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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.

  • Koh Pha Ngan ranked top workation location in the world | Thaiger

    Koh Pha Ngan ranked top workation location in the world

    Open your suitcases and your chakras – Koh Pha Ngan has been ranked as the top destination for a workation – an increasingly popular way of squeezing in a getaway while continuing to work. The popular tourist island in the southern Thailand province of Surat Thani ranks number one out of 16 choices gathered and analyzed by William Russell, a prominent…

  • Goverment’s rough week: Minister with Covid-19, Parliament flood | Thaiger

    Goverment’s rough week: Minister with Covid-19, Parliament flood

    This just wasn’t the Thai government’s weekend. Another minister tested positive for Covid-19, while the new Parliament complex has flooded. Again. Minister of Industry Suriya Juangroongruangkit announced today that he has tested positive for Covid-19, just days after Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul announced catching the virus. The Industry Minister is fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca and has received a…

  • Bangkok is best city in Southeast Asia according to travel mag | Thaiger

    Bangkok is best city in Southeast Asia according to travel mag

    Bangkok is at the top of a list of the 2022 10 best cities in Southeast Asia, ranked by travel magazine Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia. The list was published last week. The next 9 best cities in Southeast Asia, in order, are: Singapore, Danang, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Chiang Mai, Hong Kong, Saigon, Phenom Phen, and Jakarta. So why is…

  • Thailand tourism: 9.3 million arrivals predicted, south busy | Thaiger

    Thailand tourism: 9.3 million arrivals predicted, south busy

    In its latest estimates, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports predicts that the second half of 2022 will bring more than 7 million travellers to Thailand. The first 6 months nearly hit the 2 million tourist mark, with 1.987 million visitors arriving from abroad from the beginning of January until June 28. Tourism generated around 114 billion baht so far…

  • Thai PM Prayut ‘positive’ about expected tourist influx | Thaiger

    Thai PM Prayut ‘positive’ about expected tourist influx

    Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he is confident about the country’s expected tourist influx this year, according to a government spokesperson. Thailand’s CCSA scrapped the Thailand Pass on Friday, July 1. Now, the Tourism and Sports Ministry expects a total of about 9.3 million foreign visitors to arrive in the ‘Land of Smiles’ this year. The compulsory US$10,000 insurance was…

  • What will be Thailand’s new tourism mix? – VIDEO | Thaiger

    What will be Thailand’s new tourism mix? – VIDEO

    This is an hour-long discussion with our YouTube audience… Now the Thailand Pass is history, Thailand’s tourism moves into a new era. From now until high season there will be many new dynamics that will affect how the kingdom recovers its vital status as a top 10 world tourism destination. Also, the mask dilemma. We’re sick of talking about face…

  • Coalition calls for cannabis regulation, ban for youth | Thaiger

    Coalition calls for cannabis regulation, ban for youth

    If like many, you doubted the legalisation of cannabis without regulation in Thailand as too good to be true, the backlash that has already begun will be no surprise. PM Prayut Chan-o-Cha has already curbed cannabis patents to prevent foreign market domination and banned its use on military sites, while vendors selling joints were shut down on Khaosan Road after…

  • Travel to Surat Thani, it’s where the fun begins | Jay and Natty’s Adventures | Thaiger

    Travel to Surat Thani, it’s where the fun begins | Jay and Natty’s Adventures

    The Thaiger‘s Natty and Jay recently went on a long weekend trip to Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani, and they’re dying to show our viewers their adventures. People typically see Surat Thani as a passing point to somewhere exciting like Koh Samui, Koh Tao, and Koh Phangan. But The Thaiger’s top news presenters want people to know about Surat…

  • Price of made-to-order food surge in Thailand | Thaiger

    Price of made-to-order food surge in Thailand

    Price inflation continues to rear its head in Thailand and across the globe. The latest item to get more expensive is made-to-order food. The average price per dish of made-to-order food bumped up by about 3.7 baht or 6.7% in May, according to a year-on-year comparison by the food delivery app Line Man Wongnai. The report said that dishes with…

  • Thailand tourism looking up, predictions of 1.5 million per month | Thaiger

    Thailand tourism looking up, predictions of 1.5 million per month

    After years of devastation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Thailand looks hopefully toward a resurgence of tourism with the further easing of restrictions starting yesterday. The required Thailand Pass for entry into the country is no longer needed as the restriction was lifted yesterday, with tourism authorities predicting an influx of travellers entering the country as a result. Tourism and Sports…

  • Pattaya eyes tourism revival with nightlife until 2am again | Thaiger

    Pattaya eyes tourism revival with nightlife until 2am again

    Pattaya is expecting a tourism revival now that the government has lifted another Covid-19 restriction and nightlife is allowed to open until 2 am. Pattaya mayor Poramet Ngampichet praised the easement, predicting it will open the door to tourists from around the world including the Middle East and the UK, and about 3 to 4 million tourists from India, who…

  • UPDATE: Resort in eastern Thailand denies media claims | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Resort in eastern Thailand denies media claims

    UPDATE A resort in eastern Thailand has released a statement yesterday denying media claims that police accused its foreign directors of wrongdoing. The statement refuted other claims as well, and said police have not issued arrest warrants on any of the resort’s directors. The accusations are in light of a fire that gutted one of the resort’s villas in March.…

  • Police tracking down British nationals after March fire in eastern Thailand | Thaiger

    Police tracking down British nationals after March fire in eastern Thailand

    After a fire gutted a resort villa in Thailand’s eastern province of Trat in March, 3 executives are being charged. The charges include causing a fire by negligence, causing damages to people’s property, endangering other persons, and allowing others to use the building for hotel business without obtaining a license from the local officials. The massive fire broke out at…

  • Unlicensed pool villa in Pattaya raided by police | Thaiger

    Unlicensed pool villa in Pattaya raided by police

    Residents living in View Point Village in Bang Lamueng district in Pattaya filed a complaint to the authorities after foreigners caused carnage at an unlicensed pool villa. The Assistant District Officer, Pornchai Sung-iad, investigated the View Point Village, where several houses operate as pool villas and found that a number of locals were concerned that more properties in the area…

  • Pink and Yellow monorail lines will be in service in 2023 | Thaiger

    Pink and Yellow monorail lines will be in service in 2023

    The lives of Bangkok commuters are about to become a lot easier after news broke yesterday that trial runs were being scheduled in October on the Pink and Yellow monorail lines. The 52.6 billion baht Pink Line is about 14% away from being finished while the 49 billion baht Yellow Line’s construction is 93% complete. Commuters will be able to…

  • Storm ‘Chaba’ to impact Thailand, meteorologists say | Thaiger

    Storm ‘Chaba’ to impact Thailand, meteorologists say

    Thailand’s monsoon season is still alive and kicking, with a new storm potentially on the way to bring more winds and gusty rain to parts of the country from today (Friday) until tomorrow (Saturday), particularly in the north-east areas of the country. The Thai Meteorological Department said a tropical storm ‘Chaba’ is currently moving through the upper South China Sea.…

  • Thai bank apps crash on payday causes customer outrage | Thaiger

    Thai bank apps crash on payday causes customer outrage

    Siam Commercial Bank joined Bangkok Bank, and TMB Thanachart Bank in causing chaos throughout Thailand this morning when their banking apps crashed. They not only wreaked turmoil throughout the land but they also managed to unite all of its customers – in anger, after their mobile banking systems crashed on the day their salaries were supposed to be transferred into…

  • Goodbye, adios, good riddance Thailand Pass – OPINION | Thaiger

    Goodbye, adios, good riddance Thailand Pass – OPINION

    From today, July 1, there is no more Thailand Pass. The digital online pre-travel registration for people coming into Thailand has had a checkered history and left a bad taste in the north of many foreigners, and Thais, who have had a poor experience with the digital gateway. After the launch of the Phuket Sandbox on July 1, 2021 –…

  • Bangkok abbot says he didn’t embezzle 95 million baht | Thaiger

    Bangkok abbot says he didn’t embezzle 95 million baht

    The chief monk at Wat Sutthi Wararam Buddhist temple in Bangkok yesterday insisted he is innocent of any embezzlement charges after a renewed complaint was made against him. The temple’s former accountant, Channarong Phiandi, has made a fresh complaint against the abbot, Phra Sutheerattanabundit, maintaining he embezzled 95 million baht and disposed of a partially cremated corpse into the Chao…

  • Thailand’s Prayut orders drug crackdown | Thaiger

    Thailand’s Prayut orders drug crackdown

    Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered a crackdown on illegal drugs in the country. At an anti-drug award ceremony yesterday, Prayut urged local officials to continue cracking down on drug rings, as well as their financial supporters. However, the PM also stressed that rehabilitating addicts need occupational training to help them rebuild their lives. Prayut also brought up the need…

  • China key to Thailand’s tourism industry recovery | Thaiger

    China key to Thailand’s tourism industry recovery

    The Tourism Council of Thailand yesterday confessed that building up tourism to pre-Covid-19 levels is going to be a challenge to the kingdom despite encouraging signs of recovery this year. And without Chinese tourists, the task remains even harder. The last of Thailand’s Covid-related restrictions were lifted today. Tourists no longer need a Thailand Pass or insurance, and you don’t…

  • UPDATE: Central Thailand gold robber was a chief correctional officer | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Central Thailand gold robber was a chief correctional officer

    UPDATE The man who robbed a gold shop in central Thailand yesterday has been arrested, and found to be a chief correctional officer. The man held up a gold shop in the province of Pathum Thani, stealing 6 necklaces. Altogether, the necklaces were worth about 450,000 baht. The thief snatched the pricey necklaces from a shop in a Tesco Lotus…

  • Police close joints on Khao San Road for selling cannabis without a licence | Thaiger

    Police close joints on Khao San Road for selling cannabis without a licence

    Police have closed all shops selling cannabis on Khao San Road in Bangkok for operating without a license on a public road. The police told the businesses that selling cannabis wasn’t wrong, but it is illegal without permission to do so. Since cannabis was decriminalised on June 9 and removed from the Public Health Ministry’s narcotics category, cannabis shops have…

  • Thailand’s magical festivals, but which one is the best? | Thaiger

    Thailand’s magical festivals, but which one is the best?

    There are so many magical festivals on Thailand’s calendar it’s difficult to choose the best one. But being involved in one of these celebrated events is always enjoyable. It’s also a fantastic way of learning about the tradition and culture in the Land of Smiles. Here is a list of festivals The Thaiger recommends you experience when you’re in Thailand.…

  • Thai PM tells nation to buckle up for ‘winds of change’ | Thaiger

    Thai PM tells nation to buckle up for ‘winds of change’

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday became all metaphorical at the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) Expo 2022, “Shaping Future Industries for Stronger Thailand,” likening the kingdom to a “car” and how the nation needs to face up to “the winds of change.” The 68 year old called for more innovation from his fellow countrymen to meet the needs of evolving technological…

  • Norwegian man stabs himself in Pattaya hotel | Thaiger

    Norwegian man stabs himself in Pattaya hotel

    A Norwegian man allegedly stabbed himself in the stomach last night while alone in his hotel bedroom in Pattaya. Frank Gjesvold was rushed to hospital with a gaping wound to the abdomen after staff heard screams for help at 11.30pm from room 409 at a hotel in the South Pattaya area, Nong Prue subdistrict, in Chon Buri province. Staff banged…

  • Chiang Mai protestors send Prayut a message, despite thousands of police | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai protestors send Prayut a message, despite thousands of police

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha received a message after visiting the northern province of Chiang Mai yesterday. A group of protestors known as Kiat Lampang ‘greeted’ Prayut outside the airport. The group had announced on its Facebook page… “Come and welcome and chase out Prayut! At the international airport, Chiang Mai, today will definitely follow and chase him all day.” Prayut later…

  • Bangkok open-air film festival is free to moviegoers next month | Thaiger

    Bangkok open-air film festival is free to moviegoers next month

    Bangkok’s open-air film festival, Krung Thep Klang Plang, which means Bangkok open-air theatres, rolls out the red carpet for the whole month of July. The open-air theaters will be held at a number of different locations throughout the city, and the first event kicks off on July 7 at Laan Kon Mueng space in front of the Bangkok City Hall,…

  • Thai Police ordered to pay 3.4 million baht for torturing teenager | Thaiger

    Thai Police ordered to pay 3.4 million baht for torturing teenager

    South Bangkok Civil Court yesterday ordered The Royal Thai Police to pay about 3.4 million baht in compensation for the false imprisonment and brutal torture of a teenager in 2009. Rittirong Chuenchit was arrested by Prachin Buri Police’s criminal investigation team on January 28, 2009, for suspected theft. During the investigation, police tried to extract a confession from the victim,…

  • Thai PM promises to accelerate Thailand’s electric vehicle future | Thaiger

    Thai PM promises to accelerate Thailand’s electric vehicle future

    The Thai PM wants to cement Thailand’s reputation as the biggest SE Asian hub for car manufacturing, and electric cars too. Currently Thailand is the world’s 10th largest manufacturer of vehicles (OICA 2021). Some of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers – Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Ford, Volvo and BMW – have manufacturing plants in Thailand. Last…