News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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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...
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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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Bangkok cops bust online gun dealers
The chief of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau told a media briefing yesterday that officers have arrested six men and two women for selling firearms on Thai social media. They seized seven guns, ammunition and gun components. Police initially arrested Pairoh Chanchom for selling firearms without a licence. A subsequent, lengthy investigation led to raids on several premises and the…
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PM “concerned” about campus rallies
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has expressed “concern” over growing support for student rallies at universities and now high schools, throughout Bangkok and elsewhere, to protest the recent dissolution of the popular Future Forward party, and the possibility of confrontation and unrest. The proliferation of political rallies and demonstrations comes in the aftermath of the Future Forward party’s dissolution by the…
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More virus cases reported outside of China than within
For the first time ever, more COVID-19 coronavirus cases were reported in countries other than China yesterday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The US is urging travellers to delay or cancel travel to South Korea after that country’s confirmed cases passed the 1500 mark. New cases were found around the world, from Pakistan to Brazil. The Iranian government…
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Once bustling, Chiang Mai tourist areas are now deserted
Thai news agency MCOT has become the latest media outlet to bemoan the devastating effect of the coronavirus (Covid-19) on Thai tourism, after their reporters went to the once thriving area of Nimmanhaemin. Online blurbs about the area still describe it as having “buzzing dining and nightlife, hip cafes, fashion boutiques and a weekend craft market.” But a month after…
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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 after allegedly falling victim to a human trafficking scam. A team of police raided a condominium in South Pattaya near the entrance of Phra Tamnak hill. See the video version of this story HERE: The raid comes after Chon Buri police learned from…
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High school students join wave of anti-government protests
Students in some of Bangkok’s most exclusive private high schools announced yesterday that would hold rallies in solidarity with anti-government protests being staged on college campuses across the nation. Students at the all-girl Satriwithaya School, located next to Bangkok’s iconic Democracy Monument, were urged on social media to gather at 3pm. Using the hashtag #SWStandsWithDemocracy, the organizers said there would…
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Chinese man found bound, dead in suitcase in northern Thailand had visited Pattaya
The body of a Chinese man, with arms and legs bound, stuffed into a suitcase, has washed up on a sandbank in the Ping River in northern Thailand’s Kamphaeng Phet province. The body was doubled over and the ankles were tied with plastic cable ties. Red rope encircled the arms and legs. Police believe the man was 30 year old…
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Arrested former cop escapes cuffs, flees Chiang Mai hospital
A former Chiang Mai policeman, arrested for a burglary in his home district of Sanpatong, has escaped from custody. Police are now hunting for the the fugitive. The officer, identified only as “Pawaret,” was arrested over the weekend and held at a police station but had to be taken to the local hospital because he’d had suffered injuries after an…
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Thai family of three are focus of local coronavirus outbreak in northern Bangkok
UPDATE Three worrying new Thailand coronavirus cases are being reported as coming from the same family. A 65 year old man, the grandfather in the family, had returned from Japan with his wife but didn’t disclose his situation or travel history to health workers when he took himself to hospital with a fever. The grandfather tested positive and his workplace,…
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Expansion of airport to make Hua Hin an international tourist destination
Hua Hin, long considered a bucolic backwater compared with other resort destinations in Thailand, may be about to morph into something quite different; local media reported on Saturday that the Thai government has approved a major expansion of Hua Hin’s Airport, which could turn the sleepy resort town into a genuine international tourist destination rivalling other more established destinations in…
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Pattaya police arrest prolific home and hotel catburglar
Police in Pattaya yesterday arrested a suspect yesterday who they say has admitted to at least ten burglaries of homes and hotels over the last several months. Pattaya City Police reported the arrest of a 37 year old Thai man, identified only as ‘Phet’ yesterday morning. He allegedly broke into rooms in apartments and hotels through unlocked windows, when victims…
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Opposition MP alleges PM and army behind cyber propaganda
An opposition MP says he’s holding PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha responsible for a network of social media that have been allegedly running a cyber campaign against critics of the current government. They accuse the PM and supporters of the government about spreading fake news and derogatory comments about them. An MP of the now-disbanded Future Forward Party, Viroj Lakkana-adisorn, says…
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Drunken man arrested threatening people with large knife on Pattaya beach
Pattaya City police arrested a highly intoxicated Bangkok man yesterday afternoon for carrying a large knife and threatening tourists and locals on Pattaya Beach. The incident began at around 11:00am, according to police, who say the man, who was severely intoxicated, was openly carrying a large knife, yelling incoherently and threatening people on the beach. Police were called by local…
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Chevrolet Thailand says ‘no’ to compensation demands for cars sold before discounts were announced
Yesterday, a group of Chevrolet car buyers submitted a letter to Chevrolet Sales (Thailand) at the company national HQ at Rasa Tower, in Bangkok’s northern suburbs. They were demanding the company should compensate them for having bought their cars at full price, just before Chevrolet announced it was pulling out of manufacturing cars in Thailand. Specifically they were complaining about…
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Bangkok police on alert at student rallies
Authorities in greater Bangkok are keeping a watchful eye on students organising political rallies at universities in and around Bangkok, warning them to strictly adhere to public assembly laws. Last night, activities were held by students at Mahidol University, Silpakorn University’s Tha Phra campus, Chiang Mai University and Maejo University, also in Chiang Mai, following the Constitutional Court’s decision to…
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Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai – all suffering choking smog today
The whole Bangkok and its suburbs is suffering from excessive PM2.5 dust and smoke particles in the air today. Around the city the readings have been uniformly ‘unhealthy’ for the entire day with readings as high as 188 particles of 2.5microns per cubic metre. Putting a stamp on the whole appalling situation is the list of the world’s Top 10…
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Suspects in abduction, murder of judge’s brother taken for re-enactment
When the brother of a senior judge in the central province of Nakhon Sawan was abducted in broad daylight in front of the Bangkok South Criminal Court on February 4, police feared the worst. Today, three of the six suspects alleged to have been involved in the abduction and subsequent murder were escorted by officers of the Crime Suppression Division…
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Two news cases confirmed in Thailand, pushing total to 37
The Thai Public Health Ministry has announced two new Coronavirus cases in Thailand. A 31 year old woman and a 29 year old taxi driver. The two cases pushes the Thai confirmed Covid-19 confirmations up to a total of 37 cases since the outbreak began at the end of December last year. Permanent secretary for health, Sukhum Kanchanapimai, confirmed that…
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8 people injured, including school children, in Songkhla bomb attack
Eight people have been injured by shrapnel from a roadside bomb, including two school children. They were amongst a group gathered near a public park in the Sabayoi district of Songkhla, in Thailand’s south today Also amongst the injured were the Sabayoi district assistant chief, a local defence volunteer and Sabayoi villagers. Security authorities currently speculate that southern insurgents detonated…
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Bangkok has a surplus of 100,000 new condos as Chinese buyers stay home
Bangkok’s condominium market is facing its biggest challenge in decades with one of its key feeder markets sitting it out at home. The capital’s soaring condo market, once a favourite for Chinese investors, looks towards a bleak year with Chinese investors having other things to worry about, or simply unable to travel to Thailand, due to coronavirus fears. Bloomberg economists predict…
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Thai Baht on the slide over fears of spread of Coronavirus outside China
What goes up must go down. The Thai baht has continued to weaken against leading international currencies, trading at 31.70 to the US$ in yesterday’s trade. The falls reflect regional concern over the coronavirus spreading beyond China. In the past few days both central South Korea and parts of northern Italy have reported outbreaks of the virus. Kasikorn Research Centre…
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Thai stocks plummet nearly 4% in Monday SET trading
The Stock Exchange of Thailand finished yesterday at 1,435.56 points, a decrease of 59.5 points, or nearly 4% – that’s compared to Friday’s close on the SET. The daily trade volume for Monday was 76.431 billion baht, with an index high of 1,474.12 and a low of 1,435.56. Asian bourses were hammered as confidence was inhibited by rising cases of the…
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At least 30 injured in head-on train collision
A train collision yesterday at Pak Tho station in Ratcha Buri province, just west of Bangkok, has injured at least 30 people, including three railway staff. Traffic Police radio and local Jor Sor 100 radio reported the crash between a passenger express train and a freight train express train, which took place around 6:30pm. Thai media report that station staff…
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Thailand News Today – First episode of a new daily TV program
Thai exports figures rise in January Whilst there’s been plenty of economic challenges around for Thailand, including the high Thai baht and a levelling out of tourist arrivals, exports for January 2020 unexpectedly rose according to ministry figures. It’s the first rise in six months, and an increase of 3.35% from the exports 12 months earlier. Reuters had earlier forecast…
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Uncertainty as Malaysian PM Mahathir resigns
Just days after Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammad was given a mandate by the ruling coalition to stay on until after November’s APEC Summit, he has submitted a letter of resignation to the nation’s king. His office made the announcement today, amid talk of forming a new coalition. The fate of Malaysia’s current ruling coalition has been in doubt since surprise…
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Top 10 laws to beware of in Thailand
Did you know that it’s illegal in the UK to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armor? Or that it’s legal to shoot a Scotsman with a crossbow under certain circumstances? Most countries have outdated laws on the books that seem odd today, but as a visitor to Thailand, there are some laws you should always be…
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78 year old Briton and wife seriously injured in bloody domestic dispute in Pattaya
A British man and his Thai wife both suffered serious injuries in a violent domestic dispute in Pattaya in the early hours of this morning. Emergency responders and local media were notified of the incident some time after midnight. Medics arrived at the scene to find a 78 year old British national with serious slash wounds to his face and…
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World’s biggest band launch their new album “Map of the Soul: 7” BTS
From the first determined drum stroke in the new BTS music video (below) you get the sense that these guys mean business for their new album. The music video for their first official single ON kicked over more than 70 million views in its first 2 days since launch. The world’s biggest band BTS – in terms of album sales,…
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Ten reasons western foreign tourists are not wanted in Thailand
Adam Judd, writing for Pattaya Unplugged, has opined about western foreign tourists not being wanted in Thailand. He brings up some interesting topics, largely from the standpoint of an American living in Pattaya. Tell us what you think on our Facebook page. The following are my opinions but based on many talks with people from many different backgrounds and cultures.…
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