Thailand News
Discover the most recent and relevant news from across Thailand on The Thaiger’s National News page. Covering a wide range of topics, including politics, business, crime, and lifestyle, our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
Stay informed about the latest developments in Thai society, economy, and culture, as well as updates on travel, tourism, and expat life. With The Thaiger, you’ll never miss out on the essential news that matters to you.
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Sponsored Fourtwenty High Garden 4/20 celebration 'Up in The Clouds'
Fourtwenty is thrilled to announce its flagship event “Up in The Clouds,” a celebratory gathering on the internationally recognized day of cannabis culture, April 20th (4/20), hosted at the scenic Fourtwenty High Garden. The event is set to kick off...
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Today is Asanha Bucha Day – Why is the day special for Thai Buddhists?
Asanha Bucha Day is a special Buddhist holiday in Thailand marking the day when the Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon at Benares in India over 2,500 years ago. The exact date of the holiday is determined by the waxing moon and the lunar months, but is usually held in July or August each year. In 2020 it falls on…
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Alcohol bans tomorrow and Monday in Thailand
2 Buddhist holidays, Asahna Bucha Day, and the start of Buddhist Lent, fall on this weekend. As a result the government has added Monday, July 6, as a national holiday. There will be an alcohol ban tomorrow, Sunday (July 5) and Monday (July 6). No alcohol will be sold or served on these days. The dates of these important Buddhist…
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Covid-19 update: 40 days with no locally transmitted cases (July 4)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration confirmed this morning that Thailand has not recorded a single locally transmitted case of Covid-19 in 40 days. 5 imported cases were reported today of repatriated Thai nationals – 1 from Kuwait, 1 from the UK and 3 from Sudan. All were discovered in state quarantine facilities. CCSA spokesman Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin says Thailand…
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Major international retailers banning monkey-picked coconuts – VIDEO
Allegations of animal abuse are prompting major Western retailers to pull Thai coconut products from their shelves, amid accusations that the coconuts are picked by monkeys treated inhumanely. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claim monkeys are snatched from the wild and trained to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day. The animal rights group says pigtailed macaques are…
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Thailand growing more expensive for expats
According to Employment Conditions Abroad, Bangkok and Chiang Mai are among the 30 most expensive cities for expats in Asia. The capital of Turkmenistan might not spring to mind when with considering the priciest cities, but according to ECA International it ranks first on both the global and Asian tables, a 5 point rise up the rankings due to an…
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90 minute Covid-19 test at BKK being tested
A Covid-19 test that takes about 90 minutes. This is a new ‘outside the box’ way at bringing people back into Thailand and checking them before they go through Immigration. The new ‘rapid’ tests were unveiled today at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The new tests would be offered for overseas arrivals as the Thai government wrestles with the desire to reboot…
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Hospital director proposes importing overseas Covid-19 patients for treatment
With the Covid-19 situation in Thailand apparently well in hand (there have been no locally transmitted cases for well over a month), a hospital director in Bangkok is proposing flying in patients from abroad for treatment at his hospital. The director of Mongkutwattana Hospital is considering medical flights to bring international Covid-19 cases to the hospital for treatment, in an…
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Thailand targeting specific Chinese provinces for “tourism bubble”
Thailand’s minister of tourism and sports says his ministry will target specific provinces in China in a bid to attract tourists back to the resort island of Phuket as travel restrictions are gradually eased. Pipat Ratchakijprakarn says the ministry will not splash out money launching a tourist campaign all across China but rather target some of the many provinces that…
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Medical, wellness tourists will be first to be allowed in: CCSA
The government plans to allow local tours for overseas medical and wellness tourists beginning this month, and the start of tourism “travel bubbles” in September. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said medical and wellness tourists will be welcomed from this month on. If they are properly handled during their 14 day quarantine and treatment at…
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Finalised “travel bubble” list to be submitted to CCSA
Thailand’s tourism and sports minister says foreign tourists will be allowed back into the Kingdom in August under a 3 phase “travel bubble“ strategy, which will include countries who are considered at a low-risk of the Covid-19 contagion and will be allowed to travel on specific routes or itineraries “booked through small agencies.” After discussions with the Tourism Authority of…
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Department warns women over surrogate motherhood dangers abroad
A string of arrests in what has been dubbed the “wombs for hire” scandal shocked the nation in February; now Thai Women, tempted to earn money by becoming surrogate mothers, are being warned about the potential health and social implications, especially in countries where there are no surrogacy laws to protect them. The director-general of the Department of Health Service…
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Draft law would ban online alcohol sales in Thailand
In April, the government imposed a nationwide ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages as part of the Emergency Decree to stem the spread of Covid-19. Now the country’s top alcohol regulator has approved a draft regulation to ban online alcohol sales. The move comes after alcohol watchdog groups urged the government to crack down on the online sales, which…
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Thai nightlife grapples with “new normal”
Thailand’s nightlife scene is grappling with a ‘new normal’ as changes upon its recent reopening see facemasks joining the normal bikini wear in red-light districts across the Kingdom. After being forced to close for more than 3 months in order to stop the spread of Covid-19, bars, karaoke venues and massage parlours are in the latest category of businesses allowed to…
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Old Bangkok market damaged by large fire
An old Bangkok market was reportedly damaged by a large fire early this morning, taking over 20 fire trucks and at least two hours to put out the blaze. Ying Charoen Market, in Bangkok’s northern Bang Khen district, saw vendors fleeing the flames and taking their merchandise with them after firefighters were called to the scene at 3 am. The…
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Customers help woman detained for shoplifting school uniforms
Customers have come to the aid of a woman after she was detained for shoplifting school uniforms for her children in southern Thailand. The woman says she is struggling financially due to the Covid-19 pandemic and had no choice but to shoplift as she is unable to afford the cost of the uniforms. The woman, aged 26, was with her…
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Thai Airways to shed only 5% of employees, while appointing new president
Debt-ridden Thai Airways has confirmed that it will only shed 5% of its 20,000 employees as part of its reorganisation. The former president of the carrier’s labour union says he met with the rehab panel, along with union and airline staff representatives, with the panel now aiming to cut only 5% of the airline’s workforce-down from the initial target of…
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Up to 2.7 million Thai travel, hospitality and tourism workers unemployed by September
The president of the Thai Tourism Industry Council says confidence among Thailand’s tourism business operators fell to the lowest level in a decade during the second quarter this year, with about 2.6 million workers already unemployed and about another 100,000 expected to be laid off in Q3 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The gloomy forecast is the result…
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“We Tour Together” launched to boost domestic tourism
The government has announced its “Rao Thieu Duaykan” (We Tour Together) program, created as a stimulus boost to domestic tourism and help the travel and hospitality sectors battered by closures and bans in reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. From July 15, Thai citizens can apply for a government subsidy to cover part of their hotel and dining expenses when travelling…
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Thailand sets new guidelines to govern “medical tourism”
Thailand’s medical community is rolling out a set of guidelines for medical tourism as the country prepares to open its borders to international visitors. According to the director-general of the Department of Health Service Support, yesterday’s first meeting of the medical hub committee resulted in 3 decisions. The first outcome from the meeting set a new policy pertaining to quarantine…
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Back to school – Thai school kids head back to class
School’s back. Thai school children are returning to their classes in school rooms around the country to be re-united with their teachers who have been just a thumbnail on a Zoom conference call for the past three months. The reopening of schools is nationwide, for all levels of public and private schools. Since mid-March, all schools in Thailand have been closed…
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Thailand re-opens its international borders today
Thailand is lifting its ban on international flights on July 1. But before you dust off the suitcase and book your flight, there are still many restrictions on the return of foreigners into the country. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand says the ban on international flights is being lifted from July 1 but “conditions for re-entry apply”. “People entering Thailand…
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New Songkran ‘replacement’ holiday added on July 27
The Thai government has declared July 27 the first of, what will probably be, substitute Songkran holidays. This year’s Songkran holiday was postponed as the April 13 Thai New Year holiday, and the days around it, were right in the middle of Thailand’s outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequent ‘lockdowns’. Songkran celebrates the start of Thailand’s wet season. The first replacement…
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New ‘Progressive Movement’ party plans to take on local elections
Thailand’s elections may look a bit different as some candidates, who normally campaign in local elections, are banding together to form a new ‘Progressive Movement.’ The move comes despite the Constitutional Court banning its founder, Thanathorn Juangroogruangkit, along with other executives, for 10 years after being involved with the Future Forward Party that was disbanded earlier this year. The banning…
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Thailand’s hotel industry pushing ahead with recovery
Optimism is building in some corners of the hospitality industry as Thailand pushes ahead with it Covid-19 recovery phases. Occupancy rates in at least Bangkok and Phuket are likely to bottom out soon with the lifting of travel restrictions, according to JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group. Thailand’s hotel industry is now entering a recovery phase following the country’s decision to issue a…
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America’s BLM movement sparks race discussion in Thailand
While the Black Lives Matter movement continues unabated in the US, a broader discussion on discrimination and racism is now being brought up on the other side of the world. Some foreigners and locals with dark skin have spoken up about the overt racism they’ve experienced in Thailand. While activists in America protest alleged police brutality and racial profiling, some…
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Plant-based, traditional Thai medicine ready for human trials on coronavirus patients
Some Thai doctors are veering away from pharmaceutical medicine for treating mild coronavirus symptoms and are going to try out plant-based solutions that have traditionally been used in Thailand to treat cold and flu symptoms. Researchers are studying the effects the plant Andrographis Paniculate has on treating the viral disease. The main state quarantine centres, Samut Prakan Hospital and Bang Lamung…
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Thai virus expert says it’s too soon for foreign tourists
It’s too early to think about opening the country’s doors to foreign travellers, one Thai public health expert says. With the coronavirus still spreading in other parts of the world, Chulaongkorn University epidemiologist Thira Woratanarat warns that letting tourists in while domestic restrictions are still easing poses a serious risk. Worathanarat wrote a post on his Facebook page, citing the numbers…
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Big C worker finds wallet with 100,000 baht in cash
What would you do if you found a wallet with more than 100,000 baht in cash? At a Big C in Chanthaburi, near the Cambodian border, a maid found a wallet with thousands of baht in cash while cleaning a bathroom. She decided not to pocket the cash and returned it to the owner. Even the wallet’s owner expected it…
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Government agency issues guidelines to help Thailand’s souvenir suppliers
Thailand’s Department of Industrial Promotion says it is working on ways to help the country’s souvenir makers recover from the devastation wreaked by the Covid-19 lock-down. Speaking to Nation Thailand, Nattapol Rangsitpol, director-general of the DIP, says the latest advice complements the government’s stimulus campaign Tiew Pan Suk (Trips to Share Happiness), aimed at boosting domestic tourism and the local…
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2 women arrested for human trafficking
Police have arrested 2 Thai women for luring Thai girls into prostitution in Dubai. The girls were told they’d work as masseuses, but instead were forced into prostitution. Immigration police reported the arrest of 28 year old “Rissraporn” and 25 year old “Aranya” on charges of human trafficking. The suspects would “sell” girls to buyers in Dubai. The girls were…
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