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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Sponsored 9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...
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Visa extensions for foreign visitors to Thailand coming in October
It’s official, that Thailand’s CCSA has said yes to longer visas for foreign travellers to the country. Starting October 1 this year, the exemption period extension for foreign visitors will be extended from 30 days to 45 days. Meanwhile, the visa-on-arrival scheme will go from 15 days to 30 days, the CCSA announced yesterday. The visa extensions will last until…
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Giant monitor lizard climbs up power pole to escape pack of dogs in central Thailand
A ginormous Asian water monitor lizard was chased up a communication pole by a pack of dogs at a village in Sara Buri province, central Thailand, yesterday. The giant reptile clambered up the pole when it got chased and bitten by a pack of stray dogs, but then it got stuck and had to be rescued. The “Tua Hia” –…
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UPDATE: Woman who allegedly abused a soldier is a police officer
UPDATE The employer who allegedly abused a female soldier and claimed to be a senator’s wife is actually a police officer. According to one media source, the woman is the mistress of a senator, not his wife. The Spokesperson of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, Teerapong Pattamasing Na Ayutthaya, confirmed yesterday that the victim was a real soldier. Teerapong said…
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Police shoot and kill major drug trafficker in Kanchanaburi
Police have shot and killed a major drug trafficker in the western province of Kanchanaburi, Thai media reported yesterday. The trafficker, a 30 year old man known as ‘Mot Daodam’ had been a major distributor of narcotics in Kanchanaburi, as well as Ratchaburi. Ratchaburi police found out about Mot Daodam through small-time dealers they had arrested. A team of Ratchaburi…
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Angry tourists demand refunds from tour operators in Thailand
Dozens of angry tourists are demanding refunds from Thai tour companies after they were denied entry into South Korea. The Thai Tourism Department acknowledged they had received complaints from 67 Thai travellers between August 5 and August 17 saying they had not been compensated by Thai tour companies to the tune of 1.4 million baht. The department’s deputy director-general, Jaturon…
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New govt bill on cannabis hopes to clear blurred lines in Thailand
A new government bill on cannabis and hemp use revealed that people will be allowed to grow no more than 15 cannabis plants for household use while selling and advertising cannabis and cannabis-based products online and in vending machines will be prohibited. The House committee spokesperson scrutinising the latest cannabis and hemp bill yesterday announced the amendment will go before…
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PM’s office is one of Thailand’s top advertising spenders
Thai netizens are curious as to why the Office of the Thai PM has spent so much money on advertisements after a recent poll by Nielsen ranked it in 13th place for the most money spent on advertising in Thailand. New York City-based Nielsen is a US information, data, and market measurement firm with clients in over 100 countries around…
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Health dept’s reply to rising food costs: ‘let them eat curry & rice’
The Health Department’s “Let them eat curry and rice” response to Thailand’s cost of living crisis is not quite Marie Antoinette’s ‘Let them eat cake’ quip to the starving peasants of France in the 17th century, but it’s not far off. The Thai Health Department urged people to buckle their belts and accept the fact that consumer products are more…
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Two Indians stopped for taking restricted goods to Bangkok
Delhi Air Customs arrested two people at Indira Gandhi International Airport yesterday for carrying restricted goods. The couple, Indian nationals, were on their way to Bangkok when they were stopped and had their luggage checked. Customs officers found cash in two currencies, US$19,200 and 15,700 euros, in bangle boxes. Delhi Customs reported the pair had been detained and were helping…
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Female soldier seeks help after being abused by senator’s wife
A soldier appealed to a Thai influencer for help after revealing she was almost driven to suicide after years of physical and mental abuse by the wife of a senator. The woman contacted Guntouch “Gun” Pongpaiboonwet, aka Gun Jom Palang, to share her story. In turn, Gun spread the news on Facebook and said helped her file a complaint against…
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Thailand movie legend Sombat Metanee has died, aged 85
A close friend of one of Thailand’s best-known actors, Sombat Metanee, revealed he died peacefully in his sleep today. The 85 year old, who made more than 2,000 films and television shows, was hailed by Thai fans as a heroic actor. At one time, Sombat held a Guinness World Record for most film appearances at 617 times. The media reported…
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2 men on a motorcycle rob a gas station in Chon Buri
Police are on the lookout for two opportunist thieves who robbed a gas station in Chon Buri yesterday. The two men arrived at the PTT gas station. No. 114/22, Village No. 2, Nong Samsak Sub-district, in the Ban Bueng subdistrict on a motorbike wearing full-face helmets and robbed about 6,000 baht in cash before fleeing the scene. Pol. Lt. Col. Ekachai Pakwat,…
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Indian man arrested for smuggling 17 live animals out of Thailand
An Indian man was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on Tuesday for trying to smuggle 17 prohibited animals from Thailand to India. The Director of Thailand’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Praset Sornsathapornkun, reported to the media that the 21 year old Indian man, Abilash Annadury, was arrested by the officers of the…
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Thai man faces prison for growing & selling corals online
A Thai man faces up to ten years in jail after being arrested for selling coral online via Facebook. Police seized more than 300 types of corals from the man’s residence. The 31 year old man, Thitipong, was arrested today at his home in Soi Suwinthawong 13, Saen Saeb sub-district, Min Buri district, Bangkok. Thitipong turned his home into a…
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Thai govt open to cannabis recreation, not pot-smoking tourists
Thailand’s Public Health Minister made contradictory statements yesterday regarding the recreational use of cannabis. In one statement Anutin Charnvirakul said he was open to the further liberalisation of the drug and in another, he said pot-smoking tourists are not welcome in Thailand. “We don’t welcome those kinds of tourists,” said The 55 year old Bhumjaithai Party leader at a “Meet…
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School’s In, Face-To-Face Learning Shifts to the Home
Press Release BANGKOK, THAILAND: Education throughout Thailand during the last few years of the Covid-19-inspired ‘Zoom Boom’ has largely taken place in a virtual classroom. But for many, remote learning has not been an effective substitute for face-to-face lessons. Growing frustration by online students and teachers who feel unable to connect in the fragmented and often disrupted cyberspace has created…
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New poll says people from Thailand more relaxed about Covid-19
A survey conducted by the Department of Health Service Support revealed that Thai people are not as vigilant as they once were about Covid-19 safety measures. The survey revealed that Thai people were about 4.3% more likely to engage in higher-risk activities than previously while there is an 11.06% decline in mask-wearing awareness. These results came from comparing the data…
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Rama 2 Road guilty of being a repeat accident offender
Another accident was reported on the Rama 2 Road where the U-turn bridge collapsed two weeks ago. Yesterday, an iron bar fell from a truck onto the road and almost hit a car. On July 30, at 8pm, the U-turn bridge over the Rama 2 Road collapsed onto four vehicles. One female passenger was killed at the scene by a…
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Body of one teacher found in double suicide pact in SE Thailand
The body of one of the two teachers who jumped off a bridge in Muang district in a double suicide pact has been recovered. A member of the public Anon Boonsert revealed that he saw two women sitting inside a Honda car parked on the Bang Phra Bridge, connecting Wang Krachae subdistrict and Nong Khan Song subdistrict, in Trat Province,…
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Son who tried to starve mother to death dies of TB in NE Thailand
A Thai man who tried to starve his mother to death in the hope of getting her inheritance was found dead yesterday in the family home in Isaan of Buriram province. It is believed he died of Tuberculosis. Officers from Satuek Police Station and a Wang Krut Rescue team were called to investigate a one-story house in the Nikom sub-district,…
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Soi Dog Foundation pledges to neuter 1 million animals in 2 years
Now in 16 provinces, the Soi Dog Foundation has set a goal to vaccinate and neuter one million stray dogs and cats across Thailand within the next two years. The foundation has been working since 2003 to combat the problem of overpopulation of stray dogs all over the country. They launched a program that year called Catch, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return…
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EPL praises Thailand for crackdown on illegal footie sites
Representatives from the English Premier League (EPL) yesterday met with the Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police to express gratitude for Thailand’s efforts to protect the copyright of the UK’s live football broadcasts. The Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, Damrongsak Kittipraphat, welcomed representatives from the EPL, the General Manager of the AVIA Coalition Against Piracy, Aaron Herps,…
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Instant noodles, a staple budget food, fighting to increase prices
There is perhaps no symbol more synonymous with living on a tight budget than dining cheap with a cup of ramen instant noodles. So it’s an extra kick for those struggling during this time of hyperinflation in Thailand and around the world that instant noodles manufacturers have requested expedited permission to raise prices on their products. The Internal Trade Department…
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Pattaya cops arrest spurned lover armed with gun after car chase
A high-speed car chase between police and a spurned lover armed with a gun ended when officers managed to arrest the man in a state of emotional duress in Pattaya. Police were called to the scene of a domestic dispute between Jane Ditphakdi and an unnamed woman, who rejected his advances, and another man trying to mediate the argument yesterday…
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Electricity prices soar 18% to 4.72 baht per unit next month
Electricity prices are already at a record high rate of 4 baht per unit, topping an eight-year old record, and have now been approved to surge another 18%. When global oil prices rocketed up to US$110 per barrel in 2014, Thai energy prices hit 3.96 baht per unit. Coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for all forms of…
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100 Consecutive Days of food handouts to the homeless of Bangkok
The Thaiger joins Bangkok Community Help Foundation on their 100th consecutive day of food distribution to the poor in Bangkok. Thanks to our Thaiger members generosity and donations from our viewers we were able to help distribute food for the homeless and people in need. As well as make a donation to the BCHF charity. Join Jay and Sara as…
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UPDATE: Foreigner faces prison for parrotfishing in Thailand
UPDATE: The foreign parrotfishes have been caught and detained by police in Phuket, southern Thailand, and faces legal action. Thailand’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Warawut Silpa-archa made the following statement this morning… “Yesterday, August 15, at 3.30pm, Roslan Benedia of Dutch nationality was detained and questioned at a police station in Phuket over a video he posted on…
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Dangerous social media trend encourages Thai teens to take Rohypnol
Parents in Thailand have been warned that a dangerous TikTok trend is encouraging teenagers to take Rohypnol, commonly known as “roofies” or “date rape drug.” Rohypnol is a strong drug that causes extreme drowsiness, and dizziness known for causing blackouts. Rohypnol is commonly associated with “date rape,” with many people worldwide – mostly women – reporting that they have been…
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E. coli contamination found at popular waterfall in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand
A popular waterfall on Doi Suthep mountain in the northern province of Chiang Mai is brimming with E. coli bacteria from human feces, warns Dr Rungsrit Kanjanavanit, a Green Globe award-winning conservationist and professor of cardiology at Chiang Mai University. The doctor warns against drinking or washing your face in the waterfall… “While driving up Doi Suthep mountain, there is…
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The Power of Resilience: Anna wins the Miss Universe Thailand crown by Mouawad
The daughter of two Bangkok garbage collectors now wears a dazzling crown adorned with peridot, topaz, and diamonds designed by luxury jewellery company Mouawad. Beauty queen Anna Sueangam-iam was born into a life of hardship yet grew up to become Miss Universe Thailand 2022, the well earned winner of a crown fittingly named ‘The Power of Resilience.’ Anna grew up…
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