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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    9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand

    Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...

  • Wild elephant electrocuted to death in eastern Thailand | Thaiger

    Wild elephant electrocuted to death in eastern Thailand

    A wild elephant was electrocuted to death at a jackfruit plantation in the middle of the jungle in Chachoengsao province in eastern Thailand yesterday. A farmer installed electric wires around his farm to prevent his jackfruit from being stolen by elephants. At 1pm yesterday, officers at Tha Thakiab Police Station were informed that a wild male elephant was found dead…

  • Dead body of unidentified transwoman found in canal near Bangkok | Thaiger

    Dead body of unidentified transwoman found in canal near Bangkok

    A local fisherman found the dead body of a transwoman floating in a canal in Pathum Thani province near Bangkok. Her identity is unknown. Officers from Klong Luang Police Station were notified of the dead body in Song Canal in the Klong Luang district of Pathum Thani yesterday at 2pm. The body was spotted floating under a wooden house along…

  • PTSD cat seeks new home following Narathiwat terror blast | Thaiger

    PTSD cat seeks new home following Narathiwat terror blast

    A PTSD cat seeks a new home following the Narathiwat terror blast. Apart from the tragic loss of life and destruction of property, the car bomb that destroyed Narathiwat police apartments on Tuesday left one former resident homeless and hungry. A cat that was owned by one of the Narathiwat police officers lost in the blast is suffering from PTSD.…

  • Keeping it ‘reel’ as giant catfish season casts of in Thailand | Thaiger

    Keeping it ‘reel’ as giant catfish season casts of in Thailand

    Local fishermen were keeping it “reel” this week as the annual giant catfish catching season cast off at the Kaeng Krachan Dam in Phetchaburi province in the central part of Thailand. Giant catfish season in Thailand lasts two months and the nation’s fishermen are allowed to set their reels going from November 20 to January 20. But it isn’t open…

  • Thailand’s Public Health Minister vows to keep weed legal if he stays in office | Thaiger

    Thailand’s Public Health Minister vows to keep weed legal if he stays in office

    Thailand’s Public Health Minister is vowing to keep weed free and legal so long as he stays in office. Anutin Charnvirakul told advocates for the plant that the possibility of cannabis being re-criminalised would not be possible if he is voted into office again. Anutin has been credited with starting the weed revolution in Thailand, and he continues to support…

  • One-third of adult Thai citizens applied for welfare | Thaiger

    One-third of adult Thai citizens applied for welfare

    Applications for welfare have seen a huge jump, with 22 million Thai people requesting a state welfare card in the latest round of registration. That massive figure equates to about one-third of the entire adult population of Thailand. It is a huge jump from the current 13.5 million people now carrying welfare cards in the country. The figures come after…

  • Venomous snake rescued from beer in Australia | Thaiger

    Venomous snake rescued from beer in Australia

    Australian reptile rescuers have come to the rescue of a thirsty snake found with its head wedged inside the ring-pull opening at the top of a beer can. Photos and video posted to Facebook by Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation show rescuers responding to a report of a snake trapped in a beer can in Brighton, Queensland. The rescuers arrived to…

  • Hotel loan program extended through June 2023 | Thaiger

    Hotel loan program extended through June 2023

    Hotels trying to recover from closing down for the Covid-19 pandemic are getting a little extra financial help. The Thai Cabinet has decided to extend low-interest soft loans until June 2023. The loans were created to help hotels address property repairs after many opted to close when customers dried up because the borders closed amid the pandemic. The announcement was…

  • Alleged Chinese drug tycoon married to Thai policewoman surrenders to police | Thaiger

    Alleged Chinese drug tycoon married to Thai policewoman surrenders to police

    Chinese businessman “Tuhao,” wanted on drug charges in Thailand, surrendered to police today after they raided his mansion in Bangkok this morning. The accused is married to a high-ranking Thai police officer who works for the foreign affairs division. Yesterday, Southern Bangkok Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant for “conspiring to commit drug offences and possessing…

  • Man crashes car into elephant at Khao Yai National Park | Thaiger

    Man crashes car into elephant at Khao Yai National Park

    A Thai man risks a charge of violating the National Park Act after he crashed his sedan into an elephant at Khao Yai National Park in the central province of Nakhon Nayok. The driver was hurt in the collision and sent to Pak Chong Nana Hospital to have his injuries looked at. Officers reported that they are still looking for…

  • Police arrest transgender Thai women for filming and disseminating child porn online | Thaiger

    Police arrest transgender Thai women for filming and disseminating child porn online

    On Monday, Thai police arrested a transgender woman in Bangkok for filming and disseminating child pornography on the LINE and OnlyFans platforms. Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking In Persons Division announced the results of their investigation today. Officers from Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau arrested 29 year old transgender woman named Saranrak – aka “Bee” – who filmed herself having sex with minors and…

  • Business is booming on Khao San Road thanks to the World Cup | Thaiger

    Business is booming on Khao San Road thanks to the World Cup

    Business is booming on Khao San Road in Bangkok thanks to the FIFIA 2022 World Cup. The President of the Khao San Road Business Association, Sa-nga Rueangwattanakun, revealed that businesses on Khao San Road increased by 50%. Sa-nga said visitors flocked to entertainment venues and restaurants in the area to watch the World Cup matches providing a welcome boost to…

  • 36 sex workers in Pattaya arrested for prostitution | Thaiger

    36 sex workers in Pattaya arrested for prostitution

    Thirty-six prostitutes in Pattaya were arrested last night near Walking Street for selling their bodies. Channel 3 reported that the Pattaya tourist police, and volunteers, patrolled Pattaya Walking Street yesterday at about 10pm. Officers were acting on complaints by tourists that they had been robbed in the area and their mission last night focused on the resort’s sex workers illegally…

  • AirAsia Thailand passenger data allegedly leaked after ransomware attack | Thaiger

    AirAsia Thailand passenger data allegedly leaked after ransomware attack

    AirAsia group allegedly fell victim to a ransomware attack that leaked the personal data of five million passengers and all staff of AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Malaysia, and AirAsia Indonesia. The Daixin Team, a ransomware and data extortion group, allegedly leaked the data after the airline refused to pay a ransom. On Monday, the Daixin Team was the focus of a…

  • 2 Russian men fight after one insults his Thai girlfriend | Thaiger

    2 Russian men fight after one insults his Thai girlfriend

    Two Russian men attacked each other with a hammer and a brass knuckle on a beach in Pattaya after one of the men insulted his Thai girlfriend. Channel 7 reported that the incident happened yesterday at 11pm on Yinyom Beach on the Phra Tamnak Road in the Bang Lamung district of Pattaya. Police officers from the Mueng Pattaya Police Station…

  • Fate of Thai baht depends on return of Chinese tourists, economists say | Thaiger

    Fate of Thai baht depends on return of Chinese tourists, economists say

    The Thai baht has been flying recently but its upward trend could draw to a standstill unless Chinese tourists return to the Kingdom of Thailand, according to economists. In the past month, the baht appreciated almost 6% against the US dollar as reports indicated the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would slow down its aggressive interest rate hikes. Despite inflation, a reinvigorated…

  • Thais among Asian stars ranked on Top Face of the Years 2022 | Thaiger

    Thais among Asian stars ranked on Top Face of the Years 2022

    Thais are on a list of Asian stars in the Top Face of the Years 2022,” ranked by a Twitter account named 100 the best face. The list was compiled by counting Twitter users’ comments, likes or shares with the hashtag #topfaceoftheyears2022. At the top of the list is Kim Taehyung, a member of the world sensation K-pop band BTS.…

  • Multiple rapist known as the ‘Bondi Beast’ finally named | Thaiger

    Multiple rapist known as the ‘Bondi Beast’ finally named

    It may be too late for the many victims of the man the press labelled the “Bondi Beast” but police finally managed to link DNA samples to the serial rapist. Unfortunately, the multiple sex offender, Keith Simms, died in February aged 66 before justice could be served. Simms was known as the “Centennial Park rapist” in the 1980s, the “Bondi…

  • Cathay Pacific boosts flights to Thailand | Thaiger

    Cathay Pacific boosts flights to Thailand

    Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways and its budget subsidiary Hong Kong Express are boosting flights to three major tourist destinations in Thailand: Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai. Cathay’s Hong Kong – Bangkok route will be increased from twice to four times per day next month, according to Chairman of Cathay Pacific Patrick Healy. In January, the airline will…

  • Ponzi schemes in the crosshairs for DSI, Finance Ministry | Thaiger

    Ponzi schemes in the crosshairs for DSI, Finance Ministry

    Sometimes cracking down on scam crimes just creates smarter criminals. The Ministry of Finance and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) are teaming up to crack down on new forms of the classic Ponzi scheme. The director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office announced that the ministry was meeting with the DSI to discuss updates on the laws regarding new scams.…

  • Wife returns lottery winings to cuckold husband but kicks him out of family home | Thaiger

    Wife returns lottery winings to cuckold husband but kicks him out of family home

    The alleged cheating wife of a lottery winner who ran off with her lover and her cuckold husband’s 6 million baht winnings agreed to return the money she has left. She insists she does not have a lover, despite what her son and husband said, and that she will return the money on the condition her husband leaves the family…

  • Bungling thief borrows 500 baht from victim and asks for sex before escaping | Thaiger

    Bungling thief borrows 500 baht from victim and asks for sex before escaping

    An incompetent thief broke into a woman’s house in the early hours of yesterday morning and asked for sex and 500 baht. The victim managed to persuade the wannabe thief to give up on the sex idea and leave her in peace on the promise she transfers the 500 baht to him through an app. The bungling thief thanked the…

  • Two Czech tourists seriously injured in road accident in southern Thailand | Thaiger

    Two Czech tourists seriously injured in road accident in southern Thailand

    A pickup truck crashed into two Czech tourists crossing a dimly lit road in Phang Nha province in southern Thailand last night. Both of the tourists are seriously injured. At 7.30pm, officers from Khao Lak Police Station were informed that a car hit and injured pedestrians in front of Pee Ann’s restaurants on the Phetchakasem Road in the Khuk Kak…

  • Cannabis fate discussed today by Narcotics Control Board | Thaiger

    Cannabis fate discussed today by Narcotics Control Board

    Today is the day the future of cannabis in Thailand will be decided. The Office of the Narcotics Control Board is meeting to discuss proposals calling for the plant to once again be classified as a Type 5 drug. But some powerful political figures insist that the board is powerless to stop the legalised proliferation of cannabis. Minister of Public…

  • Man files police complaint after finding stranger’s houses on his land | Thaiger

    Man files police complaint after finding stranger’s houses on his land

    A Thai man filed a complaint with the police after discovering that a stranger built two houses on his land in the western province of Kanchanaburi. The tale should be filed under “stories you’ll only find in Thailand.” The 45 year old land owner, Pairat (surname reserved), escorted reporters around his 442 square-metre estate in the Lad Ya sub-district of…

  • Farang man brutally assaults Thai girlfriend in Pattaya, Thailand | Thaiger

    Farang man brutally assaults Thai girlfriend in Pattaya, Thailand

    A farang man stamped on his young Thai girlfriend until she was seriously injured in the early hours of the morning in Pattaya, Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand. At 4.30am, staff from Sawang Boriboon Thammsat Rescue Foundation received a report of an assault at a house in Nong Prue district in Bang Lamung district. At the scene, rescue workers found…

  • BTS Skytrain demands 40 billion baht debt is paid | Thaiger

    BTS Skytrain demands 40 billion baht debt is paid

    The BTS Skytrain, under the BTS Group Holdings Public Company, launched a video yesterday to demand their money back! BTS says the government owes them 40 billion baht and they want the debt paid. The BTS revealed it intends to shame the government by airing the debt-collection message on every screen inside BTS trains and station platforms along Sukhumvit, or…

  • Foreigner repeatedly scams petrol stations in central Thailand | Thaiger

    Foreigner repeatedly scams petrol stations in central Thailand

    A fearless foreigner of unidentified nationality is touring the small province of Nakhon Nayok in central Thailand and scamming staff at petrol stations over and over again. Yesterday, staff at a PT Station in the Mueang district opposite a Toyota shop complained that a foreigner deceived them into giving him money. At around 9pm, an English-speaking man wearing a red shirt…

  • RTP contravened UN ruling using rubber bullets on protestors | Thaiger

    RTP contravened UN ruling using rubber bullets on protestors

    A non-governmental organisation slammed the illegal use of rubber bullets by the Royal Thai Police (RTP) after skirmishes outside of the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre left a man blind in one eye and dozens of others injured. International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (iLaw Network) made known that the RTP contravened a United Nations ruling by using rubber bullets to…

  • More heavy rain and flash floods expected in Thailand | Thaiger

    More heavy rain and flash floods expected in Thailand

    More heavy rain and flash floods are expected in Thailand this week, the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) said today. The low pressure will cover the Gulf of Thailand while the monsoon will pass through the southern parts of Thailand from November 23-24. Those in the eastern and southern regions have been warned about the possibility of flash floods. The country’s…