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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  • Second hand car dealers arrested over 5 year old scam in Chiang Mai | Thaiger

    Second hand car dealers arrested over 5 year old scam in Chiang Mai

    PHOTO: Daily News Police in Chiang Mai say they have arrested a married couple involved in an alleged scam of 52 people in the northern Thailand city. The incidents were reported to police five years ago. 55 year old Anucha “Teng” Dorkmaingam and his 39 year old wife Warawee or Suthicha Suphan were arrested at a Chiang Mai restaurant. Daily…

  • Lampang public servant on the run after murdering wife and attempting suicide | Thaiger

    Lampang public servant on the run after murdering wife and attempting suicide

    A senior public servant from Lampang is on the run after allegedly strangling his wife then fleeing after failing to successfully hang himself from the stair handrails in his house. Lampang is a province south-east of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Sanook.com reports that a two page will was found on a desk in the house. Serm Ngam police responded to…

  • UPDATE: Air Force pilot killed in Chiang Mai jet training crash | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Air Force pilot killed in Chiang Mai jet training crash

    PHOTO: Squadron Leader Naruephol Lertkuson A Royal Thai Air Force jet trainer crashed in Chiang Mai province killing a pilot and injuring one other. Eyewitnesses say the pilot ejected safely from the aircraft but one crew member was found dead near the crash scene having ejected from the crashing plane too late. The incident happened in Tha Wang Tan of the…

  • Frisky teenagers warned that they are being watched whilst in Thai cinemas | Thaiger

    Frisky teenagers warned that they are being watched whilst in Thai cinemas

    PHOTO: ร่วมแสดงความคิดเห็น Smile, you’re on Chiang Mai’s candid camera. Chiang Mai cinema staff are watching you while you are watching movies at the cinema. But, according to a source at one of the leading northern cinemas, the same is happening around Thailand. And some of the amorous advances are being caught on camera and shared on social media by staff. Chiang…

  • Chiang Mai teenager survives big bike collision but loses leg – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai teenager survives big bike collision but loses leg – VIDEO

    A 13 year old Chiang Mai teenager is lucky to escape with his life after a high-speed crash in front of the Sri Arun Market in the San Kampaeng district of Chiang Mai. The person posting video of the incident estimated he was traveling at 150 kph when he hit another motorbike, before sliding into a car at high speed.…

  • Chiang Mai hotels battle disruptors | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai hotels battle disruptors

    by Bill Barnett Thailand’s northern tourism hub of Chiang Mai has become a victim of its own volume-driven success. According to hospitality data provider STR, market-wide hotel occupancy for the first five months of the year is down 5.1%, compared to the same period in 2018. In the newly released C9 Hotelworks Chiang Mai Hotel Market Update, the comparison between…

  • Chiang Mai protesters petition Governor over Rinkham Intersection upgrade | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai protesters petition Governor over Rinkham Intersection upgrade

    An activist group is taking its protest about the upgrading of an intersection in Chiang Mai to the local governor. The Chiang Mai Highway District Office 2, which has been tasked with overseeing the project, and Chiang Mai governor Supachai Iamsuwan will hold a press conference to address residents’ concerns at the Chiang Mai Government Complex next Tuesday. The proposed…

  • 14 injured when Chinese tour bus flips at ‘Curve of a Hundred Corpses’ in Chiang Mai | Thaiger

    14 injured when Chinese tour bus flips at ‘Curve of a Hundred Corpses’ in Chiang Mai

    PHOTO: Facebook/Ruamduaychuaykan Foundation Fourteen people have been injured after a Chinese tour bus overturned at the notorious ‘Curve of a Hundred Corpses’ near Chiang Mai yesterday. All were taken to Doi Saket Hospital. Three passengers were seriously injured in the incident that happened around 3.30pm. The incident happened on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai road in Doi Saket district, according to…

  • Lost and found: 5.4 million meth pills and ‘ice’ discovered in Chiang Mai cave | Thaiger

    Lost and found: 5.4 million meth pills and ‘ice’ discovered in Chiang Mai cave

    PHOTOS: Maesai news online 5.4 million methamphetamine pills and 185 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine have been found hidden in a cave north of Chiang Mai. A border patrol police and Army troops from the 5th Cavalry Taskforce in the Chiang Dao district found the drugs in a cave in Ban Tham Klaeb in Tambon Ping Khong yesterday while patrolling the area. The…

  • Chiang Mai’s red bus drivers plan mass protest against Grab | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai’s red bus drivers plan mass protest against Grab

    The war to dominate Chiang Mai’s local public transport sector is hotting up with the drivers of the city’s Rot Daeng vans (red song taews) planning a mass protest against the growing popularity of the Grab Taxis. Sanook reports that Bunniam Buntha, representing Chiang Mai’s Rot Daeng drivers, says they plan to assemble the 2,465 members in a mass protest. Sanook…

  • Dog viciously attacks child in Chiang Mai – owner offers 3,000 baht compensation | Thaiger

    Dog viciously attacks child in Chiang Mai – owner offers 3,000 baht compensation

    A Chiang Mai mother is calling for action after her 11 year old son was mauled by a dog (guess the breed) that escaped from a local restaurant near their house. “Nong Saeng” was playing with friends in a car park near “The Fusion” at a construction site in Muang district where his family lived. The dog attacked the boy, ripping a…

  • “Not one of Chiang Mai’s traditional massage ladies” – Porn video investigation | Thaiger

    “Not one of Chiang Mai’s traditional massage ladies” – Porn video investigation

    PHOTO MONTAGE: Daily News Thai police and the Department of Public Health in Chiang Mai have been investigating the porn video featuring a foreigner that has caused ‘outrage’ among northern Thai netizens who claim the video gives the wrong impression of Thai massage culture. Read The Thaiger story HERE. But police say that only the front of buildings was depicted…

  • Chiang Mai netizens outraged after porn movie released online | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai netizens outraged after porn movie released online

    Chiang Mai locals are sharing their outrage over a porn video shot in a local massage shop where the massage ends up in a lot more than just a happy ending. The clip is called “Thai VIP Massage” and is credited to ThaiSwinger.com. Manager Online reports that netizens are calling for the police to investigate the adult movie shot in…

  • Motorbike riders injured in Chiang Mai underpass – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Motorbike riders injured in Chiang Mai underpass – VIDEO

    PHOTOS: Chiang Mai Traffic Police Many motorbike passengers and drivers have been injured as they headed down and stopped inside the Fa Harm Underpass in Chiang Mai yesterday. Chiang Mai News reports that the accident happened at 6pm last night inside the Fa Harm Underpass on Super Highway Road, northbound. Police and emergency responders arrived at the scene to find…

  • Grab or Uber, or Red Buses? Tourist poll in Chiang Mai. | Thaiger

    Grab or Uber, or Red Buses? Tourist poll in Chiang Mai.

    Thai tourists in Chiang Mai have been polled in the The Mae Jo survey checking on the popularity of public transport options around the northern city. There were 423 respondents to the poll carried out between January 9-23. So who did the Thai tourists prefer? Uber and Grab or local red buses (Rot Daeng)? 76% of Thai tourists want to see…

  • Chinese tourists found dead in a Chiang Mai five-star hotel | Thaiger

    Chinese tourists found dead in a Chiang Mai five-star hotel

    Chiang Mai police are investigating the deaths of two Chinese tourists found in the same room at a five-star hotel on Chiang Mai’s Chang Khlan Road. Police reported yesterday that the men died days apart. The first tourist was believed to have died in his bed two or three days before being found, and the second was believed to have…

  • Grab electric tuk tuks launch in Chiang Mai | Thaiger

    Grab electric tuk tuks launch in Chiang Mai

    Grab, the nemesis of the old taxi and red bus network in Chiang Mai, has signed an agreement with government and private sector partners to establish the Chiang Mai Smart Mobility Alliance Network. It is the first such partnership in South East Asia. Thai aim is to reduce Chiang Mai’s public transport footprint by 35% within the next five years. The…

  • Airports of Thailand open bidding for new duty free contracts at three airports | Thaiger

    Airports of Thailand open bidding for new duty free contracts at three airports

    Airports of Thailand (AoT) says they will finalise the bidding process to announce who will manage the commercial areas at three provincial airports – Phuket, Had Yai and Chiang Mai – on June 10. King Power Duty Free has had a stranglehold on the duty free concession areas of the country’s four main airports but are having to bid for…

  • British man beaten up by Thai thugs in Pai for ‘interfering’ in an argument | Thaiger

    British man beaten up by Thai thugs in Pai for ‘interfering’ in an argument

    PHOTOS: Daily News 37 year old Luke Benjamin Thornton has ended up in hospital in Chiang Mai after trying to break up a fight in Pai, north of Chiang Mai, on May 20. Daily News reports that Luke was trying to stop a fight between locals and tourists and was beaten unconscious with a wooden club and kicks. They reported that…

  • Bus plunges off mountain road in Phrae, Thailand, 17 injured | Thaiger

    Bus plunges off mountain road in Phrae, Thailand, 17 injured

    17 passengers have been injured after a bus crashed off a mountain road in Thailand’s north last night. The bus was travelling between Chiang Mai to Phrae in Thailand. The accident happened in Tambon Bor Leng Long, Phrae. The accident happened at 8.30pm on the Den Chai-Lampang road. Rescuers struggled to rescue the injured passengers from the bus that had fallen…

  • Chiang Mai and Hua Hin in Top 10 Asian retirement locations | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai and Hua Hin in Top 10 Asian retirement locations

    Hua Hin and Chiang Mai are two of the best retirement destinations in Asia, according to the US News and World Report. Phuket and Bangkok, usually included in lists of Asian retirement locations, didn’t make it onto this list. ThaiVisa reports that they were included in the site’s 10 best places to retire in Asia. The report considers the cost of…

  • American Alzheimer’s patient, living in Thailand, heads to The Philippines | Thaiger

    American Alzheimer’s patient, living in Thailand, heads to The Philippines

    PHOTOS: Thaivisa “Mum is doing OK. She keeps forgetting who I am. But we must live completely in the moment with Alzheimer’s, and stay happy.” In an exclusive interview with Thaivisa, the daughter of the Alzheimer’s patient who claimed that her 77 year old mother was forced out of Thailand by new immigration rules, sent Thaivisa photos of their departure.…

  • Chiang Mai Song Thaew drivers see red over Grab | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai Song Thaew drivers see red over Grab

    Chiang Mai’s Grab vs traditional public transport continues. The issue has simmered for two years with occasional outbreaks of violence and an ongoing war of words on social media. Thai PBS reports that the spat has become a major problem again between the public Red Song Thaews and Grab Cars in the northern city. On the one hand members of…

  • Police and drug courier injured in shootout at Chiang Mai checkpoint | Thaiger

    Police and drug courier injured in shootout at Chiang Mai checkpoint

    FIL PHOTO: A police checkpoint set-up in the Chiang Mai city area – Chiang Mai Citylife Three alleged drug couriers have been arrested this morning following a gunfight that injured a suspect and a police officer. The incident happened in the Mae Rim district of Chiang Mai. Police say they monitored road checkpoints last night until officers at a traffic booth in…

  • German tourist dies after ghost-riding on his high power bike | Thaiger

    German tourist dies after ghost-riding on his high power bike

    A German tourist has been killed after ghost-riding (riding in the opposite direction to the traffic) on his high-power motorcycle. He crashed head-on with a pickup truck in Chiang Mai road early this morning. The tourist has been identified as Jan Single. Police also found a quantity of marijuana in a zip-lock plastic bag he was carrying at the time…

  • Chiang Mai songthaews and tuk-tuk drivers complain about Grab | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai songthaews and tuk-tuk drivers complain about Grab

    Drivers of red public songthaews and tuk-tuks have submitted a petition to Chiang Mai’s provincial governor complaining about the Grab ride-hailing App. The Grab service is offered on a very intuitive smartphone app and provided by normal drivers. The petition said the Grab App had caused their income to drop by more than 50%. They say the service is illegal and…

  • Family of Canadian man who died ziplining in Chiang Mai calls for changes | Thaiger

    Family of Canadian man who died ziplining in Chiang Mai calls for changes

    PHOTO: Spencer Donaldson at the Flight of the Gibbon zipline in Chiang Mai, moments before he jumped to his death – Supplied by Spencer’s family. “Flight of the Gibbon isn’t listed on the website of Association for Challenge Course Technology as a member and the Association have denied that the Chiang Mai ride is a member.” The family of a Canadian…

  • Konnichiwa – welcome to Thailand’s Top 10 cultural destinations | Thaiger

    Konnichiwa – welcome to Thailand’s Top 10 cultural destinations

    by Nisanath Kungwanwong Congratulations ‘Hinoki Land’ in Chiang Mai for being recognised by the Thai Culture Ministry as one of Thailand’s Top 10 Cultural Destinations. It looks…so… Thai?!? “Hinoki Land should not be included in the list, as it merely copies a Japanese tourist spot of the same name.” The ministry’s Cultural Promotion Office recently announced the top 10 cultural…

  • Chinese tourist caught stealing GoPro from couple – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Chinese tourist caught stealing GoPro from couple – VIDEO

    A Chinese man has been caught stealing a camera from a Spanish couple in Chiang Mai. The incident happened on Tuesday and was captured on CCTV. The Spanish tourists had been visiting Wat Phra That Doi Suthep when they put a GoPro camera on the bench they had been sitting on. After realising they’d left the camera there, they returned but…

  • Police defend theft charges on British backpacker Chris Dodd | Thaiger

    Police defend theft charges on British backpacker Chris Dodd

    PHOTOS: Chris Dodd, BBC Police are defending their actions when they charged a British backpacker with theft after he picked up a mobile phone at Chiang Mai airport last February. 29 year old Chris Dodd spent 10 days in jail in February after he was charged with stealing the phone belonging to a German tourist and remanded in custody by…