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 Thailand vs. the West: What expats save on healthcare each year
Healthcare in Thailand is much cheaper than in Western countries, making it a great choice for expatriates looking for affordable medical care. Both public and private healthcare options offer high-quality services, with savings of up to 80% on procedures like...
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Ride-sharing services to be legal in Thailand by 2020
PHOTO: Grab Thailand’s Transport Minister says that regulatory guidelines have been drafted to pave the way for legalising ride-hailing services by March next year. Ride-hailing organisations currently operate in “legal limbo”, often finding themselves stopped and fined for not being properly registered. New guidelines will require drivers to have a public driver’s licence, vehicles to be registered and equipped with…
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Bill withdrawal my decision, not Beijing’s, says Hong Kong leader
PHOTO: CNN Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam insists that the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill was her decision, not Beijing’s. The bill was the spark that ignited months of protests in the territory, with clashes between activists and police frequently turning violent. Lam says that while the decision to withdraw the bill is hers, she has Beijing’s full…
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Man fakes his own kidnapping to get ransom money from parents
PHOTO: Sanook A 27 year old teacher has faked his own abduction in order to con his parents out of 40,000 baht in “ransom” money. The man, known only as “Anucha” called his parents to say he’d been abducted in Udon Thani, northeast Thailand. He claimed a group of men had kidnapped him, after he’d borrowed money from a loan…
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Hurricane Dorian’s death toll in Bahamas 43. Expected to rise.
“You can smell the death in the air,” Bahamas resident. The death toll from Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas has risen to 43, according to US media outlets yesterday, and was expected to grow “significantly.” US network CNN and Bahamas newspaper The Tribune cited Health Minister Duane Sands as confirming the new toll, up from 30. “Forty-three is the official…
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India’s moon mission control loses contact with spacecraft during landing
India’s moon mission control has lost contact with the unmanned spacecraft moments before it was due to land on the Moon early this morning (Thai time), in a blow to the country’s ambitious low-cost lunar program. India was hoping to become just the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to successfully land on the Moon. But as Indian…
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Thailand’s tourism industry ponders drop of Chinese tourists
Thailand’s tourism authorities are getting jittery as the Kingdom continues to bleed Chinese tourists in the wake of a surging baht. They fear Thailand is losing its reputation as one of the most affordable destinations in south east Asia for Chinese tourists. Thailand’s most popular resorts, Pattaya and Phuket, have been particularly suffering from the discernible drop in Chinese visitors. Chinese tourists have…
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Songkhla businessman shot dead while taking daughter to school
PHOTO: Assawin Pakkawan A building contractor has been killed while taking his four year old to school in Hat Yai yesterday. 34 year old Thammarat Apilimsiriul was taking his young daughter to pre-school in tambon Khon Hong around 7.30am when he was shot in the back. Police say he is the owner of Sirikul Land&House, a major construction company in…
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Car rental scam busted, gang leaders arrested in Phuket and Trang
PHOTOS: Achadtaya Chuenniran Three people have been arrested separately in Phuket and Trang, south of thailand. They’ve been accused of running a scam, targeting car owners and car rental operators. Police have so far seized 23 out of 40 vehicles the gang had resold. Nine victims made official complaints on August 26 that a gang was renting cars from them…
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Hurricane Dorian downgraded to Category 1 storm
“Dorian should remain a powerful hurricane as the eye of the storm moves near or along the coast of North Carolina.” Hurricane Dorian has weakened to a Category 1 storm this morning as it approached the coast of North Carolina, according to US meteorologists. At the same time, the death toll rises during the mop-up in the Bahamas which felt…
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American woman charged with trafficking ‘baby in bag’ at Manila airport
“The baby, who is now in the custody child welfare services, was born to a Filipino mother in the nation’s south and then flown to Manila.” Philippine authorities have charged an American woman with trying to smuggle a six day old baby out of the country in a bag she wore around her waist as she tried to board a…
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Air Asia flight, from Maldives to Bangkok, returns to Male after engine explodes
A Thai AirAsia Airbus A320-200, flying as FD-178 from Male in the Maldives to Bangkok’s Don Mueang, had just taken off out of Male’s runway 18 when an engine started making “banging noises” and streaks of flames were coming from the engine, prompting the crew to stop the climb at 5000 feet, shut down the engine and return to Male…
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Indonesia’s forest fires causing air pollution in southern Thailand
Residents in Thailand’s southern provinces of Songkhla and Satun are being warned to protect their health by wearing face masks or staying indoors as the two provinces are blanketed with smoke from forest fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. The 16th regional environment office reports that dust particles of less than 2.5 microns, were measured at 55 microns/cubic metre during the…
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Starbucks investigate Thai garment factory after underpaid workers exposé
PHOTO: Eater.com An investigation is underway into 4 garment factories in Mae Sot, western Thailand, following the revelation that workers are illegally underpaid. It’s understood the factories provide clothing to Starbucks and U.S. sports gear manufacturer Bauer Hockey. The Thomson Reuters Foundation, who carried out the investigation, spoke to 26 workers from Myanmar, who say they’re paid less than Thailand’s…
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3 drug dealers arrested in Phanason condo, Phuket
Phuket police revealed that they have arrested 3 drug dealers at the Phanason Greenplace condominium complex in the Samkong area, on the road that connects Samkong to Surukul Stadium. One of the suspects already had an arrest warrant out for several crimes before this drug case. The three men include 20 year old Narasak ‘Film’ Sarika, who was arrested with…
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Maya Bay: saving the most famous beach in Thailand
PHOTO: Sarah Buthmann For years, Maya Bay on the island of Koh Phi Phi Leh in Krabi province, has been overrun with visitors. Every day, thousands of tourists competed for space on Thailand’s most famous beach. Having been made famous by the 2000 Leonardo di Caprio movie, The Beach, tourists arrived by the boatload every hour, every day of the…
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Young Bangkok boy has lucky escape after finding glass in food
A young boy has had a very lucky escape after finding glass in the food he was eating at a restaurant in Central Plaza, in the Ladprao district of Bangkok. The boy had the food in his mouth at the time and cut his tongue on the glass. In a post on Facebook, his father says his son was incredibly…
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Thailand’s gold and jewellery exports rise nearly 30%
The export value of gems and jewellery grew by 29.3% in the past seven months despite unfavourable trading terms with the rising baht. The Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand director, Duangkamol Jiambutr, puts the value of exports from January to July at US$9 billion or approx. 280 billion baht, a 29.3% increase year on year. Gold exports led the climb,…
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Pattaya leopard is legal, media go and check it out
PHOTOS: 77khaosod There’s a family who own a leopard in their home? We’ll have to go and check that out. So reporters from 77kaoded headed to the house in Na Jomtien in Pattaya where a Thai woman and her foreign husband have been keeping a leopard. Yes, a leopard. A very large cat with spots. This week the couple have…
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Collecting Hurricane Dorian’s dead in the Bahamas: ‘It’s hell everywhere’
by Gilles Clarenne The blue, sun-kissed skies of the Bahamas, more usually associated with a tropical paradise, have returned, yet a glance across Marsh Harbour offers up nothing but horror – the grim aftermath of a cataclysm. 20 people have been identified as dead as a result of the passing hurricane Dorian. “There was a big two-story building over there,”…
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Vietnam Airlines gets go-ahead for direct US flights
Vietnam Airlines is the first carrier in the country to secure a coveted license to fly direct to the US, according to the Vietnamese national carrier. The approval has for months been sought by Vietnamese carriers eager to exploit a fast-growing market for air travel among Vietnam’s booming middle class. Domestic and regional air travel has mushroomed among Vietnamese travellers, and…
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Grab rider ‘Pop’ explains what happened when the Bangkok mum stopped him on the motorway
PHOTO: Sanook.com The Grab Food motorcycle rider who stopped to help a mother take her sick son to hospital Bangkok’s heavy traffic on Tuesday has given some more details about his good deed. The child, Nong Pla Wan, is now being treated in hospital and expected to fully recover from the ordeal. Read yesterday’s story and watch the dramatic video HERE. Recalling the…
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Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam asks for dialogue after rejected concessions
by Jerome TAYLOR | Yan ZHAO, Hong Kong, China | AFP Hong Kong’s leader Thursday urged pro-democracy protesters to end their demonstrations after her surprise decision to bow to one of their key demands was condemned as too little, too late. Carrie Lam, the city’s pro-Beijing chief executive, surprised many on Wednesday when after three months of rallies she suddenly…
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Chiang Mai police release Singaporean accused of attacking Thai wife with a scythe
PHOTO: Chiangmaione.com Police have released a Singaporean man accused of using a scythe to attack his Thai wife in a Chiang Mai street. Following the attack, it’s understood that the man called an ambulance to take his wife to hospital, and then surrendered to police. The Singaporean says the couple, who have two young children together, frequently argued about his…
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Copycat – Chinese company announces first cloned kitten
Cats usually have nine lives. This one had ten. ‘Garlic’ the British short-hair died late last year. Garlic’s friend Huang Yu was devastated. So he ordered a new Garlic, a clone, an exact copy of his beloved dead cat. Born on July 21, the new fluffy and purring Garlic was created by Chinese firm Sinogene, China’s first successfully copied cat.…
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Proposed amendment to Thailand’s Narcotics Act seeks to legalise cannabis growth at home
PHOTO: commons.wikimedia.org Thailand’s Bhumjaithai party says it will confer with key stakeholders to seek input on a proposed bill to allow people to grow their own cannabis at home. Those being consulted include government officials, medical patients, and traditional medicine practitioners. Party member Supachai Jaisamut says the draft bill proposes an amendment to Thailand’s Narcotics Act that would allow for…
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Bangkok is the world’s most visited city again, fourth year in a row
Bangkok is again the world’s most-visited city for the fourth consecutive year, beating out Paris and London. The rankings are compiled annually by Mastercard. Welcoming around 22.7 million international visitors, Bangkok ranked as the top destination for global travellers this year. Many of Bangkok’s visitors originate from these top five destinations, listed in order: Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, India…
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Constitutional court turns down request to lift Thanathorn’s suspension
Future Forward’s Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has hit another hurdle with the Constitutional Court rejecting his requests to rescind an earlier court order suspending him from performing his duties as an MP. According to yesterday’s Constitutional Court’s bulletin, the court had not found “any change in behaviour on the part of Mr. Thanathorn that would justify the court lifting the suspension”. The…
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Thai school girls – longer skirts, bigger blouses
The Thai Education Ministry is telling teenage female students to dress “appropriately” and stop wearing dresses that are too skimpy. The Ministry has made amendments to the Child Protection Act to codify the length of dresses and the tightness of blouses, rather than leaving it up to school boards to come up with their own guidelines (you can imagine those…
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Thai public hospitals now have two-tiered pricing for their services
Foreigners who receive medical treatment or services at public hospitals in Thailand are set to pay more than locals or residents of neighbouring countries for the same services. The new multi-tiered pricing sets guidelines for services by the Thai public Health department. New government guidelines were announced in the Government Gazette at the end of August and include a new…
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UK PM’s call for general election rejected by British MPs
In a dramatic day of British politics, the House of Commons has passed a bill that rules out the new PM Boris Johnson’s plan to pull out of the EU next month without a blueprint of how trading terms will continue with the UK out of the bloc. That bill now goes to the unelected House of Lords for assent.…
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