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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 Digital nomading in Chiang Mai? What US$1,000 a month really gets you
Chiang Mai has become a popular destination for digital nomads due to its low living costs, rich culture, and active remote work community. The city offers affordable housing, tasty food, reliable internet, and many co-working spaces, making it a great...
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Thai junta retains power to detain people without charge
“… though the junta’s orders are being revoked, their impact will still be felt in society.” Opposition politicians and the Thai public are voicing dissatisfaction with the junta’s decision to hang on to its order authorising arbitrary military detention. Even though the junta has announced the revocation of 70+ old NCPO orders, including media intervention and trying cases in military…
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Thai health authorities investigate Australian couples’ claim of illness after eating pad thai in Phuket
The Thai Disease Control Department says they’re investigation claims by a Perth couple that they went through “two years of hell” after eating a plate of Pad Thai while visiting Phuket on holiday in 2017. Stacey Barnes and Ryan Prigg from Perth, along with their two children, visited Thailand in 2017. Once back in Perth they both began to feel…
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Concrete pieces from Ari BTS station in Bangkok fall on road below
PHOTOS: Isara Ariyachaipanich Concrete panelling has fallen from the Ari skytrain station. Luckily there was no one injured. Isara Ariyachaipanich posted photos on his Facebook page showing a huge slab of concrete laying on the road beneath the structure of the Ari BTS station. The concrete fell onto Phayon Yothin Road, near a local bus station. “It was so good…
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Korean TVs “Law of the Jungle” leaves viewers dismayed about Thai episodes
Thailand’s ‘Post Today’, is reporting that South Korean TV viewers were dismayed when they learned that the production crew and cast of the SBS Television show “Law of the Jungle” had caught protected giant clams while filming the series in Thailand. The topic has become a trending social media topic in Korea. Korean news agency, Yonhap, who interviewed the South…
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Thais fined for failing to report resident foreigners within 24 hours
PHOTO: Naew Na More Thai nationals have been charged and fined for failing to report foreigners who were staying at their accommodations within 24 hours of checking in. The article didn’t specify if they were guest house proprietors, landlords or hotels owners. In any case, someone must register if foreigners are staying at their establishments within 24 hours of check-in. 23 year…
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Frisky teenagers warned that they are being watched whilst in Thai cinemas
PHOTO: ร่วมแสดงความคิดเห็น Smile, you’re on Chiang Mai’s candid camera. Chiang Mai cinema staff are watching you while you are watching movies at the cinema. But, according to a source at one of the leading northern cinemas, the same is happening around Thailand. And some of the amorous advances are being caught on camera and shared on social media by staff. Chiang…
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Pattaya police purge on motorbike rental shops and renters
PHOTOS: Facebook/Sophon Cable Pattaya Police are cracking down on tourists renting motorbikes in the coastal tourist city as well as the shops renting out the bikes. The current purge is in response to recent problems of marauding tourist bike groups making a nuisance of themselves in the seaside tourist city. Sophon Cable reports that rental shops are now attracting attention…
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Dolphin sightings in Phang Nga Bay near Phuket – VIDEO
Rangers working in the Phang Nga Bay Marine National Park have reported sightings of bottlenose dolphins in Phang Nga Bay. They say it’s a good sign, thanks to the extensive rehabilitation of aquatic animals, seagrass and natural vegetation in the area. The rangers managed to take a picture of a 150 centimetre-long dolphin in front of Koh Panyi, Amphur Muang…
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Thai smartphone users ready for 5G
“50% of the local respondents said they are willing to pay 150 baht extra in fees per month.” 5G, the next generation of phone speed, is on the way and coming to a smartphone near you. A recent survey of 35,000 people around the world shows that there will be as many as 1.9 billion 5G subscribers globally in the…
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48 illegal Pakistanis rounded up in Bangkok raid
PHOTO: The Nation Children are among 48 Pakistani nationals rounded up by Bangkok Immigration police this week at an apartment in the Bang Na district. Most had overstayed their visas while several didn’t have any travel documents at all. The raid in Soi Baring netted 26 passport holders and 14 with no documents plus another eight people who carried cards indicating…
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Green sea turtle found dead in a fish trap off Krabi national park
PHOTO: thaipost.net Officers from the Nopparat Thara Beach – Phi Phi Islands National Park, yesterday (Monday) removed a metal fish trap from the sea near Koh Met after some fishermen smuggled the trap into the sea. They found a dead green sea turtle trapped inside. The team had to use a bouyancy bag to rescue the turtle body stuck in the fish trap…
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NCPO chief terminates around 100 orders today
PHOTO: มติชน The chief of the NCPO will issue his last command that terminates around 100 coup orders. Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam was commenting today on a meeting with chief coalition whip Wirat Rattanset who spoke to him yesterday about the annulment of orders issued by the NCPO between May 2014 and March this year when Thailand held the general election.…
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Police say posh private plane is not just for Prawit
Critics are alleging that a new 1.1 billion baht 10 seat luxury private jet is being used solely to transport the current deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan around the country. Yesterday’s reports in Thai media have forced the Royal Thai Police to deny the plane would only serve the needs of the ageing Deputy PM. Accusations first came from the Watchdog Act…
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Thai lady fusses over scratch on car while Frenchman lies injured on the road
PHOTO: Raksiamnews Pattaya’s Sawang Boriboon rescue foundation rushed to a housing development to find a French pensioner laying in a pool of blood with head and facial injuries. At the scene they also found the man’s motorbike and a Thai woman fretting over her new Toyota Camry that was scratched on the rear panels. 67 year old Jean Paul 67 was…
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American Airlines inks deal with Cathay Dragonair for more destinations in SE Asia
American Airlines says they now have a new deal with Hong Kong-based Cathay Dragon Airlines allowing US fliers access to South East Asian hot spots such as Phuket, Chiang Mai, Da Nang and Dhaka, Bangladesh. American’s network also will have more frequent flights to Penang, KL and Hanoi. The deal is said to strengthen American and Oneworld’s ties to Asia, the…
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Thai Mekong People’s Network takes on China over Mekong River management
PHOTO: Airpaz Blog Local residents and environmentalists living along the Thai banks of the Mekong River spent the weekend in hot debate with the Chinese Embassy about Beijing’s utilisation and management of the River. While the embassy accused Thai media of spreading false information on China’s development projects in Southeast Asia’s longest rivers, the Thai Mekong People’s Network fought back,…
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Opposition parties to keep heat on campaign for amendments to Thai Constitution
The seven-party opposition coalition, led by Pheu Thai and Future Forward MPs, is stepping up its campaign to seek public support for its attempts to amend the Constitution and to educate the people about the Thai Constitution. Speaking at a news conference, after a meeting of representatives from the seven opposition parties held yesterday (Monday), Pheu Thai MP Anusorn Iamsa-ard…
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WeWork Labs join hands with local industry to innovate Thailand’s food industry
WeWork Labs today announces its partnership with National Innovation Agency (NIA), SET-listed Thai Union Group and Mahidol University’s Science Faculty for the SPACE-F program that aims to build a sustainable ecosystem to nurture FoodTech startups in Thailand. SPACE-F is the first global FoodTech startup incubator and accelerator in Thailand and will provide innovative services and support to empower the next…
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BTS asked to pay 100 billion construction costs in exchange for 30 year concession extension
Manit Techa-apichoke, president of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration-owned Krungthep Thanakhom, says the state firm was empowered by Article 44 of the interim charter to conduct negotiations with the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) over the 100 billion baht debt transfer and concession extension. Manit says the negotiation should be completed in about two months. The Nation reports that the BMA will negotiate with…
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Four down, one to go – Phuket’s traffic underpass network nearly complete
The 540 million baht underground tunnel at Chalong Circle has now been officially opened by the Thai PM. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha presided over the official opening yesterday morning. The tunnel, about 350 metres long, travels between Viset Road and Chao Fah West. Above ground the intersection moves traffic around the renovated roundabout where traffic from Kata (Patak Road), Chalong Pier…
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Miracle magic Thai power generator rubbished by academic
PHOTO: 75 year old Cheun Fanmeik, making power out of cranking a handle – INN News A retired electrical engineer and professor at the Lat Krabang Institute of Technology is slamming the invention of a ‘power generator’ by a Thai pensioner as nonsense. 75 year old Cheun Fanmeik, who used to work at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, claims he could…
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Aussie couple blame a dodgy pad thai in Thailand for two years of hell
A couple from Perth in Western Australia are blaming a plate of Pad Thai has put them through two years of hell. (The link between the pad thai, though implicated by the couple, and their illness was never fully explained) Stacey Barnes and Ryan Prigg from Perth, along with their two children, visited Thailand for a holiday in 2017. Once…
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Thai Justice officials push for action against parents of teenage biker in Chiang Mai
The Thai Justice Ministry is urging police to take action against the parents of a 13 year old boy whose foot was torn off in a crash on a 1000cc Kawasaki motorcycle they bought him. The incident in northern Chiang Mai on July 6 was caught on video that went viral drawing a lot of criticism online. Read The Thaiger story…
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Post-election uncertainties see World Bank downgrade GDP further
Thai GDP growth is projected to fall from 4.1% last year to 3.5% in 2019, according to a World Bank report out today. The Thailand Economic Monitor noted that exports contracted by 4% in the first quarter of 2019 – the first quarterly contraction in three years. Private investment and household consumption continued to grow close to their three-year high, helped…
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PM opens Chalong Underpass, visits Yamil and Navy Area 3, Phuket
The Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, arrived at the PPAO Muang Phuket School in Rawai this morning to conduct the official opening of the Chalong Underpass, after 4 years of prolonged construction. Phuket officials the Rawai Mayor, Aroon Solos and Chalong Mayor, Samran Jindapon, welcomed Gen Prayuth who was accompanied by the PM Office team from Bangkok. https://www.facebook.com/prd5surat/videos/918746461798027/ Locals from Chalong…
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Indian tourists filling the gap as Chinese eschew Thailand
PHOTO: The Vijitt Resort, Rawai, Phuket Thailand’s currently patchy tourism industry, down but not out, is getting some interim support from visitors from the population colossus to its west, India. The new arrivals are filling in the gap, not quite a gaping hole as yet, of bumper arrivals from China. At a beachfront hotel on Phuket’s south west coast, the occupancy…
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Green Island – Thailand’s fully self-sufficient tropical paradise
For those wishing to escape the hectic life, spend a peaceful getaway in the embrace of Thai nature, and take lungfuls of pure air at a place unknown to most tourists, Pha Luai Island is an ideal destination. With a population of only 180 households and situated in Surat Thani’s Ang Thong Islands Marine National Park, just a stone’s throw…
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Bangkok’s MRT to start passenger free ‘test drive’ on Blue Line extension this month
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority is poised to open the MRT Blue Line Thaphra extension for passenger test runs later this month. The Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) commenced internal test runs on the MRT Blue Line’s Hua Lamphong – Bangkae extension on July 1. The early phase of the test is intended to ensure the preparedness of officials to…
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Thai parliament addresses low prices for farm produce
PHOTO: Low prices for produce, from coconuts to rice, roller to oil palm The new parliament has considered urgent motions on the low prices of farm goods and resolved to set up a 39 member extraordinary House committee to look into the the matter. The new Thai House of Representatives has deliberated 11 urgent motions lodged on the issue of…
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‘Net idol’ arrested over monetising online porn and gambling
PHOTOS: The Nation | AsiaOne Bangkok police have arrested a “net idol” (a popular Thai social media poster) for allegedly running a closed online group where pornography was sold and gambling promoted. A police source says that 32 year old Jindarat “Amp” Seripaiboonsap was arrested two days earlier at a home on Phetchkasen Soi 48 in Phasi Charoen district. She…
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