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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UPDATE: Coral bleaching around Thailand waters
By Pratch Rujivanarom PHOTO: Save Coral Reefs More coral reefs in Thailand’s seas are suffering from mass bleaching as the result of continuous warm seawater. A special task force to tackle coral bleaching has been set up by the Marine Science Association of Thailand to monitor the bleaching problem and suggest mitigating measures. Many reports of coral bleaching have been shared…
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Yingluck granted 10 year UK visa – BBC Thai website
The UK is reported to have granted a ten-year visa to former Thailand prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who has been ruled in absentia to a five-year prison term back home for her role in her government’s rice-pledging scandal. The BBC Thai website has quoted a close aide as saying that Yingluck is now free to travel in and out of…
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Property report tips Phuket property boom
According to Knight Frank Thailand’s research, the Phuket condo market is expected to perform better in line with the brighter economic situation and the growing population of the island. Increasing supply and higher selling prices will be the key drivers, while demand is forecast to improve slightly. The number of launches in Phuket is predicted to increase and Thai developers…
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Landlords petition PM to kill off the new tenant protection laws
Business operators are urging PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to cancel a Consumer Protection Board measure implemented at the start of May1 to protect customers from being overcharged on utility fees by hostels, apartments or rented rooms in residential buildings. Another measure in the new Consumer Protection Board legislation prohibits landlords from removing the belongings of a tenant alleged to have breached…
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Tuesday, public holiday for Visakha Bucha Day
It was a long weekend, interrupted by a day of work on Monday. Tuesday, May 29, in Visakha Bucha Day and will be commemorated as a public holiday around Thailand. There are a quite a number of important Buddhist holidays throughout the year, but the most significant is Visakha Bucha Day. This day commemorates three defining events in the life…
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Coral bleaching report, “widespread but minor”.
By Pratch Rujivanarom Coral reefs in Thailand are currently facing the onset of widespread but mild coral bleaching, as some reefs in both the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand show symptoms of heat stress. Tourists are meanwhile being encouraged to observe signs of coral bleaching and report them to authorities. Despite around 5 to 10 per cent of corals…
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Whale sharks threatened with extinction
SPECIAL REPORT By Piyaporn Wongruang, The Sunday Nation Its head was down, while its tail was up to the air, after being tied up tightly with a rope attached to a big reel on that trawler. Once in a while, the three-metre-long whale shark jerked, prompting its tail to sway, suggesting that it was still alive. “See! It’s still alive!…
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New airports in Phuket and Chiang Mai will ‘ease congestion’.
There’s been mainly positive response to the news that the AoT have approved the construction of two new airports – one in Phuket and one in Chiang Mai. The Director of the Thai tourism department says the decision is an important part of the support needed for ever-growing tourist arrivals. Yuthasak Supasorn, says it is a good sign for the industry,…
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Mass protest planned after toxic agro-chemicals not banned
PHOTO: cnchemicals.com A mass protest at Government House is being organised to protest a decision by the government’s Hazardous Substance Committee on Wednesday not to ban reportedly dangerous agricultural chemicals paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos in Thailand. Agro-chemical opposition networks, led by BioThai Foundation and Thailand Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-PAN), yesterday called on citizens to mark the upcoming World Environment Day.…
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New airports approved for Phuket and Chiang Mai
After four years of false starts and rumours it looks like Phuket will now get a much-needed second airport to feed the island and the surrounding region. Yesterday’s announcement by AoT (Airports of Thailand) comes after extensive studies to examine the extension of the current Phuket airport runway which is hemmed in by Thepkasattri Road at one end and the…
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Pro-election activists released on bail
Fifteen political activists have been granted bail shortly after the Criminal Court ordered their 12 day detention following charges resulting from participation in last Tuesday’s pro-election assembly in the capital. The activists were released yesterday on 100,000 baht bail each with the condition that they must not take part in political gatherings that will “break laws and put society at…
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Asian boat shows merge
The local boating industry’s been calling for it for years – a single boat show to showcase the best of Phuket and Thailand’s boating opportunities, destinations and marine lifestyle. In a joint statement issued today by Andy Treadwell, CEO of Verventia, owner of the Singapore and Thailand Yacht Shows, and Gael and Olivier Burlot, owners of Asia RendezVous, organisers of…
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Special Report: Saving Maya Bay
By Pattarawadee Saengmanee The island, Koh Phi Phi Ley, made famous by the movie “The Beach”, is due to get a complete makeover as part of a new project designed to protect the environment and the ocean. As I step out of the boat on the shore of Maya Bay, my brain goes into overdrive. Where, I ask myself, is…
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change.org calls for a ban on ‘otter trawling’
An online petition campaigning for a ban on a form of fishing was launched yesterday after an endangered whale shark was caught by a trawler in the waters off Phuket last Friday. Piya Thedyam, creator of the campaign on Change.org for ending the use of so-called otter trawls, emphasised that the marine ecosystem, biodiversity and seafood sustainability of Thai seas…
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12 million meth pills seized in Chiang Rai
Police in Chiang Rai, far north Thailand, say they’ve seized a huge cache of 12 million methamphetamine pills from an abandoned vehicle. National police adviser Pol General Thanitsak Thirasawat said that the pickup truck was found on the Chiang Rai-Wiang Chai road in Wiang Chai district loaded with 57 sacks of narcotics weighing 1,425 kilograms. The truck’s licence plate number…
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10 good news stats from today’s economic forecast
The first four months of 2018 have seen the Thai economy surge ahead, Some key numbers were released today about the good news in the country’s financial report card. The value of exports rose 12.3% in April, year-on-year. • This month’s rise in exports is the 14th consecutive month of growth. In April Thailand shipped out 120,000 tonnes of durian,…
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Tight security in Bangkok and Northeast ahead of pro-election rallies
Authorities are tightening security in Bangkok and the Northeast provinces today as pro-election activists gather to march to Government House with an ultimatum to hold a general election by late this year, not next year as the junta plans. A few hundreds activists led by the Democratic Restoration Group gathered yesterday at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus less than 5…
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Open letter: Phuket Lifeguard Crisis – from The International Surf Lifesaving Association
Heading into this year’s monsoon, the issue of safety along Phuket’s west coast comes sharply into focus. The role of lifeguards on our beaches has been pivotel to saving lives and providing a safer environment for foreign swimmers who are not in tune with the wave conditions and rips (many of them can’t even swim!). The negotiation games played each…
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20 baht fake gun bank robber arrested in Krabi
A lone 45 year old robber, Attasit Sriwattana, who robbed a Bangkok Bank brach at the Big C in Muang Krabi on May 18 and escaped with 119,781 baht in cash, was doing a reenactment last Saturday (May 19). On May 18 Attasit robbed the bank at 6.41pm. Attasit used a fake gun to point at a teller forcing her…
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Paraquat – Decision to be made about a ban in Thailand this week
Thailand’s National Committee on Hazardous Substances Control will decide whether to ban the domestic use of Paraquat, a herbicide used to control weeds, after consumer protection and industrial groups joined hands to support the ban. The announcement is set to made this Wednesday. At least three of the country’s 47 sugar refineries say they support the proposed ban on Paraquat,…
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Thai Airways profits up nearly 50% for Q1
Thai Airways International and its subsidiaries have been able to notch up an operating profit of 3,836 million baht for the first quarter of 2018. This represents a 49.4% improvement over the same period last year, despite rising fuel costs. That cashes out as a net profit of 2,737 million baht, still 432 million baht (13.6%) short of last year’s Q1…
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Pattani school lifts ban on wearing hijab
The Education Ministry has defused a dress-code row at a school in Pattani province by giving the green light for Muslim students there to wear the hijab and long trousers in line with their religious beliefs. Starting today, Muslim students at the Anuban Pattani School can wear hijab and long trousers. “It’s just that they also must respect school rules…
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Renting out rooms daily or weekly? You better read this.
SCREENGRAB: AirBnB website Illegal short-term holiday rentals, advertised and promoted by online portals like AirBnB, are coming under increasing scrutiny from authorities. Although there has been laws preventing short-term property rentals acting as ‘hotels’, the law has been loosely enforced with some condo developments around the country acting as defacto hotels and listing in many online booking websites. In May…
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PHAB 2 raises 4.5 million baht for local scholarships
The Phuket Hotels Association recently hosted a hugely successful benefit evening and raised a total of 4.5 million baht for young hospitality professionals in Phuket. On April 28 the “Phuket Hotels Association Benefit 2 (PHAB 2) – Glam, Glitz and Glitter” event was held at Latitude Laguna. This marked the second annual edition of the benefit, following the inaugural event…
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The cheapest places in the world to live – Is Thailand on the list?
PHOTO: Sam Kittner Compared to what you’re paying in the west, in some countries you can have a palatial house, a maid, personal chef, good health care and a driver for the same cost of a struggling life in your home country. Thailand has long been seen as a retirement haven with its low cost of living, great food and…
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Trawler captains face fines after catching whale shark
By Pratch Rudijanarom and Salinee Prab The captains of two trawlers accused of having fished an endangered pregnant whale shark off the coast of Phuket potentially face a heavy fine of up to 3 million baht and confiscation of their vessels, according to authorities. Fisheries Department and Marine and Coastal Resources Department yesterday promised to take swift action against the…
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Maya Bay – let the healing begin
By Piyaporn Wongruang – The Sunday Nation It was around 10 in the morning. There was peace and tranquility at Maya Bay and its beach with just a few speedboats docking in front of the bay. The crystal clear deep blue turquoise sea water filled the vision of Plianprasop Khaonual, a long-time park ranger and among the first who explored…
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Emerald Development Group addresses accusations of fraud and mismanagement
CEO of the Emerald Development Group Sawit ‘Mai’ Ketroj held a press conference yesterday (Saturday) at the Dara Hotel to address accusations of fraud and mismanagement. In reports to the Court the amounts involved in the alleged fraud case mount up to more than a billion baht with more than 300 buyers filing complaints with the Emerald Development Group. He opened…
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4-month breathing space – DNP officially closes down Maya Bay
Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has officially announced that Maya Bay in Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park will not allow visitors during a much-needed four-month rejuvenation period from June 1 to September 30 this year. The DNP announced at a press conference held on May 15 that access to Maya Bay will…
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April tourist arrivals in Thailand up nearly 10%
Thailand’s tourism racks up 13,701,411 visitors arriving in the first four months of 2018 – a 14% increase, year on year. For the same four months last year the passenger arrivals increased 3.35%. In April alone arrivals were 3,092,725. This is up 9.38% year on year according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Permanent Secretary, Pongpanu Svetarundra. The top ten…
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