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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    What do you need before moving from the US to Thailand?

    The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...

  • VIDEO: Taxi meter rises suspiciously quickly in Bangkok, Thailand | Thaiger

    VIDEO: Taxi meter rises suspiciously quickly in Bangkok, Thailand

    A passenger of a taxi in Bangkok, Thailand, filmed the meter rising suspiciously quickly and posted it on Twitter, asking netizens, “Is this normal?” Facebook page “Do you want to be famous? I’ll make you famous return part 5.3” – comrades of citizen journalism in Thailand – publicised the video on Sunday. The passenger said they got in the taxi at…

  • Man wins 144 million baht in Thailand’s lottery | Thaiger

    Man wins 144 million baht in Thailand’s lottery

    A lucky Thai man won a whopping 144 million baht (US$4,101,396.48) in Thailand‘s government lottery on December 1. Today, Pachara Nathakitpaisan travelled to the Government Lottery Office in Nonthaburi province, central Thailand, to claim 96 million baht of his winnings. On December 1, the number 375805 was drawn for the lottery’s first prize of 6 million baht. Pachara bought 16…

  • Plumber murders and robs Thai woman in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Plumber murders and robs Thai woman in Bangkok

    A plumber was arrested in Nonthaburi after he allegedly murdered and robbed a female customer at her house in Bangkok. The murderer said he noticed the woman had a lot of money in her bank account when she paid for his service and got greedy. Officers from Khok Khram Police Station in Bangkok reported details of the murder case on…

  • Father dies trying to save son from teenage gang | Thaiger

    Father dies trying to save son from teenage gang

    Father’s Day for one Thai family turned into a tragedy this year after a father died trying to save his son from an attack by a teenage gang in the Klong Luang district of Pathum Thani province. Officers from Klong Luang Police Station and a rescue team rushed to the Liap Klong Song Road in Pathum Thani at 3.30am yesterday,…

  • CAAT warns Thai VietJet for cancelling three Phuket – Bangkok flights in one day | Thaiger

    CAAT warns Thai VietJet for cancelling three Phuket – Bangkok flights in one day

    UPDATE The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has warned Thai VietJet that the airline will be punished if it doesn’t start complying with aviation rules. The warning comes after Thai VietJet cancelled three services on its Bangkok – Phuket route on Thursday. A flight from Bangkok to Phuket was cancelled due to accumulated delays at Suvarnabhumi Airport, says Thai…

  • VIDEO: Policeman fined 500 baht for blocking ambulance in northeast Thailand | Thaiger

    VIDEO: Policeman fined 500 baht for blocking ambulance in northeast Thailand

    Thai netizens are outraged by a video circulating on social media of a pickup truck blocking the way of an ambulance carrying a patient in critical condition to a hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province in northeast Thailand. An investigation revealed that the pickup driver is actually a Police Captain at Dan Khun Thot Police Station. Officers at Pak Chong Police…

  • Whole new world of censorship pain on its way to Thailand | Thaiger

    Whole new world of censorship pain on its way to Thailand

    A whole new world of censorship pain is on its way to Thailand, with the latest act by the thought police becoming law on Christmas Day. Online platforms must abide by a new regulation to deal quickly with complaints about content deemed to violate the Computer Crimes Act. A new regulation issued by Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaiwut…

  • Arrogant Thai construction company rips off Myanmar migrant workers | Thaiger

    Arrogant Thai construction company rips off Myanmar migrant workers

    An arrogant Thai construction company has been ordered to cough up wages it refused to pay to its migrant workers earlier this year. The arrogance of the unnamed building firm is underlined by the fact that no representatives came to court to defend or justify its action. The Labour Court in Phuket told the construction company to settle three months’…

  • RTP urges Thai drivers not to ignore e-tickets, they’re real, not fake | Thaiger

    RTP urges Thai drivers not to ignore e-tickets, they’re real, not fake

    A Royal Thai Police (RTP) spokesperson confirmed e-tickets for traffic violations have been in use since May this year and they are not fake despite claims to the contrary. Pol Maj Gen Achayon Kraithong announced on Facebook that the RTP e-tickets are real after a well-known neurologist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University warned motorists of a…

  • Pro-monarchy ‘dictator’ must be stopped from retiring in Australia, say Thai asylum activists | Thaiger

    Pro-monarchy ‘dictator’ must be stopped from retiring in Australia, say Thai asylum activists

    Exiled Thai activists are living in fear that a self-proclaimed “Van Helsing” “dictator” and pro-monarchy vigilante could be pursuing them in retirement. Rienthong Nanna, a doctor and former army general, announced on Facebook that he plans to retire in Perth, Australia causing fear among those who now live there after fleeing the country after his vicious campaign. Rienthong set up a…

  • Father’s Day celebrated throughout Thailand today | Thaiger

    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…

  • Disruptive Phuket-bound passenger thrown off flight in Karachi | Thaiger

    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…

  • Red-Bull hit-and-run prosecutor dismissed | Thaiger

    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…

  • Pheu Thai Party under fire as Tuhao-Shinawatra connection exposed | Thaiger

    Pheu Thai Party under fire as Tuhao-Shinawatra connection exposed

    Opposition Pheu Thai Party is under fire after police found that many houses connected to suspected Chinese gangster Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant were built by a company owned by the Shinawatra family. The Pheu Thai Party is the third incarnation of the party founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2007. On Wednesday, the Royal Thai Police raided 11 locations…

  • Thai baht soars to six-month high against US dollar | Thaiger

    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%…

  • Stop giving monkeys cigarettes, beg locals in Lop Buri, Thailand | Thaiger

    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…

  • Police arrest weight loss pill executive for causing 4 deaths in Thailand | Thaiger

    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…

  • Thai VietJet cancels Phuket – Bangkok flight last minute over 1 extra passenger | Thaiger

    Thai VietJet cancels Phuket – Bangkok flight last minute over 1 extra passenger

    Budget airline Thai VietJet cancelled a flight from Phuket to Bangkok minutes before take-off last night because staff couldn’t find a seat for one passenger. The plane was already taxiing on the runway ready to depart. Flight vz2305 to Bangkok was scheduled to depart from Phuket at 8.25pm. More than 300 passengers boarded and the plane began taxiing down the runway…

  • Ladyboys steal Russian tourist’s gold necklace in Pattaya, Thailand | Thaiger

    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…

  • 7-Eleven stores introduce digital govt service channel for Thais | Thaiger

    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…

  • 9 year olds smoke cannabis on Pattaya Beach in Thailand | Thaiger

    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…

  • Woman allegedly steals winning lottery ticket from friend | Thaiger

    Woman allegedly steals winning lottery ticket from friend

    The wife who ran off with her lover and 6 million baht lottery winnings belonging to her husband is not the only lottery ticket scandal in Thailand. A lottery winner in the central province of Chachoengsao filed a complaint against her friend saying she stole her 20,000 baht prize-winning lottery ticket. The lottery winner, 54 year old Paradee Chanwat, told…

  • Thailand’s Board of Investment unveils transformation plans | Thaiger

    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”…

  • Driving licence point deductions starting next year in Thailand | Thaiger

    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…

  • Phuket officials once again report finding no human trafficking on fishing boats | Thaiger

    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…

  • South Korea increases quota of Thai workers next year | Thaiger

    South Korea increases quota of Thai workers next year

    South Korea is increasing its quota of Thai workers next year from 2,500 to 15,000, but there’s a catch. Thais interested in filling the positions must learn Korean and pass a language test. Prime Minister Office spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisiri reported today that the Thai Labour Minister, Suchart Chomklon, discussed the quota of Thai workers in South Korea with the Korean…

  • Teen girl’s ID card request denied as she doesn’t look like her mother | Thaiger

    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.…

  • Body of missing woman found tied to water pump in western Thailand | Thaiger

    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…

  • Pattaya Police warn city’s taxi riders to behave after sexual assault case | Thaiger

    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…

  • Thai-Italian Business Summit highlights the importance of a shared vision | Thaiger

    Thai-Italian Business Summit highlights the importance of a shared vision

    The Thai-Italian Chamber of Commerce (TICC) held the “Thai-Italian Business Summit” on November 29 at the Four Seasons Chao Phraya Hotel. The event was attended by over 200 attendees who were welcomed by TICC President Federico Cardini, who highlighted the importance of cooperation in promoting Italy in Thailand. The opening address was followed by the speech of HE Paolo Dionisi,…