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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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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THAIGER TODAY Wednesday, February 21
Four die in a Krabi road smash | More of the Bangkok driveway-blocking drama | A BIG find on a Gulf beach | Suthep announces new political party | New engine-size tax for motorbikes | Government caves into power plant protesters.
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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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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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THAIGER TODAY Monday, February 19
Airport has 200,000 passengers in one day | Bikie gang member locked out of Australia after visit to Pattaya | German and Thai held over under-age prostitution | Popular farang YouTuber dies | Phuket’s Ao Po Grand Marina gets dragged into Premchai investigation | Four soldiers injured in explosion in Narathiwat | 7/11 looking to introduce ‘Seven Bank’ banking in…
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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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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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Kalasin rape, shooting suspect turns himself in
The 29 year old suspect, who allegedly shot a male third-year university student in the cheek in Kalasin’s Na Mon district early on Tuesday morning before abducting and raping a female sophomore student, has surrendered to police this afternoon (February 16). Rubber tapper Thisanu Phonarat, surrendered to Kam Moung police officers at a gas station belonging to his elder sister.…
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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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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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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, February 15
‘Heavy traffic is causing pollution in BKK’ – Genius! | Thaksin and Yingluck now in HK | Witness of Australian ‘manslaughter’ in Pattaya speaks up | Changes to the collection of immigration data | UK Foreign Secretary jokes about Thailand’s sex tourism | Thailand mums are wanting smaller families | Encoached buildings on Koh Phi Phi being demolished.
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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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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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83 year old man accused of raping four year old
An 83 year old man was arrested in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Muang district this morning over an accusation that he allegedly raped the four year old daughter of an in-law niece on February 2. The girl sustained such serious injuries from the alleged rape that she had to be treated at Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital, and was only discharged…
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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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Anti-coal protestors start hunger strike
A hunger strike was started today by two groups of protestors who say they will not eat until the government permanently cancels the coal-fired power plants in the South. A total 19 activists from Save Andaman from Coal and the Network of Songkhla-Pattani Residents Against Coal-Fired Power Plants kicked off their hunger strike in front of the United Nation headquarters…
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Getting ready for the big one – Myanmar’s earthquake threat
Special report from partners Voice of America Last month, the residents of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, felt a strong bump in the night. Their national leaders in Naypyidaw, the country’s thinly populated capital, were also stirred from their sleep. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck between the two cities, in the early hours of January 12. The Southeast Asian country is…
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Seeding the skies over Bangkok to ‘make’ rain to help with smog
The Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation Department is preparing to seed clouds above Bangkok in an attempt to ease the capital’s smog problems. Haze has spread over the capital over the past few days, causing a health hazard for vulnerable people, and leading Agriculture and Cooperatives minister Grisada Boonrach to order that rainmaking operations be carried out. Two of the…
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THAIGER TODAY Monday, February 12
‘Kra Canal’ project “not a priority” | Officals jump into action over black sludge washing into Ao Nang and Patong beaches | Student intern uncover 6.9 million baht alleged embezzlement | Student protests ‘must be handled carefully’ | Boris Johnson visits Myanmar | Cloud seeding being used to help settle last week’s BKK smog.
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The man who uncovered the watch scandal
The wristwatch scandal undermining the government can be credited to one man who wrote posts on his “investigative” website about all the 25 luxury watches allegedly worn by Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan in recent years. The online portal CSI LA provided convincing information that led to public uproar, including photos of Prawit wearing the watches alongside details of…
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Reuters detail work of journalists detained in Myanmar
Reuters have released a report on ethnic killings in Myanmar, detailing research done by two of its reporters currently jailed in Myanmar. The news agency details the slaughter of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din, where Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo spoke with Buddhist neighbors who reportedly admitted to killing the men and burying…
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Two Shinawatra former PMs spotted shopping in China
Photo from Instagram @ingshin Fugitive ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was seen in a photo with her brother Thaksin, also a fugitive ex-PM, buying chestnuts in Beijing, China. The photo was published on Matichon Online website on Saturday afternoon. The two siblings were buying chestnuts in a mall in Beijing as part of Chinese New Year celebrations on February 16, Matichon…
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The new Airbus 350-1000 on tour in Thailand
The new Airbus A350-1000 has landed in Bangkok for the first time for a demonstration flight and a ground display. Following its arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the aircraft took off for a special one-hour flight yesterday afternoon with representatives from the government, airlines, aviation authorities and members of the press on board. The jet’s visit to Bangkok is part…
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Lost tusk in pachyderm punch-up
Officials at Khao Yai National Park are standing by with medical gear in case more elephant bulls engage in combat over grazing rights – or over a female, as happened on Wednesday morning. Male elephants Plai Duan and Plai Sa-ard were duelling over a female from 7am Wednesday into the afternoon in the Pong Thung Kwang area. Plai Duan sustained…
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Love online costs 1 million baht
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, police are rounding up members of a gang of foreigners accused of running a “romance scam”. Accomplices are being sought after two Nigerians were arrested on Wednesday. Tourist Police Deputy Commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal said 31 year old Emeka Celestine Eze was apprehended at a condominium in Bangkok’s Bang Na area on Wednesday…
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