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 How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Buddha with a beat – Wat Suthi Wararam transformed
It’s Visakha Bucha Day like you’ve never seen it before. Bangkok’s Wat Suthi Wararam has unveiled a bold and modern makeover to entice young people and a new audience to Buddhism. Wat Suthi Wararam is coming alive with Monks chanting to electronic music, projection mapping and a digital art exhibition. “Bodhi Theatre: Buddhist Prayer Retold” combines vivid animation and Buddhist chants set…
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Thai and farang friend catch king cobra with bare hands in Krabi – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Robrouw Krabi A foreign man has helped his Thai friend to catch a king cobra with their bare hands in Krabi today. The three metre king cobra was found near a refrigerator in a house in Mueang Krabi district. A foreign man and his Thai friend, who lives near the house, came to help where he helped to catch the…
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Old Phuket Town underground cable works to be completed by August
The project to hide the unsightly over-head cables around Old Phuket Town is due to be completed in August this year. The Phuket City Mayor says there will be inconvenience to traffic in Old Phuket Town while the works are underway installing underground cabling in the remaining streets. Read more about the progress of the works HERE. The Phuket Provincial Public…
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Tragic end for Phuket Zoo baby elephant ‘Dumbo’
PHOTOS: Moving Animals The baby elephant, who was forced to perform for tourists, was so weak that his back legs snapped, and died just a week later. Here is the original story from The Thaiger. Just last month, heartbreaking footage emerged of a “skeletal” baby elephant being forced to ‘rave’ to music, ‘play’ musical instruments, and perform tricks, at Thailand’s…
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BioThai Foundation says companies growing hemp commercially will create monopoly:
“…as of now, only official agencies are allowed to grow hemp in the tribe-development zones in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan, Tak, Mae Hong Son and Phetchabun provinces.” The Thai government’s plan to let privately-owned companies grow hemp commercially is progressing as part of a three year trial. But, BioThai Foundation says that giving specific companies the right to plant hemp…
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Rubbish on Chon Buri beaches cleared after social media complaints
PHOTO: DMCR First there was a beach on Koh Phi Phi, then a dirty canal in Bang Tao, Phuket. Now, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has cleared up rubbish on an island beach off Pattaya beaches in Chon Buri. Photos were posted in the ‘Pattaya Watchdog’ Facebook page on May 14 with a message reading, “Some business…
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Bangkok’s Klong Lord gets a make over
The new Klong Lord now boasts clear water, not the black grimy mess as in the past. The klong has now had a complete make-over and been rehabilitated and re-landscaped. The Bangkok Metropolitan and Administration (BMA) is upgrading the canal and says it will develop it into one of Bangkok’s important tourist attractions, recalling its identity during the reign of…
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Navy officer and two others killed in Chon Buri road smash
PHOTOS: พัชรพล – ณัฐภูมินทร์ ปานรักษ์ A navy officer and two other people have died after a pickup truck collided with a sedan in Chon Buri earlier today. Plu Taluang Police were notified of the incident on Sattahip Pier Road in Sattahip at 4.30am this morning. Police and emergency responders arrived to find a completely wrecked sedan on the road. 27…
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Nationwide police crackdown on student gang violence
The Royal Thai Police say they are cracking down on student gangs. They say they will be enforcing existing laws and focussing on problem cells. They will also prosecute parents for the behaviour of their children. Thai Rath reports that Pol Lt-Gen Phromthorn Phak-at from Royal Thai Police says that the police will be taking a “no nonsense” approach to student…
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Chiang Mai songthaews and tuk-tuk drivers complain about Grab
Drivers of red public songthaews and tuk-tuks have submitted a petition to Chiang Mai’s provincial governor complaining about the Grab ride-hailing App. The Grab service is offered on a very intuitive smartphone app and provided by normal drivers. The petition said the Grab App had caused their income to drop by more than 50%. They say the service is illegal and…
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Black water flows into the sea at Koh Phi Phi
Wastewater was flowing into the sea at Koh Phi Phi in Krabi as business operators have been caught releasing untreated water and waste into the sea. The issue has gone viral in social media with local officials scrambling to respond. Black water was photographed lapping the shores of Loh Dalam beach on Koh Phi Phi five days ago. One of…
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As readers abandon print, The Nation announces closure of daily printed paper
Another big national newspaper bites the dust, following an inevitable worldwide trend. A sad day for The Nation as they announce the closure of the Bangkok-based English daily after 48 years. It leaves the Bangkok Post as the only English language national daily. The Nation will end its print edition with its last issue scheduled for June 28. In making the…
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Register your hotel within 30 days – Hua Hin unlicensed premises warned
FILE PHOTO 170 illegal hotel and resort operators in Hua Hin have been warned to register and obtain Hotel licences within a month or they will face jail or a fine. The Hua Hin district chief, Thanon Phanpipas, says the operators of unlicensed hotels and resorts must register within a month from May 16 or they would face a maximum…
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Police and passenger die in Phitsanulok collision
PHOTOS: Khaosod A policeman travelling in a highway police sedan, and a passenger in a pickup truck, have died at the scene after a crash in Phitsanulok this morning. The incident happened on Kokmaidang – Noean Maprang Road in Wangthong. Phitsanulok Provincial Police Deputy Commander, driving the highway police car, died at the scene after he sustained critical injuries. The…
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Compromise could save expressway authority from paying exorbitant compensation
PHOTO: YouTube Thailand’s Expressway Authority (EXAT) board has agreed to extend the concession period of NECL, a subsidiary of Bangkok Expressway and Metro Public Company (BEM), to operate two expressways for an additional thirty years. The hope is they can avert a legal battle which could eventually result in the government authority being ordered to pay as much as 130 billion…
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Two people seriously injured after guns fired in Krabi
Police are now hunting for suspects who fired more than 10 shots at two men in Krabi. Klongtom Police were notified of the incident at a house yesterday afternoon. Police and emergency responders arrived to find two people injured – 40 year old Yannatee Aramchim and 30 year old Nakin Rueangchoo. They were rushed to hospital and are expected to recover.…
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Doctors’ son arrested over break-ins around Bangkok and Pattaya
PHOTO: TNA A Thai man has been arrested for breaking into and stealing from a car in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi. The crime Suppression Division say the incident happened last December. 37 year old Phop Euanjit denies the charges saying he was just the motorcycle rider after the theft when 7,000 baht of valuables were taken. The incriminating motorcycle was found at…
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Co-ordinated pipe bomb attacks in Yala injure five
FILE PHOTO Five Army troops and rangers have been injured after southern insurgents threw pipe bombs. Security officials say the incidents happened at three locations in Yala in what appears to be a co-ordinated incident. The commander of Muang Yala police station, Pol Col Narawee Binwaearong, says two insurgents on a motorcycle rode to a security checkpoint on the Siroros…
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Compulsory health insurance for foreigners – will it affect you?
PHOTO: Over 50 and reading about compulsory health insurance? Not sure which way to turn? Foreigners aged over 50 applying for a particular visa type now need mandatory health insurance. The new requirements, which were approved by Cabinet in April and announced by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), says that people applying or renewing (or rather re-applying for) a…
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New Democrat leader may lean party away from pro-Army coalition
PHOTO: The Nation With a new leadership team heading up the Democrats, the focus is now on which way they will tip their MP seats in the formation of the new lower house in the Thai parliament. Whilst most pundits have thought they’d be leaning towards supporting the Palang Pracharath party (PPRP), who have current PM Prayut Chan-o-cha as their…
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Officials investigate complaints of elephants on Phuket beach
Officials have investigated social media complaints about elephants in the water and the taking of photos with tourists on Tri Trang beach. Officials haven’t arrested anyone at this stage. The issue about elephants playing in the shallows with tourist went viral in local social media as netizens made comments ranging from the “elephants are damaging the coral” and the “elephants…
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Boeing knew about problems with 737 Max 8 jets before second crash
PHOTO: American Airlines They knew because plenty of pilots told them, on tape. In the months between the two Boeing 737 Max airplane crashes, pilots from American Airlines confronted a Boeing official about the controversial MCAS computerised anti-stall system that preliminary reports have now implicated in both deadly wrecks. The audio of the meeting has been obtained by the US’…
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Petition to restore dignity of Thailand’s only convicted cannibal
In a dark corner of the Siriraj hospital, in the rather bizarre medical museum (nicknamed the Museum of Death) is the mummified body of Si Quey sae Oeng, Thailand’s only convicted cannibal. Now more than 10,000 people have signed a change.org petition for the removal of the gruesome display in order to restore his human dignity. The petition follows up a…
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PM in full battle mode defending the appointment of Senators
PHOTO: The Nation The Thai PM is showing his glass jaw again by asking critics and the media to stop criticising the manner in which the new Senate was selected, or the actual senators. PM Prayut claims that they had been screened and now have been royally endorsed. Critics were claiming that many of the senators are “old faces”, relatives of…
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Export growth expected to be the lowest in four years
Export growth for Thailand this year is is now being pegged at less that 1%, the lowest growth in four years. Mr. Ath Pisarnwanich, director of the International Trade Study Centre at the University of Thai Chambers of Commerce is saying the low growth is a result of both the escalating US-China trade war and the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement. The…
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Head-on collision kills five, injures three in Khon Kaen
Five football fans, travelling to watch the Thai Port Football Club, have been killed when their rented van crashed head-on with a water tanker in Khon Kaen this morning. Police said the incident occurred on the Chumphae Si Chomphu road in Moo 6 village in Tambon Wang Hin Lad. Three others people were injured in the collision. Four men died…
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Suspects arrested after breaking into Irish man’s house in Chon Buri
PHOTOS: Pattaya Message Police have arrested three suspects after they broke into an Irish man’s house in Chon Buri and stealing a number of items. Police have arrested 28 year old Wasan Panprem, 37 year old Rachata Kumsart and 27 year old Napaphon Pradap. They have been charged with theft. Police seized 56,760 baht cash, two gold necklaces, three gold…
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Family of Canadian man who died ziplining in Chiang Mai calls for changes
PHOTO: Spencer Donaldson at the Flight of the Gibbon zipline in Chiang Mai, moments before he jumped to his death – Supplied by Spencer’s family. “Flight of the Gibbon isn’t listed on the website of Association for Challenge Course Technology as a member and the Association have denied that the Chiang Mai ride is a member.” The family of a Canadian…
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Motorbike driver dies after smashing into trailer truck in Samut Prakan
PHOTOS: นคร75/อาสาฯมูลนิธิร่วมกตัญญู เขตบางปู A motorbike driver has died after colliding with the rear of a trailer in Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok, last night. Bangpu Police were notified of the incident on Sukhumwit Road in Bangpu Mai at 10pm. Police and rescue workers arrived to find a body of the motorbike driver, 33 year old Amnart chockbandit, at the scene.…
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Pattaya prison releases 243 inmates on royal pardons
PHOTO: Pattaya Mail 243 inmates have been released from the Pattaya Remind Prison on royal pardons granted by HM the King as part of his coronation celebrations. Warden of the prison, Watcharaw Wachiralerphan oversaw the release of 181 men and 62 women prisoners on Monday. Each convict wore yellow shirts with “Long Live the King” logos on the front. The…
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