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 How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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3 new cases from repatriation flights and state quarantine-Covid-19 update (July 13)
Today, Thailand reports 3 new confirmed cases from people on repatriation flights and in state quarantine centres. No additional deaths been reported, bringing the total amount of cases currently to 3,220 and 58 deaths (although a man has died of a heart attack whilst at a quarantine facility). According to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, the Kingdom currently has…
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Cambodian accused of compatriot’s murder on fishing boat
A Cambodian crewman is accused of murdering a fellow national on a fishing boat off the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat in the Gulf of Thailand. The deputy chief of Tha Sala police said the skipper of the fishing boat reported the death by calling in via radio. The alleged killer, 41 year old Long Nai, was handed over…
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US man dies from Covid-19 after attending ‘coronavirus party’
“They don’t look really sick. But when you check their oxygen levels and their lab tests, they’re really sicker than they appear.” A 30 year old American has died from the coronavirus after attending a “Covid-19” party in the state of Texas that was hosted by an infected person. Jane Appleby, chief medical officer at the Methodist Hospital in San…
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Frenchman in Indonesia may face death by firing squad after child abuse charges
A 65 year old Frenchman may be sentenced to death by firing squad after being arrested in Indonesia on charges of child abuse. Francois Camille Abello is charged with sexually abusing over 300 children and physically abusing those who wouldn’t agree to have sex with him. Police say they found young girls in a Jakarta hotel room where they had…
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Police arrest 16 Chinese nationals for illegal crossing from Myanmar
Police in the northern province of Tak have detained 16 Chinese nationals accused of crossing illegally into Thailand from Myanmar. The suspects say they’ve lost their jobs as casino workers as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. Thai Residents reports that officials found the group floating in the Moey river, which borders Thailand and Myanmar. It’s understood some of them…
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Entertainment industry calls for 2am closing times
A leading representative of Thailand’s entertainment and nightlife industry is urging the Department of Disease Control to allow the country’s entertainment venues to close at 2 am instead of the current closing time of midnight. The meeting was held yesterday at the Chatuchak Newspaper building and called “Brainstorming to help save the economy and revive tourism.” Thanawat Srisuk, the industry…
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30 year old Texan dies after attending a “Covid party”
A 30 year old man has died from Covid-19 after attending, what are termed as, a “Covid-19 party”. The ‘party’ was hosted by an infected person. Doctors are wanting to urge people to appreciate the underlining risks to younger people. The dead man was from Texas. Medical officials who attended to the man say he thought the virus was a…
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Electric company worker severely shocked, injured in 5 metre fall
An electrical company worker has suffered critical injuries after an electric shock caused him to fall 5 metres to the ground in Chon Buri’s Si Racha district this morning. 36 year old Adisak Bunsong, an employee of the Bueng Provincial Electricity Authority, was installing and changing electrical wires 5 metres above the ground on Road 331, near Village number 6,…
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Poll shows most Thais still oppose foreign arrivals
A recent survey carried out by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, shows that a majority of Thais still oppose opening the country to foreigners, even if they’re not infected with Covid-19, saying the global coronavirus situation is still very serious. The poll was conducted on July 6-8 on 1,251 people aged 18 and over, of various…
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Koh Lan to get “neo” branding to attract tourists
The popular resort island of Koh Lan, about 8 kilometres off the Pattaya coast in the Gulf of Thailand, will become “Neo Koh Lan”, as Pattaya is being upgraded as a tourism and investment hub under the Thai government’s poster economic project, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme. Pattaya’s mayor says the island, along with Koh Sichang (north of Koh Lan)…
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Chon Buri and eastern provinces brace for heavy localised rain storms
Thailand’s Meteorological Department is forecasting “isolated heavy rains for the Eastern part of Thailand” in the forecast period, including Chon Buri. “The southwest monsoon prevails across the Andaman Sea and Thailand cause less rain in the North, the Northeast and the Central. The easterly wind and the southeasterly wind prevail over the Northeast, the East and the South because isolated…
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Busy motorbike thieves nabbed in Chon Buri
Police in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district have arrested 2 prolific motorbike thieves. Officers of Police Region 2 announced that 2 suspects, identified as 31 year old Eakkachai ‘Ton’ Jantamoon and 34 year old Manas ‘Dam’ Saeueang, were arrested at a room in Soi Sukhumwit 31. Officers seized 8 vehicles in total. The pair have been charged with multiple counts of…
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Former PM Abhisit, Thanathorn promote welfare state in Thailand
A former PM of Thailand is criticising the administration of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha for what he called the “lack of improvement in people’s livelihoods” and the absence of a solid welfare system. Former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva made the comment during a seminar on socio-economic issues yesterday. The seminar was organised by We Fair, a group advocating turning Thailand into a…
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Covid-19 UPDATE: All the latest news from the world – July 12
Today the total number of Covid-19 patients in the world has reached 12,847,288 with 567,734 people dying due to the effects of the virus. 7,483,246 people are registered as ‘recovered’ from their bout of Covid-19. The numbers of new cases, worldwide, is accelerating. The current hotspots are the US, Brazil, India, South Africa and Mexico – presenting with the highest…
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Sexual assault, not theft, motive for spiked water bottles – Police
In an unexpected development to a story which has recently made headlines, police in Nonthaburi, just north of Bangkok, now claim sex, rather than theft, was the likely motivation behind the cases of spiked water bottles of joggers at a public park. On Friday police announced progress in the investigation into cases at the park in the government complex, following…
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One third of tourism businesses could go under due to Covid-19
The president of the Tourism Council of Thailand is warning that close to a third of tourism-related businesses are likely to be permanently shuttered in the second half of this year, due to the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. Chairat Trirattanajarasporn says many will simply run out of liquidity to keep their businesses afloat and be forced to close up…
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Motorcyclist, gazing at phone, plummets from Bangkok bridge
A man is dead after plummeting 10 metres from Bangkok’s Rama 3 bridge yesterday. Police and rescue workers were called to an area below the bridge and found the body of a 43 year old motorcyclist, identified only as “Kiatpong.” Still on the bridge was his Honda Zoomer-X scooter, and there was evidence of scratches along the bridge wall. He appeared…
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Rare big cats spotted in Thai national park
The Facebook page of Khlong Lan National Park in Thailand’s northwestern Kamphaeng Phet province, report that camera traps, set up to track the population of tigers, instead managed to capture a sighting of a black panther and leopard. “The appearance of the panther and leopard prove that the forest has become more abundant and attracted the return of these animals…
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Bangkok online booze peddlers busted, 2 million baht in untaxed alcohol seized
Last week the country’s top alcohol regulator approved a draft law to ban online alcohol sales. Yesterday, synchronised raids on 2 Bangkok addresses resulted in 6 arrests and the seizure of of foreign liquor and wine valued at 2 million baht. The first raid was a house used as a distribution centre in Ram Intra Soi 61. 5 men and women…
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Hong Kong shutters schools again amid new virus transmissions
Hong Kong’s education minister says that all schools will close again from Monday after a spike in locally transmitted Covid-19 infections. The move will bring forward the start of the summer holidays, after the city recorded an “exponential growth” of locally transmitted cases in the past few days. The city recorded 38 new confirmed cases yesterday alone, 32 of which…
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Covid-19 UPDATE: 14 new cases found in quarantine; biggest increase in weeks
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 14 new cases of Covid-19 this morning, the biggest jump in several weeks. All were found in state quarantine and were imported cases by repatriated Thais; Thailand has not reported a domestically transmitted case in 47 days. Among the 14 new cases is a 9 year old who travelled with her family. •…
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Ratchaburi explosion injures 4
4 people are injured in the western border province of Ratchaburi, 1 seriously, after an explosion caused by a gas leak at a food shop in the central city district this morning. The blast occurred on the ground floor of a 3 storey commercial building opposite Boromrajonani College of Nursing, according to police, who were notified at around 6:30am. Firefighters…
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“Travel bubbles” to require minimum 2 week stay
“Travel bubble” tourists who visit Thailand during its soft and timid reopening phase, tentatively scheduled for August, may have to spend 14 days in designated areas. Then, a negative test for Covid-19 after 2 weeks would free them up to go anywhere in the Kingdom. Thailand’s tourism and sports minister says he’s met with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha about creating travel…
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Bangkok clinics in 72 million baht fraud scandal
The National Health Security Office has registered a complaint against 18 clinics in Bangkok, and thousands of patients will be questioned by police investigating an alleged 72 million baht in fraudulent claims under the government’s 30 baht scheme, also known as the “gold card” scheme. Police said yesterday that as many as 10,000 patients of the rogue clinics may be…
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“I already lost heart years ago” – Thailand’s economic Tzar ponders his fate
Thailand’s Deputy PM and leading economic advisor, Somkid Jatusripitak, has acknowledged his fate if PM Prayut Chan-o-cha decides to reshuffle the cabinet. “A decision to shake up the cabinet is the prerogative of the prime minister.” “I have been prepared for a long time. I am old now. I already lost heart years ago.” Mr Somkid has long been proclaimed…
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Posters of missing persons removed by Ubon University security
Prompted by the abduction of Thai activist Wanchalearm Satisakit in Cambodia, a student group called “Kob Plerng” (คบแพลิง) at Isaan’s Ubon Ratchatani University put up a string of posters of people assumed to be abducted by the Thai state. They were removed by university security this week. Ubon Ratchatani is one of the four major city centres in Isaan, north…
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Quotas for returning Australians to be halved amid Melbourne outbreak
As Australia struggles with a new Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne, Australian PM Scott Morrison has announced that from this Monday he’s cutting the number of Australians allowed to reenter the country by half – from 8,000 to only 4,000 daily. He says the move is needed to devote resources to countering the “very concerning” domestic virus surge. Authorities there have…
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Covid-19 UPDATE: All the latest news from the world
Today the total number of Covid-19 patients in the world has nearly reached 12,625,155 with 562,769 people succumbing to the effects of the disease. Over 7.3 million people are registered as ‘recovered’ from their bout of Covid-19. The numbers of new cases, worldwide, is accelerating. The current hotspots are the US, Brazil, India, South Africa and Mexico – presenting with the…
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Over 1,400 arrested, fined for illegal motorbike races in Udon Thani
In a move reminiscent of last week’s public shaming in Chon Buri, police in the northern province of Udon Thani have hired a local steamroller to destroy hundreds of illegally modified motorcycle mufflers. More than 1,400 alleged street racers were arrested and almost 370 motorcycles seized in a week long crackdown on illegal racing in the province. Udon Thani’s police…
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Thai sports minister optimistic about Olympic boxing gold
Thailand’s minister of tourism and sports says he’s optimistic that Thai boxers will win a gold medal at next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games (if the Games are held at all). Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn visited the national team’s training camp at the National Sports Training Centre in Saraburi province, northeast of Bangkok. He was accompanied by the governor of the Sports Authority…
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