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.
-
Bangkok’s controversial Bang Sue Grand Station name change on hold
Bangkok’s controversial Bang Sue Grand Station name change is on hold after it received heavy backlash for its US$1 million price tag. When His Majesty the King renamed Bang Sue Grand Station, “Krung Thep Abhiwat Central Terminal,” in September, some questioned the need to spend such an amount in taxpayers’ money. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Transport Minister Saksayam…
-
Mutant mosquitoes a growing threat in Asia
New research warns that mosquitoes that transmit viruses such as dengue in parts of Asia have evolved and grown resistant to insecticides. Experts warn new methods to control them are urgently needed. Insecticide-resistant mosquitoes have been a known problem for years, but studies are now showing the scope is much larger than previously understood. Fogging-infested areas may no longer be…
-
Thailand to track cannabis users in government database
Thai nationals will soon be required to show their ID cards when purchasing cannabis flowers. The ID and sales information will be entered into a government database, according to the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM). Registered vendors will be required to insert the buyers’ ID into a “device” linked with the government system and input information regarding…
-
Bentley driver cleared of being drunk at the wheel in three-car smash
The blood alcohol test of the Bentley driver, who caused a three-car collision last Sunday, reveals he was not drunk at the time of the pile-up. But, the investigating officer from Expressway Police Station 1 has been criticised for not making the driver take a breathalyser test immediately after the incident. Suthat Siwapiromrat crashed his grey Bentley sedan into a…
-
Two fugitive Korean underwear bosses arrested in Thailand
Police arrested two wanted Korean fugitives – the former and current chairman of the Ssangbangwool Group – on a golf course in Thailand yesterday after eight months on the run. According to prosecutors in South Korea, the pair were arrested by Thai police on a golf course in Pathum Thani province just north of Bangkok at 7.30pm. South Korean prosecutors suspect…
-
Pattaya dwellers not happy with homeless living in abandoned building
Pattaya dwellers aren’t too thrilled about homeless people living in an abandoned building in the city. On Monday, local media reported that a group of homeless people were camping at an abandoned building on South Pattaya Road in the Nongprue sub-district of Bang Lamung district. The building was home to a former convenience store that lost business during the Covid-19…
-
Woman injured by falling traffic sign on a Pattaya road
A backhoe digger accidentally pulled down some electric wires and a traffic sign, knocking a woman off her motorcycle while she was riding past the spot, on Jomtien Beach Road in Pattaya. The incident happened yesterday, January 10, in front of Soi Jomtien 12 on Jomtien Beach Road in the Bang Lamung district of Pattaya. A 46 year old woman…
-
German tourist falls near summit of Tiger Cave Temple in southern Thailand
A young German tourist is injured after falling from the top of the stairs at Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi province in southern Thailand yesterday afternoon. At 3pm, Krabi Tourist Police were informed that a German tourist needed medical help after an accident near the summit of the mountain. Rescue workers climbed over 1,000 steps, which took more than one…
-
Cops bust thieving couple who sold items to second hand shops in Phuket
Cops busted a thieving couple in Phuket on Monday, a husband and wife team who stole items and sold them to second hand shops. Police say the husband has been identified as Banjerd, and the wife as Toon Mathurasorn, The Phuket News reported. A Russian man, Oliver Thurman, alerted Wichit Police on January 6 that a towing rig and a…
-
Cabinet announces change to holiday calendar
The government yesterday announced a change to the Thai holiday calendar. Government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul revealed the Cabinet has declared Friday, May 5, a special holiday, making it a four-day holiday for Coronation Day. The Cabinet agreed to change the date because this year’s Coronation Day falls on a Thursday, reported Bangkok Post. “The long holiday for Coronation Day will…
-
Ghosts in Thailand: some eerie sites to explore
Thailand is known for its beautiful beaches, delicious food, and rich culture, but it also has a dark side. Thai culture has long believed in ghosts, some good, some bad. A large percentage of people in modern life are still afraid of ghosts in Thailand and as such, the country has some infamously haunted and eerie places. Here are a…
-
Thai police seize 30 kilograms of heroin bound for Hong Kong hidden in puppy pads
Thai authorities seized a sizeable 30 kilograms of heroin yesterday in Samut Prakan province, just north of Bangkok, believed to be headed to Hong Kong. Police arrested a Hong Konger and a Thai national during the raid. Officers from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) raided a house in the Kanchanaphisek 39 area of Samut Prakan to find…
-
Phang Nga’s turtle nesting season continues with more nests discovered
Phang Nga’s turtle nesting season continues and more nests are being discovered. Two more nests were found, bringing the total number of nests unearthed to eight so far, The Phuket Express reported today. The nests were found on the Baan Thung Darp Beach in the Koh Phra Thong sub-district of Kura Buri district. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources…
-
Thai AirAsia ranked 3rd most on-time low-cost airline in the world
Thai AirAsia is ranked the third most on-time low-cost airline in the world and the most punctual carrier in Asia-Pacific countries in 2022, according to Cirium, a data analytics company in the aviation and travel industry. The average on-time rate reported by Cirium was 97.47% The Chief Executive Officer of Thai AirAsia, Santisuk Klongchaiya, announced the company’s good news yesterday,…
-
Daily direct flights between Phuket and Shanghai to takeoff next week
Daily flights between Phuket in southern Thailand and Shanghai in China will takeoff next Wednesday, January 18, operated by Shanghai’s Juneyao Airlines. The inaugural flight will be the first direct service between Phuket and mainland China in almost three years. China reopened its borders yesterday, and given that China was once Thailand’s top tourism market, Thailand braced itself for an…
-
2 Thai women attacked by foreign mafia in Koh Samui
A Thai woman sought help from the Thai media after she and her mother were attacked by some foreigners who claimed to be part of a mafia gang at a bar in Koh Samui on New Year’s Eve. The woman turned to the media because the police ignored her case. The local Facebook page Samui Fresh News posted a video…
-
Police on the prowl for scam gang after Thai teen commits suicide
Police are on the prowl for a scamming gang after a teenage boy committed suicide in Thailand’s central Nonthaburi province. The boy, 15 year old Arthit, hung himself in a wooded area in the Pakkret district on Sunday. Arthit left a note apologising to his mother for stealing up to 15,000 baht from her purse. Investigators later found that criminals…
-
Thailand informs airlines about removal of Covid-19 vaccine rule
Unvaccinated travellers heading to Thailand can now feel at ease knowing airlines around the world have been informed that Thailand no longer requires arrivals to prove they are vaccinated against Covid-19. Thailand momentarily reintroduced the two-dose Covid vaccine entry requirement with barely any notice as a measure to mitigate the risk of importing a caseload of coronavirus from China, which…
-
Piracy in decline around the world
The Covid-19 pandemic has been rough on everyone. But as we focus on rebuilding tourism and the economy, spare a moment in your thoughts for Jack Sparrow. A new report says that last year worldwide pirate activity was at its lowest since 2008, and possibly since 1992. Piracy and robbery on the high seas are at their lowest levels since…
-
Male prostitute threatens to kill woman in Isaan
A lonely, fearful woman in the Isaan province of Udon Thani filed a complaint with the police after a male prostitute stole from her, murdered her dog, and threatened to kill her. The 32 year old woman named Boom told the media that… “I’m embarrassed to talk about this, but I think this is too much, and I have to…
-
Soapy king makes PM Prayut’s inauguration slippy
Former soapy king turned amateur super-sleuth Chuwit Kamolvisit tried to gatecrash Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s inauguration into United Thai Nation (UTN) Party yesterday. PM Prayut officially joined the UTN Party yesterday where he gave an impassioned speech on how he values the democratisation process, seemingly forgetting that he toppled the democratic process when seizing power in a 2014 army coup.…
-
Bangkok City Hall assesses Covid readiness
With travel increases to Thailand, and with the reopening of China, comes the risk of spreading Covid-19. Bangkok City Hall is taking steps to ensure that visitors can enjoy their stay while keeping themselves and others safe as they brace for an influx of tourists. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt tasked his deputy governors with conducting a full assessment of the…
-
Chinese tourists trickling in after reopening
With a back and forth over Covid-19 restrictions, as China opens its doors for its citizens to travel outbound again, the wave of the coveted Chinese tourist demographic has been nothing more than a trickle. The first arrivals in three years on a direct flight from China to Thailand landed in Bangkok on January 8, with 200 enthusiastic travellers. After Covid…
-
Iran sentences young footballer to 16 years for ‘enmity against God’
Iran’s regime sentenced a young footballer to 16 years of imprisonment for “enmity against God,” several news outlets reported yesterday. The footballer, 26 year old Amir Nasr-Azadani, participated in protests against Iran’s theocratic regime last year, which began after Iranian authorities murdered a young woman for allegedly showing too much of her hair. Nasr-Azadani was found guilty of “partaking in…
-
Thai gold necklace thief arrested after fleeing to Myanmar
The Thai thief was arrested by Burmese police officers yesterday after stealing a 150,000 baht gold necklace from a shop in the northern province of Chiang Rai and escaping by swimming to Myanmar. The theft happened at a gold shop named Seri Phan in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai on November 26 last year. The male thief pretended…
-
Thai army shoots dead 6 foreign ketamine traffickers
Thai paramilitary rangers shot dead six drug traffickers smuggling 300 kilograms of ketamine into Thailand in the forests of Chiang Mai province near the border of Myanmar at 3am today. In the dead of night in the dense jungle, Thai paramilitary rangers crossed paths with “foreign drug traffickers” in Mon Pin subdistrict in Chiang Mai’s Fang district. The rangers reported that…
-
Two 10 year old schoolchildren killed after reckless sedan crashes into school bus
Two 10 year old schoolchildren were killed and another 19 were injured after a reckless sedan driver crashed into a school bus. The smash caused a collision between a school bus and a minibus on a road in the northern province of Phichit. The incident happened on the Phichit-Saklek Road in the Mueang district of Phichit at 5.30pm yesterday, January…
-
Violent monk flees scene after leaving teenage girl for dead
A violent monk is on the run after attacking his 17 year old granddaughter with a hammer and leaving her for dead at a temple in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani last Saturday. Police believe that a letter found at the scene suggests the monk had a crush on the girl and was jealous of a friendship she’d recently…
-
British man claims he was tortured by Thai police
A British man claims he was tortured by Thai police for seven days straight in Phuket, southern Thailand when his holiday abroad went gravely wrong. British authorities have launched an investigation into the alleged abuse, reports FirstPost. He allegedly sustained broken ribs, bruised limbs, septic infections, swollen wrists, and lost four teeth in the ordeal. The victim, 51 year old Carl…
-
What makes Amari Phuket a private tropical paradise?
Sponsored Phuket’s crystal clear waters, stunning beaches, and vibrant nightlife make it an unrivalled travel destination in Thailand. What’s more, the island is renowned for its stunning resorts, boasting luxurious amenities and spectacular views of the Andaman Sea. Amari Phuket, one of Phuket’s luxurious 5-star beach resorts, sets itself apart as a private paradise. But what differentiates it? Private yet…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.