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.

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    Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run

    Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...

  • Commerce Ministry will appeal US GSP decision | Thaiger

    Commerce Ministry will appeal US GSP decision

    Thailand will ask the United States to reconsider removal of trade preferences for Thai exports under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), according to the Ministry of Commerce. In the past, whenever trade benefits for Thai products exported to the US were suspended, Thailand has appealed to the US, according to the commerce minister, who added that it is ultimately…

  • Thai exports will suffer from Trump labour rights decision | Thaiger

    Thai exports will suffer from Trump labour rights decision

    The Thai export sector will suffer another blow after the US President Donald Trump announced on Friday the suspension of 1.3 billion dollars worth of duty-free trade for certain Thai goods, claiming Thailand has not taken steps to protect the labor rights. In a letter to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, Trump said…

  • Viral video of Pattaya bus driver arguing with suspected illegal tour guides sparks investigation | Thaiger

    Viral video of Pattaya bus driver arguing with suspected illegal tour guides sparks investigation

    Pattaya Tourist Police have begun an investigation into suspected illegal tour guides after a video of a frustrated bus driver arguing with the guides went viral on social media. The Pattaya News reports that the bus was carrying Chinese tourists and the video shows the driver asking the tour guides where they wanted to go. The guides appear to be…

  • Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport moves domestic passenger security screening | Thaiger

    Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport moves domestic passenger security screening

    From 5.00am on November 19, Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok will relocate screening of domestic passengers to alleviate overcrowding on the fourth floor. The Nation reports that the airport is moving the security screening to concourse screening, including Concourse A and B on the second and third floors. The measure is also being put in place to address the confusion and…

  • Visa fee waiver to run until end of April | Thaiger

    Visa fee waiver to run until end of April

    The government will extend the waiver of visa-on-arrival fees for another six months to boost the number of foreign tourists entering the Kingdom. A government spokesperson announced on Tuesday (October 22) that the Cabinet had approved a six-month extension to the exemption until the end of April next year. The visa fee waiver was implemented in November last year and…

  • Biometric scanning system to be tested at five provincial airports | Thaiger

    Biometric scanning system to be tested at five provincial airports

    The Ministry of Transport is considering using biometric facial scanning of air passengers, initially at five provincial airports, as part of a pilot project to develop smart airports across the kingdom. The deputy transport minister said Tuesday that a working committee, comprising members of the Department of Airports, the Royal Thai Police Office and the Ministry of Interior, has been…

  • Points deduction system for drivers to be introduced mid-December | Thaiger

    Points deduction system for drivers to be introduced mid-December

    The point deduction system, for traffic and road infringements, is tentatively scheduled for activation for motorists and motorcyclists in mid-December. It is hoped that the system will help reduce road fatalities and injuries on Thai roads. The deputy commander of Highways Police Command says that every licensed driver will be given an allocation of 12 points. Each time the driver…

  • Thai High Speed Railway linking airports now to be signed off on October 25 | Thaiger

    Thai High Speed Railway linking airports now to be signed off on October 25

    The State Railway of Thailand and the Charoen Pokphand Group-led consortium are putting pen to paper and signing the contract for the high-speed train project on October 25. The much-discussed high speed railway will link Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and U-Tapao international airports. The new SRT board was approved by the Thai cabinet today. Deputy PM Anutin Charnvirakul says he is…

  • Transport Minister pressures State Railway board to resign | Thaiger

    Transport Minister pressures State Railway board to resign

    PHOTO: The Nation Board members of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) are expected to tender their resignations to Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob ‘soon’, according to sources to The Nation. There has been speculation for some time that the members have been under pressure to resign, as the minister reportedly wants to reconstitute the board. Among many other issues, the…

  • Renting a motorbike in Thailand? Have a valid license. | Thaiger

    Renting a motorbike in Thailand? Have a valid license.

    Transport minister Saksayam Chidchob says he’s intent on tackling Thailand’s shameful road toll. Recognising that motorcycles are the main culprit (75% of road deaths in Thailand involve motorcycles and motorbikes), he’s proposing some new laws, at least for tourists at this stage. Up until now tourists have been easily able to rent a motorcycle by just showing a passport, according…

  • Bangkok bus union is opposing plan for private sector operation | Thaiger

    Bangkok bus union is opposing plan for private sector operation

    PHOTO: Daily News The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority labour union is voicing its strong objection to the Transport Minister over his plans to contract private companies to operate the city’s bus services, and the shelving plans to procure a fleet of 3,000 new buses. Thai PBS reports that the union president, Veerapong Wongwaen, says that the union will submit a…

  • Three Thai high-speed train projects shelved | Thaiger

    Three Thai high-speed train projects shelved

    “As the high-speed train system in Laos is nearing completion, he said that Thailand must speed up its construction of the Bangkok-Nong Khai project.” Three high-speed train projects are being shelved by the Thai government due to lack of interest from co-investors. Sources at the Transport Ministry have told Thai PBS World that none of the three projects were included…

  • Thailand planning new rules and speed restrictions for big bikes | Thaiger

    Thailand planning new rules and speed restrictions for big bikes

    PHOTO: www.geonoise.co.th The Deputy Permanent Secretary for Transport, Chirute Visalachitra says new rules are being introduced for big bikes, including a ban on “lane-splitting” and a lower speed limit in built-up areas. Lane-splitting is the practice of riding between vehicles, with the Transport Ministry saying that under new rules, riders of big bikes will have to remain behind vehicles that…

  • Shake-up at the top in Thai state enterprises – Transport Minister | Thaiger

    Shake-up at the top in Thai state enterprises – Transport Minister

    PHOTO: BTS station – YouTube In a major management shakeup in Thai state enterprises, the transport minister has now appointed a new chairmen to the boards of the Port Authority of Thailand, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) and the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMA). The list of new chairmen has been…

  • Salaries of more than 100k proposed for Thailand’s high-speed train drivers | Thaiger

    Salaries of more than 100k proposed for Thailand’s high-speed train drivers

    PHOTO: www.scmp.com The drivers of Thailand’s high-speed trains will need to be highly skilled, a ministerial level committee says, suggesting they be paid similar salaries to those of airline pilots. Thai Rath reports that drivers of high-speed trains will face the same amount of stress and responsibility as airline pilots do and in order to attract the most skilled drivers,…

  • Public transport vehicles failing safety checks | Thaiger

    Public transport vehicles failing safety checks

    PHOTO: National News Bureau of Thailand In the first week of new safety checks introduced by the Department of Land Transport (DLT), 1 in 7 public transport vehicles have failed. Drivers fared slightly better, with only 3 out of 10,236 failing their exam. DLT Director General Peerapol Thavornsubhajaroen says that as part of the test brought in to improve public…

  • Phuket’s most expensive car number plate is ‘9999’ costing more than 700K | Thaiger

    Phuket’s most expensive car number plate is ‘9999’ costing more than 700K

    FILE PHOTO Following the auction for car license plates organised by the Phuket Land Trasport Office over the weekend, it’s been revealed that the number 9999 got the highest bid at 710,000 baht. This year’s auction was for the ‘ขก’ category, which represents ‘treasure, virtue and fortune’, and there were 301 numbers available. The Chief of Phuket Land Transport, Banyat…

  • Three-airport high-speed train project stumbles forward | Thaiger

    Three-airport high-speed train project stumbles forward

    One of the delayed Thai high-speed rail projects is now closer to being inked by the State Railway of Thailand and CP Holding’s joint venture, once an agreement on some key details of the public-private partnership project are reached. The new railway service will connect Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang international airports, with U-Tapao in Rayong, serving Pattaya and the…

  • Air Asia flight, from Maldives to Bangkok, returns to Male after engine explodes | Thaiger

    Air Asia flight, from Maldives to Bangkok, returns to Male after engine explodes

    A Thai AirAsia Airbus A320-200, flying as FD-178 from Male in the Maldives to Bangkok’s Don Mueang, had just taken off out of Male’s runway 18 when an engine started making “banging noises” and streaks of flames were coming from the engine, prompting the crew to stop the climb at 5000 feet, shut down the engine and return to Male…

  • Smile, you’re on red light camera | Thaiger

    Smile, you’re on red light camera

    Bangkok’s new Red Light Camera Systems now in operation. The new cameras will be running 24/7 to protect against drivers running red lights at major Bangkok intersections. During trial period from August 1 – 14, 22,260 drivers were caught running the red lights, an average of 1,590 drivers per day. The punishment for such a violation is 1,000 baht fine…

  • More trains and more carriages for the Bangkok BTS fleet | Thaiger

    More trains and more carriages for the Bangkok BTS fleet

    Bangkokians will enjoy better services on the BTS Skytrain after the operator added an extra 27 trains into service, bringing the total number to 79. BTS Group Holdings MD Surapong Laoha-anya says they’ve taken delivery of 27 new trains out of a total of 46 it currently has on order, according to Thai PBS. He added that all the new…

  • Red light cameras start fining Bangkok drivers from September 1 | Thaiger

    Red light cameras start fining Bangkok drivers from September 1

    Smile, you’re on the new red light camera. The new CCTV and software systems to catch red light runners and jumpers will be ready this Sunday, September 1. There are 30 cameras now stationed at intersections around Bangkok. Pol Col Kitti Ariyanon reports that “everything is 100% ready” and the cameras are able to catch people violating the red lights at…

  • Department of Land Transport vows to get tough on public transportation in Thailand | Thaiger

    Department of Land Transport vows to get tough on public transportation in Thailand

    PHOTO: Wikipedia A major crackdown is planned on the country’s public transport, following orders from Thailand’s new transport minister, Saysayam Chidchob. It’s understood this will even include asking passengers in public transport vehicles if they feel they’re being driven safely. If they don’t, the driver can be prohibited from going any further. In addition, drivers who are found to be…

  • Motorbike riders on Bangkok sidewalk told where to go | Thaiger

    Motorbike riders on Bangkok sidewalk told where to go

    Internet users in Thailand are cheering a Japanese student, currently studying at Kasetsart University in Sakon Nakhon province, north-east Thailand, who stood up to two motorbikes trying to make her move out of the way so they could continue driving on a sidewalk whilst she was in Bangkok. On Wednesday, a Facebook video went viral showing the student waiting on…

  • Former finance minister says government shouldn’t bail out Thai Airways | Thaiger

    Former finance minister says government shouldn’t bail out Thai Airways

    Former Thai Finance Minister and current Democrat list MP Korn Chatikavanich is voicing his concerns over the financial crisis gripping Thai Airways and objects to any plan to use taxpayer money to rescue the ailing legacy airline. Korn says Thai Airways’ financial current troubles are similar to the situation in 2008, when the company struggled to find money to repay…

  • Executives at Thai Airways asked to take pay cut | Thaiger

    Executives at Thai Airways asked to take pay cut

    PHOTO: Thai Airways and Thai PBS World “An unnamed source in the Transport Ministry says the airline’s financial predicament is very serious and puts it at risk of bankruptcy.” The country’s national flag carrier, Thai Airways, could be in deep financial trouble and may need to delay repaying its debt or seek new loans. Thai PBS World reports tat the…

  • Tollway company says ‘no’ to Bangkok motorway discounts | Thaiger

    Tollway company says ‘no’ to Bangkok motorway discounts

    PHOTO: Thai PBS Expressway and motorway operators say there will be no further discounting of the country’s toll fees. Bangkok Expressways & Metro Public Company says the proposal by the new Transport Minister for expressway tolls to be cut by an average of 5-10 baht is not going to happen. The company claims they have already helped the government over…

  • Couple cry foul after ‘turbo switch’ found in Bangkok taxi – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Couple cry foul after ‘turbo switch’ found in Bangkok taxi – VIDEO

    PHOTOS & VIDEO: Facebook/Kaew Nutnaree A Bangkok couple has complained to police about a taxi driver ‘turbo charging’ their fare with the flick of a switch. Their story was told on the Facebook page “Kaew Nutnaree”. The couple arrived at Don Muang International Airport on Tuesday and caught a cab to take them to On Nut (Sukhumvit Soi 77). They…

  • New transport minister backtracks on previous government’s van upgrade policy

    The previous government was hellbent on upgrading many of the country’s old vans to new buses and min-buses. The proposals, and the decline of August 13, was met with a lot of opposition with public transport operators who would have to take on the new investment in upgrading equipment. The previous government’s intentions were to improve the levels of safety…

  • Police had a laugh but urged students to wear helmets next time | Thaiger

    Police had a laugh but urged students to wear helmets next time

    PHOTO: Facebook/Thanit BunBong The photo has been a favourite floating around social media. Police called these three students to the side of the road on Thursday after the young driver decided to wear a cooking pot as a helmet on his head. The incident was shared online by a Thanit BunBong saying that the police were initially confused by the…