German activist gets a warning from Thailand police

    The German activist, who earlier this week held a one-man protest against acting Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, acknowledged that his visa might not be extended if he continues his protest against the Thai government. Moritz Pfoh and his Thai wife arrived in Bangkok today in preparation for a protest in the capital tomorrow and revealed that police officers visited him…

  • Thai woman forced into prostitution in Dubai seeks help for 3 imprisoned friends

    Thai woman forced into prostitution in Dubai seeks help for 3 imprisoned friends

    A 40 year old Thai woman who claims she escaped forced prostitution in Dubai is pleading for help for her three friends, who are still imprisoned in Dubai, UAE, by a gang of Thai brokers. Ms. A (pseudonym), originally from Sri Saket province in northeast Thailand, says she and three other Thai women were tricked by the brokers. The men…

  • Prayut returns PM’s car to Government House

    Prayut returns PM’s car to Government House

    Thailand’s now former PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha, has returned the prime minister’s car and three motorcade vehicles to Government House. Prayut’s driver returned the vehicles. From now on, Prayut is using his car, a Mercedes Benz, to get around. This news comes after Thailand’s Constitutional Court suspended Prayut from his position as PM on August 24. Out of the nine people…

  • Thailand to host APEC CEO Summit 2022 with a focus on post-Covid economies

    Thailand to host APEC CEO Summit 2022 with a focus on post-Covid economies

    Thailand is set to host the APEC CEO Summit 2022 with a key theme of focusing on rehabilitating economies after the Covid-19 epidemic. The Embrace, Engage and Enable theme will see a gathering of the world’s top CEOs, policymakers, and other leaders from 21 member economies. Set to start on November 16-18, 2022, organisers say the summit will be the…

  • Inaugural Vietnam Airlines flight lands in Phuket, Thailand

    Inaugural Vietnam Airlines flight lands in Phuket, Thailand

    Yesterday at 11am, Vietnam Airlines’ inaugural flight from Ho Chih Minh City landed at Phuket International Airport with 161 tourists on board. Passengers on flight VN9625 were given a warm welcome from the Director of Phuket Airport Monchai Tanod, and the Deputy Director of Phuket Airport’s Business Support Line Kanyarat Suthipatanakit. With Thailand’s monsoon season in full swing, all passengers…