Chiang Mai News

Chiang Mai news, politics, business, culture, and tourism—stay updated with breaking stories, local events, and expat insights from Thailand’s northern hub. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Chiang Mai news source.

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  • Chiang Mai tourism operators paint gloomy outlook | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai tourism operators paint gloomy outlook

    Tourism in Chiang Mai has been decimated by the downturn in Chinese arrivals. Tour operators and officials are hoping that more Western tourists would fill their place, especially during the next few months. The Chiang Mai News reports that a hotel operator in the Prapokklao area says her business had been terrible the last few months. She was now forced…

  • Indonesian woman arrested over Chiang Mai August drug/robberies | Thaiger

    Indonesian woman arrested over Chiang Mai August drug/robberies

    Police have arrested an Indonesian woman for the alleged drugging of two tourists in Chiang Mai back in August, one of whom was found later dead in his hotel room. The suspect fled to Chantaburi, where she was apprehended, and has been transferred back to Chiang Mai police. Read the original report about the suspect HERE. Acting Chiang Mai police…

  • Despite a ban, permission has been sought to launch 64,000 lanterns for Loy Krathong | Thaiger

    Despite a ban, permission has been sought to launch 64,000 lanterns for Loy Krathong

    Enthusiasts are seeking permission to fly 64,000 lanterns on the night of Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai, despite a nation-wide ban. Loy Krathong is on this Thursday. Meanwhile, the Chiang Mai provincial administration has imposed strict regulations on the release of flying lanterns into the sky as well as on the sale and ignition of firecrackers and fireworks on Loy…

  • One in ten that die on Chiang Mai roads are foreigners | Thaiger

    One in ten that die on Chiang Mai roads are foreigners

    Ten percent of the people that die on Chiang Mai’s roads are foreigners. That equates to more than 1,000 foreign tourists and expats dying or being injured on the province’s road so far this year. The statistics also reveal that the overwhelming majority of deaths and injury were on motorcycles (the same as the rest of Thailand). Chiang Mai News…

  • Canadian and British graffiti vandals spared jail | Thaiger

    Canadian and British graffiti vandals spared jail

    Canadian media is reporting that a Canadian citizen and a British man have been able to avoid jail time over the spray painting of the Tha Pae historical wall in Chiang Mai. Read the original story HERE. There was 10 years jail staring them in the face after police nabbed them over the matter. But instead of ten years in…

  • Chiang Mai banner-protester house raid | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai banner-protester house raid

    Police this morning searched the house of a leading protester against the controversial housing estate for appeal court officials at the foot of Doi Suthep mountain in Chiang Mai, looking for evidence of last week’s banners. Read that story HERE. Muang Chiang Mai precinct superintendent Pol Col Theerasak Sripasert led a warranted search of the Doi Suthep Forest Reclamation Network…

  • Three killed in a Chiang Mai house fire | Thaiger

    Three killed in a Chiang Mai house fire

    A Chiang Mai couple and their two year old child were killed when their house was engulfed in a fire early today. Police report that they were alerted of the fire at the two-floor house in Ban Pa Tun village in Tambon Pa Tun, Muang district around 5.30am this morning. After the fire was put out, three charred bodies were found…

  • Chiang Mai tourism plans to promote more outlying regions for 2019 | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai tourism plans to promote more outlying regions for 2019

    “The plan is to promote traditional, conservative activities such as temple routes, sightseeing tours in the old city and visiting craft villages.” The Tourism Authority Thailand (TAT) Chiang Mai Office has announced its performance for the past year and announced its plans for 2019. Visroot Inhyam, the director general of TAT’s northern region outlined the main issues for tourism promotion…

  • Grab and illegal tuk-tuks killing Chiang Mai rental company | Thaiger

    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…

  • Chiang Mai authorities vow to take action on aggressive strays | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai authorities vow to take action on aggressive strays

    by Nisanart Kangwanwong and Kriankrai Rattana Aggressive stray dogs are be removed from Chiang Mai’s streets in the Doi Saket district after an attack on a 14 month old girl last Sunday. The toddler is now receiving treatment at a local hospital. She received more than 100 bites after being attacked by strays and is being given antibiotic injections every eight…

  • Public hearings planned for bill to legalise transgender cohabitation | Thaiger

    Public hearings planned for bill to legalise transgender cohabitation

    PHOTO: Coconuts BKK Public hearings are to be held in the capital and other provinces on November 12-16 to gauge opinions from stakeholders about the ‘partnership bill’. The Bill would, for the first time in Thailand, legalise the cohabitation of transgenders. In Bangkok the hearing will be held at the Miracle Hotel while in the provinces, hearings are to be…

  • University Dean hands over iPad evidence in Chiang Mai upskirt case | Thaiger

    University Dean hands over iPad evidence in Chiang Mai upskirt case

    by Thanakorn Wongnang A Chiang Mai University dean has turned over to police an iPad belonging to a former lecturer at the school who has been accused of using it last month to take photos beneath female students’ skirts. The lecturer has not been publicly named at this stage. It’s understood that Associate Professor Prapa Sukkasem, dean of the Faculty…

  • Tourists grafitti Chiang Mai caves | Thaiger

    Tourists grafitti Chiang Mai caves

    Chiang Mai authorities are trying to find the people responsible for graffiti in a Chiang Mai cave. Police are threatening to prosecute the offenders and seek jail terms for anyone who is caught. Chiang Mai News is reporting that foreign names have been scratched in the walls of a cave at the Mok Fa waterfall in the Doi Suthep – Pui…

  • Northern temperatures to drop 3-5 degrees Celsius | Thaiger

    Northern temperatures to drop 3-5 degrees Celsius

    OK, so we’ve exaggerated a bit. Mercury in Thailand’s north is set to drop another 3-5 degrees from tomorrow until Friday. Meanwhile southern regions are facing forecast rains and isolated heavy rain in some areas. The Thai Meteorological Department says another strong cold front out of China is looming south to cover the upper regions of Thailand from October 30-November…

  • Chiang Mai’s Canadian spray painter released on bail | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai’s Canadian spray painter released on bail

    A Canadian woman, arrested in Chiang Mai for spraying graffiti on an ancient wall, says she’s sorry for what she did and “terrified about what comes next”. 22 year old Brittney Schneider, was in Chiang Mai last Thursday when she said she and some others got “ridiculously drunk.” Speaking to Canadian media, she says they started to walk back to…

  • Another 15 million meth pills seized in Chiang Mai arrests | Thaiger

    Another 15 million meth pills seized in Chiang Mai arrests

    Police have arrested six men and seized 15 million methamphetamine pills they were allegedly trying to smuggle from Chiang Mai to Bangkok in four pickup trucks. The arrests were made between 8.30am and 3pm on Monday in four separate incidents at two checkpoints, on a road and at a resort in Mae Ai district in Chiang Mai, and further north…

  • Chiang Mai glue sniffer beats up Chinese tourists | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai glue sniffer beats up Chinese tourists

    Sanook is reporting on what they described as yet another “devastating blow to Thai tourism”. In the latest case, the alleged glue-sniffing son of a downtown tailor went after two Chinese tourists with a wooden club as they innocently took photos in a tourist area. The attack occurred in the Wua Lai Road area where there is a ‘walking street’…

  • Police go in search of accomplices after Chiang Mai haul of 10 million meth pills | Thaiger

    Police go in search of accomplices after Chiang Mai haul of 10 million meth pills

    Police have arrested a drug suspect this morning and confiscated a whopping 10.2 million methamphetamine pills in Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district. The suspect, so far unnamed, was arrested along with the 102 sacks containing drugs in Ban Muser Oko (Moo 6) in Tambon Tha Ton by officers from the Mae Ai and Mae Chan precincts, as well as border…

  • Two tourists’ graffiti might end them up in a Chiang Mai jail | Thaiger

    Two tourists’ graffiti might end them up in a Chiang Mai jail

    A British and Canadian tourist face up to 10 years in prison after being charged with vandalism. The pair spray-painting graffiti on an ancient city brick wall in Chiang Mai. Reuters have reported that 23 year olds Furlong Lee (UK) and Brittney Schneider (Canada) were arrested at a guesthouse in Chiang Mai and are being held at the provincial court pending further questioning over…

  • New Immigration chief sweeping a broom through Chiang Mai Immigration offices | Thaiger

    New Immigration chief sweeping a broom through Chiang Mai Immigration offices

    SCREENSHOT: Komchadluek Responding to constant online chatter about the ‘mess’ at the Chiang Mai Immigration offices, the new Immigration chief, Maj-Gen Surachate Hakparn, is poised to transfer the existing Chiang Mai Immigration boss to an inactive post whilst further investigations are made into the office operations. People have been complaining about all matters, from long waits (some cited having to…

  • Chinese arrivals down by half in Chiang Mai | Thaiger

    Chinese arrivals down by half in Chiang Mai

    PHOTO: Chiang Mai News A crisis meeting for tour operators has been held in Chiang Mai where they learned that Chinese tourism was down 50% in the first nine months of 2018. Some measures were put forward to woo them back – including setting up Chinese language classes to improve communication with the tourists from China. Reasons blamed for the…

  • Mu Pa drops in on Gen Prayut at Government House | Thaiger

    Mu Pa drops in on Gen Prayut at Government House

    PHOTO: Thai PBS Members of the Mu Pa football Academy and team are back in Thailand following their whirlwind overseas tour of Argentina and the US, including an appearance on one of the most popular talk shows in the world. This morning they had a meeting this morning with the Thai PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha at the Government House. Accompanied…

  • Chiang Mai flasher arrested | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai flasher arrested

    A Chiang Mai man has been arrested for allegedly exposing himself to foreign women in downtown Chiang Mai in recent days. Police said 54 year old Anusorn Pheraket,who lives in Tambon Wat Ket in Chiang Mai’s Muang district, was arrested late yesterday. Police have obtained a court order to detain Anusorn pending further questioning before pressing charges. Police tracked down…

  • Airport tips for cheapies – Bangkok | Thaiger

    Airport tips for cheapies – Bangkok

    Heading out of Bangkok and looking for a few financial short-cuts? Getting to the airport, Don Mueang or Suvarnabhumi, needs a bit of planning. To get to Don Muaeng from the Bangkok on time a taxi is probably going to be your best bet. If it’s in one of the peaks the taxi can take the ‘top floor’ route which…

  • Tourists flock to Doi Inthanon for the morning mists | Thaiger

    Tourists flock to Doi Inthanon for the morning mists

    Tourists are heading for the hills to enjoy the first of the season’s cold snaps in northern Thailand. Both domestic and international have have been flocking to Chiang Mai’s Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest mountain, to enjoy the start of the cooler temperatures, dipping as low as 7 degrees Celsius. The Jom Thong district of Chiang Mai province experiences temperatures of…

  • Violent tuk-tuk driver faces charges over incident at Chiang Mai airport – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Violent tuk-tuk driver faces charges over incident at Chiang Mai airport – VIDEO

    A tuk-tuk driver who led a blockade of a Grab taxi at Chiang Mai International Airport on Monday has no public-transport driving licence and will face several charges following the incident, which was exposed by a foreign visitor. The Chiang Mai Land Transport Office and the Chiang Mai police head office met today to plan legal actions after @Winston Vaduz…

  • Happy Birthday Sweet 17 | Thaiger

    Happy Birthday Sweet 17

    PHOTO: The Nation Happy birthday Lin Hui. Lin Hui is one of the stars of Thailand’s ‘panda frenzy’ a decade ago. Today she’s 17 years old and fans assembled at the Chiang Mai Zoo to sing “Happy Birthday” and maybe share some special birthday bamboo. Lin Hui’s mate Chuang Chuang got in on the fun as well, sharing her birthday…

  • Australian living in Chiang Mai hangs himself from a roadside tree | Thaiger

    Australian living in Chiang Mai hangs himself from a roadside tree

    An Australian man is believed to have hanged himself from a tree on a roadside in Chiang Mai’s Hang Dong district this morning. The man has been identified as Nicholas James Watek. A passer-by called the Hang Dong police around 9.30am after he saw the man hanging from a tree on Soi Bon Kai Doi Tham in Ban Doi Tham village…

  • A backpack full of meth pills headed for Chiang Mai | Thaiger

    A backpack full of meth pills headed for Chiang Mai

    A Chiang Mai man has been arrested las night after allegedly trying to smuggle 100,000 methamphetamine pills into the city from the Myanmar border, 100 kilometres away. Police at a checkpoint in Mae Ai district had signalled for a motorcyclist to stop but he sped off. With officers in pursuit, he lost control of his motorbike and came to grief…

  • Two motorists died in Phuket road accident | Thaiger

    Two motorists died in Phuket road accident

    PHOTOS: CITY LAW 201 / Newshawk Phuket Two motorists havedied in a road accident on Chalermprakiat Ror 9 Road (Bypass Road), southbound this morning. The Phuket City Police were notified of the accident at 5.45am this morning. Emergency responders and police arrived at the scene two find one deceased female and one deceased male. Two identification cards were found with their personal…