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 12Go introduces Japan Rail Passes to enhance travel accessibility for international travellers
For those who have travelled throughout Thailand, 12Go is a well-known provider of various trips, though the platform itself has a much wider reach. Ranging from buses to planes, 12Go is undoubtedly a leading booking platform for travel throughout the...
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Forensic experts uncover more about Tangmo’s death, two charged so far
Forensic experts have dismissed reports that Tangmo, the Thai actress who’s body was found yesterday, went to the back of the boat she fell off to urinate. The experts say she was wearing a body suit, which would have made this difficult. A preliminary autopsy showed Tangmo had sand in her lungs. Toxicology results are expected to take about seven…
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Bangkok student president dismissed for controversial video chat
The president of Chulalongkorn Univesity’s student council was dismissed from his position after he presented a controversial video at a student orientation in 2021. The video featured talks by two prominent protest leaders, nicknamed Penguin and Rung, who are known critics of Thailand’s monarchy. In his talk, Penguin raised his middle finger, and encouraged students to do the same. Thai…
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Can Foreigners Own Guns In Thailand? | Lawyers, Guns & Money
What is gun ownership like in Thailand? Can foreigners own guns living in Thailand? What about gun violence in Thailand. If you have a gun license in your country, is that license still applicable in Thailand? Tim sits with Ben Hart from Integrity legal to find out the more about owning guns in Thailand.
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Covid-19 clinics for mild patients to open in March
Thailand’s Public Health Permanent Secretary announced yesterday that Covid-19 clinics for patients with mild symptoms or none at all will open in Thailand on March 1. The clinics, called Accute Resperatory Infection clinics, will offer mild patients Covid-19 tests, exams, medicines, and advice from doctors about home quarantining. The spokesman stressed that 90% of new infections are by the Omicron…
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Missing Thai actress’s body found in Chao Phraya river, Bangkok
The body of Tangmo, the Thai actress who fell in the Chao Phraya river on Thursday night, was found by a rescue team this afternoon. Rescuers from the Ruamkanyu Foundation reported finding Tangmo’s body flaoting in the river at around 1:10pm. Eakpan Bunluerit, a Thai actor who also happened to be volunteering in the search, confirmed the body was Tangmo’s.…
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Phuket officials pass out Covid-19 “survival bags”.
Phuket officials handed out Covid-19 “survival bags” to residents of the Kamala area yesterday. The bags contained food and medical supplies, and were given to high-risk people self isolating, many of whom have lost livelihood from not being able to work. So far there are no details available about how many bags were given out. The chief of the Phuket…
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French expat who went missing in forest turns up safe in Chiang Mai
A French man who went missing in a Chiang Mai forest made his way to a hilltop temple, and is now safe. The man, Jacques Moriceau, went missing in a forest in Doi Tao district between late Thursday night and early Friday morning. He had driven to submit documents to the French consulate, and got lost on his way home…
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60% Covid-19 hospital beds in Thailand are taken
Thailand’s director-general of the Department of the Department of Medical Services said yesterday that 60% of 180,000 Covid-19 hospital beds are occupied. This is a sudden increase from Wednesday, when 49.1% of beds were occupied. The Public Health Ministry reported that as of Thursday there were 42,044 beds beds for patients in “level 1”, with 89,141 beds occupied. There were…
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Ethnic group in Southern province complains losing residence due to tourism
Representatives of the Mani ethnic group in the Southern province of Satun in Thailand have handed a letter to the authorities complaining that they would lose their residence and couldn’t access a better quality of life due to the local tourism industry. The representatives told the authorities they didn’t even have a right to replace a thatched roof with a…
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Bangkok to open 9 community isolation centres with 970 beds for mild patients
Authorities from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration visited the new community isolation centre in the Thawee Wattana district of Bangkok. They were checking the centre before it officially opens. Nine more isolation centres will open, and are expected to offer 970 beds for Covid-19 patients in Thailand’s capital. The authorities also said the Bangkok Emergency Medical Centre improved its contact system to…
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Thai actress missing after falling off a Chao Phraya speedboat
A Thai actress, who goes by the name Tangmo (water melon), fell from a speedboat into the Chao Phraya River near Rama VII Bridge last night. Authorities are still searching for her body. The speedboat had five others who were travelling with her. She fell in at around 10 pm, in Nonthaburi’s Muang district, just north of Bangkok. She was…
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Public health secretary says “drugs are not snacks, no Favipiravir given if not necessary”
Previously, the Public Health Ministry had decided to provide the anti-viral drug Favipiravir to more groups of Covid-19 patients, including patients who had only mild symptoms or no symptoms. However, the ministry secretary told Thai media yesterday that the direction has changed, and Favipiravir will be given to Covid-19 patients “only if necessary”. The authorities also warned of side effects…
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Indian mafia member arrested in Pattaya, confirmed no links to Phuket murder
An Indian mafia member was arrested in Pattaya after a red Interpol notice. He was allegedly involved in robbery, murder, human trafficking, ransom and money laundering in India. But Thai police have already confirmed that there is no links between the arrested man and the ‘hit job’ on Indian citizen Jimi “Slice” Sandhu on February 4. The Pattaya suspect reportedly…
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CCSA says no travel restrictions over Songkran this year, but no parties either
Even though it’s still 7 weeks away, the Thai government is taking the front foot on the forthcoming Songkran “new year” celebrations. The CCSA will meet next week to discuss potential disease prevention measures for the big Songkran holiday. However, it says it will not impose travel restrictions to prevent Thais from heading home for the annual commemoration. Supot Malaniyom,…
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Pro-democracy activist Parit granted bail after proving he has to sit university exams
Pro-democracy protest leader, Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, has been freed on 3 months’ bail after proving to the Bangkok South Criminal Court that he needs to sit final university exams. The court had refused to grant bail until the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasat University issued Parit with a certificate to prove his status. Thai PBS World reports that bail…
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Thailand’s health ministry wants to declare Covid-19 endemic within 4 months
Thailand’s health ministry wants to declare Covid 19 as endemic in the next 4 months, according to a Bangkok Post report. Senior ministry official Kiattiphum Wongrajit says the Omicron variant has resulted in a much lower fatality rate than in previous waves and while lung infections are increasing, cases of severe illness are still lower than earlier waves of the…
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Pattaya Music Festival postponed due to a rise in Covid-19 cases
Next month’s Pattaya Music Festival 2022 is being postponed due to the surge in Covid-19 cases which hit 1,250 new infections in Chon Buri today. With the recent decision to hold off the music festival, some are worried authorities may also yet again cancel April’s Songkran festival, the massive water fight celebrating the Thai New Year. Pattaya Music Festival was…
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Trang residents with Covid complain of lack of food in government’s aid packages
A number of locals in the southern province Trang say provincial authorities have skimped on the aid packages for those in home isolation while they recover from Covid-19. During the 10-day mandatory time in self-quarantine, the residents say authorities have only been giving them instant noodles, canned fish, and rice… not the three meals a day they say they were…
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7 men arrested for allegedly posing as monks, asking for cash donations
Seven men are accused of posing as monks to scam residents in the eastern province Rayong by asking for cash donations. Reports say police found the men carrying fake monk identification cards. The seven “monks” were seen as unconventional as they refused to accept food and other offerings, and only accepted money. A local monk then reported them to the…
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Thursday Covid Update: 23,557 new cases; provincial totals
38 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 22,768 with 1,070 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 23,557 new Covid-19 cases and 16,131 recoveries. There are now 180,993 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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Teenager reports sexual assault at co-ed isolation centre for Covid-19 patients
A teenager staying in a community isolation centre while recovering from Covid-19 says she was sexually assaulted by a young man staying in the same room, adding that there were no authorities monitoring the patients. Many of Thailand’s field hospitals and isolation centres have numerous beds made from cardboard boxes all in one large room, like a gymnasium. The 15…
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Universal coverage scheme has spent over 101 billion baht on Covid-19 treatment
Thailand’s Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients has spent more than 101 billion baht on Covid-19 treatment over the past two years. In 2020, the government spent 3.8 billion for treatments, and that number spiked to 97.7 billion last year. This year, the total treatment cost has been 32.4 billion baht. For patients with mild symptoms or no symptoms at all,…
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Bangkok court rejects bail applications of prominent pro-democracy activists
Bail applications from anti-government activists Anon Nampa and Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak have been rejected by the Bangkok South Criminal Court. The decision follows an earlier ruling by the Criminal Court that granted bail of 2,079,000 baht in relation to other charges. The pro-democracy Ratsadon group did not have sufficient funds to pay the requested amount and launched an online crowdfunding…
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Pending bill could help families of disappeared Thai activists take legal action
A bill awaiting senate approval that criminalises torture and forced disappearances could help parents and partners of missing Thai activists take legal action. Those convicted of political disappearances and torture cases involving death could be imprisoned between 15 and 30 years. After it had been delayed for decades, lawmakers in the house of representatives unanimously passed draft laws on Wednesday.…
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Anutin says reduced Test & Go insurance requirements enough to cover Covid costs
Following the CCSA’s decision yesterday to lower the insurance coverage required of overseas arrivals, the health minister says the new figure is enough to cover Covid treatment. The mandatory insurance coverage required to enter Thailand will be reduced from US$50,000 to US$20,000 from March 1. Anutin Charnvirakul says the amount was lowered in order to reduce the costs of travelling…
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Phuket makes plans to attract more Thai tourists, same day Level 4 alert anounced
Even after the Test & Go program was rebooted on February 1, along with the additional and unpopular Day 5 PCR test, there hasn’t been a large increase in the number of international tourists visiting Thailand. Indeed the new applications and actual arrivals have fallen well below expectations by Thailand’s tourism tzars. Now, Phuket officials have launched new plans to…
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Thailand Test & Go update: No more Day 5 pre-paid hotel or PCR test
From the start of March, the requirement for the 2nd pre-paid PCR test on Day 5 after your arrival in Thailand will be dropped. But it will instead be replaced with a rapid antigen test you can take yourself (freely and cheaply available at any convenience store). In addition, the required ‘Covid’ insurance will be reduced from $50,000 to $20,000.…
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Wednesday Covid Update: 21,232 new infections, provincial totals
39 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 22,730 with 1,032 of those fatalities since the start of this year, mostly related to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. In the 24 hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 21,232 new Covid infections and 16,662 recoveries. There are now…
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Covid-19 patients found on Bangkok streets waiting for treatment after cases spike
Today, Thailand’s CCSA reported new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours have reached 21,232 with 39 Covid-related deaths. Thai media and volunteer groups are also reporting that the availability of beds is “at a crisis point”. Photos of patients being left to wait for treatment on the street or on temple grounds are also being shared around social media.…
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Tourists complain of more scams at a free public carpark at Pattaya’s Bali Hai Pier
Residents and Thai tourists are again complaining to Pattaya authorities saying that they were charged a parking fee at a ‘free’ public carpark at the Bali Hai Pier. The residents report there was a group of people around the carpark and demanding a fee of 300 baht per day from the drivers. Many tourists, both Thais and foreigners, weren’t aware…
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