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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  • BREAKING NEWS: US Embassy warns of possible terrorist attack in Bangkok

    PHUKET: The US Embassy in Bangkok today issued an urgent alert for its citizens in Bangkok of possible terrorist attack. The alert said foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. US citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in…

  • Phuket Media Watch: Cabinet to meet in Phuket; PM’s son to participate in celebrations

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Mobile Meetings in all 77 Povinces Phuket Gazette / The Nation The Cabinet is expected to hold mobile meetings in all 77 provinces, including Phuket, in order to stay in touch with each locality, Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit said yesterday, voicing confidence that political stability…

  • Thai Customs ‘YouTube slapper’ faces probe

    PHUKET: The senior Thai Customs official caught on video slapping a security worker has been transferred and faces a misconduct investigation following the explosive reaction to his antics being posted on YouTube. Suvarnabhumi Airport Police yesterday issued a summons for 55-year-old Sombat Chatchaiwaiyawit to present himself for questioning after a video was posted to YouTube showing him assaulting an airport…

  • Call to revise Thai lese majeste law; Cambodia offers prisoner swap; MP surrenders

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Call to revise lese majeste lawPhuket Gazette / The NationThe head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT), Kanit Na Nakorn, has called for amendments to be made to Thailand’s lese majeste law, which mandates prison terms for anyone found guilty of insulting the…

  • New Year goes off with a final bang | Thaiger

    New Year goes off with a final bang

    A NEW Year’s Eve celebration went horribly wrong for one family on Koh Samet after a woman shot three bullets into the air to mark the start of 2012. As Rampha Suphasi, 48, lowered her gun it accidentally discharged again, hitting her husband Thanakit Suphasi in the chest. Mr Thanakit, also 48, promptly fell down dead. Police arrived at the…

  • Phuket Media Watch: Disaster status declared amid floods in South; Phuket not severely affected

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Hospital patients evacuated, military on standby in Hat Yai Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Songkhla, Yala and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces in the South have been inundated by flash flooding after days of heavy rain. Disaster status – signified by red flags – has been…

  • Phuket Media Watch: 12 killed in pick-up truck in Buri Ram

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 12 killed were enroute to family funeral Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Police and rescue workers called to the scene of a road accident in Buri Ram province yesterday found a tour bus severely damaged and a pick-up truck in a roadside ditch. Inside the truck,…

  • Weird World News: Time for change as Samoa ditches a day; book 123 years overdue found in Britain; and Chinese opt for year-end pillow fights

    PHUKET: New Year is always a time of reflection. To cast out the old and usher in the new. This week’s Weird World News features a trio of time-related happenings from around the world. Samoa skips forward a day … so long Friday, December 30 THE South Pacific island nation of Samoa has scrapped its time-zone alliance with the United…

  • Weird World News: Christmas tree thief leaves trail of pine needles, UK bans fun, new research links researchers to the Grinch and a peek into our ‘Santa Files’

    PHUKET: With the merriment of Christmas just a few days away, what better way to get in the festive spirit than to pay homage to a few Grinch-like tales of bitterness and to take a peek to see what Santa has been up to this year. Christmas decorations and snowball fights banned in UK THE United Kingdom wins first place…

  • Border agreement reached by Thailand and Cambodia; Burma and Thailand economic co-operation

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Agreement reached to withdraw troops from border The Nation / Phuket Gazette Thailand and Cambodia agreed yesterday to comply with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to withdraw troops from the disputed border area near the Preah Vihear Temple following a meeting of the General…

  • Phuket Media Watch – death toll from flooding in Thailand reaches 740

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Death toll from flooding in Thailand reaches 740 Phuket Gazette The death toll from months of severe flooding across Thailand has reached at least 740, the country’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported on Friday. About 3,652 villages in 80 districts of nine provinces in the…

  • Phuket Media Watch – Six bombs defused in eastern Bangkok, man arrested

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Six bombs found and defused in eastern Bangkok Phuket Gazette / The NationThai police found and defused six home-made explosive devices at three separate locations in Bangkok, officials said. One suspect has been arrested. One explosive device was placed in front of a Bangkok Bank branch;…

  • Weird World News: Money, money, money”¦ makes us act a bit funny

    PHUKET: Men of money made headlines this week with outrageously-outlandish expenditures, financial flops and the odd smart investment. Sweet heavens… how much is the dessert? THE record for the world’s most expensive dessert was gobbled up by a British diamond merchant this week. Carl Weininger spent UK£22,000 (about1.063 million baht) on a chocolate pudding with strawberry champagne caviar and glazed…

  • MP questions love for flood victims | Thaiger

    MP questions love for flood victims

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Love motel floated boats for flood relief Phuket Gazette PHUKET: An opposition MP Friday came up with “new information” to support his allegation of irregularities involving the government’s Flood Relief Operation Centre (FROC). Phuket Gazette partner newspaper The Nation reports that at a press conference at…

  • Aussie pays Bt40mn ‘boybride’ price | Thaiger

    Aussie pays Bt40mn ‘boybride’ price

    PHUKET: An Australian man wed his young Thai boyfriend in Chiang Mai yesterday, forking over 40 million baht in “boybride price” to the man’s family for the privilege. The traditional ceremony took place at the Chiang Mai home of Mr Chaiyanon “Un” Worasilp, a 27-year-old from Chachoengsao province, whose first name is unfortunately translated by the on-line Google Translation service…

  • Weird World News: Animals trump humans as dog shoots man, cobras strike tax office and toads predict earthquakes

    PHUKET: It’s often said in journalism, “If a dog bites a man, that’s not news. But if a man bites a dog, now that’s news.” The more unusual and infrequent events gets Weird World News’ vote every time. So we think a dog shooting a man, toads predicting earthquakes and cobras scaring tax officials are in the right vein of…

  • Anti-graft alliance vows to keep close watch

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community “Clean Thailand DIY” campaign The NationThe Anti-Corruption Network (ACN), an alliance of private watchdog groups, yesterday launched the “Clean Thailand DIY” campaign to monitor the government’s spending of Bt800 billion earmarked for post-flood recovery efforts. ACN chairman Pramon Sutivong said the group is inviting people to…

  • Phuket misses out on Dance Festival as it moves to Chiang Mai

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Dance Festival moves to Chiang Mai due to flooding The Nation Thanks to the flooding, the Dance Center has not only postponed its International Dance Festival but relocated it from Bangkok and shortened it. It’s set for tomorrow. “This is the 11th edition and the first…

  • Yingluck falls ill; Police denies rumors about key burglary suspect

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yingluck cancels events after falling sick The NationAccording to a source close to the prime minister, Yingluck appeared faint, complained of a headache and vomited during a lunch break at Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi. She had earlier inspected a flooded area of Pak Kret district…

  • Phuket Media Watch – Bounty offered in Sophoth theft case

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bounty for fugitive in Sophoth case The Nation A 200,000-baht bounty has been offered for the capture of the alleged ringleader, reportedly on the run in Laos, who took millions of baht during the burglary at Transport Ministry permanent secretary Suphoth Sublom’s house. A senior commander,…

  • Phuket Media Watch – Passing on Thaksin pardon

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Passing on Thaksin pardon The Nation The government appeared to bow to political pressure last week when it backtracked on a plan to grant former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra a pardon on the occasion of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 84th birthday. The People’s Alliance for Democracy…

  • Weird World News: Technology fads with “Robocop’ prison guards, indestructible iPads and the “Hi honey’ banner vending machine

    PHUKET: Technology is great for providing distractions, but this week’s Weird World News round-up is all about the latest gizmo goings-on designed to get your attention, and keep it. ‘RoboCops’ to patrol South Korean prisons SOUTH Korean prisons will deploy a fleet of robot guards to keep inmates in line. And at one billion won (about 27 million baht) apiece,…

  • Weird World News: Teens tampon booze craze, man sues dating company for “ugly’ brides and prisoner uses guts for glory | Thaiger

    Weird World News: Teens tampon booze craze, man sues dating company for “ugly’ brides and prisoner uses guts for glory

    PHUKET: This week’s weird news round-up is a subtle blend of depraved, deplorable and detestable happenings from the around the globe. Health Risk: Teens using vodka-soaked tampons to get drunk PHOENIX Police say a craze that involves teenage girls dousing tampons with vodka and inserting them into their “parts” to get drunk is on the rise and needs to be…

  • Phuket Media Watch: Flood Roundup

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community More than 1,000 suicidal following flood crisis The NationPHUKET: More than 1,000 people whose lives have been disrupted by the floods in central Thailand are at risk of committing suicide, Disaster Mitigation Centre director Phanu Yaemsri said Friday. Of more than 1.3 million Thais affected by…

  • Weird World News: Stuck in the middle of a tree, a swing and the Amazon with misguided men and lone alien | Thaiger

    Weird World News: Stuck in the middle of a tree, a swing and the Amazon with misguided men and lone alien

    PHUKET: Men behaving like children and a little green alien found themselves stuck in some unfamiliar places this week. The alien was the only one who didn’t need to be rescued. Oh to be young again: Man spends night stuck in child’s swing A CALIFORNIA man was stuck in child’s swing for nine hours overnight after taking a US$100 bet…

  • Weird World News: Grrrrrrrrrreat escape in Ohio, monster mistake for giant slipper man and tears for loveable crocodile Pocho

    PHUKET: Animals leaped into the world’s news headlines this week with scary, silly and sad stories to report. The great Ohio escape: Monkey still AWOL, feared eaten by lion A FUGITIVE monkey who has been on the run from Ohio police since Tuesday night is presumed dead, eaten by one his “big cat” accomplices. One of the 18 tigers or…

  • Weird World News: The Superhero of Seattle, Moss Man and Superman fan in high jinks

    PHUKET: Superheroes and villains made headlines around the world this week in bizarre, botched and bone-headed acts of super silly proportions. Masked ‘superhero of Seattle’ arrested for assault IN SEATTLE, Washington, they really do have a superhero watching over the city at night. But there’s just one problem: He was arrested this week for assault. The “superhero of Seattle”, also…

  • Muslim marries ladyboy, asks for refund | Thaiger

    Muslim marries ladyboy, asks for refund

    SATUN: A Muslim man’s marriage to a 16-year-old ladyboy has collapsed after drawing a storm of criticism from the local community, who claimed the wedding was against the principles of Islam. Leaflets were even circulated in the family’s village in Paera subdstrict in Satun claiming the “sacrilegious” binding of lovers had caused recent flooding in the province. Ismael Langji, 18,…

  • Tush-tattooed teens end clerical career | Thaiger

    Tush-tattooed teens end clerical career

    NAKHON SAWAN: A monk at a local temple in this central Thailand province has been defrocked after tattooing the buttocks of two 15-year-old schoolgirls. In a single session, Phra Theera Chaya Chansophana tattooed the two girls and nine male students, all of whom were wearing school uniforms when they arrived to see him. Parents and teachers of the teens claim…

  • Weird World News: Young people doing stupid things | Thaiger

    Weird World News: Young people doing stupid things

    PHUKET: Most adults dread old age because it means you can’t do the things you could when you were young. But if the following stories are anything to go by, those getting on in years should feel blessed with the wisdom that comes with age. The weird, dangerous and idiotic things young people are getting up to around the globe…