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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    5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)

    Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...

  • Corruption investigation leaves some Thai immigration officials in hot water over helping Chinese businessmen

    Corruption investigation leaves some Thai immigration officials in hot water over helping Chinese businessmen

    A corruption investigation has left some Thai immigration officials in hot water over their alleged involvement in helping Chinese businessmen. Senior Immigration Bureau investigators say they found clear evidence that some officers are helping foreign criminals by serving as owners of foundations that provided visas to Chinese nationals. According to Bangkok Post, one of the ‘foundations’ had its headquarters in…

  • Thai police bust nine YouTube scammers that allegedly contributed to middle schooler’s suicide

    Thai police bust nine YouTube scammers that allegedly contributed to middle schooler’s suicide

    Thai police busted nine YouTube scammers that allegedly contributed to a Nonthaburi middle schooler’s suicide. Police say they arrested two suspects yesterday, 38 year old Ratchanon Saijind, and 34 year old Chaiyawat Virasorn, after they were suspected of purchasing cryptocurrency using a now deceased middle schooler’s money. After police interrogated the two suspects, they said they learned the identities of…

  • 3 million baht raised for British woman who fell from balcony in Thailand

    3 million baht raised for British woman who fell from balcony in Thailand

    A GoFundMe appeal raised nearly 3 million baht (£73,500) to cover the medical costs of a 21 year old British woman who sustained serious injuries after falling from a low balcony in Koh Pha Ngan in southern Thailand on New Year’s Eve. Maddi Neale-Shankster, a beauty therapist from Coventry in England, suffered a broken back, two collapsed lungs, and her…

  • 2-metre tapeworm found in Thai man who eats raw meat

    2-metre tapeworm found in Thai man who eats raw meat

    A Thai man posted a video on his social media TikTok account to warn people to avoid eating raw meat after a two-metre tapeworm was found in his body. Amarit Chuetamuen posted videos on his TikTok account, @tex2499, to share his deworming experience. In the first video, Amarit told his followers that his anus had become itchy and then felt…

  • Motorists seek compensation after electric transformer explosion damages 4 vehicles

    Motorists seek compensation after electric transformer explosion damages 4 vehicles

    Motorists are seeking compensation after an electric transformer exploded and destroyed three cars and a motorcycle in front of a garage in the Song Phi Nong district of Suphan Buri. The deputy superintendent of the Tungkok Police Station, Taksin Khanthongdee, told Khaosod that the police and firefighters were notified of the fire in front of the U Chai Service garage…

  • Thailand is the happiest of 7 regional APAC countries, survey says

    Thailand is the happiest of 7 regional APAC countries, survey says

    The people of Thailand are the happiest out of seven regional Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries, according to a survey of 85,000 adult respondents via the polling app Votee. Stats were collected from respondents in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines between October 2021 and December 2022. Respondents were routinely asked to score their happiness level out of…

  • Thai beauty queen wears dress inspired by her background in Miss Universe 2022

    Thai beauty queen wears dress inspired by her background in Miss Universe 2022

    Miss Universe Thailand 2022 dazzled fans today at a preliminary round of Miss Universe 2022 in the United States with a dress inspired by her life as the daughter of garbage collectors Anna Sueangam-iam was crowned Miss Universe Thailand in August last year but to many Thais, the 24 year old is fondly known as the “beauty garbage queen” because of…

  • International school teacher accused of molesting kindergarten pupil in Koh Samui

    International school teacher accused of molesting kindergarten pupil in Koh Samui

    A teacher at an international school in Koh Samui in Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, has been accused of molesting a kindergarten pupil. Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police Pol. Maj. Gen. Surchate “Big Joke” Hakparn travelled to the island yesterday to attend a meeting about the progress of the case so far. The parents of a kindergarten student…

  • Thailand Tourism Ministry strives for 80 million international tourists in 2027

    Thailand Tourism Ministry strives for 80 million international tourists in 2027

    Thailand‘s Ministry of Tourism and Sports set a sky-high target of 80 million international tourists in the kingdom by 2027. The target exceeds Thailand’s current total population of 69 million. To frame the ambitious figure, pre-pandemic Thailand welcomed an average of 40 million international tourists per year. In 2022, Thailand welcomed 11.5 million international arrivals, exceeding the Tourism Authority of…

  • Thaiger Unfiltered | Ask Us Anything

    Thaiger Unfiltered | Ask Us Anything

    Click the link to watch the video: https://youtu.be/OldX0msS1jI Here’s a chance for our viewers to ask Natty, and Sara any questions they have, and they will answer you with their honest responses unfiltered! Please be kind and appropriate.

  • Marine Department on Phase 2 of widening Pattaya’s Jomtien beach

    Marine Department on Phase 2 of widening Pattaya’s Jomtien beach

    Thailand’s Marine Department is in its second phase of widening Pattaya’s Jomtien Beach. The department said the beach’s width is expected to increase to an average of 50 metres after the project is finished. The project aims to fight coastal erosion at the beach, as well as woo more tourists to Pattaya, Nation Thailand reported. Now that Covid-19 restrictions have…

  • 85% of restaurants at Suvarnabhumi Airport are ‘Clean Food, Good Taste’ certified

    85% of restaurants at Suvarnabhumi Airport are ‘Clean Food, Good Taste’ certified

    Thailand‘s Department of Health certified 85% of restaurants in the passenger terminal at Suvarnabhumi Airport as having “Clean Food, Good Taste,” according to the department’s director-general Suwanchai Wattana. Suwanchai congratulated the operators of 58 restaurants (85.29% of restaurants in the terminal) who passed the health and safety standard with flying colours at an award ceremony yesterday. Any hungry passengers waiting…

  • Woman kidnapped and left for dead in deep forest in Northern Thailand

    Woman kidnapped and left for dead in deep forest in Northern Thailand

    National Park rangers rescued a 65 year old woman who was kidnapped by two unidentified men yesterday and left for dead in a deep forest in the northern province of Lampang. The leader of the Wian Kosai Nation Park, Prawit Jaikam, reported to the media that he received a message from a woman, in Baan Pang Ma O in the…

  • Entrepreneur killed in motorbike crash in Thailand

    Entrepreneur killed in motorbike crash in Thailand

    Little is known about the death of award-winning entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Ostreicher, who was killed in a motorbike accident in Thailand, yesterday at 39 years old. Reports say the accident happened in Bangkok. Eli Ostreicher was born in London’s Hasidic community and later moved to New York City, where he ran five companies including one of his most successful…

  • Bentley driver charged with drunk driving granted bail at 100,000 baht

    Bentley driver charged with drunk driving granted bail at 100,000 baht

    Under pressure police finally charged a Bentley driver with drunk driving for causing a three-car crash. After much public criticism and deliberation, police charged the driver because he refused to take a breathalyser test in the first place. The driver was reported to have been granted bail of 100,000 baht yesterday. Suthat Siwapiromrat, the millionaire Bentley driver who caused the…

  • Australian runs car over Thai man and kills him in Pattaya

    Australian runs car over Thai man and kills him in Pattaya

    An Australian woman claimed ignorance after she drove her car over a Thai man working at the entrance of a condominium in Pattaya yesterday. He died of his injuries almost instantly. A colleague found Prasit Karbphet at the entrance of Wongamat Residence Condominium at Soi Na Kluea 16 in the Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri. Prasit’s colleague, 32 year…

  • Englishman ‘crawled for half a mile’ after moped crash in Thailand

    Englishman ‘crawled for half a mile’ after moped crash in Thailand

    A moped crash on Koh Yao Noi island in southern Thailand has left an Englishman in need of urgent surgery. Arron Rouse, from Worcestershire in England, sustained several broken ribs and a gaping wound on his leg when he was thrown off his moped on the night of December 16, 2022. Far away from a proper hospital, Arron couldn’t access…

  • Chinese tourists won’t trigger increase in Covid-19 cases

    Chinese tourists won’t trigger increase in Covid-19 cases

    The Department of Disease Control (DDC) reckons the influx of Chinese tourists will not trigger an increase in Covid-19 cases in Thailand but added the department will evaluate the status of coronavirus infections in two weeks’ time. DDC Director-General Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong revealed yesterday that the average daily number of cases is 900, and the number of Covid patients in…

  • Thailand’s PM invites children to Government House on Children’s Day

    Thailand’s PM invites children to Government House on Children’s Day

    Thailand’s prime minister is inviting children to the Government House on this Saturday’s Children’s Day for entertainment, sports, and educational activities. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will preside over the event and will personally welcome the kids. According to Thai PBS World, the prime minister’s deputy secretary-general for political affairs says Prayut will give a guided tour of his office while…

  • Legal casino in Thailand to be considered again tomorrow

    Legal casino in Thailand to be considered again tomorrow

    The Casino Committee of Thailand reported it will discuss legal casino and entertainment complexes at a city council meeting tomorrow in a bid to gain approval from the Cabinet. The Thai government has been discussing the potential establishment of a legal casino and entertainment complex since the last year. To evaluate the casino industry, a special committee has been established…

  • 11 victims injured in collision after car drives against traffic flow

    11 victims injured in collision after car drives against traffic flow

    A 21 year old man caused a six-car collision on a road in Bangkok by driving his Volvo hatchback against the flow of traffic and crashing into a pickup on Christmas Day. Eleven people were injured as a result of his actions. The result of the suspect’s alcohol and drug test has not been made public. Pattheera Datepae, a relative…

  • Hong Kong woman faces charges of reckless driving after crashing into Phuket vendor

    Hong Kong woman faces charges of reckless driving after crashing into Phuket vendor

    A Hong Kong woman faces charges of reckless driving after she crashed into a Phuket som tam vendor in Koh Kaew yesterday. The incident happened on the northbound lane of Thep Kassattri Road. CCTV footage showed that the sedan crashed into the motorbike sidecar vendor, along with two motorbikes. Phuket City Police arrived on the scene to find the damaged…

  • Thailand enacts law to prevent recidivism among sexual and violent offenders

    Thailand enacts law to prevent recidivism among sexual and violent offenders

    Thailand will implement a law later this month that aims at preventing recidivism among prisoners put away for violent or sexual offences after their release from prison. Yesterday, government spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said in a Cabinet meeting that the Measures to Prevent Recidivism of Sexual and Violent Crimes Act (2022) will come into force on January 23. The new act requires…

  • Grandparents kidnap 3 year old boy from his parents

    Grandparents kidnap 3 year old boy from his parents

    A married couple filed a complaint with the police after their son’s grandparents kidnapped him. The 3 year old boy’s mother, Kuntika, wants to take her son home after witnessing a dramatic change in his behaviour. The parents noticed the boy is displaying unruly, attention-seeking behaviour, and self-harming, and has lost his appetite since moving in with his grandparents. Pakasit,…

  • Thais pay respect to albino buffalo sculpture toppled by drunken Englishman

    Thais pay respect to albino buffalo sculpture toppled by drunken Englishman

    The atmosphere is sombre outside Samyan Mitrtown in Bangkok where buffalo enthusiasts and art lovers laid bouquets of flowers to pay their respects to the toppled albino buffalo sculpture which was ruined by a drunk English tourist who attempted to mount it on the weekend. “Kwai: Calm” (buffalo: calm) the fibreglass albino buffalo remains in a sorry state on its…

  • Discover the legends of Thailand’s spooky ghosts

    Discover the legends of Thailand’s spooky ghosts

    Ghosts have been a part of folklore and mythology for centuries, and Southeast Asia is no exception. In Thailand, a variety of supernatural beings are believed to exist, from mischievous pranksters to vengeful spirits. Among them are Phi Kong Khao, Krasue, Phi Pop, Phi Ta Khon, and Phi Nang Mai. Each one is unique in appearance and behaviour, with its…

  • MOPH to open vaccination centre for foreigners

    MOPH to open vaccination centre for foreigners

    The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) plans to offer Covid-19 vaccines for foreigners at Bang Rak Medical Centre in Bangkok for about 1,000 baht. The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn announced on Wednesday, December 28 that he planned to give free booster shots to foreigners but added it would need Cabinet approval in January. The proposal was seen…

  • Thailand to track cannabis users in government database

    Thailand to track cannabis users in government database

    Thai nationals will soon be required to show their ID cards when purchasing cannabis flowers. The ID and sales information will be entered into a government database, according to the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM). Registered vendors will be required to insert the buyers’ ID into a “device” linked with the government system and input information regarding…

  • Pattaya dwellers not happy with homeless living in abandoned building

    Pattaya dwellers not happy with homeless living in abandoned building

    Pattaya dwellers aren’t too thrilled about homeless people living in an abandoned building in the city. On Monday, local media reported that a group of homeless people were camping at an abandoned building on South Pattaya Road in the Nongprue sub-district of Bang Lamung district. The building was home to a former convenience store that lost business during the Covid-19…

  • Woman injured by falling traffic sign on a Pattaya road

    Woman injured by falling traffic sign on a Pattaya road

    A backhoe digger accidentally pulled down some electric wires and a traffic sign, knocking a woman off her motorcycle while she was riding past the spot, on Jomtien Beach Road in Pattaya. The incident happened yesterday, January 10, in front of Soi Jomtien 12 on Jomtien Beach Road in the Bang Lamung district of Pattaya. A 46 year old woman…