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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“Palang Pracharat will not rush to form government”
PHOTO: Palang Pracharat party leader Dr. Uttama Savanayana “He also called on the Pheu Thai-led alliance to stop calling themselves the “pro-democracy camp” and their rival parties “pro-dictatorship”, pointing out that both camps had been elected by the people.” The Palang Pracharat party leader Uttama Savanayana says there is no need for the party to rush to form a government because the official election results have yet to be…
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British man, serving a 50 year sentence, waits to be transferred to the UK
PHOTO: Facebook/Help get Lance Whitmore home Lance Whitmore, sentenced to 50 years in prison in Thailand for the possession of ecstasy, will be transferred to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence. The British citizen, originally from Bromsgrove, England, was 27 when he was caught with 200 ecstasy tablets in Pattaya in 2014. The former soldier had been…
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Phuket policeman shoots himself, dies in hospital
A Vichit policeman has shot himself at a house in Rassada early today. Police were notified about the incident just after midnight at a house in Rassada, east of Phuket Town on the island’s east coast. Police and emergency responders arrived to find the man on the floor of his bedroom surrounded by pools of blood. A bullet wound was…
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Study: Psychosis in teens linked to air pollution
“One of the most consistent findings over the past few decades has been a link between cities and psychosis.” Whilst the high levels of air-pollution, smog and smoke remain high in the north and north-eastern provinces of Thailand, a new study has been released that links high levels of smog and psychoses in young adults. Joanne Newbury, lead author of…
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Count continues amid surging complaints
Four days after the national election and we are still no closer to knowing the ‘winner’ as the county’s Election Commission continues the counting of the remainder of the votes amid accusations of delays and mishandling of ballots in some locations. 95% of the voting has now been completed. The EC says that the results after counting the remaining 5%…
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60 year old arrested over alleged rape of neighbour’s 14 year old daughter
Police have arrested a 60 year old man for allegedly raping a 14 year old girl in Khon Kaen.The suspect, identified only as ‘Song’, was arrested after the girl’s mother filed a police complaint saying the man had allegedly raped her daughter, and on several occasions. The woman told the police that she first learned of the rapes on March…
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Brunei’s ‘vicious’ new Islamic criminal laws – Amnesty International
Brunei, an ASEAN country, has announced the introduction of draconian sharia criminal laws. Included, death by stoning for gays and amputation for theft. The new penalties come into effect on April 3. And, by the way, the new laws also apply to children. It’s all covered under the new Brunei Sharia Penal Code. Not surprisingly governments and rights groups around the…
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Police hunting for murder killed and buried man in cement in Bangkok
PHOTOS: Siam Ruamjai Pu-in Foundation Police are hunting for a suspect who killed a man and buried him in cement in a drum in Bangkok. They say they’re seeking a 47 year old caretaker of a construction business in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district following the Tuesday night discovery of the body of his 38 year old distant relative and colleague…
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Sea turtle saved after eating fishing net and plastic off Pattaya coast
PHOTOS: Sea Turtles Conservation Centre of the Royal Thai Navy A Green Sea Turtle has been saved after eating bits of a fishing net and plastic in Pattaya last week. The Sea Turtles Conservation Centre of the Royal Thai Navy reports that they were notified by hotel staff in Pattaya that a sea turtle was found on the beach. The…
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Boeing 737 Max 8 has engine problems during take off in the US
Another bad week for Boeing. This time an incident as an American airline moves its fleet to a common airfield to supervise testing and software upgrades following the 737 Max fleet grounding. A Southwest Airline Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft had to do an emergency landing after having engine problems after take-off in Florida on Tuesday. No passengers were aboard the Southwest…
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Chon Buri volunteer policeman to be charged with assault after clubbing toddler
by Theerawat Thongma, Dethawee Theewarangkool The parents of a two year old boy say they will press charges after a civilian volunteer policeman in Chon Buri struck him with his baton while trying to beat the parents for trying to dodge a traffic checkpoint. The incident took place last night. The couple say the volunteer didn’t notice the boy sitting…
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Cement truck company fined after dropping cement on Patong Hill – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Kathu Police A Phuket-based cement truck company has been fined after the truck dropped cement as it was climbing Patong Hill yesterday afternoon. The CCTV footage shows the incident when the cement truck was going up on Patong Hill and dropping cement on the road along the way. The incident was reported by Kathu Police. The cement company manager…
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Anti-Junta bloc announces coalition with at least 255 seats
by Kas Chanwanpen The Pheu Thai Party’s de facto leader Sudarat Keyuraphan has announced this morning that an ‘anti-junta’ bloc had mustered at least 255 MPs from seven parties to form a coalition government. She said their shared aim was to stop the military junta from retaining power. She also said that negotiations are still underway for more parties to…
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Two year old child injured after being struck by volunteer police at checkpoint in Pattaya
PHOTOS: Mint Mint A mother of a two year old child claims her son was knocked unconscious after a volunteer police hit him with a baton last night in Pattaya. The Siam Ruamjai (Pu-in) Foundation reports that just after midnight this morning a two year old boy Silan ‘Nong Sam’ Ninkham was being treated at the Bang Lamung Hospital in…
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Six parties poised to announce coalition government at 10am
Six pro-democracy parties, led by Pheu Thai, are announcing their intention to form a coalition government this morning. The number-crunchers say, even without the support of BumJaiThai and the Democrats, they have 252 house seats to form a majority government (they need at least 251 seats in the 500 seat parliament). The parties siding with Pheu Thai to form the…
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EC urged to clear public doubt, announce results immediately
by Pratch Rujivanarom Facing a major public outcry over suspicious election processes and problematic vote counting, the Election Commission has been warned by both international and local election observers to promptly resolve all public doubts and prevent the escalation of political problems and conflicts. During the release of an interim report by Asian Network for Free Election (ANFREL) in Bangkok…
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Arrest for scam and then a bonus arrest in Pattaya
Pattaya police have arrested an Indian man and his Thai girlfriend for scamming an Indian tourist out of 6,000 baht in the early hours this morning. But there was a bonus arrest too. Pattaya police chief Pol Col Prawit Chorseng say 26 year old Maninder Singh and 32 year old Mallikar Thongriam were arrested shortly after the victim, 31 year…
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Pheu Thai now claims to have the numbers to form a coalition. So does Palang Pracharat.
Pheu Thai Party, which at this stage has emerged as the winner of the most lower house seats after the general election, says they’ve gathered enough support from political allies to form a coalition government. The party’s secretary general Phumtham Vechayachai made the claim at a meeting this morning. He said Pheu Thai and other parties now command enough MPs…
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Woman survives eight floor plunge into a condo car park
A woman has been injured after her car plunged from the eighth floor of a condo car park in Bangkok’s Bang Koh Laem district. The car had fallen from the nine-floor car park building of the Phraram 3 Residence condominium on Rama III road around 11pm last night (Monday). The driver was identified as 40 year old Rungthip Thongchanreed. Daily News…
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Fourteen kilograms of marijuana seized in pre-Songkran drug crackdowns
Phuket police have sized a total of 14 kilograms of marijuana in three separate cases, including intercepting parcel post yesterday. It’s all part of the annual pre-Songkran drugs crackdown. Phuket Provincial Police have seized a parcel box sent via Thai Post in Rawai where they found 12 kilograms of marijuana. Police are now tracking down the sender. In the second…
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Emergency crews participate in fire drill at Phuket airport
PHOTOS: The Phuket International Airport Phuket International Airport emergency crews battled fake fires near the main runway today. Firefighters and rescue workers were deployed on the tarmac as part of regular drills aimed at improving response times and emergency response efficiency. This was the first such drill at the airport this year. Observing officials reported that the emergency crews were…
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Air Asia apologises for its “Get off in Thailand” promotion
AirAsia has now apologised following an advertising campaign using the phrase “Get off in Thailand” was posted around the city of Brisbane to promote the airline’s direct route to Bangkok. Collective Shout, a campaign movement against the objectification of women says the marketing gaff promoted sex tourism in Thailand. Melinda Liszewski, a campaigner at Collective Shout accused the airline of…
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Petition aims to impeach Election Commissioners
PHOTO: Election Commission chief Ittiporn Boonpracong – The Nation More than 670,000 people have signed a petition at the change.org website calling for the Election Commission’s five commissioners to be ‘stood aside’ pending an investigation in the aftermath of the March 24 Thai election. Petitioners contend that the election was marred by mistakes, blunders and tampering. The campaign could actually become…
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Parties race to cobble together a working coalition
Day Two following the election and the only thing that is clear is that nothing is clear at this stage. Pheu Thai and Phalang Pracharat are both claiming the right to form a government with support of like-minded parties. The two rival parties, the pro-democracy Pheu Thai and the pro-Junta Phalang Pracharat, are locked in a close battle to form…
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Stash of methamphetamine tablets seized from Mae Sai plantation
by Natthawat Laping About 50,000 methamphetamine pills have been seized by rangers of the Pha Muang task force along the Thailand-Myanmar border in Chiang Rai province. The drugs were seized at 6am yesterday (Monday) when patrolling rangers heard a dog barking at someone in an isolated banana plantation in Muang Daeng Tai village, Tambon Mae Sai, in Mae Sai district.…
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Maya Bay rehabilitation: Volunteer divers needed
PHOTOS: The Marine National Park Operation Center 3 (Trang) It’s still closed but the coral reef restoration project at Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Ley needs more volunteer divers. The Marine National Park Operation Centre 3 (Trang) says that the project has been conducted by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation under the support of the…
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Thaksin: Election rigged with many irregularities
Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra told Agence France-Presse yesterday that Thailand’s election was marred by “irregularities” and “rigged”. He says the military rigged the election system to retain their political grip on the kingdom. “Everyone knows in Thailand, everyone international that observed the election in Thailand, knows that(there is irregularities,” he told AFP in English. “What we call, we should call,…
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Election: The problems ahead, Tuesday
PHOTO: The political dance of horse-trading begins. Prayut Chan-o-cha in campaign mode And so we awake on the second day since the election. With 95% of votes counted we’re in firm territory now as far as voting trends are concerned . So we can start guessing which way the new parliament might be formed. Here are the main issues for…
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Two Future Forward candidates win Pheu Thai strongholds in Chiang Rai
Two long-time champions of the Pheu Thai Party in Chiang Rai have been defeated by candidates of the new Future Forward Party in yesterday’s general election. In Constituency 1, Pheu Thai several-term MP Samart Kaewmeechai was toppled by Future Forward’s Ekkapop Pianpiset in a closely run contest. Ekkapop, who had resigned his position as a doctor at a private hospital…
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Twin found dead in Pattaya house
PHOTO: Sanook Locals from a housing estate in Nong Prue, Pattaya have called police after noticing a foul smell coming from the house of a man, one of two twins, who lived at the address. Sanook reports that police and emergency responders found the house locked from the outside and had to break in. Inside they found 23 year old…
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