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 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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Rare display of Bryde’s whales wows tourists in Andaman Sea
Tourists enjoying a boat trip yesterday were treated to a rare display of a pair of Bryde’s whales showing off in the Andaman Sea off Phang Na province. According to Lertsak Ponklin, the president of Phang Nga Tourism Business Association, the two giant sea mammals were spotted frolicking in the Similan Islands National Park. The tourists aboard the Wow Andaman…
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Shake Shack opens for business in Thailand
World-famous New York burger joint Shake Shack opened its flagship Thailand store at CentralWorld in Bangkok at 10.30am today. The first 500 customers at the store this morning were given handcrafted bamboo Shake Shack fans woven by a community enterprise in Ayutthaya, ready for the summer season. The restaurant’s menu offers American classics like burgers, hot dogs, chicken, fries and also…
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Flip flop thief suspected to be former offender with a foot fetish
A security camera at a rental house in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok captured footage of a man with a foot fetish stealing six pairs of flip flops on Monday. The thief was reported to be a former offender who was arrested three years ago. Wiroj Suvanrnkrue, a 52 year old resident of the Bang Bua Thong district in Nonthaburi, asked…
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Hong Kong Airlines to launch direct flights to Phuket
Low-cost carrier Hong Kong Airlines will launch a direct flight to Phuket in southern Thailand, starting June 16, 2023. An Airbus A320 will service the direct Hong Kong – Phuket route four times per week to meet rising demand as tourists return to Thailand in full force. The outbound flight will depart from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) at 8.20pm…
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‘Water Festival 2023’ promotes traditional Thai culture
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced plans to promote traditional Thai culture with a series of events for Songkran under the “Water Festival 2023” banner in four regions between April 13 and 16. The event is a collaborative effort between TAT, Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd (ThaiBev), and several other partners, including the Culture Ministry, the Royal Thai Navy,…
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Body of loan shark found in Thailand river, 7 baht of gold jewellery missing
The body of a Thai woman missing for three days was recovered from a river in Chumphon province in southern Thailand yesterday. The gold jewellery she usually wears, worth 220,000 baht, was missing. The deceased – 32 year old Chadathip – ran a loan business and never returned from an appointment she made to chase money from a debtor on…
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Painting stolen by Nazi Party to be returned to Jewish decendants
A painting from the 19th century that was once owned by Hermann Goering, a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, is going to be returned to the descendants of its original Jewish owner. The Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University in Britain agreed to return a painting by French artist Gustave Courbet to the descendants of its original Jewish owner, who…
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Thai police officer arrested for using car stolen from Malaysia
Officers arrested a senior police sergeant major for using a car stolen from Malaysia yesterday at the suspect’s condominium in Bangkok. Officers from the Vehicle Theft Suppression Centre of the Royal Thai Police (RTP) and Bang Khan Police Station arrested the 50 year old police senior sergeant, Aisoon, at his condominium in the Bang Khan district yesterday. The stolen car,…
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Thai woman dies 6 hours after breast surgery, lawyer says clinic doesn’t have license
UPDATE Police have launched an investigation into Marichche Clinic in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi province near Bangkok in central Thailand after a customer lost consciousness and died just six hours after her breast augmentation surgery was completed on March 23. Chatri Pinyai, a lawyer of the Department of Health’s legal division, says that breast augmentation is considered a major…
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Pregnant woman allegedly abused by soldier husband
A pregnant woman sought help from a Thai influencer claiming that her soldier husband repeatedly abused and beat her. The Royal Thai Army (RTA) ignored the woman’s claims. The Thai influencer, Guntouch “Gun” Pongpaiboonwet, aka Gun Jom Palang, today accompanied the 30 year old pregnant woman, A, to the RTA Headquarters to seek justice. The victim visited the army headquarters…
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Swedish man sentenced to prison for running child porn network in Thailand
UPDATE A 23 year old Swedish man that controlled a network of underage girls in Thailand into sending pornographic pictures and videos of themselves from his parent’s home in Stockholm has been sentenced to four years and six months in prison, reports ScandAsia. The material was sold to thousands of people via social media. Most of the thousands of victims…
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Chinese man crushed to death by hydraulic press at factory in Thailand
A Chinese man died yesterday when his head was crushed by a rubber moulding hydraulic press machine he was repairing at a tire factory in Rayong province in eastern Thailand. At 7.56pm, a 35 year old Chinese mechanic was repairing the machine when something went wrong and the press came down and crushed his head. The mechanic was rushed to Pluak…
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Suvarnabhumi Airport immigration police accused of using spoils system
A police officer from the Immigration Bureau accused Suvarnabhumi Airport Immigration Office of using the spoils system to benefit some officers. He claims that a large number of airport immigration police have been transferred to other posts despite the airport being crowded and understaffed. One immigration police officer reached out to a Facebook page, Moon Rabbit V3 (พระจันทร์ ลายกระต่าย V3),…
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Bangkok’s Le Du the toast of Thailand after scooping ‘Best Restaurant in Asia’ award
Bangkok’s Le Du was the toast of Thailand last night after being crowned “The Best Restaurant in Asia 2023” at the exclusive culinary award ceremony, climbing three places to No.1 from No.4 last year. According to new rankings released by the 50 Best Organizations, Japan is the top destination in Asia for gastronomes this year, with 17 of the “best”…
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Foreigner deported from China for using cannabis in Thailand
A foreigner of unknown nationality was allegedly deported from Shanghai, China, for testing positive for cannabis upon returning from Thailand, where marijuana is legal, according to That’sMag. Getting high is normal in Thailand since cannabis was decriminalised almost a year ago. But China doesn’t share Thailand’s liberal stance on the psychoactive plant. According to the British Consulate-General Shanghai… “Police drug…
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Jealous Thai man slits wife’s throat with machete for ‘talking to another man on the phone’
A Thai man coldly murdered his wife with a machete in Krabi province in southern Thailand yesterday. He said he slit her throat out of rage because she was “topless and talking to another man on the phone.” Then he fled the scene. Police tracked down and arrested 50 year old Prachuap Nuanchan at a shrimp farm in Pak Trae…
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Thailand releases pad kaprow flavoured condoms
Holy basil lovers, condom brand myONE Thailand has released a special edition “chicken kaprow” flavoured condom. With April 1 just around the corner, it’s not easy to trust that myONE Thailand is serious about their pad kaprow-flavoured contraceptive. But it looks like the holy basil chicken condom is not a hoax. The product is really available to buy through the…
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Man charged for spray-painting on Wat Phra Kaew wall
A Thai man was arrested yesterday after he protested against the lese majeste law by spraying the number 112 and an anarchy symbol on the wall of Wat Phra Kaew, also known as the Temple of Emerald Buddha in Bangkok. A 14 year old girl who operated the camera while livestreaming the man’s graffiti on social media was also detained.…
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Dutch woman arrested at Phuket Airport for illegally entering Thailand
A 28 year old Dutch woman was arrested at Phuket International Airport on the weekend for entering and staying in Thailand without permission or a visa. The unnamed woman was taken to Sakhu Police Station to face charges of entering and staying in Thailand illegally. It’s not clear how she managed to enter the kingdom. Under Phuket Immigration’s new yellow…
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Policeman proposes to his girlfriend during a traffic jam
A Thai police officer proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of a traffic jam and shared the video of the romantic moment on his TikTok account, receiving over 160,000 likes from users. The video went viral when a police instructor, Piyawat Chaiyawet, proposed to his girlfriend two days ago on the TikTok account piyawatpark. The road location and the…
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Police swoop on 2 loan shark gangs in 4 provinces of Thailand
Officers from the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) swooped on two loan shark gangs operating in four provinces in Thailand and arrested four crooks. Money worth over 1 billion baht was in circulation as the racketeers collected interest from debtors at an extortionate rate of 547.5% per year. The ECD targeted two illegal money-lending gangs: Burin-credit and Memoney-Credit and raided…
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Thai aunty sends underground lottery numbers to police group chat by mistake, gets arrested for gambling
Police arrested a 69 year old aunty from Trat province, eastern Thailand, for gambling after she sent her desired underground lottery numbers to the wrong group chat on Line. She sent the picture to the police. On Friday, the Line group “Smart Safety Zone Mueang Trat Police Station” – which has 439 members – received a suspicious message from 69…
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Get soaked in fun, frolics and Thailand’s Songkran Festival
Filled full of festivals, fun and frolics, April is one of the most celebrated months of the year in Thailand with the traditional Thai New Year of Songkran one of the most culturally important celebrations in the kingdom. The Songkran festival is known worldwide and is celebrated to honour family values, pay respect to seniors, and participate in traditional ceremonies…
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Thai man brutally murders ex-girlfriend in restaurant after failing to win her back
A Thai man brutally murdered his ex-girlfriend in the middle of a restaurant in Trat province, eastern Thailand, this morning after failing to win her back. Two more people were injured in the attack. The victim jumped out of her second floor window and ran into the khao man gai (chicken and rice) restaurant where she worked as a waitress in…
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Tourism Authority of Thailand partners with Agoda, Alipay, Klook and KKDay
Tourism Authority of Thailand has joined forces with Agoda, Alipay, Klook and KKDay in a new joint marketing initiative aimed at increasing tourism in the kingdom. Each of the platforms will launch promotions and campaigns to boost tourism in Thailand and enhance awareness of experience-based tourism activities in major and secondary Thai destinations. Representatives from the four online platforms joined TAT…
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Police close nightclub after raid on Pattaya Walking Street
Pattaya Police will recommend the closure of a popular nightclub to the provincial governor after the venue’s repeated license violations on the district’s notorious Walking Street. Flexx Club on Walking Street in tambon Nong Prue, Bang Lamung district, was raided by police in the early hours of this morning for violating legal operating hours. The raid, led by Pattaya Police…
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Thai woman dies 6 hours after breast augmentation surgery
A Thai woman died just six hours after getting breast augmentation surgery at a clinic in Nonthaburi province in central Thailand. Her family is seeking justice, reports KhaoSod. The mother of the deceased, 59 year old Champee [surname reserved] said that her 37 year old daughter Kanokwan [surname reserved] lost consciousness and died less than six hours after returning home…
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11 Thai nationals rescued from brothels in India
In a sting operation on Sunday, police raided two prostitution rings disguised as spas in Chandigarh, India, and rescued 18 women, 11 of whom were Thai nationals, reports the IndianExpress. Four men were arrested. After locals complained of brothels operating in the area, police sent decoy customers to enquire about ‘services’ at two locations: Golden Leaf Spa and Pyramid Spa.…
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Tourists in Thailand urged to download ‘Tourist Police i lert u’ app
Foreign tourists in Thailand are advised to download the app “Tourist Police i lert u” which they can use to quickly and conveniently contact the police in case of an emergency, according to government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek. Not to be confused with the Thai version of the app, “police i lert u,” the tourist version of the app is available…
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British and Korean men arrested for robbing cannabis shop in Pattaya
Officers from Mueng Pattaya Police Station arrested a British and Korean man yesterday after they stole 175,000 baht from a cannabis shop in Pattaya on Saturday. Another suspect, an Irishman, is being questioned by police under suspicion of being involved in the robbery. The two thieves were identified as 47 year old Englishman Markus Powell and 52 year old Korean…
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