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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  • US actor George Clooney’s foundation stands up for Thai protesters

    US actor George Clooney’s foundation stands up for Thai protesters

    US actor George Clooney’s foundation is standing up for Thai protesters through its TrialWatch initiative. The initiative is part of the Clooney Foundation for Justice and has been monitoring and evaluating the criminal proceedings against the protest leaders since 2020. TrialWatch urged Thailand to adhere to its international human rights obligations in an amicus brief submitted on Monday to the…

  • Goddess of Victory: Nikke ad slammed for depicting Thai gamers as horny fat boys

    Goddess of Victory: Nikke ad slammed for depicting Thai gamers as horny fat boys

    Gamers in Thailand have slammed a video featuring a fat Thai boy becoming aroused while playing Goddess of Victory: Nikke. The video was released in November 4 last year to much acclaim in the gamer community. Goddess of Victory: Nikke is an immersive sci-fi RPG game, where you can recruit and lead a squad of anime girls who specialize in…

  • Tourism Authority of Thailand uses momentum of last year’s campaign to strengthen 2023 travel direction

    Tourism Authority of Thailand uses momentum of last year’s campaign to strengthen 2023 travel direction

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is using momentum from last year’s ‘Visit Thailand Year 2022’ campaign to direct this year toward a “meaningful travel direction.” According to The Pattaya News, the press release by the TAT details new concepts and enhanced efforts to continue the milestone achievement of last year’s campaign. The ongoing “Visit Thailand Year: Amazing New Chapters” is…

  • Injured whale shark swims up to boat for help in southern Thailand

    Injured whale shark swims up to boat for help in southern Thailand

    National park officials in Krabi province, southern Thailand, are searching for an injured whale shark in need of urgent medical assistance. Yesterday, a six-metre long whale shark swam to the surface to visit a longtail boat near Koh Hong island located inside Than Bok Khorani National Park in Krabi’s Mueang district. As cold-blooded whale sharks rarely venture out of deep…

  • Thai woman allegedly defrauds American PPE company of 239 million baht

    Thai woman allegedly defrauds American PPE company of 239 million baht

    An American PPE company alleges that a Thai woman defrauded them of a staggering 239 million baht (US$8 million) in a high-profile public fraud case centred around rubber gloves. On February 18, 2021, US Company Quick Aid LLC wired 239 million Thai baht to a private Thai company named Singhaseni Group Co., Ltd. The Thai company had a single 45…

  • Perverted teacher sacked after sending video of underage sex acts to school chat group

    Perverted teacher sacked after sending video of underage sex acts to school chat group

    A perverted teacher who had sex with underage children in Nakhon Ratchasima and accidentally sent videos of the acts to a group chat has been sacked while a police investigation is underway. The teacher allegedly tried to commit suicide when the news broke. The unnamed arts teacher at Non Sungsritani Secondary School in Non Sung district in Nakhon Ratchasima, Isaan,…

  • Thai farmer makes 1 million baht per month selling buffalo semen

    Thai farmer makes 1 million baht per month selling buffalo semen

    A farmer in Kalasin province in northeast Thailand makes 1 million baht every month by selling semen from one special water buffalo named “Big Billion.” Water buffalo (“kwai” in Thai language) breeders all around the kingdom pay high prices for the semen of Big Billion, a ‘textbook’ Thai water buffalo worth 30 million baht. Breeders use Big Billion’s seed to…

  • Silicone strips seized stopping safety-sacrificing surgeries

    Silicone strips seized stopping safety-sacrificing surgeries

    Officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) teamed up with police on a raid of several plastic surgery clinics and a manufacturer’s warehouse to confiscate a large number of counterfeit silicone pieces. The joint operation was announced on Monday by the FDA Secretary-General and the Deputy Chief of the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD). Previous raids had been carried…

  • DCD predicts a fourfold jump in dengue and malaria victims in Thailand this year

    DCD predicts a fourfold jump in dengue and malaria victims in Thailand this year

    The government’s Disease Control Department (DCD) reckons Thailand will see a huge jump in malaria and dengue fever cases this year. The Director-General of the DCD, Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong, believes the number of malaria and dengue fever sufferers will increase significantly by at least three or four times more than last year. “There were 10,174 cases last year, three times…

  • Oil tanker explosion in Thailand kills 1, 4 missing

    Oil tanker explosion in Thailand kills 1, 4 missing

    At 9.30am, a large oil tanker docked in Samut Songkhram province, southwest of Bangkok, exploded and caught fire. At present, one person has been confirmed dead and four people are still missing. Firefighters from Mueang Samut Songkram Fire Station have got the fire under control at the shipyard Laem Yai subdistrict on the Mae Klong River. As the tanker was…

  • Android users urged not to charge phones in public in case they get hacked

    Android users urged not to charge phones in public in case they get hacked

    The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) is advising the public to exercise caution when charging their smartphones in public after a Thai man’s Android phone was hacked at the weekend. The CIB believe hackers have found a way of altering charging cables to steal personal information from phone users. Wisanusan Sam-pok revealed in a Facebook post on Sunday that 101,560 baht…

  • American TikTok star sues Porsche dealer in Thailand

    American TikTok star sues Porsche dealer in Thailand

    An American TikTok star and his Thai girlfriend filed a lawsuit against a Porsche dealership in Thailand showroom claiming that the used car they paid 13 million baht for is not only a different model than they ordered but it doesn’t work. Yesterday at 4.30pm, 39 year old Sam [psuedonym] and his wife [name reserved] met with celebrity lawyer Decha…

  • Shinawatra’s daughter declares intention to be Thailand’s next prime minister

    Shinawatra’s daughter declares intention to be Thailand’s next prime minister

    In one of the worst-kept secrets in Thai politics, Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced her intention to be Thailand’s next prime minister over the weekend. The 36 year old declared her interest to run for premier under the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) in May’s General Election. The PTP was founded by Paetongtarn’s father Thaksin and is now in its third incarnation, Thaksin and…

  • Thailand’s Chiang Mai Zoo to open -10°C snow dome

    Thailand’s Chiang Mai Zoo to open -10°C snow dome

    Chiang Mai Zoo revealed plans to open a -10°C snow dome to offer guests a chilly winter experience normally unavailable in sweltering Thailand. Zoo director Wuttichai Muangman revealed today that the zoo will gain a winter wonderland named “Snow Buddy Winter Land” in collaboration with Frost Management Company Ltd. Wuttichai said that zoo guests can get a real ‘winter’ feeling inside the…

  • Thailand among 25 countries with least paid leave days

    Thailand among 25 countries with least paid leave days

    Thailand is among a list of countries offering the least amount of days of paid leave and paid public holidays in the world, according to a new study by Resume.io. No East/Southeast Asian country whatsoever made it into the top 25 countries with the most amount of paid public holidays and paid annual leave days. Resume.io‘s study found out how…

  • Not much expected from Thailand’s gold sales this Chinese New Year

    Not much expected from Thailand’s gold sales this Chinese New Year

    Thailand’s Gold Traders Association (GTA) doesn’t expect much from this year’s gold sale during Chinese New Year. The new year usually draws a swarm of customers looking to buy gifts for their loved ones. But this year, Chinese-Thai buyers will prefer to buy smaller pieces weighing one or two salung, rather than one-baht pieces, according to GTA vice-president Pichaya Phisuthikul.…

  • Southern Thai man strikes gold with rare cobra encounter

    Southern Thai man strikes gold with rare cobra encounter

    A rare golden cobra slithered into a rubber plantation in Satun province in southern Thailand on Thursday. Sitthinai Soisuwan was walking in the rubber plantation behind his house in Satun province when he spotted an unusual golden snake. Sitthinai said the snake flared its hood and threatened him. Captivated by its beauty, Sitthinai didn’t think about the snake’s potentially deadly…

  • Anna scoops Miss Universe Leadership Award

    Anna scoops Miss Universe Leadership Award

    Miss Universe Thailand, Anna Sueanggam-iam, may not have made the final round of 16 contestants but she did manage to scoop the Transformational Leadership Award or ImpactWayv Award. American beauty queen R’Bonney Gabriel was crowned the 71st Miss Universe 2022 on Sunday, and in doing so became the ninth US beauty to win it. Venezuela’s representative, Amanda Dudamel, was named…

  • Thai man’s android phone hacked to the tune of 101,000 baht

    Thai man’s android phone hacked to the tune of 101,000 baht

    A Thai man was hacked to the tune of over 100,000 baht last week. The victim insists he had not accessed any suspicious websites, taken any call centre calls or filled in any online forms but says his android phone was targeted by hackers. A number of Thai netizens revealed they too had become victims of a scammer gang and…

  • Thai man hails taxi from female-only app and murders driver

    Thai man hails taxi from female-only app and murders driver

    A 21 year old Thai man has been arrested under suspicion of murdering a female taxi driver in central Thailand on Saturday. On Saturday, officers from Chaiya Phruek Police Station were notified about the discovery of a female body in the Khlong Khoi subdistrict of Nonthaburi province. Police and volunteers from the Phor Teck Tung Foundation went to the scene, some…

  • Five men fatally injured as pickup hits tree in N Thailand

    Five men fatally injured as pickup hits tree in N Thailand

    Police reported that five men were fatally injured and four sustained serious injuries after a pickup truck veered off a rural road at a bend and collided with a tree in the Non Thai district, Northern Thailand yesterday morning. According to police, Sergeant Major Phayungkiat Waisanthia, who is based at the 11th Infantry Division in Bangkok, was driving eight friends…

  • Thailand is most searched travel destination for Chinese New Year

    Thailand is most searched travel destination for Chinese New Year

    Online searches for flights to Thailand during the approaching Chinese New Year holidays beat searches for flights to all other countries in the region, according to travel marketing company Sojern. China’s borders are open for the first time in three years and Chinese travellers are looking to get away to celebrate the upcoming two-week Chinese New Year – or Lunar…

  • A bungling low-flying helicopter pilot injures eight people of Children’s Day

    A bungling low-flying helicopter pilot injures eight people of Children’s Day

    A bungling Royal Thai Navy (RTN) helicopter pilot caused chaos on Children’s Day by flying too low. The helicopter pulled down tents on top of people, injuring eight people including five children and three adults. The incident happened at a Children’s Day event on Saturday in the central province of Chantaburi. According to a report on Khaosod, RTN officers flew…

  • Raging Russian tourist wreaks havoc on two Pattaya 7-Eleven stores

    Raging Russian tourist wreaks havoc on two Pattaya 7-Eleven stores

    A Russian tourist smashed his way through the door at a 7-Eleven convenience store on Walking Street in Pattaya in Chon Buri province early this morning, injuring himself and others. He continued to vandalize a second 7-Eleven branch before being detained by police. An employee explained that a Russian man, estimated to be 35 – 40 years old, came into…

  • Bangkok kids suffer food poisoning after eating free noodles for Children’s Day

    Bangkok kids suffer food poisoning after eating free noodles for Children’s Day

    Bangkok kids suffered food poisoning, photo by Amarin TV. A group of Bangkok kids suffered food poisoning after eating free noodles on Friday for Children’s Day. Over 10 ambulances rushed to Wat Naknimit School on Soi Suksawat 14, Suksawat road, to help the 30 kids. Reports said the children suffered nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and headaches. One female student said someone…

  • Aussie woman’s mystery illness diagnosed 7 years after holiday to Thailand

    Aussie woman’s mystery illness diagnosed 7 years after holiday to Thailand

    An Australian woman spent more than seven years looking for answers about her mystery illness to find its cause was a parasite she contracted on holiday in Thailand. Tess Swift, from Ocean Grove in Victoria, woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating abdominal pain and nausea a few weeks after she returned from Thailand. Swift was admitted…

  • Potential homeowners need to show some financial frugality this year, says Bangkok property platform

    Potential homeowners need to show some financial frugality this year, says Bangkok property platform

    One of Bangkok‘s largest property platforms is urging potential homeowners to show some financial frugality this year if they’re planning to invest in the real estate market. DDproperty.com pointed out that property prices and interest rates are rising and warned buyers to show some due diligence. DDproperty.com General Manager Wittaya Apirakviriya reckons residential prices will increase by 5-10%, in line…

  • Warning Thai people: Don’t be a nominee for foreign business

    Warning Thai people: Don’t be a nominee for foreign business

    The Director-General of the Business Development Department in Thailand announced that Thai citizens who allow their names to be used by foreigners to open businesses that are reserved for Thai nationals may face penalties. The punishment can include hefty fines starting at 100,000 baht and climbing as high as 1 million baht. Violators could also face imprisonment for up to…

  • KFC fried chicken incense: genius or inappropriate?

    KFC fried chicken incense: genius or inappropriate?

    The Thailand wing of fried chicken titan KFC announced this week that they have created a new product that is sure to leave you smelling finger-licking good. The fast-food giant developed a line of fried chicken-scented incense sticks to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year. The incense sticks are perfect for those who want to bring the aroma of the Colonel’s…

  • Isuzu dominates Thai pickup sales 2022

    Isuzu dominates Thai pickup sales 2022

    Pickups are an integral part of the landscape in Thailand, with a long history and a big impact on the economy and culture. These versatile and durable vehicles dominate Thailand’s auto industry. In 2022, pickups accounted for 46% of all vehicles sold in Thailand. Some 390,000 pickup trucks were sold in Thailand in 2022. Two models regularly outsell the rest…