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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Electioneering: Thaksin’s daughter vows to end poverty in Thailand
Tis the season to be… electioneering in Thailand, it seems. Only yesterday Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced plans to stay on as Thailand’s PM for another two years before grooming a successor. Today, the youngest daughter of the Shinawatra clan, Paetongtarn, declared a vote for her Pheu Thai would eradicate poverty in Thailand. The daughter of former Thai PM, Thaksin…
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Thai travel agent group says travel restrictions hamper tourism growth
The Thai Travel Agents Association is recognising some countries’ travel restrictions as hampering tourism growth. Charoen Wangananont, president of the TTAA, says that outbound tourism in the last two months of this year remains strong despite concerns about an economic recession. Such outbound tourism is holding steady, particularly to those destinations that currently have no travel restrictions. According to Bangkok…
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Thailand pushes for more international flights as tourism surges
Thailand’s Transport Ministry is under orders to request more international flights to the country as tourism surges. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-chat issued the order for the ministry to contact international flight carriers on the same day he noted that tourism is on the road to recovery. According to the government, the country has seen around 10 million foreign arrivals up…
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Man stabs passersby in Bangkok, 1 killed 1 injured
Police used tear gas to catch and arrest a man stabbing passersby in Bangkok, Thailand, this morning. Two people were stabbed, one of whom later died in the hospital, according to police. At around 11am, officers from Hua Mak Police Station fired tear gas at a man hiding in a shelter on Soi Krungthep Kreetha 3 in Bangkok after he…
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A British musician bangs drums of discontent after breaking leg in Thailand
A British musician is banging the drums of discontent after breaking his leg in Thailand leaving him with a bill of 680,000 baht (£16,000). Kieran Angus, a drummer with the Scottish rock band Broadsea, fell off his motorbike while on tour in Thailand breaking his leg as a consequence. The 27 year old from Aberdeen believed he was insured but…
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Thailand to celebrate its 10 millionth tourist on December 10
Thailand expects to hit the 10 million tourist target on December 10 and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging the nation’s airlines to add more flights to meet the growing demand. The Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Yuthasak Supasorn, reported the good news yesterday. From January to December 5 of this year Thailand welcomed more than nine…
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Homeowner beats cannabis thief to death in northeast Thailand
Police let off a man who allegedly beat a cannabis thief to death in Udon Thani province in northeast Thailand last month. Police say he had the right to protect his assets. Yesterday, 55 year old Wanna filed a case with the Commander of the Udon Thani Provincial Police force against her neighbour who escaped prosecution after allegedly beating her younger…
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British man who loves Thailand banned for 5 years for overstaying
A British man was arrested for overstaying his welcome in the Isaan province of Sisaket yesterday. He admitted to immigration officers that overstaying in the country was wrong but he loved Thailand so much that he did not want to leave. The Sisaket Provincial Immigration Police were doing their rounds and checking on foreigners in the area when their database…
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Restaurants in Thailand that received 2 MICHELIN Star (MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2023)
Michelin Guide Thailand 2023 just came out on 24 November 2022! While there are some new entries on the Bib Gourmand and the one-star restaurant list, the 6 restaurants that received 2 Michelin stars are all retainees. Michelin Guide is known for its stringent standards when it comes to awarding stars, so you can expect not only amazing food but…
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Man arrested for spycam porn, 39 videos feature Thai stars
A Thai man was arrested today for creating and distributing more than 500 spycam upskirt pictures and videos. Police reported that 39 of the videos featured well-known Thai stars. The cyber police were alerted to violations of the pornography laws when they spotted a porn advertisement on a website named VK Doo Dee Dee Community that invited netizens to watch…
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Is poor English proficiency holding Thailand back?
The government of Thailand has been working hard to make it a world-class destination for not just tourists, but digital nomads and business and technology innovators. But do the people of Thailand speak English well enough to fully attract these business opportunities? Thailand is ranked second to last among the countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations…
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Shopee stops all bank payments after hackers steal from customer in Thailand
E-commerce platform Shopee announced a permanent end to purchases made by bank payment starting today onwards. The decision comes after a customer in Thailand was hacked via Shopee and lost tens of thousands of baht from a bank account linked to the app. The hackers allegedly used the Shopee app to get into bank accounts and transfer money without even…
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Thailand PM wants to groom successor in two years
Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is not throwing in the political towel just yet, he wants another couple of years at the helm before grooming a successor. PM Prayut seized power in a 2014 military coup, was reelected in a disputed election in 2019, and bizarrely had to stand down in August this year after the Constitutional Court of Thailand…
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VIDEO: Taxi meter rises suspiciously quickly in Bangkok, Thailand
A passenger of a taxi in Bangkok, Thailand, filmed the meter rising suspiciously quickly and posted it on Twitter, asking netizens, “Is this normal?” Facebook page “Do you want to be famous? I’ll make you famous return part 5.3” – comrades of citizen journalism in Thailand – publicised the video on Sunday. The passenger said they got in the taxi at…
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Man wins 144 million baht in Thailand’s lottery
A lucky Thai man won a whopping 144 million baht (US$4,101,396.48) in Thailand‘s government lottery on December 1. Today, Pachara Nathakitpaisan travelled to the Government Lottery Office in Nonthaburi province, central Thailand, to claim 96 million baht of his winnings. On December 1, the number 375805 was drawn for the lottery’s first prize of 6 million baht. Pachara bought 16…
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Plumber murders and robs Thai woman in Bangkok
A plumber was arrested in Nonthaburi after he allegedly murdered and robbed a female customer at her house in Bangkok. The murderer said he noticed the woman had a lot of money in her bank account when she paid for his service and got greedy. Officers from Khok Khram Police Station in Bangkok reported details of the murder case on…
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Frenchman arrested for scamming Thai woman out of 2 million baht in Bangkok
A Frenchman was arrested in Bangkok yesterday after he swindled nearly 2 million baht from a Thai woman who invested in his fake import-export business. The victim reported she found many other Thai people had been tricked by the scoundrel. The victim told police that she met the 41 year old Frenchman, Jacouel Clemen, at a bar in the Sukhumvit…
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CAAT warns Thai VietJet for cancelling three Phuket – Bangkok flights in one day
UPDATE The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has warned Thai VietJet that the airline will be punished if it doesn’t start complying with aviation rules. The warning comes after Thai VietJet cancelled three services on its Bangkok – Phuket route on Thursday. A flight from Bangkok to Phuket was cancelled due to accumulated delays at Suvarnabhumi Airport, says Thai…
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VIDEO: Policeman fined 500 baht for blocking ambulance in northeast Thailand
Thai netizens are outraged by a video circulating on social media of a pickup truck blocking the way of an ambulance carrying a patient in critical condition to a hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province in northeast Thailand. An investigation revealed that the pickup driver is actually a Police Captain at Dan Khun Thot Police Station. Officers at Pak Chong Police…
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Whole new world of censorship pain on its way to Thailand
A whole new world of censorship pain is on its way to Thailand, with the latest act by the thought police becoming law on Christmas Day. Online platforms must abide by a new regulation to deal quickly with complaints about content deemed to violate the Computer Crimes Act. A new regulation issued by Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaiwut…
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Thai govt’s chemical castration policy takes effect next month
The Thai government is preparing to introduce its controversial chemical castration policy on repeat sex offenders next month. The Justice Ministry revealed it is preparing for the new law which is set to take effect on January 23. The policy is aimed at preventing people convicted of sexual and violent crimes from reoffending. The Senate passed the bill, allowing the…
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RTP urges Thai drivers not to ignore e-tickets, they’re real, not fake
A Royal Thai Police (RTP) spokesperson confirmed e-tickets for traffic violations have been in use since May this year and they are not fake despite claims to the contrary. Pol Maj Gen Achayon Kraithong announced on Facebook that the RTP e-tickets are real after a well-known neurologist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University warned motorists of a…
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Pro-monarchy ‘dictator’ must be stopped from retiring in Australia, say Thai asylum activists
Exiled Thai activists are living in fear that a self-proclaimed “Van Helsing” “dictator” and pro-monarchy vigilante could be pursuing them in retirement. Rienthong Nanna, a doctor and former army general, announced on Facebook that he plans to retire in Perth, Australia causing fear among those who now live there after fleeing the country after his vicious campaign. Rienthong set up a…
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Father’s Day celebrated throughout Thailand today
Today, the people of Thailand celebrate Father’s Day. It is a national public holiday for schools and many businesses are closed. The holiday is celebrated on this day to honour and commemorate the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, father to the current king and a leader whom many revere as a symbolic father to all the people of Thailand. The holiday…
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Thailand tourism predicted at 80% of pre-Covid in 2023
Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn just predicted that next year, revenue from tourism will hit 80% of the level it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. He made the bold prediction at the 22nd World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit, being held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. At that summit, the TAT was invited to take…
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Red-Bull hit-and-run prosecutor dismissed
Red-Bull hit-and-run prosecutor Chainarong Saengthong-aram has been dismissed by the Public Prosecutors Commission. The former senior prosecutor at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was discharged after tampering with evidence in the case involving Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya. An initial report showed that Vorayuth was driving his Ferrari at 177 kilometres per hour when he hit and killed…
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Pheu Thai Party under fire as Tuhao-Shinawatra connection exposed
Opposition Pheu Thai Party is under fire after police found that many houses connected to suspected Chinese gangster Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant were built by a company owned by the Shinawatra family. The Pheu Thai Party is the third incarnation of the party founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2007. On Wednesday, the Royal Thai Police raided 11 locations…
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Thai baht soars to six-month high against US dollar
The Thai baht opened at 34.78 against the US dollar today, strengthening from yesterday’s close of 35 to a six-month high. The baht’s sudden rise is down to the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) hiking the policy rate by a quarter point earlier this week. The BOT remains committed to a gradual monetary tightening policy, raising the policy rate from 1%…
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World Cup broadcasting soap opera drama rumbles on
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar broadcasting soap opera continues to provide drama. In this week’s episode, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is demanding the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) return the 600 million baht it handed over because it can’t fulfil its World Cup broadcasting agreement. The long-drawn-out melodrama appeared to have reached a conclusion when Thailand…
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Police arrest weight loss pill executive for causing 4 deaths in Thailand
A dietary supplement executive was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday after four people died from taking his company’s weight loss pills. Police arrested 50 year old Nuttawat outside a condo in the Huai Kwang district under an arrest warrant issued by Kanchanaburi Provincial Court on January 18, 2022, for, “secretly adding a substance to food, medicine or other edible products…
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