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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.
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Sponsored Digital nomading in Chiang Mai? What US$1,000 a month really gets you
Chiang Mai has become a popular destination for digital nomads due to its low living costs, rich culture, and active remote work community. The city offers affordable housing, tasty food, reliable internet, and many co-working spaces, making it a great...
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Thai transwoman climbs down building to escape Hong Kong cops
A video of a Thai transwoman in a sexy dress climbing down the outside of a building in Hong Kong like Spiderman to escape the clutches of law has gone viral. The woman, wearing a sexy see-through pink dress, climbed out onto the window ledge of a third floor building to escape the cops, and was witnessed by dozens of…
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Thailand’s ‘state of emergency’ finally draws to a close
Thailand’s Emergency Decree will finally come to an end on October 1 after being extended 19 times since the beginning of the pandemic. As a result, Thailand’s Covid-19 task force – the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) – will be dissolved. The decision to end the state of emergency has been in the pipeline for some time and was…
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Pro vaping group calls on govt to legalise e-cigarettes
The director of a pro-e-cigarette group in Thailand believes legalizing the activity would not only lead to more control over vaping amongst the kingdom’s youth but make it safer than the dreaded cancer stick. A survey conducted by the National Statistical Office of Thailand last year found more than half of the kingdom’s 80,000 e-cigarette smokers were people aged between…
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Chon Buri blaze kills disabled man and his dogs
Another tragic fire broke out in Thailand this week, this time in the eastern Chon Buri province, in the main city district. The blaze hit three houses on Wednesday, killing a 52 year old man named Suriya Eimsawad, who was reportedly disabled. Suriya was not the only one to perish in the devastating fire. His two dogs also died as…
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US Navy scammer arrested in Venezuela over scandal in Asia
An alleged United States Navy military contractor has been arrested in Venezuela after fleeing house arrest in the US. The man fled his home country just weeks before being sentenced for his role in a corruption scandal in Thailand and other parts of Asia. The man, Leonard Gleen Francis, known as “Fat Leonard,” had fled from his California home and…
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Fishermen rescued after going missing in stormy seas off Koh Samui
Fishermen who went missing amidst stormy seas off Thailand’s island of Koh Samui were rescued by fellow fishermen earlier this week. The two men, a 70 year old and a 50 year old, were reported missing near Baan Tai Beach in the Koh Samui district. The boat capsized that the two men were travelling in as strong wind and waves…
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At least 31 dead as Iranian security forces crack down on civilians protesting woman’s death
At least 31 civilians have been reported dead after Iranian security forces cracked down on protests over a young woman’s death. The woman, Mahsa Amini, 22, was visiting Tehran with her family last week when the morality police arrested her for violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. The code has been in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in…
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Japan to welcome visa-free tourists from October 11
Japan announced it will resume visa-free entry for all travellers from October 11 and scrap the arrival cap of 50,000 visitors per day. Before the pandemic Japan allowed travellers from 69 countries to enter without visas and visitors could stay between 15 to 90 days, according to the conditions of each country. Japan had over 32 million arrivals in 2019…
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Ambulance runs a red light and kills a motorcycle rider
A 60 year old man was killed after a speeding ambulance run a red light and wiped out his motorcycle causing a huge ball of fire in Mahasarakham, northeastern Thailand. The ambulance from Yang Talad Hospital smashed into the motorcycle at the Chiang Yuen Intersection in Mahasarakham province yesterday at 6am. Video footage from a vehicle behind the motorcycle captures…
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TAT looks to draw more Japanese tourists to Thailand with new campaign
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is looking to draw in more Japanese tourists. TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn announced that TAT will introduce a new partnership campaign in the last three months of the year called “It’s Time to Go To Thailand”. The campaign aims to increase Japanese tourists’ average spending per trip, which right now is only 6,400 baht, the…
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Burmese beauty queen arrested in Thailand
Former Burmese beauty queen, Han Lay was arrested in Thailand today. Han Lay, or Thaw Nandar Aung, winner of Miss Grand Myanmar in 2020, gave a speech against the Myanmar junta in the Miss Grand International 2020 final in Bangkok. The 23 year old talked about the political situation in Myanmar and how the people are suffering. She urged the…
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North Korea releases statement after being accused of selling Russia weapons
North Korea released a statement today after US officials said Russia was looking to buy weapons from North Korea. The statement claimed that North Korea had never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia, and did not plan to. It said that the United States and other “hostile forces” were spreading rumours to “pursue its base political and military aims.” Any…
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Thai army saves man walking 1350 kilometres from Songkhla to Buriram
A man who lost his job in the southern province of Songkhla decided to walk back home to Buriram in northeast Thailand. After 12 days of walking on Sunday, the 42 year old man stumbled across an army barracks in Phatthalung province, the next province along. The soldiers took care of him and paid for his train ticket back to…
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Price hike in vegetables prior to Phuket Vegetarian Festival
Phuket is seeing a jump in its vegetable prices as the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival is coming up on September 26. The prices of many vegetables have shot up on average from five to 20 baht per kilogram. The prices on other vegetarian ingredients have bumped up as well. Vegetable prices usually increase in Phuket before and during the festival…
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Man steals watch & diamond ring at car accident scene
An opportunist thief was arrested today after pretending to help a driver involved in a car accident with a motorcycle rider before snatching a 6-million baht watch and a diamond ring from the scene. The driver of a Mercedes-Benz crashed into a motorcycle in front of the Poon Sub Market in the Mueng district of Pathum Thani in central Thailand…
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Pattaya’s major roads flooded
Many of Pattaya’s major roads were flooded by heavy rain last night. Some of the affected roads included South Pattaya Road, Soi Buakhao Road, Sukhumvit Road, and Beach Road. The roads were all underwater with levels ranging between 20 centimetres to 1 metre, The Pattaya News reported. Many popular alleyways were also flooded. The floodwaters stretched onto roadside venues, forcing…
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Suspected Myanmar military businessman arrested in Thailand for drug trafficking
A Myanmar businessman, who is suspected of being linked to the country’s ruling military junta, has been arrested in Bangkok. According to Reuters, three unnamed sources supplied information about his connections to the junta, after police arrested him over drug trafficking. Thailand’s deputy police spokesperson Kissana Phathanacharoen, says they conducted an early morning raid in Bangkok last week, finding the…
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Lamborghini driver scrambles from scene of egg seller crash
A Thai woman has sought the help of a lawyer to help track down a reckless foreigner who crashed his Lamborghini into her pickup truck full of eggs worth nearly 200,000 baht before he scrambled from the scene, leaving a Thai man to take the blame. Kamlai Sisaengchan had just picked up 1,400 trays of eggs, worth 190,000 baht, when…
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Rage in Iran after young woman dies in custody, protestors killed
Iran has been reeling ever since a young woman died after being arrested by the country’s “morality police” on September 13. The woman, 22 year old Mahsa Amini, was arrested while on holiday with her family, who had travelled to the capital of Tehran from their home in the Kurdistan region. Morality police arrested her for supposedly not wearing her…
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Rice fields in central Thailand to be used as water retention areas
The Office of National Water Resources announced yesterday that rice fields in central Thailand’s Chao Phraya will be made into temporary water retention areas after farmers finish harvesting them at the end of this month. The office’s secretary-general, Surasee Kittimthon, said that more water will be drained from northern Thailand via the Chao Phraya Dam in Chai Nat province in…
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Thailand’s repeat drink driving offenders will be jailed
New legislation in Thailand means that people caught drink driving more than once will go to jail. First time offenders could go to jail or get a fine. The harsher punishments are intended to act as a DUI deterrent to reduce the overall number of deaths on Thailand’s dangerous roads. Thailand’s roads are the deadliest in Southeast Asia and among…
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Trump slams fraud lawsuit as a ‘witch hunt’
Former United States President Donald Trump dismissed a fraud lawsuit against him and his family as “another witch hunt” and claims the black New York Attorney General is a racist. The 76 year old former US president and three of his children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric, were hit by the lawsuit after an investigation into the Trump Organisation alleged…
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Chemical leak forces school closures in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
Residents of Nakhon Pathom province are warned to stay indoors as a major chemical leak occurred at the Indorama Polyester Industries factory in Nakhon Chai Si district at 6.15am this morning. People from miles around reported a “foul, burning stench” emanating through the sky, originating from the plastic production factory on Petchkasem Road in Khun Kaew subdistrict. Several schools including…
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New plans to expand Bangkok’s nightlife tourism
New plans are underway to help expand Bangkok’s nightlife tourism. Bangkok Governor Chadchar Sittipunt said yesterday that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is talking to experts about decorating some areas so they can become attractions. These are mainly spots in downtown areas and riverside zones, he said. Chadchart has also announced a plan for Bangkok to become a sister city of…
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VIDEO: Man breaks into ex-wife’s home and kidnaps her in central Thailand
A bitter Thai man broke into his ex-wife’s home in Nakhon Pathom province and kidnapped her on Tuesday night. The woman’s home security camera captured the terrifying moment he smashed his way into the house, locked his arms around her neck and dragged her outside. She says it is the second time her ex-husband has kidnapped her. At 10.25pm, Jeerawat…
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Corrupt police chief’s 137 million baht fortune nabbed
A former deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8 found guilty of fraudulent activity has had his 137 million baht fortune confiscated by Thailand’s Criminal Court for Corruption. Pol Lt Gen Somchai Nitayabowornkul was found guilty by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NAAC) on August 10 for having assets worth more than he could ever afford in relation to his rank…
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Police lieutenant in NE Thailand reportedly kills motorcyclist in crash
Last night, a police lieutenant in northeast Thailand reportedly crashed into five motorcycles and killed one motorcyclist. CCTV footage caught the lieutenant ramming his truck into the motorcycles waiting for a traffic light at a traffic island in Buriram province. The motorcyclist killed was a 25 year old waiting to make a U-turn. After the crash, the lieutenant’s pickup truck…
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Weakening baht is in focus as meeting called to discuss its impact
The Bank of Thailand is scrambling to find the sources behind the weakening baht as a meeting is called to discuss its impact. Finance Minister, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, says the depreciating currency is adding to the inflationary pressures and is vowing to determine whether the decline is linked to the country’s economic fundaments. The Finance Ministry is set to hold talks…
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Fight between teens leads to stabbing in NE Thailand
There was a knife attack involving groups of teenage boys in Thailand’s northeast province of Khon Kaen last night. Students in Grade 9 from the Mathayom Suksa school stabbed three Grade 11 boys at the school in their abdomens and lungs. The attack happened outside the school in the Nam Phong district. One of the injured boys, Narongrit, told police…
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Thailand schedules general election for May 7, 2023
The Office of the Election Commission of Thailand (EC) tentatively scheduled the day of the general election next year for May 7. Registration for all candidates will be open from April 3 to April 7, 2023. The general election plan was announced by the EC today as the government’s four-year term of office is expected to end on March 23,…
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