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 Planning to extend your Thai visa? Why health insurance is more important than ever
If you plan to stay longer in Thailand, having health insurance is now more important than ever. Thai immigration often asks for proof of medical coverage when you apply to extend your visa. This applies to many types of visas,...
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Thai Department of Land Transport brings better tech into the classroom
The Department of Land Transport is going to use fingerprint scanners, e-classrooms and CCTV as it aims to improve standards in the country’s driving schools. There are 275 DLT certified driving schools in 66 provinces across Thailand. Privately operated, they are given DLT quality guidelines which they must follow to maintain the level of their training and testing procedures. DLT…
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Si Sa Ket province declares dengue emergency
The northeastern province of Si Sa Ket, on the Cambodian border, has declared that the prevention and control of dengue fever required urgent attention throughout its area. Local health officials say they are now especially concerned about what will happen during the last three months of the annual wet season. Governor Weerasak Wichitsaengsi signed a Memorandum of Understanding for dengue…
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Southern rebel remains unresponsive in hospital following alleged torture
Thai security officials have confirmed that four more people were killed in a late-night attack on July 24 by Muslim insurgents on a military outpost in the southern province of Pattani. Militants struck the remote base throwing grenades and laying down nearly an hour of automatic fire. The attack is considered “payback’ for the alleged torture of Abdulloh Esormusor. Human Rights…
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Four teenagers arrested for attacking police
4 teenagers were arrested and charged on Sunday with attacking 2 policemen in front of a nightclub in the north-east province of Nakhon Phanom, near the banks of the Mekong River. Sanook reports that the incident occurred happened around midnight on July 28 after an argument broke out between the teenagers and police. After the argument started to get physical,…
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Human traffickers leave 6 Rohingya starving in abandoned building in Hat Yai
PHOTOS: Workpoint News Six Rohingya were left to die in an abandoned building located in Hat Yai, Songkhla. Members of the group eventaully left the building in search of food and officials are now searching for more hiding in the area. They had been waiting there for 5 days. Thai Police were notified by nearby villagers yesterday trying to assist…
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Leonardo DiCaprio praises Thailand for efforts to increase the population of wild tigers
American actor, film producer, and environmentalist, Leonardo DiCaprio, has praised Thailand for its efforts to increase the population of wild tigers in the Huai Kha Kheng wildlife sanctuary in Thailand’s western forests. On Global Tiger Day (July 29), DiCaprio shared his enthusiasm for south east asian tigers. “In Thailand’s Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife sanctuary, tigers are roaring back thanks to a…
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Toon is on the run again for hospitals in the Andaman region
Yesterday (July 30), Atiwara Kongmalai, aka Toon Bodyslam, met with Dr. Supot Pukaoluan, The Director of Krabi Hospital, to discuss about his marathon-running-charity project, Kao Khon La Kao. Toon will be running in parts of the Andaman region in October to raise funds for five hospitals The five government hospitals which will be recipients of funds raised from the running…
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British and Australian expats and tourists ponder the Thai baht
The British pound continues to sag against the strong Thai Baht. And things are predicted to worsen for British tourists and local expats relying on funds out of the UK, as analysts predict the GBP to drop further as the date approaches for a ‘no deal’ Brexit and the Thai Baht continues to surge. As of 11.30am Thai time, the…
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Thai police in the Laos capital searching for gold thieves
Khon Kaen provincial police headed over the Laotian border to the Laos capital Vientiane after learning that a pair of Thai gold shop robbers had fled over the border, according to sanook.com. The robbers fled to Vientiane with gold ornaments and jewellery valued around 10 million baht they stole from the Khon Kaen gold shop on July 27. Police say that…
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Policeman recovering after parachute jump lands him in overhead electrical wires
PHOTO: Thai Rath A policeman, doing parachute training in Cha-Am, remains in serious condition after a parachute jump last Friday went bad during the landing. This incident was a training exercise. A video clip shows ten trainees at the end of their jump when a slight gust threw the man off course landing him in electric cabling. He had to…
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Young Thai caught between a rock and a hard place in Satun
A 20 year old Thai has been rescued from getting stuck in a rock crevice for nine hours. Sanook reported that the man was out looking for wild orchids with a friend on Saturday. He fell down into a rock crevice before being found and rescued by local foundation rescue volunteers. The incident happened at the Phu Pa Phet Cave…
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Bangkok’s expat rental trends changing
The number of Japanese expats in Thailand dropped to lower than 20% of the total expats in Thailand for the first time, dropping to 34,133 as of April 2019, a 4% decline year on year, according to CBRE. CBRE are reporting a change in demand and an impact on the rental apartment sector in Bangkok, despite a healthy performance. Typically, they…
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Cambodian petrol station attendant shot in Nakhon Ratchasima
A Cambodian working at a Thai petrol station has been shot in Nakhon Ratchasima. He was resting, sitting at a table at the time of the incident. The shooting took place on July 27 around midnight in the Pak Thong Chai district. The 30 year old Cambodian worker was shot in the head from behind by a young Thai man,…
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Grand Palace motorbike racers being sought by police
SCREENSHOT: Nation TV If there’s one location in Bangkok you just DON’T organise an illegal motorbike race… Bangkok police are looking for the teenage motorcyclists who organised a race outside the Grand Palace on Saturday night. The racing had wrapped by the time police arrived, but surveillance cameras and videos posted on social media have provided enough clues for police…
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UPDATE: ‘Flight of the Gibbon’ ride in Chiang Mai open again
UPDATE: We have been contacted by the Flight of the Gibbon management and assured that the popular zipline attraction is open again and sorted out from its previous problems. They have been open again since June 2019. PHOTOS: Guruchiangmai The ‘Flight of the Gibbon’ zipline ride in Chiang Mai has been ordered to temporarily shut down while an investigation continues…
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Top 5 things Phuket hotel developers should know
by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Taking a 2020 view of Phuket’s hotel development pipeline that has now surpassed 15,000 new keys it’s hard not to be apprehensive. From a macro standpoint, the destination’s airlift and location are key success factors. But for the myriad cast of new and inexperienced hotel developers out there, perhaps a visit down Alice’s rabbit hole…
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5 metre King Cobra interrupted lunching on a monitor lizard in Krabi
Volunteer snake catchers from the Phitak Pracha rescue foundation were called to a house in Krabi. The owner of the Krabi house arrived home and heard her dogs barking. She went to investigate and found a five metre King Cobra making a meal out of a water monitor lizard. Anantaya Phonbamrungwong told Thai Rath that the tail of the water…
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TAT governor predicts Thailand tourism will bounce back in second half of 2019
Yuthasak Suphasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says all is good for tourist arrivals in Thailand. He predicted that 9.7 million foreigners were expected to visit in Q3 (July to September), up 7% year-on-year. He reported that trends show that domestic and foreign tourists will be spending 820 billion baht. That would be 9% up on the same…
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13 Bangkok passengers refused entry into Thailand by immigration police
PHOTO: Naew Na Region 2 immigration police at Suvarnabhumi airport report that they denied entry to 13 foreigners who weren’t able to provide proof of funds to support their travelling whilst visiting Thailand. Immigration officials claim the ‘tourists’ were not visiting Thailand for tourism. Apart from not being able to provide evidence of sufficient funds, the arriving passengers didn’t have…
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“The Great Hack” makes you think twice about how you use social media
It’s a documentary about Cambridge Analytica. You know, that dodgy company you’d never heard of until The Guardian and New York Times did some real reporting and dug into the deep, deep hole we’ve dug for ourselves by leaping into social media without reading the fine print. It’s a Netflix production as the online streamer continues to become a mainstream…
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Spanish tourist falls to his death at a waterfall trail on Koh Samui
PHOTO: Thai PBS A Spanish tourist fell to his death as he attempted to walk down from a waterfall on Koh Samui. The incident happened on Saturday and police believe the man’s death was an accident. Friends told police that 26 year old David Alejandro Rocamudi Conesa became separated from their group as they were exploring the Na Muang 2…
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Bangkok – that sinking feeling
The mighty Chao Phraya runs through the central plains and down into the flooding delta before heading out into the Gulf of Thailand. Great place for a city. Not surprisingly Bangkok suffers floods whenever the big rains come with most of the low-lying land around the delta only averaging around 1.5 metres above sea level. Whilst the city used to…
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Bangkok hosts ASEAN Foreign Ministers meetings from today
The 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting starts today. Representatives from more than 30 countries will attend the meetings. The regional talkfest is being held at Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre. Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai will chair the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and co-chair the Post Ministerial Conferences with the Dialogue Partners and other meetings. Other meetings include the…
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Thais across the country commemorate HM the King’s birthday
PHOTOS: The Nation To commemorate His Majesty the King’s birthday today, celebrations have been held around the country. In Songkhla the Fifth Artilleryman Battalion performed a 21 gun salute as a military honour to celebrate His Majesty’s 67th birthday. The firing of cannons from four artillery machines was performed at Mahavajiravudh Songkhla School in the Muang district of Songkhla province.…
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Super Poll report card on the first days of the new Thai Parliament
A Super Poll has published results of Thai’s thoughts on the first few days of the new Parliament. • 72% say they gained nothing from the debate in parliament on the government’s policy statement • 78.6% admit they did not believe political parties would fulfil their election pledges. • 27.2% of the respondents said they have benefitted from the debate…
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Thai Airways needs restructuring to survive
Store your tray table and buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride at Thai Airways. The airline’s president Sumeth Damrongchaitham say Thai Airways needs complete restructuring if it is to survive in the highly competitive aviation business. Sumeth said that under the restructuring, Thai Airways will focus more on the international market and link up with other members…
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Lights, camera, blog. TAT reaches out to online millennials.
PHOTO: Where in the World is Nina? With pressure on tourism authorities to come up with new ways to lure tourists to the Land Of Smiles and rebrand the tired ‘Amazing Thailand’ promotion, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have come up with the ‘Thailand Village Academy’. Stepping firmly into the world of online bloggers and social media, the TAT…
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Thai man sends online beautiful girlfriend 2.3 million baht – Doh!
Love is a beautiful thing. A Thai man has fallen in love with a beautiful woman on Facebook called Bai Por. The romance has blossomed online for more than two years, according to “Non”. He’s sent 2.3 million baht to her in money transfers, according to Sanook. Every time they’d made arrangements to finally meet up, Bai Por would postpone…
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Durian drives southern economy with new Chinese 700 million baht factory
A Chinese company has invested 700 million baht to establish a durian processing factory in Songkhla’s Thepha district. The establishment of the Kunming-based company in southern Thailand is an indication of the growing love for durian in China and a growing export potential for the ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ fruit. Manguwang Food Company will employ up to 1,200 workers at its 700 million…
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Happy Birthday to His Majesty the King
Happy Birthday to His Majesty the King, the first birthday celebrations of Thailand’s monarch since his Coronation in May. The government has organised religious and celebratory events in Bangkok and around the country today to honour His Majesty the King on his 67th birthday. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will lead government dignitaries and state officials in a rite offering alms…
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