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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. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.

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    How one hospital visit in Thailand could cost more than your whole trip

    Thailand is a favourite spot for travellers who want to enjoy more while spending less. From cheap street food to low-cost hotels and fun attractions, it’s easy to stretch your budget here. But there’s one thing many people don’t think...

  • Singaporean and Thai swindler couple arrested in Malaysia

    Singaporean and Thai swindler couple arrested in Malaysia

    The Singaporean and Thai couple who allegedly swindled millions of dollars in luxury goods has been arrested in Malaysia on Thursday. The couple, 26 year old Singaporean man Pi Jiapeng, and 27 year old Thai woman Siriwipa, were caught by Malaysian police at a budget hotel in the city of Skudai in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor. The husband and…

  • Author Salman Rushdie stabbed at New York lecture

    Author Salman Rushdie stabbed at New York lecture

    Booker Prize winning author Salman Rushdie has been attacked on stage in New York City. The 75 year old writer was speaking at an event at the Chautauqua Institution when a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer. Rushdie was stabbed in the neck before he was rushed to hospital by helicopter His condition…

  • Daily trains begin between Malaysian border and Bangkok

    Daily trains begin between Malaysian border and Bangkok

    With Covid-19 policies winding down in Thailand, many expats may be faced once again with the dreaded border runs that many types of visas require. A little good news though – the State Railway of Thailand is adding two new trains running from Bangkok to the popular Malaysian border crossing town of Padang Besar. The route kicked off yesterday. Last…

  • Virologist predicts most of Thailand will have had Covid by 2023

    Virologist predicts most of Thailand will have had Covid by 2023

    If avoiding the coronavirus feels futile at this point, maybe it is. According to one of the country’s top virologists, by about the end of this year, nearly everyone in Thailand will have been infected with Covid-19. The chief of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Department of Paediatrics of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine Yong Poovorawan…

  • Armed robber escapes with gold worth 800,000 baht in Thailand

    Armed robber escapes with gold worth 800,000 baht in Thailand

    Ban Pong Police is on the lookout for an armed robber who held up a gold shop inside Big C in Baan Pong district and got away with about 800,000 baht worth of gold. Police made known the robber barged his way into the Aurora gold shop at 6.40pm, located on the Ban Pong-Sam Krachab Intersection Road in the municipality…

  • Foreigner faces prison for Parrotfishing in Thailand

    Foreigner faces prison for Parrotfishing in Thailand

    The foreigner seen parrotfishing in the sea off Thailand is facing a five-year prison sentence and a 20,000 baht fine if he is caught. A TikTok video clip of the man emerged on social media yesterday with three parrotfishes, one moray eel, and two other unidentified fish in Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park in Krabi province, causing…

  • Woman escapes death after car hit by fallen debris in Bangkok

    Woman escapes death after car hit by fallen debris in Bangkok

    Contractors face a heavy compensation claim after a woman escaped death when some loose tarpaulin smashed into the car she was driving in Bangkok’s Bang Khunthien district. The woman, Thichakorn Photalay, was driving down Rama II Road to her home in Samut Sakhon’s Mahachai area last night when a large piece of tarpaulin full of rainwater fell off an expressway…

  • Thai paramilitary ranger kills two, injures one after row in bar

    Thai paramilitary ranger kills two, injures one after row in bar

    A Thai paramilitary ranger faces prison after killing two people and injuring one after a row broke out in the early hours of this morning in a bar in the Muang district in the southern border province. The 25 year old ranger, Hadchaicharn (surname withheld), shot and killed one man, stabbed a woman to death, and shot and injured another…

  • Thailand getting high on cannabis boost to tourist economy

    Thailand getting high on cannabis boost to tourist economy

    Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha recently reported the government is expecting about 10 million tourists to hit the kingdom before the end of the year and it reports are true, most of them plan on getting high. The Thai government removed cannabis and hemp plants from its banned narcotics list on June 9 leaving people in Thailand free to grow and…

  • Anupong says he will leave government with PM Prayut & Prawit

    Anupong says he will leave government with PM Prayut & Prawit

    If the Constitutional Court decides, as many polled believe, that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s eight years in charge are at an end, Minister of Interior Anupong Paochinda says that he and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan would also depart the government. The trio sometimes referred to as the Three Por Generals or the 3 Ps have run the country since the…

  • Thailand’s economy grows but it still misses China’s cash

    Thailand’s economy grows but it still misses China’s cash

    A new poll revealed Thailand’s economy grew at its fastest in a year over the last quarter but the kingdom’s outlook is still threatened by the high cost of living and China’s decision to maintain a zero-Covid-19 policy. The Thai economy grew largely because of tourism and the government’s decision to relax entry rules into Thailand such as the Thai…

  • Three bars shut down in Bangkok lacking licenses, Covid safety

    Three bars shut down in Bangkok lacking licenses, Covid safety

    Possibly in the wake of the deadly fire at Mountain B Pub which prompted inspections of entertainment venues across Thailand, particularly in Bangkok, police shut down three bars in popular capital hotspots for operating illegally. Otto Bar in Sukhumvit Soi 22 and Emerald Club and Krystal Club, both in Thong Lor were shut down yesterday. Otto Bar was shut down…

  • Bangkok OAP arrested after slapstick armed robbery of gold shop

    Bangkok OAP arrested after slapstick armed robbery of gold shop

    An old-aged pensioner dramatically gasped “It’s the end of the road” after police arrested him for the armed robbery of a gold shop which was pure slapstick in the Bang Kae District of Bangkok. The 70 year old man stole 17 gold necklaces from the Yaowarat MGold store in what was arguably the slowest robbery and getaway in stickup history.…

  • Phuket officials say no human trafficking cases found in island province

    Phuket officials say no human trafficking cases found in island province

    Thailand is notorious for its human trafficking problems, but a Phuket government sub-committee says it has found no human trafficking cases on the island province. The sub-committee works with the Phuket Provincial Trafficking Prevention and Suppression Action Center. At a meeting at City Hall yesterday, Phuket’s vice governor said the sub-committee’s efforts are focusing on five key areas of human…

  • Hong Kong seizes 20 million baht of heroin hidden in Thai kickboxing pads

    Hong Kong seizes 20 million baht of heroin hidden in Thai kickboxing pads

    The Customs Office of Hong Kong proved it packs a punch when it seized 20 million baht of heroin hidden in kickboxing pads imported from Thailand and arrested a 40 year old man in the process. The government of Hong Kong reported yesterday that 5 kilograms of heroin, worth about 20 million baht, were seized at Chek Lap Kok International…

  • Nigerian and Vietnamese couple found dead linked to drug trade

    Nigerian and Vietnamese couple found dead linked to drug trade

    The two foreign nationals found buried in a forest in northeast Thailand last month might have been linked to the drug trade, according to the national police. The couple, a 38 year old Nigerian man and a 33 year old Vietnamese woman was found buried in a forest in Nakhon Ratchasima province on July 28. Today, Thailand’s national police chief…

  • Mountain B victims to be compensated by Thailand govt

    Mountain B victims to be compensated by Thailand govt

    Families of victims of the Mountain B fire tragedy in Chon Buri last week will each receive 110,000 baht compensation from the government, the Thai Justice Minister announced. The tragedy claimed its 17th victim this morning, Lt. Cl. Palitdet Chumngern, a marine in the Royal Thai Navy, died at 7.54am at Sririraj Hospital. A Thai Ministry of Justice meeting yesterday…

  • ICS creates a significant phenomenon on the Thon Buri area, collaborating with famous brand partners

    ICS creates a significant phenomenon on the Thon Buri area, collaborating with famous brand partners

    Press Release ICS Creates a Significant Phenomenon on the Thon Buri Area, Collaborating with Famous Brand Partners – Lotus, Hilton Garden Inn and Innovative Health and Lifestyle Center – to Empower the Potential of Prime Location Connecting ICONSIAM to be an Impeccable City. New mixed-use lifestyle town, inclusive of retail, office tower and hotel Reinforcing the No. 1 prime location…

  • Free noodles for beach cleaners after Pattaya Music Festival mess

    Free noodles for beach cleaners after Pattaya Music Festival mess

    Music festivals are fun, but they often create heaps of trash. One Pattaya noodle vendor felt sympathy for some beach cleaners dealing with the mess from the Pattaya Music Festival this past weekend. So she decided to treat them to her noodles for free. The vendor, 51 year old Walaiphan, said she saw how hard everyone was working to clean…

  • CCSA to give thumbs up to 4am licensing in Thailand next week

    CCSA to give thumbs up to 4am licensing in Thailand next week

    The Tourism and Sports Minister yesterday revealed the department needs Centre of Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) approval before it can extend licensing hours from 2am to 4am. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn acknowledged that many people don’t want opening hours extended across the country but the minister insists it is necessary for the greater economic good of Thailand. The extended entertainment hours apply…

  • Death toll of Mountain B fire rises to 17

    Death toll of Mountain B fire rises to 17

    Another person injured in the Mountain B fire died in hospital this morning, raising the total death toll of the tragedy to 17. The blaze which swept through the nightclub in Sattahip district, Chon Buri province, happened a week ago today. Lt. Cl. Palitdet Chumngern, a marine in the Royal Thai Navy, died at 7.54am this morning at Sririraj Hospital,…

  • Bangkok No.1 in Asia-Pacific for MICE destinations

    Bangkok No.1 in Asia-Pacific for MICE destinations

    A report by a consulting firm in international conferences ranked Bangkok as the No.1 place in the Asia-Pacific region for its power to leverage its knowledge leaders in international associations to attract international conventions. Australia-based GainingEdge released its latest report on “Leveraging Intellectual Capital” which shows that Bangkok has local knowledge leaders dominating positions on the boards of 194 international associations and that…

  • Covid-19 “hospitel” isolation in Thailand to end September 1

    Covid-19 “hospitel” isolation in Thailand to end September 1

    One option for Covid-19 patients with no or mild symptoms in Thailand is to check into a hotel designated for Covid-19 isolation, known as a “hospitel,” but not for much longer. The remaining “hospitels” are set to change back to regular hotels on September 1, according to the Director-General of the Department of Health Service Support Dr Thares Krasaniyarawiwong. The…

  • UPDATE: Chon Buri police couldn’t find victim of car crash… on the back seat

    UPDATE: Chon Buri police couldn’t find victim of car crash… on the back seat

    UPDATE The Director of the Inter-City Motorway Division, Highway Department, Thanasak Wongthanakijcharoen, defended his highway officers after they were criticised for their slapstick approach to a car crash investigation which couldn’t find the body of the dead driver in the rear of the vehicle. The director said his team didn’t look for the driver’s corpse because it is a department…

  • BKFC THAILAND 3: Moment of truth set for September 3

    BKFC THAILAND 3: Moment of truth set for September 3

    Press Release Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) Thailand presented by Singha is set to return with an electrifying third event on Saturday, September 3, 2022, live from the world-famous Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok. The event is set to begin at 6:00 PM ICT/11:00 AM GMT/7:00 AM EST, and will be available worldwide on the BKFC app. Book for the event…

  • Opposition to Thailand govt hosting former Sri Lanka president

    Opposition to Thailand govt hosting former Sri Lanka president

    The former president of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is expected to travel from Singapore to Thailand today to seek temporary shelter. But an international relations expert suggests the Thai government shouldn’t host an official ceremony to welcome the ex-leader as the issue is politically sensitive. The 73 year old Rajapaksa was pressured to leave his position as president of Sri…

  • UPDATE: Sri Lanka’s exiled president allowed temporary Thailand stay, with conditions

    UPDATE: Sri Lanka’s exiled president allowed temporary Thailand stay, with conditions

    UPDATE Sri Lanka’s exiled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be allowed to stay in Thailand for 90 days, according to Thailand’s Deputy PM Don Pramudwinai. Don is also Thailand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Don told Thai media that he understands Sri Lankans are angry at their former president, and he stressed that Gotabaya will only be allowed to stay for a…

  • UPDATE: Thailand introduces fine for not wearing seat belt in the back seat

    UPDATE: Thailand introduces fine for not wearing seat belt in the back seat

    UPDATE: The Royal Thai Police will go easy on people who break the new seat belt law “in the early phase” according to Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau Pol. Maj. Gen. Jirasan Kaewsaeng-ek. The officer confirmed yesterday that from September 5, the driver and all passengers – including those in the back seat – are required by law…

  • Modernform opens up a space of inspiration at its new home on Soi Sukhumvit 49

    Modernform opens up a space of inspiration at its new home on Soi Sukhumvit 49

    Press Release Modernform Group Public Company Limited, Thailand’s leading office and home furniture brand, invites everyone to find inspiration to fulfil their lifestyle needs at its new showroom, which is unlike anything you have seen. To create its new showroom, the brand has turned a heritage house into a lifestyle community right in the heart of Bangkok. Based on a design…

  • 2018 Thai cave rescue inspires new attraction in Chiang Rai

    2018 Thai cave rescue inspires new attraction in Chiang Rai

    Taking inspiration from the 2018 cave rescue in the northern province of Chiang Rai, one billion baht will be invested in a new attraction and exhibition called The Caventure. A soft opening is expected in October next year. The 17-day rescue in 2018, or the Tham Luang cave rescue, at Tham Luang Nang Non Cave in Chiang Rai, was an…