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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Some restrictions lifted for superyachts in the region
PHOTO: katarocks.com Thailand is poised to ease rules on bareboat charters as well as introducing new measures to attract more luxury and super yachts into the region. The new measures were laid out in a presentation called “Highlighting Strategies for Attracting Yachts and Improving Safety at Sea” held at the 2019 Thailand Yacht Show and Rendezvous in Phuket. Gordon Fernandes,…
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Air quality for Thailand – January 22
Northern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Central Thailand Everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. Southern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants…
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Incentive travel the fastest growing segment in Asia Pacific events business
PHOTOS: ttrweekly.com Responding to a study that says incentive travel is the fastest growing segment in Asia-Pacific’s events business, the Thailand Conventions & Exhibitions Bureau is adapting its game plan to tap into this lucrative market. Last week, TCEB hosted the premier event, SITE’s 2019 Global Conference in Bangkok, a worldwide association dedicated exclusively to growing incentive travel. SITE’s most…
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Scoot passengers jump in to help restrain man, pilot diverts flight
A Scoot Airlines flight from Australia’s Gold Coast to Singapore had to be diverted to Sydney Airport after an incident with an unruly passenger. Flight TR7 was scheduled to reach Singapore at 3.15pm yesterday but was diverted just 1h 20 min into the eight-hour flight. Scoot has issued a statement saying that an Australian man on board punched another passenger.…
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Algerian tourist arrested over tourist thefts in Bangkok
PHOTOS: Immigration Bureau An Algerian male tourist has been arrested after pick pocketing tourists at a BTS Station in Bangkok. Immigration Bureau report that 46 year old Algerian man, SOFIANE YASSAAD CHERIF, has been arrested after pick pocketing other tourists last Friday. Cherif entered the Kingdom as 60 days tourist on December 2. Cherif has chosen foreign tourist victims as…
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Attacks in Thailand’s deep south – International coverage
Thailand’s southern insurgency, a long, protracted border and religious ‘war’, continues to rage with recent attacks getting more attention. This is partly due to the new targets with local schools getting caught in cross-fire and last Friday night’s killing of a temple abbot and another monk during prayers. The international media is now starting to provide greater coverage of one…
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Why Thailand’s election will be a win for the military – International coverage
“When Thailand officials hinted that scheduled elections to end military rule would be postponed for the fifth time in almost as many years, anger and frustration rippled through the country.” The story of Thailand’s election stumbles and rumbles is making headlines around the world, especially since the February 24 election date, mooted as THE date for most of 2018, has…
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Thai PM condemns southern violence. Urges media to be ‘careful’ covering the story.
PHOTOS: The Nation Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has responded to escalating violence in the strife-torn South today by saying that the people behind the deadly attack at a temple in Narathiwat province on Friday night were seeking to ramp up attention given to the violence in the South to the international level and lure officials into conducting “forceful suppression”. “Those…
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Woman badly injured in Rayong car accident
PHOTOS: สื่อสาร 01 / Siam Rayong Rescue Foundation Rescue workers took two hours to free a woman from a car following a road incident in Rayong south east of Bangkok. The Siam Rayong Rescue Foundation has reported that they were notified of the incident in Rayong city at 7am this morning. Rescue workers arrived to find a car overturned after…
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Thai Airways charges British passenger 80,000 baht for extra luggage
PHOTO: Thai Airways A British expat has been charged a whopping 79,825.13 baht by Thai Airways for extra luggage on a flight to London from Bangkok. The report was posted by Thai Visa. The incident occurred when the man in question (who is not named) was on the Thai Airways website purchasing 20kg extra luggage each way, and was quoted…
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Australian and Thai transnational drug smugglers drop the ball
PHOTO: The Nation How much heroin can you smuggle in eight (car) shock absorbers? Apparently close to 4 kilograms. A joint Thai-Australian drug suppression operation called Taskforce Storm has yielded results and arrested two transnational heroin smugglers. Police identified the two as 38 year old Canadian Stephens Blair and 27 year old Thai Pahon Sivasirikaroon. The pair were apprehended when they…
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Chiang Mai policeman caught accepting bribe on Facebook post
A Chiang Mai traffic policeman has been transferred “to inactive duties” (whatever that means) after allegedly being caught on a Facebook post accepting a 200 baht bribe from a Chinese tourist. The tourists’s motorcycle had been locked up for parking illegally. The post appears to show the policeman pocketing the 200 baht and then unlocking the tourist’s bike on Phra…
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Company rolls out new computers for Chiang Mai school
Top executives from Thailand property development company Boutique Corporation recently visited the Intanon Wittaya School in Chiang Mai and presented them with ten desktop computers to the school. Inthanon Wittaya School is located in Amphur Mae Jam, 111.2 kilometers from Chiang Mai, with 192 kindergarten and primary school students. The school offers a computer class but only had 11 computers…
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‘The Cave’ due out mid year – First cave rescue film to reach cinemas
PHOTO: Thai-born director Tom Waller on location during the filming of “The Cave” in central Thailand – AFP A Thai-born director, Tom Waller, who reportedly took only a few weeks to shoot the first film about the dramatic Tham Luang cave rescue of the Mu Pa football team in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, says his focus was on authenticity…
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Air quality for Thailand – January 21
Northern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Central Thailand Everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. Southern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants…
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Weather for January 21
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 33C. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. Phuket Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. High 32C. Winds N at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 70%. Chiang Mai Sunny. High 32C. Winds light and variable. Pattaya Sun and clouds mixed. High 32C. Winds NNW…
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Bangkok smog: Diesel buses and vehicles key problem
by Wichit Chaitrong “The problem is the estimated 2.5 million diesel-powered trucks and buses still on city roads.” Experts are saying this morning that, given the problems in recent weeks with Bangkok’s smog, the national government’s pursuit of a “low-carbon economy” has fallen short of needs. They are recommending higher taxes on “dirty fuel” and a reduction in the number of…
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Chinese tourist drowns off Koh Samet
by Achara Wisetsri A 58 year old Chinese tourist, who got into difficulty whilst swimming off Koh Samet on Saturday, has died while being transported to a district hospital. Koh Samet is off the coast of Rayong province, east of Bangkok. Witnesses say he was “battered by waves” in the sea off Sai Kaew Beach. The victim was swimming with a…
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China edges Thailand out of Asian Cup after penalties
Thailand has gone down to China 2-1 in last night’s Asian Cup Round-of-16 match, eliminating them from the tournament. The match was decided by a penalty awarded after a foul charged against Thailand in the 72nd minute. China’s forward Gao Lin slotted home his shot to finish Thailand’s chances. The slow start to last night’s game gave way to more…
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Belarusian ‘Anastasia’ will be in Moscow detention another 3 days
Anastasia Vashukevich, aka. Nastya Rybka, the Belarusian model/sex-educator/Instagramer who spent a year in a Thai jail awaiting last week’s Court case, and was then deported, remains in a Moscow jail as of last night after the presiding judge decided to extend her detention by 72 hours. She was arrested at Moscow airport on Thursday after being deported from Thailand on…
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Bangkok smog: Police get out their hoses
by Kornkamon Aksorndech Traffic police and volunteers sprayed water at four locations in Bangkok this morning in a bid to curb the dust and smog pollution. Pol Maj General Nithithorn Jintakanon, commander of the Traffic Police Division of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, presided at the dispatch of 150 police officers and volunteers from his headquarters on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road. They chose…
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Club raid in Bangkok. Everyone detained tested positive to drug use.
PHOTOS: The Nation Another Bangkok night spot is is being threatened with closure after an early morning raid found it open too late, unlicensed and with patrons stocked up and pumped up with illicit drugs. A team from the Provincial Administration Department and other officials raided the 56 Arena Music Hall on Charoenrat Road in Bang Kho Laem district, south…
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Bangkok Airways celebrates the arrival of its 40th aircraft
Bangkok Airways has welcome the latest Airbus A319 as the local airline’s 40th aircraft when it arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The event was led by Dechit Chareonwong, vice president of Flight Operations and joined by Nijjapat Piyapant, vice president of Ground Operations. This aircraft type, the latest incarnation of the short-haul A320, consists of 144 economy class seats and will serve popular…
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Top 10 countries in Asia – DataLeads report
PHOTO: Travelience “Japan is ranked the best country in Asia and fifth globally. Thailand ranks 27th globally” DataLeads reports that a survey conducted in 80 countries shows that Japan and Australia are the only Asia-Pacific countries that features in the top 10 best countries of the world. The ranking of countries is measured through factors like entrepreneurship, openness to business,…
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Thailand’s War Elephants aiming for an upset over China – Asian Cup
PHOTO: Chanathip Songkrasin (First from the left) getting ready for tonight’s game with his fellow teammates Make sure dinner is wrapped up and the kids are in bed by 9pm because it’s Asian Cup round-of-sixteen time with China lining up against Thailand. J-League star Chanathip Songkrasin says he’s determined to spearhead Thailand to an upset over the powerful China team…
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UPDATE: 4000 villagers attend funeral rites for slain monks in Narathiwat
Over 4,000 villagers, including more than 300 monks from several temples in southern provinces and border provinces of Malaysia, have attended a bathing ritual for the two monks slain by gunmen who stormed Wat Rattananuparb in Narathiwat on Friday night. Read more about the raid HERE. The bathing rites for Phra Khru Prachote Rattananurak, the abbot of Wat Rattananuparb, and…
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Police hunting for driver in hit and run – Patong
WARNING: Extreme graphic content Patong Friday, January 18, 2.06am – Police are trying to locate the driver of this hit and run silver sedan in Patong. If you have any information please contact the Tourist Police or Patong Police – 1155 or 191 (Thai) VIDEO: Newshawk Phuket https://www.facebook.com/thethaigernews/videos/288527705179718/
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UPDATE: Narathiwat temple murders – Security increased while PM condemns shooting
PHOTO: Slain Abbot Phra Khru Prachote Rattanarak The national police chief is ordering police regional units in Narathiwat to ramp up security in the province to hunt down the culprits behind last night’s deadly attack at a temple. Police spokesman Pol Lt General Piya Uthayoh says the motive behind the attack on monks at Rattananuparb Temple in Sungai Padi district…
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Human Rights Watch condemn Narathiwat temple murders as a war crime
PHOTOS: The Nation The cold-blooded attack on a Narathiwat temple, where two monks were gunned down last night, was “inhumane and barbaric”. Spokesman for the Defence Ministry, Lt General Kongcheep Tantrawanich, says that those behind the attack at Wat Rattananuparb in Sungai Padi district “showed no mercy”. “They prefer to use violence to make people fear for their own benefits…
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Police searching for the killer after shooting near Saphan Hin
A Thai man has been shot dead near Saphan Hin in eastern Phuket earlier today. The arrest warrant has already been issued for the suspect. The Wichit Police were notified of the incident on Rattanakosin 200 pi Road near Saphan Hin at 3.40am this morning. Police and rescue workers arrived to find the body of 30 year old Teerasak Saeong…
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