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.

  • Thaiger Radio News – Sunday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Sunday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • 30 more villages in Phayao hit by floods – PM asks Thais to monitor weather | Thaiger

    30 more villages in Phayao hit by floods – PM asks Thais to monitor weather

    A total of 30 villages in six tambons of Phayao’s Pong district have been whacked by floods yesterday (Saturday). Two other villages in the province’s Chiang Kham district were earlier reported struck by flood damage. Phayao is wedged between Chiang Mai and the Laos border. Pong district chief Sit Wongman said the Khuan and Ngim rivers in his districts had…

  • Increased fines, better training – changes to motorbike use in Thailand | Thaiger

    Increased fines, better training – changes to motorbike use in Thailand

    In efforts to temper the world’s number one road toll, a specially-formed Thai committee are poised to recommend a series of new measures to curb, specifically, motorcycle deaths by up to 50% per year. Some of these include raising fines for not having a license by as much as 1000%, introducing more bike lanes and targeting accident black spots. Daily…

  • Landslides close the Ranong-Chumpon road | Thaiger

    Landslides close the Ranong-Chumpon road

    If you’ve ever travelled north or south from Phuket to locations to the north, via Ranong, you’ll know about the ‘long and winding road’ from Ranong to Chumpon. A lot of effort is being put into improving the road to make the route a viable alternative route for buses, van and cars and a new tourist drive which can take…

  • Tourist numbers tumble as Chinese media expose entrenched safety problems | Thaiger

    Tourist numbers tumble as Chinese media expose entrenched safety problems

    The fallout from July’s tragic boat accident are just now starting to bite as tourists, who would have been about to make a booking around the time the accident happened, decided to book an alternate holiday destination instead. Despite the bravado and PR exercises, many Thai business people are secretly worried about the big drop-off in numbers. The drop in…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Saturday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Saturday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Wet, wet, wet – warnings out for 36 provinces | Thaiger

    Wet, wet, wet – warnings out for 36 provinces

    As tropical storm Bebinca makes landfall in Vietnam today, 36 provinces in the North, North-east, East and South are bring warned to brace for intensive rain and isolated torrential downpours until Sunday – this from the Meteorological Department’s latest weather forecast this morning. “At 4 am this morning, tropical storm Bebinca was 400 kilometres northeast of Hanoi, Vietnam, with a …

  • Thaiger Radio News – Friday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Friday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Thaiger Radio News – Thursday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Thursday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Will he or won’t he? Thai PM will announce his intentions soon. | Thaiger

    Will he or won’t he? Thai PM will announce his intentions soon.

    PHOTO: The Nation The election looms but, at this stage, there is no confirmed date and the elephant in the room – will General Prayut turn politician and run for a seat in the new Government – is yet to be addressed. Pressed yesterday he repeated his past ambiguous remarks. The PM yesterday reiterated his promise to clarify his political…

  • The moral police want to ban students being together, anytime, anywhere. | Thaiger

    The moral police want to ban students being together, anytime, anywhere.

    Thailand’s ‘fun police’, under directions from the Thai government, are attempting to stop students doing… well, what students and young people do, anytime! Manager Online reports that, not just content with forbidding Thai teenagers enjoying the company of the opposite sex in public and banning wandering about at night, new measures have been proposed by the Ministry of Education (now endorsed…

  • Government tackles electronic waste at local level | Thaiger

    Government tackles electronic waste at local level

    Electronic waste has become a major environmental problem in Thailand, such that the Government is now getting Tambon chiefs and kanmans to help educate locals and tackle the problem at the community level. At a deserted factory outside Bangkok, skyscrapers made from vast blocks of crushed printers, Xbox components and TVs tower over black rivers of smashed-up computer screens. This is a…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Wednesday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Wednesday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Jeans and T-shirts banned for Government House journalists and photographers | Thaiger

    Jeans and T-shirts banned for Government House journalists and photographers

    PHOTO: A group of Thai journalists and photographers learning how to put on a tie Tatty old jeans and a T-shirt – OK for a night out in Sukhumvit but not good enough when attending pressers with the Thai PM. If you want to attend media conferences or take photos of junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, then you need to…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Tuesday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Tuesday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Renewed demands to ban paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos in Thailand | Thaiger

    Renewed demands to ban paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos in Thailand

    Despite years of completely conflicting evidence, on both sides, and even the World Health Organisation coming up with its wobbly ‘probably carcinogenic’ finding, glysophate (RoundUp), and two other herbicides and pesticides used in Thailand, are coming under renewed fire. Thai activists are planning to launch lawsuits against local policymakers for their failure to ban three key agri-chemicals in Thailand, following…

  • Broken promises – Mong Thongdee still waits, nine years later | Thaiger

    Broken promises – Mong Thongdee still waits, nine years later

    by Thai PBS It was nine years ago when this young stateless boy was the media poster boy for a week with his story and dreams to represent his country in an international paper plane contest. In the wake of the granting of citizenship for four of the Mu Pa team, Mong Thongdee’s story didn’t end the same way and deserves…

  • More rain and flood warnings for the north and north-east | Thaiger

    More rain and flood warnings for the north and north-east

    The north-east regions have just been mopping up over the last week and now the TMD (Thai Meteorological Department) are warning that there’s more on the way. Residents in the North and North-east are bracing for more rain with isolated torrential downpours on Wednesday and Thursday (August 15-16) that could trigger flash floods in the region. TMD chief Wanchai Sakudomchai,…

  • Don’t ride elephants in Thailand – warning to Kiwi tourists | Thaiger

    Don’t ride elephants in Thailand – warning to Kiwi tourists

    by Alex Baird Elephant rides in Thailand are coming under increasing international pressure as stories of abusive training practices reach mainstream news and travel sites. NewsHub reports that New Zealand travellers are being told to steer clear of elephant riding due to the severe abuse the animals face. Intrepid Travel co-founder Geoff Manchester released shocking footage on Sunday – which happens to…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Monday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Monday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • More delays for next February’s election? | Thaiger

    More delays for next February’s election?

    PHOTO: On the lookout for next year’s election – The Nation February 2019 is just six months away, the deadline for the long-awaited, and must postponed, Thai general election. Although the junta have ‘promised’ that THIS will be the date for Thailand’s return to democracy, an increasing amount of politicians are starting to wonder if the deadline will be met.…

  • UNHCR praises decision to issue Thai citizenship to four Mu Pa boys | Thaiger

    UNHCR praises decision to issue Thai citizenship to four Mu Pa boys

    Through all the drama and an international team of rescuers to recover them, some good has come from the Mu Pa football team story. Thai PBS reports that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has welcomed the Thai Government’s decision to grant Thai citizenship to three stateless Wild Boars boys and their football coach this week. “By providing…

  • Eight Thai dams on ‘floodwatch’ | Thaiger

    Eight Thai dams on ‘floodwatch’

    The Mekong River is steadily dropping, but a ‘flood watch’ is on for some central north-eastern dams as well as two dams south of Bangkok. The Office of National Water Resources secretary-general Somkiat Prajumwong says the department is keeping a close watch on eight large-sized dams which are holding water at alarming levels. The eight dams are Nam Phung dam…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Saturday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Saturday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Who is this week’s Champion of Overstayers? – Operation X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner | Thaiger

    Who is this week’s Champion of Overstayers? – Operation X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner

    PHOTOS: Thai Tourist Police Bureau The Thai Tourist Police have executed the 20th raid in their “X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner” campaign. Again, they’ve turned up dozens of foreigners on overstay and people entering the Kingdom illegally. Eighteen schools were raided for illegals including three international schools and 2 language institutes. Pol Maj Gen Surachete Hakpal – aka ‘Big Joke’ in the…

  • Thaksin slams Thai ‘democracy’ on the celebration of his birthday | Thaiger

    Thaksin slams Thai ‘democracy’ on the celebration of his birthday

    Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra is vowing to keep on his “battle for Thailand’s democracy”, despite living in self-exile overseas for around a decade. This announcement from red-shirt media yesterday (August 9). The Peace News Facebook page reports that the ex-premier, overthrown by a military coup in 2006, made a speech during his belated birthday party with his sister, another…

  • Storms raise flood threats in 37 provinces | Thaiger

    Storms raise flood threats in 37 provinces

    Whilst the flood situation in the far north of the country, bordering the Mekong River, has abated over the past week, the situation is still dire for many other communities around the Kingdom today. Disaster warnings have now been issued as heavy downpours threaten to bring flash floods and landslides to 37 provinces across Thailand. A monsoon storm is predicted…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Friday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Friday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Thailand to adopt some of Japan’s road safety measures | Thaiger

    Thailand to adopt some of Japan’s road safety measures

    PHOTO: The Nation “It was found that Japan had placed importance on measures related to public transports which focus on the standard of transports and equipment and the safety of drivers and passengers.” In an effort to reduce the country’s shameful road toll, the Ministry of Transport says it’s started to implement some of Japan’s road safety measures in Thailand.…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Thursday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Thursday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.