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 Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Chicken or the beef? Thai Airways opens up pop-up restaurants serving their airline food.
“Please return to your seat, pull down your tray table and prepare for the in-flight catering.” If you can’t make money by flying people on jets, set up a restaurant selling your airline food instead. Now Thai Airways has transformed its old cafeteria in Bangkok into a pop-up restaurant serving, well, the same airline food they used to serve during flights.…
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2 foreigners arrested for allegedly selling illegal guns, grenades
Police arrested a Singaporean and an Indonesian man for allegedly selling illegal guns, explosives and ammunition after police found bullets, grenades and handguns in a condominium in Bangkok’s Huay Khwang district. The Singaporean man, known as 26 year old Bink, and the Indonesian, known as 32 year old Aiden, are facing charges of possession and selling of guns and explosives without…
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Woman allegedly kills elderly stylist over bad haircut
A young woman was arrested yesterday after she allegedly killed an elderly hairstylist for giving her a bad haircut. Araya Sra-On is facing charges of intentional murder as well as robbery for allegedly stealing jewellery off the woman’s body after she’d allegedly murdered her. Police say Araya has admitted to killing 74 year old Banyat Kanthong at her shop in Phitsanulok,…
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Food services return to Thailand’s domestic flights
If you’ve travelled on a Thai domestic flight recently you’ll know that it’s been a relatively boring experience. One the safety demo is over, that’s the last you see of the flight attendants as they head to the back of the plane and chat – there’s been nothing else for them to do because of the ban on food and…
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Belgian arrested after living and working in Thailand without a passport for 4 years
A 49 year old Belgian man has been arrested by Thai immigration police after being discovered living in the Kingdom without a passport. The man was reported to be living in an apartment at Wang Thonglang, a north east suburb of Bangkok. Officials started an investigation into a “good looking European man” that spoke fluent Thai and discovered that the man has…
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Thailand enters space race, air force satellite launched
Thailand has entered the space race. The Royal Thai Air Force launched its first satellite into space yesterday morning. The satellite will be used for general data collecting as well as for security purposes in efforts to prevent foreign countries from spying on Thailand. The nanosatellite, Napa-1, was launched at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. It was one…
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Tourism officials look to end dual pricing for expats
“The key factor is we have to treat expats like locals, without discrimination or a negative attitude towards foreigners.” Admission fees at national parks and tourist attractions are often drastically higher for expats than they are for Thai nationals. Foreigners sometimes even pay 10 times more than Thais. Tourism officials say they might put an end to dual pricing for…
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50 tonnes of dodgy durian seized and destroyed in China
In a move that will attract thanks from 1000s of westerners, China has destroyed nearly 50 tonnes of illegally imported durian, valued around 5.5 million baht. The durians had been smuggled into China. Shiokou, a border town in Cao Bang Province in Vietnam, was where the dodgy durian was intercepted. The land port has been operating since 1792 and plays…
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Holiday plans cancelled at border district, Koh Samui expects tourist boom
People are cancelling their trips to a Kanchanaburi district for the 4-day weekend after a coronavirus scare at a local school. Koh Samui is expecting the opposite. The southern province Surat Thani is expecting such a large influx in tourists that some airlines and ferries have doubled their services for the holiday. In Thong Pha Phum, Kanchanaburi’s border district, the…
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Bangkok cop under fire after releasing inmate
A Bangkok police officer is looking at potential criminal charges after he allegedly let a drug suspect go free and took her to a hotel. Some reports claim officer Pot Boontip made a deal with the inmate, trading sex for freedom. The officer says that part of the story isn’t true. Boontip says he took the 48 year old woman…
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Koh Phangan cannabis farm raided by police
A Koh Phangan cannabis farm was raided today and police seized 40 plants. Meanwhile, Thai lawmakers are reviewing a bill that would allow people to grow cannabis. But these growers might have jumped the gun. Police say the farm was around 1 rai (.3 acres), and hidden in the forests of Koh Phangan. The seized cannabis plants weighed around 60…
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Burmese man seriously injured after violent attack in Pattaya
A Burmese man has been hospitalised in Pattaya after being violently attacked by a group of unidentified men in the main city area. The Pattaya News reports that the 32 year old man, named only as ‘Aree’, sustained several injuries, including one to his left eye, after being beaten with a belt with a metal buckle. The attack occurred around…
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Thailand’s Health Minister optimistic about admitting business travellers
The Thai Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, admits Thailand is caught between a rock and a hard place and can’t go on locking all foreigners out forever, in an effort to prevent a resurgence of the Covid-19 virus. “We will either die of the disease or of hunger, so we have to face the challenge.” He adds that the Kingdom…
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PM’s daughters sue 100 people for defamation
Rumours spreading over social media about the Thai PM’s twin daughters are so far from the truth that the twins have filed a lawsuit against more than 100 people for defamation. Lawyer Apiwat Khanthong, representing twins Thanya and Nittha Chan-o-cha, says more than 100 social media accounts are facing libel charges under Thailand’s Computer Crime Act and the Criminal Code.…
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Royal Thai Police to take legal action against 21 officers in “Boss” case
The Royal Thai Police says it accepts the findings of a recently concluded inquiry into the “Boss” fiasco and will begin legal proceedings against 21 of the Police officers involved. The Bangkok Post reports that RTP representatives Jaruwat Waisaya and Kissana Phathanacharoen confirmed the move at a press briefing yesterday, adding that national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda will take charge…
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Foreigners arrested over eco-vandalism off Koh Phangan
A Hungarian and Dutch man have been arrested for picking up sea animals and taking photos with them whilst diving off Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand. They then posted them on social media, probably oblivious to their potentially criminal act. Police described the two as “long-stayers on Koh Phangan”. Their selfies sparked plenty of outrage from Thai netizens…
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Russian arrested for selling medicine illegally at Pattaya drugstore
Police arrested a Russian man who was allegedly sold medicines and cosmetics illegally at a Pattaya pharmacy. Police raided the “Dr. Holland” shop on Jomtien Beach Road and found 64 medicines and supplement products that they say violated Thai law or were improperly licensed. 46 year old Kirll Tarasov allegedly ran the Dr. Holland shop and police believe he is…
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Don Mueang falling below passenger goal
Despite the return to the skies by many of Thailand’s domestic airlines – Thai Air Asia, Thai Lion Air, Thai VietJet, Nok Air Thai Smile, Bangkok Air – Don Mueang Airport has been quiet with only a third of the passengers they’re used to. The Bangkok airport, mostly serving the budget airlines, is even falling below the conservative goals they…
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Body found with gunshot wound, police open murder investigation
Police have opened a murder investigation after a man’s body was found in a drain in the southern province Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand. He had a gunshot wound to his head and officers say he was shot from a close range. His hands were found handcuffed behind his back. A local was fishing at the Tha Rua-Hua Trud canal…
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Expats arrested after posing for selfies while handling protected sea creatures
A Dutch man and a Hungarian national are in custody after picking up protected sea creatures while diving off Koh Pha Ngan in the southern province of Surat Thani. Nation Thailand reports that the Hungarian man, named as Attila Ott, is a scuba diving instructor, who owns the Pink Panther Scuba Dive Club on the island. The Dutch man has…
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“Boss” inquiry uncovers evidence of corruption and conspiracy
The inquiry ordered by Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha into the handling of the case against Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya has uncovered a trail of corruption and conspiracy. The fugitive Red Bull heir, grandson of the Red Bull co-founder Chaleo Yoovidhya, was accused of killing a 47 year old Bangkok police officer in September 2012 by dragging him and his motorbike under…
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Government’s economic task force meets to discuss job creation, “Phuket Model”
The government’s Covid-19 economic management team meets today, with a number of stimulus measures expected to be announced. Nation Thailand reports that officials plan to discuss job creation for graduates, along with yet more talks on how to safely welcome international tourists. Deputy PM and Energy Minister, Supattanapong Punmeechaow, says any measures announced are expected to be short-term. The government…
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A glimmer of hope for expats unable to satisfy minimum income requirements
September 26 looms as a dark day for many foreigners who have been unable to sort out a way to either leave the country or stay in Thailand. But at least one Thai immigration office appears to be discussing some leniency in this crazy time. Phuket Immigration has specifically addressed the issue for foreigners on a non-immigrant B (Business) visa…
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Student union president arrested in Bangkok for July rally
The president of the Student Union of Thailand was arrested while in a taxi on her way to class in Bangkok. This comes after a string of arrests police have made on political activists with many charges relating to the pro-democracy protest in July. 21 year old Jutatip Sirikhan video recorded her arrest and posted it live on her Facebook…
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Wow! TAT says they’ll give expats 500 baht to boost tourism
Where would you go with 500 baht? Probably not very far. The Tourism Authority of Thailand says they’re going to hand out 500 baht discount for each trip they take. TAT says they hope that the 2 million baht budget scheme will help stimulate domestic tourism. The 500 baht is expected to encourage the expats to “travel in the country…
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Pro-Monarchy group denies assaulting cleaner who wore red shirt
The leader of the royalist group, Thai Pakdee, has hit back at reports that a security guard at Sunday’s rally in Bangkok attacked a cleaner for wearing a red shirt. According to a Nation Thailand report, Warong Dechgitvigrom denies there was any political motivation behind the assault. He says the attack did not take place near the rally venue, explaining…
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Police ordered to keep traffic moving after heavy flooding during Bangkok’s peak
Traffic police in Bangkok are being instructed to keep the capital’s roads clear after heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding from around 2am this morning. Krisana Pattanajaroen, deputy spokesman for the Royal Thai Police, says officers have been tasked with preventing traffic jams, particularly along Bangkok’s busiest thoroughfares, as well as removing any potential obstacles. The heavy rains started early in…
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Bangkok is getting smarter: 4 districts focused in urban plan
Bangkok is becoming a so-called “smart city” with an urban development plan focused on making improvements to city technology and infrastructure. The National Charter of Thailand says they’re focusing on 4 districts: Chinatown, Asoke, Rattanakosin Island and Tao Poon. For the Yaowarat district, or Chinatown, 580 metres will become a “web of transport” under the plan funded by the Thailand…
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PM confirms negligence in officials’ handling of “Boss” case
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says it’s clear that negligence played a part in the handling of hit-and-run charges against Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya. The Red Bull heir was facing numerous charges following a 2012 hit-and-run in Bangkok, in which a police officer died after being dragged under a Ferrari being driven by Vorayuth. He failed to appear for no fewer than 8…
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Popular Thai teenage game streamer killed in motorcycle crash
A well-known teenage game streamer died after he crashed his Ducati motorcycle while riding with a group of his friends. The 17 year old, Chanon Chuchart, made videos playing popular games like Grand Theft Auto V. He has more than 11,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel Omnuay Studio and his Facebook has more than 100,000 followers. Witnesses told local TV…
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