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.

  • Covid-19 preventing LAAB immunisations available from August 1 | Thaiger

    Covid-19 preventing LAAB immunisations available from August 1

    In August, public health centres in Thailand will make available Long Acting Antibody (LAAB) immunisations to help people get continued protection against Covid-19. The LAAB injections will first be made available to those with weekend or compromised immune systems and should provide protection against Covid for up to six months. The deputy government spokesperson explained that today, August 1, public…

  • Northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai Airport to resume flights on Wednesday | Thaiger

    Northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai Airport to resume flights on Wednesday

    Flights in and out of Chiang Rai’s Mae Fah Luang International Airport in northern Thailand are expected to resume as normal on Wednesday, August 3, at 10pm. The runway has been closed since 6am yesterday after a Nok Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft skidded off the runway during landing due to adverse weather conditions on Saturday night. No one was injured.…

  • Political activists demand Thai PM quits at the end of his tenure | Thaiger

    Political activists demand Thai PM quits at the end of his tenure

    Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha may have survived the vote of no confidence just over a week ago but the pressure is still on for him to stand down after a political activist group cranked up more opposition to his tenure. PM Prayut and 10 other cabinet ministers rode the political storm at the censure debate between July 19 and…

  • VIDEO: Rama II U-turn bridge collapses near Bangkok, killing 2 | Thaiger

    VIDEO: Rama II U-turn bridge collapses near Bangkok, killing 2

    A U-turn bridge over the Rama II Road heading toward Bangkok collapsed yesterday at 8pm, falling onto four vehicles and killing two people. One passenger died at the scene and a construction worker who fell from the bridge later died in hospital from their injuries. Two more people were injured. The incident happened in front of Vibharam Hospital in Samut…

  • Army man rents 12 luxury cars, then sells them to used car dealers | Thaiger

    Army man rents 12 luxury cars, then sells them to used car dealers

    A former army sergeant came up with a creative – and illegal – way to pay off some debt. He allegedly rented 12 luxury cars and then forged paperwork to sell the borrowed vehicle to car dealers. The sergeant has now been arrested by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) yesterday and faces charges of fraud, counterfeiting, and using counterfeit official…

  • Foreign arrival screening increased to prevent monkeypox spread | Thaiger

    Foreign arrival screening increased to prevent monkeypox spread

    The Thai government is taking precautions to screen incoming travellers from countries with monkeypox outbreaks in hopes of preventing its spread in the kingdom. Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul reported that his ministry is coordinating airport screening and focusing on people travelling from countries that are struggling with a monkeypox outbreak. The deputy director-general of the Department of Disease…

  • More tigers in Thailand than any other Southeast Asian country | Thaiger

    More tigers in Thailand than any other Southeast Asian country

    Happy International Tiger Day! Thailand is celebrating it by declaring that, after over a decade of conservation, Thailand now has the most tigers in the wild of any nation in Southeast Asia. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-archa announced that this is due in large part to the National Strategy for Tiger Conservation, a programme that has been…

  • SLOW DOWN! Speed limits on highways in Thailand now in effect | Thaiger

    SLOW DOWN! Speed limits on highways in Thailand now in effect

    Thailand’s notoriously dangerous roads may be getting a little bit safer. A new regulation just reported by the Expressway Authority of Thailand is slapping speed limits on the highways and expressways throughout the country. On the ground, the maximum speed will be set at 110 kilometres per hour, while elevated roadways will be capped at 100 kilometres an hour. The…

  • What do Thai people think about ‘The Big C’ in Thailand | Ask The Thais (Pt. 1) | Thaiger

    What do Thai people think about ‘The Big C’ in Thailand | Ask The Thais (Pt. 1)

    Ask the Thai’s is back! This is a show where we ask our thai friends their opinions and thoughts regarding the culture difference between the thais and the west and also discuss their thoughts on the current affairs of Thailand. Let us know your thoughts and feedback and suggest some questions you have always wanted to ask the Thai’s.

  • Naked couple found dead in deep grave in Northern Thailand | Thaiger

    Naked couple found dead in deep grave in Northern Thailand

    The bodies of an unnamed couple have been discovered in a freshly dug grave in Chok Chai district Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeastern Thailand. The man and woman were found on Thursday evening by a local villager who had been foraging in the woods. He stumbled over some freshly-dug soil covered with branches near Ban Don Lai village in tambon Tha…

  • Thailand Cabinet appoints a moral guardian | Thaiger

    Thailand Cabinet appoints a moral guardian

    Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda probably breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as the Cabinet embarked upon a mini reshuffle. There was something of a mini coup against Anupong from within his party at last week’s censure debate and it was expected he would be replaced by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha after he received the most no-confidence votes with 212. But…

  • Thai pop star flees to UK after fearing for her safety in Thailand | Thaiger

    Thai pop star flees to UK after fearing for her safety in Thailand

    A controversial pop star from Thailand has relocated to the relative safe haven of the UK after fearing for her life. Constant fears of being incarcerated because of the clash between the kingdom’s conservatism and her contentious musical lyrics have driven Peeralada Sukawat from her homeland. It’s been something of a meteoric rise for the 29 year old musician, known…

  • Travel packages mired by pricey airfare, slowing tourism recovery | Thaiger

    Travel packages mired by pricey airfare, slowing tourism recovery

    Many that have been eagerly awaiting the full reopening of Thailand and the return of tourism, did not anticipate the severe cost of airfare and travel packages that has come with it. Now, tourism recovery in Thailand is threatened by the staggeringly high cost to fly, pricing many would-be travellers out of the trip. The president of the Thai Travel…

  • 10 million baht kidnapping of businessman by Chinese crooks is comedy of errors | Thaiger

    10 million baht kidnapping of businessman by Chinese crooks is comedy of errors

    The botched 10 million baht kidnapping of a Vanuatu businessman by three Chinese gangsters had the hallmarks of a blockbuster comedy movie stamped all over it. The hostage and ransom demand situation may not have been funny to the businessman and his girlfriend but the situation was pure slapstick and would not look out of place on the silver screen.…

  • Phuket beachfront bar and grill with a unique dining experience | Thaiger

    Phuket beachfront bar and grill with a unique dining experience

    Press Release Make the most of a short escape in Phuket with a relaxing dining experience right on Patong Beach facing the blue Andaman Sea. Sears & Co Bar and Grill introduces meat lovers to a relaxed and social dining experience in a chilled atmosphere. Serving simple and delicious dishes with high-quality ingredients, Sears & Co Bar and Grill offers…

  • 130 tonnes of imported waste going back to Australia | Thaiger

    130 tonnes of imported waste going back to Australia

    Many expats living in Thailand are shocked when they see locals dumping their trash on the side of the road, but it turns out there is a much bigger perpetrator of illegal dumping in the kingdom. The Inter-Pacific Paper Company was caught by Thai authorities shipping 130 tonnes of illegal waste to Thailand from Australia. The Department of Customs contacted…

  • Cheapest All You Can Eat Buffet in Thailand | Lumpini Park | Thaiger

    Cheapest All You Can Eat Buffet in Thailand | Lumpini Park

    You must try this buffet located at Lumpini park in Bangkok, Thailand. Possibly the cheapest all you can eat buffet in Thailand, it has a wide variety of choices to choose from before or after you visit Thailand’s first ever public park. Join Natty and Jay as they try this buffet and visit Lumpini park and show you all it…

  • Opposition to foreign land ownership in Thailand | Thaiger

    Opposition to foreign land ownership in Thailand

    The government scheme to allow foreigners to buy one rai of land may have been met by enthusiasm in the expat community but not everyone has welcomed the idea. The Interior Ministry’s proposal to allow foreigners to own a bit of land if they invest 40 million baht is seen by many as a short-term fix to the kingdom’s economy…

  • Children falsely accuse village drunk of murdering 6 year old in central Thailand | Thaiger

    Children falsely accuse village drunk of murdering 6 year old in central Thailand

    Yesterday evening, a 6 year old boy drowned in a lake in Lopburi province in central Thailand. The boy’s 7 year old brother and 5 year old friend told police that an alcoholic man who lives nearby strangled the child and held his body under the water until he died. However, the police’s investigation reveals that the children’s accusation is…

  • Happy Birthday to His Royal Majesty King Vajiralongkorn | Thaiger

    Happy Birthday to His Royal Majesty King Vajiralongkorn

    The Thaiger joins the nation of Thailand in wishing a very happy birthday to His Royal Majesty King Vajiralongkorn as he marks his 70th birthday today. Celebrations have taken place around the kingdom to celebrate the royal milestone as the king becomes a septuagenarian. Born in Bangkok at Ambara Villa, Dusit Palace on this day in 1952, HM the king…

  • Thieves rob French millionaire’s house at gunpoint in northeast Thailand | Thaiger

    Thieves rob French millionaire’s house at gunpoint in northeast Thailand

    Four thieves armed with guns and knives broke into a French millionaire’s house in the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum in the early hours of Monday morning and robbed millions of baht’s worth of cash and assets. The single-story home in the Noen Sa-nga district is jointly owned by 39 year old Waritsara Poobkhonthot and her French husband Stephane Greco, the…

  • Tenfold tourist increase due after Thailand-Saudi route opens | Thaiger

    Tenfold tourist increase due after Thailand-Saudi route opens

    Thailand is expecting a tenfold increase in visitors from Saudi Arabia after the launch of the Bangkok to Jeddah route on August 19. Deputy government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek estimates that the upcoming launch of the direct air route between the holy city of Mecca and the Kingdom of Thailand’s capital city will push up the number of visitors from 30,000…

  • Thai celebs join Olympic Day Walk-Run fun at Pattaya Beach | Thaiger

    Thai celebs join Olympic Day Walk-Run fun at Pattaya Beach

    A number of famous Thai celebrities have signed up to make an appearance at the Olympic Day Walk-Run of 2022 at Pattaya Beach in Chon Buri. The final of the Olympic Day Walk-Run of 2022, which is scheduled to kick off at 6pm on Saturday, September 10, will be attended by Thai actors Phakin “Tono” Khamwilaisak, and Nuttanicha “Nicha” Dungwattanawanich,…

  • Elderly man hit with 10,000 baht electricity bill in central Thailand | Thaiger

    Elderly man hit with 10,000 baht electricity bill in central Thailand

    An 88 year old man from Kamphaeng Phet province in central Thailand couldn’t believe his eyes when his most recent electricity bill amounted to almost 10,000 baht. Family members and neighbours are contesting the bill on behalf of the old man, who had to take out a loan to pay for his electricity this month. Grandpa’s bill from the Metropolitan…

  • Public Health Ministry requests, then retracts cannabis crackdown | Thaiger

    Public Health Ministry requests, then retracts cannabis crackdown

    First, it’s very illegal with harsh punishment, then suddenly it’s legal with no restrictions, then it’s banned for government, military, children, and pregnant women, then it was never intended for recreational use, and then cigarettes containing it will be banned. Now the rollercoaster that is the decriminalisation of cannabis in Thailand took another sharp u-turn as the Ministry of Public…

  • Thailand deny Uyghurs deportation to China | Thaiger

    Thailand deny Uyghurs deportation to China

    Fears Thailand is in the process of deporting asylum-seeking Uyghurs back to China have been denied by the government. News broke yesterday that dozens of Uyghurs from all around Thailand had been rounded up and impounded in a detention facility in Bangkok, raising fears among non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that the government plans to deport them back to China. It sparked…

  • Wanted Taiwanese call centre scammer extradited from Albania to Thailand | Thaiger

    Wanted Taiwanese call centre scammer extradited from Albania to Thailand

    A Taiwanese man wanted for allegedly scamming Thai victims from a call centre operation in Dubai arrived at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday afternoon to face Thailand’s justice system after being arrested in Albania in September. Tzu Yuan Kuo – or “Ayen” – was the “deputy leader” of a call centre gang scamming victims in Thailand, Japan and Malaysia from Dubai…

  • UPDATE: Body of foreigner found dead in Phuket is US man | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Body of foreigner found dead in Phuket is US man

    UPDATE: The foreigner’s body that was found in waters off Yanui Beach in Phuket’s main city district yesterday morning has been named as US citizen John Joseph Sheridan. The 74 year old’s body was discovered floating in the water after he apparently fell on sharp rocks and bled to death. Fisherman found Sheridan, from Pennsylvania, floating on the rocky part of the shore…

  • Irony of mini coup not lost on Thailand’s Interior Minister | Thaiger

    Irony of mini coup not lost on Thailand’s Interior Minister

    The irony doesn’t appear to be lost on Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda that there was something of a mini coup against him from within his party at last week’s censure debate. Gen Anupong, of course, is one of the three generals at the centre of the military coup which took place in Thailand in May 2014 along with Prime Minister…

  • Thailand’s cannabis cottage industry set to fly high | Thaiger

    Thailand’s cannabis cottage industry set to fly high

    Yesterday, Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul once again defended his decision to decriminalize cannabis. Calls to reverse or suspend the legislation, by physicians, doctors, universities, and religious groups, fell on deaf ears and hundreds of new cannabis-related businesses in the kingdom breathed a sigh of relief. The decriminalization of the drug on June 6 has led to something of…