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...

  • HRH Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand treated for irregular heartbeat

    HRH Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand treated for irregular heartbeat

    Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand is resting after receiving hospital treatment for heart arrhythmia (abnormal heartbeat), according to a statement issued by the Bureau of the Royal Household yesterday. The 67 year old princess was admitted to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital on November 22, 2022, where she received radiofrequency ablation treatment to treat her abnormal heartbeat.…

  • Police ordered not to name nationalities, arrest Swedish man with gun and meth

    Police ordered not to name nationalities, arrest Swedish man with gun and meth

    The Royal Thai police have given foreign troublemakers a bit of a Christmas gift. In an order put out late on Christmas Eve, the RTP told all provincial police bureaus to no longer release to the media the nationality of any foreigner arrested in Thailand. A spokesperson for the Royal Thai Police said that people accused of a crime in…

  • Tasteless Thai food humbled by American culinary excellence

    Tasteless Thai food humbled by American culinary excellence

    Thai food was humbled by American when TasteAtlas announced their top 50 best cuisines from around the world, and almost everyone was offended. While some obvious countries made it into the top spots, not everyone agreed with the breakdown. Taking the top three spots were Italy, Greece and Spain, who were joined by the likes of Japan, India, Mexico and…

  • Grease is the Word: Brighton College Student Musical Extravaganza!

    Grease is the Word: Brighton College Student Musical Extravaganza!

    Brighton College is proud to present a spectacular musical performance based on the iconic Grease movie! attended by students from Year 7 to Year 13, performing classic songs and iconic dance moves from the movie, plenty of energy and enthusiasm, so make sure you don’t miss out on this amazing show!

  • No official plans to cancel countdown parties

    No official plans to cancel countdown parties

    The government of Thailand has not officially cancelled any New Year celebrations, the Tourism Authority of Thailand informed. The TAT said all New Year’s countdown events can operate as planned, though some provinces and areas have chosen to scale back their parties. Perhaps most notably, the chief of the Khao San Road Business Association has announced a cancellation of the…

  • Prayut to run for new party as PM

    Prayut to run for new party as PM

    Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is to run as the PM candidate for a new party in the next election. Prayut will be after another term under the banner of the Ruam Thai Sang Chart (RTSC) party, a move that could divide the pro-military and conservative bases in the next election. Prayut insisted that he has a close bond with the…

  • International tourism 2022: 11.5 million foreign arrivals

    International tourism 2022: 11.5 million foreign arrivals

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand says that, now that they’ve blown past their 2022 target of 10 million international travellers, they are now predicting 11.5 million by the end of the year. This is 15% above their projections which seemed overly hopeful earlier in the year. From the beginning of the year through December 20, 10.9 million foreign tourists have…

  • Defying Thai beauty standards ft. Anchilee Scott-Kemmis | Thaiger Podcast Ep. 17

    Defying Thai beauty standards ft. Anchilee Scott-Kemmis | Thaiger Podcast Ep. 17

    Meet Anchilee Scott-Kemmis, a Thai-Australian model and Miss Universe Thailand 2021 who defied Thai beauty standards and campaigned for what she believed in. By being a strong advocate for body positivity and diversity with her #RealSizeBeauty social movement, Anchilee became a big source of hope for many Thai women and young girls who have felt pressured by the existing beauty…

  • Fireworks cancelled at Pattaya’s New Year event

    Fireworks cancelled at Pattaya’s New Year event

    Pattaya’s three-day New Year event from December 29-31 at Bali Hai Pier is still going ahead but there will be no fireworks at all this year, even on the countdown into the New Year. Concerts and street food stalls will be available to enjoy as normal. Facebook page Pattaya City Mayor Hotline (สายตรงนายกเมืองพัทยา) posted about the cancellation of the annual fire…

  • Southern Thai woman caught with 70 bizarre animal carcasses

    Southern Thai woman caught with 70 bizarre animal carcasses

    Police arrested a woman from Songkhla province in southern Thailand for selling protected wildlife carcasses as ingredients for “exotic dishes.” Officers seized nearly 70 animal carcasses including monitor lizards, pangolins, langur monkeys, squirrels, mouse-deers, and civets. Yesterday, the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division was tipped off that a passenger was carrying protected wildlife on a train from Sukirin district in…

  • Malaysia or China? Thai court to decide if Teddy goes home

    Malaysia or China? Thai court to decide if Teddy goes home

    A Thai court is to decide on whether to extradite Malaysian businessman Teow Wooi Huat (“Teddy”) to Malaysia or China, after Malaysia filed an extradition request. Malaysia’s extradition request was heard by the Bangkok Criminal Court on Thursday. Wary of what might happen if his client is sent to China, Teow’s counsel Juti Suanraksa said the defence team would be…

  • Village chief survives accidentally shooting himself while driving in central Thailand

    Village chief survives accidentally shooting himself while driving in central Thailand

    Somehow, a village chief accidentally shot himself in the leg and hand while driving through Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province in central Thailand yesterday. He tried to drive himself to the hospital but ended up crashing into a temple. At 12.22am, officers from Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Police Station received a report of a car accident at Phra Si Sanphet…

  • Accused Bangkok fraudster attempts to flee justice

    Accused Bangkok fraudster attempts to flee justice

    A defendant in a fraud case attempted to escape justice yesterday when he fled from Bangkok’s Criminal Court. Prasit Jiewkok’s comedy attempt to flee was foiled by police and corrections officials who captured him after he left the building.With the help of accomplices, Prasit changed out of his prison clothes in a courtroom toilet. Prasit is on trial with eight…

  • Charities and leaders treat Pattaya kids to Christmas party

    Charities and leaders treat Pattaya kids to Christmas party

    Generous people in Pattaya are in the holiday spirit of giving. Local leaders and charities treated kids in Pattaya’s Khopai community to a Christmas party on Tuesday. Soi Khopai is located in the Bang Lamung district. The children got to eat yummy food, play games, and win prizes. Santa Clause made an appearance at the party, gifting children candy, toys,…

  • Could Thailand’s Southeast Coastal Gem Khanom Be the Next Koh Samui?

    Could Thailand’s Southeast Coastal Gem Khanom Be the Next Koh Samui?

    The search for the next big resort destination in Thailand is an absolutely big ask. An expansive country with 77 provinces and an amazing array of diverse geographical locations, Instagram-worthy aspects, and distinctly different nuances. Out of this brazen travel chaos, the endearing term ‘same same, but different’ was born and remains highly relevant. Yet, one of the simple truths…

  • Jealous Thai husband strangles wife and sleeps next to her body all night

    Jealous Thai husband strangles wife and sleeps next to her body all night

    A drunk Thai man strangled his wife and slept next to her dead body on Tuesday night in Udon Thani province in northeast Thailand. He said he didn’t know she was dead. At 10am on Wednesday, officers from Mueang Udon Thani Police Station were notified that a husband killed his wife at a construction workers’ residence in Kak Khaeng district.…

  • Thai man exchanges fake US dollar bills for baht at two banks in Thailand

    Thai man exchanges fake US dollar bills for baht at two banks in Thailand

    Yesterday, police arrested a Thai man in Pattaya who successfully exchanged fake US dollar bills for Thai baht at two banks in Thailand. The suspect said he was paid 2.5% of the cut to commit the crime. Police seized 759 counterfeit US dollar bills upon arresting 54 year old Nawat Singhawak in Chon Buri province’s Bang Lamung district yesterday. First,…

  • Taxi driver killed in railway crossing crash in Bangkok, Thailand

    Taxi driver killed in railway crossing crash in Bangkok, Thailand

    A taxi drove through the barrier and was struck by a train at a railway crossing in Bangkok early this morning. The taxi driver was instantly killed in the crash. Officers at Thung Song Hung Police Station received a report early this morning of a train crashing into a public taxi at the railway crossing opposite the North Park Intersection in…

  • Thai university student sentenced to prison on royal defamation charges

    Thai university student sentenced to prison on royal defamation charges

    A Thai university student has been reportedly sentenced to prison on royal defamation charges. Aukit Santiprasitkul, 23, a Ramkhamhaeng University Faculty of Law student was charged with royal defamation and breaking into data on a computer system. The charges allege that the hacking of the computer system affects national security under the Computer Crimes Act, which is the same act…

  • Druggie bites police officer who caught him stealing electricity in southern Thailand

    Druggie bites police officer who caught him stealing electricity in southern Thailand

    A man high on drugs bit a police officer’s arm while under arrest for stealing electricity in Krabi province in southern Thailand yesterday afternoon. The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) were informed of some suspicious wires leading into the house of 31 year old Natthaphong in Krabi’s Tap Prik subdistrict. Natthaphong managed to tap into the PEA’s electricity for free by…

  • Rescued baby elephant dies of injuries

    Rescued baby elephant dies of injuries

    Thanwa, the rescued baby elephant that was being treated at Bueng Chawak Zoo in Suphan Buri, died when her condition deteriorated on Tuesday evening. Residents of Khao Chot, in Kanchanaburi province, found Thanwa injured and separated from her herd following rain and floods. The baby elephant was just one month old when she was injured after losing her herd in…

  • CBD oil review: best cannabis oils to buy in Thailand in 2022

    CBD oil review: best cannabis oils to buy in Thailand in 2022

    Press Release CBD oil, also referred to as cannabidiol and sometimes cannabis oil, is widely available in Thailand. You get to enjoy the health benefits of marijuana, minus the high part that some find unpleasant. However, there are so many different cannabidiol oils to consider that it can be difficult to make the right pick that fulfils your requirements. With…

  • Yell BKK launched ONETOUCH’s special edition package, ‘Amulet of Protection’

    Yell BKK launched ONETOUCH’s special edition package, ‘Amulet of Protection’

    Press Release Thailand ranks 2nd in teen pregnancy among other ASEAN countries, and this doesn’t include STDs. ONETOUCH, a Thai condom brand, wants to take part in minimizing the problems by helping recap how to use condoms correctly in an unforgettable way. Beliefs, amulets, wish-washes, and Thai people are inseparable with no gender or age in between. That’s why there…

  • Aussie caught with gun at Thailand’s Samui Airport claims self-defence

    Aussie caught with gun at Thailand’s Samui Airport claims self-defence

    An Australian man, who was caught with a firearm and 96 rounds of ammunition at Samui Airport in Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, claims he was carrying the weaponry in self-defence. Yesterday, 41 year old Mark Bassett of Australian nationality attempted to smuggle a “gun-like object,” in separate pieces, and plenty of ammunition through security at Samui Airport on Thailand’s…

  • Thai police make 12,000 gambling arrests during World Cup 2022

    Thai police make 12,000 gambling arrests during World Cup 2022

    Thailand‘s anti-gambling laws did not deter Thais from placing bets on the FIFA World Cup 2022. In fact, the Royal Thai Police made more than 12,000 gambling arrests between November 19 and December 18, 2022. Nearly all forms of gambling are illegal in Thailand, apart from the government-sponsored lottery, according to the Gambling Act (1935). Anticipating violation of this law…

  • Thai PM’s secretary-general appointment may be questioned in debate over political ethics

    Thai PM’s secretary-general appointment may be questioned in debate over political ethics

    Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha may be grilled in a debate over ethics concerning his secretary-general’s appointment. The opposition is reportedly planning to hold a general debate shortly after the New Year as it focuses on what it describes as the unethical appointment of the new secretary-general. Pheu Thai Party leader, Cholnan Srikaew, told the Bangkok Post, that the opposition is…

  • Today is the shortest day of the year in Thailand

    Today is the shortest day of the year in Thailand

    Thailand will see just 11 hours of daylight today as the Winter Solstice graces the world’s northern hemisphere. It is the shortest day – and longest night – of the year. Today, December 22, the Earth’s poles reach their maximum tilt away from the sun. On Wednesday, the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) said… “Winter solstice is regarded…

  • 90% of hotels in Chiang Mai fully booked during New Year

    90% of hotels in Chiang Mai fully booked during New Year

    If you’re planning on visiting Chiang Mai in northern Thailand this New Year, then you had better be quick, because 90% of hotel rooms in the province are already booked up, according to the Thai Hotels Association (Northern Region). Hotels in the province are expected to generate one billion baht in revenue during the high season, which runs from November…

  • VIDEO: Navy rescues stranded sailor from Thailand’s choppy waters

    VIDEO: Navy rescues stranded sailor from Thailand’s choppy waters

    Yesterday, the Royal Thai Navy posted a video of navy officers rescuing a missing HTMS Sukhothai sailor from the Gulf of Thailand. On Monday at 9:10am, navy officers threw a rope to Chief Petty Officer Natee Timdee and hoisted him up onto the HTMS Kraburi. The sailor floated in the sea all night after the HTMS Sukhothai sank to the…

  • Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi Hotel goes on sale again

    Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi Hotel goes on sale again

    The ill-starred Dhara Dhevi Hotel Chiang Mai will be auctioned yet again this January, with the starting price dropping to 2 billion baht (US$60 million) from the 2.1-billion-baht initial price in the 2021 auction. The first round of the auction will take place at the Chiang Mai Legal Execution Office on January 27. If there is no interest during the…