News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Pre-existing conditions? These expat insurance plans still have you covered
Many expats feel worried that their pre-existing health problems will stop them from getting insurance in a new country. This fear is common, especially when medical care can be expensive. But the good news is, some insurance, like the plans...
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Government officials meet with Patong small hotels asking for aid
Many small hotels were crushed by the Covid-19 pandemic, even as things reopened they were forbidden to legally operate. Eighty small hotels in Patong met with the President of the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission to discuss how they had lost their businesses and buildings due to poorly handled Covid regulations. The president, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam,…
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Travel between Thailand and Malaysia by train for just 50 baht (RM7)
After two years, the Shuttle Train which connects Thailand and Malaysia will resume services on Friday. The Shuttle Train connects Padang Besar in Malaysia to Hat Yai in southern Thailand. The journey takes around one hour and tickets cost just 50 baht or 7 Malaysian ringgits. The service was temporarily suspended as a Covid-19 prevention measure by the Malaysian government…
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Thailand answering 500,000 migrant labour shortage
Thailand’s Chamber of Commerce yesterday insisted it is addressing the shortage of migrant workers needed to help boost the nation’s economy. The department accepts more than 500,000 additional foreign workers are needed in its manufacturing and services sectors to support economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic but says it is doing all it can to support the kingdom’s businesses. Chamber…
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Chuwit all but names Bangkok ‘drug pub’ and illegal soapy massage joint
“It’s full of young people partying, owned by a Chinese man who operates without a care in the world thanks to connections in the Land of Smiles.” That’s the description of former Thai politician and soapy massage king Chuwit Kamolwisit as he waxed lyrical about a fully operational soapy massage and ‘drug pub’ joint in central Bangkok that he claims…
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Motorbike burns to a crisp in Bangkok road accident
A teenager is injured after crashing his motorbike into the barrier on the Vibhavadi Rangsit Road in Bangkok at around 1am. The young man said he bounced off the barrier and was flung more than 10 metres through the air. His red Honda PCX instantly set on fire and burned to a crisp. At around 1am, officers from Vibhavadhi Police…
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Ferry routes resume operation in Surat Thani after storms
After all boats in Surat Thani were cancelled on Monday due to storms, with partial service resuming yesterday, Ferry routes are in full service today – though scrambling and late. In addition to the ferries that had been running before the fierce and windy storms shut everything down, Seatran Ferry has relaunched its service to Koh Phangan from the mainland…
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Thailand gets into gear with 234 billion baht road investment
The Ministry of Transport got into gear yesterday and agreed to invest in five road construction projects worth about 234 billion baht to make life easier for Thailand’s car owners. The Ministry of Transport signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Highways (DH), Department of Rural Roads (DRR), and Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat), to oversee the first…
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Floods in Buriram, northeast Thailand
Two days of continuous heavy rainfall has caused “the worst floods in 10 years” in parts of Buriram province, northeast Thailand. Heavy rainfall during the early hours of yesterday morning caused flash flooding in Ban Dan district while most people were sleeping. Around 30 houses and restaurants, as well as village roads and agricultural land, have been damaged in the…
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Philippines: Covid-19 infections spikes 39%, dengue jumps 90%
Newly-elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is facing a health crisis already as a dual spike in Covid-19 and dengue fever infections threaten the well-being of the Philippines. Covid infections are steadily rising now, but concurrently, the country has seen a 90% spike in dengue fever infections. The amount of new coronavirus infections has jumped 39% week over week with the…
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Football fans scramble for FREE Liverpool – Man U tickets in Bangkok
So many seats were available for tonight’s Liverpool versus Manchester United match in Bangkok that Rajamangala Stadium announced via Facebook that they would hand out free tickets to “The Match” at 3.30pm today. Football fans who forked out up to 25,000 baht per ticket are furious. Both teams have huge fan bases in Thailand, so everyone expected that the 59,000+…
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Taxi driver punches woman after she requests him to go faster
A Bangkok taxi driver is wanted for assault after he punched a female passenger in the face after she asked him to speed up a little bit. The Facebook page, อยากดังเดี๋ยวจัดให้ รีเทริน์, Let Me Know If You Want to Be Famous Return Part 3, posted a video of the male taxi driver attacking his female passenger who recorded the incident.…
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SOS & Allianz Ayudhya hungry to feed Thailand
Scholars of Sustenance joined hands with Allianz Ayudhya to launch Thailand’s first Cloud Food Bank in a bid to redistribute over 600 tons of surplus food by the end of the year. Bangkok-based SOS is an international food rescue foundation committed to feeding people suffering from starvation while Allianz Ayudhya is a leading Thai insurance company with a conscience. Globally,…
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Police raid 14 scam call centres in Pattaya, resulting in one arrest
Cyber police and officers from Thai mobile phone operator AIS yesterday raided 14 rental accommodations used to operate call centre scams in Pattaya and made one arrest. Officers investigated 16 venues in total but only 14 were being used for criminal activity, in the Bang Lamueng district of Pattaya, where AIS detected a signal the call centre scam gang used…
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Dead sea turtle with plastic lodged in its throat washes up on Phuket beach
A dead sea turtle with plastic lodged in its mouth and throat washed up on Mai Khao Beach in Phuket yesterday, July 11. Winai Seh-ew, the village chief of Mai Khao subdistrict in Thalang district, received a call from lifeguards at Mai Khao beach to say a big Hawksbill turtle carcass had washed up on the shore. Upon inspection, the…
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Mother arrested after forcing 9 year old daughter into prostitution
A mother was arrested yesterday for forcing her 9 year old daughter into prostitution. The 26 year old woman, Chantra, was arrested after she posted sexy pictures of herself on Facebook, adding she had a child sex video and underage sex photos for sale. The post soon went viral on social media resulting in members of the public contacting police.…
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Uber: leaked documents show unethical, possibly illegal tactics
Uber has long been known for their very aggressive growth into the ride-sharing market around the world but leaked private documents now show that many of its tactics were morally questionable and potentially illegal. The leak has been called The Uber Files and has been analyzed by dozens of news organizations to exubertract information from the 124,000 records that were…
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Rise in holiday travel matches rise in severe Covid infections
The 5-day holiday weekend is driving up tourism numbers, but there also seems to be a rise in patients with severe Covid-19 infections that the Department of Disease Control says will likely increase from holiday travel. This warning came from the epidemiology director of the DDC, who laid out increases in severe coronavirus infections as well as those who require…
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New universe selfie, astonishing first photo from the James Webb space telescope
The very first image from the new James Webb Telescope has made its public debut today. Imagine holding a single grain of sand at your arm’s length. This amazing photo contains everything inside the piece of space covered by that tiny grain of sand. In this astonishing premiere for the new space telescope, the photo reveals, in sharp detail, over…
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Thailand retail giant target’s resilient Vietnam to expand business
Thailand retail giant Central Group is once again targeting Vietnam’s resilient economy and growing middle class to expand its brand in the southeast Asia nation. Central Group plans to invest 30 billion baht in Vietnam over the next four years to hike investment to 100 billion baht over the next five years from 38.5 billion baht last year. Olivier Langlet,…
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Buddhist monks save child from drowning in the Chao Phraya river
Two Buddhist monks from Wat Bang Sai temple, located on the waterfront in Samut Prakan province, jumped into the Chao Phraya river on Saturday and saved a child who was drowning. Once 13 year old Khanin recovered from the incident, he explained that he was swimming with his friends when the water underneath him suddenly became very cold. He said…
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UPDATE: Woman’s corpse “naked and covered in bite marks” found in northeast Thailand
UPDATE: Today, police arrested the man suspected of murdering his wife, Daeng, whose body was found naked and covered in bite marks at her home in Buriram on Monday. Police detained and arrested Nithipot, aka “Dao” at a relative’s house in Huai Thalaeng district in Nakhon Ratchasima province this morning. Police brought him back to Buriram for questioning at Phutthaisong…
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India population expected to surpass China in 2023, world to hit 8 billion
For years, China has been the most populous country in the world, followed by India. But a report by the United Nations predicts that next year India will outpace China and become the country with the largest population in the world. With the slowing pace of mortality and high fertility rates in large portions of the world, the UN warns…
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Vistara launches new nonstop Thailand – India route
Vistara Airlines is launching nonstop flights between Mumbai and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport 5 times per week, starting next month on August 5. Vistara’s 3 cabin Airbus A320neo aircraft will operate the route on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The new route is the airline’s second service to the Thai capital. In August 2019, Vistara launched direct flights between Delhi…
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Cost of electricity in Thailand could rise to 5 baht per unit by September
Electricity bills in Thailand could become more expensive than ever by September, according to a source at the Office of Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). In the last 4 months of the year, the cost of electricity in Thailand could break the 5 baht per unit barrier for the first time, rising by 90 to 100 satang per unit. The official…
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US$37 billion smart city gets green light in Pattaya
Plans to build a US$37 billion smart city in Chon Buri got the go-ahead yesterday by the Eastern Economic Corridor Policy Committee. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, who chaired the meeting, revealed the smart dream hub can be realised thanks to public and private investment in automotive, robotics, healthcare and logistics companies. The investment will create about 200,000 jobs and accommodate 350,000…
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Thai passenger traffic and flight schedules on the increase
Domestic travel in Thailand is in for a good July, with two long weekends and airlines starting to add to their schedule, resuming flights and frequency that have been otherwise subdued. The Aeronautical Radio of Thailand and the International Air Transport Association are reporting an increased pace of domestic flights in Thailand, matching the general global trend. Nopasit Chakpitak, the…
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BA.4 & BA.5 in Bangkok “will spread to the provinces” – Department of Medical Sciences
Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences has issued a report about the spread of BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants, saying that most of the detected cases have so far been in Bangkok but are expected to spread out the other 76 provinces. The director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences, Dr Supakit Sirilak, says that the two sub-variants – BA.4 and…
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Burmese military expanding surveillance and facial recognition
In what they claim to be a bid to keep cities safe and secure and preserve civil peace, the military junta controlling Myanmar is installing facial recognition cameras made in China in cities all across the turbulent country. This surveillance began after the military coup in February 2021, and at least 5 cities are already under their watchful eye. This…
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Man in northeast Thailand pays 3.9 million baht dowry… for a buffalo
The owner of a “high so” farm in Korat, northeast Thailand, gave a “dowry” of 3.9 million baht – in cash – for a 22 month old male buffalo named Chaoboonterm from Khon Kaen province. The man said he wants to breed the buffalo, which he said is a “textbook” Thai beauty. Supachai Winitphon, aka “Sia Noi” is the owner…
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Storms cancel ferry service for Koh Samui, Pha Ngan, and Tao
While Surat Thani has been gearing up for a huge holiday weekend, the weather has other plans. Scattered storms with extremely high winds have disrupted power as well as ferry schedules, with Surat Thani Governor Wichawut Jinto ordering the cancellation of all ferry services today until at least tomorrow, including to the popular tourist islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha…
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