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.

  • A perfect storm hits Flight JT 610 | Thaiger

    A perfect storm hits Flight JT 610

    If you get into a car that has had, and officially logged, malfunctions over the past four outings – all critical malfunctions to the correct operation of the car – would you start the key and head out into the traffic? Probably not. That appears to be what Captain Suneja, and his co-pilot on Flight JT610, did as the sun…

  • Beware. Horny elephants in Hua Hin | Thaiger

    Beware. Horny elephants in Hua Hin

    PHOTO: Talk News Online Kulsawek Sawekwannakorn has posted on Facebook about two elephants causing a traffic jam as they faced off on the Phusai to Sai-En Road near Hua Hin last Sunday morning. Traffic was stopped for 20 minutes as pachyderms Bunchuay and Bunmee charged at each other. Because that’s what you do when you’re a horny bull elephant and…

  • Three killed in a Chiang Mai house fire | Thaiger

    Three killed in a Chiang Mai house fire

    A Chiang Mai couple and their two year old child were killed when their house was engulfed in a fire early today. Police report that they were alerted of the fire at the two-floor house in Ban Pa Tun village in Tambon Pa Tun, Muang district around 5.30am this morning. After the fire was put out, three charred bodies were found…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Tuesday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Tuesday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…  

  • Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of prestigious peace award | Thaiger

    Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of prestigious peace award

    Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of Amnesty International’s most prestigious human rights prize, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, which she was awarded whilst still in detention in 2009. Amnesty is calling out the defacto Burmese leader and accusing her of perpetuating human rights abuses by not speaking out about violence against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Once hailed…

  • Politicians raise doubt over February 24 election date | Thaiger

    Politicians raise doubt over February 24 election date

    The Election Commission secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma is refusing to confirm that the next election will be held on February 24, fuelling speculation of a possible delay. He said February 24 was the earliest date the agency would be ready to hold the general election, citing a conclusion of an Commission meeting held many months ago in Pattaya. “The election commissioners,…

  • Burmese man stabbed friend to death in Phuket Town | Thaiger

    Burmese man stabbed friend to death in Phuket Town

    A Burmese man has stabbed another Myanmar national to death in Phuket Town last night. The Phuket City Police were notified about the incident at a room in Soi Ton Poe in Phuket Town. Police and rescue workers arrived to find the suspect, 56 year old Aung Htoo, a Burmese national, waiting for police. A 13 centimetre knife was also…

  • More ‘wind and waves’ – Phoenix still at the bottom of the Andaman Sea | Thaiger

    More ‘wind and waves’ – Phoenix still at the bottom of the Andaman Sea

    The Phoenix, the boat that sank on July 5 off Phuket’s south west coast, causing the drowning of 47 Chinese tourists, remains 45 metres underwater as the new salvage team have little more success than the original salvage team who threw in the towel a week ago. A Marine Police diver on site, Pol Lt Passakorn Sirichuchote, is quoted in…

  • Public hearings now on for Thais to discuss the new same-sex marriage bill | Thaiger

    Public hearings now on for Thais to discuss the new same-sex marriage bill

    PHOTO: BK Magazine The Thai Justice Ministry has kicked off public hearings on the proposed same-sex marriage bill that is scheduled to be submitted to the cabinet this month. So far the online survey has had no direct objections. The public hearings were officially opened to at the Miracle Grand Convention Hotel today in Bangkok. The Justice Vice Minister Pongsatorn…

  • Dates clarified for new smoking bans and regulations | Thaiger

    Dates clarified for new smoking bans and regulations

    The Thai Public Health Ministry official announcement has been issued for smoking bans from no smoking zones. The fine will be 5,000 baht. Khaosod is reporting that the deputy general director of the Department of Disease Control, Doctor Kajonsak Kaewjaras, says the first announcement states the list of types or name of public places, work places and vehicles. The list…

  • Bangkok maths tutor killer admits to crime | Thaiger

    Bangkok maths tutor killer admits to crime

    by Kornkamon Aksorndech The prime suspect in the murder of a young mathematics tutor has told Bangkok police that he killed his victim out of jealousy and anger. Metropolitan Police say he reportedly met with the victim, 27 year old Natthawat Piansakul, who was dating his former girlfriend, to tell him to “stay away from the woman” but claimed he was…

  • Chiang Mai tourism plans to promote more outlying regions for 2019 | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai tourism plans to promote more outlying regions for 2019

    “The plan is to promote traditional, conservative activities such as temple routes, sightseeing tours in the old city and visiting craft villages.” The Tourism Authority Thailand (TAT) Chiang Mai Office has announced its performance for the past year and announced its plans for 2019. Visroot Inhyam, the director general of TAT’s northern region outlined the main issues for tourism promotion…

  • French couple get lost in the Krabi mountains | Thaiger

    French couple get lost in the Krabi mountains

    More than 20 officers were searching more than four hour for two French tourists who got lost in the Panom Benja Mountains in Krabi yesterday. They were both eventually found, hungry and thirsty, but safe. Krabi City Police, the Krabi Tourist Police, soldiers and Krabi forestry officers were searching for the French tourist couple, 44 year male Desmarest Cristophe Paul…

  • KL driver gets an unexpected car wash in flooding tunnel | Thaiger

    KL driver gets an unexpected car wash in flooding tunnel

    An alert driver quickly had to climb out of his car’s window to safety when water suddenly gushed into a road tunnel near Jalan Tun Razak in central KL during heavy rain last night (November 11). The flood waters consumed his car within minutes. According to Bernama, the man identified as 26 year old Teh, says he was really scared…

  • 20 year old sea turtle found in the mangroves near Saphan Hin | Thaiger

    20 year old sea turtle found in the mangroves near Saphan Hin

    A headless green sea turtle, aged more 20 years, has been found dead under a rock at the mangrove forest area behind the Phuket incinerator near Saphan Hin. Officials at the Phuket Marine Biology Centre (PMBC) were notified from locals last night that the sea turtle was found dead amongst the mangroves at the back of Phuket incinerator. Kusoldharm rescue…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Monday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Monday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…  

  • Ex-soldier on the run after shooting girlfriend in Prachin Buri | Thaiger

    Ex-soldier on the run after shooting girlfriend in Prachin Buri

    A former Saraburi-based cavalry soldier, Corporal Panuwat Pancheun, who was reportedly fired from service three months ago for assaulting his superior, has allegedly shot and injured his 28 year old girlfriend at her family’s home/grocery shop in Prachin Buri province this morning as he tried to drag her out to his car. Prachin Buri is two hour’s drive north-east of Bangkok.…

  • Buri Ram teacher probed after boy’s beating | Thaiger

    Buri Ram teacher probed after boy’s beating

    A Buri Ram school has set up a committee to investigate a parent’s allegation that one of its teachers made a Prathom 6 pupil do 50 jumping jacks in the hot sun and then whipped him 10 times with a wooden stick wrapped in duct tape. The 12 year old’s mother revealed Friday’s incident and says her son had merely…

  • One dead in Burmese migrants’ Bangkok brawl | Thaiger

    One dead in Burmese migrants’ Bangkok brawl

    Police this morning arrested nine Myanmar migrant workers allegedly involved in a brawl in Bangkok last night that led to one compatriot’s death along with injuries to five others. A brief video circulated online showing 20 men fighting with knives and metal pipes near a poultry slaughterhouse on Soi Pridi Phanomyong 44, Khlong Ton Nua sub-district, Wattana district. Khlong Ton…

  • Container with radioactive waste being stored at Laem Chabang port | Thaiger

    Container with radioactive waste being stored at Laem Chabang port

    An unknown amount of radioactive waste has been detected inside an export container at the Laem Chabang Deep Seaport, just north of Pattaya, Chon Buri. The port’s deputy director, Vice Admiral Yutthana Mokkhao, says the waste is being kept in the safety zone at the port which is equipped to handle radioactive situation and it is being handled by officials…

  • Indonesian rescue teams call off search for passengers of Lion Air flight | Thaiger

    Indonesian rescue teams call off search for passengers of Lion Air flight

    Indonesian authorities say they’re calling off the search for passengers of the Lion Air flight JT610, almost two weeks after the jetliner plunged into the Java Sea killing the 189 passengers and crew on board. Read The Thaiger editorial about the investigation HERE. Some 196 bags containing body parts have been recovered from under the water with 79 victims identified…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Sunday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Sunday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…  

  • Visa-fee waiver for 21 countries as tourism slump sparks panic | Thaiger

    Visa-fee waiver for 21 countries as tourism slump sparks panic

    by Kat Chanwanpen Visitors from 21 countries are getting their visa-on-arrival fee waived for 60 days, starting December 1. Amid declining numbers of visitors, notably from China, a desperate Cabinet yesterday agreed to waive the 2,000 baht visa-on-arrival fee for tourists from 21 countries for 60 days to try and revive one of the main engines of economic growth. Meanwhile,…

  • Phew! Police report there is no prostitution or drugs in Walking Street | Thaiger

    Phew! Police report there is no prostitution or drugs in Walking Street

    Netizens of Thailand are breathing a collective sigh of relief after it was revealed that there is no prostitution in Pattaya’s infamous Walking Street. Police proudly declared that, following checks on the famous red light district, they found absolutely no evidence of prostitution. The check was one of the highly public monthly police ‘inspections’ of the street, usually with the…

  • Man arrested with 52,000 methamphetamine pills and 785 grams of crystal meth | Thaiger

    Man arrested with 52,000 methamphetamine pills and 785 grams of crystal meth

    Police have arrested a Phuket man with 52,000 methamphetamine pills and 784.82 grams of crystal methamphetamine. Details were passed on to the media at the Phuket Provincial Police Station yesterday. A team of Border Patrol Police and the Phuket Provincial Police have arrested Danai ‘Tin’ Lakban at a house in Soi Yod Sanae in Chalong where police seized the drugs.…

  • Thai man arrested for sexually assaulting British woman in Nai Harn | Thaiger

    Thai man arrested for sexually assaulting British woman in Nai Harn

    Phuket police have arrested a man who sexually assaulted a British female tourist at Nai Harn yesterday. The woman was found crying and distressed as she was running out from a Soi near Naiharn Beach yesterday morning around 8.45am. Read more about the story HERE. Chalong Police found that the suspect lived in the Soi where the tourist ran out from.…

  • Narcotics Control Committee seek advise over legalisation of medical cannabis | Thaiger

    Narcotics Control Committee seek advise over legalisation of medical cannabis

    The rather drawn out and tortuous trek of the process to legalise medical marijuana through the Thai parliamentary system has hit a bit of a hurdle. The Narcotics Control Committee will seek further input before deciding whether to reclassify marijuana, which is now a prohibited narcotic, to enable its use for medical purposes. “We have resolved to consult the Council…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Saturday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Saturday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…  

  • Romance scammer arrested for overstaying his visa by four years | Thaiger

    Romance scammer arrested for overstaying his visa by four years

    Thai police have continued their crackdown on foreign criminals, especially romance scammers, call-centre fraudsters and visa over-stayers, with the latest arrest of a 30 year old Nigerian man who was found to have overstayed his welcome in Thailand by nearly four years. Nigerian Cory Samuel Madubuchi, who was arrested in Nonthaburi, was also found to have 57 money transaction slips…

  • Thailand’s creative entrepreneurs funding passions through Airbnb | Thaiger

    Thailand’s creative entrepreneurs funding passions through Airbnb

    2,000 Airbnb Homes and Experiences hosts in Thailand are members of the Creative Community 25% of all creative Thai hosts are based in Bangkok. One in every five Thai Experience hosts are from the arts, music, fashion or entertainment industries. Like tourism, which now accounts for more than 10 percent of the world’s global GDP, the creative economy is thriving worldwide.…