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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
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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…
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Koh Tao alleged rape case wrapped up
According to Thai PBS, Thai police have wrapped up an investigation into allegations by a 19 year old female British backpacker that she was drugged, raped and robbed on Koh Tao. Police claim that, following their investigations, there is simply a lack of credible evidence. Speaking at a media gathering this morning, national police chief, Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, declared…
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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…
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Thai-flag footwear NOT ok
Thai social media is all in a lather today after photos of the latest fashion footwear in Paris were posted depicting Thai flags on the shoe designs. Well, so they thought. Not only were they outraged and angry, they are demanding apologies and jail for the perpetrators. But a legal spokesperson in Thailand points out that these are foreigners parading…
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Can Thailand lure the Chinese back?
After half a decade of incredible growth in Chinese tourism to Thailand, the numbers are now in a tail-spin as numbers drop off around the country. With annual rises of 20-50% per annum for half a decade there has been a big drop off in the last quarter (Q3) of 2018. This is the key statistic as compiled in two…
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Thaiger Radio News – Tuesday
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More than 80 dance groups from around Thailand compete in “SHOW DC Dance Battle Revolution”
Dancers from all around Thailand took part in the recent SHOW DC Dance Battle Revolution 2018, which saw more than 80 dance groups going head-to-head for the inaugural championships crowns in three categories: B-Boy, Hip Hop and Cover Dance. Held at the popular shopping mall and entertainment mega-complex in Rama 9 area of Bangkok, prizes worth more than 100,000 baht…
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Phuket Immigration wind up ‘Operation X-ray Outlaw Foreigner’ crackdown
Phuket Immigration officers say they’re committed to the national crackdown called Operation X-ray Out Law Foreigner, especially on overstayers. As a show of force yesterday, more than 252 officers from the Phuket Immigration Office, the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Navy, the Phuket Provincial Police, Highway Police, Tourist Police and Marine Police assembled at the Phuket City Police Station.…
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‘Monk’ tries some alternative enlightenment
Thai Rath has shared a widely viewed CCTV clip featuring a man, apparently a monk, in saffron robes swinging a beer bottle at a man in a food market. The alleged monk appears to be holding a beer bottle. According to Thai Rath, the layman, believed to be a store-holder, confronted the monk asking why he was drinking beer in the…
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Mai Khao’s ‘West Sands’ CEO being quizzed by police following last week’s death on Thepkasattri Road
PHOTO: Facebook.com – Paul John Mercer The British CEO of a luxury hotel along Mai Khao Beach in Phuket, is going to be quizzed by police in Phuket after running over and killing a roadside scavenger in his luxury Mercedes last week. Original report about the Wednesday morning incident HERE. The British expat is being investigated by Thai police after his Mercedes-Benz…
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Man kills himself outside his home in Thalang
A Thai man has shot himself at a house in Thalang today. When Police and rescue workers arrived at the Suppamas housing estate in Paklok about noon, they discovered the body of 66 year old Somnueak Chanapan, a former staff member of the Khao Phra Thaew Non Hunting Area, on a chair in front of the house. Bullet wounds were found on…
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Two hour chase for escaped suspect in Krabi
Krabi Police took two hours to catch a suspect who successfully escaped whilst being prepared for a visit to court yesterday. The suspect is 20 year old Tanin Pueakkhwan from Krabi. Tanin was arrested on October 12 after stealing a truck battery. He was waiting to be transferred to the Krabi Provincial Court. While officers were preparing the court documents,…
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Thaiger Radio News – Monday
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Saturday night suicide linked to Hua Hin murder
by Wimon Thabkhong and Apichat Hongsakul A 26 year old man, thought to have to committed suicide, is the main suspect in the murder of a 39 year old Bangkok woman in Hua Hin, according to local police. Read the original story of the crimes HERE. The Thai man, who allegedly committed suicide by letting a train run over him on…
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Minivan driver escapes serious injury after colliding with an ice truck in Thalang
A minivan diver has escaped serious injury after colliding into the back of an ice truck yesterday in Thalang. Thalang Police were notified about the incident on Thepkrasattri Road, southbound, near the Srisoonthorn Temple (Wat Baan Pohn). Police and rescue workers arrived to find a minivan driver with the front almost totally destroyed. No passenger were inside the minivan at…
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Similans re-open with tight new restrictions
by Pratch Rujivanarom The number of visitors to the Similan Islands will be capped at 3,850 people per day as part of new tourism management reforms to preserve the pristine natural beauty of the islands and promote sustainable eco-tourism. When Mu Koh Similan National Park reopens today, tourists will discover some changes on the islands; they will find more tranquil beaches…
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Man attacks woman in the street, captured on video
A video of a man publicly punching a woman in the face has gone viral on Thai social media. There is no indication where the incident happened. The clip, viewed 3.8 million times (as of Sunday 5pm), shows a man in a black t-shirt punching a woman in the face before taking her away. The woman then gets on the…
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Thailand – most visited destination among Chinese for Golden Week
The National News Bureau is reporting that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says Ctrip.com, China’s largest and most influential online travel agent, has ranked Thailand the number one global destination among Chinese tourists during this year’s National Day vacation – the Chinese Golden Week 2018. Thailand comes out on top of Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, and…
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Murdered Bangkok woman found in Hua Hin
by Wimon Thabkhong and Apichat Hongsakul The body of a 39 year old Bangkok woman, with multiple stab wounds in the neck, has been discovered stuffed in a large plastic box in the toilet of a rented house in Hua Hin district, Prachuap Khiri Khan province today (Sunday). The woman, who doctors estimate has been dead for three days before the…
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‘Ailing’ monk hangs himself from a tree in Uttradit
by Boonpim Baiya A monk appears to have committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree behind his temple in Uttaradit, a northern province. Police were contacted at 7am this morning by a fellow monk in the compound of Wat Wang Kapee. Police, a medical examiner and rescue workers headed to the temple to find the body of 58 year old…
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Run out of money? Here’s the ‘how to’ guide to Begpacking.
PHOTO: backslackers.com “Aren’t you technically homeless? Why shouldn’t YOU cash in too. Why shouldn’t other people pay for you to travel? Begpacking (or beg packing) is a way for backpackers like you to earn money while you travel by begging for money or busking around the world.” Thailand has its fair share of ‘beg packers’ each year – young travellers…
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Anwar one step closer to taking over from Malaysian PM
Former Malaysian deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim has made his political comeback by winning a by-election at Port Dickson, Malaysia. The results aren’t official but based on exit polls. The result, a strong mandate in a seven-contestant poll, puts him one step closer to taking over the reigns from Mahathir Mohamad, the current Malaysian PM, who committed to handing over the top…
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South East Asia tops travellers’ lists
by DataLeads – Asia News Network The Asia Pacific region accounts for 30 per cent of the world’s international tourism receipts. The region outperforms all other regions in terms of growth, with international tourist arrivals increasing an average 7% per year compared to the world average of 4%. China remains one of the leading destinations in Asia. It attracted the highest number…
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Thaiger Radio News – Sunday
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Chinese tourists heading elsewhere – what did you expect?
Don Ross of ttrweekly.com reflects on the self-imposed, but unplanned, reduction to Thailand’s tourist numbers – principally Chinese tourist numbers. If there were growing calls to limit or better control the problems of too many tourists, lax Thai safety laws have done part of the job already. Don writes… Just a few months back, the debate in Thailand focused on the…
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Escaped prisoner trio recaptured in Chumphon
Three inmates who took advantage of a lapse in security, escaping from a court in Chumphon on Thursday, have been recaptured this morning in Chumpon. Police say the three were hiding on a mountain in a forest near by Huay Kla village in Tambon Tako in Chumphon’s Sawi district for the past two days. They went down to the village…
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Day 4 – Phuket Vegetarian Festival processions ramp up the ‘crazy’
PHOTO: At least he’s taking sun shade wherever he goes – Kritsada Mueanhawong It just gets crazier as the days go by. With the shackles off this year (last year the festivities were subdued due to the impending grand Funeral for HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej), the Vegetarian Festival is back up to full speed. The impression we get is that the…
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Panicked tourism associations call for visa fee exemption for Chinese
The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) wants Chinese tourists to be exempt from having to apply and pay for their single-entry visas when they arrive in the Kingdom. The ATTA is urging the tourism minister to make this change. Vichit Prakobgosol, president of ATTA, says the measure is necessary to draw Chinese tourists back to the kingdom following a…
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Instagrammer apologises for doing handstand at Wat Pho
A foreign tourist has apologised on his Instagram page for posting a photo of himself doing a handstand in front of a key Buddha image inside the Wat Pho in Phra Nakhon, Bangkok. The tourist, whose Instagram account is soseguri that has 546 followers, deleted the photo and published an apology early on Friday. “I am very sorry for the…
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“This is not a hotel” – Share economy exploits loopholes
by Nophakhun Limsamarnphun Explosion in short term rentals causes problems for hotels and reduces tax revenues. Legal loopholes and lax regulation of the hotel business have led to a large number of unlicensed hotel operators and unregistered guests in major tourist destinations in Thailand, according to government and private sector officials. In addition, the widely-popular sharing economy has prompted new…
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