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.
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Thief steals rescuer’s wallet on Hua Hin beach
A tourist has drowned whilst swimming at Hua His Beach near Soi 69. Tragic indeed. But a foreigner Good Samaritan who went in to help the man has had his wallet stolen from the beach whilst trying to save the man. A video taken around 1 pm yesterday shows a group of foreigners doing their best to revive the man;…
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Chiang Mai’s sword-wielding song thaew driver charged over intimidating tactics – VIDEO
Story from Sanook. Video from Thai Rath The red song thaew driver, who followed a white sedan around the moat road waving a sword in Chiang Mai, has now been charged by the police. Sanook reports that 69 year old ‘Son’ has now been charged with having a knife in public and behaving in an intimidating manner that could scare…
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Foreign tourists being tracked down for driving dangerously in Pattaya
Daily News reports that Pattaya Police are tracking down two foreigners caught on video riding recklessly in the Jomtien area, south of Pattaya. The video clip shows the two men waiting at traffic lights before racing each other with one man splaying his legs and doing a “wheelie”. Neither of the pair were wearing a helmet or shirts. The Pattaya…
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Mahout charged after Italian tourists injured from elephant attack
A mahout has been charged after an elephant attacked an Italian tourist in Phang Nga yesterday. Phang Nga livestock officials say the elephant was too young for elephant rides. A 29 year old Italian tourist, and his 31 year old travel companion, remain in Phang Nga hospital this morning following the elephant attack yesterday. Read more about the attack HERE. Chief…
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Weather for February 20
Bangkok Generally clear. High 34ºC. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Phuket Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 35ºC. Winds SE and variable. Pattaya Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 km/h. Hua Hin Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds SE at 10 to 15 km/h. Ko…
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Syrian woman arrested with fake Spanish passport at Suvarnabhumi Airport
PHOTOS: Immigration Bureau Immigration officers at Suvarnabhumi Airport have arrested a Syrian woman with a fake Spain passport. The Immigration Bureau reports that, while they were patrolling the airport, they found the woman who was acting suspiciously. They asked to see her passport which had her name listed on the passport as Alampana Albana, a Spanish national. She was waiting for…
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Italian tourists injured in goring attack by bull elephant in Phang Nga park
A 29 year old Italian tourist, and his travel companion, are in a Phang Nga hospital this morning following an elephant attack. The man was seriously injured yesterday when a 12 year old male elephant, that he and a friend were riding as part of a tourist activity in Phang Nga’s Mueang district, suddenly shook them to the ground and…
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Man dies instantly in temple fireworks explosion in Chaiyaphum
A 59 year old man, serving as a civil defence volunteer at a Chaiyaphum temple fair, has been killed instantly after picking up a seemingly half-lit giant fireworks pipe that then blew up in his face. Chaiyaphum is in central Thailand, north-east of Bangkok. The incident took place at Wat Ban Muang Kao in Kaset Sombun district last night. The annual…
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Swordwielding song thaews driver slapped on the wrist – no police action
The head of the infamous Chiang Mai red song thaews says he has spoken with a driver after the man wielded a sword out of his window at another driver who he claimed had tooted his horn. But that’s it. Nothing more. CCTV on the Maneenopparat Road shows the incident as the song thaew driver tailgates the white Honda Jazz,…
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Spanish man arrested in Bangkok over alleged raped
PHOTO: INN News Immigration Officers have arrested a Spanish man after he allegedly raped a handcuffed Thai woman. INN News reports that the 30 year old Spanish man was arrested following the issuing of an arrest warrant for the alleged rape of the woman. The incident happened last Saturday at a luxury condominium in Thong Lor, Bangkok. The female Thai…
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Airport smokers kicked out of Thai terminals
The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) says they strongly support Thailand’s move to ban smoking inside the passenger terminals of all its airports, to protect employees and non-smoking travellers from exposure to secondhand smoke. On February 3 this year, the Airports of Thailand (AoT) removed all smoking rooms inside the airports of Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat…
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Two Thai motorcyclists injured as British man makes a “sudden U-turn”
Two Thais on a motorbike have hit a car driven by a British man in Thepprasit Road, Pattaya early yesterday morning. The Pattaya News reports that local police and Sawang Boriboon emergency responders headed to the scene where they found a Honda City with Chonburi plates stopped in the middle of the road. It had damage to the right rear side.…
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Dog patiently watches over deceased master on Pathum Thani roadside
A man, who had left home a month ago to live by the roadside with a stray dog in Pathum Thani, has been found dead. The dog was watching over the body when others discovered the deceased man. Pathum Thani is just north of Bangkok. The deceased has been identified as 45 year old Surachai Khamsue. He was found lying…
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Motorbike driver dies after slamming into the back of a parked bus, Phuket
A motorbike driver has died after colliding with the rear of a parked bus on the side of the road in Thalang this morning. Thalang Police say the incident happened at 5am on Sanambin Mueangmai Road (4026) which is about 200 metres from the Thalang Technical College. Police and emergency responders arrived to find the parked bus. Embedded into the…
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Army Chief spits the dummy and orders the playing of military song
Contributors Jitraporn Sennawong and Kas Chanwanpen – The Nation If you’re the Thai Army Chief, and a bit miffed that some political parties are including scaling back military spending in their election policies, what do you do? Why of course you order Army radio stations in the Kingdom to play a jingoistic, and offensive to many, military-themed song, “Nak Phaendin”. Angry…
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Baby Risso’s Dolphin rescued at Railay Beach in Krabi
PHOTO: DMCR A baby Risso’s Dolphin has been rescued after being found on Railay Beach in Krabi on Sunday. Officials at the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) were notified that the baby dolphin was found of the east end of Railay Beach. The DMCR says that the species is a baby Risso’s dolphin. This one is 250 centimetres…
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Krabi drug officers crack down on drugs and firearms
Krabi Officers have seized 210,921 methamphetamine pills, 550 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 36 firearms and 19 bullets in the latest crackdown in Krabi. Officers searched in 25 targeted area in Krabi where they have arrested 8 wanted drug suspects over the past week. Methamphetamine pills have been sold in the region for as little as 55 baht per pill. More…
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Anti graft body raises concerns about contract bidding at Suvarnabhumi
“The private anti-graft watchdog called on Thai media and the public to keep a close watch on the conduct of the company calling for bids.” The Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand is expressing concerns over alleged lack of transparency in two major contracts under review at Suvarnabhumi Airport. In a statement issued yesterday, the private anti-graft watchdog called on Thai media…
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Lion Air flight slips off Borneo runway, landing in poor conditions – VIDEO
Another PR disaster for Lion Air, luckily no fatalities in this latest incident. A Lion Air Boeing 737 with 189 people on board has skidded off a Borneo runway as the pilot tried to land during heavy rain. The Lion Air flight was coming in to land at the Supadio International Airport. The aircraft was carrying 182 passengers and seven crew…
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Swedish man runs amok on Phuket’s main road
Police and rescue services were called to Phuket’s main arterial north-south road where a 57 year old Swedish man was running around the road and darting in front of traffic. Police speculate that, as his visa was running out, he may been on a suicide mission. They’ve also revealed that he is mentally unstable. Daily News reports that Thalang police,…
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Southern insurgency: Ranger shot dead in Songkhla house
FILE PHOTO: The latest shooting in a spate of recent violence in the southern provinces – The Nation A ranger based in Yala has been shot dead at his home in Songkhla’s Muang district. Pol Capt Adirek Burintrapibal, the deputy inspector of Muang Songkhla police station, was alerted at 8.30pm last night of the shooting at a house in Moo 10…
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Airbus scales back in the UK and invests more in Thailand’s new aviation maintenance hub
by Supalak Ganjanakhundee Uncertainty over Thailand’s political situation is apparently less of a concern for Airbus than the political uncertainties in the UK with Brexit looming. Whilst Airbus is pulling out some of its manufacturing in Britain, the European consortium is now looking to Thailand for new maintenance and repair facilities to help service the rapidly growing ASEAN aviation sector.…
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Pattaya vendor arrested for intimidating tourists in Pattaya whilst selling fake luxury watches
PHOTOS: Tourist Police Bureau Pattaya Tourtist Police have arrested a Thai man selling fake luxury watches and allegedly intimidating tourists as he was doing so. The Tourist Police Bureau report that 26 year old Natthapong “Top’’ Phetsanan, a watch vendor in Pattaya, was arrested on Friday near a beach in Chon Buri. The arrest came after a video clip posted on…
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Now you can study the success of K-pop band BTS – University of California, Berkeley
PHOTO: BTS members posing with South Korean President Moon Jae In 400 million views, 500 million, 600 million. Just scroll through the group’s songbook on YouTube from the past five years and you will be watching music history in the making – a success built on a new pop genre, new ‘music business’ model and seven young South Koreans hell-bent…
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50+ motorbike taxi drivers blockade southern border
50 Thai motorcycle taxi drivers have set up a blockade at the Thai-Malaysian border checkpoint to protest what they allege are unworkable, stricter immigration checks now imposed by Malaysian immigration officials. The taxi drivers say they have been bringing Thai tourists across the border in Songkhla’s Sadao district to the duty-free shops in Malaysia’s Padang Besar for years. Yesterday morning’s…
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Air pollution: Cabinet asked to allocate 6 billion baht to help buy sugarcane harvesters
Thailand’s Finance Ministry was asking cabinet for approval of a 6 billion baht budget to help the government tackle the northern and north-eastern smog and air-pollution problems. The funds would be distributed by the state-run Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to help farmer cooperatives and farming communities to buy sugarcane harvesting machines. BAAC manager Mr. Apirom Sookprasert says that…
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Motorbike driver dies after colliding with sedan on Thepkasattri Road, Phuket
A motorbike driver has died after colliding with a sedan driven by a Russian driver who was allegedly making a “risky” U-turn on Thepkrasattri Road in Koh Kaew yesterday. The incident happened at 3.30pm yesterday. Police and other emergency responders arrived to find a white sedan, a motorbike and a pickup truck. The motorbike driver had sustained serious injuries –…
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Weather for February 18
Bangkok Generally clear. High 32ºC. Winds S at 15 to 25 km/h. Phuket Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 34ºC. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. Pattaya Morning thunderstorms. High 31ºC. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 80%. Hua Hin Generally clear. High 32ºC. Winds…
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54 year old Swede dodges traffic in Thepkasattri Road, Phuket
PHUKET: Achadtaya Chuenniran A 54 year old Swedish tourist is now in custody after running around Thepkasattri road yesterday morning dodging cars and causing traffic mayhem. Luckily no cars came in contact with the man police described as ‘mentally ill’. A video clip from the incident shows the man running in and out of the traffic on Thepkasattri Road in…
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Suspect arrested over 12 year old’s rape last Wednesday
by Supachai Phetchthewee, Khanathit Srihirundaj “Samruay initially confessed to police that he had raped the girl because he became sexually aroused after taking drugs.” A 42 year old suspect, wanted for the alleged rape of a 12 year old girl in an abandoned building in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi district last Wednesday, has been arrested and taken into custody. ‘Samruay Jitcheun’ was arrested…
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