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 Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Army captain charged in knife attack on 83 year old neighbour
An army captain in the south central province of Chachoengsao has been charged in connection with a knife attack on her 83 year old neighbour in Bang Pakong district yesterday morning. The victim suffered numerous serious wounds. Police rushed to the scene after being alerted at around 7am.The accused attacker, a 45 year old Pansamon Yuenyong, was waiting in the…
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Police in Chon Buri announce crackdown on loan sharks
Police in the eastern Chon Buri province held a large rally to announce a crackdown on loan sharks, in which they’ve already seized luxury cars, motorbikes, illegal weapons and ammunition. On Thursday, 709 police, led by the Chon Buri provincial police commander, attended a rally at the Bali Hai Pier in Pattaya to report on the ongoing crackdown. Earlier in…
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Bangkok casino shooter insists he acted alone: police
A man who confessed to killing a gunman, who had already shot dead 3 people at an illegal Bangkok gambling den on Monday night, insists he acted alone, police announced today. Authorities took 61 year old Phiphit Srisuwan, alias “Boy Baan Khrua” to the Bangkok South Criminal Court to seek his detention in connection with the fatal shooting in a…
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Father killed, daughter injured in Banglamung crash
A man is dead and his 15 year daughter old seriously injured after their motorbike collided with a pickup truck on the way to school in in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district yesterday. Police were notified of the incident on Road No. 36 in the morning. Police, reporters and rescue workers arrived at the scene to find a 15 year old…
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Demonstration called against arrests of protest leaders
Police in Bangkok are under pressure from protesters both on- and offline after yesterday’s arrest and detention of student protest leaders. Prominent activist and human rights lawyer Anon Numpa and protest leader Nutchanon “Mike” Payakaphan were taken into police custody for 7 charges, including sedition. 30 more student protesters are wanted by police and arrest warrants have been issued. The…
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No ammonium nitrate stored in Bangkok – BMA
The spokesman for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, aka. City Hall, has confirmed that no ammonium nitrate is stored in the capital. His remarks come after Tuesday’s devastating explosion of the chemical in Beirut that killed more than 150 and injured over 5,000. Pongsakorn Kwanmuang sent condolences to those affected in the tragic blast and said that no ammonium nitrate is…
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After outcry, foreigners will be allowed to run in Bangkok Midnight Marathon
The Bangkok Midnight Marathon and its organisers were scorched online yesterday after banning foreigners from entering the race, for reasons not made clear. BMM’s Facebook page and social media accounts were inundated with angry comments. The Thaiger, alone, accumulated some 20,000 people seeing the post and around 170 comments, mostly unhappy with the ban. The BBM – which Thai authorities…
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Investigating officer changes his evidence AGAIN in “Boss” hit-and-run case
In another abrupt U-turn in the ongoing hit-and-run case of Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, a forensic police officer who recently changed his mind and said Vorayuth was probably driving below the 80 kilometre per hour speed limit during his deadly crash in 2012, has now returned to his original testimony and declared the actual speed was indeed 177…
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Activist lawyer arrested after questioning Monarchy’s role
34 year old Thai activist and civil rights lawyer and Arnon Nampha was arrested this afternoon for “sedition” and “breaching the emergency decree”. He was apprehended in front of his Bangkok condominium at around 2pm, according to the head of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, Yaowalak Anuphan. He is currently in police custody. “Arnon can only be detained no more…
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The phone of a key witness in the “Boss” case was stolen and destroyed
It’s now been revealed that the phone of a key witness in the Boss Yoovidhya hit-and-run case was stolen and destroyed after the witness died in a Chiang Mai traffic incident last week. It’s the latest in a long list of wtf moments in the botched 8 year long investigation. 40 year old Jaruchat Madthong died last Wednesday after colliding…
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Deputy PM: 2 ways to amend Thai Constitution
As the government has agreed in principle to amend Thailand’s Constitution, Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam says there are 2 approaches to amending it – with or without a referendum. Wissanu, a legal expert, said yesterday that amendments which require a referendum are changes to Chapter 1 (which contains general provisions), Chapter 2 (which deals with the Thai monarchy), and Chapter…
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Bangkok Midnight Marathon 2020 bans foreigners
It’s official. The Bangkok Midnight Marathon 2020 is closed to foreigners. Popular blogger and Samut Prakan school employee Richard Barrow posted the news last night saying… “For some reason, the organisers of this year’s Bangkok Midnight Marathon have decided not to allow foreigners to run. I hope this doesn’t become part of the ‘new normal’.” Unsurprisingly, the social media outrage was…
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Alleged “Arab mafia” members arrested in Bangkok
The chief of the Thai immigration police today announced the arrest of two Arabs in Bangkok’s Nana area. INN reports that they’re “local mafia”, running protection rackets and committing robberies and assaults. The case began when a Thai salon owner filed a report with Lumpini police claiming that her husband and 3 year old son were assaulted by 2 men…
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Bangkok police nab illegal Nigerian 2 year overstayer with cocaine
A Nigerian man who entered Thailand illegally 2 years ago has arrested in Bangkok’s Suan Luang area and found to be in possession of cocaine. Thailand’s immigration chief says immigration officers were keeping tabs on a drug distribution network and soon had a black man in their sights at a condo building in the Suan Luang area of the capital.…
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Thailand’s GDP forecast to fall up to 9% this year
Thailand’s GDP is set to fall 7-9%, year-on-year, according to the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking. The fall is, not surprisingly, being fallout from the catastrophic drop in tourism and lower exports. Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand, says the expected contraction was revised downwards from 5-8%. The committee also predicted exports would drop…
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Human trafficking and drugs suspects nabbed using airport biometrics
2 suspects have recently been arrested using the biometric security system recently installed in international airports across Thailand. In the first case, a suspected human trafficker was apprehended after returning to Thailand during the Covid-19 crisis. Immigration officers received information from Chiang Mai police about a person travelling into Thailand from Japan. On July 14, a Thai citizen returned to…
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10 new 5G towers going up in Nong Prue, Pattaya
The Nong Prue tambon, to the east of Pattaya City, will be the home of 10 new 5G WiFi “Smart Poles” . The installation starts this month. The announcements were made by the Nong Prue Mayor Mine Chiyanit and the team from United Technology Enterprise who are installing the new towers and technology. The Smart Pole set ups will be installed…
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Bangkok casino gunman’s killer surrenders, confesses
In the ongoing saga of Monday’s fatal shooting a Bangkok gambling den, a suspect surrendered to police today for shooting dead a gunman in the illegal casino in Bangkok’s Yannawa district. A man calling himself “Boy BanKrua” turned himself in to police and handed in the gun he allegedly used. The suspect says he shot 61 year old Taworn Sisot,…
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Police questioned as casino shootout evidence goes missing
Bankok police are being questioned over their handling the Monday’s shooting incident at an illegal gambling den in the capitol’s Thung Mahamek area, in which 4 people, including a police officer, died, and whether officers are concealing evidence. The secretary-general of the Justice Reform Institute said yesterday that police appear to be treating the shooting in the same way they treated…
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No current plans to extend list of foreigners allowed back into Thailand
There is no immediate plan to extend the list of foreigners being allowed to come to Thailand at the moment. Specifically still excluded are retirees with valid visas, homes and families in Thailand. The directive comes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since Thailand’s experience with Covid-19, it has closed its borders to tourists and visitors, stranding both Thais and…
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Tourism sector pin hopes on “Safe and Sealed” scheme to lure international visitors
In the latest plan to bolster Thailand’s withering tourism industry, business operators are proposing a new inbound tourism plan called “Safe and Sealed”, to replace the delayed “travel bubbles” scheme and prevent Thailand realising the worst-case revenue scenario of only 675 billion baht next year, down from 3 trillion in 2019. At a joint meeting yesterday of the Tourism and…
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Unidentified woman attacks foreign man in Pattaya
Police in Pattaya report that a foreign man was attacked by an unidentified woman in front of a restaurant on the city’s Beach Road. The incident occurred at 6:15pm yesterday at a McDonald’s located on Beach Road between Soi 5 and Soi 6. The man, whose name and nationality are being withheld by police, was attacked by a Thai woman…
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Harry Potter-themed protest openly questions monarchy’s role
Thai protesters strayed into more sensitive territory Monday night as they added the prickly, and largely taboo, topic of the Thai monarchy to the list of issues to include in their demonstrations. At a Harry Potter-themed rally, dubbed “Harry Potter versus You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”, anti-government demonstrators at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument demanded changes to Thailand’s revered monarchy and called for curbs…
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Police seize property valued at 200 million baht from suspected hill tribe drug gang – VIDEO
Anti-narcotics police in 4 provinces seized property valued at around 200 million baht from a suspected drug trafficking gang… mostly northern hill tribe people, in coordinated raids yesterday. 30 targets in Bangkok and Hua Hin, as well as in northern and southern provinces, were raided by armed officers. 24 houses, 5 shophouses, 12 land title deeds, 22 cars and 27…
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Nok Air blames some of its losses on MPs who don’t show up for flights
Part of Nok Air’s current losses are being blamed on privileged MPs, who receive free flights on the budget carrier but don’t turn up for their flights. Somboon Uthaiwiankul, secretary for the government’s House Speaker, says the issue was brought up by executives of the airline during a meeting with the House Speaker, Chuan Leekpai. The executives told him last…
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Koh Samui bridge collapse leaves truck stuck under pier
In the second setback in a week for the beleagured Raja Ferry Co., a steel boarding bridge for vehicles at Raja 1 ferry pier on Koh Samui collapsed yesterday, leaving a truck wedged under the wharf. The incident follows Saturday’s ferry disaster in which 3 people are confirmed dead and 3 remain missing. The pier is one of the 3…
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PM vows to “spare no one” in fatal casino shooting
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has says he will “spare no one” if Monday night’s fatal shooting shooting in a Bangkok gambling den involved illegal police activity. He was reacting to the shooting death of Watthanaset Samniangprasert, an interrogation inspector at Samae Dam police station in Bang Bon district, and 3 others, 1 of them a woman, at a gambling den in…
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Stormy weather wreaks havoc, destroys homes, in southern Thailand
The current stormy conditions have caused severe damage to a number of homes in the southern province of Surat Thani, with some villagers left homeless. At one property in the Phra Sang district, the roof and garage have collapsed, with the 45 year old homeowner, Rachan Churak, having to flea the property with his family. Rachan says the damage occurred…
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New electric ferries have a test run on Bangkok’s klongs
The Bangkok Marine Department has completed a test run of a new electric boat on Saen Saeb klong. The tests have been part of the development for a replacement of Bangkok’s deisel-powered, noisy and dirty canal and river ferries. Marine Department Director General, Wittaya Yamuang says the tests of the eco-friendly passenger boat on Saen Saeb canal was all over…
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Farmers call on Thai government to overturn ban on pesticide use
A group of Thai farmers has submitted a letter to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, citing the ineffectiveness of products used to replace Paraquat and Chlorpyrifos, and calling for the ban on those chemicals, introduced on June 1, to be overturned. In the letter, they suggest the Hazardous Substances Committee impose restrictions on use of the products instead, while educating farmers on…
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