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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.
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Sponsored Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Injured adventure cyclist rescued in Chon Buri forest – VIDEO
An off-road adventure bicyclist was rescued after a bicycle accident in a forest in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district yesterday. Rescue workers were notified of the accident at 10am in a forest near the Khao Maikaew area. Rescue workers had to hike 2 kilometres from the nearest road into the forest to find the injured cyclist, 31 year old Thanachai Poecharoen.…
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Relaxation on some social distancing measures for travel
The Thailand Civil Aviation Authority has further relaxed the restrictions on domestic airline services by removing the need for on-board social distancing (so that middle seat is now likely to be sold) CCAT Director Chula Sookmanop says that domestic airlines can sell all their seats on each flight Airlines no longer need to leave some of the seats vacant for…
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Welcome to Cambodia! Bring your wallet.
If you’re thinking about planning a trip to Cambodia soon, reconsider, unless you’re willing to put down US$3,000, a fortune for a backpacker in Southeast Asia. The country wants foreigners to make the deposit at a local bank upon entering to make sure any potential medical or quarantine costs can be met. And that’s just the start. Even if you…
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Baby elephants killed by electric fence in Chantaburi
2 baby elephants have apparently been electrocuted in the Tha Mai district of the eastern province of Chanthaburi, near the Cambodian border, when they touched an electric fence put up by an orchard owner to keep foraging animals out. A local police officer said he would summon the orchard owner for questioning about the electrified fencing. Authorities are awaiting the…
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31 illegal Cambodian migrant workers apprehended in border town
Thai immigration authorities arrested 3 Thais and 31 illegal Cambodian migrants travelling in 3 pickup trucks in Sa Kaeo, about 200 kilometres east of Bangkok, near the Cambodian border yesterday morning. 4 other vehicles managed to evade officials. The Thais stand charged with assisting illegal migrant workers. They have been identified as 39 year old driver Yotha Nadkhiew, 42 year old…
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10 arrested over spreading ‘fake news’ online
10 more suspects have now been arrested for allegedly spreading fake news by officials from the Anti-Fake News Centre. Seksarn Artasarn, admin for a Facebook page, ‘Bunterm Saikeaw’ with over 200,000 followers, has been arrested on charges of spreading fake news along with a series of drug charges. The suspect was arrested in his home in Pathum Thani province, just…
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Thai immigration crackdown on illegal migrants flowing back into the country
Thailand borders four countries. Most of the borders are just jungle or the mighty Mekong River. In all cases the borders are easily crossed if someone wants to avoid the correct border channels. The country’s porous borders have been an ongoing issue with some 5 million+ illegal immigrants floating around Thailand at any one time. There has been recent attempts…
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Partial solar eclipse today, starts just after 1pm
A partial solar eclipse will be visible this afternoon, if your local weather allows. Bu in some other parts of Asia and Africa, residents will be treated to a spectacular total eclipse. If you miss this phenomenon today, the next solar eclipse, a total eclipse, on view in the Thai skies will be on April 20, 2023. For Bangkokians, the…
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Over 100 arrested for illegal motorcycle night racing in Nonthaburi
Over 100 teens and adults have been arrested for involvement in illegal night motorcycle racing in Nonthaburi, just north of Bangkok city, since yesterday. Those arrested include riders, passengers, and supporters of the illegal races. Nonthaburi police said today that 102 people have been arrested in a collaborative effort between 11 police stations in the province. The operation is in…
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UPDATE: Kidnap/murder suspect Banyin in suicide bid
UPDATE: According to Thai PBS World, former deputy commerce minister Banyin Tangphaporn tried to commit suicide at a maximum security prison last night, after prison officials uncovered alleged plots to kidnap the wife of the prison warden to hold hostage in return for his release, and to escape while being taken to the court on Monday, if that plan failed.…
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Pregnant woman dead, husband wounded over Ratchaburi land dispute
A pregnant woman in the western Ratchaburi province, west of Bangkok, was shot and killed yesterday, and her husband seriously wounded. Police there say a 70 year old man has turned himself in for the crime, claiming a land dispute drove him to open fire on their car. Krit Thanathavornrit surrendered to authorities late last night and handed over the…
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Bangkok’s Skypark could inspire more green areas across the region
“It is an example of how to repurpose an abandoned structure and increase green spaces in Bangkok through cost-effective design.” Bangkok’s new “Skypark,” built on an abandoned, never-completed Skytrain track, could become be a model for turning the capital’s unused spaces into much-needed green areas. Such an initiative would also boost public health and mitigate the impacts of climate change,…
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Covid-19 update: 1 new imported case (June 20)
The Ministry of Public Health’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 1 new confirmed case of Covid-19 this morning. The new case is an imported case, by a student returning from from Bharain. The student is in state quarantine and has had no contact with the general population since returning. Today is the 26th day in a row with no…
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Korat restauranteur will change your perception of airline food
An entrepreneur in Isaan’s Nakhon Ratchasima province is transforming an old Airbus A330 jetliner (formerly flying with Thai Airways) into a restaurant, hoping his new business will take off after months of being ‘grounded’ by lockdown restrictions enforced by the Thai government. 33 year old Sirikorn Phimparat, manager of Airways Land, says the aircraft is now being refurbished as a…
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Thai Airways staff balk at cuts in perks and benefits
The Labour Ministry will invite the management of Thai Airways International for talks over a complaint submitted on Friday to the ministry by the airline’s labour union over unreasonable cuts in work benefits, especially healthcare welfare. Nares Puengyaem, the president of Thai Airway’s labour union, together with two representatives of State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation , yesterday submitted to…
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Finance ministry to consider incentives to stimulate shopping, retail sector
Thailand’s finance minister says his ministry is ready to consider retailers’ proposals for tax breaks on shopping to stimulate domestic spending. The ministry has assigned related agencies, including the Fiscal Policy Office, the Revenue Department and the Excise Department, to examine the possibilities, Uttama Savanayana said yesterday. His remarks come after retailers asked the government to apply a shopping tax break…
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Meeting to discuss reopening of nightlife venues
Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha has stated his wish to see all professions return to work and earning an income. This follows a public petition, especially from Thailand’s estimated 100,000 self-employed musicians, from the entertainment industry, The Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Thai Alcoholic Beverage Business Association and even members…
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Police investigate alleged Banyin prison break, kidnapping plot
In yet another twist to a criminal case that stretches credulity, the Crime Suppression Division is investigating an alleged jailbreak plot by murder suspect Banyin Tangpakorn involving a threat to kidnap the wife of a prison chief. A source at the CSD told reporters of the investigation yesterday. Banyin, a former MP, deputy commerce minister and police lieutenant, is in…
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Travel bubbles to initially exclude tourists
“20,000 foreign businesspeople, Thai work permit holders, and international school students and teachers have registered to return to Thailand.” Health Minister and deputy PM Anutin Charnvirakul says Thailand’s “travel bubble” scheme will open first to business groups and international-school teachers who can be easily tracked, and not to the world’s tourists. He made the announcement after a meeting with Japanese…
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U-tapao and Eastern Airport City deal officially signed
The deal for a public/private partnership for the U-tapao International Airport and Eastern Airport City projects has been officially signed. The agreement is between the Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand and U-tapao International Aviation Company. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha chaired the signing ceremony yesterday at Government House. The deal is for a major infrastructure project to upgrade U-tapao, which serves…
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Government considering unlocking music venues, meetings today
Thailand’s often flamboyant and occasionally controversial Public Health Minister and Deputy PM, Anutin Charnvirakul, spoke to reporters this morning after significant recent media coverage of the estimated 100,000 musicians still out of work due to the continued closure of the entertainment and nightlife industry. Anutin says he himself was once a musician (yeah, we can see that…) and he “feels for…
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Thailand News Today – Friday, June 19
5 cases – all imported Thais returning from Saudi Arabia on the same flight as another 11 people that have already been detected. 224 arrested in another Mae Sot gambling raid Police raided a large and sophisticated online gambling operation, arresting more than 200 people at a hotel in the Mae Sot district in Northern Thailand, close to the Burmese…
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Dog finds missing owner’s dead body in Central Thailand
After an initial search for a missing man, a dog sniffed out his owner’s trail and found the man, sadly, dead in a canal. The man had been out cutting banana leaves by his home in Samut Songkhram, Central Thailand. The family says he left early but never returned. “We tried to search for him,” the man’s sister in law told…
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Thailand eases up on social distancing requirements for domestic travel
The requirement for Thailand’s airlines to leave every second seat empty, as part of the conditions under which domestic services could resume, is being done away with. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand says carriers can now sell every seat on a flight (whether or not airlines manage to do so is another matter). However, the CAAT says airlines must…
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Amnesty International urges global petition for investigation of Thai activist’s abduction
The alleged abduction of Thai activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit in Cambodia, and the inaction and apparent lack of interest on the part of both governments, has left people around the world to demand urgent action by writing a petition to Cambodian PM Hun Sen calling for an “effective, thorough and transparent” investigation into the disappearance. It also urges people to demand…
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Bangkok bar raided, nearly 100 revellers charged with breaching emergency decree
Nearly 100 partygoers have been arrested and charged with violating the emergency decree after police raided a bar in Bangkok in the early hours of this morning. Following a tip-off that an illegal party, involving drugs and alcohol, was being held at the Fake Illusion bar in the Beung Kum district of the capital, 50 officers were sent to check…
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Woman runs drug syndicate from Bangkok prison
Police cracked down on a drug network allegedly and discovered that it was being run by a female inmate in the Bangkok Remand Prison, using a gold shop to launder more than 3 billion baht in illegal drug money. The woman, Daorueng Somsaeng, as well as 9 other inmates in various jails and prisons across Thailand, are facing money laundering…
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Defence chief favours lifting Thailand’s Emergency Decree
“In terms of disease control, we’ve managed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.” The chief of Thailand’s defence forces raised no objection yesterday to calls for the national state of emergency to be lifted, saying security operations will not be affected if the Emergency Decree, set to expire at the end of June, is not extended. Pornpipat Benyasri, who is charge…
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International medical hub proposed by outgoing Phuket governor
Local Thai media reported that Phuket has proposed a new project called “The International Medical and Public Health Service” to create more long term financial security and diversification, and value-added tourism in Phuket, as the island has taken a heavy financial hit due to the effects of Covid-19 pandemic. The project will use state owned property near the Tha…
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British expat petitions government to help desperate elephants, handlers
The closure of elephant camps and sanctuary-style tourist attraction throughout the northeastern provinces has left thousands of elephants facing starvation. Some have made the long march back to their home villages, where their arrival is creating more problems than it solves. Susan Field, a British citizen living in Koh Samui, yesterday presented a petition with nearly 65,000 signatures to the Thai…
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