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 28
PM responds to ‘sex tourism’ remarks | Extra long Songkran | Shoot-out on Samui’s Chaweng Beach | Big crackdown on illegal immigrants along Soi Cowboy last night | High-speed rail gets go ahead between Don Mueang and Rayong | PM pushes election date forward to February | Two Americans held in Chiang Mai over fake US bills.
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Pushing the election date forward, again
By Wasamon Audjarint and Kas Chanwenpen Faced with mounting pressure from critics and the international community, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday said the next election would be held “no later than” next February. While making his latest promise about the election date, however, Prayut also warned that it would also depend on the situation at the time. “I am not making…
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Five day Songkran
The Cabinet today (Tuesday) has given the green light for a five-day “Songkran Festival” holiday from April 12 to 16. To accommodate people travelling up-country to visit their hometowns, and to stimulate nationwide tourism, the Cabinet allowed Thursday, April 12, as an additional holiday on top of the festival time from April 13 to 16. As traffic congestion is expected…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, February 27
Flooding in BKK | More than 100 new political parties poised to register | Two Aunties waiting to be charged over Great Driveway Affair | Activists asking for transparency over Premchai case | Update on Russian ‘love-making’ classes in Pattaya | Tourists chastised over climbing photos in Ayutthaya | Makha Buscha this Thursday – Public holiday.
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THAIGER TODAY Monday, February 26
59% of those polled don’t want a political party with Prayut as leader | Repairs to Phuket Airport runway | More carnage on Patong Hill | Poorly planned ATM snatch it Krabi | January’s numbers for new cars and tourism | Toon hands over the cash – 1.3 billion baht | Police raid Russian sex classes in Pattaya.
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January by numbers – Car registrations and tourist numbers up
The Land Transport Department has reported 268,989 new cars and motorcycles for January 2018. This included 167,039 motorcycles, 63,646 sedans, 24,117 pickup trucks, 1,129 7-seat-plus cars, 939 buses operating on fixed routes, 724 buses which do not operate on fixed routes and 5,731 trucks, according to Thai PBS. That pushes the total number of registered vehicles in Thailand to 38,428,304.…
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We’re going to see more of the three-fingered salute
Thai PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha said he will call a meeting of relevant parties to discuss and decide an appropriate and acceptable date for the next general election. The public in recent weeks has witnessed a series of delays in the passing and enforcing of laws and other legal manoeuvres that have raised doubts over the timing of the next…
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Better driving license procedures for foreigners on the way
The Department of Land Transport has partnered with British Embassy Bangkok to improve driving licence procedures for foreign nationals across Thailand. The improvements will focus on guidelines for obtaining a licence, how to prepare for the driving test, raising awareness of specific risks on the road unique to Thailand, and recaps on internationally recognised driving standards. Deputy director general of…
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Cobra Gold skews military focus away from China
By Wasamon Audjarint Against the background of China’s increasing power and assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, the United States is seeking to intensify Cobra Gold, the largest regional joint military exercise, that is annually hosted by Thailand. “I believe that Cobra Gold should look for ways to increase the complexity and scope of the exercise every year because we work closely…
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THAIGER TODAY Friday, February 23
Greenpeace demands something is done about BKK air quality | Premchai doesn’t turn up to yesterday’s interview with police | A lift falls at Maxx Hotel in capital | Woman lied about Taxi driver attack | Driveway dispute forces closure of nearby markets | Pick-up hits elephant | Chinese tourist falls off Kamala villa rooftop.
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, February 22
Opening day of Thailand Yacht Show | Prawit extends chat with NACC, again | Best & worst roads in Asia | Chonburi boy gets foot stuck in drain | TaT seeking assistance from counterparts in China to curb tourist behaviour | King Cobra season in Krabi | 4G speeds around the world | Latest in the Great Driveway Drama |…
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Thailand’s corruption fight improves world ranking
Efforts to curb corruption in Thailand are paying dividends, with the Kingdom’s ranking in the latest global Corruption Perception Index rising to 96 from 101 last year. The index, prepared by Transparency International, ranks 180 countries and territories by perceived levels of public-sector corruption. Nine key sources are used to compile the index, including the International Country Risk Guide, Economist…
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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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23 tourists stung by ‘Bluebottles’ in Songkhla
PHOTO: National Geographic Twenty-three tourists have been stung by bluebottle jellyfish, properly referred to as the Portuguese man o’ war (Physalis physalis), at two popular beaches in Songkhla during the past three days, a senior public health official reported today. Doctor Uthitsak Hariratanakul, chief Songkhla public health officer, said the 23 swimmers were injured by the jellyfish at the Chalathat…
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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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Tougher screening for public transport drivers
Beginning on March 1, applicants for licences to drive public transport will have to submit a medical certificate in a form approved by the Medical Council of Thailand. The Department of Land Transport announced this week that the aim is to standardise its processing and increase efficiency in screening out people with health conditions that prohibit them from driving. Department…
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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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Muslim paramilitary soldiers injured in Yala bomb attack
Two Muslim paramilitary soldiers were severely injured in a bomb attack while they were escorting a group of teachers to a school in Yala province on Thursday morning, police said. Police said Muslim insurgents had detonated an IED hidden along the main road in Bannang Sareng village in Muang district at 7.30am. A team of seven paramilitary soldiers on four…
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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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Going Gold – Thai/US Cobra Gold military exercises kick off
FILE PHOTO: Cobra Gold The biggest U.S. force in years has joined thel military exercise in Thailand on Tuesday despite controversy over the Thai junta’s invitation to neighboring Myanmar’s army – the Tatmadaw army has been accused of ethnic cleansing in the Rhakine state of Myanmar. The US scaled back attendance at Cobra Gold, Asia’s largest multilateral military exercise, after…
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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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