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.
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Sponsored Thailand health insurance that covers chronic conditions: What expats need to know
The Thaiger key takeaways Managing chronic conditions in Thailand requires health insurance that covers specialist visits, medications, tests, and hospital stays. Cigna offers high-coverage plans with access to top hospitals, direct billing, and telemedicine support for convenient long-term care. Expats...
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Answers demanded over nuclear waste found in Laem Chabang Port
by Pratch Rujivanrom After Friday’s alert about radio active material being discovered at Thailand’s main sea port at Laem Chabang, authorities have passed on very little news Now academics are urging authorities to come clean with information about the radioactive waste found at the port and investigate the shipment’s entire route. The Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) and the…
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Ex-soldier on the run after shooting girlfriend in Prachin Buri
A former Saraburi-based cavalry soldier, Corporal Panuwat Pancheun, who was reportedly fired from service three months ago for assaulting his superior, has allegedly shot and injured his 28 year old girlfriend at her family’s home/grocery shop in Prachin Buri province this morning as he tried to drag her out to his car. Prachin Buri is two hour’s drive north-east of Bangkok.…
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Buri Ram teacher probed after boy’s beating
A Buri Ram school has set up a committee to investigate a parent’s allegation that one of its teachers made a Prathom 6 pupil do 50 jumping jacks in the hot sun and then whipped him 10 times with a wooden stick wrapped in duct tape. The 12 year old’s mother revealed Friday’s incident and says her son had merely…
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One dead in Burmese migrants’ Bangkok brawl
Police this morning arrested nine Myanmar migrant workers allegedly involved in a brawl in Bangkok last night that led to one compatriot’s death along with injuries to five others. A brief video circulated online showing 20 men fighting with knives and metal pipes near a poultry slaughterhouse on Soi Pridi Phanomyong 44, Khlong Ton Nua sub-district, Wattana district. Khlong Ton…
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Rescuers get provisions into flooded Prachuab Khiri Khan district
Army and rescue workers, loaded up with ready-made foods and drinking water, were visiting villages behind Chong Lom dam in Bang Saphan Noi district of Prachuab Khiri Khan yesterday after the area was cut off from the outside world. The only road into the district was flooded and had become impassable. Rescuers responded to a distress alert from Amporn Thaokruamat,…
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Indonesian rescue teams call off search for passengers of Lion Air flight
Indonesian authorities say they’re calling off the search for passengers of the Lion Air flight JT610, almost two weeks after the jetliner plunged into the Java Sea killing the 189 passengers and crew on board. Read The Thaiger editorial about the investigation HERE. Some 196 bags containing body parts have been recovered from under the water with 79 victims identified…
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Thaiger Radio News – Sunday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Visa-fee waiver for 21 countries as tourism slump sparks panic
by Kat Chanwanpen Visitors from 21 countries are getting their visa-on-arrival fee waived for 60 days, starting December 1. Amid declining numbers of visitors, notably from China, a desperate Cabinet yesterday agreed to waive the 2,000 baht visa-on-arrival fee for tourists from 21 countries for 60 days to try and revive one of the main engines of economic growth. Meanwhile,…
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Thailand’s first Apple store opens along the Chao Phraya at the new Iconsiam
The new Iconsiam building is open along the banks of the Chao Phraya along with a stunning new Apple Store, the first in Thailand. One of the features of the new store is the play on the Apple logo which makes it look like a letter of the Thai alphabet, a first such departure for the usually rigorous Apple style-sheet.…
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Man arrested with 52,000 methamphetamine pills and 785 grams of crystal meth
Police have arrested a Phuket man with 52,000 methamphetamine pills and 784.82 grams of crystal methamphetamine. Details were passed on to the media at the Phuket Provincial Police Station yesterday. A team of Border Patrol Police and the Phuket Provincial Police have arrested Danai ‘Tin’ Lakban at a house in Soi Yod Sanae in Chalong where police seized the drugs.…
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Thai man arrested for sexually assaulting British woman in Nai Harn
Phuket police have arrested a man who sexually assaulted a British female tourist at Nai Harn yesterday. The woman was found crying and distressed as she was running out from a Soi near Naiharn Beach yesterday morning around 8.45am. Read more about the story HERE. Chalong Police found that the suspect lived in the Soi where the tourist ran out from.…
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Narcotics Control Committee seek advise over legalisation of medical cannabis
The rather drawn out and tortuous trek of the process to legalise medical marijuana through the Thai parliamentary system has hit a bit of a hurdle. The Narcotics Control Committee will seek further input before deciding whether to reclassify marijuana, which is now a prohibited narcotic, to enable its use for medical purposes. “We have resolved to consult the Council…
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Thai Air Asia posts losses in Q3 citing huge drop in Chinese tourists
A drop in Chinese tourism, along with higher fuel prices, is being blamed for a loss in the third quarter for Thai Air Asia. Asia Aviation Plc, the operators of the budget carrier, has reported a net loss of 358 million baht for Q3 (third quarter 2018). This compares with a profit of 260 million baht for the same low-season…
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Romance scammer arrested for overstaying his visa by four years
Thai police have continued their crackdown on foreign criminals, especially romance scammers, call-centre fraudsters and visa over-stayers, with the latest arrest of a 30 year old Nigerian man who was found to have overstayed his welcome in Thailand by nearly four years. Nigerian Cory Samuel Madubuchi, who was arrested in Nonthaburi, was also found to have 57 money transaction slips…
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Thailand’s creative entrepreneurs funding passions through Airbnb
2,000 Airbnb Homes and Experiences hosts in Thailand are members of the Creative Community 25% of all creative Thai hosts are based in Bangkok. One in every five Thai Experience hosts are from the arts, music, fashion or entertainment industries. Like tourism, which now accounts for more than 10 percent of the world’s global GDP, the creative economy is thriving worldwide.…
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Hanoi ‘must end eating of dogs before Formula 1’ – Soi Dog Foundation
The Soi Dog Foundation, one of the leading organisations battling the dog meat trade in Asia, has called again for a concerted effort in Vietnam to end the eating of dogs and cats. The renewed call comes after the announcement that Liberty Media, owners of the glamorous Formula One (F1) sport have agreed to a “multi-year” deal to stage Grand…
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Prachuap Khiri Khan floods trigger evacuations
Bang Saphan Hospital in Prachuap Khiri Khan transferred 10 patients in critical condition to a provincial hospital last night amid heavy flooding triggered by more than 200 millimetres of rainfall in just 24 hours in parts of the province. Floodwaters outside the Bang Saphan Hospital prompted the evacuation of nine patients on respiratory aid as well as a pregnant woman.…
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E-cigarettes and vaping to be legalised in Thailand
Even more changes afoot for smokers in the ever-changing landscape of Thai smoking laws. Earlier this week laws were passed forbidding smoking in most public areas, including outside public buildings, restaurants and bars. That report HERE. Now Sanook reports that there are major changes are on the way regarding the use of electronic cigarettes (vaping) in Thailand. The excise department…
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Canadian tourist in hospital after falling from an elephant ride
Chalong Police have headed to the scene of an incident at an elephant camp near Nark Kerd Hill in Chalong at 2.15pm yesterday. Police and rescue workers arrived to find a 38 year old female Canadian tourist who has sustained left leg injuries and was taken to the Bangkok Hospital Phuket. Wirawit Pakprom, the elephant’s mahout, told police that the…
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Thaiger Radio News – Friday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Protest banners reveal resident’s names – Chiang Mai
The ongoing battle between protesters and residents of housing inside a controversial residential area on the foothills of Dom Suthem in Chiang Mai, has taken a new tack. Banners revealing the names of appeal court officials who live at the controversial housing estate at the foot of forested Doi Suthep mountain were found in Chiang Mai yesterday. Read more about the…
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Thai soldier accused of raping 75 boys
A 43 year old former Thai soldier has been arrested for raping 75 boys, many of whom were aged under 15 at the time of the alleged crimes. It is claimed he lured his victims by using the photo of a handsome younger man as his own profile picture in a gay chat application and then Facebook. Authorities are now…
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Thai Airways doubles up on 2017 losses
Thai Airways has doubled up on losses for the past three months (Q3), compared to the same period last year. They’ve reported an operating loss of 3.69 billion baht, up 103% year-on-year. The total revenue was actually up 2.2%, according to a statement from the Thai Airways president, Sumeth Damrongchaitham, but the operating costs were up 1.87 billion baht, compared…
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The 2019 election clock is revealed
The countdown is now ticking as the pieces click together for next year’s election – the first since the Thai army took control in a peaceful coup in May 2014, ousting the elected Yingluck Shinawatra government. Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngarm has presented the clearest political timeline yet that will lead to a general election on February 24, 2019, the appointment…
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Grab and illegal tuk-tuks killing Chiang Mai rental company
PHOTO: Hia Kiang, the long-term owner of a tuk-tuk rental company says it’s no longer profitable – Chiang Mai News Recent news out of the northern city suggests that all is not all in the relationship between the App-world taxis and the traditional taxi services. Chiang Mai News is reporting that a long time owner of a business renting tuk-tuks…
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Frenchman and Thai girlfriend convicted over gruesome murder of Italian expat
A Thai court has sentenced a French man and his Thai girlfriend to 29 years in jail for the brutal murder of an Italian expat in rural Thailand. Thaivisa is reporting that 34 year old Amaury Rigaux and 38 year old Rujira Eiumlamai admitted murdering 61 year old Giuseppe de Stefani in January this year. Read the original report about…
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7-Eleven stores to reduce the use of plastic bags
If you ever want to see Thailand’s one-use plastic problem in stark view, head on down to any convenience store and see how much plastic marches out the door with each customer. But that might be about to change… Thai PBS reports that CP All Public Company, the sole operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand has announced its declaration…
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Cable TV company raided and taken off air in Phuket
National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) officials, together with the Phuket City Police and soldiers, today raided a cable TV company in Phuket Town over illegal operating services. At 10am officers raided KPP Enterprise on Phang Nga Road in Phuket Town after it was found that the company had been illegally operating the cable services. The license was revoked on…
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Lion Air plane damaged in minor ground collision – Jakarta
It’s been a bad few weeks for the Indonesian Lion Air team with they another bad headline for the budget airline yesterday. An Indonesian Lion Air plane was involved in another accident yesterday, even as the search continues for remains of victims of last week’s plane crash. Lion Air Flight 633, bound for Jakarta, was canceled last night, after a…
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Action taken on Krabi Hotel for dumping garbage
The Krabi Highway Office plans to take further legal action against a hotel in Krabi today for allegedly dumping garbage on a roadside in Muang district. Rab Nga-fah, chief of the Tambon Sai Thai Administrative Organisation, asked the office to take legal action against the Vogue Resort & Spa Ao Nang, a hotel in Tambon Ao Nang of Muang district.…
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