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.
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Catcalls for cloudbursts
PHICHIT: After suffering from the worst drought in a decade, some 200 villagers in tambon Don Seua Leuang resurrected an old local tradition in which female cats are paraded around the village and doused with water in the hopes that their screams will induce the rain gods to release their bounty. The ritual took place at 2pm on June 5…
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An inconvenient curfew
UBON RATCHATHANI: Two young drunks arrested for allegedly smashing up a 7-Eleven convenience store told police the attack was motivated by hunger. Suspects Kasemsan Saiwong, 19, and Sorayut Saithong, 20, said they launched the attack in anger at the store closing early because of the curfew in place in Ubon and other provinces. Police received a report in the early…
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Costly clip job
SAMUT PRAKAN: A woman in Samut Prakan is suing a beauty salon for 100,000 baht in damages over a haircut. On April 24, Naphasason Angkuramaethisak, 49, went to the salon to have her long hair cut into a more fashionable short style she saw in a magazine. When 29-year-old Narathip Thaiphat finished the cut, Ms Naphasason was shocked at how…
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Fake gun, real crime in Phuket
PHUKET: Two young men carried out at least 10 muggings using a gun-shaped cigarette lighter before their arrest in Phuket on the morning of April 25, according to Phuket Police. Chaiyut ‘Daeng’ Sangthong and Umpon ‘Bao’ Meelert, both 21, were picked up by Phuket City Police officers after allegedly robbing a couple the night before. The suspects allegedly attacked Chitpon…
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Trial by ordeal shocks parents
BURIRAM: Parents are up in arms after teachers at a government school tried to use black magic to find out which of their pupils stole money from a staff member on March 2. Children complained they were made to swear they didn’t take the cash, then drink ‘magic water’ from a bottle containing various kinds of garbage. Saithong Khareram, a…
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Peeping Tom’s tricks exposed
UDON THANI: Police are questioning the owner of a woman’s dormitory after residents found CCTV cameras hidden in their bedrooms and bathrooms. The cameras were first spotted by 24-year-old Phornphat Kimsee as she was taking a shower in the early hours of February 28. Miss Phornphat, who manages a branch of fast food chain Chester’s Grill, said she looked up…
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Souped up spirit house
RAYONG: A police officer worried about keeping up with today’s criminals gave his guardian spirit a boost by donating a high-powered motorbike to his spirit house. Sen Sgt Maj Adisak Buphachat, who serves at Rayong Provincial Police Headquarters, spent more than 50,000 baht on a 400cc Honda CBR 400 sports bike to offer the spirit house at his home. He…
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Diligent dog keeps cascade clean
NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Rain or shine, Kalong the dog unflaggingly continues her mission to guard the cleanness of Wang Nen Waterfall in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Sung Noen district. The drought, seasonal heat and stress from heated political turmoil have sent Nakhon Ratchasima residents to seek refuge in natural attractions like the Wang Nen cascade. There they have a chance to admire this…
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HIgh on human ashes
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: In the latest drug craze to hit the south, youths in Nakhon Sri Thammarat’s Muang District are reportedly drinking a concoction that includes the ashes of recently-cremated corpses and extract from leaves of the krathom tree. ‘Phon’, a 17-year-old from Muang District, said he and his gang of about 10 friends had tried every known concoction of…
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Cell phone fears grip the North
CHIANG MAI: People in Northern Thailand have been afraid to answer their cellphones in recent weeks, following claims that calls from certain numbers cause instant brain haemorrhages. People are warning each other to watch out for numbers containing the sequence 3333. If the gossip is to be believed, when calls from the numbers are answered the phones send out a…
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Pad Thai feast turns fatal
PHETCHABURI: A pensioner died on stage after choking on a clump of noodles while participating in a pad thai eating contest. Until his collapse, sixty-six-year-old Hing Laichan was leading the competition on his second plate of the famous fried noodle dish, nationalistically named by prime minister Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram during the World War II era. Onlookers took Mr Hing…
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Naked intruder gets painful lesson
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A would-be rapist got his comeuppance on January 7, when he climbed naked through the wrong window and met his intended victim’s mother – meat cleaver in hand. Twenty-eight-year-old villager Phongphetch Bunyadisak climbed through the window of a home in his village in Muang District, allegedly after the prize-winning teenage schoolgirl who lived there. When he crawled…
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Wrong corpse: cremation cut short
ANG THONG: A funeral was called to an abrupt halt on December 12 after mourners opened the coffin just before the cremation was to begin and realized they were about to burn the wrong corpse. The funeral was ostensibly for 39-year-old Prachuap Arachon, found dead of apparent heart failure in Chachoengsao at the end of October. Finding Mr Prajuap’s ID…
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Domestic dispute turns explosive
TRAT: A quarry worker and his wife were blown up after the man apparently detonated a quantity of C-4 plastic explosive during a domestic dispute on November 19. The blast, heard for up to 50km away, had villagers fearfing an invasion by the Cambodian army. Police and rescue workers found the house of Phen Buntham, 42, and his wife Saijai…
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Fear of girlfriend leads to death plunge
BANGKOK: A man fell to his death November 15 as he tried to lower himself onto the balcony of his fifth floor flat – rather than go in through the front door and meet his angry girlfriend. The body of 29-year-old Surasak Kasan was found lying on the ground under the balcony of his apartment in Din Daeng. He had…
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Canine caper leaves cleric in coma
PITSANULOKE: An errant monk was caught in a compromising position on November 5 after he suffered a stroke while having sex with a temple dog behind Sam Toei Temple in Wat Thong District. Villagers were drawn to the scene by the howls of protest from the dog, which the monk had lashed to a tree. After seeing the monk in…
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Snake bite saves man’s life
SRISAKET: A one-legged fisherman fought off two ten-foot pythons he caught in his net by biting them in the throat. Fifty-six-year-old Chachawan Chaowaphithikul said the snakes attacked him when he tried to free them from his net. Mr Chachawan said he placed the net in a brook near his house every day. When he went to check it on the…
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Headless baby draws crowds
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A family in Ron Phibun District have set up a shrine to house the body of a stillborn headless baby. The baby was the second of a pair of twin girls born to 30-year-old Saijai Sriraksa on October 14. After the first healthy twin was born, doctors noticed Mrs Saijai still had a lump in her abdomen.…
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Loan shark shaken by suicide cell
BANGKOK: A loan shark found the police were the least of his worries after being detained in a haunted cell. On September 1, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers arrested Sombun Thong-kham, 39, for extortion and unauthorized money lending, and placed him in custody at CSD headquarters on Phahonyothin Rd. Around 3am the following morning, the duty sergeant heard Mr Sombun…
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Drunk driver chows on cops
UDON THANI: A drunk driver bit two police officers who asked him to take a breathalyser test. Police said salesman Chatsak Ploicharoen, 36, was weaving all over the road as he drove his pickup truck towards a police checkpoint in Udon Thani. Police signaled for him to stop, but he drove straight through the checkpoint. Two officers chased after him…
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Thick thief returns car
BANGKOK: A car thief was arrested last Thursday after phoning the dealer he had stolen the car from to complain when it broke down. Car dealer Thonchok Singnuwongsa said the thief waited around his showroom until a genuine customer came in to put a deposit on a car. He then persuaded a staff member to hand over the keys to…
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Lottery players punt on one-eyed pussy
AYUDHAYA: Gamblers have been rushing to get lucky omens from the corpse of a one-eyed kitten which refuses to rot. The cat’s owner, 60-year-old Wichian Sangchai, said the kitten was the last of a litter of three born early in July in Ayudhaya, but died within minutes of being born. Mr Wichian said the kitten had only one eye and…
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Haunted heister makes amends
CHONBURI: A man claiming to be haunted by a ghost after stealing a 30,000 baht gold bracelet from a shop five years ago turned himself to police today. Jirasak Phahurat, 33, told police that a ghost came to him every day for five years, telling him to return a bracelet with the same value to the shop owner. So, Mr…
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Abbot claims black magic nailed him
UTTARADIT: A temple abbot was admitted to hospital after doctors found nails in his stomach for the second time in two months. Phra Athikananuwat Wisutho, 32, abbot of Wat Hat Song Khwai in Tha Pla District, was admitted to Uttaradit Hospital on July 7 after an X-ray found five 3- to 4-inch nails in his stomach. The director of Utaradit…
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When relatives stay too long…
AYUDHAYA: Every family has its own unique customs, but a family in Phak Hai District recently caught national attention when it was discovered keeping the corpse of a long-dead relative in the front room of the family home. Current guardian of the coffin, 36-year-old Samreng Yingyong, told reporters the body was that of his great-great uncle Phuangthong Lidkaho, who died…
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Beggar thinks prison is the breast way out
KHON KAEN: Having failed to get anywhere with begging, an unemployed man was arrested on June 6 after squeezing the breasts of a number of women. Like Little Tramp in Modern Times, the man claimed the act had nothing to do with sexual appetite, but was done so to get arrested and sent to prison – where he would be…
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Elite guard in alleged sodomy of senior, 71
TRANG: Police have arrested a People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) guard for the alleged rape of a 71-year-old man. The shocking announcement was made on June 11 by Thian Banthip, deputy superintendent of the Muang District Police in nearby Trang province. Lt Col Thian identified the alleged rapist as 44-year-old Phuan Thajeen, a member of the PAD’s elite “Srivichai Warriors”…
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Local youngster goes for granny
NAKHON PHANOM: While the sight of an old man marrying a young woman is not too unusual in Isarn, when it’s the other way round, it manages to raise eyebrows. Therefore, when word spread that 73-year-old Thongsuk Phutthawan was set to marry 26-year-old Somphon Chanthawong, 47 years her junior, it quickly drew the interest of the local press. The pair…
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30-baht pay-out for stabbing victim
BANGKOK: Stabbing victim Pairat Juntub knew he was entitled to compensation, but he was staggered yesterday at the sum he got from the government. Mr Pairat has the dubious distinction of receiving the lowest amount ever given to a crime victim. “I got 30 baht (approx 86 cents in USD),” Pairat said. “I was speechless when I saw the amount.”…
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Thief lifts trousers
BANGKOK: A shopper at Carrefour supermarket had an embarrassing journey home after a thief stole his trousers while he was on the toilet on May 8. Kasin Siriwichit, 24, reported the incident to Thong Lor Police. Mr Kasin said that around midday he went to use the toilet at the Rama 4 Rd branch of Carrefour. In the cubicle, he…
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