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 9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...
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Two Indian tourists lose cash and a necklace to ladyboy thieves in Pattaya
PHOTOS: Pattaya Message Pattaya police are hunting ladyboys who allegedly stole money and a necklace from two Indian tourists in Pattaya City this morning. Pattaya Message reports that at 3.30am the Pattaya Police were notified of the incident near a hotel in South Pattaya. 26 year old Thilagaraj Balasubramanian Chedurpandian reported that he’d lost a necklace valued at 18,000 baht and 30…
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US tourists arrested in Pattaya for spraying graffiti on a car and walls in Bangkok – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Tourist Police Bureau Tourist police have arrested two American tourists in Pattaya who have graffitied walls and a pickup truck in Bangkok last week. A 24 year old woman and 28 year old man, both from the US, were arrested in Pattaya last night. They have admitted that there were three of them that sprayed paint onto public and…
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Hard Rock Café Phuket hosts charity concert on June 17 featuring ‘Da Endorphine’
Award-winning Thai popular singer ‘Da Endorphine’ is set to headline an intimate performance at Hard Rock Café Phuket, where fans will get the chance to rock out to the GMM-Grammy singer’s biggest hits and support a good cause. Just like the ‘feel-good’ vibe suggested by the popular singer’s stage name, the venue is sure to become a “pleasure centre” of musical…
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General Prayut Chan-o-cha is Thailand’s 29th Prime Minister
General Prayut Chan-o-cha was elected as Thailand’s next prime minister in a joint upper and lower house Parliamentary vote around 9pm last night following a day of intense debate. Prayut beat his opponent Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit from Future Forward Party with 500 to 244 votes. Three MPs abstained from voting and one was on a sick leave. 250 of the votes came from…
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17 survive as minivan flips over in Phattalung, southern Thailand
PHOTOS: Pattaung Rescue 17 people have survived after a minivan flipped over in Phattalung in Thailand’s south. Phattalung rescue workers were notified of the incident on the Phattalung –Trang Road in Phattalung province this afternoon. The minivan was travelling from Songkhla to Trang at the time. Emergency responders arrived to find the overturned minivan in the middle of the road.…
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1,495 kilograms of ice seized in Pathum Thani, Thailand
Police and officials from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board have arrested 26 year old Suwit Promon from Bangkok’s Ratburana district and seized 1,495 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 91 kilograms of ketamine at a warehouse in Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok. Police say the arrest was made after the ONCB received tip-offs that a gang had smuggled the…
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Ladyboy arrested over stealing from British tourist in Pattaya, Thailand
PHOTOS: Pattaya Message Pattaya police have arrested a ladyboy who stole money from a British tourist’s pocket. Pattaya police were hunting for the ladyboy who allegedly stole money from the pockets of the British man in Pattaya City along Walking Street this week. Read more about the story HERE. Police continued their investigation to track down the suspect after the British man…
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Baby dugong ‘Marium’ being cared for in Trang
PHOTOS: DMCR A baby dugong, which was found lost in Krabi two months ago, has been given the name ‘Marium’ and continues to be cared for at a dugong nursery in Trang. The baby dugong, found on a Krabi beach, was taken back to its home area in Trang, southern Thailand, on April 30. Read more about the wayward baby…
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Grab electric tuk tuks launch in Chiang Mai
Grab, the nemesis of the old taxi and red bus network in Chiang Mai, has signed an agreement with government and private sector partners to establish the Chiang Mai Smart Mobility Alliance Network. It is the first such partnership in South East Asia. Thai aim is to reduce Chiang Mai’s public transport footprint by 35% within the next five years. The…
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Thanathorn and Prayut officially nominated as Thai PM candidates
“The current PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha did not attend today’s proceedings.” The Future Forward leader, 40 year old Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, and NCPO chief and current PM Prayut Chan-o-cha have been formally named as candidates for the position of Prime Minister by their parties in Parliament this morning. They were the only two names put forward after the new House Speaker (and…
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Former Democrat Party leader and Thai PM resigns
Former Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has announced his resignation as a parliamentary MP, saying he could not break his word and follow his Democrat Party’s resolution to support Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha as the next PM. He announced his resignation in the lead up to today’s vote for a new PM, now a cakewalk for the existing PM Prayut after…
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And then there were three. Bidding for Airport duty free concession.
Only three Thai bidders – King Power Duty Free, a consortium led by Bangkok Airways, and a bid by Royal Orchid Hotel – remain in play as the companies attempt to win the licence to run duty-free shops at the Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai international airports. The Central Department Store bid has formerly dropped out of the bidding…
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One injured in Patong Hill collision between two minivans & two sedans
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket A minivan driver has sustained injuries in a collision on Patong Hill this morning. The incident was between two minivans and two sedans. Newshawk Phuket reports that they were notified of the crash in front of Suwankiriwong Temple at 5.02am this morning. The temple is at the bottom of Patong Hill, coming from Kathu. Emergency responders arrived…
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Four suspects arrested after body found in Wichit forest, Phuket
Four men have been arrested after the body of 24 year old man was found in Wichit in a central Phuket forest last weekend. Wichit Police note that 24 year old Sataphon Yindee was reported missing since April 12. The body was found on Sunday. His family identified Mr Sataphon’s body as they recalled the ring on his finger and…
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Last minute deal secures Prayut’s PM vote in today’s Thai parliamentary sitting
Leaving it to the last moment, the Democrats dramatically capitulated and decided to join the pro-junta Palang Pracharat coalition. The move gives the current PM, Palang Pracharat’s sole prime ministerial candidate, an easy walk into the PM job during today’s parliamentary vote. General Prayut Chan-o-cha and Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit will face off in the 11am vote. Until yesterday’s…
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Future Forward candidates say they’ve been offered up to 120M baht to vote for Prayut as PM
The big vote for Thailand’s next PM starts tomorrow at 11am. The lead up to the vote, a flurry of desperate offers and deals, has seen the Pro-Junta Palang Pracharat party fall short of a majority, fall WELL short of a majority. Meanwhile, Future Forward party members claimed today that some of their MPs have been offered between 30 million and…
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Security stepped up for the end of Ramadan in Songkhla, Thailand
FILE PHOTO Police and troops are stepping up security in Songkhla and the southern province, especially the town of Hat Yai, ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival – the end of the annual Ramadan – tomorrow (Wednesday). Today is the last day of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. A security source said intelligence agencies believed Muslim insurgents would…
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Phalang Pracharat unable to form Thai coalition – Democrats and Bhumjaithai sitting it out, for now
Close. But no majority. The black suits seemed appropriate for the dismal situation Thai politics faces. Phalang Pracharat, after more than two months of wrangling and negotiations, have been forced to concede that they don’t have the numbers to form a coalition as of this afternoon, repeating that their aim was to set up a stable government. As of this…
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Blacklisted Russian gets fake passport, returns to Thailand as Romanian, caught again
The case of the Russian who was blacklisted, deported from Thailand, then flies back to Thailand as a Romanian and moves to Koh Pha Ngan. It all seemed so clever, but was easily detected. The new chief of the Immigration Bureau, Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang, announced the arrest of the man yesterday. Sergey Milentiy was previously based on the southern Gulf of…
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British man loses 20K baht to an alleged ladyboy pickpocket in Pattaya – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Pattaya Message Pattaya police are hunting for a ladyboy who allegedly stole money from the pockets of a British man in Pattaya City this week. Pattaya Message reports that 49 year old Anthony O’Malley, a British national, yesterday presented a video clip from a CCTV camera to the Pattaya Police. He told police he had 20,000 baht in his…
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Twitter’s Thailand Top Ten – Q1 2019
Twitter continues to grow as a popular social App in Thailand. Now Twitter have announced their first ever brand index for Thailand – Top 10 Brands on Twitter in Thailand. Measured by engagement over the first quarter of the year (January 1 – March 31, 2019), here are the Top 10 Brands on Twitter in Thailand… 1. AIS (@AIS_Thailand) 2.…
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Bangkok’s Governor says Chatuchak is safe and repairs underway
PHOTO: TNA MCOT Bangkok’s governor says Chatuchak Weekend Market is safe and that there will be no damage to tourism at the Bangkok icon. Chatuchak, aka ‘JJ Market’, has more than 15,000 stalls and 11,500 vendors, divided up into 27 sections. It is the world’s largest and most diverse weekend market, with over 200,000+ visitors every weekend. A fire on Sunday…
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Goodbye iTunes, hello new dedicated Apps
In January 2001 Apple announced iTunes. It changed everything in the music industry and has gone on to spawn other more modern forms of music purchases and sharing. It was a true ‘disrupter’ for the time. Then, just eight months later would come the iPod which fundamentally changed the way we listen to music as well. Now Apple is introducing…
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One dead, seven injured as car collides with bus in Chon Buri
PHOTOS: Pattaya Message A female driver has died and seven others sustained injuries after a sedan collided with a shuttle bus in Chon Buri last night. A snake was also a victim of the incident. Banglamung Police were notified of the incident on Rong Poa Road in Banglamung, Chon Buri last night. Police and emergency responders arrived to find a damaged…
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Airports of Thailand open bidding for new duty free contracts at three airports
Airports of Thailand (AoT) says they will finalise the bidding process to announce who will manage the commercial areas at three provincial airports – Phuket, Had Yai and Chiang Mai – on June 10. King Power Duty Free has had a stranglehold on the duty free concession areas of the country’s four main airports but are having to bid for…
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Thailand’s Maya Bay settles into an extended period of rest – VIDEO
You can look but you can’t touch. Maya Bay’s beach, closed last year to allow coral restoration and beach recovery, is likely to remain closed to visitors for many years, even up to five. The famous Koh Phi Phi Ley beach and bay, made famous in the 2000 movie The Beach, needs time for its ecology to fully recover years…
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Gunman shoots and kills village head in Narathiwat mosque
PHOTO: Nation Channel A gunman walked into the Ban Arware Mosque and shot dead the village head in Narathiwat’s Ra Ngae district last night, in southern Thailand. Stray bullets also injured a man praying next to the man at the mosque. Police report that 48 year old Pakruding Tohdeng, the village head of Ban Arwar in Tambon Mareubotok, was killed inside…
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Truck collides with power pole in Krabi, driver injured
A truck has collided with a power pole after the driver allegedly fell asleep at the wheel in Krabi today. The truck, carrying palm tree trunks, collided with a power pole on Phetkasem Road in Krabi city. The power pole was broken and cables had been pulled down. The truck driver also sustained injuries and was taken to Klongtom Hospital.…
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30 False killer whales sighted of Koh Tao – VIDEO
PHOTO: DMCR VIDEO: Ban’s Diving Resort (Official Fan Page) About 30 of false killer whales sighted off Koh Tao, Surat Thani over the weekend. The Department of Marine and Coast Resources reported that they were notified from Ban’s Diving tours operator on Koh Tao that that they were on a speedboat with tourists just off the coast of Koh Tao.…
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UPDATE: Chatuchak Weekend Market fire, Bangkok
Bangkok’s governo, along with forensic officers, visited the world- famous Chatuchak market this morning to inspect damage caused by last night’s huge blaze that destroyed a total of 120 shops and damaged lots of others (revised up from 30 shops as reported earlier by The Thaiger). Meanwhile witnesses report that an explosion in an electrical transformer could have caused the…
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