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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Sponsored 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....
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Police foil attempt to smuggle one million yaba pills from north to south of Thailand
Thai Residents reports that acting on intelligence reports, Border Patrol Police (BPP) in Chiang Mai have busted a drug smuggling operation that was attempting to transport a million yaba pills from the north of the country to the south. The operation began on October 22, with the gang planning to transport the pills from Chiang Dao district through the forest…
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Hotel guest in Chiang Mai runs up bill of nearly 50,000 baht before fleeing
A man who claims to be a doctor stayed in a Chiang Mai hotel for 21 nights, running up a bill of nearly 50,000 baht, before instructing the hotel to invoice the Ministry for the Interior and then fleeing the premises. Employees of the hotel say they didn’t expect the man to abscond as he has stayed there on three…
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Hostage drama in Chiang Mai – Man holds seven 7-Eleven employees hostage.
PHOTO: Chiang Mai City Life A former Thai soldier has killed himself following a stand-off with police in Chiang Mai where he had taken seven 7-Eleven employees hostage. Eyewitnesses told Chiang Mai Citylife that a man with a gun arrived at the 7-Eleven in Mae Rim district on Chotana Road at around 5am yesterday and took one of the employees hostage.…
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Chiang Mai hotels face a quiet end to 2019
PHOTO: Spice Roads Chiang Mai hotels are bracing for a quiet end to 2019, along with other Thai tourist hotspots, due to the strength of the baht, an over-supply of rooms and the growing popularity of home-sharing accommodations like Airbnb. Hoteliers in the northern city are also suffering the fall-out from the smoke haze crisis earlier in the year which…
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Chiang Mai Zoo announces results of the inquiry into celebrity panda’s death
PHOTO: SCMP – Original story written by Kay Johnson Chiang Mai Zoo have announced the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death of celebrity panda Chuang Chuang. They announced the cause was heart failure. Special ‘panda vets’ from China flew into Chiang Mai last month to assist with the investigation into the death of the much-loved Panda who…
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Ancient human skeletons discovered south of Chiang Mai
Officials from the Fine Arts Office 7 report that they have excavated ancient skeletons in the Wiang Tha Kan archaeological site, in the San Pa Tong district, south of Chiang Mai city. Up to 23 ancient human skeletons, plus the skeleton of a horse, have so far been found. They are estimated to be at least a 1,000 years old.…
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Chiang Mai karaoke lounges raided over underage hostesses
PHOTO: Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Four hostesses under the age of 18 have been discovered working at two karaoke lounges in the San Kamphaeng area of Chiang Mai, east of the main city. Thailand’s ‘Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force’ worked with local immigration and police after a complaint was received. Na Kaew reports that the investigators followed…
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Two flying lantern events in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong get their permits revoked
PHOTO: Rove.me Chiang Mai’s City District Office has scrapped permits previously granted to organisers of two ‘sky lantern’ events that would have released a total of 5,000 flying lanterns during the upcoming Loy Krathong Festival, on November 11. The two events, one at the dinosaur-featuring Hidden Village Chiang Mai attraction and the other at the Royal Park Rajapruek in tambon…
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Could you be a digital nomad in Thailand?
Are you a digital nomad? Working online wherever you can find a seat and wi-fi? According to digital nomad websites, some of the most popular locations to work online around the world include Chiang Mai & Bangkok (Thailand), Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Bali (Indonesia), Lisbon (Portugal) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). What do all these cities have in common? The main…
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Chinese netizens want to know what caused panda Chuang Chuang’s death
PHOTO: Mourners leave flowers outside the panda enclosure where Chuang Cuang died this week The “suspicious circumstances” of Chuang Chuang’s demise drew more than 260 million views on social media platform Weibo.” Chinese experts have now arrived in Chiang Mai to investigate the death of a beloved giant panda Chuang Chuang, who died at the Chiang Mai Zoo earlier this week at…
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2.5 million methamphetamine pills seized near Myanmar border
PHOTO: The Nation Another big delivery of methamphetamine pills has been intercepted in Chiang Mai. This time the couriers were both female. Rangers from the Pha Muang Task Force intercepted 2.5 million methamphetamine pills and arrested two females in a pick-up truck that broke through a checkpoint in the Mae Ai district early yesterday. The arrest followed a tip-off that…
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Thailand’s favourite giant panda dies in Chiang Mai Zoo aged 19
A beloved male giant panda, on permanent loan to Thailand from China, has died aged 19 in Chiang Mai. Thais are morning the death of the hugely popular black and white mammal whose sex life captivated the kingdom. Chuang Chuang, a resident of the northern city’s zoo since October 2003, arrived with female Lin Hui, where the pair lived in…
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30,000 uni students take the long and winding road up Doi Suthep
PHOTOS: The Nation Some 30,000 students, past and present, and staff from the Chiang Mai University headed up Thailand’s holiest mountain yesterday on the university’s annual trek to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. It’s the university’s 55th anniversary of the annual climb. Freshmen from 20 faculties from two of the CMU campuses trekked up the winding 14 kilometre road from…
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Dental assistant turns ‘pro’ selling fake retainers and braces
PHOTO: WorkPoint News The Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office has arrested an unqualified or registered dental retainer seller that used to work as a dentist assistant. She has been selling the fake retainers to customers online via Facebook. Nattawut Prasertsiripong, from the Department of Health Service Support was contacted to take legal action against the woman making fake retainers…
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Foreign tourists stop to help Chiang Dao local after motorcycle incident
Thai social media in the northern city has been full of praise for a foreign man and woman who responded to an incident in Chiang Dao, north of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai News reports that the couple got out of their vehicle and helped with first aid before emergency teams and the police arrived on the scene and helped get…
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Chiang Mai police release Singaporean accused of attacking Thai wife with a scythe
PHOTO: Chiangmaione.com Police have released a Singaporean man accused of using a scythe to attack his Thai wife in a Chiang Mai street. Following the attack, it’s understood that the man called an ambulance to take his wife to hospital, and then surrendered to police. The Singaporean says the couple, who have two young children together, frequently argued about his…
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Canadian man found dead, with throat cut, in northern Thailand
A 60 year old Canadian man has been found with his throat slashed at a Chiang Mai guesthouse. The man’s body was discovered by the housekeeper, who alerted the police. The man, who has been named as Kevin Thomas, had been staying at the property in Suthep district for several months. It’s not yet known if the cut to his…
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Burmese drug smuggler shot in northern Thailand shootout
PHOTOS: Manager Online A Burmese drug suspect has been killed in a shootout with Thai police and soldiers while attempting to ship drugs across the border into Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district early today. The man was believed to be a fighter with the Shan ethnic group in Myanmar and a part of a group of 30 drug smugglers. A…
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British man stuck in Thailand, facing jail for defending himself
A British man, beaten up by a gang of Thai “thugs”, is facing jail after throwing punches in self-defence. 38 year old Luke Thornton was kicked and punched in the face and repeatedly knocked out in the assault. He was visiting his wife Sayforn Phetkajang in the village of Pai, north west of Chiang Mai. At the time reports in Thai media…
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65 year old tourist from Finland found dead in northern Thai resort
PHOTO: Tourist Police Division 2 กองบังคับการตำรวจท่องเที่ยว 2 A tourist from Finland has been found dead at a resort in Pai, Mae Hong Son, yesterday morning, north-west of Chiang Mai. The 65 year old, Kari Rajasolo, was found dead in his room by a caretaker at the small resort in tambon Mae Na Toeng about 8am. The resort is situated in…
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Thai farmers reluctant to scale down use of ‘toxic’ herbicides
Thai farmers say they oppose the proposed bans on herbicides paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. The Thai government plans to phase out three chemical weed killers, widely used by Thai farmers, by the end of this year. Farmers say they oppose the restrictions of use because the chemicals provide higher crop yields, according to Thai PBS who headed out into the…
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Lanterns grounded in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong world record attempt
Enthusiastic enforcement of the TM30 form is one thing. Backing down on modern new public buses in Bangkok is another. But now the Thai government have gone too far! Officials in Chiang Mai have ordered the cancellation of a major sky lantern event, including a Guinness world record attempt, planned for the Loy Krathong festival in November, caving in to…
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55 year old New Zealand expat arrested on drug charges and working without work permit
PHOTOS: Chiang Mai News Chiang Mai Police raided a restaurant on Sam Lan Road last night at 10pm arresting a 55 year old New Zealand citizen. The man has been arrested on alleged charges of drug dealing and working without a proper work permit. According to the Chiang Mai News, police raided the restaurant after receiving reports that the New…
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American admits to smashing windshields after being shown CCTV in Chiang Mai
An American tourist has been arrested after damaging three cars while drunk in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. 34 year old Jesse Edward Lee was arrested after a local resident posted about a foreign vandal on Facebook. The post warned about the man damaging three cars in the Tha Pae area of Chiang Mai. Lee allegedly told police that he did…
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Potential for retirement properties in Thailand
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com While a number of property offerings in Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and more recently in Bangkok have promoted themselves as retirement-centric offerings, the jury is still out on the broad success of the sector. Despite retirement communities and assisted living being mainstays in Western countries like the US, UK and Australia, these are…
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‘Wipha’ whips up some storms and floods around Chiang Mai
PHOTOS: Entry to a local school turns into a river – The Nation Flooded roads are slowing down traffic and movement around the Chiang Mai area as a result of the fallout from tropical depression ‘Wipha’ which crossed the North Vietnam coast, heading westward towards Thailand, over the weekend. Om Koi district saw flooded road sections, while a large tree…
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Immigration in Chiang Mai continue crackdown on TM30 infringements
PHOTOS: Naew Na Thai immigration continue to roll out their nationwide crackdown on people failing to report foreigners staying at private addresses with 24 hours, as per the controversial TM30 form, which also applies to resident expats moving around the country for business or pleasure. A house owner in Ton Pao sub-district of San Kamphaeng has been fined after a…
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Chiang Mai’s Wat Suan Dok closed off after tourists take ‘inappropriate’ pics
PHOTOS: Workpoint News Tourists are being warned about taking photos at a “Royal Family Burial Site” in Chiang Mai province. Locals say tourist have been taking “inappropriate” photos at the Old Lanna Royal Family Burial Site located in Wat Suan Dok. The pictures were posted on Instagram. The photos, according to Worpoint News, have “caused great concern to living relatives…
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Power bank explodes in backpack at Chiang Mai Airport – VIDEO
Thankfully the passenger wasn’t on a plane at the time. The woman had just arrived at the Chiang Mai International Airport. The first explosion was in her backpack which she quickly shrugged off and it fell to the ground. (Watch the video, bottom left at the beginning) Then, as security came to get a quick video of the incident on…
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“Worst in ten years” – Chiang Mai hotels
Hoteliers and business in Thailand’s main tourist areas continue to be at odds with the official narrative trotted out by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. This time hoteliers in Chiang Mai are reporting tourism in Thailand’s north is the worst in ten years at the moment. A report in ThaiVisa says that bookings are 40% down when compared to the…
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