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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.

  • Man takes a naked stroll in Sabah, Malaysia | Thaiger

    Man takes a naked stroll in Sabah, Malaysia

    by The Star – Asia News Network A naked man, wearing only a wide-brimmed hat (sun smart!) has been caught on camera walking along a road near Pavilion Bundusan in Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. This comes after a couple were photographed skinny-dipping in a water fountain at the start of this week in the famous Gaya Street in Kota Kinabalu. The photo…

  • Pabuk: Tax refunds for home and car repairs | Thaiger

    Pabuk: Tax refunds for home and car repairs

    The Thai Cabinet has approved a tax refund for people who need to repair damage to their home or car following tropical storm Pabuk hitting the southern Gulf coastline a week ago. Pinsai Surasawadi, principal adviser on strategic tax administration for Finance and Banking, who is also a spokesman for the Revenue Department, said that home repairs costing less than…

  • Thai preparedness limits Pabuk damage | Thaiger

    Thai preparedness limits Pabuk damage

    Just a week ago the tropical storm Pabuk was poised to make landfall on the southern Thailand Gulf coast after days of predictions, warnings and anticipation. Now the entire event can be assessed in hindsight and lessons learned for next time. Reliefweb.int has issued a compiled report on Pabuk. “Early warning and early action helped ensure that tropical storm Pabuk,…

  • Air quality around Bangkok is bad today | Thaiger

    Air quality around Bangkok is bad today

    PHOTO: The Nation Bangkok’s air quality is safe again. Oh, now it’s unsafe again. Just a day after the air quality around Bangkok was declared safe, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) is blaming light winds and stale air for causing the poor air quality for Friday. PCD director-general Pralong Damrongthai says that air quality monitoring stations showed the amount of…

  • Waiting game for Saudi refugee in Thailand | Thaiger

    Waiting game for Saudi refugee in Thailand

    The ordeal of Saudi Arabian refugee Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun continues, with Australia’s foreign minister Marise Payne telling reporters no asylum deal had been reached. VOA News is reporting that Al-Qunun, who barricaded herself in a hotel at Bangkok airport to prevent officials from deporting her after fleeing her family in Kuwait, has been granted refugee status by the UN refugee…

  • BMA introduces proper pavement stops for motorcycle taxis in Bangkok | Thaiger

    BMA introduces proper pavement stops for motorcycle taxis in Bangkok

    As Bangkok becomes busier, limited space for motorcycle taxi stands is becoming a critical problem with many of the crews taking up road space or spreading themselves randomly out around public pavement areas. The boys in the orange vests provide an important part of the Bangkok public transport mix but the BMA were getting many complaints. Now the BMA (Bangkok…

  • Chiang Rai Tourist Police hunting another foreign graffiti sprayer – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Chiang Rai Tourist Police hunting another foreign graffiti sprayer – VIDEO

    PHOTOS/VIDEO: Chiang Rai Tourist Police The Chiang Rai Tourist Police are hunting for a foreign man who was caught on CCTV footage spraying on a wall near the old bus terminal in Chiang Rai. The northern Tourist Police office yesterday were trying to find the man who is clearly identified on CCTV footage spraying the wall of a restaurant. Anyone who…

  • Thailand back on track in the Asian Cup after win over Bahrain | Thaiger

    Thailand back on track in the Asian Cup after win over Bahrain

    Chanathip “Messi Jay” Songkrasin helped to drag Thailand football back on track at this year’s Asian Cup. The revitalised team won a 1-0 win over Bahrain in their Group A match at the Al-Maktoum Stadium in Dubai last night. The victory over Bahrain was the first positive sign after switching coaches, as the War Elephants won only their second match…

  • Burmese man arrested with 300 kilogram of ‘ice’ in Chiang Rai | Thaiger

    Burmese man arrested with 300 kilogram of ‘ice’ in Chiang Rai

    A Burmese man from the Shan State has been arrested after troops intercepted his pickup and found a large shipment of 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine last night. The Pha Muang Taskforce had officers set up a checkpoint on the bypass near Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district between the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge and Ban Nam Jam village in Tambon Pong…

  • Jam-packed Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous opens at Royal Phuket Marina | Thaiger

    Jam-packed Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous opens at Royal Phuket Marina

    The fourth Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous opened its doors today for yachting enthusiasts and lifestyle-seekers from around the region. Boasting a line-up of leading international yacht brands and brokers, charter agencies, luxury property developers, bespoke travel organisers and leading names in the hospitality and food and beverage industries, the Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous is open to the public…

  • Parents say their daughter’s been kidnapped. Police have other ideas. | Thaiger

    Parents say their daughter’s been kidnapped. Police have other ideas.

    The parents of a 14 year old schoolgirl missing for the past two weeks have now filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), saying they are convinced she’s been kidnapped. They say their daughter last used social media in Rayong province (east of Pattaya) on December 28, the day after she vanished. A police source has revealed they…

  • UPDATE: Four defence volunteers killed at school by militants | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Four defence volunteers killed at school by militants

    PHOTOS: The Nation | Thai PBS Disguising themselves as army troops, suspected militants surprised a unit of defence volunteers this morning when they opened fire on them at a school in Yarang district, Pattani. They killed four volunteers and taking away their assault rifles. The violent incident occurred in the compound of Ban Pukoh school in Village 5, Tambon Prachan,…

  • Southern insurgents gun down four Pattani defence volunteers | Thaiger

    Southern insurgents gun down four Pattani defence volunteers

    In a worrying upsurge in southern violence, insurgents disguised as army troops have gunned down and killed four tambon defence volunteers in Pattani’s Yarang district. The incident happened around noon and insurgents stole their rifles following the attack. Police say the four defence volunteers from Tambon Prachan were guarding Ban Bukoh School in the tambon when the insurgents arrived in…

  • Thai wife shoots cheating husband and mistress in Lampang | Thaiger

    Thai wife shoots cheating husband and mistress in Lampang

    PHOTO: Sanook A Thai wife, armed with a 9mm gun, lay in wait for her husband and his mistress to arrive at the woman’s second hand clothes shop in Lampang last night. When the pair arrived she shot them both. Then, according to Sanook, she casually waited nearby drinking beer for police to arrest her. The ‘girlfriend’, 42 year old…

  • Police looking for Burmese driver after two alleged hit-and-runs in Pathum Thani | Thaiger

    Police looking for Burmese driver after two alleged hit-and-runs in Pathum Thani

    Police say they’re searching for a hit-and-run SUV driver, believed to be Burmese, who allegedly killed two people in separate incidents only 500 metres apart in Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang district. The incident happened in the early hours this morning. The first victim was identified as 40 year old Prasit Kladkhemphet from Chanthaburi. He was hit after he parked his pickup…

  • Saudi teen seeks asylum as Australian foreign minister visits Thailand – Thaiger Bites | Thaiger

    Saudi teen seeks asylum as Australian foreign minister visits Thailand – Thaiger Bites

    Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne is in Bangkok today after the Australian Government says it would consider giving asylum to the 18 year old Saudi woman who fled to Thailand from Kuwait, saying she feared her family, which she accused of abuse. Reuters reports that Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun refused to meet her father and brother, who arrived in Bangkok yesterday…

  • Foreign man crushed under Bangkok bus in apparent suicide | Thaiger

    Foreign man crushed under Bangkok bus in apparent suicide

    “The man was wearing a T-shirt and shorts and had no identification documents.” A western man, at this stage unidentified, was hit and killed by a bus in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district. Police say it appears it was a suicide. Police say the man was hit by the bus on Phra Sumen Road in front of Wat Borworniwet. The man…

  • Pod of more than 10 dolphins spotted off Phuket – VIDEO | Thaiger

    Pod of more than 10 dolphins spotted off Phuket – VIDEO

    VIDEO: ยศ กระจก – อลูมิเนียม A pod of more than ten dolphins was spotted off Phuket yesterday. Khun Nigorn Garari, who recorded the videos says, “My friends and I were heading from Tab Lamu Pier in Phang Nga at about 1pm yesterday. When we were near Laem Pakarang, which is at the north of Phuket, we saw lots of dolphins.…

  • Thai Interior Affairs ministry confirms memo ‘halting election preparations’ is genuine | Thaiger

    Thai Interior Affairs ministry confirms memo ‘halting election preparations’ is genuine

    PHOTO: South China Morning Post A leaked memo on social media, addressed to election officials in every province, to halt election preparations has now been confirmed to be genuine by the interior affairs Minister. The internal memo called for “all preparations for election are hereby halted” in absence of the Royal Decree, which was expected around New Year’s Day, but…

  • Thai man victim of ‘attractive foreign woman sex scam’, warns others to beware! | Thaiger

    Thai man victim of ‘attractive foreign woman sex scam’, warns others to beware!

    PHOTO: Channel 7 A man from Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, has shared his story of online blackmail in a Channel 7 TV News report. He says it’s a warning for Thai men to beware of attractive foreign women. The man, a dance teacher from Chang Khan sub-district, says he was befriended by an attractive foreign woman on Facebook. The…

  • French tourist in hospital after parasailing incident at Naka Island in Phuket | Thaiger

    French tourist in hospital after parasailing incident at Naka Island in Phuket

    A French tourist has been hospitalised after having a bad landing on the tow boat and ending up in the water while parasailing at Koh Naka Yai off the Paklok coast yesterday. Thalang Police were notified of the incident off Koh Naka Yai at 5.25 pm. Thalang Police report that the 57 year old French woman, Claudine Robinet, broke her…

  • Greenpeace positive on lifting of Thailand’s Yellow Card fishing sanction | Thaiger

    Greenpeace positive on lifting of Thailand’s Yellow Card fishing sanction

    PHOTO: VOA Thai Kobsak Pootrakool, from the PM’s Office says that the European Union (EU) decision to lift its yellow card status on the Thai fishing industry practices reflects significant progress made by the Government in recent years. “The government continues to work hard to improve the state of fishery industry regulations and administration. The next step is to make…

  • Immigration police track down officer involved in re-entry stamp scam | Thaiger

    Immigration police track down officer involved in re-entry stamp scam

    PHOTO: Bangkok Post An immigration officer has been suspended without pay for allegedly permitting foreign travellers to do a re-entry without them having to actually leave the country. Immigration chief Surachate Hakparn says his department has identified the officer and have named him in Thai media. “The officer confessed to have provided entry stamps in return for 5,000 baht from…

  • Suspects are denying involvement in Tuesday’s Songkhla bomb attack | Thaiger

    Suspects are denying involvement in Tuesday’s Songkhla bomb attack

    PHOTOS: The Nation Three suspects, arrested in connection with Tuesday’s murder and car-bomb attack in Songkhla, have denied any involvement in the incidents. Eight border patrol police members, including five women, were injured when a bomb, placed in a pickup truck, exploded at about 5.50am on a rural road near a knockdown structure used by border patrol police. The pickup used…

  • Truck pulls down electric poll, damaging cars in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Truck pulls down electric poll, damaging cars in Bangkok

    A truck carrying an excavator accidentally pulled down an electricity pole in Bangkok this morning (Wednesday). The Nation reports that the truck , with an excavator loaded on its tray, got tangled on above-ground wires causing them to fall on top of the truck as well as two parked cars nearby. The accident, where no one was injured, disrupted electricity…

  • Saudi: Time to update 40 year old immigration laws – Surachete | Thaiger

    Saudi: Time to update 40 year old immigration laws – Surachete

    by Suriya Patatayo Immigration Chief Surachate Hakparn says he planned to update immigration laws that have been in force for at least 40 years. He says the Thai immigration police bureau are poised to issue a warning to Kuwait Airways for allowing Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun to board a flight to Bangkok, although they claim she had insufficient travel…

  • Australian minister says Saudi teen will get “very serious consideration”: Thaiger Bite | Thaiger

    Australian minister says Saudi teen will get “very serious consideration”: Thaiger Bite

    The Australian Government has given its strongest hint yet that the 18 year old Saudi woman in Bangkok would be granted humanitarian asylum. This is despite efforts by Riyadh and her family to force her return home. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has documented her bid to flee her allegedly abusive family with minute-by-minute Twitter updates, intensifying the global spotlight on Saudi…

  • Trump’s appointed Ambassador to Cambodia misses shutdown deadline: Thaiger Bite | Thaiger

    Trump’s appointed Ambassador to Cambodia misses shutdown deadline: Thaiger Bite

    by The Phnom Penh Post The US Senate has returned the nomination of Patrick Murphy as Ambassador to Cambodia to US President Donald Trump as the American government shutdown enters its third week. The US Senate website announcement said it returned Murphy’s nomination as ambassador as his appointment was not approved by the close of the 115th US Congress period…

  • Himalayan griffon vulture found in a Krabi rubber plantation after storm | Thaiger

    Himalayan griffon vulture found in a Krabi rubber plantation after storm

    PHOTOS: DNP A large but weak Himalayan griffon vulture has been found in a Krabi rubber plantation after poor weather on Monday. It’s believed to have come from Tibet. The head of Phang Nga Breeding Centre, Teetat Damudom says, “The Himalayan griffon vulture was brought to us on Monday. The vulture was been found by locals at a rubber plantation…

  • Thai prison staff sacked for collusion to murder, drugs and smuggling | Thaiger

    Thai prison staff sacked for collusion to murder, drugs and smuggling

    PHOTO: Getty Images Six prison officers have been dismissed by the Department of Corrections (DOC) following involvement in a varied and disturbing range of transgressions. Out of the six officers, one was arrested for charges of collusion to commit murder and has been sentenced to life in prison by the Supreme Court. Another was found connected to the smuggling of…