Central Thailand News

Central Thailand news, Ayutthaya news, Kanchanaburi updates, and business developments—stay informed on local events, tourism, and culture, including landmarks like the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Central Thailand news source.

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    How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?

    Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....

  • Koh Chang has a bumper tourist (long) weekend – VIDEO

    Koh Chang has a bumper tourist (long) weekend – VIDEO

    Tourists have been flocking to Koh Chang off the Trat coast, in the east of Thailand. The TAT says that they estimate some 30,000 people wold have visited the popular Thai island over the long weekend (which runs into tomorrow, the King’s birthday). Kamphon Jaroenkhajornkun, president of the Trat Tourism Business Association says this weekend’s numbers are a record for…

  • Elderly man escapes with minor injuries as motorbike hit by 10 wheeler truck

    Elderly man escapes with minor injuries as motorbike hit by 10 wheeler truck

    An 88 year old man is most likely counting his blessings this morning after surviving a collision with a 10 wheeler truck. Chamnong Ketkaew was driving his motorbike sidecar in Phanat Nikhom district, in the eastern province of Chon Buri, when he was hit from behind by the truck. A report in The Pattaya News says the force of the…

  • Navy rescues Thai sailor after electric shock on fishing boat

    Navy rescues Thai sailor after electric shock on fishing boat

    Members of the Royal Thai Navy have rescued a boat crew member in the Gulf of Thailand after he suffered a severe electric shock on Friday night. Royal Thai Navy Region 1 headquarters in Chon Buri were notified by the officers based in Prachuap Khiri Khan that a boat crew member, 51 year old Sittisak Sripipat suffered a serious electric…

  • Life sentence for man who ran over his neighbour reduced to 25 years – VIDEO

    Life sentence for man who ran over his neighbour reduced to 25 years – VIDEO

    A court in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, has handed down a life sentence to a Thai man who deliberately drove a car into his unsuspecting neighbour, killing him while he was watering his plants. Security footage caught the shocking moment when 56 year old Phaiboon Sangsan drove directly into 57 year old civil engineer, Suphan Yatbanthung. The…

  • “Ghost-riding” bikers charged after leaving scene of fatal accident

    “Ghost-riding” bikers charged after leaving scene of fatal accident

    A woman, who allegedly caused a fatal road accident, has told police that she didn’t stop to help the victims because “others were helping”. 50 year old Jampa Boonmajuab was riding her bike in the wrong direction, or “ghost-riding” as it is commonly referred to, which caused the death of one woman and injured another. The accident occurred in Samut…

  • Staff injured, property damaged as gang rampages through 2 Bangkok hospitals

    Staff injured, property damaged as gang rampages through 2 Bangkok hospitals

    Gang members have gone on a rampage through 2 Bangkok hospitals, injuring medical personnel and causing significant damage to property. Violence first erupted at Vibharam-Chaiprakan Hospital in Samut Prakan, just south of the city, when doctors were unable to save the life of one gang member who’d been injured in a fight a few hours before. His death led to…

  • 2 Rayong protesters arrested after trying to display signs during PM’s visit

    2 Rayong protesters arrested after trying to display signs during PM’s visit

    2 protesters have ended up with charges for violating Thailand’s emergency decree after trying to wave protest signs at a motorcade passing through Rayong yesterday. The signs were aimed at the Thai PM during his visit to the eastern province. Prayut was inspecting health measures in the wake of the controversy over mishandling of quarantine measures for a visiting Egyptian…

  • Everyone tested for Covid-19 in Rayong, Bangkok negative

    Everyone tested for Covid-19 in Rayong, Bangkok negative

    The Department of Disease Control has announced the results of Covid-19 testing among 1,603 high-risk people involved in the incidents of an Egyptian military crew member (in Rayong) and a 9 year old girl from Sudan (in Bangkok). The results in Rayong province show that all of 1,336 people tested are negative, while in Bangkok, all 267 tested in a…

  • Nearly all Rayong schools close “as a precaution” amid Covid-19 scare

    Nearly all Rayong schools close “as a precaution” amid Covid-19 scare

    274 schools in Rayong have closed, following revelations that some teachers visited venues that had also been visited by an Egyptian soldier, and members of his air crew. One of the soldiers was found to be infected with the Covid-19 virus after he had left the country and flown back to Egypt. The Thai Education Ministry says classes will now take…

  • Seriously ill Burmese man found nearly unconscious at Nonthaburi bus stop – VIDEO

    Seriously ill Burmese man found nearly unconscious at Nonthaburi bus stop – VIDEO

    A 40 year old Myanmar national has been taken to a hospital after being found seriously ill at a bus stop in Nonthaburi, central Thailand. Thai Residents reports that police were notified of a man in a “deep sleep” at a bus stop in Hongprayul village. Officers discovered the man was running a very high fever and was unable to…

  • Rayong governor transferred, hundreds tested, amid Egyptian soldier Covid mess

    Rayong governor transferred, hundreds tested, amid Egyptian soldier Covid mess

    Locals in the eastern province of Rayong, are lining up to be tested for the Covid-19 virus, following the news that a visiting Egyptian airman tested positive after being exempted from quarantine. The PM has already apologised for the mess and promised a review into the rules that meant none of the visiting aircrew had to fulfil the mandatory quarantine…

  • 400 people in Rayong being traced, schools closed down, Government apologises

    400 people in Rayong being traced, schools closed down, Government apologises

    “We apologise for what happened. We will take it as a lesson.” At a packed media conference this morning the CCSA has announced that an Egyptian pilot, testing positive for Covid-19, along with “9 colleagues” visited at least 2 shopping malls in the Rayong province. Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin says the infected airmen, along with 9 others members of the crew,…

  • Ratchaburi explosion injures 4

    Ratchaburi explosion injures 4

    4 people are injured in the western border province of Ratchaburi, 1 seriously, after an explosion caused by a gas leak at a food shop in the central city district this morning. The blast occurred on the ground floor of a 3 storey commercial building opposite Boromrajonani College of Nursing, according to police, who were notified at around 6:30am. Firefighters…

  • Man high on yaba tries to stab family after not sleeping for 6 days

    Man high on yaba tries to stab family after not sleeping for 6 days

    A man high on what Thai people call yaba (a drug containing a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine) reportedly tried to stab his wife and child after getting no sleep for 6 nights. The incident occurred in the eastern province of Chon Buri with the man saying his drug-induced hallucinations were convincing him someone was trying to kill him. Thai…

  • 6 Thais accused of procuring young girls for sex trade in Ratchaburi

    6 Thais accused of procuring young girls for sex trade in Ratchaburi

    Today the superintendent of Human Trafficking Suppression Division 5, reported that they have arrested 40 year old Sasirat who has been accused of procuring young girls for the ‘flesh’ trade in Ratchaburi province for over 10 years. The woman was named in an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on June 15 for allegedly procured girls aged below 15…

  • Saraburi man arrested for firing at radio station, fleeing in stolen pickup

    Saraburi man arrested for firing at radio station, fleeing in stolen pickup

    Police in the central Saraburi province, about 120 kilometres northeast of Bangkok, arrested a man early today for allegedly firing a gun at a radio station and stealing a pickup truck in which he fled. Officers of the Nong Khae Police Station were informed at 6:30pm yesterday about a shooting incident at the Public Relations Department’s radio station in Nong…

  • Abbot hits back after criticism of ‘cheap’ temple makeover

    Abbot hits back after criticism of ‘cheap’ temple makeover

    The abbot of a 300 year old temple at the centre of a controversial renovation project has hit back at his critics, saying the work was carried out in accordance with Buddhist beliefs. His comments come after academic Wara Chanmanee lodged a complaint with the Fine Arts Department after Wat Bang Duan Nok was refurbished using cheap floor tiles and…

  • Thai historians aghast as faux-marble floor tiles used to renovate 300 year old temple

    Thai historians aghast as faux-marble floor tiles used to renovate 300 year old temple

    “The aluminium roof and mosaics bought from the market give this the same aesthetic as a food court.” On hearing that an historic Buddhist temple is undergoing renovation, one wouldn’t expect cheap floor tiles from the local hardware store to be used… But academics and netizens are, not surprisingly, up in arms after a restoration project in Samut Prakan, just…

  • Dog finds missing owner’s dead body in Central Thailand

    Dog finds missing owner’s dead body in Central Thailand

    After an initial search for a missing man, a dog sniffed out his owner’s trail and found the man, sadly, dead in a canal. The man had been out cutting banana leaves by his home in Samut Songkhram, Central Thailand. The family says he left early but never returned. “We tried to search for him,” the man’s sister in law told…

  • Couple wins millions in lottery, husband’s age is the lucky number

    Couple wins millions in lottery, husband’s age is the lucky number

    Usually people hope just 1 of their lottery tickets will end up being a winner. A couple in Central Thailand had their lucky day when all 4 of their tickets brought in millions, adding up to a total of 24 million baht. On Monday, 60 year old Bunruan, a local teacher at Nakhon Sawan’s Wat Pho Si Temple School, and…

  • Long tailbacks in central Thailand following 10 car pile up

    Long tailbacks in central Thailand following 10 car pile up

    When social distancing doesn’t apply to cars… A 10 car pile-up in the central province of Nonthaburi yesterday caused a traffic jam that stretched for several kilometres, causing delays and blocking access to the road. A Nation Thailand report says the chain of collisions began when a car drove into the back of a truck transporting motorbikes. This then triggered…

  • 7 year old daughter helps police prevent father’s suicide

    7 year old daughter helps police prevent father’s suicide

    When police in the central plains province of Uthai Thani learned of a shooting incident they rushed to the scene to find a woman with a gunshot wound to her face and a man threatening to shoot himself in the head. Rescue workers rushed the woman to hospital while police tried to calm the man down and stop him from…

  • Hundred arrested in illegal Rayong casino raid

    Hundred arrested in illegal Rayong casino raid

    Police have arrested more than one hundred gamblers at an illegal casino in a Rayong warehouse. The casino’s bank books show an average cash flow of 12 million baht per day, Thai media reports. Along with 106 gamblers, 12 dealers were also arrested. Police confiscated game equipment such as card tables, casino chips and 2 slot machines as well as…

  • Bang Saen plans to be a “zero waste beach”

    Bang Saen plans to be a “zero waste beach”

    A Chon Buri beach plans to be completely garbage free, aiming to be a so-called “zero waste beach.” The National Research Council of Thailand and Kasetsart University have teamed up to develop a waste management system and devices to help keep Bang Saen beach clean. Although there are far fewer people on the beach this year due to coronavirus restrictions,…

  • Thai village official arrested for posting child pornography online

    Thai village official arrested for posting child pornography online

    An assistant village headman was arrested yesterday after posting videos online of him allegedly raping his daughter. The US based reporting system CyberTipline alerted Thai authorities that child pornography images were posted on Twitter by someone in Thailand. Police tracked down the mobile phone used to take the photos and videos. They traced back to 36 year old assistant headman…

  • Temple criticised for painting internet comedian in ‘Buddhist’ mural

    Temple criticised for painting internet comedian in ‘Buddhist’ mural

    Thai internet comedian, Sitang Buathong, is known for her “power,” making a rolling orange stop by saying “orange stop!” At a central Thailand temple, an artist included 58 year old Buathong in a painting. Instead of facing up at Buddha like some others in the painting, she is portrayed looking down and pointing at an orange. Religious officials are not…

  • Carpenter killed at migrant workers’ camp

    Carpenter killed at migrant workers’ camp

    A Burmese carpenter was killed early yesterday morning at a central Thailand workers’ camp which houses hundreds of migrant workers. 32 year old Thein Tun, was stabbed multiple times and was dead by the time police arrived at the Sino-Thai Engineering camp in the Samut Prakan province, just south of Bangkok. Police found a knife but are still looking for possible…

  • High-ranking police officers try and extort 40,000 baht from woman

    High-ranking police officers try and extort 40,000 baht from woman

    A police chief has dismissed 8 high-ranking officers after they told a woman to pay them 40,000 baht or they would drug test her. The woman said she could only pay 33,000 baht, but the police allegedly demanded more. Video footage of officers demanding money was taken, probably from her phone, and posted online. The police chief at the Nong Chok…

  • Village head dies in train accident in central Thailand

    Village head dies in train accident in central Thailand

    The head of a central Thailand village was killed yesterday morning when a oncoming train slammed into his truck. Dokrak Meemuk, the head of Village Moo 14 in Nakhon Sawan, had just left his house to attend a meeting, according to his family. Railroad construction workers, who also guide vehicles crossing the tracks at the Ban Tharnwai railroad crossing, told…

  • Man arrested after firing shots at coworker, shoot out with police

    Man arrested after firing shots at coworker, shoot out with police

    A man has been tracked down and arrested after he shot at a coworker and later fired shots at police, one bullet accidentally hitting his brother-in-law. The coworker was not harmed after 27 year old Thirawat Thamkhanthee fired shots at him outside a Rayong factory on Tuesday, the Bangkok Post reports. Rayong is a province to the east of Bangkok.…