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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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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392 killed in road accidents during New Year holiday’s “7 Dangerous Days”
Nearly 400 people were killed in road accidents in Thailand over the New Year holiday week known as the “7 Dangerous Days.” Motorcycles were involved in the vast majority of accidents while speeding and drink-driving were the most common causes of accidents. From December 29 up until yesterday, 392 people died in accidents, a 5% increase from last year’s toll…
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YouTube blocks music video with pro-democracy protest footage after legal complaint
A music video by a pro-democracy movement band was blocked on YouTube in Thailand due to a legal complaint from the government, according to the message posted on the video’s page. The band Rap Against Dictatorship, also known as RAD, made a post on their Facebook fan page saying that the music video for their song “Reform” was blocked on…
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Social media users help track down 2 kidnapped children in Bangkok
A man is in police custody in Bangkok after social media users helped track down 2 children allegedly kidnapped in the capital. A 7 year old boy, named only as “B”, and an 8 year old unnamed girl, were visiting a shopping mall in the Phra Khanong district, close to their home, at the time of the incident. According to…
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NE Monsoon in South – warnings of heavy rain and flash floods
South of Thailand is expected to face the northeast monsoon that is expected to bring in heavy rain that may cause flash floods. With the prevailing monsoon in the upper and the lower part of the Gulf of Thailand, some southern provinces, including Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat are likely to be affected by strong winds and waves that…
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Vandals target US politicians over pandemic relief package
Vandals have targeted the homes of US politicians over a hotly-debated $900 billion pandemic relief aid package. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi saw their homes littered with graffiti, fake blood and a pig’s head. “Were’s [sic] my money” and “Mitch kills the poor” graced McConnell’s front door and window in Louisville, Kentucky,…
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Drunk driving claims most traffic accidents over holiday season
Drunk driving is being blamed for most of the road accidents over the 7 deadly days of driving during the New Year season. So far, there have been 2,748 road accidents with 316 deaths and 2,741 injuries reported on the 5th day of the weeklong stretch. Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation says there were about 383 accidents with 44…
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Majority of Thais think economy will get worse – NIDA Poll
A recent poll has indicated that a majority of Thai respondents think that the economy will get worse this year, along with a continued unrest surrounding the political landscape. The survey by the National Institute of Development Administration was conducted December 24-25 on 1,326 people, aged 18 and over of various levels of education and occupations nationwide by random sampling…
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Deputy PM says relying on tourism is “unacceptable”
Thailand’s deputy PM says that relying too much on tourism is “unacceptable.” In Supattanapong Punmeechaow’s speech, he said that the tourism industry will never be allowed to recover to its previous levels. For years, Amazing Thailand was the nation’s slogan, which brought in $56.2 billion in 2019 alone, but after Covid struck, it is clear that there has been a…
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Day 2 of the New Year road safety campaign – 74 people dead
Day 2 of the New Year holiday period (December 30) on Thailand’s roads ended up with 74 dead out of 586 road road accidents. 576 people were injured. It was the second day of the “New Normal, Safe Driving, No Accidents” campaign which was prepared to raise road safety awareness, but ended up buried under much of the Covid news…
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Why Thailand celebrates the New Year not once, not twice, but 3 times
While the year just gone may be referred to as 2020 by most of us (with perhaps a few expletives thrown in, given the year it was), we are currently in the year 2563 in Thailand. As everyone who lives here knows, Thailand uses the Buddhist calendar, as well as the Western, or Gregorian, calendar, adding to our eternal confusion…
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The world aviation industry suffers Annus Horribilis | VIDEO
In the Asia-Pacific, where the affect of Covid-19 has been lower (at this stage), the passenger load was 30-40% down, compared to last year. Overall, international flights for the latter part of 2020 are down 75% year on year. The world’s aviation industry has been profoundly affected by the border closures and restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic…
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The case for temporarily closing hotel and restaurant operations
OPINION by Bill Barnett As the final days of disruptive 2020 come screeching to an erratic end, hotel, and restaurant owners are peering into an unpredictable year ahead. Here in Thailand over the past week, the tourism industry has been shaken to its core over an uptick in Covid-19 cases and backroom speculation over fears of another round of lockdowns. (Restrictions,…
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WOW what a year! Thailand’s top news stories for 2020 as voted by YOU.
TOP 10 (non Covid) THAIGER STORIES FOR 2020 The Thaiger started 2020, as we all did, with high hopes and few clues that we were heading into a profound disruption for almost the entire year. Even as we were tapping away at the keyboards on January 1, 2020, there were stories emerging in Wuhan, China about a mysterious new respiratory…
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Thailand – the Covid vaccine and quarantine | VIDEO
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has issued an official statement stating that, in the short to medium term, “everyone entering Thailand has to do at least a 14 day quarantine”. “The quarantine will apply, even those people who have been vaccinated.” The Public Health Ministry says the reason is because the vaccination process has only just begun in some countries around…
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Multiple challenges to Thai PM’s leadership have failed
Some compare him to Teflon for his ability to survive all manner of allegations, because the legal challenges keep coming and PM Prayut Chan-o-cha keeps winning. The Thai PM has now survived 3 legal challenges to his leadership, not to mention the countless calls for his resignation that were a hallmark of the recent pro-democracy protests. It’s probably safe to…
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6 senior police transferred after Bangkok gambling raid
A Bangkok police chief and 5 senior officers have been transferred for alleged negligence of duty following a gambling den raid in Bangkok’s Laksi area. The Metropolitan Police Bureau will investigate to determine whether the officers had any involvement in the illegal gambling operation. Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau raided the venue in the Thung Song Hong area and arrested 94…
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Government launches seasonal road safety campaign ahead of New Year holiday
It’s that time of year again… The Thai government has launched its road safety and accident reduction centre, part of its annual road safety campaign for the “7 days of danger” over the New Year holiday. The campaign will run from today until January 4, in an attempt to reduce the carnage as holidaymakers take to the roads. The numbers choosing…
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Police arrest 89 people in Bangkok gambling den raid
Police raided a Bangkok gambling den and arrested 89 people for allegedly gambling and violating the Emergency Decree which prohibits unauthorised gatherings in crowded spaces to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The bust follows a Covid-19 outbreak at a gambling den in Rayong, around 60 kilometres from Pattaya and around 180 kilometres from Bangkok. Yesterday, a 45 year old man…
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Domestic tourism subsidy extended, 200,000 rooms booked in first 12 hours
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says an extension to the domestic tourism stimulus campaign has led to 200,000 hotel room bookings within the first 12 hours. TAT governor, Yuthasak Supasorn, says average bookings before the extension were around 50,000 – 60,000 a day. Transactions under the scheme are now being closely monitored, following the discovery of fraudulent bookings during the…
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Man arrested for allegedly stealing from fatal car accident victims
A man was arrested for allegedly stealing valuables from victims of a fatal traffic accident where a 2 pickup trucks collided, killing 2 people and injuring 4. Police say the man pretended to help emergency responders during the rescue and stole valuables from both the deceased and the injured victims. The accident occurred around 11:50am this morning on Mitrapap highway…
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2021’s new normal – the digital Covid passport
Looking forward to travelling, shopping, going to the movies? Now that Covid-19 vaccines are beginning to be rolled out around the world, you may now need something in addition to the actual vaccine. Documentation… a vaccine passport. Documentation, including your current Covid status and vaccination details, will become 2021’s biggest challenge as governments, businesses, and world travel, try and re-establish…
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Murder-suicide at Songkhla Zoo linked to missing rare animal investigation
Investigators say the apparent murder-suicide at the Songkhla Zoo is related to the case of the missing rare deer and claims of illegal wildlife trade. Back in October, the zoo’s senior veterinarian shot and killed a top official from the Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand before killing himself at his living quarters at the Southern Thailand zoo. The organisation’s director-general,…
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Red Bull heir ‘Boss’ has 6 more years until legally free of charges
At the start of the new year, Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya will have 6 more years until he is free from being formerly charged over a hit and run case, involving the death of a police officer, that took place in 2012. The current statute of limitations for reckless driving causing death, one of the charges against Boss,…
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Pro-democracy movement making little headway… monarchy’s powers remain untouched
The cost of pushing for change in 2020 by Thailand’s pro-democracy movement is still being splashed all over the news after more than 55 protesters sustained injuries at rally sites, mostly minor. And, as the year comes to an end, protest leaders say they are taking a break, only to come back stronger in 2021. But some question whether the…
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TAT launch new Alternative State Quarantine “one stop shop” in Thailand
The TAT have launched a new “one stop” shop for quarantine (Alternative State Quarantine) bookings in Thailand. The new website is designed to be a single place for booking quarantine hotels during the time when arrival in Thailand is welcomed with a mandatory 14 day stay (which seems to end up as 15 days in many cases) in a government-qualified…
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Thai government plans to amend business, immigration rules, for foreign investors
Foreign investors in Thailand have long decried the onerous, complex, and sometimes downright baffling, bureaucracy that comes with doing business in the Land of Smiles. And it appears officials in Bangkok are finally sitting up and taking notice. Nation Thailand reports that, in an effort to stimulate the ailing economy, the government plans to make some changes to the regulations…
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Minister’s insistence Thailand’s moon mission will go ahead sparks social media debate
Debate is raging on social media following a claim from the Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, that Thailand’s plan to orbit the Moon is going ahead. Anek Laothamatas adds that it will be “mission accomplished” within the next 7 years, costing, “only 3 billion baht”. A report in the Bangkok Post says that, according to Anek, Thailand…
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Thai government promises more long weekends in 2021, travel bubbles after April
In a bid to further boost domestic tourism, the Thai government plans to create more holidays in 2021, as well as introducing travel bubbles after April. The Tourism and Sports Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, says every month in the coming year could have a long weekend, as homegrown tourists continue to be the main focus for at least the first quarter…
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A very merry Christmas from The Thaiger team
Caitlin, Champ, Earth, Jett, May, Austin, Tim and Mike would like to wish every single one of our readers a heartfelt Merry Christmas. Whilst the challenges of 2020 have brought grief, confusion and sadness to many, it’s also reminded us about the importance of family and friendships. It’s also been a year of change for us too… we’re all in…
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Reasons to celebrate being in Thailand for Christmas
Let’s face it, if you live in Thailand but normally spend Christmas in your home country or elsewhere, that’s unlikely to be happening this year. And if you don’t live in Thailand but have found yourself stuck here (and what a place to be stuck!), then consider yourself incredibly lucky. There are far worse places to spend Christmas – and…
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