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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    Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run

    Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...

  • Another member of Chinese theft gang arrested after three years on the run in Chiang Mai

    Another member of Chinese theft gang arrested after three years on the run in Chiang Mai

    Police officers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, say they have arrested another member of a Chinese-led theft gang after he spent three years on the run. Namnua, alias Jongchiang Sae Lor was arrested in front of a house in the Chai Prakarn district of Chiang Mai. Jonchiang, who holds Thai nationality, has been wanted on an arrest warrant by the Pattaya…

  • Irishman suffers life-threatening injuries in motorcycle accident in Thailand

    Irishman suffers life-threatening injuries in motorcycle accident in Thailand

    A young Irishman is the latest in a long line of victims injured in a motorcycle accident in Thailand without having any cover or insurance. How many more need to suffer fatalities or life-threatening injuries before they learn to drive properly or get insured? Michael John Miller, from Knock in Mayo, is the latest man to suffer life-threatening injuries following…

  • Where’s our money? Chiang Mai bank loses farmers’ 100 million baht

    Where’s our money? Chiang Mai bank loses farmers’ 100 million baht

    More than 200 angry members of an agricultural cooperative laid siege to Chang Phueak Police Station in Chiang Mai on Friday demanding to know where their farmers‘ 100 million baht has gone. Members of the San Pa Tong Agriculture Cooperative claim that more than 100 million baht (US$2.8 million) deposited with a “reputable bank” has vanished from their account. Police to…

  • Chiang Mai mother pays 400 baht (plus extras) for husband’s murder

    Chiang Mai mother pays 400 baht (plus extras) for husband’s murder

    A Chiang Mai mother trapped in a loveless marriage of more than 20 years, last week decided that she had taken enough beatings and abuse. Living in the village of Khun Yuam, Kanda Cheewasawat was exhausted by the brutality of her vicious, drunken husband Phetchaburapa Meesri many years before. She had often tried to leave, but he wouldn’t let her.…

  • Chiang Mai tackles PM2.5 pollution with giant vacuum cleaner

    Chiang Mai tackles PM2.5 pollution with giant vacuum cleaner

    Thailand‘s Disaster Department is testing out a giant vacuum cleaner as a way to tackle the PM2.5 dust pollution problem that plagues the northern city of Chiang Mai every ‘burning season.’ Every year, farmers around Thailand send their forests and fields up in smoke because it’s the cheapest way to prepare to plant new crops causing PM2.5 levels to shoot…

  • Tarmacked forest in Thai conservation area sparks outrage

    Tarmacked forest in Thai conservation area sparks outrage

    Netizens are scratching their heads at the Department of National Park‘s decision to tarmac a forest inside a conservation area at a wildlife sanctuary in Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand. No space at all was left around the tree trunks to allow the trees to breathe and grow. An outraged Facebook user posted a picture of the newly tarmacked…

  • 4 Chinese tourists & Thai tour guide injured in Chiang Mai crash

    4 Chinese tourists & Thai tour guide injured in Chiang Mai crash

    Four Chinese tourists and a Thai tour guide were injured after a minibus crashed into an electric pole on a road in the northern province of Chiang Mai. The minivan driver was unharmed and is being questioned to find the cause of the accident. Three rescue teams and officers from Doi Saket Police Station rushed to the scene on the…

  • Chiang Mai ranked No.1 city in Asia on safety index

    Chiang Mai ranked No.1 city in Asia on safety index

    The northern city of Chiang Mai in Thailand has been ranked as the safest city in Southeast Asia and 31st in the world, according to a recent report. The findings were published as the Crime Index and Safety Index by City 2023 by Numbeo, the largest crowd-sourced global database that tracks these statistics. Chiang Mai was ranked first in Southeast…

  • Thief leaves an apology note in Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Thief leaves an apology note in Chiang Mai, Thailand

    A thief stole over 12,000 baht from an electrical appliances store in Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand on Sunday morning and left behind a note apologising for his crime. CCTV footage captures a masked assailant, a man estimated to be around 30 years old, breaking into an electrical appliance store next to Wat Tha Mai-i Temple in Chiang Mai’s…

  • Murder case of northern ethnic teen activist to be tried in Thailand’s Supreme Court

    Murder case of northern ethnic teen activist to be tried in Thailand’s Supreme Court

    The murder case of a 17 year old, ethnic teen activist is set to be heard by Thailand’s Supreme Court. Family members of Chaiyaphum Pasae filed the suit which was accepted for consideration by the Supreme Court. Chaiyaphum was an ethnic, Lahu activist who worked to promote indigenous rights in northern Thailand. He was allegedly shot and killed by military…

  • Chinese tourists expected to flock back to Phuket and Chiang Mai

    Chinese tourists expected to flock back to Phuket and Chiang Mai

    Chinese tourists are expected to flock back to Phuket and Chiang Mai after China eased travel restrictions on its citizens on January 8. Now, the two tourism hotspots expect a significant jump in travel on direct flights from China from January 18, according to local airport authorities. There will be one daily direct flight from China to Chiang Mai, and three…

  • Chiang Mai issues booster shots to get ready for Chinese tourists

    Chiang Mai issues booster shots to get ready for Chinese tourists

    Chiang Mai is preparing to welcome Chinese tourists by giving booster shots to its workers in the tourism industry. The province intends to issue 3,000 doses per day from January 23 to 29. Other residents in the province are also being encouraged to get booster doses. The Deputy Governor of Chiang Mai, Worravit Chaisawat, was chair of the meeting at…

  • Couple injured after their motorcycle collides with sedan

    Couple injured after their motorcycle collides with sedan

    A foreigner and his Thai wife were seriously injured after a white sedan crashed into their motorcycle last night when they made a U-turn at Samerng Intersection in Chiang Mai province. A witness reported the collision to the Hang Dong Police Station at 7pm yesterday, January 4. The accident happened in front of a convenience store at the Samerng Intersection on…

  • Downhill cycling banned in Doi Inthanon National Park

    Downhill cycling banned in Doi Inthanon National Park

    Fearing a string of preventable injuries and deaths, authorities have banned all downhill cycling in the mountainous Doi Inthanon National Park. The park, located in the Chom Thong district of Chiang Mai province, is popular for its scenic nature and picturesque mountains. But slippery roads and dangerous driving conditions have the potential for deadly accidents for those riding their bicycles…

  • 90% of hotels in Chiang Mai fully booked during New Year

    90% of hotels in Chiang Mai fully booked during New Year

    If you’re planning on visiting Chiang Mai in northern Thailand this New Year, then you had better be quick, because 90% of hotel rooms in the province are already booked up, according to the Thai Hotels Association (Northern Region). Hotels in the province are expected to generate one billion baht in revenue during the high season, which runs from November…

  • Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi Hotel goes on sale again

    Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi Hotel goes on sale again

    The ill-starred Dhara Dhevi Hotel Chiang Mai will be auctioned yet again this January, with the starting price dropping to 2 billion baht (US$60 million) from the 2.1-billion-baht initial price in the 2021 auction. The first round of the auction will take place at the Chiang Mai Legal Execution Office on January 27. If there is no interest during the…

  • A bikini thief spotted on CCTV arrested in Chiang Mai

    A bikini thief spotted on CCTV arrested in Chiang Mai

    An audacious bikini thief was arrested after breaking into a house and a builder’s merchant in Chiang Mai before making off with cash, an iPhone and other goods The owner of the builder’s merchants posted CCTV footage of the daring burglar on Facebook yesterday. The video reveals the woman climbing over a 3-metre gate behind the shop in a two-piece…

  • Thailand’s top cheesemaker toasts his own success

    Thailand’s top cheesemaker toasts his own success

    When Thailand’s top cheesemaker Jarutat Snidwongse Na Ayuthaya decided to make cheese for a living, he didn’t find much support. His family and friends doubted that was a market for Chiang Mai cheese. Thailand’s unique cuisine doesn’t find much space for dairy. Sixteen years on, and things could hardly be better in the small but perfectly formed Thai cheese cottage…

  • Chiang Mai farmers ordered not to move pigs to prevent African Swine Fever spread

    Chiang Mai farmers ordered not to move pigs to prevent African Swine Fever spread

    Livestock officials ordered farmers in a district of Chiang Mai to not move their pigs off farms. This measure in the Doi Saket district is meant to prevent the possible spread of African Swine Fever (ASF). The order comes after a pig in the district died on November 21. Livestock officials visited the farm to test another pig that was…

  • VIDEO: Billowing fire spoils Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai

    VIDEO: Billowing fire spoils Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai

    Thousands of glistening paper lanterns lighting up the night sky in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, disappeared into a thick plume of smoke after a foam pagoda went up in flames in the middle of the Yi Peng Lantern Festival celebrations last night. Billowing smoke rose into the sky after a lantern fell on top of the flammable replica pagoda, made…

  • Hundreds of tourists climb Chiang Mai mountain for glorious sunrise view

    Hundreds of tourists climb Chiang Mai mountain for glorious sunrise view

    The glorious view of one mountain in Thailand’s iconic northern province of Chiang Mai drew hundreds of tourists yesterday. The tourists crowded the summit of the 1,100-metre peak to watch the sunrise through the mountain’s misty fog. The mountain now expects to see more visitors in the coming months, since Thais like the cool new year temperatures and the Covid-19…

  • Danish man crashes car into Chiang Mai moat, killing 1

    Danish man crashes car into Chiang Mai moat, killing 1

    A Danish man crashed a white sedan into Chiang Mai moat in northern Thailand in the early hours of this morning. He survived but his female Thai passenger could not escape the vehicle in time and drowned. A 30 year old Danish man was driving through Chiang Mai’s Mueang district “at a high speed” when he lost control, crashed into…

  • 69 flights rescheduled due to Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai

    69 flights rescheduled due to Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai

    Chiang Mai International Airport has rescheduled 69 flights to avoid danger from flying objects during the Lantern Festival between November 8 and 9. The airport has cancelled 55 flights, rescheduled 14, and is offering six special flights to support passengers. The Lantern Festival or Yi Peng Festival in Chaing Mai is a Thai northern cultural activity involving locals flying lanterns…

  • Tourism officials plan big campaigns for Chiang Mai

    Tourism officials plan big campaigns for Chiang Mai

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has several big campaigns planned to draw visitors to the world-renowned province of Chiang Mai during the High Season from November to March. One campaign is titled, “Northern Charm of the Past.” This campaign is centred around the culture of the historic Lanna Kingdom, which Chiang Mai used to be part of. The campaign…

  • A rogue official arrested for issuing ID cards to migrants

    A rogue official arrested for issuing ID cards to migrants

    A rogue government official was arrested yesterday for illegally issuing Thai identification (ID) cards to more than 50 migrants in exchange for money at the San Sai District Office in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai Governor Nirut Pongsitthaworn reported yesterday that the San Sai District Office hired a temporary officer to help out with document work. However, the officer turned out to…

  • ‘Until the pots are dry’ – where 10 baht dishes rule the menu

    ‘Until the pots are dry’ – where 10 baht dishes rule the menu

    In Chiang Mai, a tiny eatery specialising in 10 baht dishes is attracting shuffling lines of rumbling stomachs in the Chang Pueak area. “And it’s delicious,” said a regular who seemed very happy to stand in a long queue of hungry patrons. Open for just a fortnight, Khao Gang Khun Yai on Photharam-Jet Yod Road, is cooking up quite a…

  • 3,500 police officers in Chiang Mai take drug tests

    3,500 police officers in Chiang Mai take drug tests

    Chiang Mai plans to ask 3,500 officers from every police station in the province to take a drug test to build confidence and trust in the community after the daycare centre massacre in Nong Bua Lamphu. The Commander of the Chiang Mai Provincial Police, Thawatchai Pongwiwattanachai, reported to Thairath today that the police are to kick off a project called “Clean…

  • Father & 2 year old son shot in Chiang Mai

    Father & 2 year old son shot in Chiang Mai

    A father and his two year old son were shot while riding a motorcycle in Chiang Mai in the early hours of this morning. The man died at the scene while his son is in critical condition. Officers from Chai Prakarn Police Station were notified of the incident on Mae Khi Road in the Si Dong Yen sub-district, Chai Prakan…

  • River in Chiang Mai overflows, floods spread

    River in Chiang Mai overflows, floods spread

    The remains of Storm Noru are continuing to plunder Chiang Mai. The province’s Ping River has overflowed and inundated several communities in the main city district today. The chief of the Chiang Mai Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office had said that the water level at the P1 station near Nawarat Bridge was 4.35 metres, almost above the critical point. The…

  • Foreigners anger Chiang Mai locals for kissing in temple

    Foreigners anger Chiang Mai locals for kissing in temple

    A foreign couple enraged Chiang Mai locals after a picture emerged of them kissing beside the famous Wat Si Suphan temple. Wat Si Suphan in the northern province of Chiang Mai became even more popular this week after its 500 year old stupa, or chedi, collapsed. The Thai media reported locals and foreigners swarmed to the historic building this week to…