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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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UPDATE: UK PM Boris Johnson’s resignation speech in full
UPDATE: Boris Johnson today resigned as Britain’s prime minister. The 58 year old gave a speech outside of 10 Downing Street at 1pm UK time. Here is the full resignation speech: “It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister, and I’ve…
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Thai man appeals to robbers to stop as he has nothing left
A Thai man today appealed to thieves to stop robbing him after declaring he has nothing left to steal. Niphon Muangkram’s home in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen has been robbed 6 times in 3 months with 40,000 baht of valuables taken. One of the ironies of all this is that his home is only 1 kilometre away from…
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Young Frenchman dies in motorbike accident in central Thailand
A 22 year old Frenchman died in a motorbike accident this morning in Samut Prakan province in central Thailand. The man lost control of his motorbike while driving over a bridge and fell off onto a footpath, breaking his neck in the fall. At 10:30am this morning, police at Bang Bo Police Station received a report that a man had…
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Thailand: Don’t answer calls starting with +697, it’s a scam
If a number starting with +697 rings you, don’t answer. Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) says it is most likely a scam call centre trying to swindle you out of money. In a smart move to combat call centre scams, Thailand’s National Broadcasting Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has purposefully added the prefix +697 to IP calls to help people…
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Thai student slashed in high-speed car chase after school row
A schoolgirl was slashed by a knife after the mother of a schoolboy pursued a group of teenage students down a highway following a row at her son’s sports day. The Facebook page, Let Me Know If You Want to Be Famous Return Part 3, อยากดังเดี๋ยวจัดให้ รีเทิร์น พาร์ท 3, posted a video of the high-speed car chase, which was recorded…
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Thai leg of the high speed rail to Laos and China will be completed by 2028
The government has stated that by 2028, it will have finished its part of a long-delayed high-speed rail system connecting Thailand with China and Laos. The 434 billion baht project’s first of two phases will be completed by 2026, according to officials. According to the director-general of the Department of Rail Transport, Pichet Kunadhamraks, 12% of the first stage is…
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UPDATE: Boris Johnson has agreed to resign as UK prime minister
UPDATE: Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says there will be “a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end” as and when Boris Johnson resigns as Conservative leader. But the SNP leader questions the sustainability of Johnson staying on until the autumn, and says he was always “manifestly unfit…
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Survey shows over 80% want legal casino complex in Thailand
A survey released by the Casino Committee of Thailand has revealed overwhelming evidence that the Thai nation wants a legal casino and entertainment complex in the country. Almost 81% of 3,296 participants said they would welcome a legal casino and entertainment complex in Thailand. MP from the Pheu Thai Party, and Casino Committee of Thailand spokesperson, Jakkapon Tangsuttitham, yesterday revealed…
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‘A poll is just a poll,’ Thai PM Prayut unfazed by opposition’s popularity
Thailand will hold a general election at some point before March 2023, but polls reveal that current PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is not the favourite to win. PM Prayut says he’s not worried about the poll results, because “a poll is just a poll.” Paetongtarn Shinawatra – daughter of ousted ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra and central figure of the Pheu Thai Party…
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2 Brits honoured for heroic efforts in Thai cave rescue
The University of Bristol has awarded 2 British cave divers with honourary degrees after recognising their heroic efforts in rescuing 12 boys and a man from a flooded cave in Thailand. Linda Wilson, Vice-President of the University of Bristol’s Spelaeological Society, nominated John Volanthen, from Bristol, and Rick Stanton, from Coventry, for their honorary degrees. Wilson hailed the 2 British…
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Grandmother stabbed more than 20 times in brutal murder in central Thailand
Police have launched a murder investigation after a man stabbed a 75 year old woman to death at her home in Phetchaburi province, central Thailand, on Tuesday. The woman’s daughter, 39 year old Yok, said she had been unwell and had been taking sleeping pills. Yok woke up at noon to find her mother – 75 year old Suthasinee Phansawat…
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Ferries to Koh Pha Ngan is costing 40% more (and the other islands too)
Business owners on Koh Pha Ngan are demanding cheaper ferry charges after they increased by more than 40% since the start of July, impacting businesses and living expenses. For the average car, the ferry service from Don Sak dock to Pha Ngan with the Raja Ferry increased from 620 baht to 900 baht as of July 1. The Raja Ferry…
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2 Chinese charged with attempted murder after making a f-arse of extortion attempt
A botched 3 million baht extortion attempt by 2 Chinese nationals turned into a f-arse when one of them shot a fellow countryman in the buttock. A married Chinese couple Yu Wang and Li Min met with mainland compatriot Wang Xiaoye at a house in Muang district of Chiang Mai under the pretence of selling some antique porcelain at around…
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Thaksin predicts the opposition parties will win election in a landslide
Talking on a social media chat program this week, fugitive and former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra says the opposition parties, or as he described them, the “pro-democracy” parties, will win. And win with an absolute majority. The interview was conducted on ‘Care Talk’ on the Clubhouse app on Tuesday this week. Thaksin was speaking online from his house in Dubai.…
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Thai officer caught on camera riding carelessly won’t be fined
A Thai police officer caught on camera riding a motorcycle as if he was drunk in the Isaan province of Chaiyaphum, won’t be prosecuted. The Chaiyaphum News Hunter Facebook page, คนล่าข่าวชัยภูมิ, posted a video of the police with a caption saying, “Locals sent this to me. Is it too dangerous, boss? This happened on the Bypass Road Mueng Chaiyaphum at…
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Shooter in Pattaya turns himself in after shooting at man in car
After shooting up a car where a man was waiting for his girlfriend in Pattaya, the shooter has now turned himself in at the Bang Lamung Police Station. The 38 year old man told police that the hail of bullets that he showered the car with was in response to a personal dispute and initially confessed to the crime. The…
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Sri Lanka PM tells bankrupt nation to prepare for ‘difficult journey’
The Sri Lanka prime minister told the nation to prepare for “a difficult and bitter journey” as he declared the country bankrupt and prepared to approach the International Monetary Fund for a loan. PM Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday declared Sri Lanka “bankrupt” before making public that he had approached the IMF to figure a way out of the nation’s worst financial…
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Suspected insurgent shot dead by police in southern Thailand
Thai police shot dead a suspected insurgent at a house in Pattani province, southern Thailand, yesterday at 4:30am. The suspect tried to escape the house by climbing out of the window and allegedly fired shots at police who shot back in self-defence. The deceased allegedly had a role in the 2019 Bangkok bombings. Police received information that a wanted, suspected…
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Phuket will have a tsunami drill on July 20 following multiple small tremors offshore
There will be a tsunami evacuation drill in Phuket’s Thalang district on July 20 after a number of underwater earthquakes off the Nicobar Islands, some 500 kilometres away, increased residents’ fears of a possible tsunami. Phuket tsunami 506 kilometres away from Thailand’s Andaman coast, the Andaman and Nicobar islands were continuously hit by 4.0 to 4.9 magnitude underwater earthquakes for three…
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Songkhla officials investigate migrant smuggling network
Officials and police in southern Thailand’s Songkhla province are investigating an illegal migrant smuggling network. On Monday, officials and immigration police set up an ambush in a forest in the Hat Yai district. Illegal Burmese migrants had been staying there. After the authorities waited through the night and into the next day, 2 pickup trucks showed up, and the migrants…
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Attempt to bring an ancient Khmer sculpture home from NYC
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is displaying a sculpture that is believed to be an ancient Khmer king. Now an archaeologist in Buriram is fighting to bring it home to Thailand where he claims it belongs. The bronze sculpture was smuggled out of the country by antique traders, but a 67 year old local woman in…
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Pattaya’s prisoners clean the city’s sewers to prevent flooding
Monsoon season brings floods to every region of Thailand year in and year out. This year, Pattaya’s prisoners are taking action to mitigate the flood risk. On Monday, inmates from Pattaya Remand Prison began the mammoth task of cleaning out the city’s clogged up sewers for the first time since before the pandemic began. Well-behaved inmates, alongside city hall sanitation…
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Mayor delivers election promise to rid Pattaya of its ugly cables
The Pattaya Mayor yesterday took a big step in delivering one of his election promises “to make the city more beautiful to tourists from all over the world” by ridding the resort of its ugly communication cables. Tons of dead communication wires, on the road along Jom Tien Beach in Pattaya that had been left dormant for years, were removed…
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Migrant workers – even undocumented – can stay until 2025
Migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam got a reprieve for the next few years as the Thai Cabinet extended their ability to stay in the country until early 2025. The extension of stay will be permitted for both documented and undocumented migrant workers and will lengthen the time they are allowed to stay until February 13, 2025. The…
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Thailand’s tourism sector is asking for an additional 1 billion baht budget
The Thai tourism sector has asked for an additional budget of about 1 billion baht to boost the Thai economy in hopes of making 265 billion baht (from inbound tourists). The tourism sector says they should be able to secure at least 80 million domestic trips, gaining 215 billion baht, alone. Then, they predict, the international market will see 1…
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Thailand agrees to build economic community with China
The doom and gloom of the nation’s economy were put to one side momentarily as Thailand and China agreed to build an “economic community with a shared future”, providing a much-needed boost to the kingdom’s prosperity. Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met at Government House yesterday to discuss greater trade, economic cooperation, investment, and connectivity…
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Burmese migrants reportedly stab Chon Buri man in revenge for deportation
A group of Burmese migrants has reportedly stabbed a man in Chon Buri province who they believed helped get them deported in the past. Yesterday the 3 attackers crashed into the victim on 2 motorbikes, knocking him to the ground, and then stabbed him multiple times, according to the victim’s son, Phuwadol. Phuwadol says the attackers then dashed away on…
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Government panel now fears negative effect of cannabis on tourism
The decriminalisation of cannabis could actually severely damage tourism in Thailand, according to a House committee discussing the 2023 fiscal year budget bill. The committee spokesperson said that a meeting yesterday was discussing money allocation for the Ministry of Public Health when the debate topic turned to the effect of legalised cannabis on the budget. Members of the committee fear…
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Pattaya karaoke bar closed after social media exposes sex services
Widespread prostitution may well be Thailand’s worst kept secret, with sex services being covertly offered in a variety of venues across the country such as bars, clubs, and massage shops. But a karaoke shop in Pattaya has temporarily shut down after social media post outed the well-known sex for sale secret. Though the official name of the venue was not…
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UPDATE: High-profile officer not corrupt says Bangkok residents
Thirty community leaders from the Lat Krabang district met with Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittupunt yesterday to demand justice for a high-profile district officer. The community leaders, led by a former Bangkok Metropolitan Council candidate, Ronnachai Sangkamitkun, visited Chadchart’s office at BMA City Hall near the Giant Swing, and asked him to provide more information about the city’s corruption investigation into…
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