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.

  • Sponsored

    Why health insurance costs more each year and how expats in Thailand can save more money

    Each year, many expats living in Thailand see their health insurance premiums go up and often without a clear reason. This can be frustrating, especially when you're trying to plan your budget. But by understanding why prices rise and learning...

  • Bangkok casino gunman’s killer surrenders, confesses | Thaiger

    Bangkok casino gunman’s killer surrenders, confesses

    In the ongoing saga of Monday’s fatal shooting a Bangkok gambling den, a suspect surrendered to police today for shooting dead a gunman in the illegal casino in Bangkok’s Yannawa district. A man calling himself “Boy BanKrua” turned himself in to police and handed in the gun he allegedly used. The suspect says he shot 61 year old Taworn Sisot,…

  • Police questioned as casino shootout evidence goes missing | Thaiger

    Police questioned as casino shootout evidence goes missing

    Bankok police are being questioned over their handling the Monday’s shooting incident at an illegal gambling den in the capitol’s Thung Mahamek area, in which 4 people, including a police officer, died, and whether officers are concealing evidence. The secretary-general of the Justice Reform Institute said yesterday that police appear to be treating the shooting in the same way they treated…

  • COVID-19 update: 2 new cases found in state quarantine, no new deaths (August 6) | Thaiger

    COVID-19 update: 2 new cases found in state quarantine, no new deaths (August 6)

    The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration this morning reported 2 new cases of Covid-19, both returnees from the US, bringing the national total of confirmed cases to 3,330 since the outbreak began in January. A CCSA spokeman said the new patients are a 42 year old man aged 42 and a woman, aged 62, both Thai nationals. They arrived on…

  • No current plans to extend list of foreigners allowed back into Thailand | Thaiger

    No current plans to extend list of foreigners allowed back into Thailand

    There is no immediate plan to extend the list of foreigners being allowed to come to Thailand at the moment. Specifically still excluded are retirees with valid visas, homes and families in Thailand. The directive comes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since Thailand’s experience with Covid-19, it has closed its borders to tourists and visitors, stranding both Thais and…

  • Latest travel advisories for SE Asia, UK, Canada | Thaiger

    Latest travel advisories for SE Asia, UK, Canada

    While Thailand’s borders are still closed to all but a very few foreign visitors, there are outbound flights to some destinations, but the Covid-19 crisis means that entry requirements are fluid and often unpredictable; Singapore will require some returning residents who self-quarantine to use an electronic monitoring device effective August 10, while Myanmar has extended the ban on international flights.…

  • US ambassador visits Thai clean-tech company Equator Pure Nature | Thaiger

    US ambassador visits Thai clean-tech company Equator Pure Nature

    The United States Ambassador to Thailand, Michael George DeSombre visited American-founded Thai clean-tech pioneer Equator Pure Nature yesterday to discuss perspectives on US businesses and American-founded companies in Thailand, their contributions to Thai society, primarily during the Covid-19 pandemic, and their role in assisting the development of Thai entrepreneurs, particularly women. Thailand is among countries recognised worldwide as having best…

  • Tourism sector pin hopes on “Safe and Sealed” scheme to lure international visitors | Thaiger

    Tourism sector pin hopes on “Safe and Sealed” scheme to lure international visitors

    In the latest plan to bolster Thailand’s withering tourism industry, business operators are proposing a new inbound tourism plan called “Safe and Sealed”, to replace the delayed “travel bubbles” scheme and prevent Thailand realising the worst-case revenue scenario of only 675 billion baht next year, down from 3 trillion in 2019. At a joint meeting yesterday of the Tourism and…

  • Unidentified woman attacks foreign man in Pattaya | Thaiger

    Unidentified woman attacks foreign man in Pattaya

    Police in Pattaya report that a foreign man was attacked by an unidentified woman in front of a restaurant on the city’s Beach Road. The incident occurred at 6:15pm yesterday at a McDonald’s located on Beach Road between Soi 5 and Soi 6. The man, whose name and nationality are being withheld by police, was attacked by a Thai woman…

  • Harry Potter-themed protest openly questions monarchy’s role | Thaiger

    Harry Potter-themed protest openly questions monarchy’s role

    Thai protesters strayed into more sensitive territory Monday night as they added the prickly, and largely taboo, topic of the Thai monarchy to the list of issues to include in their demonstrations. At a Harry Potter-themed rally, dubbed “Harry Potter versus You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”, anti-government demonstrators at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument demanded changes to Thailand’s revered monarchy and called for curbs…

  • Dozens of Burmese, Thai workers demand back pay, benefits in Phuket | Thaiger

    Dozens of Burmese, Thai workers demand back pay, benefits in Phuket

    An estimated 100 Burmese and Thai workers went to Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday to report their employer for not paying them for 3 months, and to try and get some clarity if they still have jobs. They filed their complaint with the ombudsman’s office and the Labour Protection Social Security Office. 27 year old Burmese national Min Thu Khu explained…

  • Police seize property valued at 200 million baht from suspected hill tribe drug gang – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Police seize property valued at 200 million baht from suspected hill tribe drug gang – VIDEO

    Anti-narcotics police in 4 provinces seized property valued at around 200 million baht from a suspected drug trafficking gang… mostly northern hill tribe people, in coordinated raids yesterday. 30 targets in Bangkok and Hua Hin, as well as in northern and southern provinces, were raided by armed officers. 24 houses, 5 shophouses, 12 land title deeds, 22 cars and 27…

  • Vietnam battles new, more contagious Covid-19 strain | Thaiger

    Vietnam battles new, more contagious Covid-19 strain

    Vietnam’s acting health minister reported 28 new cases of Covid-19 infection yesterday, bringing its total confirmed cases to 670, as well as 2 more deaths from the disease, making the tally 8 deceased Vietnamese. 27 of the new cases were reported in the central city of Da Nang, central Quang Nam province and southern Dong Nai province, among whom 16…

  • Chon Buri battles dengue fever outbreak | Thaiger

    Chon Buri battles dengue fever outbreak

    Chon Buri province’s Si Racha subdistrict is starting a campaign to stem the spread of dengue fever, including widespread fogging to reduce population of disease-bearing mosquitoes. Dengue fever is a seasonal threat in Thailand and has been especially dangerous this year, with 25,708 cases nationwide, 15 of them fatal, in the first 7 months of the year. In Si Racha…

  • 7 Nakhon Panom officers transferred after cell death | Thaiger

    7 Nakhon Panom officers transferred after cell death

    7 police officers in the upper northeastern province of Nakhon Panom have been “transferred to inactive duty” while an investigation takes place into the death of a man in their custody. The commander of Nakhon Phanom provincial police said yesterday that he’s ordered a probe into the case and moved the officers involved to prevent anyone tampering with the evidence.…

  • Nok Air blames some of its losses on MPs who don’t show up for flights | Thaiger

    Nok Air blames some of its losses on MPs who don’t show up for flights

    Part of Nok Air’s current losses are being blamed on privileged MPs, who receive free flights on the budget carrier but don’t turn up for their flights. Somboon Uthaiwiankul, secretary for the government’s House Speaker, says the issue was brought up by executives of the airline during a meeting with the House Speaker, Chuan Leekpai. The executives told him last…

  • Koh Samui bridge collapse leaves truck stuck under pier | Thaiger

    Koh Samui bridge collapse leaves truck stuck under pier

    In the second setback in a week for the beleagured Raja Ferry Co., a steel boarding bridge for vehicles at Raja 1 ferry pier on Koh Samui collapsed yesterday, leaving a truck wedged under the wharf. The incident follows Saturday’s ferry disaster in which 3 people are confirmed dead and 3 remain missing. The pier is one of the 3…

  • Senator questions the admission of US troops during state of emergency | Thaiger

    Senator questions the admission of US troops during state of emergency

    A Thai senator is questioning the need for US troops to participate in joint exercises with their Thai counterparts while a state of emergency is still in place in the country. The emergency decree was extended for the third time at the end of July and is now set to expire at the end of this month. Senator Kamnoon Sidhisamarn…

  • PM vows to “spare no one” in fatal casino shooting | Thaiger

    PM vows to “spare no one” in fatal casino shooting

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has says he will “spare no one” if Monday night’s fatal shooting shooting in a Bangkok gambling den involved illegal police activity. He was reacting to the shooting death of Watthanaset Samniangprasert, an interrogation inspector at Samae Dam police station in Bang Bon district, and 3 others, 1 of them a woman, at a gambling den in…

  • Stormy weather wreaks havoc, destroys homes, in southern Thailand | Thaiger

    Stormy weather wreaks havoc, destroys homes, in southern Thailand

    The current stormy conditions have caused severe damage to a number of homes in the southern province of Surat Thani, with some villagers left homeless. At one property in the Phra Sang district, the roof and garage have collapsed, with the 45 year old homeowner, Rachan Churak, having to flea the property with his family. Rachan says the damage occurred…

  • Legally grown marijuana to boost medical field, economy | Thaiger

    Legally grown marijuana to boost medical field, economy

    In its weekly meeting yesterday, the Cabinet approved a Public Health Ministry proposal to amend the Narcotics Act to allow patients, medical practitioners and traditional healers to grow marijuana for medical and commercial use. The deputy government spokeswoman said the Cabinet approved the proposal submitted by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to amend narcotics legislation enacted last year. Anutin, also…

  • Independent panel recommend re-instatement of ‘Boss’ charges | Thaiger

    Independent panel recommend re-instatement of ‘Boss’ charges

    Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya is likely to not only face charges of “reckless driving causing death” but also drugs charges involving Cocaine use. In another dramatic twist in the ongoing “Boss” saga, an independent panel has recommended the reckless driving charge be re-instated along with new charges of Cocaine abuse. Nearly 2 weeks ago the deputy attorney-general, and an acting police…

  • Thai PM says he supports changes to Constitution | Thaiger

    Thai PM says he supports changes to Constitution

    In an apparent nod to the student protests which have swept the nation for over 2 weeks, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has promised to push for constitutional amendments, saying the government will present its version of a charter rewrite bill in the next parliamentary session. Speaking after yesterday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Prayut said his position has been to support the…

  • Maid fakes burglary after stealing employer’s safe | Thaiger

    Maid fakes burglary after stealing employer’s safe

    A Burmese maid has been arrested after stealing a safe from her employer and then trying to convince her there had been a burglary. The worker, named only as 34 year old Ice, was employed by 62 year old Samniang at her home in the central province of Samut Songkhram, some 80 kilometres south-west of Bangkok. Samniang says she called…

  • Huge explosion at Port of Beirut kills 78 – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Huge explosion at Port of Beirut kills 78 – VIDEO

    The death toll from a massive port explosion in the capital Beirut yesterday had reached 78. Nearly 4,000 people have been injured, according to Lebanon’s health minister Hamad Hasan bringing local media up to date. The death toll is expected to rise. “There are many people missing until now. People are asking the emergency department about their loved ones and…

  • AirAsia X forced to ground its international fleet until borders re-open | Thaiger

    AirAsia X forced to ground its international fleet until borders re-open

    Regional airlines are struggling to find any semblance of ‘new normal’ as they try to get their flight schedules settled for the next few months. With regional government’s unable to provide them timing for the lifting of border restrictions, and some re-closing borders, it has become a nightmare for the international carriers. Now Air Asia X, the international division of…

  • Independent panel reviews Boss case to see if it can be re-opened | Thaiger

    Independent panel reviews Boss case to see if it can be re-opened

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has asked the independent panel examining the dismissal of charges relating to the 2012 hit-and-run case against Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya if it can be re-opened. Prosecutors abruptly decided not to arraign Boss on a charge of “reckless driving causing death” after the other charges relating to the incident had lapsed due to the statute of limitations. “I’ve…

  • Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand family ranked 21 on world’s rich list | Thaiger

    Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand family ranked 21 on world’s rich list

    Bloomberg has released its list of the world’s wealthiest, and the family behind Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group sits at number 21. The CP conglomerate is one of the world’s largest, operating across multiple sectors, including food manufacture, agriculture, retail, and telecommunications. It has stakes in CP Foods, the world’s largest producer of shrimp and among the top 3 producers of…

  • Skeletal remains found in Chon Buri may be those of missing Burmese worker – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Skeletal remains found in Chon Buri may be those of missing Burmese worker – VIDEO

    A human skeleton found inside dense bushland is believed to be that of a Burmese national who worked at commercial fishponds nearby. The owner of the fishponds, 50 year old Somyot Lieamhan, says clothing found near the skeleton matched those worn by the man, named only as ‘Mint’, at the time he disappeared. Somyot says the worker disappeared shortly after…

  • Monk attacked by a swarm of hornets in northern Thailand | Thaiger

    Monk attacked by a swarm of hornets in northern Thailand

    A monk at a temple in the northern province of Lampang, south of Chiang Mai, has been attacked by a swarm of hornets, resulting in him being stung at least 30 times on his face, lips and body. Thai Residents reports that the attack took place at night as the monk was feeding the temple dogs. Rescue workers were dispatched…

  • 107 kilograms of cannabis seized, 3 arrested in Chon Buri drugs bust | Thaiger

    107 kilograms of cannabis seized, 3 arrested in Chon Buri drugs bust

    Police in Chon Buri have carried out a large drug seizure, confiscating 107 kilograms of cannabis, as well as other items. 3 suspects are under arrest. Police confirmed the arrests and confiscation of illegal substances at a press conference held shortly after. The first 2 arrests took place at a restaurant in Soi Buakhao in Pattaya, with the suspects named…