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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Thaksin to get Thai passport as ‘New Year’s gift’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thailand to ‘soon’ issue passport for fugitive former premier Thaksin Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Thailand will issue a passport for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra “very soon”, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said yesterday. Phuket Gazette partner newspaper The Nation quotes Surapong as saying that the passport…
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Anti-graft alliance vows to keep close watch
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community “Clean Thailand DIY” campaign The NationThe Anti-Corruption Network (ACN), an alliance of private watchdog groups, yesterday launched the “Clean Thailand DIY” campaign to monitor the government’s spending of Bt800 billion earmarked for post-flood recovery efforts. ACN chairman Pramon Sutivong said the group is inviting people to…
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Phuket misses out on Dance Festival as it moves to Chiang Mai
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dance Festival moves to Chiang Mai due to flooding The Nation Thanks to the flooding, the Dance Center has not only postponed its International Dance Festival but relocated it from Bangkok and shortened it. It’s set for tomorrow. “This is the 11th edition and the first…
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Yingluck falls ill; Police denies rumors about key burglary suspect
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yingluck cancels events after falling sick The NationAccording to a source close to the prime minister, Yingluck appeared faint, complained of a headache and vomited during a lunch break at Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi. She had earlier inspected a flooded area of Pak Kret district…
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Phuket Media Watch – Deep South flower pot bomb injures monks
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Flower pot bomb injures monks The Nation Nine people, including three monks, were injured in a bomb attack by suspected insurgents in the Deep South province of Pattani recently. The monks were collecting alms on Sai Charoen Pradit Road in Pattani City when a 3-kilogram bomb…
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Phuket Media Watch – Passing on Thaksin pardon
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Passing on Thaksin pardon The Nation The government appeared to bow to political pressure last week when it backtracked on a plan to grant former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra a pardon on the occasion of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 84th birthday. The People’s Alliance for Democracy…
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Weird World News: Technology fads with “Robocop’ prison guards, indestructible iPads and the “Hi honey’ banner vending machine
PHUKET: Technology is great for providing distractions, but this week’s Weird World News round-up is all about the latest gizmo goings-on designed to get your attention, and keep it. ‘RoboCops’ to patrol South Korean prisons SOUTH Korean prisons will deploy a fleet of robot guards to keep inmates in line. And at one billion won (about 27 million baht) apiece,…
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Weird World News: Teens tampon booze craze, man sues dating company for “ugly’ brides and prisoner uses guts for glory
PHUKET: This week’s weird news round-up is a subtle blend of depraved, deplorable and detestable happenings from the around the globe. Health Risk: Teens using vodka-soaked tampons to get drunk PHOENIX Police say a craze that involves teenage girls dousing tampons with vodka and inserting them into their “parts” to get drunk is on the rise and needs to be…
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Weird World News: Refusing to age gracefully with the pensioner graffiti gang, the great-granny denied booze for no ID and the rock dad “too old to dance’
PHUKET: With age comes wisdom, right? Well not for these wrinkled and wizened hell-raisers who found themselves in the world media headlines this week for all the wrong reasons. Elderly graffiti gang Old Skool Massive on the loose A BRITISH gang of pensioners known as the Old Skool Massive have been terrorizing their neighbors with graffiti, attacking homes and cars…
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Weird World News: Stuck in the middle of a tree, a swing and the Amazon with misguided men and lone alien
PHUKET: Men behaving like children and a little green alien found themselves stuck in some unfamiliar places this week. The alien was the only one who didn’t need to be rescued. Oh to be young again: Man spends night stuck in child’s swing A CALIFORNIA man was stuck in child’s swing for nine hours overnight after taking a US$100 bet…
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Weird World News: Grrrrrrrrrreat escape in Ohio, monster mistake for giant slipper man and tears for loveable crocodile Pocho
PHUKET: Animals leaped into the world’s news headlines this week with scary, silly and sad stories to report. The great Ohio escape: Monkey still AWOL, feared eaten by lion A FUGITIVE monkey who has been on the run from Ohio police since Tuesday night is presumed dead, eaten by one his “big cat” accomplices. One of the 18 tigers or…
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Weird World News: The Superhero of Seattle, Moss Man and Superman fan in high jinks
PHUKET: Superheroes and villains made headlines around the world this week in bizarre, botched and bone-headed acts of super silly proportions. Masked ‘superhero of Seattle’ arrested for assault IN SEATTLE, Washington, they really do have a superhero watching over the city at night. But there’s just one problem: He was arrested this week for assault. The “superhero of Seattle”, also…
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Weird World News: Recipes for disaster when entertaining guests
PHUKET: If you’ve ever had a friend or date come over for a meal only to wince in disgust, spit out a half-chewed mouthful of goop, make a few nonsensical excuses and promptly leave, then it’s safe to say you’re a dud in the kitchen. If you don’t know a courgette from a zucchini or a spatula from a spade,…
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Tush-tattooed teens end clerical career
NAKHON SAWAN: A monk at a local temple in this central Thailand province has been defrocked after tattooing the buttocks of two 15-year-old schoolgirls. In a single session, Phra Theera Chaya Chansophana tattooed the two girls and nine male students, all of whom were wearing school uniforms when they arrived to see him. Parents and teachers of the teens claim…
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Weird World News: Young people doing stupid things
PHUKET: Most adults dread old age because it means you can’t do the things you could when you were young. But if the following stories are anything to go by, those getting on in years should feel blessed with the wisdom that comes with age. The weird, dangerous and idiotic things young people are getting up to around the globe…
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‘Lanky Gecko’ and his house of lizards
CHIANG MAI: An animal-crazy man in Chiang Mai has shacked up in an apartment with 23 large geckos and chameleons, living with the lizards as if they were pet cats and dogs. When a reporter from Khao Sod went to visit Suiti Saelim’s apartment in Fa Ham subdistrict, there were lizards everywhere: under the bed, on the mattress, on the…
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Phuket Gazette Thailand News: DNA tests proposed for migrant workers; Rubber farmers fight on; Mahouts fear losing elephants
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Proposal to DNA-test migrant workers panned The Nation/Phuket GazettePHUKET: Prompted by concerns over the ease with which foreigners will be able to travel in and out of Thailand once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) commences in 2015, the Institute for Forensic Medicine (IFM) is calling on the…
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Weird World News: Goody for Guinness 2012
PHUKET: It’s that time of year again, when the book dedicated to all things weird, tall, short, big and bizarre hits the shelves of bookstores around the world this week – it’s time for the next volume of Guinness World Records. Here a few of the 4,000 records – half are new – soon to be turning heads and dropping…
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The Curse of the Police Banyan Tree Shrine
NONTHANURI: A police investigation into the attempted murder-suicide by the wife of a police captain has taken a strange turn as a curse-cleansing ceremony was held at the police station’s banyan tree shrine. Last week, Siripat Kongkla, the wife of Nonthaburi city police officer Kongcham Kongkla, reportedly shot their five-year-old daughter using her husband’s police-issue 9mm handgun before turning the…
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Demon drink: exorcism ends one-man hostage show
PHUKET: A recent incident in Baan Bangjo, in Phuket’s Thalang District, recently highlighted to police and local residents the extent of disorientation alcohol can induce. Police officers and members of the Kusoldharm foundation responded to late-night reports of a public disturbance near a place of worship in Srisoonthorn subdistrict. Arriving at a private residence behind Baan Bangjo Mosque, they found…
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“Croc-o-duo’ free to roam family home
PHITSANULOKE: Municipality Council member Awiroot Natip has shared his family home with a variety of pets over the past decade, two of which are two-meter-long freshwater crocodiles. “I’ve been raising them for almost 10 years,” Mr Awiroot, 45, told Kom Chad Luek. Mr Ariwoot purchased the pair, named Ngern (Silver) and Thong (Gold), from Nakhon Sawan MP Pinyo Nirote for…
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Family keeping killer dog
CHON BURI: The family of Mana Thessarit, a 51-year-old man who died after being viciously attacked by his golden retriever “Peter”, says there’s no question of getting rid of the killer pooch. Mr Mana’s daughter Wassana said the family will continue to look after the dog at the family home, in Sattahip district in the Central Thailand province. Peter attacked…
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Abhisit-loving grandmother kills herself
RAYONG: Dedicated supporters of the Democrat Party across Thailand have taken Yingluck Shinawatra’s sweeping victory over Abhisit Vejjajiva in the July 3 general elections hard, but none more so than Lamian Yusuk, an 80-year-old grandmother from Huay Yang subdistrict in Rayong province. Ms Lamian killed herself by drinking weedkiller six days after her hero Mr Abhisit’s defeat. Nantha Lap-insi, 59,…
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Baby “Cream’ haunts dreams, refuses to sour
VILLAGERS in Nakhon Ratchasima are queueing up to place toys in front of the corpse of a nine-month-old baby on display in a local temple. They say the body of Suphansa Lilaphamonkit, known as “Nong Cream”, has miraculously failed to rot, despite the baby dying four years ago. Nong Cream was born on July 11, 2006, but died on April…
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Mentally ill man guards mother’s body for a week
A MENTALLY ill man in Bangkok spent five days crouched over his mother’s dead body in a Bangkok apartment before the foul smell alerted the landlady. Walisa Amnuaypon, 58, said she knocked on the door but received no response. When she opened the room with her spare key she was shocked to find Somchai Saeju, 59, sitting next to the…
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Ayutthaya “sex lottery’ exposed, cops get tough on getting lucky
AYUTTHAYA: An underground lottery in Ayutthaya province has given new meaning to the expression “getting lucky”. Top prize in the draw, which was becoming increasingly popular with male factory workers in the central Thai province before the authorities got wind of it, was a night in bed with a young woman. Early this month Ayutthaya Police made several arrests connected…
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Dog snatchers terrorizing Khon Kaen
KHON KAEN: A gang of dog snatchers is stealing pampered pooches in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen, leaving a string of dog owners devastated over the loss of their cherished four-legged friends. The gang, whose reign of terror has lasted two years, is targeting pedigree breeds with placid temperaments, such as golden retrievers, Siberian huskies, chihuahuas, Pomeranians and pugs.…
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Jilted boyfriend leaves ex armless
PATHUM THANI: A man allegedly launched a crazed attack on his ex-girlfriend with a sword, severing one of her arms before grabbing the limb and fleeing. Victim Mali Phuangprachang, who works at a beauty salon, is recovering in Viparam Hospital. The 33-year-old has been left without her right arm and had a huge gash in her face that needed 22…
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Man becomes dogs’ dinner
PHITSANULOK: A man who lived alone in a wooden shack on a fruit farm in Phitsanulok fell to his death and was half-eaten by the 20 dogs he kept to guard his orchards. When villagers living nearby noticed that Mai Khongthong, 66, wasn’t out watering his fruit trees as usual February 25, they called out to him but heard no…
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Canine-crazy couple have gone to the dogs
NAKHON PATHOM: Champa Tangsombun is crazy about dogs – so much so that it’s ruining his wife’s retirement. Mr Champa, 74, has been taking stray and injured dogs into his home in Village 9 in Bangchang subdistrict for 15 years. The retired bus station master now has 61 canines to take care of and he has spent his entire life…
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