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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3 injured in possible insurgency bomb attack in S Thailand
An insurgency attack has not been ruled out as a bomb flipped over a truck injuring three passengers in the southern province of Narathiwat last night. The bomb went off on Highway No 4217 which runs through Ban Iso village in Narathiwat’s Chanae district causing the truck to flip about four times, knocking over an electricity pole, before it landed…
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UPDATE: Burmese junta releases statement on charges for former UK ambassador
UPDATE The Burmese junta said in a statement yesterday that it has charged a former UK ambassador to the country with immigration offenses. This news comes after anonymous sources reported yesterday that the former ambassador Vicky Bowman and her husband had been detained in Yangon. Local media reports that the two had been detained on Wednesday night, and are being…
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Elderly woman killed by wild elephant in eastern Thailand, 2 relatives injured
An elderly lady was trampled to death by a wild elephant at a rubber plantation last night in Chachoengsao province in eastern Thailand. Her daughter and granddaughter survived the attack but are badly injured. The women say they had abandoned their car to walk home because the road was undrivable after heavy rain, which is when they crossed paths with…
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Last weekend of Pattaya Music Festival starts tonight
Tonight and tomorrow night (Friday and Saturday) are your last chances to experience the Pattaya Music Festival if you haven’t already! For the next two nights, the festival will go out with a bang on Pattaya Central Beach, and Koh Larn. Tonight there will be performances on Central Beach by pop-rock artists and bands Polycat, Tattoo Colour, Getsunova, and Cocktail.…
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Floor collapses at Hua Mark Police Station in Bangkok
The job of a policeman is hard enough without having something to stand on, as officers discovered in Bangkok this week. The first floor collapsed of the 55 year old Hua Mark Police Station on Ramkamhaeng Road in the Bang Kapi district on Wednesday morning. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. At 11am, the first floor gave way which is used…
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US spits dummy out in China tit-for-tat airline row
The childish rattle-throwing, tit-for-tat games continue between the United States and China with the US declaring it is banning 26 flights to China in response to the mainland suspending some US flights for importing Covid-19. The US spat its dummy out in objection to China revising its Covid policies. The mainland stated on August 7 that if 4% of passengers…
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Koh Samui man busted for allegedly opening illegal venue
One Koh Samui man’s new entertainment venue, which he named ‘Dream Land,’ has turned into the scene of his worst nightmare. Officers from Bo Phut Police station raided Dream Land yesterday, and the owner now faces charges of opening the venue without a permit. The man, 45 year old Puwanai, also faces charges of selling alcohol over the legal time…
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Police save woman stuck in her own bathroom for 3 days in Bangkok, Thailand
Yesterday, Thai police saved a woman locked in her bathroom for three days at her home in the On Nut area of Bangkok. Believing she would die alone in the bathroom, the woman had written a chilling goodbye message on the bathroom wall. At 7.14pm, officers from Phra Nakhon Police Station received a call from a woman – Ms. A…
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More tourists are heading to Pattaya, but spending less cash, mayor says
As Thailand slowly rises from the ashes of Covid-19’s economic destruction, more foreign tourists are heading to Pattaya. The catch? They’re spending less money, according to the city’s mayor Poramet Ngampichet. Pattaya’s changing demographics in tourism may have something to do with the spending differences. The mayor said on Tuesday that this year, the million foreign tourists that have arrived…
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Thailand prepares for influx of foreign criminals this High Season
Thailand is a known beacon for fugitives attempting to slip under the radar. Thai police are worried that when tourist arrivals spike in high season – between October and February – that the country will also see an influx of foreign criminals. Thai police are working with embassies all over the world to set plans in case foreign crooks slip…
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Former UK ambassador and husband reported detained in Myanmar
The former UK ambassador to Myanmar and her husband have been detained in Yangon, two anonymous sources reported today. A spokesperson for the Burmese junta did not answer calls from Reuters seeking comment on the situation. A British embassy spokesperson has said the embassy is concerned about the arrest. She said… “We are in contact with the local authorities and are…
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Northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai Zoo conducts emergency ostrich escape drill
Ostriches may be flightless birds but they’re still considered a flight risk at Chiang Mai Zoo. In an emu-sing drill conducted on Tuesday afternoon, zoo staff simulated an ostrich escape situation to ensure that they are well prepared in case one of the big birds flees its nest. Although the man in the ostrich costume may not look overly menacing,…
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Thai Airways restructures plans to get back in black
Thai Airways announced it is renting three more planes and hiring 600 more staff this year as part of its restructuring plans. After cutting costs, selling stock, chasing debts, and distributing plane seats, Thai Airways’ turnover rate in the third quarter of this year is expected to increase. Not only that, the President of the Reorganisation Committee of the Thai…
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Waterfall and national parks in central Thailand devastated by flash floods
A waterfall and two national parks in central Thailand’s Nakhon Nayok province have been devastated by flash floods since yesterday. A large amount of reddish brown water poured down into Nang Rong Waterfall in Khao Yai National Park. The waterfall’s water level rose to over half a metre, submerging a bridge. At another national park in the province, water levels…
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Plastic bags and old water pumps cause flood in Bangkok
Highway officers revealed plastic bags stuck in water pumps caused a flood inside the Pakkret Intersection Tunnel in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok. Officers from the Nonthaburi Highway District investigated the Pakkret Intersection Tunnel yesterday to determine the cause of the flood on August 21. After five hours, officers reported that many plastic bags and garbage were stuck in the propellers…
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Truck driver thanks ‘good Samaritan’ for saving his life in central Thailand
A truck driver wants to thank a selfless citizen for risking his life to drag him out of a fire this morning in Suphan Buri province in central Thailand. Early this morning, 49 year old truck driver Thinakorn Chankhem left Pichit province, northern Thailand, carrying a truck full of rice. He headed toward Nakhon Pathom province in central Thailand. When…
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Hong Konger stuck in Myanmar pleads for help after being kidnapped in Thailand
A man from Hong Kong has contacted an anti-trafficking NGO pleading for help. He says he is currently detained and being forced to work as a scammer in Myanmar after he was kidnapped in Thailand. The man, 30 year old John, says he has been trapped for three months so far, and “escape is not an option.” John said he…
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Koh Samui dwellers tell government to hurry & build bridge to mainland
Residents of Thailand’s island of Koh Samui are calling on the government to hurry up and build a bridge connecting the island to the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. Thai media reported yesterday that a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed to construct the bridge. Koh Samui dwellers are keeping a close eye on the bridge projects since ferry…
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Electricity cut, cars damaged as storm causes chaos near Bangkok
Wind and rain brought carnage near Bangkok last night causing a domino effect of damage after 37 utility poles fell on vehicles and left families without electricity. It is a miracle no one was injured. The chaos was caused when the 37 utility poles fell over one kilometre along 304 Road in the Tha Thong Lang sub-district, Bang Khla district,…
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Phuket landlord denies sexual assaulting his female tenant
A Phuket landlord is denying accusations that he sexually assaulted one of his female tenants in a dormitory. The woman, 26 year old Kwanruethai, told police that her landlord, 50 year old Sasin, got into her room at night with a spare key, and started touching her hips and private parts while she was sleeping. Kwanruethai said she woke up…
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Man kicked out by his wife shot dead by police in central Thailand
Police shot a man dead at a police station in Nakhon Pathom province, central Thailand, last night. Police said he stole an officer’s gun and started firing shots in the car park, so they shot him eight times in the head and body. Police said the man came to Nakhon Chai Si Police Station for help around midday yesterday after…
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Lucky Thai couple finds 1 million baht pearl in their dinner
It wasn’t so much the world’s your oyster for a young Thai couple but more a slow and steady pace winning the race after they found a rare pearl worth over 1 million baht inside a snail while eating seafood at a local BBQ restaurant. Sittidate Chaiwan was celebrating the birthday of his girlfriend, 27 year old Patjariya Gatip, on…
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The biggest Internet activity in Thailand is healthcare, survey finds
A new survey has found that the most common reason for using the Internet in Thailand is for healthcare consulting and services. For the Thailand Internet User Behaviour Survey of 2022, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency questioned 46,348 respondents from across Thailand between April and July. The results were announced yesterday. While Thailand has 24 million Internet users in 2012,…
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Homeless Thai man turns pedestrian overpass into bedroom
A contrite Thai TikTok user apologised for posting a video of a bedroom created by a homeless man on a pedestrian overpass after it was destroyed by highway officials. The uploaded TikTok video features a man-made bedroom on a pedestrian overpass in the central province of Ayutthaya. The bedroom was created by a homeless man but once the video went…
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Kuwaiti man allegedly motorbike racing in Pattaya loses middle finger in crash
A young Kuwaiti man who was allegedly motorbike racing in Pattaya had a rather nasty crash on an overpass in the early hours of this morning. A taxi driver revealed he saw the man, 19 year old Faisal, driving fast in a group of four-five people. He said Faisal then crashed into his taxi from the front and then slammed…
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China opens classroom doors to students from Thailand
Good news for students from Thailand as China announced last night that schools will be finally opening their doors to foreign students for the first time in two years. Last year the Chinese ambassador, Han Zhiqiang, said that students from Thailand would be one of the first groups allowed to return to China when the country reopens. Thailand has more…
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Govt officials spend too much time online rage Thailand netizens
A survey revealing Internet user behaviour among Thailand’s government officials has annoyed the nation’s netizens who believe they have too much free time on their hands. The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) yesterday announced the results of a report on Thailand’s Internet User Behaviour, with government officials coming out on top. The ETDA collected the information from 46,348 participants between…
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Local man discovers skeleton at viewpoint in Phuket Town
A local man going to plant coconut trees near a viewpoint in Phuket’s main city district stumbled upon something quite unexpected – a skeleton. The local man found the male skeleton covered with a cloth at the Khao Khad Viewpoint in the Wichit neighbourhood on August 20. The uniform on the skeleton was reportedly similar to a security guard’s uniform.…
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UPDATE: 16 Middle Eastern joyriders in Pattaya arrested
UPDATE Pattaya police arrested 16 Middle Eastern joyriders and seized 43 motorcycles on Monday night after complaints from locals. Police made known they are still on the lookout for the rest of the racers and that the relevant motorcycle rental shops would be charged too. Officers from the Provincial Police Region 2, and Mueng Pattaya Police Station, held a press…
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Pattaya locals gather to promote road safety
A crowd of about 200 locals in east Pattaya gathered at a school on Monday to raise awareness about Thailand’s problems with road safety. Speakers discussed the kingdom’s poor driver training, and the even worse enforcement of motorcycle helmets, which riders often don’t wear. Among the crowd was Chon Buri Deputy Governor Naris Niramaiwong, along with teachers, students, and volunteers.…
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