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.
-
Krabi: Erosion threatens fossils on Andaman coast
By Sitthichai Sikhawat Known as ‘The 75 million-year-old shell cemetery’, the mollusk fossil-filled beach at the Andaman coastal province of Krabi is now facing erosion after being damaged by strong currents over the past two years, a senior official at the Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park said on Sunday. Conserving the 40 centimetre thick fossil layer on…
-
Search continues for 12 teenagers and their football coach
A post-football training visit to a Chiang Rai cave by a group of 12 teenagers and their football coach has turned into a nightmare with all of them still missing. As the search operation continued into Sunday for the 12 youths and their 25-year-old football coach, who are missing after visiting a cave in the Tham Luang-Khunnam Nang Non Forest…
-
Thief steals heroine statue sword
A thief has stolen a sword which was part of a statue of Phuket’s Heroines in a temple in Thalang. A facebook user ‘Prasong Trairat’ posted a photo on his personal Facebook yesterday (June 24) with a message reading “The sword of the grandmothers (reference to the heroines’ name by locals) disappeared last night. The thief is not aware of…
-
Man found dead in Thalang bathroom
A Thai man has been found dead inside the bathroom of his house in Thalang yesterday (June 24). The Thalang Police were notified of the incident at a house at the Prompan Housing estate in Paklok yesterday afternoon. Police and rescue workers arrived at the scene to find the body of a 27 year old man lying on the floor.…
-
Bangkok: Invitation accepted – 30 political parties will meet for talks Monday
Thirty Thai political parties have accepted the invitation to meet Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan at tomorrow’s (Monday) meeting hosted by the government. The government promised this ‘getting to know you session’ as part of the roadmap towards the next election, scheduled for February. Gen Prawit says the meeting scheduled for June 25 will be attended by representatives of at least…
-
Chiang Rai: Rescue operation looking for 11 footballers and a coach trapped in a flooded cave
11 teenage footballers, along with their coach, have been stuck in a flooded Chiang Rai cave since last night (Saturday). Rescuers have been trying to get to the team who are trapped in a flooded cave in the region’s Mae Sai district. The cave is located in the Tham Luang-Khunnam Nang Non national park. The footballers are all from the Tambon…
-
Chiang Mai: European tourist catches Legionnaires’ Disease in hotel
A European tourist, his nationality has not been named, has succumbed to the Legionnaire bacteria in a Chiang Mai hotel. A public health official in the northern city admits that the tourist went down with Legionnaires’ Disease after staying in Chiang Mai. He says that foreigners tend not to have resistance to the legionella bacteria that causes the condition. But added that…
-
Bangkok: Crackdown on Grand Palace scammers
Another crackdown. This time, on one the oldest tourist scams on the books. Bangkok Post reported that 87 people were rounded up in an operation around the Grand Palace in Bangkok following complaints of foreign visitors being pressured into purchasing unwanted services. “A total of 87 people were arrested in the operation of which 68 were booked for violating traffic regulations…
-
Thai PM confirms February election during visit to UK
by Vipaporn Pooritanasarn Thai PM General Prayut Chan-ocha has confirmed the the country will hold a general election early next year along with readiness to strengthen trade ties with England. He’s made the statement during his visit to the UK this week. General Prayut had talks with Speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Fowler about promoting trading opportunities between the…
-
Bangkok: 13 billion baht of drugs – up in smoke
The Thai Food and Drug Administration is about to incinerate 6,322 kilograms of confiscated drugs. It will be a bonfire valued at around worth 13 billion baht ($395 million) to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26. The big fire will be fuelled by 5,514 kilogram of methamphetamine pills, 486kg of crystal meth, 108kg…
-
Crackdown on mediums and fortune tellers
PHOTO: CIB commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Thitirat Nongharnpitak The Police from the Crime Suppression and Technology Crime Suppression divisions are embarking on a nationwide clampdown on mediums, clairvoyants and fortune-tellers. they’re especially concerned about those who claim they have connections with members of Thailand’s royal family. The Central Investigation Bureau commissioner say that most mediums are engaging in activities to fool the gullible…
-
Phuket Surf Series 2018
The Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket office, in collaboration with Surfing Thailand and the Phuket Surfing Club, is hosting the Phuket Surf Series 2018 from June to October this year. A media briefing was held yesterday at SurfHouse Phuket in Patong in spectacular sunshine. Just across the road, at Patong Beach, the monsoon surf was surging into the west coast…
-
Chiang Mai: New Zealander accused of masterminding murder of his Korean mother Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai police have arrested a New Zealander for allegedly masterminding the murder of his Korean mother by setting it up as quarrel between his wife and his elderly mother. 50 year old Brian Lee was arrested and charged with masterminding the murder of 76 year old An Jung Ja at a house in the Mountain View village in Tambon…
-
Bangkok: Female’s head and body parts found in bags north-east of city
PHOTOS: Thai Rath The mutilated body of a female has been found in the Soi Klong Samwa, in the north-eastern outer suburbs of Bangkok. Minburi police, forensic experts and members of the Por Teck Tung Foundation headed to the location where the body was found. In a shoulder bag, wrapped in a black rubbish bin liner, was the head of…
-
Phuket: Two arrested in Rawai over illegal football gambling
Two Thai men have been arrested in Rawai after they were found to be illegally gambling on World Cup football matches. Yesterday afternoon a team of officials from the Chalong Police arrested 55 year old Gosri ‘Boon’ Rueangrit and 30 year old Sriwawut Rueangrit at a house in Rawai. Police seized four books of loan lists from Gosri, a bank…
-
How much would you pay for a plastic amulet?
The shenanigans at the Kathu Temple, where Chinese tour buses are arriving daily in their droves to purchase ‘lucky’ and ‘magic’ amulets, continues. This time two Dutch tourists, interested to visit a temple and check out the alleged lucky amulets, were horrified by what they discovered. The two, who have asked us not to publish their names, visited the temple…
-
WhatsApp stopping support on millions of smartphones – are you affected?
Tech.ThaiVisa are reporting that WhatsApp has quietly announced that it will stop working on a number of iPhones and Android devices. The Facebook-owned messaging platform, which boasts 1.5 billion users worldwide, will cut off millions of users from its service within the next two years. WhatsApp announced the death knell for older smartphones in a blog post titled “support for…
-
Thai PM features on front of Time magazine’s Asia edition
Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is being featured on the cover of Time magazine’s Asia edition for the start of July, available on July 2. The cover carries the headline: “Democrat. Dictator. Which path will Thailand’s Prayuth Chan-o-cha choose?” General Prayuth Chan-ocha appears at ease among the lavish trappings of politics. Thailand’s Prime Minister is never far from doting courtiers in Bangkok’s…
-
Thais don’t have enough savings – Gen Y, Gen X
Most working Thais only enough savings to last them about six months if they stopped working, or became unemployed. According to a study from the Customer Insights Centre of the Thai Military Bank, the premise particularly affects the Gen Y and Gen x groups. Generation X – Born: 1966-1976, Generation Y (Echo Boomers or Millennium) – Born: 1977-1994 The study is based on…
-
Songkhla: Pet dog leads family to missing boy
A faithful dog has led a family of a missing five year ld boy to a Songkhla reservoir. Sadly, it turned out that the youngster had already drowned. The body of Panattha Thammaro resurfaced at about 8am this morning (Friday). The family said the boy disappeared from home at 3pm Thursday and couldn’t be found. Then at 8pm the dog, named…
-
Soi Dog – Going, going green!
To celebrate the World Environment Day on June 5, 2018, the Soi Dog Foundation implemented a series of actions to reduce its carbon footprint as well as improve its Corporate Social Responsibility and ‘best practice.’ While the core mission of the Foundation remains the same, Soi Dog now goes one step further by measuring the impact of its work within…
-
National: How many days over-stay?!
PHOTOS: Thai Tourist Police Bureau A 70 year old British pensioner has been named as the foreigner with the longest over-stay in the 15th round of “X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner”. the weekly national immigration crackdown. In cooperation with other agencies, Tourist Police announced the arrest of 110 foreign undesirables in 83 raids. People were busted for running romance scams, skimming operations, drug…
-
Saleng driver escapes side-car gas bottle fire
A saleng (motorbike side car) has caught fire after a cooking gas leak today (June 22) in Kathu. Officers at the Kathu Municipality were notified about the incident on Phra Phuket Kaew Road near the Bang Chak Gas Station around 11am. Kathu Police and fire fighters arrived at the scene to find a Honda and its side car (saleng) on fire.…
-
Two motorbike taxi drivers arrested in public transport drug crackdown
A team of officials led by the Provincial Police Region 8 Police have conducted drug and alcohol tests in a campaign at the new Phuket Bus terminal in Rassada yesterday (June 21). The campaign ran from 3-5pm. Sarawut Pakdee, a law enforcement officer of the Provincial Police Region 8 says, “Phuket’s Governor Norraphat Plodthong is very concerned about public transport safety…
-
Politics: Yingluck’s first public message in 10 months
Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra has spoken out for the first time since she fled Thailand nearly 10 months saying thank you to her supporters for their birthday wishes. Khaosod English reports that Yingluck, who remains immensely popular among ‘red shirt’ supporters, despite her exile, said her influential brother, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, also treated her to two meals on the…
-
Elvis’s plane up for auction. It’s now or never.
If you’re in the mood for buying a bit of music, and aviation, history, it’s now of never! CNN reports that there’s no engine, the cockpit’s a mess and the red velvet seats are not fit for the once king of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Restoring this plane will require a heap of cash, a hunk of burning love, paint, an engineer…
-
Songkhla: Army recruit, high on methamphetamine, shoots friend
CCTV footage from Songkhla in southern Thailand shows an army recruit, on leave, in an apparent drug fueled rampage. 22 year old Jetsarin Siri was back home from Kanyaniwatana Camp in Narathiwat and was taking methamphetamine pills with his friend 26 year old Janthaya Chumchart when an argument allegedly broke out. Thai Rath reports that the man drew a gun on…
-
School teacher humiliates student over unpaid school fees
A mother is crying foul after she claims her son was humiliated by a teacher who stuck a note on his shirt saying he owed 700 baht in unpaid school fees. The names of the mother, her son and the school have been withheld although you can trace back the original post on Thai Facebook pages. The mother posted the…
-
Man drowns in Phuket jet-ski accident
A man has died after falling off from a jet-ski at a lagoon in Thalang yesterday (June 21) Thalang Police were notified about the incident at a lagoon on Srisoonthorn Road near the Valley Housing estate in Thalang at 4.30pm. Phuket Marine Police, diving rescue workers and the Thalang Police were involved in the search for the body. The search was…
-
Cheap plastic chairs being used on Krabi-Phi Phi ferry
There is no doubt a lot of infrastructure is at critical ‘overload’ stage where tourist attractions are struggling to cope with the sheer number of tourists and visitors coming to the region. This applies to the transport infrastructure getting people here and there as well. While there has been an announcement about new ferry services linking the golden tourist triangle…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.