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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Sponsored How to choose the perfect family-friendly property in Phuket
Phuket has long attracted visitors from around the globe with its golden beach and lush green hills. Many come for a holiday and leave captivated, often deciding they want a piece of the island for themselves. That’s why, despite fluctuations...
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The four days of Songkran. Do it like a local.
Over four days of festivities, Songkran officially begins on April 13 with each day focusing on different activities and traditions. April 13 – Wan Sangkhan Lohng On this day residents clean their houses in preparation of the New Year’s festivities and the Chiang Mai Songkran parade. This procession involves the passing of revered Buddha images and parade floats through the…
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Six deaths, many injured as train slams into minivan in Lop Buri
PHOTOS: อาสาสมัครมูลนิธิร่วมกตัญญู เขตพัฒนานิคม จังหวัดลพบุรี Six people have died while many others are injured after a train collided with a minivan in Lop Buri, north of Bangkok, early this morning. At 4am this morning the train collided with the minivan on the Lop Buri – Bang Muang Road in Pattananikom, Lop Buri. Six deaths have been reported and another 10 injured…
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Getting ready for 5G. NCPO extends digital band payments.
Thailand’s mobile phone operators using the 900Mhz band and digital TV licensees have been given an extension for their concession fee payments. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, as head of the NCPO, has invoked Article 44 of the interim Constitution, to extend the concession fee payment schedule for mobile phone operators from 4 months to 10 months. The relaxation in the timing of payments to be made to the NBTC will greatly ease the financial…
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‘Seastead’ set up off coast of Phuket
PHOTOS: Nation TV A Thai couple has successfully set up a ‘Seastead’ near Phuket. Seasteading is aiming to build floating societies with “significant political autonomy”. Nearly half the world’s surface is unclaimed by any nation-state, and many coastal nations can legislate “seasteads” in their territorial waters (like a “homestead” but wetter). The nation TV reports that website ‘Bitcoin.com’ and ‘Ocean.builders’…
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One killed, another injured after train slams into upside-down van in Ayutthaya
PHOTO: Matichon Online One man is dead and another severely injured after their van hit a road barrier and flipped onto railway tracks before being hit by a train in Ayutthaya, just north of Bangkok, early today. The Ayutthaya police station was alerted of the accident at the u-turn under the Ban Ma flyover on the Asia highway’s frontage in…
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Body of missing boy found in canal in Phetchburi
The body of a one year old who has been missing for eight days has been found in a canal in Phetchburi today. The body was found floating face down in the klong in Phetchburi early this morning. The male toddler, just over a year old, was reported missing to police in Pakin Kidtalod eight days ago. The mother of ‘Nong…
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“Thailand Travel Shield” insurance scheme to continue – TAT
The TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) says that the Thailand Travel Shield insurance project will continue. The service provides online travel insurance for foreign tourists. Reported in Phuketify, TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn, says that the TAT had initiated the creation of the Thailand Travel Shield project as a local insurance scheme alternative back in July 2014. “This year marks the fifth…
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Sacred waters begin their journey to Bangkok for Royal Coronation
PHOTOS: Phuket – Kritsada Meuanawong Thailand’s 76 provinces have taken part in a nationwide ceremony to draw sacred water from 108 water sources to be used during the Coronation of HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn on May 4. The ceremony began in all provinces at the same time of 11.52am. The only exception was Bangkok where the same ritual will be held on April 12 at the Haw Sastrakhom, inside…
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“We have sufficient evidence against Thanathorn” – Police
Deputy national police chief says that police likely have sufficient evidence to support the sedition charge filed against Future Forward’s Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. Future Forward eclipsed even their own projections with a surprising performance on the Mach 24 election, coming in a close third behind the heavyweights Pheu Thai and Palang Pracharat, at the expense of the Democrats. Thai PBS reports…
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Recounts and new elections ordered in eight polling stations
PHOTOS: The Nation The Election Commission has decided that two polling stations should recount their ballots while six others should re-hold the election due to discrepancies in the number of ballots in those booths. The two polling stations that have been ordered to re-count the ballots were in Nam Pong District in Khon Kaen province. The poll results they provided…
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Former EC Commissioner says ‘Give seats to smaller parties’
A former Constitution Drafting Commission member, Praphan Naikovit, once a member of the Election Commission, met with election commissioners yesterday to discuss the formula that should be used to determine the number of MPs following an extensive debate on the interpretation of laws and formula. He says there is just one formula to calculate the number of party-list MPs in…
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Forecasts for Thai export growth revised upwards
The meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking has revised upwards its forecast of export growth in 2019 to between 6.5 – 7.5% from the previous forecast of between 3.5 – 4.5%. The revision is in line with export growth in the past eight months, the committee said. Growth momentum is expected to continue during the…
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Army chief steps into the political fray again
PHOTO: Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong against a snappy hot pink backdrop by Supalak Ganjanakhundee Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong’s provocative comments against foreign-educated politicians with ‘leftist leanings’ and activists is a threat to democracy, and could lead to social unrest, violence and even collapse of the regime… warnings from prominent Thai scholars and rights defenders yesterday. The comments follow…
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Election Commission admits they haven’t decided on the formula to determine lower house
by Kas Chanwanpen In a stunning admission yesterday, the Election Commission admitted they didn’t know the exact formula to work out the final make up of the lower house seats. The Election Commission secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma says that he expected the agency to make a decision this week on their interpretation of the new Charter that sets out, broadly, how…
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JetSki crashes into shop in Kamala, Phuket
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket Not often we get to write this headline… “JetSki crashes into shop in Kamala”. The jetski was being towed by a Saleng (motorcycle and side-car) through the streets of Kamala this afternoon when, for reasons we don’t yet (probably brake failure), the whole shebang went AWOL and ended up running into the front window of some tourist…
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The EC’s magic formulae. Thais want to know how it all works.
by Kas Chanwanpen More confusion today, nine days after after the national ballot, as multiple formulae have been cited to come up with a tally on the number of MPs each party would have. Meanwhile, authorities appear reluctant to clear the air. Political scientist Stithorn Thananithichot warns that this confusion could lead to lawsuits which will further complicate post-poll politics.…
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“Easier, faster and more watertight” – Surachate’s vision for Immigration
Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, Thailand’s Immigration chief, has outlined a few new directions for visitor and expat visas in Thailand. Speaking to TNA MCOT, the chief acknowledged the 1979 Act was “out of date” and “not in line with modern countries” and travel procedures. Surachate said that Thailand was the third most visited country in the world and was a place…
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Child drowning cases – dramatic drop over two decades
The leading cause of death in Thai children, below the age of 15, is drowning. “Even though the cases have recently fallen to an all time low, it’s still not low enough.” “In nearly two decades there have been 22,700 drowning cases, that’s between the years 2000 and 2018. That averages nearly 1,300 child drownings every year.” These numbers from…
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King revokes royal decorations from former PM Thaksin
PHOTO: Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra welcomes Princess Ubolratana of Thailand as they arrive for the wedding of Thaksin’s daughter last weekend in Hong Kong. HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped the royal decorations of former PM and fugitive billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, alluding to his convictions and “extremely inappropriate” flight from the country. The statement in yesterday’s Royal Gazette from…
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Weather warning for summer storms in upper Thailand
The Thai Meteorological Department has announced weather warnings for potential summer storms in upper Thailand. They say a high-pressure system from China will extend to, and meet, the hot weather over upper Thailand. “From March 31 – April 3, outbreaks of summer thunderstorms will be likely in the upper country.” Thunderstorms, gusty winds and hail are possible, first in the…
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Future Forward’s 80 new parliamentary faces
The Future Forward Party, making an impressive debut in last Sunday’s election – finishing as the third-most popular choice with more than 6.2 million votes and more than 80 Lower House seats – is composed entirely of completely new faces. These fresh new political voices, partly fueled by the seven million new, young, eligible voters in this year’s poll, provides…
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“No need to join coalition government” – Democrat politician
PHOTO: Facebook/Parit Wacharasindhu With around 55 seats won after Sunday’s election, the Democrats are one of a few political parties which will hold the balance of power. They will be able to choose between joining an alliance with a Pheu Thai-led bloc or siding with the Phalang Pracharat-led camp. But Parit Wacharasindhu, a new generation Democrat Party member, says he…
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Democrat’s 50 parliamentary seats up for grabs
The Democrat Party is hedging their bets at the moment with differing views among the remnant of the political party as to where they should throw their support in the new parliament. Yesterday they were juggling their options, as both Pheu Thai and Phalang Pracharat claimed legitimacy to form the next government. Senior Democrat politician Thaworn Senneam, who won the…
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Nine arrested for sharing ‘fake election news’
PHOTO: Thai News Agency A Thai official has announced that nine people have been arrested for allegedly sharing fake news on Facebook. In the posts they claimed two EC commissioners had been fired and that 600,000 illegitimate ballots were mixed into the vote count. If convicted, the accused could face up to five years in jail and a 30,000 baht…
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Two die, many injured in three separate bus incidents
PHOTOS: โนนสูง “อาสา” ฐานหน้าโรงพยาบาลโนนสูง Two people have died while many others have been injured in three separate bus accidents early this morning around Thailand – two in Nakhon Ratchasima and another in Nakhon Sawan Just after midnight a truck collided into the back of a bus at an intersection in Krok Phra, Nakhon Sawan, central of Thailand. Two people sustained…
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Hospitals train staff to recoup money from non-paying foreigners
“…many foreigners sought treatment for ailments or injuries at public hospitals and many failed to fully pay the bills, resulting in multi-million baht in debt.” The Public Health Ministry’s Department of Health Service Support has provided training to public hospitals in tourist provinces to help them collect fees from foreigners, director-general Dr Nattawuth Prasertsiripong said yesterday. The move is aimed at…
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“Palang Pracharat will not rush to form government”
PHOTO: Palang Pracharat party leader Dr. Uttama Savanayana “He also called on the Pheu Thai-led alliance to stop calling themselves the “pro-democracy camp” and their rival parties “pro-dictatorship”, pointing out that both camps had been elected by the people.” The Palang Pracharat party leader Uttama Savanayana says there is no need for the party to rush to form a government because the official election results have yet to be…
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Count continues amid surging complaints
Four days after the national election and we are still no closer to knowing the ‘winner’ as the county’s Election Commission continues the counting of the remainder of the votes amid accusations of delays and mishandling of ballots in some locations. 95% of the voting has now been completed. The EC says that the results after counting the remaining 5%…
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Anti-Junta bloc announces coalition with at least 255 seats
by Kas Chanwanpen The Pheu Thai Party’s de facto leader Sudarat Keyuraphan has announced this morning that an ‘anti-junta’ bloc had mustered at least 255 MPs from seven parties to form a coalition government. She said their shared aim was to stop the military junta from retaining power. She also said that negotiations are still underway for more parties to…
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Six parties poised to announce coalition government at 10am
Six pro-democracy parties, led by Pheu Thai, are announcing their intention to form a coalition government this morning. The number-crunchers say, even without the support of BumJaiThai and the Democrats, they have 252 house seats to form a majority government (they need at least 251 seats in the 500 seat parliament). The parties siding with Pheu Thai to form the…
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