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 Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Father’s Day celebrated throughout Thailand today
Today, the people of Thailand celebrate Father’s Day. It is a national public holiday for schools and many businesses are closed. The holiday is celebrated on this day to honour and commemorate the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, father to the current king and a leader whom many revere as a symbolic father to all the people of Thailand. The holiday…
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Disruptive Phuket-bound passenger thrown off flight in Karachi
A disruptive Phuket-bound passenger on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul was thrown off the aircraft yesterday and arrested after the flight diverted to Pakistan’s Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. After the passenger was taken into custody by local law enforcement, the flight continued to Phuket. Turkish Airlines flight TK-172 on an Airbus A330 diverted to Karachi three hours into the…
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Thailand tourism predicted at 80% of pre-Covid in 2023
Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn just predicted that next year, revenue from tourism will hit 80% of the level it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. He made the bold prediction at the 22nd World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit, being held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. At that summit, the TAT was invited to take…
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Red-Bull hit-and-run prosecutor dismissed
Red-Bull hit-and-run prosecutor Chainarong Saengthong-aram has been dismissed by the Public Prosecutors Commission. The former senior prosecutor at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was discharged after tampering with evidence in the case involving Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya. An initial report showed that Vorayuth was driving his Ferrari at 177 kilometres per hour when he hit and killed…
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Thai baht soars to six-month high against US dollar
The Thai baht opened at 34.78 against the US dollar today, strengthening from yesterday’s close of 35 to a six-month high. The baht’s sudden rise is down to the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) hiking the policy rate by a quarter point earlier this week. The BOT remains committed to a gradual monetary tightening policy, raising the policy rate from 1%…
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Stop giving monkeys cigarettes, beg locals in Lop Buri, Thailand
Locals in Lop Buri province in central Thailand – famous for its out-of-control monkey population – are begging tourists to stop giving monkeys cigarettes. Monkey lovers in Lop Buri were saddened to see a clip circulating on social media in which a visitor to the city flicked a lit cigarette to a monkey. In the clip, the innocent monkey picked…
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World Cup broadcasting soap opera drama rumbles on
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar broadcasting soap opera continues to provide drama. In this week’s episode, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is demanding the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) return the 600 million baht it handed over because it can’t fulfil its World Cup broadcasting agreement. The long-drawn-out melodrama appeared to have reached a conclusion when Thailand…
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Police arrest weight loss pill executive for causing 4 deaths in Thailand
A dietary supplement executive was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday after four people died from taking his company’s weight loss pills. Police arrested 50 year old Nuttawat outside a condo in the Huai Kwang district under an arrest warrant issued by Kanchanaburi Provincial Court on January 18, 2022, for, “secretly adding a substance to food, medicine or other edible products…
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Ladyboys steal Russian tourist’s gold necklace in Pattaya, Thailand
In a tale as old as time, another foreign tourist had their gold necklace stolen by ladyboys in Pattaya, Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand, in the dead of night. At 3am today, 24 year old Artem [surname withheld] of Russian nationality sought help from officers at Pattaya City Police Station. He said two ladyboys molested him and untied his gold…
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7-Eleven stores introduce digital govt service channel for Thais
A new digital channel is being introduced in 7-Eleven stores to make it easier for residents in Thailand to access government services. The Digital Government Development Agency (DGA) is using a technology integrator Counter Service to create a new channel to verify and issue digital IDs for citizens. The DGA reckon the systems will make it easier for people to…
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Motorbike taxi driver wins 12 million baht lottery jackpot in Thailand
A “win” motorbike taxi driver from Samut Prakan province, just south of Bangkok in Thailand, won 12 million baht (US$345,050.76) in the lottery yesterday. Ek – who works in the King Kaew area of Bang Phli district – revealed that he chose the winning lottery number 375805 using the age of his ex-wife who sadly passed away just one week ago.…
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9 year olds smoke cannabis on Pattaya Beach in Thailand
Netizens are concerned about the safety of children after pictures of a group of 9 and 10 year olds smoking cannabis from a bamboo bong on Pattaya Beach in Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand, went viral on social media. Thailand delisted cannabis as an illicit narcotic in June to allow the public to utilise the plant’s medicinal properties. But without…
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Thailand’s Board of Investment unveils transformation plans
Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) has come up with new ways to attract more investment into Thailand. The board’s target is an easy-to-swallow group of companies dubbed “smart and sustainable” according to Bangkok Post. The government’s effort to create a “new” economy in Thailand is focused, like almost every other Asian nation, on buzzwords. The board’s chosen buzzwords are “innovation”…
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Driving licence point deductions starting next year in Thailand
Driving licence point deductions will start next year in Thailand to help curb traffic violations and dangerous driving. Starting January 9, 2023, the Royal Thai Police and Land Transport Department will enforce the demerit point system. Each driving license holder will be given 12 points to start with but will be deducted for each violation they are caught committing. The…
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Big Joke seizes Tuhao’s private jet in Hua Hin
A private jet is the latest addition to the Thai police’s shiny collection of assets seized from Tuhao the notorious Chinese gangster. Thai police – led by Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn – seized Tuhao’s private jet at Bo Fai Airport in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, western Thailand, yesterday. Police found that the “HS-HAO” plane was owned by Modern…
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Phuket officials once again report finding no human trafficking on fishing boats
Phuket officials reported once again they found no evidence of human trafficking on fishing boats. Officials conducted a series of random interviews at Rassada Pier in the main city district yesterday. They inspected a total of seven boats with 249 workers. Some 117 workers were Thai, and 130 were from Vietnam and Laos. Officials confirmed that they did not discover…
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Teen girl’s ID card request denied as she doesn’t look like her mother
Officials in the Nong Hong district office of the Isaan province of Buriram rejected a 14 year old girl’s request for a Thai ID card because they said she does not look like her mother. The teenager’s disillusioned mother asked why it was a lot easier for foreigners running entertainment venues to claim their ID cards than people from Thailand.…
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Body of missing woman found tied to water pump in western Thailand
Police launched a murder investigation after finding the body of a missing woman tied to a water pump inside a lake in Prachuap Khiri Khan province in western Thailand. Last night, police found the body of a woman estimated to be around 30 years old submerged in a lake in Moo 4, Ang Thong subdistrict, Thap Sakae district. Her body…
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Chinese gangs in Thailand take another hit as “Tony” falls
Chinese gangs in Thailand are in more trouble as police arrested another suspected gang boss in Bangkok Wednesday. Teams of police raided 34 locations in eight provinces, at the behest of deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn. Big Joke, as Surachate is playfully known, said that in Samut Prakan, a company was identified as owning a private aircraft…
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Pattaya Police warn city’s taxi riders to behave after sexual assault case
Pattaya Police warned the city’s motorcycle taxi riders to behave or else lose your taxi permits and driver’s license. The warning comes on the back of a taxi rider sexually harassing a customer who turned out to be a Thai TV talent show singer. Pol. Col. Kullachart Kullachai summoned a meeting with the city’s motorcycle taxi drivers to make them…
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Percentage of HIV infections rising among young Thais
In a worrying new trend, the percentage of AIDS infections has been rising among young Thais. According to the director of the Disease Control Department’s Division of AIDS, nearly two-thirds of new HIV infections are in young people. The director, Dr Cheewanan Lertpiriyasuwat, said this was much higher than the global average of around 30%. One HIV/AIDS prevention organisation, M…
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TAT launches luxury travel package to Thailand for rich South Korean tourists
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) launched a travel package called ‘Amazing New Chapters: Discover Luxperience in Thailand’ aimed at high-end South Korean travellers. The deal combines business class tickets to Bangkok on Asiana Airlines and a stay at the five-star Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, which costs around 12,000 baht per night. The TAT hopes to make Thailand a desirable…
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Unexploded MK-82 bomb found in Songkhla forest
Rangers found an unexploded MK-82 bomb in the forest of Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern province of Songkhla. The authorities believe the bomb was left over from the Communist insurgency in Thailand over 40 years ago. The Communist insurgency in Thailand was a guerilla war lasting from 1965 until 1983, fought mainly between the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) and…
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Thai police seize 8 businesses in Phuket owned by Chinese gangster Tuhao
Tuhao‘s can of criminal worms continues to open as police revealed they seized eight businesses in Phuket, southern Thailand, owned by the notorious Chinese gangster. Yesterday, police seized eight businesses each spanning 10 rai of land in Phuket’s Mueang district, including a jewellery company featuring a snake farm, two real estate companies, a latex company, a herbal medicine company, and…
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50 crypto mines raided for stealing Thai electricity
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) raided about 50 crypto mines in Bangkok and Nonthaburi province yesterday for stealing electricity amounting to 325 million baht per year. The cybercrime department of the DSI, under the codename Electrical Shock, investigated 40 buildings in Bangkok, and Nonthaburi that they suspected of illegally using electricity without an electric digital multimeter. Officers raided one…
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Man armed with a pen gun arrested at seminar visited by PM Prayut
The Thai Air Force bomb squad quickly dealt with a potential threat to the life of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha when an abusive man with a pen gun turned up at a seminar the PM was addressing. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOC) arrested the armed man yesterday at the seminar in the northern province of Chiang Rai. PM Prayut joined…
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‘Pinky’ the alleged Forex 3D scammer released on bail after 3 months behind bars
UPDATE Savika “Pinky” Chaiyadej was released on bail for 5 million baht yesterday after being detained for over three months inside Central Women’s Correctional Institution in Bangkok. Thailand’s Criminal Court granted bail to Pinky on the condition that she does not leave the country, must inform the court within seven days if she changes her address, and must report to…
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Cabinet seems to have ignored 4am nightlife proposal
It seems that the push for 4am closing times for nightlife venues is meeting stiff opposition. But entertainment venues aren’t giving up, offering new arguments and proposing plans to solve the points of contention. Meanwhile, the briefing released after a Cabinet meeting yesterday that was expected to discuss the curfew extension did not make any mention of the 4am proposal.…
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Intoxicated Pattaya woman left uninjured after overturning car
An intoxicated Pattaya woman escaped injury after overturning her car in the early hours of this morning. The woman, Nantakan Surinthorn, remarkably walked away from the vehicle with little more than a few minor scrapes and bruises after she crashed her car into a parked truck, before overturning it. The 26 year old bar owner admitted to Pattaya police that…
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Police put brakes on car rental thief in Bangkok
A car rental thief was arrested in Bangkok today after twocking more than 100 motors from car rental shops throughout several provinces of southern Thailand. Members of the Haad Yai Airport Car Rental Business Association in the southern province of Songkhla, and car rental shops in Pattalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krabi, Phuket, Yala, and Narathiwat filed complaints with police that…
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