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 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
-
Two charged with murder over Surat Thani Detention Centre murder
The case of a 17-year-old juvenile found strangled to death in a Surat Thani juvenile detention centre today (Tuesday) stemmed from a pre-existing dispute between two rivals, according to Sahakan Phetnarin, director general of the Juvenile Observation and Protection Department. The two teenage rivals, whose names have been withheld due to their age, have already been charged with the juvenile’s…
-
Krabi granny still going strong at 111 years old
Krabi Governor, Pol Lt Col ML Kitibodhi Prawit, along with Krabi authorities and Krabi Red Cross, visited a local resident, Pliew Petchpuang who is 111 years old, to greet and grant her with New Year gifts today (February 6). The Chief of Krabi Office of Social Development and Human Security, Kitti Intarakul, who also went to visit the old lady,…
-
Taxi OK project in Krabi
Following its implementation in Bangkok last month, ‘Taxi’ OK’ is now coming closer to Phuket. The latest taxi ‘Taxi OK’ campaign has been launched in Krabi, aiming to ensure that no passenger would be rejected no matter where they request to travel to, amongst other new improvements to taxi services. Krabi Land Transport Office Chief, Laddawan Chinnasatian, said today (January…
-
THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, February 6
Chinese year brings 18% rise in tourists year-on-year | A new ban from the ‘fun police’ | Tokyo Stock Market opens down 4% today | Smog a problem for Central and Northern Thailand | Woman survives awful crash in north-east | Van and pick-up crash in Krabi kills one, injures 10.
-
Property boom – firms acquire land worth nearly 100 billion baht
Twelve listed property firms have announced investment budgets worth between 98.04 and 99.04 billion baht to acquire land to develop residential projects worth between 385.15 billion and 385.64 billion baht during 2018, according to a survey by The Nation. Over half of the investment budget from the firms will come from their initial cash while others will issue debentures worth…
-
THAIGER TODAY Monday, February 5
Thammasat and Chulalongkhorn University students mock Thai politics | 24 year old Ukranian stabbed by boat crew | Strong winds ravage Songkhla coastal communities | Unidentified body found floating in BKK along | US Labour department puts Thai fishing industry on notice | Thepa and Krabi power plants put on hold.
-
Saucy coffee shop PR stunt backfires
Police are considering pressing charges against the owner of a coffee shop in Chon Buri’s Sattahip district, who posted a video clip and photos of two models wearing not much more than a barista apron and underwear while serving coffee to customers. The photos and video clip, meant as an advertisement to attract more visitors to the coffee shop, have…
-
Coal power plants shelved for at least three years
The Thai Ministry of Energy has decided to put on hold two coal-fired power plant projects in Krabi and Thepa district of Songkhla for three years pending additional environmental and health impacts assessments and environmental impact studies. Energy Minister Siri Chirapongphan says the ministry would inform the cabinet its decision to put off the two controversial projects and, at the…
-
January’s national road carnage up 65% – year on year
With the Christmas/New Year road madness out of the way it’s now time to assess the road toll numbers for the first month of the year. After all the publicity leading up to the Christmas/New Year period the numbers are sure to drop. Right? No. In January 2017, 947 died on Thailand’s roads. For January 2018 the number jumped to…
-
Case dismissed against four accused of launching grenades against PDRC demonstrators in 2013
By Kesinee Tangkiaw The first court on Thursday has dismissed a case against four people accused of firing 40mm grenades at demonstrators from the now–defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) at the Government Complex in early 2013, citing insufficient witnesses and evidence. Chatchawawn Prabbamrung, 49, Taweechai Vichakham, 43, Sunthorn Piphuannok, 53, and Somsri Marit, 44, were accused of contempt of…
-
Woman escapes an alleged sexual assault in a BKK mall
A woman escaped an alleged sexual assault by a Bangkok mall security guard on Thursday morning thanks to the timely aid by passers-by, according a Thai user of Facebook, who shared a video clip of the incident and told the story as a precautionary tale. A Facebook user named “Atom Kamolphu” warned that women should beware going alone to public-access…
-
Southern police uninjured as Narathiwat bomb detonates
By Narong Nuansakul Police patrolling an area in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district to safeguard teachers narrowly escaped injury on Thursday morning when a roadside bomb exploded near them. Only the wooden planks of a kerbside stall, which absorbed the force of the blast, prevented serious harm. Ethnic Malay insurgents are suspected of detonating the bomb at 8am on Highway 4084…
-
Thaiger Today February 1
Smoking ban enforcement starts today | Yingluck’s assets seized | British Embassy sold in BKK for record amount | Lunar eclipse put on a show, but not in Phuket | ‘Last kiss’ for French and Thai murder plotters | Government uses strategic lawsuits to quell dissent.
-
A very ‘Thai’ blood moon
Residents of Bangkok enjoyed the rare sight of a super blue blood moon rising in the sky on Wednesday. The event was unique because it combined a lunar eclipse, a blue moon (when a second full moon occurs in a single month) and a Super Moon (with the moon at its closest orbit around the earth). It’s been a long…
-
Activists report Thepa power plant concerns to UN
Representatives of the Thepa coal-fired power plant opposition group went to the UN offices in Bangkok yesterday to report their concerns about the project. The group also emphasised in a statement that it would continue its prolonged peaceful demonstration in front of Government House every day until the government definitively revokes the 2,200 megawatt coal-fired power plant project in Songkhla’s…
-
Graham needs a triple bypass. Doesn’t have health insurance.
The plight of a British man highlights the risks for foreigners living in Thailand without health or medical insurance. Story by ThaiVisa… Graham Briar, who uploads videos about life in rural Thailand to his YouTube channel Graham & Pie, urgently needs a triple heart bypass operation but with no medical insurance and not enough money to pay for surgery he…
-
Drug arrest in Yala links to bigger network
Police announced on Tuesday the arrest the previous day of a local man in Yala’s Muang district and seized 30,000 “yaba” amphetamine pills valued at 2.4 million baht on the street and said they would continue to investigate to apprehend the man’s accomplices. Yala police chief Pol Maj-General Krisada Kaewchandee told a press conference that police had arrested a rubber-tapper…
-
Thai woman, French boyfriend blame each other for Italian’s murder
A Thai woman and her French boyfriend have turned on each other after their arrests, with each blaming the other for the murder of the woman’s Italian ex-husband. 38 year old Rujira Eiumlamai told police after her arrest yesterday that she was innocent of the murder, saying it had been perpetrated by her French boyfriend, 34 year old Rigaux Amaury…
-
The final search – ‘Ocean Infinity’ looks for MH370
Just days after efforts to find Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 kicked back into gear, details have emerged on the man behind what has been called the “final” search for the missing aircraft. The private company Ocean Infinity has begun a 90 day search for MH370. After several failed attempts to locate the missing Boeing 777, the latest attempt by the…
-
THAIGER TODAY Monday, January 29
Krabi coal fire plant hearings get no opposition | Frenchman nabbed over Italian’s murder in Tak | Thailand voted the Number One ranking of the list of Best Countries to Start a Business | Anxious wait for Thai fishing ‘yellow card’ to lifted | Wildlife Selfie Code launched | ‘Upcycling the oceans’ event pulls nearly a tonne of rubbish off…
-
Back to the future. Democrats looking over their shoulder for election candidate.
By SOMROUTAI SAPSOMBOON The future of Chuan Leekpai, the Democrat Party’s chief adviser and former leader, is the subject of speculation as some muse that he will return as its chief ahead of the next general election. The speculation stems from two separate assumptions – that the Democrats and the Pheu Thai Party may join forces to prevent the junta’s…
-
The guessing game. Weaving an election strategy.
The government’s most senior figures – the prime minister and his first deputy – have sent conflicting signals as to when the next general election will be held. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said during his trip to India yesterday that he acknowledged the possibility of an election delay following the passage of the revised MPs election bill. But he said the…
-
THAIGER TODAY Friday, January 26
Latest announcements about Smart Visa | Re-enactment of Israeli mob hit in Samui | 3 road deaths on Patak Road, Karon in 24 hours | Police raid illegal hostels in Koh Pha Ngan | Monster drug haul in BKK | Bans on catching and eating seahorses AND official bans on smoking on some Thai beaches starts next week.
-
2019 Thai election looking more likely
The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) late on Thursday passed the MPs election bill with a clause that delays it coming into effect for 90 days after its promulgation. The members voted 213 to zero with four abstentions. The bill was passed after almost 14 hours of deliberations on Thursday. In the second reading of the bill, the stipulation deferring its…
-
THAIGER TODAY Thursday, January 25
THAIGER TODAY, Thursday, January 25…. The ‘S’ word in Bangkok | Why can’t our taxis work like this? | AIDS levels dropping in ASEAN | PM pleads with media to drop Prawit ‘chatter’ | Charged Israeli mobsters heading to Samui to recreate crime | Philippines volcano sparks evacuations.
-
UPDATE: Prawit “not obliged to declare assets”
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan would not be required to declare his extravagant watch collection as assets under the anti-graft law if the watches did not belong to him, National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) secretary-general Worawit Sukboon said yesterday. At an NACC press briefing yesterday, Worawit said that if the watches belonged to Prawit, he would have to explain when he…
-
Tight security in Samui for re-enactment of Israeli hit-and-run attack
Two Israelis accused of killing a compatriot on Koh Samui will re-enact the alleged crime on Sunday surrounded by dozens of heavily armed police. 24 year old Dolev Zuarez and 26 year old Eval Bokal were arrested at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport about five hours after they allegedly killed 34 year old Maor Mallil and injured his girlfriend, Rashel Oshana,…
-
-
Thailand’s opium cultivation “down by 40%”
The cultivation of opium is on the decline in Thailand, but the illegal practice persists in several northern districts, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board reported this week. Secretary-general Sirinya Sitdhichai cited remote rural highlands in Chiang Mai’s Om Koi, Mae Taeng and Chiang Dao districts and in Tak’s Umphang, Mae Ramat and Tha Song Yang districts as places…
-
THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, January 23
3 killed and many more injured in latest Yala bombing | Another bus with Chinese tourists ends up in a road ditch in Chiang Mai | Later on the Israeli mob hit on Samui | Central Pattana introduce cashless technology at 4,000 stores | Bullets flying in Hat Yai yesterday | Exports up 9.9% over past 12 months.
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.