Transport News
Thailand transport news, infrastructure updates, public transit, and traffic reports—stay informed on groundbreaking developments and real-time travel updates. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for transport news in Thailand.
-
Sponsored 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....
-
MRT says Bangkok won’t suffer any Seoul-type metro flooding
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRT) insists passengers don’t have to worry about any South Korea-type flooding because each station is designed to cope with floods and emergencies. Seoul, and its surrounding areas, suffered the heaviest rainfall in 80 years on Monday, August 8. Several roads and metro stations in the capital were under water causing multiple power cuts…
-
Thailand introduces fine for not wearing seat belt in the back seat
Not wearing a seat belt in the back seat of a car in Thailand will soon be punishable by a 2,000 baht fine. The rule will come into effect 120 after its publication in the Royal Gazette on September 5, 2022. The Royal Gazette wrote the new rule into the Road Traffic Act (No.13) 2022, published on May 7. The…
-
Drunk driver in 2 hit-and-runs drags motorbike taxi 300 metres
A drunk driver smashed into a motorbike taxi whose driver managed to jump to safety before the inebriated man pushed the bike 300 metres down the road. Photos were captured of the remarkable accident that miraculously ended with no fatalities or serious injuries, but looked like a scene from a slapstick comedy. Eyewitnesses to the event in Samut Prakan reported…
-
BTS is offering a free ride… with your mom
The Bangkok Mass Transit System has announced a special promotion for National Mother’s Day on August 12 where you can get a free ride… if you bring your mom. The BTS system has announced that those who bring their mother to the Skytrain will be allowed to ride for free in celebration of the Queen Mother’s birthday. The promotion had…
-
Details on Bangkok’s Green Line train contracts to be publicly disclosed
Details on contracts for Bangkok’s Green Line Train are set to be publicly disclosed, although it has not been announced when. Krungthep Thanakom has agreed to publicly disclose details of its contract and memorandum of understanding with Bangkok Mass Transit System PLC, more commonly known in the capital as BTS. The contracts are for the first and second extensions of…
-
Northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai Airport to stay closed for 2 more days
The Nok Air plane that skidded off the runway in Chiang Rai on Saturday night, August 1, still hasn’t been removed. Mae Fah Luang Airport in northern Thailand announced that the airport will remain closed for two more days and plans to reopen on Friday, August 5, at 10pm. The airport announced the suspension of all flights in and out…
-
Thailand’s Nok Air relaunches Chiang Mai – Korat route
After four years, Nok Air has relaunched the airline’s route between Chiang Mai in northern Thailand and Nakhon Ratchasima – also known as Korat – in northeast Thailand. The route’s inaugural flight took off from Chiang Mai International Airport at 8.45pm yesterday and landed in Korat at 10.15pm. The route will serve two flights per week. The outbound service from…
-
New Bangkok tunnel closed on opening day due to flood
You couldn’t make this up. Finally, after 13 years of construction, the new Fai Chai Tunnel in Bangkok officially opened yesterday only to close due to a flood. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt last month visited the unfinished Fai Chai Tunnel to talk with the Director of the Public Work Department, Taiwut Khankaew, about the project’s delay. Chadchart made a few…
-
Toll gate collapses in central Thailand
A toll gate in Chachoengsao province, central Thailand, collapsed at 10.34am today during heavy rain and strong winds. No injuries have been reported. The roof above toll booth 1 at Bang Pakong Toll Gate on Highway 7 heading towards Pattaya completely caved in this morning during adverse weather conditions. No injuries, deaths, or vehicle damage was reported. The toll booth was…
-
Northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai Airport to resume flights on Wednesday
Flights in and out of Chiang Rai’s Mae Fah Luang International Airport in northern Thailand are expected to resume as normal on Wednesday, August 3, at 10pm. The runway has been closed since 6am yesterday after a Nok Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft skidded off the runway during landing due to adverse weather conditions on Saturday night. No one was injured.…
-
Aviation industry eyes 33% recovery this year, 100% in 2024
Airports of Thailand (AoT) says the aviation industry is making steady progress in recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and is forecasting a full recovery by the end of 2024. The AoT believe that in a year and a half, airplane and passenger traffic will finally recover to the levels they were at in 2019. The current prediction is that flight…
-
2 men die in tragic rail accident in central Thailand
Two men were killed in a tragic accident this morning after being hit by a train in Sara Buri province, in central Thailand. One man stumbled and fell on a rail track while trying to cross it. Another man, seeing him fall, went to assist him but they both didn’t make it and were hit by the oncoming train at…
-
British Airways flights to Thailand suspended until 2023
British Airways isn’t heading back to Bangkok until at least next year. Tour operators were hoping the British flagship carrier would be adding regular flights again between Heathrow and Bangkok in time for Thailand’s high season, just when the winter kicks in in the UK. British Airways was originally set to resume flights in November this year but has now…
-
Nok Air to make Chiang Mai a new global destination hub
Nok Air announced it is turning Chaing Mai International Airport, in the northern province of Chaing Mai, into a new hub of domestic and global routes. The airline yesterday invited Chaing Mai Governor, Wuttiphum Julangkun, and the media to a press conference at Chiang Mai City Hall, at the Chang Phueak in the Mueng Chiang Mai District, to discuss the…
-
Investigation begins into Thailand’s latest maritime incident off Chumpon
Thailand has logged another maritime mishap with the fire on a passenger ferry, about 5 kilometres off the coast of Chumpon. The sea conditions were reported as “rough” at the time of the incident off the uninhabited Koh Thong Lang. This time 20 people were on board, but the 18 passengers jumped into the water and were all rescued. A…
-
18 passengers rescued after ferry explodes off South Thailand coast
Eighteen people were rescued after a ferry exploded on its way from Chumpon to Koh Tao today at about 2.30pm. All 18 passengers suffered injuries. The ferry, named Lom Phraya, caught fire about 4-5 kilometres off the coast of the Haad Sai Ree sub-district, Mueng district in Chumpon province in the south of Thailand. The rescue team reported on its…
-
No confidence debate – Day 2. Transport minister asked to explain 5.7 trillion baht budget.
Opposition MPs have, so far, failed to lay a knockout punch on the Thai PM or any of his ministers, at this stage of the four-day censure debate. Today the opposition has been targeting Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob over one of Thailand’s mega projects – the MR Map. The MR Map is a list of mega projects around the country,…
-
Cash-strapped BMTA gets green light for 7.5 billion baht loan
The Thai Cabinet approved a more than 7.5 billion baht loan to the debt-ridden Bangkok Mass Transit Authority. Deputy Government Spokesperson, Trisuree Trisaranakul, yesterday reported that the cash-strapped BMTA would borrow 7.516 billion baht from the next year’s budget because it lacked financial liquidity. Trisuree added that BMTA has been facing cash-flow problems due to operational losses and lack of…
-
Doubts over Thailand’s 2028 completion date for high speed rail link
Despite last week’s announcement that the high-speed railway from Bangkok to the Laos border would be completed by 2028, there remain lingering doubts about whether the Thai government is fully committed to the project, valued at about US$12 billion. Questions are being raised about perceived benefits to Thailand or how the government can recover any of the costs. The new…
-
Thailand aims to complete high-speed rail link with China by 2028
Thailand aims to finish constructing the high-speed rail link which will connect China with the Land of Smiles by 2028, according to the Transport and Foreign Affairs ministries. As it stands, the project is only 5% complete – casting doubts on Thailand’s ability to fulfil their recent pledge to get the job done in the next six years. Beijing plans…
-
Ferry gets stuck on sand bar near South Thailand island
More than 100 ferry passengers in South Thailand were caught in a sticky situation on Wednesday- literally. A ferry got stuck on a sand bar in Koh Phang Ngan island in Surat Thani province. The ferry was heading to Don Sak district, when it got stuck on the sand bar 10 minutes after departing from Koh Phang Ngan, according to…
-
CAAT allows food and drinks to be served on domestic flights in Thailand
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has given airlines the green light to serve food and drinks again on domestic flights in Thailand. Yesterday, the CAAT announced that director Sutthiphong Kongpool signed regulations to allow passengers on domestic flights in Thailand to be served food and drinks again, under strict Covid-19 prevention measures, effective immediately. The measures include that…
-
Ferry routes resume operation in Surat Thani after storms
After all boats in Surat Thani were cancelled on Monday due to storms, with partial service resuming yesterday, Ferry routes are in full service today – though scrambling and late. In addition to the ferries that had been running before the fierce and windy storms shut everything down, Seatran Ferry has relaunched its service to Koh Phangan from the mainland…
-
Thailand gets into gear with 234 billion baht road investment
The Ministry of Transport got into gear yesterday and agreed to invest in five road construction projects worth about 234 billion baht to make life easier for Thailand’s car owners. The Ministry of Transport signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Highways (DH), Department of Rural Roads (DRR), and Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat), to oversee the first…
-
Vistara launches new nonstop Thailand – India route
Vistara Airlines is launching nonstop flights between Mumbai and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport 5 times per week, starting next month on August 5. Vistara’s 3 cabin Airbus A320neo aircraft will operate the route on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The new route is the airline’s second service to the Thai capital. In August 2019, Vistara launched direct flights between Delhi…
-
Free parking at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport during July holidays
Suvarnabhumi International Airport announced that free parking will be available at its long term car park at Zone C – which can accommodate 718 vehicles – during two long holidays this month. Parking will be free for 6 days from midnight on July 12 until midnight on July 18 in celebration of Asanha Bucha day (July 13) and the beginning…
-
Petrol prices in Bangkok reduced tomorrow
Good news for Bangkok motorists as the PTT Oil and Retail Business today announced the cost of petrol will be reduced from tomorrow (Friday) morning. The retail prices of petrol and all types of gasohol except E85 will drop by 3 baht per litre, E85 by 1.8 baht per litre, at 5am tomorrow. It’s not all good news for motorists…
-
200 new electric buses will be in service in the Thai capital
The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority will partner with private companies to run over 200 electric buses to increase capacity so it can transport up to a million people each day. The new electric buses are also part of the city’s efforts to upgrade its old bus services and reduce Bangkok’s overall carbon footprint. The new electric bus system will rapidly…
-
Hang on! BTS booty post draws viral attention to train etiquette
“Does it have to be that tight?” a user asked after a post by the Bangkok Mass Transit System went viral. The comment was one of over 500 at the time of this writing in response to an eye-catching post on BTS’s Facebook page asking people not to lean on the handrail poles on trains and featuring a shocking image…
-
AirAsia Thailand resumes Bangkok – Hong Kong flights, pilots new China route
In August, Thai AirAsia will resume direct flights between Bangkok and Hong Kong. The airline will also pilot a special flight to Guangzhou in China this month, on July 13. Thai AirAsia is a joint venture between Thailand’s Asia Aviation and budget Malaysian airline AirAsia. The airline will operate weekly flights between Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport and Hong Kong…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.