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.
-
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....
-
Teaching children to avoid sexual predators
“These clips are then recorded and sold to a secret group.” Members of the police-led Thailand Internet Crime against Children (TICAC), Zoe International and the Hug Project are educating students on how perpetrators lure victims and use their sexual information and images to further extort sexual favours. “Their plans are very complex,” said Wirawan ‘Boom’ Mosby, founder and director of…
-
Nude couple pictured on top of Egyptian pyramid sparks investigation
“Climbing pyramids is illegal in Egypt, with critics saying the incident shows a disregard for the nation’s laws and its conservative society.” The question of tourists and their behavior at national monuments and popular sites comes up again today. This time in Egypt… Read the report HERE. “A video that shows a foreign couple in a naked embrace at the…
-
King leads the way in ‘Bike for Love and Warmth’ – PHOTOS
Yesterday’s Bike Un Ai Rak event proved again that Thai’s love getting onto their bikes and joining in a royally-sponsored cycling campaign. The event was held yesterday, in the capital and provinces. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country took part in the “love and warmth” cycle rides. The main event was held in Bangkok where the ride was…
-
The wheels are rolling for today’s Bike Un Ai Rak around Thailand
Cyclists were enthusiastically preparing on Sunday morning for the “Bike for Love and Warmth” ride to be led in Bangkok by His Majesty the King and coinciding with other rides starting simultaneously around the country in the afternoon. Citizens are expected to line the King’s 39km route from Dusit Palace’s Royal Plaza to Lat Pho Park in Samut Prakan. The…
-
First ever ‘Elephant Travel Mart 2018’ to promote ecotourism in Thailand
A new ecotourism event, Elephant Travel Mart 2018, jointly hosted by ‘Save Elephant Foundation’ and ‘Asian Elephant Projects’, aims to bring together ethical elephant tour operators and tour agencies in Chiang Mai on December 14. The event, taking place at Khum Kan Toke, Chiang Mai, is conceived by the founder of ‘Save Elephant Foundation’, Sangduen Chailert (Lek), who works tirelessly…
-
Chiang Mai football team cries foul over ‘big’ Under 12 team
PHOTOS: Sanook A Chiang Mai football coach is complaining online after his team played another team from Nan province who were much bigger. Sanook is reporting that the coach alleges the Nan team were not Under 12s and complained that this “should not be happening in Thailand 4.0”. The photos clearly indicate the Nan team were much taller. But his…
-
Thailand detains Taiwanese citizen over anti-China broadcasts
PHOTO: Taiwan News A Taiwanese businessman has been detained in Thailand for allegedly helping an underground online radio broadcast aimed at Chinese listeners. The allegations have come from Radio Free Asia (RFA). But the manager of the online radio station says Chiang Yung-hsin (蔣永新) has nothing to do with illegal broadcasts, according to the Central News Agency. Police in Bangkok…
-
31 year old British tourist arrested in Chiang Mai – Drugs and overstay
PHOTO: Sanook A 31 year old man has been arrested in Chiang Mai yesterday for alleged use of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and overstaying his visa. Police arrested British tourist, Benjamin John Soulsby at his rented house in a housing estate in Tambon Tonpao, Kamphaeng district, following a tip-off from the house owner that his tenant appeared to be high on…
-
Chiang Mai official says the hotel sell-off is “because there were too many tourists”
PHOTO: This hotel is not for sale! Manager Online is claiming that a senior tourism official in Chiang Mai says the reason people want to sell hotels in the northern city is not because there are so few Chinese tourists now. It is because there are so many. Chiang Mai’s former tourism industry chief Pornchai Jitranawasathian, who now runs the…
-
Temperatures plunge on Thailand’s highest mountain
The temperature has plunged sharply from around 7 degrees Celsius yesterday to only 1 Celsius today at the summit of tourist destination, and Thailand’s tallest mountain, Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai. This was reported by an official stationed on the mountain this morning. Wasan Chanthep, the assistant chief of Doi Thanon National Park, said the temperature at Kiew Mae Pan…
-
Chiang Mai wall vandal arrives home in Canada
PHOTO: 23 year old Canadian tourist Brittney Schneider returned to Alberta, Canada on Friday: Facebook/Brittney Schneider 23 year old Canadian tourist Brittney Schneider has returned home after being charged with vandalism for spray painting graffiti on an ancient wall in Chiang Mai. ‘I’m super happy and was super thrilled to see my family. I thought I’d never see them again.’…
-
Enjoy the Bua Tong Blossom Festival in Mae Hong Son
The blooming of the Dok Bua Tong – or wild sunflower – is on now around the hills and valleys of Mae Hong Son in Northern Thailand. The Bua Tong Blossom Festival 2018 in Mae Hong Son takes place until to December 10. The Bua Tong flowers are yellow to orange in colour and are smaller in size than the typical sunflower. Originating in…
-
South Korean local company owner falls to his death in Chiang Mai
PHOTO: Sanook Sanook has reported that a Korean man has died after jumping from a flat roof on a department store in Huay Kaew Road, Chiang Mai. CCTV shows the man at the view point yesterday, according to Chang Pheuak police. Three or four other tourists were also enjoying the view at the same location. Another person came onto the…
-
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
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
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…
-
66 yo Austrian arrested in Chiang Mai for possessing child porn
The Thai immigration says they’ve arrested a 66 year old Austrian for downloading and possessing child porn. The Thailand Internet Crime Against Children (TICAC) division learned about someone using the Dark Web to access child porn in September. Thai police identified the person living in the Pa Daet district in the Chiang Mai city and obtained an arrest warrant. The…
-
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
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
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…
-
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…
-
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
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
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…
-
Man questioned over bestiality “club” in northern Thailand
PHOTO: The alleged organiser of the Bobo bestiality club (right) is interviewed by police at his home (Image by Watchdog Thailand, censored to comply with Thai law) A man who was allegedly running a bestiality “club” near the northern Thai capital of Chiang Mai has been questioned by police after an investigation lasting more than a year by animal rights…
-
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
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
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…
-
More rain until this Friday – parts of Krabi flooded
Flooding has hit several provinces yesterday morning in the wake of heavy downpours in parts of the country. In Krabi’s Khao Phanom province, several roads were also flooded. In front of the Ban Khok Klang School, floodwater was up to 40 centimetres deep. Emergency responders helped locals move their belongings to higher ground out of concern that the waters would…
-
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’…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.