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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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The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...
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Phuket re-opening could be postponed
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says plans to re-open Phuket to foreign tourists could be delayed as a result of the country’s first local case of Covid-19 in over 3 months in Bangkok. TAT governor, Yuthasak Supasorn, was speaking as officials visited the island to meet with local businesses and discuss disease prevention measures and preparations for a scheduled October…
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Mobile Covid-19 testing unit at condo after resident tests positive
A mobile coronavirus testing unit was parked in front of a Bangkok condominium today after a former resident tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week. The Urban Institute for Disease Prevention and Control says they stocked the biosafety trailer with enough equipment to test 300 people. A 37 year old DJ tested positive for Covid-19 during a routine check at…
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Man arrested for allegedly trafficking 112 million baht worth of drugs
Police arrested a 50 year old man for allegedly carrying 112 million baht worth of illegal drugs. Police searched his pickup truck at a Sakon Nakhon checkpoint in Northeast Thailand and found 75 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine pills and marijuana. The methamphetamine was separated into 1-kilogram packs. They also found 2,000 methamphetamine pill, known as speed, police say. The…
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National parks may close annually to recover wildlife
Environmentalist think Thailand’s national parks need to take a break. They’re considering closing the parks once a year to give wildlife time to rehabilitate. Since many parks have been closed during the coronavirus pandemic, wildlife has returned to areas, according to Environment and Natural resources Minister Varawut Silpa-archa. By closing the parks for a 2 to 4 months out of…
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2 foreigners arrested for allegedly selling illegal guns, grenades
Police arrested a Singaporean and an Indonesian man for allegedly selling illegal guns, explosives and ammunition after police found bullets, grenades and handguns in a condominium in Bangkok’s Huay Khwang district. The Singaporean man, known as 26 year old Bink, and the Indonesian, known as 32 year old Aiden, are facing charges of possession and selling of guns and explosives without…
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Woman allegedly kills elderly stylist over bad haircut
A young woman was arrested yesterday after she allegedly killed an elderly hairstylist for giving her a bad haircut. Araya Sra-On is facing charges of intentional murder as well as robbery for allegedly stealing jewellery off the woman’s body after she’d allegedly murdered her. Police say Araya has admitted to killing 74 year old Banyat Kanthong at her shop in Phitsanulok,…
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Covid-19 restrictions are back in Phang Nga
Coronavirus restrictions are being reimposed in the southern province Phang Nga after a local transmission was detected in Bangkok. The virus outbreak in Myanmar also continues to raise concerns. It’s the first province to reimpose virus prevention measures. Those who enter the southern province Phang Nga from areas considered “Covid-19 outbreak zones” will need self quarantine for 2 weeks. The…
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Pattaya businesses say they desperately need foreign tourists to stay open
“If borders stay closed to international tourists for another 6 months, nearly the entire tourism industry in Pattaya could collapse.” Pattaya needs tourists. The city’s famous Walking Street could go under if international tourists aren’t let back in the country, according to the resident business owners. Many shops have already closed, after re-opening in June when the restrictions were lifted,…
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Amnesty International says drop the charges pressed on protesters
“This recent slew of arrests of peaceful demonstrators illustrates the authorities’ intensifying crackdown on freedom of expression and assembly.” Amnesty International is calling on the Thai government to drop the charges pressed on pro-democracy activists. So far 31 activists have been arrested on charges relating to their involvement in the July 18 rally at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument. Many leaders of the…
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Covid-19 case: 600 people facing quarantine
Hundreds may need to go into quarantine after they came in contact with a Bangkok DJ who recently tested positive for Covid-19. Health officials say around 600 people have been in close contact with the man and 78 people have been classified as “high risk” of being infected. Thailand went 100 days without a local transmission of the coronavirus. The…
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Singapore Yacht Show postpones yachting showcase again
In February this year, the Singapore Yacht Show was the first international yacht show to have to postpone its annual event, but the organising team and all its other stakeholders were optimistic that the worst of the newly-arrived Covid-19 pandemic would have gone away by October. The Thailand Yacht Show and the Singapore Yacht Show are the biggest regional showcases…
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Immigration to deport men after alleged eco-vandalism in Koh Phangan
Immigration officials say they will deport the Hungarian and the Dutch man who were photographed handing sea creatures whilst diving in Gulf of Thailand off Koh Phangan. The men were arrested earlier this week and charged with “intruding in an area designated for environmental protection.” Attila Ott and Francesco Simonetti have been so-called “long-stayers” in Koh Phangan. Ott is a…
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Police arrest 7 for alleged face mask scam
Police arrested 7 people allegedly involved in a multi-million baht scam selling face masks online and not delivering them. The Royal Thai Police teamed up with police in Seoul and Hong Kong for the investigation. Police say 3 Thai women and 4 Cameroon nationals were arrested on fraud charges. The transnational investigation started when complaints were filed by people in…
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Covid-19 case: Negative results for 150 officials
Tests results are negative for all 150 officials who came in contact with the recent Covid-19 patient. The patient, a 37 year old inmate at a Bangkok prison, tested positive for the virus this week after the country went 100 days without a local transmission. From the time the inmate was detained on drug charges and went to court on…
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Covid-19 case: Restaurant closed, employees in quarantine
A Nonthaburi restaurant is temporarily closed after a former employee tested positive for Covid-19. The 37 year old man tested positive while incarcerated at a Bangkok prison on drug charges yesterday. He worked at the restaurant Sam Wan Song Kuen on Rama V Road from August 12-25. Nonthaburi Governor Sujin Chaichumsak ordered the restaurant to close for just 3 days,…
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BTS looks to a Grammy nomination after scoring their first Billboard #1 single
After scoring South Korea’s first-ever #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, K-pop supergroup BTS now says it’s set its sights on a standalone performance at next year’s Grammy Awards, perhaps even a nomination or an award. BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) are RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, and have fought over their 7 years together to…
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Belgian arrested after living and working in Thailand without a passport for 4 years
A 49 year old Belgian man has been arrested by Thai immigration police after being discovered living in the Kingdom without a passport. The man was reported to be living in an apartment at Wang Thonglang, a north east suburb of Bangkok. Officials started an investigation into a “good looking European man” that spoke fluent Thai and discovered that the man has…
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Thailand enters space race, air force satellite launched
Thailand has entered the space race. The Royal Thai Air Force launched its first satellite into space yesterday morning. The satellite will be used for general data collecting as well as for security purposes in efforts to prevent foreign countries from spying on Thailand. The nanosatellite, Napa-1, was launched at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. It was one…
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‘The Batman’ star, Robert Pattinson, tests positive for Covid-19 in the UK
Robert Pattinson, filming in the UK for the upcoming Batman film, has reportedly tested positive for Covid-19, just days after shooting for the much-anticipated movie had resumed. Warner Bros. said in a statement to AFP… “Filming is temporarily paused. A member of ‘The Batman’ production has tested positive for Covid-19, and is isolating in accordance with established protocols.” There was no…
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Tourism officials look to end dual pricing for expats
“The key factor is we have to treat expats like locals, without discrimination or a negative attitude towards foreigners.” Admission fees at national parks and tourist attractions are often drastically higher for expats than they are for Thai nationals. Foreigners sometimes even pay 10 times more than Thais. Tourism officials say they might put an end to dual pricing for…
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5 key recommendations emerge from Boss investigation
5 proposals have been made by an independent panel as the government mops up the recent internal investigations into the mishandling of the “Boss” case. The Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission has been given the task of implementing the 5 key recommendations made by panels that have examined the botched investigations over the hit-and-run case against Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, grandson of…
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Bangkok prisoner tests positive for Covid-19… first local transmission in 100 days
A 37 year old prisoner has tested positive for Covid-19 on the same day Thailand reached 100 days since a local coronavirus infection. The male inmate has already been moved from the Bangkok prison to a Corrections Department hospital and the other 34 inmates who had contact with him have been tested. The infected man is reported to have worked in…
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Holiday plans cancelled at border district, Koh Samui expects tourist boom
People are cancelling their trips to a Kanchanaburi district for the 4-day weekend after a coronavirus scare at a local school. Koh Samui is expecting the opposite. The southern province Surat Thani is expecting such a large influx in tourists that some airlines and ferries have doubled their services for the holiday. In Thong Pha Phum, Kanchanaburi’s border district, the…
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1,500 year old human bones and pottery found in Isaan province
An Isaan woman found what experts say are 1,500 year old human bones and pottery. Fine Arts Department officials say they believe the bones and pottery were buried together during a funeral hundreds of years ago. A Surin local, 60 year old Muay Maichai, says she was walking through an area she frequents when she saw part of a jar sticking…
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British man killed in a hit and run incident in Korat
A 43 year old British man has been killed by a hit-and-run driver whilst driving his motorcycle at an intersection in the main city area of Nakhon Ratchasima last night. Emergency responders headed to the Phon Lan gate intersection on the Ratchasima-Chok Chai Road around 11.30pm. At this stage Police believe he was hit by a truck and the driver had fled…
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Chinese nationals caught crossing the border
Border patrol officers arrested 6 Chinese nationals who allegedly crossed the Thai-Myanmar border this morning. The arrests follow a series of busts driven by Thailand’s heightened border patrol, a measure aimed at preventing the return of the coronavirus after Myanmar reported a spike in cases. The migrants had waded through the Moei River, which separates Thailand and Myanmar, and were…
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Young Buriram brothers steal over 30 motorbikes after parents split up
Two brothers, aged 12 and 14 have been nabbed after stealing over 30 motorbikes. The pair, seemingly unable to figure out where the petrol tank was, would look for a new motorbike to steal after the old one ran out of petrol. They told police that their crimes were for survival after their parents separated. They hadn’t been to school…
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Koh Phangan cannabis farm raided by police
A Koh Phangan cannabis farm was raided today and police seized 40 plants. Meanwhile, Thai lawmakers are reviewing a bill that would allow people to grow cannabis. But these growers might have jumped the gun. Police say the farm was around 1 rai (.3 acres), and hidden in the forests of Koh Phangan. The seized cannabis plants weighed around 60…
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Mandatory Covid insurance of up to 3 million baht for foreign visitors to Thailand
A spokesman for Thailand’s State Insurance Commission says all foreign arrivals into the Kingdom will need to have insurance cover for Covid-19. Suthipol Taweechaikarn says the insurance will need to cover people for the duration of their visit and that various packages are being made available for online purchase. Coconuts reports that travellers coming from countries considered low-risk for Covid-19…
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Odd number wins the Thai lotto
It’s enough to send a Thai gambler into a frizz. A rather odd number won the 6 million baht jackpot in Tuesday’s bi-monthly Thai lottery. The ticket ‘999997’ was the prize winning number and Thai netizens are going ballistic! Usually when picking out a lucky number, people would rarely choose a ticket with so many repeating numbers. But 52 year…
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