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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Monkey’s best friend
PETCHABOON: When the abbot of a temple in Tambon Taboh preaches about the need for love and social harmony, he has a good example to point to right on the temple grounds: an orphaned monkey and a crippled dog who grew up together and have become loyal, inseparable friends. Phrakhru Arun Pacharakij, Abbot of Pa Reirai Buddhist Temple in Petchaboon’s…
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The root of suffering
“Attachment is the origin, the root of suffering; hence it is the cause of suffering.” – The Dalai Lama at Harvard University, 1988 A devout monk in Phattalung’s Kongra District took the quest for non-attachment to an unprecedented level recently, when he cut off his erect penis, which was was distracting him during a meditation session. News of the story…
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Full-House Fiasco
CHON BURI: Three unlucky vacationers from the Islamic Republic of Iran were taught a lesson on November 15, when they learned the hard way that pleasures of the flesh rarely come cheap – even in the steamy sois off south Pattya’s infamous Walking Street. The three men, Sedaghat Heiydari, 30, Saber Mobanazade, 31, and Nohsen Nadsill, 32, came to the…
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Turdiform terrorism
SURAT THANI: Monday mornings are usually tough enough to face, but imagine turning up for work and finding your desk covered in stinking excrement and swarming with flies. It was precisely that scenario that confronted workers at the Surat Thani Educational Service Area 2 on the morning of November 6. At the scene at about 11 am the same morning,…
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A bloody offal story
CHALONG: Residents of Chalong Village 10 called police on the evening of October 11 to report a pile of apparently-human organs tossed into a thicket along Saneh Soi 10. Shocked and in fear that a serial killer was on the loose, they were somewhat relieved to eventually learn that the abandoned innards were of canine, not human, origin. Responding to…
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I’ve got WHAT in my hair?
Hair styling has long been a key part of the female beauty regimen, regardless of what fashions have come and gone. Hair accessories, however, do not usually come flavored, lubricated or coated in spermicidal jelly – well, not until now. The latest rage in hair products was brought to light by some young women in Chiang Mai, who discovered that…
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Trio of transgressors
Three monks welcomed the end of Buddhist Lent, called Ork Pansa, with an over-indulgence in bad habits this year: one crashed his pickup drunk-driving, one forced himself on a young woman, and another shot and killed a fellow monk… all on the nights of October 7 and 8. The first, a monk from Buri Ram, celebrated the end of Lent…
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18 wheels of karma
A would-be car thief was given a crushing dose of justice on the motorway between Bangkok and Pattaya, after his bid to rip off a taxi driver’s vehicle ended with him being flattened by an 18-wheel truck. Taxi driver Nirit Luangjan, 40, picked up a passenger in Bangkok one day early last month, driving the fare all the way to…
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Exposed to danger
PATONG: Different people held different reactions to the coup d’état that stunned the world – and, to a lesser degree, the nation – on the evening of September 19, 2006. But for some people, including many foreign tourists enjoying the nightlife in Patong, all the excitement was just another excuse to get sloppy drunk, go out and have a grope,…
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Transgender trauma
While some tourists jet in from around the globe specifically to enjoy the androgynous charms of Patong’s legion of ladyboy prostitutes, there are still cases cases where off-guard male tourists end up with a ladyboy under the misunderstanding that he is a real woman. Such misunderstandings can – and often do – result in disaster, as two recent reports in…
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Bugging out
Public Health officials in Saraphi District, Chiang Mai Province, issued a public warning for villagers to stop eating malaeng laay (“striped bugs”, scientific classification not provided), after a middle-aged man died after downing three of the insects during a whiskey drinking session. News of the death was reported by Taan Jongkham, headman of Tambon Chompoo Mu 9, on August 25.…
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Home security of the second kind
PATTAYA: A group of five ladyboys took home security into their own hands in the early hours of August 25, beating senseless a drunken teenage punk who broke into their apartment and stole 2,000 baht from their communal piggy bank. The story, reported by Banglamung Police Inspector Pol Lt Col Sutham Chaosrithong, made national news the next morning. The five…
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Boyfriend banzaied
The Japanese have spent the past 60 years promoting a message of peace in the world. Unfortunately for one young Thai man, traces of the Samurai warrior ethic can still be found among the legions of salarymen toiling away in offices in Bangkok. In the early hours of August 17, Pol Lt Kiatsak Kasikun, the duty officer at Khlong Tan…
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Engaging in commerce
After expelling a female student for “intolerable” behavior, school teachers at a commercial school in Nakhon Sri Thammarat are living in fear for their lives following the girl’s return accompanied by a gang of young thugs, who smashed windows and threatened to kill every teacher in the school. The contretemps started when one of the teachers overheard a girl student…
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Snatch gang in sticky situation
CHALONG: Over the years there have been several demonstrations in Patong by bar owners opposed to early closing times. Among the arguments most commonly proffered by the bar owners as to why they should be allowed to remain open later is that Patong is a lure to free-spending foreign tourists who want to revel late into the night. It is…
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Major embarrassment
A Senior Sergeant Major from the Border Patrol Police received a lesson in how victims of crime feel after an encounter with three attractive young women in Thung Song, Nakhon Sri Thammarat province. Officers from Thung Song Police Station were called to the JS Hotel. There, waiting for them wearing full dress uniform and a sorrowful expression, was Sgt Maj…
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Unleaded, please
A determined thief learned the hard way that toy guns are not very effective in carrying out armed robberies, especially when the intended victim is packing real heat. At 12:15 am on July 11, Pol Lt Col Prayong Khotsakha, an Inspector with Udon Thani’s Muang District Police, received a report of an attempted robbery at a small gas station in…
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Build it and they will come
PHITSANULOKE: Found in all civilized parts of the world, the short-time hotel reaches its apotheosis in Bangkok, where places that have parking spaces with curtains have hosted innumerable trysts while successfully keeping their clients out of the view of prying eyes and potential blackmailers. Unfortunately, short-time hotels are not evenly distributed around Thailand and, where they can be found, they…
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Tipple, piddle, topple
At first police thought it might be a case of suicide when local real estate magnate Siri, 52, was found dead in the early hours of the morning on the ground below the balcony of his home. After searching the man’s apartment and finding no signs of a struggle or break-in, police were coming to the conclusion that poor Siri,…
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A shagging dog story from Phattalung
PHATTALUNG: Wat Na Tom temple, hitherto a landmark of the faithful in Phattalung’s Muang District, last week spawned one of those scandals which, after hitting newsstands, has elicited sighs and perhaps uncharitable tittering. In this case, possibility of the latter is high: some 70 full-color photos support allegations by unidentified local people that the abbot of Wat Na Tom not…
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Bag snatcher bagged
CHALONG: A 16-year-old punk recently found out the hard way that crime does not always pay. At about 11 pm on June 7, Chalong Community Volunteer Police collared a boy name Ouan (not his real name), after an unsuccessful attempt to rob an 18-year-old girl late at night. The victim, Phuket Vocational College student Primrita Saisen, was returning home by…
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Persian Gulp in Pattaya
PATTAYA: A tourist found out the hard way that not every woman in Pattaya likes to be groped, and that getting mixed up between grope-me-do and touch-me-not can be an expensive experience. At 3 am on May 28, Pattaya Tourist Police Sub-Inspector Pol Cap Jirawat Sukonthasup received a call from Sukanya Pakdeerattanamitr, 22, of Tambon Nong Preu, Banglamung District. Complaining…
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Plastic scam
Preparation is everything, even in the criminal world. And that’s where a gang from Hong Kong came a cropper recently, when one of their number tried to buy mobile phone top-up cards worth a million baht using a suspiciously clean credit card. Although the card had a working magnetic strip, it lacked such basic information as a signature, account holder’s…
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Er, what’s my name today?
In some places a person who frequently changes his or her name might fall under suspicion of illegal activity. But in Ubon Ratchathani Province’s Phibun Mungsaharn District it is the pillars of society – school teachers and other career bureaucrats – who change their names most often. Teachers in the district have been heading for the local registrar’s office in…
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Sneaky thief
BANGKOK: After waking up to find that their house had been broken into, a high-society couple in Bangkok were left more than a little confused when they discovered that the thief had ignored a selection of diamond and gold jewelry – instead making off with more than 20 pairs of shoes. The crime scene, an elegant European-style house that had…
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Meechai takes care of his dad
SONGKHLA: Acquaintances of 45-year-old Meechai say he has a history of mental confusion that requires occasional incarceration and treatment; and indeed, as events proved in the early hours of April 16, he has difficulty sorting out questions of right and wrong. Nonetheless, all things considered, his heart seems to be in the right place. Meechai had gone with his aged…
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Funeral firefight
An all-night funeral vigil ended in a hail of gunfire when a fight broke out because one of the guests was unable to speak Southern Thai – after being ordered to by a local drunk. The unfortunate incident took place at the funeral of Aree Khaemungkhalo, whose pals were up drinking through the night of April 2-3 in order to…
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Double your pleasure
Wichai Hengjarernsook is in the junk business, and so not a man to overlook a bargain when he sees it. The 24-year-old native of Samut Sakhon’s Baan Paew District, where women are far-famed for beauty, couldn’t decide which of two identical twin sisters in his village he wanted to wed. So, being an astute businessman, he popped the question to…
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Death of drinker
CHALONG: Probably the last thing Surasak Tayan expected as he sat drinking cola late one night outside a PTT filling station’s 7-Eleven convenience store was that his modest attempt at humorous self-deprecation would be the death of him. But it was. K. Surasak was frustrated because, at 3:30 am, he couldn’t buy a decent drink. Unfortunately, in expressing his disgust…
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Rescuers need rescuing
THALANG: Three Kusoldham Rescue Foundation workers had to call in rescuers themselves at about 3 am on March 10, after being assaulted by a group of more than 20 girls and ladyboys at the PTT filling station in Baan Lipon, Tambon Srisoonthorn. Chaiya Pariensati said he and two other rescue workers were on duty when they noticed a young woman…
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