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 Thailand vs. the West: What expats save on healthcare each year
Healthcare in Thailand is much cheaper than in Western countries, making it a great choice for expatriates looking for affordable medical care. Both public and private healthcare options offer high-quality services, with savings of up to 80% on procedures like...
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Forecasts for Thai export growth revised upwards
The meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking has revised upwards its forecast of export growth in 2019 to between 6.5 – 7.5% from the previous forecast of between 3.5 – 4.5%. The revision is in line with export growth in the past eight months, the committee said. Growth momentum is expected to continue during the…
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Pattaya city officials investigate Big Buddha Hill makeover
PHOTO: Pattaya Mail Having cleared encroachments around Big Buddha Hill’s Chinese shrine, Pattaya officials are now investigating options for the cleared land. Deputy city mayors Manote Nongyai and Pattana Boonsawat toured the Phra Yai Temple area with engineering and public works staff on Pratamnak Hill at the end of last month with an eye toward redevelopment of the temple, the…
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Luxury beachfront suites at The Bay & Beach Club
The Bay & Beach Club boasts luxurious beachfront accommodation in the heart of Patong. Situated right on the soft sands of the beach in an area lined with palm trees, the resort is just a few steps away from the clear waters of the Andaman Sea. The Bay & Beach Club offers luxurious accommodation all designed with the finest contemporary…
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Big, wide beaches, but where are the stars of the show?
The video opens with travelogue music from the 1970s and the rest of the segment was missing the main stars – tourists. MCOT Presenter Preewat Bupsiri explains to the viewers about the 400 million baht that had been spent on new sand to widen the beach from a mere 5 metres to the artificially bloated 35 metres wide. A 2.8…
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Army chief steps into the political fray again
PHOTO: Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong against a snappy hot pink backdrop by Supalak Ganjanakhundee Army chief General Apirat Kongsompong’s provocative comments against foreign-educated politicians with ‘leftist leanings’ and activists is a threat to democracy, and could lead to social unrest, violence and even collapse of the regime… warnings from prominent Thai scholars and rights defenders yesterday. The comments follow…
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16 Chinese nationals arrested in Phuket over stock market scam
16 Chinese nationals have been arrested in Chalong for allegedly operating an online speculative stock market scam. Their victims are also Chinese. Immigration Bureau Chief Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn came down from Bangkok to a house on Khwang Road in Chalong where officers arrested the 16 Chinese nationals. During the raid they seized 18 computers, 68 mobile phones, more than…
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Royal foundation helps solve wastewater problems in Ao Nang
The Chaipattana Foundation, one of Thailand’s royal projects, has offered a hand to help solve the critical wastewater problem in Ao Nang, Krabi. Wastewater flowing from Klong Jak into the sea in Ao Nang has continued for over a decade, according to locals. Despite ten years of complaints, the wastewater problem hasn’t been solved. Read more about a recent complaint HERE.…
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Man drowns in Kathu lagoon, Phuket
PHOTOS: Kusoldharm Foundation A man has drowned while fishing in a lagoon in central Phuket yesterday. Kusoldharm rescue workers were notified of the incident at a lagoon in Kathu before noon. Rescue workers arrived to find a body of a man lying on the ground near the lagoon. There were no signs of a struggle on his body. The man was identified…
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Swiss/Thai children run away from home claiming Thai mother beats them
PHOTO: The Nation Two children, who fell off a drying rack at a Bangkapi apartment block last May, have now run away from home saying their Thai mother had been beating them. Their remaining sibling is staying with the mother. One of the four siblings, a boy, died in the fall that happened when their mother was out at work…
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Police raid illegal Chinese call centre in Chalong, Phuket
FILE PHOTO A total of 16 Chinese nationals, 13 men and 3 women, have been arrested in Chalong, over the alleged operation of a call centre scam which targeted Chinese victims. Officers believe that the operation started sometime in the middle of March. The 16 were arrested at a housing estate on Moo 1, Chalong, southern Phuket, yesterday morning. “We were…
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Is Thanathorn the new Thaksin? Will the ‘establishment’ tolerate his new political vision?
Is Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit a popular fad or does he, and his party, have the staying power to make him a sustainable threat to the entrenched Thai political elite? Many analysts are comparing Thanathorn to Thaksin in his early days. They say there are clear similarities. First off, Thanathorn is facing the kind of legal trouble that…
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Election Commission admits they haven’t decided on the formula to determine lower house
by Kas Chanwanpen In a stunning admission yesterday, the Election Commission admitted they didn’t know the exact formula to work out the final make up of the lower house seats. The Election Commission secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma says that he expected the agency to make a decision this week on their interpretation of the new Charter that sets out, broadly, how…
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Three suspects arrested with drugs in Patong
PHOTOS: Patong Police Patong Police have arrested three suspects with methamphetamine pills and crystal methamphetamine in Patong. All three arrests happened yesterday. Patong Police report that they have arrested a 46 year old man. Police seized 261 methamphetamine pills. Police have als0 arrested a 46 year old woman with 30 methamphetamine pills. And in a third arrest police arrested another…
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Bangkok woman arrested over credit-card scam
A Bangkok woman has been arrested for allegedly impersonating a bank officer to steal credit card information for online shopping. Police from the Economic Crime Suppression Division arrested 24 year old Manaswi Chanruang at her house on Sukhapibal Road 5 in Bangkok’s Sai Mai district this morning. She was arrested under an arrest warrant issued by the Phra Khanong Court…
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JetSki crashes into shop in Kamala, Phuket
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket Not often we get to write this headline… “JetSki crashes into shop in Kamala”. The jetski was being towed by a Saleng (motorcycle and side-car) through the streets of Kamala this afternoon when, for reasons we don’t yet (probably brake failure), the whole shebang went AWOL and ended up running into the front window of some tourist…
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Wastewater still flowing into Mudong Canal in Chalong
Officials from the Environment Office Region 15 in Phuket, along with Chalong municipal officials, have inspected the Mudong Canal. Water in the canal flows through villages and markets in Chalong and Wichit before getting to the open sea. Local villagers were complaining that the untreated water caused fish to die and that there was a bad odour all the time.…
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Activist’s car torched – Election Commission impeachment petition damaged
PHOTO: Thai PBS A car belonging to one of the activists campaigning for impeachment of the Election Commissioners at a rally in Rajaprasong intersection, Bangkok on Sunday, has had his car torched this morning, the second time in a week. Aekkachai Hongkangwan claims in a Facebook post today that his car was burnt beyond repair and some of his documents,…
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Patong tourist attackers remain in custody – investigation continues
PHOTO: Patong Police Six Patong taxi and tuk tuk driver suspects remain in custody following the assault of a middle eastern tourist. Two video clips of taxi drivers attacking the tourist in Patong went viral in social media last week. Read more about the attack HERE. Six suspects were arrested by Opting Police last week. Read more about their arrests HERE. Patong…
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Koh Phangan and Koh Tao try to shake off monthly boom and bust
by Bill Barnett Thailand’s idyllic Koh Phangan island is renowned globally for its marque Full Moon parties. On the heels of soaring demand for the big event, visitor numbers surpassed the one million ceiling two years ago and over a five-year period registered compound annual growth rate of 17%. While the numbers are impressive, the reality for resorts on the…
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Patong lifeguard wins first prize in the Thai lottery, 30 million baht
“I will continue doing my job as a lifeguard. I love my job and I am happy with it.” 32 year old Nara Nalack, Patong lifeguard, has won first prize in the bi-weekly national lottery, receiving a prize of 30 million baht. The Thai lottery is announced twice each month (the 1st and 16th of each month). The first prize ticket…
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The EC’s magic formulae. Thais want to know how it all works.
by Kas Chanwanpen More confusion today, nine days after after the national ballot, as multiple formulae have been cited to come up with a tally on the number of MPs each party would have. Meanwhile, authorities appear reluctant to clear the air. Political scientist Stithorn Thananithichot warns that this confusion could lead to lawsuits which will further complicate post-poll politics.…
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Pickup truck crashes into power pole in Wichit, causes five hour blackout
PHOTOS: PEA A pickup truck accident in Wichit has caused a blackout for over five hours. The Phuket Provincial Electric Authority (PEA) reports that at 10.20pm last night the pickup truck ran into the pole, pulling down the high voltage pole. The accident caused a blackout in the area around Soi Bang Yai (behind Big C Super Centre) for over…
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Thai businesswoman loses 71,000 baht in Cambodian scam
FILE PHOTO: Sa Kaew border with Cambodia A Trat businesswoman, in eastern Thailand, has accused a Cambodian couple of scamming her out of 71,000 baht on the promise of lucrative returns from a 5 million baht joint export venture. 59 year old Saensuk Khamsat filed a complaint with Klong Yai district police on Friday, saying the couple who she transferred…
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Russian arrested on Samui for theft, drugs and overstaying visa
A Russian man has been arrested for stealing a digital camera as well as taking drugs and overstaying his visa. The incident happed on Koh Samui yesterday, (Sunday). Police from Bophut station arrested 31 year old Kiirti Svami after a digital camera store in one of the island’s major malls caught him returning to their store after already being caught…
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Man arrested with 10,000 methamphetamine pills in Thalang checkpoint
A man who was driving a pickup truck has been stopped at a routine checkpoint in Thalang over the weekend where he was found with 11,110 methamphetamine pills along with a gun. Police have arrested 44 year old Pisak Rodpai from Trang, south of Phuket. Police seized 11,110 methamphetamine pills, a handgun and seven bullets from his vehicle. The arrest…
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Female motorbike driver dies in Bypass Road crash
PHOTOS: Kusoldharm Foundation A female motorbike driver has died in a motorbike crash on Chalerm Phrakiet Rama 9 Road (Bypass road) early this morning. Kusoldharm rescue workers headed to the accident scene on the Bypass road in Rassada at 3.30am today. At the scene they found a damaged motorbike. Nearby they found Wilai Jamjan lying on the road. She had…
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Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai suffer haze and smoke until at least May
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is flying to Chiang Mai tomorrow (Tuesday) to meet with with the northern provincial governors. Most of the northern provinces, including Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, are likely to face health-threatening haze problems from PM2.5 dust particles until at least early May according to meteorologists. The poor air quality has been a constant part of daily life…
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Kudo Beach Club in Patong charged after allowing under-age entry
A lawyer of a night club in Patong and a representative of an event organiser yesterday presented themselves to police to face charges after allowing customers younger than 20 years of age to enter the venue. The incident was highlighted by the Spotlight Thailand’ Facebook page. At Patong Police Station last night, the lawyer for the ‘Kudo Beach Club’ and…
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PM heads north tomorrow to tackle smoke and haze issues
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha flies to Chiang Mai tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to host a meeting of the upper northern provincial governors to discuss the haze and smoke which has enveloped the region for the past two months. A deputy spokesman for the Government, Lt-Gen Weerachon Sukondhapatipak, says the PM has been closely monitoring the haze situation and wants first-hand information…
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Poll shows Thais are wary about the new government’s potential to end conflict
A new Suan Dusit Poll shows 31.8% of the respondents believe that the political situation will worsen due to the lack of stability of the new government while 28.1% are more optimistic. Most Thais believe the new government, be it led by Palang Pracharat or Pheu Thai, will not be able to end political division that have lasted almost two decades. The opinion poll sampled 1,752 people across the country. Nearly half said that…
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