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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.
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Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
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Dutchman says Thai woman swindled him of 5 million baht
A Dutchman posted a video on TikTok revealing that a Thai woman swindled 5 million baht from him. The Thai woman denies the accusation, adding he is the cheat because he flirted with her despite being married. The video went viral on Thai social media after the local news page Baan Dung Update reposted the TikTok story on Saturday. In the…
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British Bentley plugs into Thailand’s luxury car market with record sales
British elite motor vehicle maker Bentley plugged into Thailand’s luxury car market last year and recorded record sales. Most orders (81) placed in the Land of Smiles were for hybrid vehicles. The Flying Spur Hybrid was the most sought-after model, making up 49% of orders in Thailand with 40 cars sold. The Bentayga Hybrid followed closely behind with 35 orders and…
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Chiang Mai ranked No.1 city in Asia on safety index
The northern city of Chiang Mai in Thailand has been ranked as the safest city in Southeast Asia and 31st in the world, according to a recent report. The findings were published as the Crime Index and Safety Index by City 2023 by Numbeo, the largest crowd-sourced global database that tracks these statistics. Chiang Mai was ranked first in Southeast…
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Gang of deaf suspects arrested in robberies
Authorities made an unusual arrest in Bangkok after a recent wave of robberies when they took four deaf suspects into custody. Police in Bangkok’s Sutthisan district arrested a gang of four deaf individuals for their involvement in a string of burglaries. According to Siam Rath, the police received a report of trespassing from a caretaker of a property in the…
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Indian tourist beaten by Pattaya nightclub guards
In an incident sure to fluster the tourism industry’s push to welcome foreign travellers, a group of nightclub guards from an Indian bar were accused of attacking an Indian tourist. The attack went down on the bustling Walking Street in Pattaya in the wee hours of Sunday morning. The tourist reportedly sustained head injuries and was left bleeding on the…
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Bangkok pub raid can’t find anything illegal to bust
Drug raids have become common around Thailand, but some are definitely less fruitful than others. Sometimes a club is open only during legal operating hours, following all the rules, and packed with law-abiding citizens. Despite receiving complaints from residents in the surrounding neighbourhood, police and army officers found nothing illegal in a recent raid in Bangkok. The raid on a…
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2-year online romance ends when Swedish man dies in motorbike crash
A heart-wrenching tragedy played out when a Swedish man lost his life in a motorcycle crash in Roi Et province. The 50 year old had been in the country for just five days, visiting his Thai girlfriend whom he had met online two years prior. He arrived just a few days earlier to finally be with his Thai love. The…
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Father Joe, Bangkok priest, celebrates 50 years of service
Catholic priest Joseph H Maier – Father Joe – from the United States has been a Bangkok priest since the 1970s. This year is his 50th of celebrating mass in Bangkok’s slums. During his sojourn in the kingdom’s capital, he nursed HIV patients, saved children from the streets and provided an education to the very poorest. The slum celebrity has…
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Hong Kong cruises into calmer waters
The Silver Spirit became the first international cruise liner to enter Hong Kong harbour in three years, last week. As Hong Kong cruises into an expanding tourism market, the Silversea cruise arrived from Singapore for an overnight stay with 320 passengers from 20 countries onboard. Luxurious German-operated Mein Schiff 5 will dock in Hong Kong four times in early March. …
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Univited hotel guest shoots at resort owner, police
A dramatic pursuit ended in injury for both a police officer and an uninvited guest at a Rayong resort after the guest sharted shooting at the resort owner for denying him a free stay. The incident occurred in the early hours this morning, when police responded to a call from the Klaeng district resort about a reported shooting. Police were…
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Police doubt story of teen shot on his 18th birthday
Reports of teen gangs and violence are on the rise in Thailand, and one young man got a mournful birthday surprise, though police are sceptical of what transpired. An 18 year old teen was shot and killed in a tragic incident that occurred in the Greater Bangkok province of Pathum Thani. The incident was reported by Thai Rath, and according…
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Dinosaur footprints found in Kalasin park
Phu Faek forest park, located in the northeastern province of Kalasin, is known for its rich history and geological significance. Recently, the park has made an exciting discovery of fossilized dinosaur footprints. The Department of Mineral Resources, along with park officials, were notified of the finding by a local villager from Ban Nam Kham, in Phu Laen Chang sub-district. Upon…
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Not our problem – Paetongtarn dismisses father’s comeback
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of ex-PM Thaksin and Pheu Thai Party‘s chosen candidate for her father’s old job, said her father has to find his own way home. He will not need, and not receive, any help from the Pheu Thai Party. Paetongtarn – known by the pet name “Ung Ing” – dismissed her father’s comeback plans at a Pheu Thai…
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Tourism Minister addresses police controversies
Minister of Tourism and Sports Pipat Ratchakitprakarn has acknowledged that recent controversies involving the Royal Thai Police (RTP) and the Thailand Privilege Card (TPC) have damaged the reputation of both law enforcement and tourism organizations. The minister is taking steps to address the situation with a Cabinet meeting scheduled next week set to discuss the allegations. This comes after an MP…
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Ministry reveals 200 apps that steal your cash
Since an unhappy Thai man accused a charging cable of stealing the 100,000-baht contents of his bank account, people in Thailand have become hyper-aware of the problems of apps that steal your cash on their phones. The victim insists he had not accessed any suspicious websites, taken any call centre calls or filled in any online forms but says his…
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First Thai Magician on America’s Got Talent ft. Patrick Kun | Thaiger Podcast Ep.22
https://youtu.be/_1_-C4GH8Mg Patrick Kun, is the first Thai national who has worked up close and personal with world-renowned magicians, such as David Copperfield and David Blaine, designing props, illusions, and stage setups. Patrick has made a name for himself by creating amazing impromptu visual magic, using slight pan techniques to make each effect as visual as possible without utilizing any…
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Police arrest arson suspect in Phuket over a decade after crime, allegedly linked to Tuhao
Police arrested an arson suspect in Phuket on Wednesday, over a decade after he allegedly committed his crime. The suspect, 42 year old Surachai, was allegedly involved in attacking a security guard and setting fire to a snake farm in Phuket on April 23, 2012. Surachai was allegedly involved with the well-known Chinese criminal ‘Tuhao,’ whose name has made headlines…
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Bangkok taxi driver brawls with passenger in the street (video)
A fight broke out between a Bangkok taxi driver and a passenger in the middle of the street last night. The passenger allegedly tried to steal from the driver. In a clip circulating on social media, the cameraman shouts ‘Muay Thai!’ as a taxi driver, wearing a face mask throughout the whole fight, swings at the passenger and pushes him…
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Pattaya tourism now close to pre-Covid levels, association says
Tourism in Southeast Asia’s sin city of Pattaya is now close to pre-Covid levels, according to the Pattaya Entertainment Association. The association’s secretary-general, Damrongkiat Pinijkarn, said that tourism is now at 80-90% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Damrongkiat said that on Pattaya’s most buzzing road, Walking Street, over 90% of venues have already reopened. He noted that venues on the road…
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Asian woman arrested for pretending to be a student at US high school
An Asian woman, who shares the same name as a famous K-pop star, has been arrested for pretending to be a student to join a US high school. The 29 year old New Jersey-based woman was nabbed by cops for posing as a high school student four days after she enrolled at the school. The Asian-looking woman, identified as Hyejeong…
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Eye-watering onion prices drive Filipino black market
Millions of dollars’ worth of onions have been seized by authorities in the Philippines, as an inflation crisis sees eye-watering onion prices in Manila‘s markets. Up to US$11 million (350 million baht) worth of onions was impounded by officials in the Philippines last year, 30% of all smuggled farm products. Their price soared so rapidly, that restaurants stripped them from…
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Thai woman alleges ex-husband kidnapped her daughter
A Thai woman alleges that her ex-husband kidnapped her two year old daughter. The woman, 25 year old Pornapha ‘Pim’ Thankew told The Thaiger that on Sunday, January 1, her ex came to her house in the northeast Surin province to pick up their daughter. He told her that he was taking their daughter, Apichaya ‘Ung-Ing’ Thankew, to an ordination…
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Myanmar’s junta growing more opium than ever
Myanmar has been growing more opium since the 2021 coup, reversing a six-year decline between 2014 and 2020, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has said. During the first full opium growing season since the military took power in February 2021, Myanmar saw a 33% increase in poppy cultivation and an 88% increase in potential opium yield…
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Princess Sirindhorn to be named Goodwill Ambassador
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will be named Goodwill Ambassador again by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for her contributions to the empowerment of minority children and the preservation of intangible heritage. The princess was first appointed Goodwill Ambassador in March 2005 by then UNESCO director Sheldon Shaeffer, who recognised her decades of work…
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Tourist numbers up, positive Covid-19 tests down
Positive Covid-19 tests, hospitalisations and deaths dropped substantially in the third week of January. The much-needed return of tourists to the kingdom in substantial numbers has not produced the much-feared spike in Covid cases or deaths. All the metrics were down in the third week of January, with only a handful of foreigners testing positive. The Department of Disease Control…
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President of Thailand’s Udon Thani FC ‘Madam Wi’ accused of fraud
“Madam Wi,” the president of Thai League 2 team Udon Thani FC in northeast Thailand, has been accused of fraud after allegedly deceiving people into paying her money to find them work in South Korea. Nine people filed a complaint at Mueang Udon Thani Police Station accusing 41 year old Arisara “Madam Wi” Chamun of fraud and violating the Employment…
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Thai activists warn that new hair guidelines will allow schools to be more strict
A Thai student activist group warns that Thailand’s new guidelines for schools will allow schools to be stricter on students. This news comes after Education Minister Treenuch Thienthong signed an order cancelling the ministry’s 2020 regulation on student hairstyles on January 16. This week, Treenuch said she was preparing a guideline for schools on hairstyles. The draft guideline says that…
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What changes did Google notice in Thailand’s web searches last year?
US multinational Google last year identified a substantial change in consumer trends in Thailand based on web searches conducted last year. The world’s favourite web browser discovered a change of direction in Thailand’s search engines which were split into three categories or trends in Google’s “Year in Search 2022 – Thailand” report, which opened a window into consumers’ behaviour. They…
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California man accused of shooting seven farmworkers admits guilt, blames mental illness
The man accused of shooting seven of his fellow farmworkers in California blamed his mental illness after confessing to the crime. Zhao Chunli says he endured years of bullying and overwork and says his complaints were never addressed. According to The Straits Times, NBC News visited the man and spoke to Zhao in Mandarin. An NBC reporter told what Zhao had…
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Chiang Rai activist sentenced to 28 years for royal defamation
A Chiang Rai activist will now spend the next 28 years behind bars after being charged with royal defamation. Mongkol Tirakote, an activist and online clothing vendor was charged with two separate royal defamation cases after posting defamatory comments online. According to The Hindu, the kingdom’s lese-majeste laws are among the harshest in the world with rights groups saying they…
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