Thailand News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, and lifestyle—get breaking updates from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. Stay informed on Thai society, economy, tourism, and expat life with The Thaiger.
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THAIGER TODAY Wednesday, February 21
Four die in a Krabi road smash | More of the Bangkok driveway-blocking drama | A BIG find on a Gulf beach | Suthep announces new political party | New engine-size tax for motorbikes | Government caves into power plant protesters.
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Bangkok’s Great Driveway Drama – surrounding markets ordered closed
The Bangkok governor has ordered the immediate temporary closure of five markets operating in Seri Villa housing project in Prawet district, in a bid to find an acceptable solution to the decade-long dispute between residents and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) over the presence of the markets. https://www.facebook.com/phuketgazette/videos/1620839177993904/ Governor Asawin Kwanmuang said on Wednesday that he would set up a…
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Suthep’s party to support Prayut as post-election PM
From The Nation Suthep Thaugsuban, core leader of the now-defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), plans to found a political party to support Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha becoming premier after the next general election, a former Democrat party-list MP has claimed. Watchara Petchthong said on Tuesday that the party would be named the People’s Democratic Reform Committee Foundation, of…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, February 20
Woman NOT happy with pick-up parked over her driveway | Car chase for two Nigerians on Cambodian border | Vandals leaving their mark in Krabi | How NOT to reverse a container truck | 23 tourists stung by jellyfish | 62 year long-term resident in Pattaya giving back to his community. Coming to you from the Floating Donut in Laguna…
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THAIGER TODAY Monday, February 19
Airport has 200,000 passengers in one day | Bikie gang member locked out of Australia after visit to Pattaya | German and Thai held over under-age prostitution | Popular farang YouTuber dies | Phuket’s Ao Po Grand Marina gets dragged into Premchai investigation | Four soldiers injured in explosion in Narathiwat | 7/11 looking to introduce ‘Seven Bank’ banking in…
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Public cynical about justice for ‘influential people’ – Survey
Although the investigation into construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta’s alleged illegal hunting is ongoing, the public says they have little confidence that he will ever be punished if found guilty. Nearly two-thirds, or 64.2 per cent, of people recently surveyed believe the case, where Premchai and three others are accused of poaching and possessing wildlife in a Kanchanaburi wildlife park, will…
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Personal grudge behind killing of rubber tapper in South – Police
An elderly rubber tapper was shot dead early on Sunday morning in a rubber plantation in Narathiwat’s Yi Ngor district. Police suspect the fatal shooting might stem from a personal conflict, although they have not ruled out issues related to the deep South’s unrest and national security as a possible motive. Following a 6.20am report of a homicide, police went…
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Senior DSI official faces probe over alleged rape, extortion
A disciplinary investigation is to begin next week into claims that a Department of Special Investigations official took a video of him raping a 38 year old Pattaya businesswoman at gunpoint in May 2015 and then used the tape to blackmail and extort 2 million baht from the woman. Justice Ministry deputy permanent secretary Thawatchai Thaikhiew said yesterday that the…
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Kalasin rape, shooting suspect turns himself in
The 29 year old suspect, who allegedly shot a male third-year university student in the cheek in Kalasin’s Na Mon district early on Tuesday morning before abducting and raping a female sophomore student, has surrendered to police this afternoon (February 16). Rubber tapper Thisanu Phonarat, surrendered to Kam Moung police officers at a gas station belonging to his elder sister.…
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THAIGER TODAY Friday, February 16
Gong Xi Fah Cai! | Bangkok’s pollution moves further north | New 50 kph speed zones in the capital | Alleged Kalasin rapist/shooter on the loose | Premchai’s gone missing | Authorities NOT going to close Maya Bay | Cambodian parliament introduces new laws restricting free speech | 74 year old Brit found on deserted island off Chumpon.
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National manhunt after rape, shooting suspect evades police
An arrest warrant has been issued for a 29-year-old suspect accused of shooting a male third-year university student in the cheek in Kalasin’s Na Mon district and abducting and raping a female sophomore student. The female student was later released in a Phuphan forest early Tuesday morning. Thisanu Thonarat was described as armed and dangerous, Kalasin police chief Pol Maj-General…
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Police suspect illegal abortion clinic in Hua Hin
Prachuap Khiri Khan police are gathering evidence to apply for a court’s permission to search a clinic suspected of providing illegal abortion services in Muang Hua Hin municipality, following Tuesday’s discovery of four foetuses in garbage bins near a convenience store in Soi Hua Hin 68. Hua Hin superintendent Pol Colonel Sitthichai Srisopacharoenrat said police were tracking a male suspect…
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, February 15
‘Heavy traffic is causing pollution in BKK’ – Genius! | Thaksin and Yingluck now in HK | Witness of Australian ‘manslaughter’ in Pattaya speaks up | Changes to the collection of immigration data | UK Foreign Secretary jokes about Thailand’s sex tourism | Thailand mums are wanting smaller families | Encoached buildings on Koh Phi Phi being demolished.
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Keeping track of foreigners in Thailand – new e-passport data to be used
The Immigration Bureau and the Interior Ministry have been instructed to speed up the implementation of a single-platform online database of foreigners entering and leaving the Kingdom. The order was given by Deputy PM General Prawit Wongsuwan when he chaired the meeting of the fifth government committee in charge of bureaucratic reforms at Government House. “The single platform database would…
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Yingluck lobbying for a chat with Japanese PM
National Legislative Assembly whip Somchai Sawangkarn has revealed that a diplomatic source in Japan told him Yingluck Shinawatra has been trying to meet Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The source also told Somchai that the fugitive former premier was also seeking to meet old business and political connections in Japan and planned to call a press conference in late February…
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THAIGER TODAY Wednesday, February 14
Another Chinese tour bus crash on the notorious Patong Hill | Pollution levels starting to fall in BKK | UN Refugee Chief speaks out about repatriation of Rohingya | Thai Education Minister apologises to Prawit | British government questions Thailand over prison conditions | Three white tiger cubs get their first public outing | And where do all the Valentine’s…
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83 year old man accused of raping four year old
An 83 year old man was arrested in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Muang district this morning over an accusation that he allegedly raped the four year old daughter of an in-law niece on February 2. The girl sustained such serious injuries from the alleged rape that she had to be treated at Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital, and was only discharged…
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Thaksin and Yingluck in Japan – Deputy PM
Deputy PM, Defence Minister and luxury watch enthusiast, General Prawit Wongsuwan, says that former PMs Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra are currently in Japan. Without further elaboration, Prawit added that he has ordered responsible agencies to look into the matter. He was speaking in Vientianne during his official visit to the country at the invitation of Lao government. Photos of Thaksin…
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Education Minister asked to answer for his comments over the Prawit ‘watch’ scandal
A close aide of Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan has expressed shock over a remark by Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin that apparently attacks his boss. The aide, who asked not to be named, was referring to a remark by Teerakiat that apparently criticised the country’s response to the Prawit watch scandal. Teerakiat said he would step…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, February 13
American hands himself into police over Pattaya ‘manslaughter’ | Phuket market bans smoking | UK’s Foreign Secretary visits Thailand | Road death statistics continue to rise | Coal plant protestors go on hunger strike | Greenpeace says stop BKK smog at the source.
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Getting ready for the big one – Myanmar’s earthquake threat
Special report from partners Voice of America Last month, the residents of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, felt a strong bump in the night. Their national leaders in Naypyidaw, the country’s thinly populated capital, were also stirred from their sleep. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck between the two cities, in the early hours of January 12. The Southeast Asian country is…
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Seeding the skies over Bangkok to ‘make’ rain to help with smog
The Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation Department is preparing to seed clouds above Bangkok in an attempt to ease the capital’s smog problems. Haze has spread over the capital over the past few days, causing a health hazard for vulnerable people, and leading Agriculture and Cooperatives minister Grisada Boonrach to order that rainmaking operations be carried out. Two of the…
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THAIGER TODAY Monday, February 12
‘Kra Canal’ project “not a priority” | Officals jump into action over black sludge washing into Ao Nang and Patong beaches | Student intern uncover 6.9 million baht alleged embezzlement | Student protests ‘must be handled carefully’ | Boris Johnson visits Myanmar | Cloud seeding being used to help settle last week’s BKK smog.
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Southern power plant demonstrators vow to continue their protest in Bangkok
Opponents of coal-fired power plants have vowed to fight on after the Metropolitan Police designated a protest ban within a 50 metre radius of Government House, forcing the demonstrators to end their prolonged protest in front of the premises. Coal-fired power plant opposition groups yesterday insisted on their rights to stage peaceful protests and said they would appeal to the…
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Reuters detail work of journalists detained in Myanmar
Reuters have released a report on ethnic killings in Myanmar, detailing research done by two of its reporters currently jailed in Myanmar. The news agency details the slaughter of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din, where Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo spoke with Buddhist neighbors who reportedly admitted to killing the men and burying…
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Two Shinawatra former PMs spotted shopping in China
Photo from Instagram @ingshin Fugitive ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was seen in a photo with her brother Thaksin, also a fugitive ex-PM, buying chestnuts in Beijing, China. The photo was published on Matichon Online website on Saturday afternoon. The two siblings were buying chestnuts in a mall in Beijing as part of Chinese New Year celebrations on February 16, Matichon…
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The new Airbus 350-1000 on tour in Thailand
The new Airbus A350-1000 has landed in Bangkok for the first time for a demonstration flight and a ground display. Following its arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the aircraft took off for a special one-hour flight yesterday afternoon with representatives from the government, airlines, aviation authorities and members of the press on board. The jet’s visit to Bangkok is part…
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Thung Yai sanctuary chief files bribery complaint against Premchai
Chief Forest Ranger Wichian Chinwong has filed a bribery complaint against the president of Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD), Premchai Karnasuta, who is accused along with three companions of poaching and possessing wildlife at the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in Kanchanaburi province. The four entered the sanctuary last Saturday before being captured by wildlife rangers on Sunday after they were…
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Love online costs 1 million baht
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, police are rounding up members of a gang of foreigners accused of running a “romance scam”. Accomplices are being sought after two Nigerians were arrested on Wednesday. Tourist Police Deputy Commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal said 31 year old Emeka Celestine Eze was apprehended at a condominium in Bangkok’s Bang Na area on Wednesday…
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, February 8
Premchai house raids reveal weapons and ivory / infamous Tiger Temple to re-open / Krabi Governor says Phi Phi completely unprepared for fires / National police chief orders changes following shooting of on-duty policeman / UN will sit next week to discuss Roningya crisis.
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