Chiang Mai News

Stay up-to-date with the latest news from the charming and historic city of Chiang Mai with The Thaiger. Our team of seasoned journalists brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this fascinating city, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the city’s rich history, vibrant arts scene, and thriving expat community, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.

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  • Another 15 million meth pills seized in Chiang Mai arrests

    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…

  • More rain until this Friday – parts of Krabi flooded

    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

    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

    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…

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

    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…

  • Chiang Mai abbot defrocked over sexual abuse charges

    Chiang Mai abbot defrocked over sexual abuse charges

    FILE PHOTO An abbot in Chiang Mai has been arrested and defrocked for allegedly sexually abusing “more than 10” boys at his temple in Hang Dong district. 37 year old Phra Phansak Thitsilo, has now had his title reverted back to his lay name, Phansak Saenkhamwang, following his arrest at Wat Sriwaree Sathan in Tambon Sob Mae Kha. The warrant…

  • Chinese arrivals down by half in Chiang Mai

    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

    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…

  • Airport tips for cheapies – Bangkok

    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…

  • Two Chiang Mai resorts demolished for encroachment

    Two Chiang Mai resorts demolished for encroachment

    PHOTO: Ban Leesor View Suay, one two illegal resorts slated for demolition – The Nation As land occupants cooperated rather than resisted, officials on Monday demolished two resorts encroaching on Doi Luang Chiang Dao forest in Chiang Mai province as per a court ruling, said Chiang Dao District Office deputy chief for national security Phermkiat Thephassadin Na Ayutthaya. Phermkiat led the…

  • Tourists flock to Doi Inthanon for the morning mists

    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

    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…

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

    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…

  • Greed unravelled the trio’s grisly plot – Phrae double murder

    Greed unravelled the trio’s grisly plot – Phrae double murder

    PHOTO: Alan and Nod receive the keys to their new pick-up truck. The bodies of 64 year old Alan Hogg and his 61 year old wife, Nod Suddaen, wee unearthed yesterday morning following a short investigation where greed brought the plot unstuck for the killers. After a few hours of interrogation three men admitted to collusion in the plot to…

  • A backpack full of meth pills headed for Chiang Mai

    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

    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…

  • Three men have confessed, one remains on the run – murder of Phrae married couple

    Three men have confessed, one remains on the run – murder of Phrae married couple

    Three men have confessed to the murder of a missing couple – a British expat and his Thai wife – in Phrae. Police say the three men were hired by the woman older brother to kill the married couple. Police made the arrests in Wang Chin district late yesterday. They say they eventually had the confessions after hours of ‘intense’…

  • Bodies of missing British man and Thai wife found buried in garden in Phrae

    Bodies of missing British man and Thai wife found buried in garden in Phrae

    The bodies of a missing British man (earlier reported as Australian) and his Thai wife have been found buried in the garden of their home in Phrae, northern Thailand. 64 year old Alan Hogg from Scotland, and his Thai wife, 61 year old Nott Suddaen, were reported missing from their home in the Phrae province last Thursday. A weekend report…

  • Ambulance slams into tree in Lampang killing three

    Ambulance slams into tree in Lampang killing three

    An ambulance returning to Phayao, after delivering a patient to Phitsanulok, has hit a tree in Lampang this morning, killing two nurses and the driver. Police say the accident happened at 7am on the Ngao-Phayao road in Ban Huay Oon village of Lampang’s Ngao district. The two nurses were identified as 42 year old Angsumalin Rakchat and 21 year old…

  • Chinese tourists ignoring the PM’s orders

    Chinese tourists ignoring the PM’s orders

    If Thai PM Prayut doesn’t have enough to worry about with errant politicians not towing the line, he now has to contend with Chinese tourists not obeying his instructions. Daily News is reporting that Chinese tourists are ignoring prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s orders to stop feeding Chiang Mai’s pigeons. The edict from the Thai PM’s office, that feeding pigeons is…

  • Making your point, head first into a fish spa

    Making your point, head first into a fish spa

    Sometimes you have to go the extra distance to prove your point. Like putting your head in a fish spa. Sanook reports that a Thai owner of hundreds of fish spas around the country has made hi point about an Australian woman and the foreign media for discrediting his business. The actions of Chaiyaporn Lojaya follow the Australian’s claim in…

  • Storms and strong winds hit Chiang Mai

    Storms and strong winds hit Chiang Mai

    A major road in Chiang Mai province has been blocked by fallen trees and power poles following strong winds and heavy rains today. Trees and power poles on the Chiang Mai-Fang road in Mae Taeng district were brought down at about 10am, officials said. Phairin Limcharoen, chief of the province’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, coordinated with the Provincial Electricity…

  • Tourists caught up in Chiang Mai karaoke bar overcharge ‘scam’

    Tourists caught up in Chiang Mai karaoke bar overcharge ‘scam’

    PHOTO: Daily News A Chinese tourist and three friends lodged an official complaint with the Chiang Mai police about the operators of a karaoke bar who allegedly overcharged them. They say they were ‘shocked’ after being presented with a bill for 14,000 baht. The incident on Monday night resulted in the men seeking police assistance after being handed the bill.…

  • Surprise raids seize fake goods valued at 30 million baht in Chiang Mai

    Surprise raids seize fake goods valued at 30 million baht in Chiang Mai

    The Night Bazaar market in the main city centre of Chiang Mai has been raided by 200 police. They seized 27,000 fake brand products with an estimated street value around 30 million baht. The raid started at 10pm on Wednesday night without warning, surprising shop owners. The police went through 25 outlets seizing fake branded goods – shirts, bags, clothing,…

  • Chiang Mai bids for listing as a World Heritage Site

    Chiang Mai bids for listing as a World Heritage Site

    PHOTOS: Photo courtesy of the Chiang Mai World Heritage Project Chiang Mai may soon be Thailand’s sixth World Heritage Site. Thailand’s current five world heritage sites include the Ban Chiang Archaeological Site in Udon Thani; the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex; the Historic City of Ayutthaya; the Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns; and the Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife…

  • Bangkok’s MRT given the green light to run Phuket and Chiang Mai light rails

    Bangkok’s MRT given the green light to run Phuket and Chiang Mai light rails

    Bangkok’s subway operator. the MRTA (Mass Rapid Transit Authority) has been given the green light to invest in the proposed Phuket/Phang Nga and Chiang Mai light rail services. The MRT is also going to run the service when the services are eventually constructed. The cabinet has approved some of the basic details of the project that will give the MRTA…

  • Restaurant harassed by men claiming to be military officers

    Restaurant harassed by men claiming to be military officers

    PHOTO: Chiang Mai City Life A Chiang Mai restaurant has filed a complaint after claims they were harassed by men who said they were military officers. A report was made to the Chiang Mai Internal Security Operations Command. They sent 20 officers to investigate Huen Huay Keaw Restaurant on September 4 after the restaurant complained about ‘official misconduct by military…

  • Faculty conducts research on the Doi Suthep land

    Faculty conducts research on the Doi Suthep land

    PHOTO: Chiang Mai City Life The Faculty of Law at Chiang Mai University (CMU) has joined the anti ‘Scar of Doi Suthep’ campaigners in the survey of the controversial plot of land. The survey group set out on August 6, led by Teerasak Rupsuwan, the coordinator of the anti-judicial residences on Doi Suthep campaign, accompanied with Dr. Pedithep Youyueyong, Faculty…

  • Chinese setting up shop in Chiang Mai

    Chinese setting up shop in Chiang Mai

    by Jintana Panyaarvudh The charm and beauty of Chiang Mai, the capital of northern Thailand, has made the province not only a must-see destination but also a golden nest for foreign investors – especially Chinese seeking business opportunities. Take Chinese entrepreneurs like Cherry and Zong Dan, for example. Having fallen for Chiang Mai’s charms, they opted to start their first…

  • Dead Australian found in a Chiang Mai condo

    Dead Australian found in a Chiang Mai condo

    PHOTO: Komchadluek The body of a 45 year old Australian has been found at a condo in Chiang Mai. Police and rescue workers were called to the One Plus condo located near the town centre after a maid reported a foul smell coming from the man’s room. The maid alerted the building’s manager who gained access to the room to discover…