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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Event round-up November 2018
by The Sponsorship Experts, Paul Poole (South East Asia) The month kicks off with the last Spartan Thailand race of the year, held in Hua Hin on 3 November. Participants can choose between two different courses, the 21km Spartan Beast race with more than 30 obstacles designed to really push people to their limits, and the 5km Spartan Sprint race…
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Pattaya – Hua Hin ferry service back again for high season
PHOTO: Talk News The Pattaya – Hua Hin ferry service has started again for the high season. The Hua Hin deputy chief Chareewat Phramanee has confirmed that Royal Passenger Liner will operate a daily service again between Hua Hin and Pattaya during the high season. The service was suspended in September, with Royal Passenger Liner blaming the drop in numbers…
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7/11 to add laundry and dry-cleaning
PHOTO: Spring News 7/11 are rolling out another new service in Bangkok from this week. You’ll be able to get a raspberry slurpie, hot toastie and drop off your laundry and dry cleaning at the same time. The 24 hour service is expected to expand to the rest of the country’s 7/11 stores in the middle of 2019. Netizens have…
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Central Group set to open new lifestyle mall in Cherng Talay
RENDERINGS: From Phuketify website Cherng Talay has become the new ‘go to’ area with an exciting array of new retail and entertainment options opening up at the end of this year and into next year. Including this one… A new lifestyle shopping mall is set to open by the end of 2019 in Cherng Talay, with Central Group investing a…
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Customer dies during Thai massage
Questions are being posed on social media, “how safe is a Thai massage?” Thai media is sharing the story after a video was posted of a Thai man who died while having a massage. “Ton”, the younger brother of the victim, explained what happened to Sanook. Ton says that his brother had been playing football with friends and suffered a twisted…
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Nine British passengers escape luxury yacht fire
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket / The Phuket PR Office. VIDEO: ออส สมทิพย์ A luxury yacht has been completely destroyed after catching fire north off Koh Ngam in Phang Nga Bay yesterday. Nine Bristish passengers were saved and unhurt in the incident. The Phuket Marine Police were notified by rescue workers that a boat had caught fire after being hit by lightning.…
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Thailand drops in English proficiency levels
English proficiency in Thailand is getting worse. The latest EF English Proficiency Index ranks Thailand in 64th place out of 88 countries, with an overall ranking of ‘low proficiency’. In 2017, Thailand ranked in 53rd place out of 80 countries and in 2011 Thailand was #42. The rating has been seesawing over the past six years but the trend has been…
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Thaiger Radio News – Sunday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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900,000 meth pills and 3 kilos of ‘ice’ seized after brief shoot-out
Two suspected drug smugglers have been arrested at a Chiang Rai hotel following a short shootout with police. Police also seized 900,000 methamphetamine pills and three kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. Acting on a tip-off, a team of narcotics suppression police staked out at a border point in Ban Tham Phatong in Tambon Tha Sud in Chiang Rai’s Muang district. They…
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Some Thais finding it difficult to save
A survey commissioned by the Government Savings Bank has revealed that grassroots incomes in Thailand are too low for most Thais to make savings for the future. The survey indicates that people earning under 15,000 baht have a real struggle to survive. Only 32.2% made any saving at all. About 56% of that number put a little away each month. This…
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Rap raising debate in the lead up to February election
“As artists, we want to reflect the truth of the society we are living in under dictatorship,” a RAD member identified only as Hockhacker told The Nation Weekend. “Thailand seems to be caught in a loop of dictatorship. We want to voice what the majority cannot say directly. The lyrics were based on information we collected on social media, reflecting…
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Pakistani terror suspect arrested in Pattaya
PHOTO: The Hindu A Pakistani terror suspect has been arrested in Pattaya following eleven years on the run after escaping prison in India. Pattaya One reports that Jagtar Singh alias Tara is now likely to be extradited to India for his alleged role as a ‘mastermind’ in the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995. Security sources say…
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Pattani mosque still a popular pilgrimage for Malaysians
32 were killed there 14 years ago in a Thai army attack. PHOTO: New Straits Times The Kresek mosque in Pattani, the locations where 32 suspected Muslim insurgents were killed in a stand-off 14 years ago, continues to be a popular place for visitors from Malaysia. This is reported in the New Straits Times of Malaysia. The mosque’s Imam, Zakaria…
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Narathiwat officials swing into action to combat deadly measles outbreak
by Narong Nuansakul The southern province of Narathiwat is stepping up vaccinations against measles as the disease has already claimed up to twelve lives in Yala and Pattani since June this year. A huge number of youngsters aged between one and five in Yala and Pattani have come down with measles in recent months, claiming the lives of 12 children.…
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Education Minister moves school tests to clear way for election
In another indication that the government is firming up the date of the next general election for February 24 next year, the Education Minister has formerly moved the date of the annual school and university-entrance aptitude tests back one week. The GAT/PAT (General Aptitude Test and Professional and Academic Aptitude Test) tests for pre-university students will be held one week…
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Army’s helicopters ‘much larger, included pilot training’
PHOTO: thaidefense-news “His information is inaccurate and he could be viewed as making unfair allegations against the Army.” An anti-graft activist came under attack from the military after he alleged that the Army had bought helicopters at inflated prices. Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Thai Constitution, earlier filed a petition with the Office of…
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Bus driver and company charged after reckless driving in Krabi – VIDEO
A Krabi- Surat Thani driver and his bus company have been charged after a case of reckless driving being caught on video. The video clip of the reckless Krabi –Surat Thani bus driving on a road spread in social media during the week. The Krabi Land Transportation Office Chief Ronnakorn Songin contacted the bus driver to meet. The bus driver,…
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Patong Carnival schedule
For those interested in getting involved in the Patong Carnival festivities, here is the latest schedule released by Patong Municipality for this year’s events.. November 2 9am – 6pm Kite show 3pm – 4pm Puppet (Marionette) show 6pm – midnight Performance from Pida Dance Academy, Yamaha music contest, shows from Hotels Patong Association, shows from Cowboy group. November 3 9am…
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Welcome to Patong Carnival 2018 – PHOTOS
Our photographer Kritsada was hard at work last night. Here’s a bit of the atmosphere from last night’s Patong Carnival annual opening night parade…
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Drought declared in five Khon Kaen districts
Whilst parts of Thailand suffered floods and overflowing dams during August and September, other parts of the country are now facing drought conditions as we head into the dry season. Khon Kaen Governor Somsak Jungtrakul has declared five districts drought disaster zones. Somsak said on Friday there had been no rain for months in Pol, Nong Song Hong, Ban Had, Waeng…
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Poll restrictions to be relaxed in December
The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has distanced himself from a claim by his deputy Somkid Jatusripitak that the next head of government would “look similar” to the current one. General Prawit Wongsuwan, another deputy premier, said Somkid had shared the same thoughts as “many of us” although he would not specify what he thought regarding the matter. General Prayut was…
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9 years of providing Phuket’s lifeguards comes to an end
PHOTO: Constant training and up-skilling was at the core of the Phuket Lifeguard Service The nine year relationship between the Phuket Lifeguard Service and the Phuket provincial and Thesaban administrators is over. The contract for providing professional lifesavers at Patong beach, the final beach under their watchful eye, finished yesterday. Speaking to the MD of the Phuket Lifeguard Service Company,…
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Thaiger Radio News – Friday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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730 more foreigners rounded up in nationwide crackdowns
Immigration police have carried out their latest nationwide raid, rounding up foreigners living illegally in Thailand. There were 730 more arrests yesterday. Pol Maj Gen Itthipol Itthisarnronnachai, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, told the media at 1am this morning (Friday) the results of the 38th “X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner” operation. Itthitpol said the operation focused on 238 areas around the…
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Phuket Carnival 2018 kicks off in a blaze of colour
More Than 30,000 oThai and foreign tourists, as well as Phuket residents lined the streets of Patong last night to usher in the annual Patong Carnival, held each year to mark the beginning of the tourism high season. Titled “Colorful of Patong Beach”, the grand opening parade was a lot better than the Organiser’s grammar. Joining in the opening ceremony…
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Questions arise about costs of military helicopters
In the wake of the tragic crash of King Power supremo Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s personal helicopter last Saturday evening (UK time), an unintended story has emerged about the costs of the model of his helicopter, the same model used by the Royal Thai Army. Srisuwan Janya, a ‘transparency activist’, according to Khaosod English, has dug into the accounts books and found that…
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Pattaya hotel ablaze, guests head for the exits
PHOTO: Channel 3 A fire at a well-known hotel in Pattaya’s Jomtien Beach caused panic in the early hours yesterday as guests were plunged into darkness and corridors began filling with smoke. The Pattaya police station was alerted that a blaze had broken out at 1.30am at the Grand Jomtien Palace Hotel in Tambon Nong Plue of Chon Buri’s Bang…
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Koh Tarutao archipelago is plastic-free
Tarutao Islands National Park has been declared as an area free of plastic and styrofoam containers for the current tourist season. Assistant Park Director Kittipong Sanui said during the launching ceremony of Satun Andaman Tourism Season that the Department of Natural Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has imposed a ban on the use and import of once-used plastic and styrofoam…
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Suspects arrested with methamphetamine pills and kratom in Phuket
Sakhu Police have arrested three suspects and seized 8,498 methamphetamine pills and liquid kratom. Police have arrested 36 year old Nikorn ‘Mui’ Jantawong from Phuket. Police seized 8,498 methamphetamine pills. He has been charged with illegal possession of Category 1 Drugs with intent to sell. The arrest came after police received a tip-off that Nikorn was selling drugs in the…
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Chinese investment sets new records in property purchases
The demand for property, especially in Bangkok, continues unabated. Despite a drop off in absolute tourism numbers, enquiries from Chinese real estate buyers remains strong, setting new records. Not only are the Chinese the most frequent tourists to Thailand, they are the most enthusiastic property buyers, stetting a new record for Q3 this year. Number two in foreign investors into…
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