Thailand News
Discover the most recent and relevant news from across Thailand on The Thaiger’s National News page. Covering a wide range of topics, including politics, business, crime, and lifestyle, our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
Stay informed about the latest developments in Thai society, economy, and culture, as well as updates on travel, tourism, and expat life. With The Thaiger, you’ll never miss out on the essential news that matters to you.
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Rural Doctors Society calls for government transparency on favipiravir supplies
The Rural Doctors Society has once again taken aim at the Public Health Ministry, demanding it come clean about Thailand’s supply of favipiravir. The antiviral medication is used to treat Covid-19 patients, but needs to be administered in the early stages of the illness. Posting on its Facebook page, the society claims hospitals are running out of the drug and…
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Tourism Council of Thailand calls for PCR testing on arrival to be dropped asap
Tourism businesses in Thailand are struggling to survive and barriers to increasing the number of foreign visitors to the kingdom must be removed immediately. That’s the view of Chamnan Srisawat from the Tourism Council of Thailand, who says the Omicron variant, coupled with Russia’s war on Ukraine, has dealt a double blow to the sector. “Tourism operators are still struggling…
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Anutin tells Khao San Road operators to forego Songkran water-splashing events
Business operators on Bangkok’s Khao San Road have been told they should forget about holding water-splashing events this Songkran. So says Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, ahead of a meeting of Bangkok’s communicable disease control committee today. This looks set to be the third Songkran in a row during which water splashing is banned, with the government ever-wary of triggering…
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Cash-strapped Thai Airways sells aircraft seats for 35,000 baht a pair
If you miss that in-flight feeling but don’t want to travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic, or if you are simply a Thai Airways superfan, tomorrow is your chance to buy a pair of limited edition Thai Airways aeroplane seats. The seats, which come in three colours, are only available to buy through Facebook Live tomorrow at 2pm through the…
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Prayut pushes pre-Songkran Covid boosters, 6 walk-in centres open in Bangkok
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is encouraging people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 prior to the Songkran festival next month, according to a spokesperson. Many Thais will visit their families during the Songkran, which is the Thai New Year celebrated from April 13 to 15, and officials worry the gatherings could cause a spike in Covid-19 cases. The Public Health Ministry has…
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Albino water buffalo sells for 2.5 million baht at Thailand buffalo festival
A rare albino water buffalo has been sold for a whopping 2.5 million baht. Two proud new owners of buffalo named Duangphet travelled to the 10th Uthai Thani Buffalo Festival to receive the animal and bring it to its new home at Harley Buffalo Farm in Chon Buri. The two buffalo enthusiasts said they bought the albino buffalo for breeding…
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No breathalyser test for Phuket resort owner after crash, police say he didn’t smell like alcohol
Police did not test the alcohol levels of the well-known owner of the Sri Panwa luxury resort in Phuket after he lost control of his Bentley, crashing into a steel barrier and causing the car to flip multiple times before it set on fire. The owner of the five-star resort had crashed another car almost exactly a year prior and…
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Body of Burmese fisherman found in oil tank in southern Thailand’s Surat Thani
The body of a Burmese fisherman was found in an oil tank on a fishing boat docked in the southern province of Surat Thani. The tank was on a fishing boat where the man had worked which was found by a painter who was going to clean and paint the boat’s engine room. He tried to move the tank out…
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Tangmo: Senators warn police to store speedboat ‘properly’
Store the boat properly, you dummies! That’s the key takeaway, after senators visited the police headquarters in Muang district of Nonthaburi last week, where they found police had not been properly storing a key piece of evidence — the speedboat that drowned actress Nida “Tangmo” Patcharavirapong allegedly fell from. Members of the Senate committee on human rights, liberty and consumer…
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Thailand government warns of jail time for selling unripe durian
It’s durian season in Thailand, and the government is reminding farmers and vendors that they can go to jail for harvesting and selling unripe durian. Yes, they said jail. There’s even a minimum level of dryness of the fruit’s flesh set by Thai authorities to determine the freshness of each variety. Durian is known as the “king of fruit” with…
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Officers investigate death of elderly American expat in Pattaya
Police in Pattaya are investigating the death of an 80 year old American man who was found lying in bed with a plastic bag covering his head. Officers also note that the door to the safe was left open. Investigators will review surveillance camera footage from the condominium to determine if anyone entered his room. The elderly expat had lived…
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Thai airlines urged to inspect all Boeing 737-800 aircraft following crash in China
After a Boeing 737-800 crashed in China, killing all 132 passengers on board, Thailand’s aviation officials have urged five Thai airlines to conduct thorough safety inspections of their 26 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Leading domestic airlines, including Nok Air and Thai Lion, must obtain a Certificate of Airworthiness for all operational 737-800s, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand. China Eastern…
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Finance Ministry expected to adjust 2022 economic forecast from next month
The Finance Ministry will adjust the 2022 forecast for Thailand’s economic growth to focus on the rise in both inflation and energy prices, from next month. According to an unnamed Bangkok Post source, the ministry is concerned about the impact Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will have on overseas arrivals this year. At the start of the year, the ministry had…
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Phuket police find dead body floating, caught on mangrove trees
Local residents have found a man’s dead body floating in the waters off Phuket’s east coast, and caught in the mangroves off Koh Kaew. Phuket City Police, hospital staff, and a forensic expert rushed to the scene. After taking the body out of the water for examination, they identified the man as Sahat Bunchan. He was 59 years old, and…
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In Thailand, Move Forward candidate more popular than Prayut in PM poll
While the largest percentage of Thais, 27.6%, said they were “yet to see anybody suitable for the post of Thai PM, Move Forward Party candidate 41 year old Pita Limjaroenrat is slightly ahead of current PM Prayut. 13.4% of respondents prefer Pita, while 12.7% prefer Prayut. This means that Pita is now the country’s most preferred candidate, followed by Prayut, then…
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Getting a motorcycle taxi in Bangkok, or anywhere in Thailand
We’ll start off by stating that there is nothing quicker and more efficient than getting a motorcycle taxi around Bangkok, compared to just about any other form of transport. We’ll also admit that there are dangers involved with riding on a motorcycle or motorbike around Thailand, especially if you’re not wearing a helmet (which you can ask the rider for).…
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Drug abuse in Bodybuilding in Thailand | The Dark Side of Fitness
Fitness craze is real. Body builders from around the world love to travel to Thailand to work out. Sometimes, to abuse the easy access drugs with no repercussions in Thailand. In this episode Jay sits with fitness expert Walter Veale to learn more about the drug abuse in the fitness world in Thailand.
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Pattaya police arrest ‘restaurant’ manager who allegedly violated Covid-19 rules
Pattaya City Police reported yesterday that they arrested a ‘restaurant’ manager in Pattaya for allegedly selling alcohol without a permit, opening a venue without a permit, and breaking the Chonburi Disease Control Orders. Only former bars and clubs that have been converted into ‘restaurants’, and have proper certification, are approved by authorities are allowed to operate. Alcohol can be served…
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Gas pipe falls on Rayong construction worker, kills him
A gas pipe fell on a construction worker in Rayong yesterday, killing him. A backhoe that was supposed to lift the pipe couldn’t handle the pipe’s weight, and the pipe fell into a ditch where three workers were connecting gas pipes. Two workers managed to jump out and narrowly escape, while one did not. The pipe fell on him, and…
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2 people per hour were killed in road accidents in Thailand in 2020
A Thai health foundation has found that two people were killed in road accidents every hour in Thailand in 2020. The total number of people killed in road accidents throughout that year was 17,831. The foundation, Thai Health Promotion Foundation, said motorcycle drivers and riders made up the 74% of fatalities. The International Health Policy Program said in its report…
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Thai government unleashes the fear machine for Songkran – OPINION
Today a popular English-language news outlet led with a story that quotes Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, DG of the Department of Health, who claims the public health ministry is forecasting daily Covid infections could hit 100,000 after Songkran this year. The Thai public health ministry, headed up by Minister and deputy PM, Anutin Charnvirakul, has taken a random stab in the…
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British and Thai armies train in jungle together
The UK announced in a press release yesterday that 120 of its military’s Grenadier Guards are training in the jungle with Thailand’s army. The UK Defence Minister visited Thailand this week and met with Thailand’s deputy defence minister. The Minister signed the first Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, to continue building defence cooperation between the countries’ militaries. The…
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BMA and CCSA will meet Monday, decide on Songkran water splashing in Bangkok
Thailand’s CCSA and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will meet on Monday to decide (again) if Bangkokians can splash water during Songkran. This news comes after officials announced last week that Songkran will be dry, for both alcohol and water splashing, for the third year in a row. That week, Thai officials said only traditional Songkran activities would be allowed. This…
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Officials debate Bangkok’s Sanam Luang public park
Thai officials are debating how much access the public should have to Sanam Luang, the historic public square in front of Bangkok’s Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha. After a governor candidate running under the Move Forward Party advocated removing fences around Sanam Luang, another official has defended keeping them and restricting access to the ‘public’ park. The…
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Two southern men accused of killing police officer arrested in Bangkok
Police arrested two southern men in Bangkok today who are accused of killing a police officer. The two men are the prime suspects in the fatal shooting of a sergeant major in southern Phattalung province earlier this month. A police lieutenant general said the suspects were also linked to other cases involving drugs and attempted murder. The two men allegedly…
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Workers on online platforms are reportedly underpaid – Thailand Labour Ministry
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, a lot of people have been working from home, and many have become freelancers. The idea might sound good on paper, but they faced many challenges from having limited access to government welfare and being underpaid and undervalued. Thai Health Promotion Foundation and the Labour Ministry had organised a forum for people to voice their…
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8 cobras invade elderly lady’s home in Central Thailand
An elderly lady from the central Thai province of Nakhon Si Ayutthaya found eight cobras slithering around her house. 77 year old Cherry Puangrod was at her home in Bang Pa-in district alone yesterday evening when she walked into the bathroom and saw a cobra from the corner of her eye. Cherry ran out of the house to get her…
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Monk flees from temple after residents spot him stealing underwear
A Thai TV star searched the quarters of a monk accused of stealing ladies’ underwear and found both men’s and women’s underwear in the monk’s luggage. The couple living nearby the temple in the central province of Chachoengsao checked the CCTV footage after the wife’s underwear went missing and say they saw a monk taking the panties off a hanger…
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Friday Covid Update: 26,050 new cases; provincial totals
69 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 24,648 with 2,950 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 26,050 new Covid-19 cases and 22,219 recoveries. There are now 244,111 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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Human bones found in tank buried at Surat Thani plantation
Warning: The photo below contains images that some may find disturbing. Human bones were found in an oil tank buried at a rubber plantation in the southern province of Surat Thani. The landowner guessed the skeletons might belong to a Burmese worker who was missing four years ago. The land is being cleared for durian trees and workers were using…
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