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.
-
Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
-
Thai economic growth forecast projections up to 6% – World Bank
The World Bank is looking to boost projections for growth in the Thai economy. In the last financial quarter, expansion of the Thai economy hit a five-year high. Ulrich Zachau, the World Bank’s director for Thailand and regional partnerships, says that a stable outlook and signs that Thai business is investing again domestically are among the positive factors for the…
-
Is a fresh crackdown on alcohol-related sales and businesses on the way?
The Thai junta is warning that it intends to enforce harsh measures regulating the advertising and promotion of alcohol, in a move that will affect thousands of businesses throughout the country. Details of the law, which affected business claim is vague and open to interpretation, are provided below. There has been a number of raids on pubs, clubs and hotels…
-
Chiang Mai: Judicial officers have “no plans to move out” – Doi Sutep housing controversy heats up
Despite a ban on use of the controversial housing project on the slopes of Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, judicial officials are not only living there but refuse to move out. The campaigners against the ‘scar of Doi Suthep’ held a meeting today, to address the issue of officers living in the judicial housing, despite a government order that nobody…
-
Bangkok: A car and 500 motorcycle seized in road racing crackdown
Police in Samut Prakan province, just south east of central Bangkok city, have seized a car and some 500 motorcycles in a crack down on road racing last night (Friday). Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal said police from 14 police stations in Samut Prakan set up road checkpoints to check for vehicles that were illegally modified for racing. They impounded a…
-
Bangkok: Another 50 foreigners arrested in weekly immigration shakedown
In the latest of the weekly crackdowns on illegal immigrants, police in Bangkok have rounded up another 50 foreigners, for overstaying their visas and entering the Kingdom without the correct documentation. The Tourist police joined forces with other police agencies to search 87 areas around the country on Friday night and arrested 50 foreigners, mostly for overstaying their visa and…
-
Up in smoke. 61 million meth pills and 486kg of crystal meth.
61 million meth pills and 486kg of crystal meth, 108kg of heroin, 122kg of opium, 10kg of ecstasy pills, 5kg of cocaine and 7.3 tonnes of marijuana and kratom leaves. Raids, stings and seizures around the country have netted an astonishing amount of drugs in recent months – almost one meth pill for every single Thai! So what happens to…
-
Nakhon Pathom: Man shoots pregnant girlfriend dead, injures her father
A man fatally shot his pregnant girlfriend and severely injured her father and himself inside the Nakhon Pathom Hospital on Friday at around 1:30pm. Police did not identify the attacker and two victims. Witnesses told police that the young man turned up at the hospital and had a dispute with the woman and the older man who appeared to be…
-
Pattaya: 19th SingSiam war games in the Gulf of Thailand
PHOTOS: trattoday.com Military exercises are taking place in the northern Gulf of Thailand between Sattahip and Koh Samui. Col. Anthony Lee, commander of Singapore’s 188th Squadron, and Rear Adm. Thawatchai Muangkham, commander of the Thai Frigate Squadron, were on site for the 19th war games at the Sattahip Naval Base. “The SingSiam games give Thai forces a chance to improve…
-
Youth warned to avoid World Cup gambling trap
In the hours leading up to the kick of the 2018 Fifa World Cup, advocates against young people gambling on the football were parading in downtown Bangkok. A 2017 survey found that 2.4 million Thais engaged in football gambling valued at a reported 140 billion (yes BILLION) baht. The survey also says that 82.6 per cent of secondary student punters…
-
Regional: AirAsia says MAVCOM’s ‘damaging tourism growth’
PHOTO: Sputnik International ‘Now everyone can fly,’ but not as many as AirAsia would like. They’re going into a head to head battle with the Malaysian aviation compliance body, MAVCOM. AirAsia is accusing Malaysia’s aviation body, MAVCOM, of holding back the country’s aviation and damaging tourism growth. The airline made the accusations in a rebuttal of an earlier statement released…
-
National: 260,000 tonnes of electronic and plastic trash imported from China
Thai PBS is reporting that about 260,000 tonnes of trash have been imported into Thailand in the first five months of this year period this year. This compares to 116,000 tonnes imported for the whole of 2017, said This from the Customs Department spokesman Mr Chaiyuth Khamkhun. He added that, of the trash imported this year, it included 52,200 tonnes of…
-
Hua Hin: 68 year old throws himself off fifth floor roof
Banmuang is reporting that a 68 year old Dutch man appears to have jumped from the fifth floor of a Hua Hin hotel. The man had been staying in the same hotel for the past month. It’s reported that many people from the next door Darun Suksa School saw the body as the school broke up for the day yesterday…
-
Leading players want charter amended after election
A symposium “Thailand’s Future Democracy: Overcoming Traps and Dreams?”was held yesterday at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan Campus. Probable players in a future political arena, Abhisit, Chaturon and Thanathorn, see the junta’s legacy as barrier to genuine democracy. The Junta-sponsored charter, which imposes curbs on politicians, remains the prime target of big political parties who aim to replace it after the…
-
60,000 counterfeit travel mugs seized in BKK raids
Most of us will have a branded 100 baht T-shirt somewhere in one of our drawers, maybe even a fake Louis Vuitton bag or wallet, or a Tag Heuer watch we haggled in a Patpong market for 1,500 baht. Fakes are everywhere in Thailand. But travel mugs? 60,000 travel mugs?! Some 60,000 plastic coffee cups, tumblers and mugs bearing brand…
-
Chiang Mai: Doi Suthep homes “at risk from natural disasters”
A separate issue has arisen in the case of the controversial buildings on the slopes of Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. Building engineers are pointing their fingers at the steep slopes around structures that were initially built to be the residences of court officials in Chiang Mai province, saying they’re a potential natural disaster waiting to happen. There are “significant…
-
Illegal timbers seized in Phang Nga
A team of Border Patrol Police based in Phang Nga this week have seized 13 logs inside a palm plantation in Phang Nga. The discovery came after police received tip-offs about deforestation in Khura Buri, Phang Nga. More than 20 border patrol police investigated and found 13 logs size 2.50 – 2.80 metres in the forest. These logs are now…
-
Bangkok: 400,000 baht spending spree and holiday with stolen ATM cards
SCREENCAPTURES: Channel 7 Credit card theft is an ongoing cat and mouse game between criminals, bank encryption technology and lawyers fighting to recover lost funds from victims. In this case the cards were recovered and the culprits apprehended. Channel 7 report that CCTV footage from a 7/11 store in Bangkok revealed on Thai TV showed the moment when a Thai…
-
Southern Insurgency: Emergency decree extended another three months
The government has extended the state of emergency in the three southernmost provinces for a further three months. The extension was announced in the Royal Gazette yesterday (Wednesday). The emergency decree covers Narathiwat except Sungai Kolok district, Yala except Betong district and Pattani except Mae Lan district. The announcement of the emergency decree in Royal Gazette states that the extension is…
-
Authorities inspect under-construction hotels in Koh Phi Phi
The Army, police and administrative officials have inspected several under-construction hotels on Koh Phi Phi in the Krabi province amid allegations that they lacked land rights documents, permission to build, or were encroaching on a national park. They first searched an under-construction hotel on a hill with a view of the sea where 30 buildings and a large pond were…
-
Chiang Mai: Thai man arrested for attempted rape of female tourist
A man who robbed and allegedly attempted to rape a female Chinese tourist has been apprehended at his house while he was having his head shaved before entering the monkhood. Sanook is reporting that Mae Rim cops in Chiang Mai announce the arrest of 26 year old Wuthisak yesterday and took him on a reenactment to the entrance to the…
-
88 million baht seized from ex-officials of destitute fund
The AMLO (Anti Money Laundering Office) has seized 41 assets worth 88 million baht from three former senior officials at the Social Development and Human Security Ministry and nine alleged accomplices as part of the probe into the misappropriation of allowances and related irregularities at protection centres for the destitute. AMLO acting secretary-general, Pol Maj-General Romsit Viriyasan, yesterday said the…
-
Thailand Post. We deliver.
You can’t have e-commerce growing so quickly unless you keep your postal system up with the increase in deliveries. Who else is going to deliver your Amazon or Alibaba.com purchases? An army of postmen on Wednesday pose for the camera during a press conference to unveil the 100 Thailand Post motorcycles used in post package delivery that have been upgraded.…
-
Thailand’s 10th rabies victim dies in Rayong
A 10th person has died from Rabies in Rayong according to the Disease Control Department director-general Suwanchai Watanayingcharoenchai today (Wednesday). Suwanchai said the 59 year old man died on Tuesday after being bitten by his own dog back in March. The disease control chief said most of the rabies victims had ignored calls to receive Rabies vaccination after they were…
-
Satun: 59 year old man killed cleaning grenade
PHOTO: The Advertiser A man in Satun province has been killed after a grenade he was cleaning exploded. Police say the man had been keeping the grenade in his house for a year. 59 year old Prasert Chuayjit was killed in his house in Ban Tha Chin village in Tambon Klong Khud, Muang district, at around 7am this morning. The blast…
-
Bangkok: 88 million baht worth of assets seized over corruption
The AMLO (Anti-Money Laundering Office) is set to confiscate assets from three former top officials of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security plus 12 other accomplices. The value of the assets is said to have a value of 88 million baht to compensate over corruption involving state funds for the destitute. Thai PBS is reporting that the decision was…
-
Pattaya: Potty mouth grandpa apologises to cop!
It all started last Sunday when Pattaya granddad, 77 year old Joseph from Canada, threw a wobbly on his motorcycle. He had just made an illegal turn at the intersection of South Pattaya road and Sai 3 thinking that he was in the right. Traffic cop Pol Lt Woraphan Kaewmorakot – himself near retirement age – issued a ticket for the…
-
Chiang Mai: 100 times around the mountain – Doi Inthanon Cycle Ride
Lersak Inchai, a 72 year old named as the first person ever to ride around Doi Inthanon 100 times. A 72 year old man has participated in, and completed, his 100th Doi Inthanon cycle ride. Lersak Inchai, a 72 year old man and a former cyclist for Thailand’s national cycling team, has been marked as the first person ever to…
-
Bangkok: Short-staffed business are asking the government to relax the labour laws
There are many occupations in Thailand that foreigners can’t do, with or without a work permit. But many Thai business owners say they’re battling to find Thai staff to work many jobs. They want the law changed. Business owners say they are unable to find Thai employees to staff service jobs and are urging the government to relax its restrictions…
-
90% of hotels on Koh Phi Phi found incapable of registration
Out of 104 hotels, only nine are capable of being properly registered. That’s the bottomline after a month of checking by Krabi officials. Muang Krabi District Chief Satta Tongkam says, “From May 1 until now, we have checked 104 hotels in Muang Krabi district, principally accommodation on Koh Phi Phi. There are 78 cases on Koh Phi Phi that the…
-
Student falls out of the back of School songtaew in Nonthaburi
Who was at fault? The student or the songtaew driver? A female student has fallen out the back of a moving songtaew on her way to school, captured on a dash cam. Daily News is reporting that the footage shows the girl with her satchel fall as the vehicle made off in front of the Chao Phraya market in Nonthaburi. The…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.