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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Thai Moto GP in Buriram postponed over outbreak fears
Another casualty of the current coronavirus precautions, one of the biggest sporting events in Thailand – the MotoGP 2020 in Buriram. The event was scheduled for March 20-22 in Buri Ram province, north east Thailand, where it has started to gather a huge local and international following. The Deputy PM and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul made the announcement this morning.…
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A new case reported in Thailand, total reaches 43 cases and one death
Thailand’s reported coronavirus cases has now reached 43, since first appearing in January. The permanent secretary of the health ministry reports that the new case is a 22 year old Thai woman who had been working as a driver for foreign tourists with another Thai patient. According to the director-general of the Disease Control Department, health officials had located the woman for…
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What is 5G? Everything you should know about the next-gen mobile.
So what is 5G? 5G literally means fifth-generation wireless technology. The successor to 4G, the biggest changes include higher speeds, lower latency, and the ability to connect more devices at once. The benefits of 5G aren’t limited to its use. Qualcomm is predicting a $12.3 trillion economic boost worldwide, with 22 million new jobs thanks to both the infrastructure and…
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1 dead after monk rear-ends pickup in Nakhon Ratchasima
A woman is dead after a monk rear-ended the pickup truck in which she was riding in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. Police say the incident occurred about 1:15 pm yesterday on a road along an irrigation canal in tambon Krachon. A spokesman said 24 year old Likit Chuamo was driving the pickup, taking nine people to a nearby…
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Panic, precautions and contradictions over Thailand’s first coronavirus death
Mild panic, and a new raft of precautions pervades the Coronavirus narrative in Thailand as we head into another week. Over the weekend the Health Ministry announced a new range of precautionary measures whilst most of Thailand’s tourist spots remain quiet – a lot quieter than usual. There was also the announcement of the first coronavirus-related death in Thailand over…
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Precautionary warnings for weather in the north and north east
Some warmer, pre-summer weather is heading to the north of Thailand for the rest of this week. (Forecasts for Khon Kaen and Bangkok below). The warnings are mostly precautionary as the general forecast still remains reasonably stable. On the plus side, a bit of extra wind may blow away some of the offending smoke and haze that has beset the…
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Death of a salesman: King Power branch linked with coronavirus death is closed
King Power, Thailand’s largest travel retail group, has temporarily shuttered an outlet linked to Thailand’s first coronavirus-related death. A statement on Facebook earlier today said the branch has been closed since February 6 as part of health and safety measures, and that all its outlets have been sanitised. King Power, which holds the proprietary concession for all of Thailand’s duty-free…
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Pattaya ladyboy attacks American tourist with sodium hydroxide
Pattaya police announced the arrest of a transgender suspect who allegedly attacked an American tourist with sodium hydroxide over the weekend. Sodium hydroxide, also called lye or caustic soda, is a highly corrosive chemical that decomposes proteins at ordinary ambient temperatures and can cause cause severe chemical burns. It’s used in making wood pulp for paper and is a primary…
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France bans large gatherings, discourages “air kisses”
The number of coronavirus cases in France has nearly doubled and currently stands at 100, of whom 86 are hospitalised, two have died and 12 have recovered, according Jerome Salomon, the head of France’s national health service. To fight the spread of the virus, France is banning all indoor public gatherings of more than 5,000, and discouraging the public from…
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Biker killed, 5 injured in bike/van crash south of Bangkok
One man is dead and another 5 passengers injured after a big bike the man was driving slammed into a van making a U-turn along Old Sukhumvit road in the main business district. The incident occurred at about 8pm in tambon Bang Pu Mai, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, south of Bangkok. 32 year old Paveena Ratpipop, a…
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Surin teacher faces severe punishment for selling teen girls for sex
A 51 year old local schoolteacher in Thailand’s northeastern Surin province, near the Cambodian border, was among the owners of three karaoke bars caught selling the sexual services of underaged Thai girls this week. Nineteen women, thought to be sex workers, were taken into custody following raids on the bars. The businesses were closed and their owners face a range…
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Man arrested for gunshots at Nontha Buri mall “to intimidate his wife”
In a further development to a story the Thaiger reported earlier, a Thai man has been arrested for firing a gun on Friday at the Central Plaza shopping mall in Nontha Buri, just outside of Bangkok. Police responded swiftly to the shooting and no casualties were reported. “The suspect is 41 years old and he reportedly fired six shots while…
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OPINION: Doomsday, the Black Swan and no fear
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore” is how I am feeling on a Saturday afternoon. My senses are bruised and battered after a weeklong barrage of panic, blurring sensational bad news headlines and a mounting sense of fear amongst my fellow humans. What is clear in the grand scheme…
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Teacher busted for pimping underaged girls
A schoolteacher in the northeastern province of Surin was charged yesterday with providing underage girls to male clients for sex. The 51 year old teacher and a 41 year old karaoke bar owner were arrested after the Interior Ministry received a formal letter from an international organization against human trafficking. Police found five girls, one of whom is only 15…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: China cases ease, 42 cases now in Thailand
The total confirmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) is now 85,217, with 2,924 people having succumbed to the disease. 39,554 people have fully recovered, approaching 50% of total cases. In Thailand there are now 42 confirmed cases with 28 people listed as “recovered”. The latest Thai victim is a 21 year old salesman whose job is said to have exposed him to foreign…
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New confirmed patient brings total to 42. Health ministry announce tough new measures.
The Thai Public Health Ministry has confirmed a new infection in the country, bringing the national total to 42. 28 patients have already recovered with no deaths recorded in Thailand from the virus. At the same time the health ministry has now designated Coronavirus Covid-19 as a dangerous communicable disease, a designation which takes effect tomorrow. The announcement gives authorities sweeping…
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Australian bodybuilding champ arrested in Pattaya for illegal work, hormones
An Australian bodybuilder was arrested in Pattaya yesterday for working without a permit and being in possession of illegal hormones. Police say they received a tip from a concerned citizen that Rohan Jeffrey Reid, a well known former winner of amateur bodybuilding tournaments in Australia, was working illegally, organising and profiting from “Thai Muscle Camp” programs for foreigners. Reid allegedly…
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Justice Ministry to go after drug gangs’ assets
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin says drug syndicate networks along Thai borders, especially in the North, produce drugs worth about 1.9 billion baht annually. Now his ministry has set up a centre to seize their assets as part of an effort to stamp them out. Somsak says the amount of assets and money seized annually is too low: only about 400-500…
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Coronavirus myths: Eight things you should probably already know
Two months after the first cases came to the attention of the world, a lot more is known about the coronavirus, aka. Covid-19. Here’s a few well established myths and a few scientific facts. MYTH: ‘Face masks don’t work’ Wearing a face mask is no guarantee that you won’t be infected. However, masks are effective at capturing droplets and larger…
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Lao woman kept as a slave for 9 years
The anti-human trafficking division of the Royal Thai Police yesterday arrested a Thai couple in the province of of Samut Sakhon, southwest of Bangkok, for the enslavement of a Lao woman. The couple kept the woman in a storage room and treated her as a slave for nine years. The suspects were identified as 60 year old Suchin Vipusitthikul and…
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World’s largest travel fair, ITB, cancelled in Berlin
Organisers of the world’s biggest travel expo, the ITB travel trade fair in Berlin, have cancelled the event over coronavirus fears. 160,000 visitors were expected to attend this year’s event. “We take our responsibility for the security and the health of our guests, exhibitors and employees very seriously. It is with a heavy heart that we have to look at the…
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Chiang Rai village leader kills and cuts up his mother after raping daughter
An assistant village leader in Chiang Rai has been arrested and charged with dismembering his own mother in a fit of anger. Investigators say the mother had threatened to tell police that the 35 year old man had raped his teenage daughter. The man was the assistant head of the Hua Wiang village in Wiang Pa Pao district, situated between…
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Thailand News Today, February 28, 2020. Daily TV news update.
Shots fired in Nontha Buri mall There was another gunman alert in a Bangkok mall yesterday afternoon…. Police rushed to the Central Plaza mall in Nontha Buri province, just northwest of Bangkok after reports of gunshots inside the mall around 4:20 yesterday afternoon. There were no reports of death or injuries. A suspect was arrested and the mall is open…
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Thai minister Thammanat Prompao tells parliament he “never pled guilty” or “served time” over heroin drug charges
The Thai deputy agriculture minister Thammanat Prompao has re-ignited the controversy over his drug convictions in Australia by continuing to insist he “never pled guilty or served jail time for drug charges in Australia”. His claims are contrary to the evidence provided by the Australian courts. The ministers’s denial follows the disbanded Future Forward Party publishing an Australian court ruling on…
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‘Watching the Thais’ – understanding Thai culture
Why does a Thai smile at you after crashing into the back of your car? Why do Thais deplore walking? The heat, the heat. What about the weather? Why is everything done as a pack? What is all this ‘face’ stuff about? Lies? Confrontation? Sleeping and shopping? Just what is it with the Thais? What’s it all about? Author and…
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Shots fired in Nontha Buri mall
Police rushed to the Central Plaza mall in Nontha Buri province, just northwest of Bangkok, yesterday, after reports of gunshots inside the mall. The sound of shots was reported at about 4:20pm and people fled the building in the city’s Muang district. There were no reports of death or injuries. Local radio station Jor Sor 100 traffic radio later reported…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: S Korean cases exceed 2,000, cases in 15 European countries
The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has now killed at least 2,858 people worldwide as the focus of the outbreak now moves away from China and to outbreaks in central South Korea, northern Italy and other parts of Europe. 83,379 people are now infected but, notably (and increasingly), 36,562 people have fully recovered. At least 15 European countries now have confirmed cases of…
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Computer techie arrested for putting spy cams in ladies’ public toilets
A computer technician has been arrested in Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok, for allegedly setting up spy cams in women’s public toilets. The suspect, 23 year old Nitiwat Muikaeo is said to have sold the videos on social media. The arrest comes after parents lodged complaints with the Technology Crime Suppression Division about videos of their daughters online. Police…
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Rogue policeman turned burglar recaptured in Chiang Mai
A former policeman who escaped a Chiang Mai hospital after being arrested for burglary has been re-arrested. The ex-cop, identified only as “Pawaret,” was assaulted by homeowners after he attempted to burglarise a home last weekend, which led to rescue workers taking him to hospital. He subsequently escaped the in the early hours of the morning. His escape caused panic…
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Thailand News Today, Thursday, February 27, 2020
4 Uzbek women rescued from human traffickers in Pattaya Four Uzbek women were rescued in Pattaya yesterday by Uzbekistan embassy officials and Chon Buri Provincial Police Police say they allegedly fell victim to a human trafficking scam. A team of police raided a condominium in South Pattaya. The raid follows Chon Buri police learning from Uzbekistan’s embassy that an Uzbek…
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