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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Thai Airways starts to trim back schedules due to loss of demand
Thai Airways is cutting back services to South Korea and Singapore out of Bangkok due to “a dramatic fall in demand” and cancellations caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The vice president of sales at Thai Airways, Nond Kalinta, says the national carrier had adjusted flight schedules to match commercial demand. He confirmed the following changes. • Flights reduce on the…
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Man claims he was attacked and robbed by “foreigners”
A student in Chiang Mai says he was mugged by “foreigners from Europe.” Twenty-four year old Theerapat Saen-in posted his alleged ordeal on Thai social media earlier this week. According to his post he was taking photographs at a view point on Doi Suthep when he was approached by “farangs.” He says they bashed him on the head with a…
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44th Chiang Mai Flower Festival in full bloom
The Chiang Mai Flower Festival kicked off at the city’s Suan Buak Had park yesterday. Mayor Tassanai Buranupakorn officially opened the festival which he hopes will bring much-needed tourists to the city. Tassanai said Suan Buak Had was Chiang Mai’s first public park and has always been the location of the annual Flower Festival, now in its 44th year. This…
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Thai government scraps Mekong blasting project
The government has officially abandoned a controversial plan to blast rapids on the Mekong river in Chiang Mai province. The Chinese-led dredging and blasting plan, initiated in 2001, met with fierce opposition from locals and environmental groups, and the Cabinet agreed to scrap it at a weekly meeting on Tuesday. The plan was to enable ships to carry goods from…
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Army officer wounded in Chiang Mai firefight with drug runners
A firefight with drug smugglers in Chiang Mai province’s Chiang Dao district has left an army officer wounded and in hospital. A patrol was dispatched to a border village in Chiang Dao on Sunday, after a tip-off. The informant said drugs would be brought across the border through the Nong Kalang pass. Early yesterday a group was spotted coming from…
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Chiang Mai confirms first coronavirus case
Chiang Mai health officials have confirmed the first positive case of the coronavirus in the northern city. The patient had come for treatment from Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital and later tested positive for the virus. The Ministry of Public Health announced yesterday that five more people in Thailand had been confirmed as carrying the novel coronavirus, and one of…
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Chinese tourist in Chiang Mai dead after whiskey binge
Police in Chiang Mai Province were notified Wednesday of a Chinese tourist who had passed away from unknown causes at a resort in Mae Rim. Fearing the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus which has gripped Asia, officials went to retrieve the body wearing precautionary medical protective suits. Dr Chatuchai Maneerat of the Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office reported later…
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South Korean cycling prospect killed in Chiang Mai crash
A cyclist from the Korea Cycling Federation has died after being struck by a pickup truck during a training exercise in Chiang Mai. 18 year old Eom Se-beom was pronounced dead in an ambulance on his way to a hospital. It’s believed the truck crossed the centre line and crashed into Eom as he headed down a slope. Eom was…
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“Chinese pneumonia” detected at Chiang Mai airport
Three Thai passengers are in hospital after being routinely screened at Chiang Mai International Airport with suspected cases of the suspected “viral pneumonia” that is affected the Chinese city of Wuhan. A fourth person, this time a Chinese national, has been found to be infected with influenza A (H3N2), and repatriated to China for treatment. The virus, which many initially…
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Chiang Mai rescue worker disguises himself to thwart student suicide
PHOTO: CTN News A rescue worker dressed up as a homeless man to thwart a possible suicide attempt of a young student who was about to jump from a pedestrian bridge in Chiang Mai. Withawat Sinworasrithaweekhun, chief of the rescue team, headed to the bridge in front of Chiang Mai‘s Maejo University overt the weekend after learning a young student…
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Solar eclipse today across Thailand. Here’s how to watch it.
CAUTION: Looking at the sun directly and without proper equipment is dangerous and can cause blindness. Read more, along with some guidelines for viewing the solar eclipse, HERE. How it will look in your area below… The skies will darken across Thailand around midday today. The further south you are, the darker it will get as the moon moves over…
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English?! Why should we have to learn that? Thai university students grumble over language requirement
Students at Rajamangala University of Technology in Chiang Mai province are whinging about having to demonstrate basic English abilities in order to enrol in courses at the institution. The Daily News reports that the students, with the support of their parents, have made an official complaint about the requirement, which they say should not apply to Thai courses. Students are currently…
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Chiang Mai mountains introduce two new camping facilities
PHOTOS: asia.one.com Two new camping grounds are now open and ready to receive visitors in the mountains around Chiang Mai. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation says the Sui Tang and Doi Lang camping grounds are now open and ready for customers. The Nation reports that Sui Tang is located in the district of Chai Prakan, at…
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Police track down double murder suspect in Chiang Mai
The main suspect in the murder of a teaching couple in Rayong, east of Bangkok, has been arrested in Chiang Mai. He was arrested along with another man accused of helping him escape. Police have arrested Supakrit Sujasee, a Chiang Mai native, and Panuphong Bualoy early yesterday. Thai media report that they were caught as they were preparing to flee to…
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Child porn website based in Chiang Mai busted
Chiang Mai police have arrested the operator of a child pornography website in a raid on his condominium in the northern city. Police and the Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children unit apprehended 24 year old Thai national Korakot Chulthong on Saturday. They also seized seized three mobile phones, a laptop computer, two portable disk drives, bank passbooks and ATM cards.…
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Chiang Mai Airshow ready to take off in February 2020
The first Chiang Mai International Airshow 2020 will be the largest event of its type in the north of Thailand and will take place from the February 21 – 23 next year. Tourism officials and the San Kamphaeng district chief held a news conference to promote an airshow that will be held in the district. The location will be the “Chiang Mai Air…
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Soldiers intercept meth delivery in Chiang Mai
PHOTO: Authorities find it almost impossible to patrol the thousands of kilometres of highland border in northern Thailand Soldiers in Chiang Mai, acting on a tip off, have seized about 380,000 methamphetamine pills at a border village, local media report. The drug haul was not big, considering many of the recent seizures amount to millions of methamphetamine tablets in a…
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American arrested for sexually assaulting Chiang Mai school girls
FILE PHOTO Chiang Mai police confirm they have arrested a 75 year old American pensioner who allegedly groped and sexually assaulted a Thai girl on her way home from school. The man was already wanted on a warrant issued from September after an incident outside a school in August. The warrant was for the “forceful molestation of a child under…
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Unconscious 4 year old rescued from locked car
Pattaya police got a report that a child was stuck in a car in front of a shopping mall. When they rushed to the scene a volunteer rescue team, they found a crowd surrounding a car, trying to wake up a sleeping four year old boy. The boy’s mother was there and was in fact the one to call for…
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8,600 lanterns to be launched during Chiang Mai’s Yi Peng festival
Today is Loy Krathong and there is nowhere else in Thailand that does it as well as Chiang Mai. The Choeng Doi subdistrict, to the north east of Chiang Mai city, will continue to hold the Loy Krathong and Yi Peng lantern festival until November 12, as the area does not come under prohibited zones due to flight services. Chitipon…
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How to celebrate Loy Krathong or Yi Peng in Chaing Mai
PHOTO: yipengchiangmailanternfestival.com The Loy Krathong festival, known in Chiang Mai as Yi Peng, runs from today until Tuesday, November 12 It started last night at Three Kings Monument around 6pm, where 500 dancers perform terra cotta candle worship dances. People also started lighting candles around the moat and old city, a focus for the events each year. Today, November 10, it’s the…
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Man opens emergency exit on Chiang Mai to Bangkok flight
PHOTOS: Sanook.com A Thai Smile flight, due to leave Chiang Mai airport for Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, had to be delayed for hours after a foreigner opened one of the emergency exits as the flight was about to take off. Thai Smile are the low-cost subsidiary of Thai Airways. Thai Residents reports that the incident took place on board flight Thai…
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Thai Airways moves flights around for Loy Krathong and New Year’s Eve
PHOTO: Chiang Mai Citylife In view of the fact that residents in northern Thailand traditionally release paper sky lanterns (khom loi) during celebrations such as the upcoming Loy Krathong festival and New Year’s Eve, Thai Airways says it will be making some changes to its schedule for safety reasons. The airlines’ Vice President of Aviation Security and Standards, Pratana Patanasiri,…
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Chiang Mai Police forced into investigating hazing incident at University
Chiang Mai Police report that they are investigating a hazing attack on a junior student at Mae Jo University in Chiang Mai. Police were pressured into investigating after pictures of the victim went viral at the weekend. The University, also prompted to respond, are saying the incident did not occur on their campus. The student, “Nong Folk”, was allegedly attacked…
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Man arrested in central Thailand after Chiang Mai millionaire’s body found in fridge
PHOTO: Na Naew A man has been now been arrested and charged with murder, after the body of 58 year old Wannee Jiracharoenying was found stuffed in a refrigerator in her home in the Jom Thong district of Chiang Mai. It’s reported that the woman’s body was found by her brother after he became concerned about her whereabouts. Her hands…
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74 year old woman injured in motorbike hit-and-run in Lamphun
PHOTOS: sanook.com Thai Residents reports that a 74 year old woman has been hospitalised after being struck by a motorbike and knocked to the ground while crossing the road in Lamphun, northern Thailand. The bike did not stop, according to witnesses. Footage of the incident has been posted on social media by the woman’s granddaughter, who attacked the driver in…
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39 year old being sought by police over gruesome Chiang Mai millionaire murder
PHOTO: Missing millionaire 58 year old Wannee Jiracharoenying found in a refrigerator – The Times The Provincial Court in southern Chiang Mai province has issued an arrest warrant for a key suspect in the murder of 58 year old Wannee Jiracharoenying. Thai police have broken the case of the murder of the estate developer Wannee, whose body was found stuffed into…
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Chiang Mai police hunting for bus driver suspected in millionaire murder case
“The victim’s hands and legs were tied, and her body had been covered with cement after being placed in the refrigerator.” Chiang Mai police have confirmed they have sought an arrest warrant for 39 year old Vitoon Sritabutr, known as Tum, a song thaew (local public bus) driver who is the main suspect in the murder of a local millionaire.…
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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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