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.
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Sponsored Bangtao, Phuket: The neighbourhood expats and investors are eyeing in 2025
Bangtao didn't become Phuket’s most talked-about neighbourhood overnight. For a long time, it was a quiet place on the island’s west coast where locals walked their dogs at sunrise and tourists flocked to sunbathe along its eight-kilometre stretch of beach....
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Two arrested in Phuket drug crackdown
The Phuket City Police have arrested two suspects found with kratom on Saturday (June 25). Police arrested 51 year old Watcharin ‘Gor’ Saeiw at a house in Phuket Town. He was found with many small bags of kratom weighing about 3 kilograms. Watcharin was taken to the Phuket City Police Station where he has been charged with illegal possession of Category 5…
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Update: Rescue in Chiang Mai – 11 teenagers and their coach missing in cave.
The 11 missing teenagers and their football coach are still believed to be still alive but remain trapped inside the innermost sections of the cave where they’re believed to be safe but separated by flooding waters. Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn headed to the Thamluang-Khunnam Nang non park in Mae Sai district to supervise the continuation of the search and…
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Update: Man ‘dismembered ex-girlfriend’ – Bangkok
By Kornkamol Aksorndech After a head and mutilated body parts were found in Bangkok’s north-eastern suburbs on Saturday morning police went to work to find the perpetrator of the crime. It took them less than 24 hours. Original story HERE. UPDATE: The former boyfriend of a woman whose mutilated body was found on a remote road in Bangkok’s Klong Samwa…
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Krabi: Erosion threatens fossils on Andaman coast
By Sitthichai Sikhawat Known as ‘The 75 million-year-old shell cemetery’, the mollusk fossil-filled beach at the Andaman coastal province of Krabi is now facing erosion after being damaged by strong currents over the past two years, a senior official at the Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park said on Sunday. Conserving the 40 centimetre thick fossil layer on…
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Thief steals heroine statue sword
A thief has stolen a sword which was part of a statue of Phuket’s Heroines in a temple in Thalang. A facebook user ‘Prasong Trairat’ posted a photo on his personal Facebook yesterday (June 24) with a message reading “The sword of the grandmothers (reference to the heroines’ name by locals) disappeared last night. The thief is not aware of…
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Man found dead in Thalang bathroom
A Thai man has been found dead inside the bathroom of his house in Thalang yesterday (June 24). The Thalang Police were notified of the incident at a house at the Prompan Housing estate in Paklok yesterday afternoon. Police and rescue workers arrived at the scene to find the body of a 27 year old man lying on the floor.…
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Indonesia: Selamat Datang. Work here? Then learn the language.
Living as an expat in south east asia has enough challenges, with paperwork, immigration demands, visas, visa runs, cultural differences. For businesspeople it can be increasingly demanding with requirements for ‘owning’ and running a business. Imagine, in Thailand, if having to learn the Thai language was an actual requirement. Many of us living here enjoy learning the local tongue, but…
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Bangkok: Invitation accepted – 30 political parties will meet for talks Monday
Thirty Thai political parties have accepted the invitation to meet Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan at tomorrow’s (Monday) meeting hosted by the government. The government promised this ‘getting to know you session’ as part of the roadmap towards the next election, scheduled for February. Gen Prawit says the meeting scheduled for June 25 will be attended by representatives of at least…
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Chiang Mai: European tourist catches Legionnaires’ Disease in hotel
A European tourist, his nationality has not been named, has succumbed to the Legionnaire bacteria in a Chiang Mai hotel. A public health official in the northern city admits that the tourist went down with Legionnaires’ Disease after staying in Chiang Mai. He says that foreigners tend not to have resistance to the legionella bacteria that causes the condition. But added that…
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Bangkok: Crackdown on Grand Palace scammers
Another crackdown. This time, on one the oldest tourist scams on the books. Bangkok Post reported that 87 people were rounded up in an operation around the Grand Palace in Bangkok following complaints of foreign visitors being pressured into purchasing unwanted services. “A total of 87 people were arrested in the operation of which 68 were booked for violating traffic regulations…
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Pattaya: Russian on overstay, and his wife, arrested for stealing motorbike
Pattaya Police have arrested a Russian man after stealing a motorbike from a Hungarian in the seaside party town earlier this month. 26 year old Vladimir Zhulabrev allegedly stole a motorbike belonging to retired Hungarian doctor 71 year old Gabor Tamas Pethoe while it was parked outside a condo in the Nong Prue area on June 10. Police arrested Zhulabrev…
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Thai PM confirms February election during visit to UK
by Vipaporn Pooritanasarn Thai PM General Prayut Chan-ocha has confirmed the the country will hold a general election early next year along with readiness to strengthen trade ties with England. He’s made the statement during his visit to the UK this week. General Prayut had talks with Speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Fowler about promoting trading opportunities between the…
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Crackdown on mediums and fortune tellers
PHOTO: CIB commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Thitirat Nongharnpitak The Police from the Crime Suppression and Technology Crime Suppression divisions are embarking on a nationwide clampdown on mediums, clairvoyants and fortune-tellers. they’re especially concerned about those who claim they have connections with members of Thailand’s royal family. The Central Investigation Bureau commissioner say that most mediums are engaging in activities to fool the gullible…
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Phuket Surf Series 2018
The Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket office, in collaboration with Surfing Thailand and the Phuket Surfing Club, is hosting the Phuket Surf Series 2018 from June to October this year. A media briefing was held yesterday at SurfHouse Phuket in Patong in spectacular sunshine. Just across the road, at Patong Beach, the monsoon surf was surging into the west coast…
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Phuket: Andaman Hotelier and Tourism Fair 2018
The event is being held on June 22-24 from 10am to 9pm at the Central Festival Home Work’s side under the concept Green and Innovation. The event was officially opened on June 22 by Phuket Vice Governor Thawornwat Kongkaew and Deputy Director of the Phuket Office of Tourism Authority of Thailand Montri Manator. They say the Fair aims to support and…
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Chiang Mai: New Zealander accused of masterminding murder of his Korean mother Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai police have arrested a New Zealander for allegedly masterminding the murder of his Korean mother by setting it up as quarrel between his wife and his elderly mother. 50 year old Brian Lee was arrested and charged with masterminding the murder of 76 year old An Jung Ja at a house in the Mountain View village in Tambon…
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Phuket: Two arrested in Rawai over illegal football gambling
Two Thai men have been arrested in Rawai after they were found to be illegally gambling on World Cup football matches. Yesterday afternoon a team of officials from the Chalong Police arrested 55 year old Gosri ‘Boon’ Rueangrit and 30 year old Sriwawut Rueangrit at a house in Rawai. Police seized four books of loan lists from Gosri, a bank…
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How much would you pay for a plastic amulet?
The shenanigans at the Kathu Temple, where Chinese tour buses are arriving daily in their droves to purchase ‘lucky’ and ‘magic’ amulets, continues. This time two Dutch tourists, interested to visit a temple and check out the alleged lucky amulets, were horrified by what they discovered. The two, who have asked us not to publish their names, visited the temple…
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Narathiwat: 40 pipe bombs seized at a checkpoint on busy highway
Police in Narathiwat have uncovered 40 pipe bombs together with other potential bomb-making paraphernalia from a pickup truck at a checkpoint. The pick-up was travelling on the Sungai Kolok-Takbai highway in the southern province of Narathiwat. Thai PBS are reporting that highway police set up a checkpoint on the main north-south highway. Around midday, a gold-coloured Isuzu pick-up approached the…
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WhatsApp stopping support on millions of smartphones – are you affected?
Tech.ThaiVisa are reporting that WhatsApp has quietly announced that it will stop working on a number of iPhones and Android devices. The Facebook-owned messaging platform, which boasts 1.5 billion users worldwide, will cut off millions of users from its service within the next two years. WhatsApp announced the death knell for older smartphones in a blog post titled “support for…
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Thais don’t have enough savings – Gen Y, Gen X
Most working Thais only enough savings to last them about six months if they stopped working, or became unemployed. According to a study from the Customer Insights Centre of the Thai Military Bank, the premise particularly affects the Gen Y and Gen x groups. Generation X – Born: 1966-1976, Generation Y (Echo Boomers or Millennium) – Born: 1977-1994 The study is based on…
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Songkhla: Pet dog leads family to missing boy
A faithful dog has led a family of a missing five year ld boy to a Songkhla reservoir. Sadly, it turned out that the youngster had already drowned. The body of Panattha Thammaro resurfaced at about 8am this morning (Friday). The family said the boy disappeared from home at 3pm Thursday and couldn’t be found. Then at 8pm the dog, named…
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Chiang Mai: Virtual Stadium coming to Central Festival
A Virtual Stadium is coming to Chiang Mai for World Cup fans. The Central Pattana Group, together with Kasikorn Bank and Chang, are bringing what is described as the Virtual Stadium to Central Festival in Chiang Mai for just two days according to a press release. To satisfy the thirst of Thai football fans, the three organisations are transforming the…
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Soi Dog – Going, going green!
To celebrate the World Environment Day on June 5, 2018, the Soi Dog Foundation implemented a series of actions to reduce its carbon footprint as well as improve its Corporate Social Responsibility and ‘best practice.’ While the core mission of the Foundation remains the same, Soi Dog now goes one step further by measuring the impact of its work within…
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Saleng driver escapes side-car gas bottle fire
A saleng (motorbike side car) has caught fire after a cooking gas leak today (June 22) in Kathu. Officers at the Kathu Municipality were notified about the incident on Phra Phuket Kaew Road near the Bang Chak Gas Station around 11am. Kathu Police and fire fighters arrived at the scene to find a Honda and its side car (saleng) on fire.…
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Two motorbike taxi drivers arrested in public transport drug crackdown
A team of officials led by the Provincial Police Region 8 Police have conducted drug and alcohol tests in a campaign at the new Phuket Bus terminal in Rassada yesterday (June 21). The campaign ran from 3-5pm. Sarawut Pakdee, a law enforcement officer of the Provincial Police Region 8 says, “Phuket’s Governor Norraphat Plodthong is very concerned about public transport safety…
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Nine arrested in Phuket drunk-driving campaign
Nine people have been arrested during random checks last night (June 21)around Phuket Town. A team from the Phuket City Police set up a checkpoint from 8.30pm to 11.30pm on Pa Lean Road in Phuket Town to enforce traffic rules and conduct random alcohol breath tests. 88 drivers had alcohol breath tests. Nine of them were found over the alcohol…
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Politics: Yingluck’s first public message in 10 months
Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra has spoken out for the first time since she fled Thailand nearly 10 months saying thank you to her supporters for their birthday wishes. Khaosod English reports that Yingluck, who remains immensely popular among ‘red shirt’ supporters, despite her exile, said her influential brother, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, also treated her to two meals on the…
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Songkhla: Army recruit, high on methamphetamine, shoots friend
CCTV footage from Songkhla in southern Thailand shows an army recruit, on leave, in an apparent drug fueled rampage. 22 year old Jetsarin Siri was back home from Kanyaniwatana Camp in Narathiwat and was taking methamphetamine pills with his friend 26 year old Janthaya Chumchart when an argument allegedly broke out. Thai Rath reports that the man drew a gun on…
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School teacher humiliates student over unpaid school fees
A mother is crying foul after she claims her son was humiliated by a teacher who stuck a note on his shirt saying he owed 700 baht in unpaid school fees. The names of the mother, her son and the school have been withheld although you can trace back the original post on Thai Facebook pages. The mother posted the…
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