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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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Police officer found dead in petrol station bathroom in Rayong
A maid and an attendant at a petrol station in the eastern province of Rayong found the dead body of a police officer inside a bathroom. The cause of the death is under investigation. The deceased man was named Chaiyasak Punnapongchai, the 54-year-old Deputy Inspector of Mueang Rayong Police Station. He was discovered inside a bathroom at a petrol station…
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Fruit vendor wins 30 million baht lottery jackpot in Thailand
A fruit vendor from the Rayong province in eastern Thailand won 30 million baht (US$916,310) in the government lottery yesterday. He says it will pay off his debt and pay for his children’s education. The new-found millionaire, 33 year old Phongpat Witheethep, was at the market in Pluak Daeng district where he sells fruit for a living when he spotted…
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Opportunist thief arrested for stealing Louis Vuitton bag at Bangkok mall
An opportunist, light-fingered thief was arrested yesterday after she stole a Louis Vuitton handbag from a sexy model while she was trying on clothes at the Terminal 21 shopping mall in Bangkok. The clothes store owner, in Terminal 21 of the Asoke area of Bangkok, filed a complaint at Lumphini Police Station that a customer’s Louis Vuitton handbag was stolen…
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Two young Thai activists in serious condition after staging hunger strike over lèse-majesté law
Two Thai activists are reportedly in serious condition after staging a hunger strike over Thailand’s lèse-majesté law. The young women activists, 21 year old Tantawan Tuatulanon “Tawan,” and 23 year old Orawan Phupong “Bam,” were accused of insulting the monarchy after holding up a poster in a mall that allegedly defamed the monarchy. The poster’s writing asked whether people thought the…
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Thailand is most searched destination for Chinese Airbnb guests
Thailand is the most searched destination for Chinese Airbnb guests. According to Airbnb’s data, the Land of Smiles was the most searched spot for Chinese travellers within 24 hours of the government’s announcement on December 26, 2022, to lift inbound quarantine requirements. The entire list of the top 10 search destinations for Chinese tourists includes: Thailand US UK Japan Australia Canada…
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Thai supremo cancels Leicester City’s 7.8 billion baht debt
Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha revealed his long-standing commitment to Leicester City Football Club by cancelling the club’s enormous debt. Aiyawatt, the Leicester chairman, yesterday announced he has cleared the £194 million (7.8 billion baht) debt the Foxes owe to its parent company King Power International (KPI). This was accomplished through a debt-to-equity transfer to KPI, freeing Leicester from its outstanding liabilities. The…
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Pattaya police officer denies fining vape-carrying Chinese tourists
The identity of the senior police sergeant major from Mueang Pattaya Police Station, who illegally fined Chinese tourists for carrying vapes, has been revealed. The suspect officer, referred to as “K” in previous reports, is Police Sergeant Major Nopphakit Pornwatthanakit. Nopphakit denies all allegations. Thai media also reported that Nopphakit has been praised in the past for his good deeds…
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Here’s what you do if the police stop you in Thailand | GMT
In today’s episode, Taxi scam concerns visitors, School in Thailand under fire for transporting 100 boy scouts in articulated lorry, ‘Not possible anyone else was involved’ in Leo Rex’s death in Thailand, says friend, Krabi hotel accused of favouring foreigners over Thais, and Police stopped you? Here’s how to handle it.
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Krabi hotel accused of favouring foreigners over Thais
Thai tourists condemned a hotel in Krabi for discriminatory service standards after the hotel provided better treatment to foreign guests and neglected domestic tourists. They claimed that the hotel prioritised foreign guests with higher purchasing power over them for financial gain. A Thai man posted three videos on his TikTok account, @thetharm, to share his bad experience at a hotel…
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Elderly Thai monk ‘dies from stress’ after falling victim to scam
An elderly Thai monk suffered several seizures and passed away shortly after being scammed out of 5,000 baht at his temple in Nonthaburi province in central Thailand. Yesterday, 35 year old Preecha Saeng-on, an official from Wat Pak Nam temple in Nonthaburi province, informed the media that 91 year old Pra Chuen Seesuay – aka Luang Ta – suffered several…
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Political activists seek justice after Pinky allowed to remove EM tag
Political activists in Thailand are seeking permission to get their electronic monitoring (EM) tags removed after the Thai Court granted permission for a female actress, Savika “Pinky” Chaiyadaj, to have her tag removed. Thai activists demand the removal of their EM tags, claiming they have committed no harm, caused no loss, and have not committed fraud or murder. According to…
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Former RTN officer seeks justice after being jailed for 8 years on fake child rapist charge
A former Royal Thai Navy (RTN) officer is seeking justice after he was wrongly branded a child rapist by his ex-girlfriend and her daughter and jailed for eight years on the trumped-up charge. The daughter recently revealed the truth because she alleges she is being abused by her mother. She wants her mother to face the music because of her…
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Hampshire family launches urgent appeal to bring father home after Thailand bike crash
A grief-stricken family from Hampshire is trying to get the body of their father back home after learning he died in a motorcycle accident in Thailand. Anthony Murphy lay dead in a hospital morgue for five days before he officials discovered his real name. At the time he was registered as John Doe, a name used when the true name…
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Tourism council predicts 30 million foreign tourists in Thailand this year
Thailand’s tourist numbers have certainly picked up lately and some groups are very optimistic about numbers this year. The Tourism Industry Council of Thailand predicts that over 30 million foreign tourists will travel to Thailand in 2023, bringing 3 trillion baht to Thailand’s economy. The number of international tourists in Thailand before the Covid-19 pandemic was 40 million in 2019. …
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Police stopped you? Here’s how to handle it
So the Royal Thai Police (RTP) have stopped you and you are worried they might ask for some cash “off the books” to let you go. What do you do in this delicate situation? If you find yourself in a situation where you are stopped by the RTP, it is important to remain calm and follow a few basic guidelines…
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Body of Burmese man swept out to sea found in Koh Samui
UPDATE The body of the Burmese man who was swept out to sea in Koh Samui on Monday has been found, according to a Thai media outlet. The outlet, One News 31, said today in an Instagram post that the man’s body was found at a beach in front of a hotel. The post reads… “The body of the Myanmar…
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Pattaya police chief transferred for fining vape carrying Chinese tourists
A senior police sergeant major from Mueng Pattaya Police Station has been transferred to Chon Buri Police Headquarters after admitting he illegally fined Chinese tourists 30,000 baht for carrying vapes. A Professional Tourist Guide Association of Thailand committee member, Paisarn Suethanuwong, revealed the wrongdoing of a Mueng Pattaya Police Station chief on a Channel 3 news show yesterday. Paisarn said…
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Qatar Airways launches thrice daily flights to Phuket
Qatari flag carrier Qatar Airways is launching three flights per day between Doha and Phuket in southern Thailand starting today, February 1, to meet the ever-growing demand. The additional flights bring the airline’s number of services to Thailand up to seven per day, including four flights to and from Bangkok. Doha is a major Middle Eastern transport hub and most…
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American man dies after crashing Ducati into trailer truck
Tragedy struck in the southern province of Phang Nga yesterday when an American man died after crashing his Ducati motorcycle into a trailer truck at 5.30pm on Phetchakasem Road. Officers from Mueng Phan Nga Police Station investigated the scene of the accident and found the body of the foreign man on the road at the back of the trailer truck.…
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Thailand tourist fee: 300 baht via air, 150 baht via land/sea
Thailand plans to charge foreign arrivals arriving by air a tourist fee of 300 baht (US$9.11) and a fee of 150 baht (US$4.56) for tourists entering the kingdom via land/sea by mid-2023. The 300 baht tourist fee for air arrivals has been in the pipeline for a long time and is set to be enforced in June after facing several Covid-19-related…
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Prayut tells everyone to calm down over Thai-Cambodian Muay Thai drama
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is telling everyone to calm down regarding the row that was sparked last week between Thailand and Cambodia over the origin of Muay Thai. Cambodia, the host country of the 2023 SEA Games, changed the name of the kickboxing competition from Muay Thai to Kun Khmer and stated that the origin of Muay Thai is Cambodian.…
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Thailand’s skilled workers to get minimum wage hike
Thailand’s Cabinet approved a wage hike for skilled workers in the country. The hike will range from 465 to 700 baht a day for 17 occupations spanning three sectors. According to the Bangkok Post, the Labour Ministry made the proposal which is intended to suit the capabilities of workers in fields that are in high demand. The hope is to end…
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Crazy Russian bites off British woman’s finger in Ko Pha Ngan bean bag row
A leisurely stroll on a Thai beach with two friends and a dog bizarrely evolved into a scene from a horror movie after a crazy Russian woman went berserk, chomped on a British woman’s finger and spat it out. The British woman was walking her dog with a German friend on a beach on Ko Pha Ngan Island when they…
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Grab Thailand reveals foreign tourist trends
Grab Thailand saw a 45% increase in foreign users between Q2 and Q3 in 2022, suggesting a positive outlook for the recovery of the tourism industry. The top five countries foreign Grab users came from are… Indonesia Malaysia Singapore United States Vietnam To meet the needs of foreign users, the ride-hailing super-app focussed on perfecting three key aspects of service:…
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Dusit Thani College lifts its service and tourism job fair to ASEAN level
Press Release It had been an annual practice for Dusit Thani College, a specialized educational institute in hotel management, tourism, and culinary arts under Dusit International, to organize Hospitality Career Day to give opportunities in hospitality industry to the college’s students before expanding the event into a national level last year. The fair, newly named Hospitality Talent Fair, attracted those…
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Corruption Index: world’s improvements flat, Thailand’s slight
In the Corruption Perceptions Index, Thailand is improving, having jumped nine places to the 101st position in 2022. The previous year, the kingdom was 110th according to Transparency International (TI), a German-based nonprofit that measures and fights corruption worldwide. The index works on a scale of 100, with 100 being completely free of corruption and zero being the most corrupt…
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Chinese tourists wrongly fined 60,000 baht for carrying vapes, says law expert
A group of Thai tour guides revealed that a group of Chinese tourists were fined 60,000 baht for carrying vapes in Pattaya. The police also gave a 50% discount and let the tourists pay only 30,000 baht. According to Thai law, Thai police cannot arrest or fine foreigners with vapes. They have to report the issue to the court. The…
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Bangkok public bus condemned by Singaporean tourist
A Singaporean tourist condemned Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) public buses after the driver of a bus in the capital closed its door and drove off as she was about to climb onboard. A Singaporean woman posted a video on her TikTok account, njwah, complaining about the service of a public bus in Bangkok. She wrote captions in Thai and…
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Rolling Loud Thailand 2023 is coming to Songkran Festival in Pattaya
Musical heavyweights Cardi B, Chris Brown, and Travis Scott will join more than 80 other international artists at the Rolling Loud Thailand 2023 jamboree in Pattaya during Songkran Festival from Thursday, April 13 to Saturday, April 15. Pattaya is to welcome some of the world’s leading artists for the three-day music festival on the beach at Legend Siam Theme Park…
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Royalist accuses 14 year old girl of royal defamation in Thailand
Thai police summoned a 14 year old girl to a police station for questioning after an ultra-royalist accused her of royal defamation, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. She is the youngest person ever to be charged with royal defamation, also called lèse-majesté. Arnon Klinkaew, a core member of an ultra-royalist group, accused the child of violating Section 112…
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