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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British activist braces for controversial defamation trial
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community British activist braces for controversial defamation trial The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A British activist will go on trial tomorrow in Bangkok for defamation, facing a possible jail term after his investigation into alleged labour abuses in the food industry. Andy Hall faces civil and…
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Drug clan caught in nationwide raids
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Drug clan caught in nationwide raids The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Joint Army and police raids at scores of locations in nine provinces yesterday uncovered about Bt100 million in suspected ill-gotten assets owned by an influential drug-dealing family. Security sources said the simultaneous raids would…
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Severe flooding in North after heavy downpours
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Severe flooding in North after heavy downpours The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Many areas in several provinces have flooded after days of heavy rain, especially in Chiang Mai’s Muang district where high flood waters inundated residential areas overnight. The Kard Kom community in Muang district has…
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Criminal Court declines to hear murder case against Abhisit and Suthep
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Criminal Court declines to hear murder case against Abhisit and Suthep The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Criminal Court yesterday rejected the murder lawsuit against former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his former deputy Suthep Thaugsuban on the grounds that it did not have jurisdiction…
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Video clip about cruelly-treated elephants prompts probe
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Video clip about cruelly-treated elephants prompts probe The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police and soldiers are investigating after a video about cruel treatment of elephants in Songkhla’s Haad Yai district yesterday went viral on the Internet. Hat Yai police station superintendent Pol Col Passagorn Klunwarn…
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Panadda urges ethics panels be set up
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Panadda urges ethics panels be set up The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: PM’s Office permanent-secretary ML Panadda Diskul yesterday suggested that ethics committees be established to check local government agencies as part of efforts to fight corruption. Panadda made the proposal after members of the…
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French boy, 5, dies after being stung by jellyfish off Pha-ngan
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community French boy, 5, dies after being stung by jellyfish off Pha-ngan The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Koh Pha-ngan authorities have warned people to beware of box jellyfish after a |five-year-old French boy died on Saturday after being stung while swimming at a beach of this resort…
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Thai ‘baby factory’ doctor to turn himself in
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thai ‘baby factory’ doctor to turn himself in – police Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Thai doctor who performed in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for women involved in a surrogate baby business dubbed the “baby factory” has agreed to turn himself in, police said on Monday.…
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Surrogate mums admit lying in court over Shigeta’s babies
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogate mums admit lying in court over Shigeta’s babies The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two Thai surrogate mothers told police yesterday they were instructed to lie to the courts during adoption hearings – to say that their babies were conceived during affairs with the Japanese…
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Gen Prayuth officially appointed 29th prime minister of Thailand
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Prayuth officially appointed 29th premier The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Junta chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha today was officially installed as the 29th prime minister of Thailand. In a ceremony at the Army headquarters in Bangkok, Gen Prayuth received a royal command appointing him to the…
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Education gets lion’s share of the budget
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Education gets lion’s share of the budget The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Entrusted with the mission of schooling some 12 million children and improving educational quality, the Education Ministry is set to get 20 per cent, or Bt502.245 billion of the planned expenditure in the…
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Low rain spurs fear of drought in North
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Low rain spurs fear of drought The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Despite being in the middle of the wet season, there are already fears of drought in the North, as the volume of rain has been unseasonably low, leaving two key dams in the region…
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Student loan ceiling to be reduced
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Student loan ceiling to be reduced The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The student loan ceiling for educational institutes is likely to be reduced soon as more than half of the loans granted so far have not been repaid, the Education Ministry said. It has also…
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Surrogacy ring makes 50 million a year selling babies
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogacy ring makes 50 million a year The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A commercial surrogacy operation has “exported” more than 100 babies and earned more than Bt50 million each year, according to a young woman who claims to have sold her eggs to the ring.…
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Gen Prayuth voted to become next premier
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NLA votes Gen Prayuth to become 29th premier The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Legislative Assembly yesterday voted unanimously for junta chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha to be the 29th prime minister of Thailand. He was the sole candidate for the job. Prayuth was widely…
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Obec to cut school hours
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obec to cut school hours The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) will start implementing a policy to reduce classroom hours from this second semester, Obec secretary-general Kamol Rodklai said yesterday. The agency would at first reduce study hours in…
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NCPO appoints new national police chief
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Somyot gets national police chief job in unanimous vote The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung was yesterday chosen in a unanimous 6:0 vote by a junta-installed selection committee as the new Royal Thai Police chief. He will replace Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit,…
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Copilot passes out midflight, dies
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Copilot passes out midflight, dies The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A co-pilot for budget airline Lion Air collapsed mid flight, 20 minutes after taking off from Hat Yai for Bangkok yesterday. The pilot of flight SL 8537 returned to make an emergency landing at Hat…
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AMLO seized more than Bt9 billion in 15 years
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community AMLO seized more than Bt9 billion in 15 years The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pol Colonel Seehanat Prayoonrat, secretary-general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), said at an event marking AMLO’s 15th anniversary yesterday that the agency had so far confiscated up to Bt9.7 billion…
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THAI steps up fight against Ebola
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community THAI steps up fight against Ebola The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Private and public organisations are putting more precautionary actions in place here against the Ebola outbreak in Africa to ensure safety. Thai Airways International (THAI) yesterday demonstrated aircraft cleaning and vaccination at Suvarnabhumi Airport…
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Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday raided and suspended obstetrics and gynaecology services at a Lat Phrao clinic for 60 days pending investigation into reports that it provided surrogacy.The clinic allegedly provided services to 1,000 Thai and foreign customers…
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Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The two-year-old girl killed by a short-circuit at an ATM in Trang province was buried yesterday, though police say they have yet to charge anybody. The burial ceremony was held at Wat…
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Nationwide wheel-locking campaign kicks off
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Wheel-locking campaign kicks off The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday launched a nationwide operation to lock the wheels of cars found violating the law yesterday in a bid to ease traffic congestion. Pol Lt-General Wuthi Liptapallop, an adviser to the Royal Thai Police in…
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Prayuth vows 2015 budget won’t burden country, will boost economy
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO aims to avoid budget debt The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told the National Legislative Assembly yesterday the proposed budget would not leave problems or debt for the country in the long run – as he would only be in power…
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Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Australian Government has asked Thailand to adopt international standards when it passes a surrogacy law this year. Acting permanent secretary for Justice Charnchao Chaiyanukit said yesterday that Australian Ambassador to Thailand James…
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Police to charge contractors in deadly building collapse with negligence
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police to charge contractors with negligence The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police will charge contractors of the building that collapsed on Monday in Pathum Thani province for negligence causing deaths and injuries. At least eight people, including a mother and her baby, were killed, while about…
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DNA tests show 9 babies fathered by same man
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community DNA tests show 9 babies fathered by same man The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The nine infants discovered in a police raid last week at a Bangkok condominium in connection with unauthorised surrogacy were fathered by the same man. However, a DNA link between them…
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Tragic end to building collapse in Pathum Thani
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tragic end to building collapse in Pathum Thani The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Buri Ram woman who made a desperate dash from the northeast to Pathum Thani in search of her husband – trapped in a building that collapsed late on Monday – was…
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Udomdej favoured to take over as the next Army chief
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Udomdej favoured to take over as the next Army chief The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Deputy Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr appears the front runner candidate to succeed General Prayuth Chan-ocha as the head of the Army. Prayuth, who is in charge of the ruling…
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Over 100 Thai surrogates may be carrying babies for Aust couples
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Probe into ‘baby clinic for Aussies’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Health Service Support Department is investigating a Bangkok clinic that provided surrogacy services to more than 100 clients, including the Australian couple linked to the baby Gammy controversy and probably many other Australians.…
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