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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Sponsored See the best of Northern Thailand this winter on a budget
The Thaiger key takeaways Peak season brings higher prices, but smart planning and local know-how can help you experience Northern Thailand affordably. Chiang Mai, Pai, and Chiang Rai offer plenty of free or low-cost attractions, from temples and canyons to...
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College student found dead in a bathroom in Nakhon Ratchasima
A third-year student of a technical college in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Mueang district has been found dead in a college bathroom today, according to police. The 20 year old male IT department student, was found lying face-down on the floor of the bathroom on the third floor of one of the college buildings. A doctor determined that he had died about…
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Darasamut Underpass to be temporary closed
The Phuket Highway Office has issued an announcement that says the Darasamut Underpass (adjacent to the Central shopping precinct) will be closed from tomorrow from 9am to 3pm (Tuesday, October 30). The announcement says, “The underpass will be temporary closed. Workers will be carrying out repairs of the electrical systems and cleaning the underpass.” “We apologise for any inconvenience during the…
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Indonesian searchers trying to locate the black box – Lion Air flight JT610
Authorities have scouring the waters north of Java Island, off the coast of Jakarta, for bodies and debris from Lion Air flight JT610. The flight went missing this morning shortly after take-off on a routine one-hour flight from Jakarta to Pangkalpinang in Bangka Belitung. The Lion Air flight lost contact with air traffic controllers at 6:33 am, briefly after take…
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Krabi police investigate rocks thrown at an ambulance
Krabi police are currently investigating after a group of teenagers were throwing rocks at an ambulance in Krabi yesterday. The ambulance was transferring a patient and heading to Krabi Hospital Krabi City on Petkasem Road around 3am. The Krabi City Police Chief Col Somdet Sukkarn ordered his team to investigate the incident. There has been no CCTV camera found in…
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Bangkok bus crashes into power pole – nine injured
FILE PHOTO Eight people have suffered minor injuries following a Bangkok city bus on route number 48 (Ramkhamhaeng 2-Wat Pho) crashing into a power pole near Sukhumvit Soi 48 in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei district this morning. The incident caused a long traffic jam. The incident reportedly happened when the driver slammed the brakes to avoid hitting a pickup truck that…
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Missing Lion Air 737 – UPDATE
SCREENGRAB: Flightradar24 • Flight JT610 was a Boeing 737-800 MAX, the latest version of the manufacturer’s workhorse 7373 single-aisle jet. • The aircraft was almost brand new. It was delivered to Lion Air on August 13 this year. • Preliminary flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbed to around 5,000 feet before losing height, then regaining height, before…
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Lion Air flight missing after scheduled take off from Jakarta
SCREENSHOT: Twitter/Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, Crisis Center Penanganan Jatuhnya Pesawat Lion Air JT 610 A Lion Air Boeing 737 with 188 passengers on board, has crashed into the sea shortly after take off from the Jakarta. This is what we know… • Flight JT 610 was on a scheduled flight to Pangkal Pinang, the main town in the Bangka Belitung Islands. It…
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Patong Municipality responds to waste water flowing into bay
PHOTOS: Patong Municipality A video clip of wastewater flowing into sea at Patong Beach has gone viral in social media over the weekend. Patong Municipality yesterday issued a statement saying, “Referring to the case of waste water adjacent to the Diamond Cliff Beach Resort and Spa, Kalim Beach, two water pumps transferring waste water had stopped working due to the amount…
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Even more blacktip reef sharks spotted at recovering Maya Bay – VIDEO
Blacktip reef sharks have again been spotted at the recovering Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi yesterday. Director of the National Park Management Division Kamon Nuanyai says, “at 8am yesterday Hat Nopparat Thara – Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park officials have recorded a video clip of Blacktip reef sharks near the shores at Maya Bay. During the ongoing Maya…
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Volvo explodes into flames outside Phuket Temple
Fire has engulfed a parked Volvo sedan next to a temple in Phuket town. The car’s owner was taking part in a funeral inside the temple last night (Sunday). Firefighters were notified of the incident at Wat Kosit Wiharn Temple in Phuket Town at 7.11 pm. Two fire engines headed to the scene along with Phuket City police. The engine…
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A tonne of marijuana seized on the banks of the Mekong
Thai authorities have seized 1,000 kilograms (1 tonne) of marijuana from a spot along the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom province around midday yesterday (Sunday). The Tha Uthen district chief Bhumisak Khampu conformed the discovery. He joined the officials in inspecting the drug stored in 25 black plastic parcels. Patrol police and Mekong naval patrol officers found the items along…
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Leicester fans mourn Thai boss killed in helicopter crash
PHOTO: Fox Sports Fans have been laying out flowers, football scarves, prayers and tributes outside the Leicester City club grounds after Saturday’s helicopter accident, in tribute to Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Thai Leicester club owner fans credit for an against-all-odds Premiership victory in 2016. “Leicester City was a family under his leadership. It is as a family that we will grieve…
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Unofficial confirmations that Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was aboard crashed helicopter
FILE PHOTO Although there haven’t been official verifications from authorities, it appears likely that Thai duty free supremo, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was aboard his personal helicopter when it crashed soon after take off following a league match last night, UK time. Two leading media sources have led with news of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha being on the helicopter when it took off. The Leicester…
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Government mobilizes a new war on drugs
South East Asian governments have declared various ‘wars on drugs’ over recent decades, most notably President Duterte and The Philippines (2016 – 2018) and Thailand’s former PM, Thaksin Shinawatra in 2003. Both of them have had questionable results with rights groups decrying the extrajudicial killings as trampling on basic human rights. In February 2003, the Thai government, under then Prime…
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Southern border wild boar smuggling risks spread of African swine fever
Thailand’s southern provinces are facing new risks from a viral strain called “African swine fever”. Experts say this is due to the many wild boars that are being smuggled in to the region over the border with Malaysia. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, the disease is highly contagious and affects both wild and farm pigs. It has…
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The government gets a ‘rap’ on the knuckles
13 million views and still going strong. That’s 20% of the population of Thailand. Any pop group would be astonished, amazed and pleasantly surprised by such popularity of their video clip in such a short time. But in this case the clip is a subversive rap from ‘Rap Against Dictatorship’, a five minute rant against military rule in the Kingdom.…
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Viral posts claim Tesco Lotus is laying off staff and closing stores
A rumor, stating that Tesco Lotus is laying off staff and closing 43 branches around Thailand has gone viral in social media. Matichon Online reported yesterday that social message is saying that… “Tesco Lotus lay off staff around the country. What will they do next and can other staffer handle the pressure.” (Translated) Some people have commented saying…. “…my branch…
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Leicester City club owner and King Power founder, Vichai’s helicopter crashes
A helicopter owned by the Thai Leicester City football club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has crashed in a ball of flames in the car park of the club yesterday following a Premier League match. At this stage it’s not known who was in the helicopter at the time. The Premier League club has not confirmed whether its owner was on board at…
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Phang Nga Court convicts 11 men over gang rape of 14 year old
A Phang Nga court has convicted 11 men and sentenced them to lengthy jail terms for gang-raping a 14 year old girl in the province last year. Read the original story we broke on The Thaiger HERE. News about the assaults came to light in September 2017 after the mother filed charges with police. She outlined a litany of abuses…
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Thaiger Radio News – Sunday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Last weekend’s horror road toll – nearly 11,000 died so far in 2018
At least 10,794 people have lost their lives on Thailand’s roads this year. This tally, with only two months remaining, is a timely reminder of the danger that lurks on Thai roads from Dr Taejing Siripanich, secretary-general of the Don’t Drive Drunk Foundation. Statistically, compared to last year, this is a drop in overall deaths on Thailand’s roads. But Taejing…
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Restoring faith to the national airline
On October 8, a Thai Airways 747-400, with only 115 onboard including the crew, skidded off the runway at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The story and photos reached around the world placing the embattled airline in a position to explain the incident. There were no fatalities and all passengers were safely evacuated and went about their holidays. Since then the silence over…
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Two killed and nine injured in van and wild elephant collision
FILE PHOTO A van driver and a passenger have been killed and nine other passengers injured when their chartered van hit a wild elephant on a road in Chachoengsao’s Sanam Chaikhet district, near the Cambodian border, early today (Saturday). The large injured wild elephant fled into to the forest following the accident in Ban Huay Some village in Tambon Lard…
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Anti-military rap song tops iTunes Thailand downloads
An anti-military dictatorship rap song has topped Thailand’s download list on iTunes after police and the government threatened legal action against the Rap Against Dictatorship (RAD) group. The Prathet Goo Mee (My F…king Country’s Got…) went to the top of Thailand’s iTunes download list this morning to the cheers of RAD who posted a message to thank its fans. The…
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“X-Ray Outlaw Foreigners” is just racial profiling
Website NewsOne publishes a stunning attack on Thailand’s racially-fueled immigration round-ups. “Thailand’s immigration crackdown has swept up refugees and asylum seekers, sent young children into horrid, prison-like conditions, and appears to have clear aspects of racial profiling against South Asians and Africans.” Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch Written By Nigel Roberts Thailand is not hiding its use of racial…
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Judge delays sentencing in paedophile case
Jason Daron Mizner during his prison term in Thailand An Australian judge says she was left so shaken by reading out the list of paedophile’s crimes that she walked out of court to delay sentencing. She said she needed to remove emotion from the punishment she will hand out. Convicted child rapist Jason Daron Mizner was supposed to be sentenced…
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Superyacht going cheap – 1MDB investigators auction off seized boat
The bidding process for the billion-baht superyacht ‘Equanimity’ will begin on Monday and run until November 28. 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) counsel Ong Chee Kwan has confirmed the matter after meeting High Court (Admiralty Court) Judicial Commissioner Khadijah Idris in chambers yesterday. “Those who are interested to bid need to pay US$1 million as deposit,” he said. Also present were…
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Thaiger Radio News – Saturday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Malaysian flight MH370, or is it a pile of rocks?
An amateur UK sleuth claims this satellite image from Google Earth shows the outlines of what could be the doomed MH370 jet off the coast of Thailand and Myanmar. The object he has presented as evidence appears to be shaped “like a large passenger plane”, sparking an unlikely theory it could be the missing jet itself. “I’ve got a feeling it…
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British family told to raise 4,000 pounds to repatriate father of five
by Abbie Bray – Devon News The family of an British father, who tragically took his own life whilst holidaying in Thailand, are trying to raise money to repatriate the body of Kevin Rowlands. The 36 year old father of five had had a history of mental health according to his family. According to Thai police, he took his own…
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