Thailand News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, and lifestyle—get breaking updates from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. Stay informed on Thai society, economy, tourism, and expat life with The Thaiger.
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Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
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YouTuber roasts Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Thai cooking skills
A YouTuber roasted world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay’s Thai cooking skills in a video posted on Sunday. The Malaysian YouTuber, known as Uncle Roger, has over 7 million subscribers and is based in London. Ramsay is known to the world as a super harsh critic of other people’s cooking, mainly through his reality show “Hell’s Kitchen.” On his show, he regularly…
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Schoolgirl receives warning letter after violating school rules by wearing a wedding dress
A schoolgirl received a warning letter from her school for violating the rules by wearing makeup and a wedding dress to advertise a wedding studio owned by her family. The story went viral on social media with netizens slating the school. The owner of the Nong Mee Wedding Studio in the central province of Lopburi shared pictures of his sister…
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Oil tanker explosion in Thailand kills 8 people, 1 dog, injures 4, impacts 128
UPDATE Officials have recovered eight bodies from the wreckage of the oil tanker which exploded and caught fire at Ruammitr Dockyard in the Laem Yai district of Samut Songkhram province in central Thailand yesterday. Divers from the Dhammarasamimaneerat Foundation are no longer searching for bodies as the total number of people missing was believed to be eight. At least five…
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Five airlines launch direct flights between Phuket and China this week
Five airlines are launching direct flights between China and Phuket in southern Thailand this week. The services will connect Phuket to Shanghai, Nanjing, and Chengdu. Today, Phuket will welcome three direct flights from Shanghai on Spring Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, and Juneyao Airlines. All three services will fly daily. Juneyao Airlines’ inaugural daily direct service from Nanjing will also land on…
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Bangkok to gain more dog-friendly public parks
Finding a green area to walk your furry friend in Bangkok is difficult because pet dogs are not allowed in all but one of the city’s public parks. That is about to change thanks to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) “15-minute” park project. The BMA has acquired 107 plots of land, covering a collective 659 rai, which will be transformed…
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Drowsy driver crashes sedan into cyclists killing 1, injuring 10
A drowsy driver fell asleep behind the wheel of his sedan and crashed into a group of cyclists on the road in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. One cyclist was killed and 10 were injured. A security camera on the Nakhon Si Thammarat-Surat Thani Road in the Sichon district clearly shows the incident that happened at 7am on…
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Deputy PM pledges to increase state welfare benefit to 700 baht
Not to be outdone by Pheu Thai Party (PTP) election promises Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon pledged to increase state welfare scheme benefits if he becomes prime minister in May. The PTP, led by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, vows to increase the daily minimum wage for Thai workers to 600-baht, introduce a 25,000-baht salary for graduates by 2027 and reduce utility…
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US cruise ships seeking English-speaking Thais for over 1,000 jobs
US cruise ships are on the hunt for Thai employees who can speak English, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said yesterday. Suchart said CTI Group Worldwide Services Inc has 1,500 job vacancies for Thais who are at least 21 years old. The jobs, which include 37 positions, will pay between 19,618 to 87,176 baht per month, plus tips. Positions are open…
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Don’t fall for Chinese New Year scam, warns Thai police
Thai Cyber Police sent out a warning about a Chinese New Year-themed online scam after dozens of victims reported having their bank accounts hacked and drained. Yesterday, Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) issued a warning via Facebook about a ‘Free Red Envelope’ scam. During the upcoming Chinese New Year – or Lunar New Year – holidays, one popular tradition is…
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Two Thai men die in unrelated road accidents hours after both winning the lottery
Two Thai men were killed in unrelated road accidents in different regions of Thailand last night. Both of them had won the lottery earlier that day. In Chiang Mai, 40 year old Thitibodin [surname reserved] lost control and fatally crashed his motorbike into an electricity pole just after midnight outside the Chiang Mai Provincial Land Transport Office on the Chiang…
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Bangkok to become brighter, greener, cheaper after street lights upgrade
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration plans to improve the city’s streetlights. The Department of Public Works reported it will replace 25,000 of the capital’s 400,000 high-pressure sodium (HPS) light bulbs with light-emitting diodes (LED) to make Bangkok brighter, greener, and cheaper. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told the media on Tuesday, January 3 about the plan to change the city’s street light bulbs…
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Police raid illegal Chinese electronic waste warehouses
Police raided three warehouses after receiving an air pollution complaint from locals in Pathum Thani province near Bangkok. Officers found a huge amount of electronic waste in the warehouses and discovered that two of them were operated illegally by Chinese citizens. Police from Lam Luke Ka Police Station and officers from the Pathum Thani Provincial Industry Office raided the three…
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US actor George Clooney’s foundation stands up for Thai protesters
US actor George Clooney’s foundation is standing up for Thai protesters through its TrialWatch initiative. The initiative is part of the Clooney Foundation for Justice and has been monitoring and evaluating the criminal proceedings against the protest leaders since 2020. TrialWatch urged Thailand to adhere to its international human rights obligations in an amicus brief submitted on Monday to the…
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Goddess of Victory: Nikke ad slammed for depicting Thai gamers as horny fat boys
Gamers in Thailand have slammed a video featuring a fat Thai boy becoming aroused while playing Goddess of Victory: Nikke. The video was released in November 4 last year to much acclaim in the gamer community. Goddess of Victory: Nikke is an immersive sci-fi RPG game, where you can recruit and lead a squad of anime girls who specialize in…
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Tourism Authority of Thailand uses momentum of last year’s campaign to strengthen 2023 travel direction
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is using momentum from last year’s ‘Visit Thailand Year 2022’ campaign to direct this year toward a “meaningful travel direction.” According to The Pattaya News, the press release by the TAT details new concepts and enhanced efforts to continue the milestone achievement of last year’s campaign. The ongoing “Visit Thailand Year: Amazing New Chapters” is…
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Injured whale shark swims up to boat for help in southern Thailand
National park officials in Krabi province, southern Thailand, are searching for an injured whale shark in need of urgent medical assistance. Yesterday, a six-metre long whale shark swam to the surface to visit a longtail boat near Koh Hong island located inside Than Bok Khorani National Park in Krabi’s Mueang district. As cold-blooded whale sharks rarely venture out of deep…
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Thai woman allegedly defrauds American PPE company of 239 million baht
An American PPE company alleges that a Thai woman defrauded them of a staggering 239 million baht (US$8 million) in a high-profile public fraud case centred around rubber gloves. On February 18, 2021, US Company Quick Aid LLC wired 239 million Thai baht to a private Thai company named Singhaseni Group Co., Ltd. The Thai company had a single 45…
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Perverted teacher sacked after sending video of underage sex acts to school chat group
A perverted teacher who had sex with underage children in Nakhon Ratchasima and accidentally sent videos of the acts to a group chat has been sacked while a police investigation is underway. The teacher allegedly tried to commit suicide when the news broke. The unnamed arts teacher at Non Sungsritani Secondary School in Non Sung district in Nakhon Ratchasima, Isaan,…
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Thai farmer makes 1 million baht per month selling buffalo semen
A farmer in Kalasin province in northeast Thailand makes 1 million baht every month by selling semen from one special water buffalo named “Big Billion.” Water buffalo (“kwai” in Thai language) breeders all around the kingdom pay high prices for the semen of Big Billion, a ‘textbook’ Thai water buffalo worth 30 million baht. Breeders use Big Billion’s seed to…
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Silicone strips seized stopping safety-sacrificing surgeries
Officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) teamed up with police on a raid of several plastic surgery clinics and a manufacturer’s warehouse to confiscate a large number of counterfeit silicone pieces. The joint operation was announced on Monday by the FDA Secretary-General and the Deputy Chief of the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD). Previous raids had been carried…
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DCD predicts a fourfold jump in dengue and malaria victims in Thailand this year
The government’s Disease Control Department (DCD) reckons Thailand will see a huge jump in malaria and dengue fever cases this year. The Director-General of the DCD, Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong, believes the number of malaria and dengue fever sufferers will increase significantly by at least three or four times more than last year. “There were 10,174 cases last year, three times…
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Oil tanker explosion in Thailand kills 1, 4 missing
At 9.30am, a large oil tanker docked in Samut Songkhram province, southwest of Bangkok, exploded and caught fire. At present, one person has been confirmed dead and four people are still missing. Firefighters from Mueang Samut Songkram Fire Station have got the fire under control at the shipyard Laem Yai subdistrict on the Mae Klong River. As the tanker was…
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Android users urged not to charge phones in public in case they get hacked
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) is advising the public to exercise caution when charging their smartphones in public after a Thai man’s Android phone was hacked at the weekend. The CIB believe hackers have found a way of altering charging cables to steal personal information from phone users. Wisanusan Sam-pok revealed in a Facebook post on Sunday that 101,560 baht…
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American TikTok star sues Porsche dealer in Thailand
An American TikTok star and his Thai girlfriend filed a lawsuit against a Porsche dealership in Thailand showroom claiming that the used car they paid 13 million baht for is not only a different model than they ordered but it doesn’t work. Yesterday at 4.30pm, 39 year old Sam [psuedonym] and his wife [name reserved] met with celebrity lawyer Decha…
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Shinawatra’s daughter declares intention to be Thailand’s next prime minister
In one of the worst-kept secrets in Thai politics, Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced her intention to be Thailand’s next prime minister over the weekend. The 36 year old declared her interest to run for premier under the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) in May’s General Election. The PTP was founded by Paetongtarn’s father Thaksin and is now in its third incarnation, Thaksin and…
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Thailand’s Chiang Mai Zoo to open -10°C snow dome
Chiang Mai Zoo revealed plans to open a -10°C snow dome to offer guests a chilly winter experience normally unavailable in sweltering Thailand. Zoo director Wuttichai Muangman revealed today that the zoo will gain a winter wonderland named “Snow Buddy Winter Land” in collaboration with Frost Management Company Ltd. Wuttichai said that zoo guests can get a real ‘winter’ feeling inside the…
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Thailand among 25 countries with least paid leave days
Thailand is among a list of countries offering the least amount of days of paid leave and paid public holidays in the world, according to a new study by Resume.io. No East/Southeast Asian country whatsoever made it into the top 25 countries with the most amount of paid public holidays and paid annual leave days. Resume.io‘s study found out how…
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Not much expected from Thailand’s gold sales this Chinese New Year
Thailand’s Gold Traders Association (GTA) doesn’t expect much from this year’s gold sale during Chinese New Year. The new year usually draws a swarm of customers looking to buy gifts for their loved ones. But this year, Chinese-Thai buyers will prefer to buy smaller pieces weighing one or two salung, rather than one-baht pieces, according to GTA vice-president Pichaya Phisuthikul.…
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Southern Thai man strikes gold with rare cobra encounter
A rare golden cobra slithered into a rubber plantation in Satun province in southern Thailand on Thursday. Sitthinai Soisuwan was walking in the rubber plantation behind his house in Satun province when he spotted an unusual golden snake. Sitthinai said the snake flared its hood and threatened him. Captivated by its beauty, Sitthinai didn’t think about the snake’s potentially deadly…
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Anna scoops Miss Universe Leadership Award
Miss Universe Thailand, Anna Sueanggam-iam, may not have made the final round of 16 contestants but she did manage to scoop the Transformational Leadership Award or ImpactWayv Award. American beauty queen R’Bonney Gabriel was crowned the 71st Miss Universe 2022 on Sunday, and in doing so became the ninth US beauty to win it. Venezuela’s representative, Amanda Dudamel, was named…
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