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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With World Kindness Day just two days away on November 13, it’s the perfect time to reflect on how empathy and care can make a real impact, not just in our relationships but in our health, too. This day is...
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Thai-English auto-translate down on Facebook due to “technical issues”
Facebook’s Thai to English auto-translation feature on posts and comments has been taken down due to “technical issues,” the social media company’s communications manager for Thailand and Laos wrote in a statement to The Thaiger. Some have pointed out that auto-translate displayed an incorrect and derogatory word for a post on a recent royal ceremony in Thailand. Facebook did not…
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Police arrest 2 men for allegedly trying to extort 2 million baht from a man
Police arrested 2 men, including a Thai soldier, who allegedly extorted a businessman, threatening to post obscene photos of him on social media if he didn’t give them 2 million baht. 31 year old Nawatkorn Pongassaphon and 31 year old Vorasart Lailang, a Thai army corporal, were arrested yesterday evening at a shopping centre in Nonthaburi, a suburb just outside…
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Electricty outages in Phuket today
Electricity will briefly be shut off in the Heroines Monument area of Phuket today. The Provincial Electricity Authority will be installing high voltage cables. According to Thai media, the power outage will last from 9 am today to 4:30 pm. It will be near Thepkrasattri Rd and will extend from the Thalang office of the Provincial Electricity Authority to the…
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EU Free Trade Agreement talks resume after 7-year coup hiatus
After a 7-year delay following Thailand’s military coup, talks have resumed to create a Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and the European Union. The Ministry of Commerce hosted a meeting this morning between Thailand’s Commerce Minister, also a Deputy Prime Minister, and the Ambassador of the European Union to Thailand. The two met to have conversations about a variety of…
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Large orange juice order leads to large “fine”
5 officials from the Excise Department are currently under investigation for allegedly asking for a 12,000 baht “fine” from a shop proprietor who had filled a substantial order for orange juice. The officials had been working in Bangkok at the time of their orange juice related fine giving. The 5 Excise officials have since been transferred to a different office…
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Rain giving phallus cracks under the elements
The giant phallus that was erected on a road in accordance with an ancient rain making ceremony in Chachoengsao, a province in central Thailand, East of Bangkok is deteriorating due to sun and rain. The phallus is now showing deep, veiny cracks from the base of the structure, snaking up to the glans of the penis. The local villagers had…
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Students in Thailand’s Isaan region go back to school on an elephant
Schools across the country reopened this week after closures due to Covid-19. Some students in the Isaan province Surin decided to go to school in a much different and unconventional way… on an elephant. Three boys, dressed in their school uniforms and carrying their backpacks, rode on top of an elephant together to the Banyawuek School in the province’s Chumphon…
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Covid vaccine advertisements by private hospitals to be tightly regulated
Advertisements for Covid-19 vaccines by private hospitals will be tightly regulated to prevent exaggeration or any statements that may mislead the public. The Public Health Ministry has set regulations for private hospitals offering to order Covid-19 vaccines for customers including guidelines on promoting injection services as well as rules to ensure quality and safety. Department of Health Service Support director-general…
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Medic says 10% of Covid-19 infections in Bangkok are Delta variant
The head of the Department of Medical Sciences says 10% of Covid-19 infections in Bangkok are the Delta variant, formerly known as the Indian variant. According to a Bangkok Post report, 496 cases of the variant have been detected in the Kingdom between April 7 and June 13. DMS chief Dr Supakit Sirilak says 404 of those are in Bangkok,…
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“We’ll do better on vaccines, there’s loads more on the way” – Anutin
Thailand’s Public Health Minister has pledged to do better on vaccine rollout, saying many more doses are coming soon. Anutin Charnvirakul says 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived yesterday, with another 1 million arriving tomorrow. The Bangkok Post reports that yesterday, Anutin visited the vaccination centre at Bang Sue Grand Station in the capital, where he met with some…
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Health Department warns: Avoid Covid-19, don’t have sex
Thailand has had a long string of frustrating recommendations for lowering the risk of Covid-19 transmission from curfews to masks to hand sanitiser and social distancing. But a new recommendation from the Health Department may have crossed a line. Avoid Covid-19: Don’t have sex. The Health Department’s Director of the Office of Reproductive Health made a statement today that is…
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PM Prayut announces Thailand will fully reopen within 120 days
In a speech this evening, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that Thailand must reopen in 120 days, which would be October 14, despite slow vaccine rollout and risk of increased Covid-19 outbreaks. The speech seemed to mark a shift from trying to eradicated Covid-19 in Thailand through controlling the spread and vaccinating the population to an acceptance of the virus’s long-term…
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Restaurants request easing of Covid-19 rules and financial aid
In a letter to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Thai Restaurant Association requested urgent relief for the nation’s ailing food and beverage industry. The association released a statement about the letter that they submitted outlining a proposal for easing Covid-19 restrictions on restaurants and dining, as well as offering up financial assistance ideas to keep businesses afloat to ride out the…
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Another data breach: Info leaked on Bangkok Immigration website
In the second data breach this week involving a Thai government website for foreign residents, the Bangkok Immigration site leaked personal details, such as passport numbers and visa information, of expats who registered for an appointment. Expat and local blogger on Thai news, Richard Barrow, posted screenshots of the data breach, with personal details redacted, saying the website is exposing…
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Krabi men arrested after TikTok video of a shark shot and killed goes viral
Police arrested 2 men who allegedly killed a shark near Koh Phi Phi off the coast of Krabi in the Andaman Sea. A video posted on the social media app TikTok shows a man firing his gun at a shark that was hooked on a fishing rod. Men reeled in the line and pulled the injured shark onboard. It bled…
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Thailand’s FDA doesn’t approve Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, cites missing data
Today, Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration says Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine isn’t approved as crucial data is still missing. TFDA Secretary General Dr Paisal Dunkhum says the information, sent last week by KinGen Biotech, the pharmaceutical company representing the vaccine manufacturer, is the same unfinished date that was already sent to the TFDA. The missing data is: GMP PIC/S…
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6 school closed after infections are found
6 schools in the northern province of Phitsanulok have been ordered to close until further notice after parents and a cable technician were determined to be infected with Covid-19. Luechai Chunakha, the Phitsanulok provincial educational chief says he received a report from a subordinate that the parents of a student from the Huaychangthang School in Suan Miang subdistrict were infected…
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Wednesday Covid Update: 2,331 new cases; provincial totals
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration recorded 2,331 new cases and 40 coronavirus-related deaths, an update in fatalities over the past week. The recent and most severe wave of the virus in Thailand, infecting 175,732 people since April 1, is on a downward track with the number of active cases getting lower each day as the daily recovery count continues…
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Thai police chief donates 100,000 baht to Phuket man shot by a drunk officer
Thailand’s national police chief has donated 100,000 baht to support the man in Phuket who was shot and critically wounded by a drunk, off-duty police officer on the island’s Bangla Road, a popular nightlife area in Patong. Aroon Thongplad, a noodle vendor at the Phuket walking street, was grabbing a bowl from a customer when he was shot in the…
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Covid-19, food delivery brings rise in plastic and infectious waste
Often, evolving lifestyles, and the technology it brings, are first regarded for their revolutionary game-changing effect before facing down the road the negative unintended consequences of the change. It was decades between when we celebrated the way air travel allowed you to see the world and when we started talking about “carbon footprints”. Many years went by between seeing the…
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PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says sorry again for delays in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has again apologised for holdups in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, saying there were a number of reasons for the delays. Earlier this week, 25 vaccination sites in Bangkok postponed inoculations. Several hospitals also delayed vaccinations over the weekend due to a limited supply. “As the prime minister and director of CCSA, I am the top executive…
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100 neglected cats rescued by Save Elephant Foundation
CORRECTION: An earlier report said another organisation rescued the cats. The correct organisation is the Save Elephant Foundation. 100 neglected cats were rescued from homes just north of Bangkok, many caged and kept in dark rooms piled with junk with poor ventilation. Dead cats were found under piles of trash and junk. 6 dogs were also kept in a small…
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Leading Thai doctor calls on government to accelerate vaccine rollout
A prominent Thai doctor has called on the government to ramp up the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines, amid concerns at the low number of doses administered to date. The Bangkok Post quotes Dr Prasit Watanapa from Siriraj Hospital, who used a Facebook Live broadcast to urge officials to do more. He says Thailand must accelerate efforts to achieve herd immunity…
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Thonburi Healthcare Group to import 5 million doses of Moderna
A private healthcare group in Thailand says it’s planning to purchase 5 million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. The Thonburi Healthcare Group says the vaccine will be purchased through the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, the only mechanism through which the private sector can import Covid-19 vaccines. The Bangkok Post reports that THG expects GPO approval within the coming month, with…
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Tourism officials eye August reopening under “Pattaya Move On” travel scheme
Pattaya tourism officials are pitching a travel scheme similar to Phuket’s “Sandbox” where the mandatory 14 day quarantine is waived for foreign tourists who are vaccinated against Covid-19. The government plans to reopen Chon Buri to tourists in October, but tourism officials are hoping the start the proposed “Pattaya Move On” travel scheme in August. Under the proposed “Pattaya Move…
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Central Bankruptcy Court approves Thai Airways debt restructuring plan
The high profile restructuring plan to tackle Thai Airways International’s around 400 billion baht debt was approved by the Central Bankruptcy Court today. While the pandemic hit airlines across the globe, Thai Airways has been recording losses for nearly a decade. The record loss of 141.2 billion baht posted last year prompted the struggling airline to file for bankruptcy protection.…
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Australian man arrested for alleged child sex abuse in Thai border town
After being on the run for 6 months, an Australian man who allegedly sexually assaulted Burmese children in the Tak’s Mae Sot district near the Myanmar border was arrested. A warrant had been issued for Adam James Fox back in December of last year after he failed to show up to court. Adam had been arrested in March of last…
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3 dead in 3 truck crash in Surat Thani
3 people are dead and 1 more person is seriously injured following a 10-wheeled truck smashing into the back of a trailer that was carrying trees. A truck full of tires then careened into them, which then burst into flames. The fiery car wreck happened in the southern Thai province of Surat Thai, early today. The crash happened on the…
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Yala enters lockdown today
Yala, a southern Thai province just north of the Malaysian border, is entering a lockdown from today until at least July 7. The lockdown is hoped to control the latest surge of new Covid cases. Yala’s Provincial Governor, Chaisit Panitpon, has imposed measuress to ensure people can’t get in or out of the Yala province. “If everyone follows the measures, I…
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Indonesian fisherman rescued after 9 days adrift at sea
Over the weekend, an Indonesian fisherman who had been drifting in a small boat after his boat engine died, was rescued and brought to Vachira Phuket Hospital. He had been adrift at sea for 9 days before he was rescued by a Phuket fishing boat. Vice Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengphaet says that the fishing crew “Boonlaap 2” told the navy at…
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