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.

  • 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?...

  • DDC declares no tomato flu outbreak in Thailand

    DDC declares no tomato flu outbreak in Thailand

    Director-General of the Department of Disease Control (DDC) yesterday announced it is closely watching the ‘tomato flu’ situation after reports were made that about 100 cases have emerged in India. Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, Director-General of the DDC, declared no cases have been reported in Thailand as yet after an outbreak emerged in the Kollam district of Kerala on May 6,…

  • Fallen scaffolding kills 3 year old in northern Thailand

    Fallen scaffolding kills 3 year old in northern Thailand

    A 3 year old boy was tragically killed by fallen scaffolding in Lampang province, northern Thailand, yesterday morning. Scaffolding at what appears to be an under-construction house fell on top of a 3 year old boy yesterday. The boy’s parents rang 191 and requested emergency help. Rescue workers from Lampang Rescue Association, an ambulance, and medical staff rushed to the…

  • SCB-Bitkub deal fizzles as young investors lose big on crypto

    SCB-Bitkub deal fizzles as young investors lose big on crypto

    As the crypto market cools and young, naïve investors lose big, the deal for Siam Commercial Bank Group (SCB) to acquire a majority stake in Thai digital asset exchange Bitkub Online has fallen apart. The deal, announced in November of last year, pushed Bitkub Online’s value over US$1 billion and drove the company’s cryptocurrency to triple in value overnight. SCB’s…

  • Locals angry after public road shut for private party in S Thailand

    Locals angry after public road shut for private party in S Thailand

    The son in law of a police officer caused outrage in the local community of Trang in the south of Thailand after he blocked off a public road to have a housewarming party. Netizens in Trang demanded answers from the provincial government after a video emerged on social media of an ambulance being denied access to the road because it…

  • Thailand records its seventh monkeypox case

    Thailand records its seventh monkeypox case

    Thailand’s Department of Disease Control announced yesterday the nation has its seventh monkeypox victim. A 37 year old Thai woman in Bangkok became the kingdom’s latest victim hot on the heels of the country’s sixth case last week. DDC Director General Dr Opas Karnkawinpong said the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute reported on Saturday that a woman had tested positive for…

  • Food vendors attack foreign tourist who dined & dashed in Pattaya, Thailand

    Food vendors attack foreign tourist who dined & dashed in Pattaya, Thailand

    An intense brawl broke out between a group of food vendors and a foreign tourist who allegedly didn’t pay for his meal on Pattaya’s Walking Street in Nong Phru subdistrict, Bang Lamung district, yesterday at 4.30am. The “European tourist” – whose name and nationality are unknown – allegedly ate from a Thai woman’s food stall and left without paying, so…

  • Southeast Asia startup struggles at heart of this year’s Techsauce Global Summit

    Southeast Asia startup struggles at heart of this year’s Techsauce Global Summit

    Press Release Startup funding, investor confidence and growth were just some of the pain points addressed at this year’s Techsauce Global Summit, which took place at ICONSIAM, Bangkok on the 26 and 27 August. The conference, which is back in physical form following a three-year hiatus, saw over 10,000 attendees, 1,500 startups and 300 speakers in attendance. Techsauce Global Summit acts…

  • In push for religious harmony, Thailand recognises more churches

    In push for religious harmony, Thailand recognises more churches

    In a push for religious harmony, Thailand has officially recognised three Catholic churches in the kingdom this week. The Ministry of Culture officially approved the churches on August 23, after the churches had reportedly waited 93 years for recognition. The newly approved churches are: Saint Thomas the Apostle Church in Bangkok, Saint Monica Church in Nan Province, and Saint Joseph…

  • Pioneering the Cannabis business in Thailand feat. Tai ‘Four Twenty’ | Thaiger Podcast Ep.4

    Pioneering the Cannabis business in Thailand feat. Tai ‘Four Twenty’ | Thaiger Podcast Ep.4

    Introducing one of the pioneers for cannabis in Thailand, Tai Taveepanichpan. Tai is a young entrepreneur and the owner of Four Twenty Thailand, Cannagrow Technology and Cultivate. Companies that sell cannabis cultivating equipment, grow cannabis and cannabis dispensaries in Thailand. In this podcast we talk about the current situation of cannabis in Thailand, where it’s heading and what lies ahead…

  • Thailand’s sixth monkeypox patient says symptoms started while she was in Qatar

    Thailand’s sixth monkeypox patient says symptoms started while she was in Qatar

    A young woman in Thailand’s northeast province of Maha Sarakham is the kingdom’s sixth confirmed monkeypox patient, the Department for Disease and Control (DDC) announced yesterday. The 21 year old woman says her symptoms started while she was in Qatar for work. The woman had worked as a masseuse in Qatar and said that while she was there, she started…

  • Prayut shows up to work unannounced, as Defence Minister

    Prayut shows up to work unannounced, as Defence Minister

    After being removed from his position as Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha didn’t miss a beat and quietly showed up to work yesterday at his other job, as Minister of Defence. The former PM made a low-key – and unannounced – entrance, arriving at the Ministry of Defence in his car at around 10am. While the Constitutional Court has yet to…

  • THG chairman who lied about vaccines for stock profit resigns

    THG chairman who lied about vaccines for stock profit resigns

    Thonburi Healthcare Group founder and chairman Dr Boon Vanasin announced he will step down today after the Securities and Exchange Commission reported it would ban him from sitting on the board of any company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The move is a result of some shady claims last year about THG importing Pfizer vaccines that caused stock…

  • Abysmal roads causes woman to give birth inside car in NE Thailand

    Abysmal roads causes woman to give birth inside car in NE Thailand

    A woman from Surin province, northeast Thailand, was forced to give birth in a car after dire road conditions prevented her from reaching the hospital in time. Locals want to raise awareness of the sorry state of road affairs in Khok Phued village in Ban Cham subdistrict. Locals say the 2.5 kilometre stretch of “road” is the only entrance to…

  • Thailand’s House of Representatives finally passes torture bill

    Thailand’s House of Representatives finally passes torture bill

    The House of Representatives has finally passed a draft of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act. It will come into effect in December. Of the 289 MPs present, 287 voted in favour, one voted against, and one abstained. The draft act will be proposed to His Majesty the King and will come into effect 120 days…

  • UPDATE: Casino robbery in Bangkok sparks investigation into local police corruption

    UPDATE: Casino robbery in Bangkok sparks investigation into local police corruption

    UPDATE Today, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Police Division 1 Pol. Cl. Ekarat Pao-in gave an update about the Din Daeng casino robbery. Ekarat is also now acting Superintendent of Din Daeng Police Station since five Din Daeng officers are being investigated for corruption. Ekarat said that he and other officers searched the casino and “didn’t find anything at…

  • Man gets scammed by two escorts in one night in NE Thailand

    Man gets scammed by two escorts in one night in NE Thailand

    A man who would rather not be named says he was deceived by not one, but two prostitutes last night in Loei province in northeast Thailand. The man filed a complaint against the women at Mueang Leoi Police Station this morning but, to no one’s surprise, the police couldn’t help him. The 24 year old man from Mueang district –…

  • ‘Ghost’ leads woman to a corpse in central Thailand

    ‘Ghost’ leads woman to a corpse in central Thailand

    An elderly woman discovered a corpse yesterday at a shanty house in Samut Prakan province in central Thailand. She claims that a ghost led her to the dead body. At 1.30pm, officers from Phra Samut Chedi Police Station were informed that a man was found dead at a makeshift house on Soi Choi Peng in Nai Klong Bang Pla Kot…

  • Police save woman stuck in her own bathroom for 3 days in Bangkok, Thailand

    Police save woman stuck in her own bathroom for 3 days in Bangkok, Thailand

    Yesterday, Thai police saved a woman locked in her bathroom for three days at her home in the On Nut area of Bangkok. Believing she would die alone in the bathroom, the woman had written a chilling goodbye message on the bathroom wall. At 7.14pm, officers from Phra Nakhon Police Station received a call from a woman – Ms. A…

  • Casino robbery in Bangkok sparks investigation into local police corruption

    Casino robbery in Bangkok sparks investigation into local police corruption

    CCTV footage taken in the early hours of Tuesday morning reveals a man stealing 300,000 baht cash from an illegal casino in the Din Daeng area of Bangkok. The man, known as “Mack Anusaoree,” stole the money after gambling away more than one million baht, allegedly. Mack Anusaoree – “Mack Victory” – raided the gambling den on Soi Pracha Songkhro…

  • Thailand prepares for influx of foreign criminals this High Season

    Thailand prepares for influx of foreign criminals this High Season

    Thailand is a known beacon for fugitives attempting to slip under the radar. Thai police are worried that when tourist arrivals spike in high season – between October and February – that the country will also see an influx of foreign criminals. Thai police are working with embassies all over the world to set plans in case foreign crooks slip…

  • Thai Airways restructures plans to get back in black

    Thai Airways restructures plans to get back in black

    Thai Airways announced it is renting three more planes and hiring 600 more staff this year as part of its restructuring plans. After cutting costs, selling stock, chasing debts, and distributing plane seats, Thai Airways’ turnover rate in the third quarter of this year is expected to increase. Not only that, the President of the Reorganisation Committee of the Thai…

  • Plastic bags and old water pumps cause flood in Bangkok

    Plastic bags and old water pumps cause flood in Bangkok

    Highway officers revealed plastic bags stuck in water pumps caused a flood inside the Pakkret Intersection Tunnel in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok. Officers from the Nonthaburi Highway District investigated the Pakkret Intersection Tunnel yesterday to determine the cause of the flood on August 21. After five hours, officers reported that many plastic bags and garbage were stuck in the propellers…

  • Truck driver thanks ‘good Samaritan’ for saving his life in central Thailand

    Truck driver thanks ‘good Samaritan’ for saving his life in central Thailand

    A truck driver wants to thank a selfless citizen for risking his life to drag him out of a fire this morning in Suphan Buri province in central Thailand. Early this morning, 49 year old truck driver Thinakorn Chankhem left Pichit province, northern Thailand, carrying a truck full of rice. He headed toward Nakhon Pathom province in central Thailand. When…

  • More concrete falls onto ‘cursed’ Rama II Road in Bangkok, Thailand

    More concrete falls onto ‘cursed’ Rama II Road in Bangkok, Thailand

    Netizens are starting to think that that Bangkok’s Rama II Road is cursed. Yesterday at 11.53am, a slab of broken concrete hanging directly over the busy road fell from a U-turn bridge near Wat Phrom Rangsi temple onto the highway. It is the fourth time heavy construction materials have fallen onto the road in less than two months. No injuries…

  • Horny primate grabs tourist’s boobs at a Bangkok zoo

    Horny primate grabs tourist’s boobs at a Bangkok zoo

    A horny primate grabbed a handful of a beautiful woman’s boobs at a zoo in Bangkok as she posed for a picture and she thought it was hilarious. Tourist Angel Orangelor was on a trip to Safari World in Thailand’s capital on August 10 when she saw the zoo’s orangutan. She asked a friend to take a picture of them…

  • Man kicked out by his wife shot dead by police in central Thailand

    Man kicked out by his wife shot dead by police in central Thailand

    Police shot a man dead at a police station in Nakhon Pathom province, central Thailand, last night. Police said he stole an officer’s gun and started firing shots in the car park, so they shot him eight times in the head and body. Police said the man came to Nakhon Chai Si Police Station for help around midday yesterday after…

  • Lucky Thai couple finds 1 million baht pearl in their dinner

    Lucky Thai couple finds 1 million baht pearl in their dinner

    It wasn’t so much the world’s your oyster for a young Thai couple but more a slow and steady pace winning the race after they found a rare pearl worth over 1 million baht inside a snail while eating seafood at a local BBQ restaurant. Sittidate Chaiwan was celebrating the birthday of his girlfriend, 27 year old Patjariya Gatip, on…

  • The biggest Internet activity in Thailand is healthcare, survey finds

    The biggest Internet activity in Thailand is healthcare, survey finds

    A new survey has found that the most common reason for using the Internet in Thailand is for healthcare consulting and services. For the Thailand Internet User Behaviour Survey of 2022, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency questioned 46,348 respondents from across Thailand between April and July. The results were announced yesterday. While Thailand has 24 million Internet users in 2012,…

  • Who is Thailand’s new acting Prime Minister, Prawit Wongsuwan?

    Who is Thailand’s new acting Prime Minister, Prawit Wongsuwan?

    Today, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan was asked to step in as acting PM of Thailand after the Constitutional Court voted to suspend PM Prayut Chan-o-cha from his duties. The court has suspended PM Prayut until they make a final verdict about whether his premiership hit the constitutional eight-year limit today, August 24, 2022. The court’s decision is expected to…

  • Kuwaiti man allegedly motorbike racing in Pattaya loses middle finger in crash

    Kuwaiti man allegedly motorbike racing in Pattaya loses middle finger in crash

    A young Kuwaiti man who was allegedly motorbike racing in Pattaya had a rather nasty crash on an overpass in the early hours of this morning. A taxi driver revealed he saw the man, 19 year old Faisal, driving fast in a group of four-five people. He said Faisal then crashed into his taxi from the front and then slammed…