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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 Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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King Power’s duty free monopoly under review
King Power Duty Free’s monopoly of duty free concessions at some of Thailand’s busiest airports may be coming to an end. The Thai PM has warned against the “monopolisation” of the country’s airport duty free sector ordering a review of the auctioning process that could threaten the multi-billion-dollar empire of current concession holder King Power. Thailand expects to welcome over…
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Two killed in family road trip to Krabi
PHOTOS: Thai Rath A family trip has ended in tragedy this morning after their car crashed into a tree in Prachuap Khiri Khan, killing the father and daughter and leaving the mother and son injured. The family was on its way from Nakhon Phanom to Krabi when the accident occurred at 8.30am on Phetkasem Road in Bang Saphan district. 40…
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American falls to his death from a Chiang Mai apartment
An American man has fallen to his death from the balcony of his room on the tenth floor of a condo building in Chiang Mai’s main city district early this morning (Monday). The Muang Chiang Mai police station says they were alerted at 1.50 am to the death of 60 year old Ruben Ponce at the Astra Condominium on Chang…
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BTS launch their new album on April 12, appear on Saturday Night Live the next day. Why this matters.
The music business is about to have another one of those seismic shifts in the next month as the power of the music business continues to dribble away from western record company influences to a more democratic, social media-driven, business model. In the past two years, mainly, a small South Korean production house has re-tooled the massive world music business…
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Will it be same same but different after this Sunday’s vote?
Thailand’s military junta, which has ruled the Land of Smiles since snatching control in a coup in 2014, is now trying to bring its leader, Prayut Chan-o-cha, back as an ‘elected’ PM in next week’s election. The NCPO has cobbled together an ambitious economic plan that’s rests on a 1.7 trillion baht (US$54 billion) spending spree to revive competitiveness in…
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Surin train runs over homeless man
A homeless man has been killed after being hit by a passenger train in Surin’s main city district early today. Surin is north- east of Bangkok on the Cambodian border. A policeman on duty at the Surin station was alerted at 5.48 am that the man, who police report appears to be in his 50s, was killed as the train…
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One dead, kids injured in school bus accident in Prachinburi
Photo: Prachinburi PR Office A bus has crashed just north-east of Bangkok, killing one and injuring another 10. Wangkhon Police in Prachinburi were notified of the accident at 4:40am early today. The bus was travelling from Nong Bua Lamphu, north east of Thailand, to Prachinburi. The bus was carrying 20 high school students and 19 teachers. When the bus arrived…
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Thai driver puts in an excellent weekend at Australian GP finishing 14th
PHOTO: Alex Albon makes a splash in Melbourne with the first crash of the season and then a sparkling result against the odds Alex Albon, the Thai-English F1 driver, says he was was satisfied with yesterday’s work in Melbourne after the first Thai driver in Formula 1’s modern era threatened a huge shock before settling for a respectable 14th place…
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Chiang Mai love triangle leads to stabbing attack – two dead
A woman’s husband and the woman’s young male lover were both killed after a short fight at an apartment building in Chiang Mai. The deaths were reported to the Chang Phuak Police Station at 7am yesterday morning (Sunday). 57 year old Samruay Sukjui and 28 year old Banphot Pimpa both died of knife wounds. Samruay’s younger brother, Charoensap Sukjui, told…
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Week kicks off with more choking haze and cancelled flights in the north
From Nan to Mae Hong Son, Phrae, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, choking smog continues to be a persistent problem and part of daily life in the North, where more than 400 brushfire hotspots have now been identified. Most of the fires are in Mae Hong Son, on the far north-west border with Myanmar, which counted 100. Bangkok Airways has…
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25 year old electrical contractor electrocuted in Chalong, Phuket
FILE PHOTO A 25 year old electrical contractor has died after accidentally touching a high voltage power cabling in Chalong. Police say that the power was still connected when the man was working. Pakasit Raksakam was working on the cabling when he accidentally touched a cable that was still live, according to fellow contractors working nearby. Rescue workers arrived on Soi Na…
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Thais vote today as registered absentees in the lead up to next week’s election
PHOTO: 98 year old Prem Tinsulanonda, president of the Privy Council – Bangkok Post Arlina Arshad, Regional Correspondent – Straits Times Hundreds of thousands of voters across Thailand are heading out today to cast early ballots, a week ahead the country’s first general election – the first time Thais have voted since 2011 and since the military took control in…
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Reduce Bangkok’s motorcycle death toll by 82% – add dedicated lanes
PHOTOS: Daily News Dedicated motorcycle lanes might be the answer to lowering the death toll around Bangkok’s congested streets. A leading engineer has suggested that Bangkok should introduce motorcycle lanes. The Engineering Institute of Thailand’s Dr Thanet Wirasiri says that Thailand has some of the most dangerous driving conditions in South East Asia – and things were getting worse all…
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Bangkok now in the Top 10 list for most expensive Asian locations for expats
Bangkok has, for the first time, made it into the list of Asia’s top 10 most expensive locations for expats. A rise in average rental prices this year caused by an influx of expats from China and an increase in tourism traffic have hit expats and put the city in 10th place on the annual list, with an average US$3,880…
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Production staff coughs up blood during filming in Chiang Mai
PHOTO MONTAGE: Daily News A Chiang Mai filmmaker is calling on authorities to urgently tackle the problems of smoke haze and air pollution around the northern capital because it’s posing severe health problems. The filmmaker, frustrated with problems associated with production in Chiang Mai this week, has posted photos of a trainee from his company coughing up blood. He says…
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Chemical fire in a pick-up on on Sukhumvit Road
PHOTOS: Sanook A Toyota pick-up van with a cargo of 3 tonnes of 50% Hydrogen Peroxide has burst into flames in the street in North Samrong, south of the capital. 24 year old driver Janepop says he had picked up the consignment for delivery to a customer in Chanthaburi, south east near the Cambodian border. He told police he noticed…
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Just one of the tourists – South Korean President visits Angkor Wat
PHOTO: Yonhap News South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in put on his tourist clothes yesterday and roaming around with thousands of other tourists at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. The ruins attract millions of visitors each year, making the ruins in Siem Reap province Cambodia’s most popular tourist destination. The world heritage site contains the remains of different capitals of the…
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Thai driver qualifies for Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne
PHOTO: Fox Sports Thai driver Alex Albon is brushing aside a crash during Friday’s practice to outpace his teammate in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix today, earning him a place on the starting grid tomorrow. Sunday’s race will see a Thai flag flying over the grid for the first time in the modern F1 era. Albon, born to a…
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Don’t drink and vote – 24 hour alcohol ban starts at 6pm
Police are out and about in Thailand’s popular tourist zones warning people that there will be an election alcohol ban starting at 6 tonight, for 24 hours. There will also be a ban next weekend as well. Nobody appears to have told the police and officials that international tourists don’t vote. “No selling of alcohol will be allowed from 6…
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Porsche/motorcycle crash – one dead, another woman loses baby
PHOTOS: Thai Rath | Sanook A Porsche Cayman S has been involved in a collision with two women on a motorcycle at 3am this morning (Saturday). The incident happened in Putthamonthon Sai 3 Soi 5. Thai Rath reports that the carnage happened as the vehicles collided outside a car repair yard. A friend of the women says that 24 year…
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Alleged Patong taxi driver killer surrenders to police
The taxi driver who allegedly shot dead a fellow driver in Patong last week has surrendered himself to Patong police. Read more about the the shooting of the Patong taxi driver HERE and HERE. An arrest warrant was issued for the 48 year old suspect Paradorn Puchaiyan last Friday, March 8. Read more the issuing of the arrest warrant HERE. Yesterday…
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Accused Australian killer appears in Christchurch court charged with murder
A 28 year old Australian man smirked as he walked into the Christchurch District Court in New Zealand’s South Island this morning, charged with murder after a carefully planned mass shooting at lunchtime prayers at two mosques. The public was banned from the courtroom for the proceedings, but an angry crowd waited outside the court building. Brenton Tarrant was brought…
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3 wounded in explosion at Narathiwat border defence unit
Three security officials have been injured in the latest bout of southern violence when armed militants attacked a border defence unit’s base near the Kolok River in the Tak Bai district in the southern province of Narathiwat on the Thai/Malaysian border. Several houses and cars nearby were also damaged by the powerful IED (improvised explosive device). Initial reports have revealed that a group of about 6 militants opened fire at the base with automatic weapons, followed by…
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Deputy PM orders review of intercity and rural road speeds
Deputy PM, Defence Minister and also in charge of police affairs, General Prawit Wongsuwan has instructed police and related agencies to review and set appropriate speed limits for various vehicle types on intercity motorways and rural roads in order to boost road safety and reduce accidents. He has instructed the Royal Thai Police to coordinate with Interior and Transport ministries…
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UPDATE: Christchurch massacre – The mind of an alleged mass murderer
The gunman who Facebook live-streamed himself shooting his way into the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch also posted a political manifesto addressing his reasons for the attack. In his manifesto he described himself as “just a regular White man”. At this stage 49 people have died after a gunman opened fire at two mosques in the South Island city of Christchurch.…
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Boy killed by train while playing on his mobile phone in Songkhla
PHOTOS: Phatong Tredtam Rescue Foundation A 12 year old boy has died on a railway track near a school in Hat Yai, Songkhla after being crushed by a train while he was playing on his mobile phone on local railway tracks. The Phatong Tredtam Rescue Foundation report that Thunglung Police in Hat Yai, Songkhla were notified of the incident at…
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49 dead as New Zealand reels to shock mass murder in Christchurch mosques
The death toll from todays massacre at two mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand’s South Island, is now 49 with 20+ injured, some critically. The gunman in the Christchurch mosque shooting livestreamed the incident for 17 minutes on Facebook. The shooter identified himself as “Brenton Tarrant”, a caucasian, 28 year old Australias, the NZ Herald reported. The livestream began as…
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40 killed in two mosques. “One of New Zealand’s darkest days,” NZ PM
At least 40 people have been killed and more than 20 seriously injured after gunmen opened fire in two mosques in Christchurch around lunchtime today. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the incident as a terrorist attack saying the suspects held “extremist views” that have no place in New Zealand. She confirmed that thirty people were killed when gunmen stormed…
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Wife claims husband died after being beaten up in police custody
A woman has made an official complaint after her husband died after being in police custody. The distraught wife went to Panat Nikom police in Chon Buri to complain yesterday after police called her to say that her husband had died whilst in detention. 31 year old Naruephon had earlier been arrested at his house on charges of smoking marijuana. He…
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Last day: Phuket Heroines Festival
PHOTOS: The Phuket PR office Today is the last day of the annual Phuket Heroines Festival at Thalang Historical Park. The Phuket Governor Phakkapong Tavipatana presided over the opening night on Wednesday where the historical show of light and sound was held. There are many activities showing the Thalang way of life, local markets, demonstrations of ancient desserts, traditional plays,…
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