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 Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Body of missing Thai – Belgian tourist found in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand
Rescue teams have found the body of a Thai – Belgian tourist who went missing after a white water rafting accident in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Friday. The body of 30 year old Nicholas Hinckxt was found in the Mae Taeng River in Mae Taeng district at around 2pm yesterday, some 10 kilometres away from where his boat capsized.…
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Thailand upgrades monkeypox alert to national level
Thai officials are on guard for monkeypox. The country has upgraded its monkeypox alert to the national level today. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul called an emergency meeting today after the World Health Organisation declared monkeypox a Global Health Emergency. This news comes after a Nigerian man, who was the first person recorded with monkeypox in Thailand, escaped to Cambodia.…
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Thailand reports increase in Covid-19 related deaths and serious cases
Thailand has reported a jump in Covid-19 related deaths, and serious cases, throughout the past week. The Public Health Ministry said this morning that there have been 2,390 more coronavirus in-patients and 29 new deaths in the past 24 hours. The numbers provided by Worldometers for today (July 24) are 2,390 new cases and 30 deaths. All the new infections…
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Fun while it lasted: New resolution to ban cannabis cigarettes
Thailand decriminalised the growing, sale, possession, and use of cannabis last month with very few rules or regulations in place to manage the newly legalised drug. Politicians soon announced that they had thought the legalisation would be used mainly for medical purposes, and never intended for it to be a legal recreational drug. Now government officials are taking steps to…
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More heavy rain throughout Thailand today and tomorrow
Once again, more heavy rain is expected to pour down on most regions of Thailand today and tomorrow. This includes the north, northeast, central, east, and south regions. The Thai Meteorological Department says the monsoon trough is lying across the lower North, upper Central and lower Northeast of Thailand. Meanwhile down in the country’s south, there is a moderate southwest…
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Man extradited from Thailand to Australia to face murder charge
A man charged with the murder of another man in 2014 has been extradited from Thailand to Australia. The man, 33 year old Antonio “Tony” Bagnato, carried out the murder of 25 year old Bradley Dillon along with others. The suspects shot Dillon in the back three times and stabbed him repeatedly at a car park in Leichhardt, a suburb…
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11 ministers beat no-confidence vote, including PM Prayut
After intense censure debate over the past three days, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and 10 other cabinet ministers have scraped by and survived a vote of no-confidence, maintaining their positions and avoiding censure again. The opposition had mounted a fierce three-day debate that The Thaiger has been covering each day, but the government leaders have come out unscathed. Minister of Commerce…
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Minister claims he didn’t say Thai government was using spyware
“Yes, I said governments use Pegasus spyware to track individuals for national security, but I never said the Thai government did it!” That’s the gist of new clarifications Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn is making, back peddling quickly on his apparent admission on Tuesday that the Thai government was spying on dissidents. After accusations surfaced last week…
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Thai opposition calls out Prayut over military spending
A leader of Thailand’s opposition has called out PM Prayut Chan-o-cha over military spending. The deputy leader of the Pheu Thai Party, Yuttapong Charasathien, criticised the government’s plans to purchase submarines and F-35 fighter jets. He said that Prayut should have scrapped a submarine deal when it became obvious that the Chinese manufacturer, China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co, couldn’t…
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Justice Minister insists Thailand winning the war against drugs
The Justice Minister, Somsak Thepsutin, insists the government is winning the war against drugs in Thailand because of the kingdom’s strict laws, despite opposition saying it is worse and out of control. Pheu Thai Party MP Manaporn Charoensri yesterday blamed the government at the censure motion for failing to control the drug situation in Thailand. The MP said drugs were…
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Thai police seize 200kg of smuggled cannabis but don’t know if it’s illegal
On Tuesday, police seized a huge amount of cannabis – 203 kilograms – which was smuggled into Thailand from Laos. Police arrested three Thai men in Bueng Kan province in northeast Thailand who picked up the cannabis on the border. Police don’t know what kind of punishment the men will be given, seeing as this is the first case of…
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Magnanimous governor accepts blame for Bangkok’s floods
It makes a refreshing change to hear a politician or a man in authority accept the blame for something which isn’t necessarily his fault. The rest of the world should sit up, listen, and take a leaf out of Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt’s book! The magnanimous 56 year old city chief absolved previous Bangkok governors and accepted the blame for…
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Group closing in on Thailand ministers involved in Pegasus spyware scandal
The group behind the ground-breaking report revealing Thai democracy activists were targeted by the Israeli spyware Pegasus program, insists they are closing in on those behind the attacks. Citizen Lab, iLaw, and DigitalReach, revealed Monday that 30 activists and academics from Thailand had their Apple iPhones hacked between 2020 and 2021 by Pegasus’ advanced software program. Today the digital security…
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UPDATE: Thailand’s first monkeypox case goes missing
UPDATE: The 27 year old man who tested positive for the monkeypox virus in Phuket has been missing since Wednesday, July 20 at 9.05pm, according to Phuket police. Despite Thai media widely reporting that the man escaped from the private hospital in Phuket where he initially presented with symptoms, he was actually staying at Patong Princess hotel when he went…
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A Mission To Unchain And Rescue The Working Elephants With Digital Art – Unchained Elephants
Thailand has long been a prized tourist destination, with people travelling globally to visit. A popular bucket list activity for many of these people is a visit to an elephant camp. For the tourists, it is a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience, being so close to such a magnificent creature. For the elephant, however, it is a lifetime’s experience of torment, fear…
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Thai tourism ministry to get 2 billion baht ‘booster shot’
The Tourism and Sports Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, yesterday revealed his department expects to get a 2 billion baht “booster shot budget” to push Thai tourism this year after complaining to the prime minister. Phiphat revealed he approached PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and asked for the extra cash after being ignored by the man in charge of allocating additional funds, the Director…
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6.4 earthquake strikes Myanmar and northern Thailand, 47 tremors so far
A series of earthquakes struck Myanmar’s Shan State and Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand last night and throughout the early hours of this morning. The earthquakes began at around 11.30pm yesterday and as of 7am, a total of 47 tremors ranging in magnitude from 2.4 to 6.4 on the Richter scale had occurred. More earthquakes are expected today, according…
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Day Three – no confidence debate. Luxury watches, dodgy bomb detectors and the coup leader
Day three of the no-confidence motion and parliamentary debates revealed that then-General Prayut, the Commander in Chief of the Thai Army, was the brains and instigator behind the 2014 military coup that ousted the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra. It also had the Energy Minister defending the government’s current power development plan, fending off accusations of corruption. It was also…
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Bangkok aquarium owner faces backlash after hiring sexy mermaids to swim with his fish
A newly-opened aquarium at Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok has been criticized by netizens after the shop owner hired some sexy models to swim in the tanks with the exotic fish. The aquarium fish shop, Arowana Mall, hired 20 sexy models for its grand opening event on Wednesday. Each model wore a bikini while two of the sexy girls climbed…
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Elephant stabs mahout to death with its tusks in southern Thailand
An elephant stabbed its mahout – or elephant trainer – to death with its tusks yesterday morning in Nahkhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand. The elephant stood watch over the man’s corpse for hours, said police. Yesterday at 10.30am, officers from Chawang Police Station received a report that a man had died after he was pierced by his own…
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ICONSIAM to unveil ICS, a ‘Mixed-Use Lifestyle Town,’ featuring retail, office and hotel facilities linked to the BTS Gold Line
Press Release ICONSIAM, a world-class landmark located on the majestic Chao Phraya River – a joint-venture between three leading retail and real-estate developers: “Siam Piwat, Magnolia and CP,” is set to unveil ICS, a ‘Mixed-Use Lifestyle Town’ developed to amplify the thriving potential of the Thonburi area. ICS fosters an integration of urbanity and community that truly reflects today’s lifestyle…
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Thai doctor tells Covid-infected men not to fear shrinking penis
A urological surgeon from Thailand insists there is no hard evidence to suggest a man’s penis will shrink if he gets Covid-19 despite claims to the contrary. Dr Nantawat Siritanan, from Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital, located in Khan Na Yao District, Bangkok, told men not to waste time worrying whether their manhood will shrivel if they catch the coronavirus. Nantawat was…
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Floods sweep pickup into dam in eastern Thailand, 1 survives and 2 missing
Floods swept an ice delivery pickup truck into a dam in Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand, in the early hours of this morning. The driver managed to escape and swim to safety but two Burmese labourers are still missing. Police from Bo Win Police Station received a call at 5.30am to say that two people were missing after a vehicle…
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Thaksin hints he lives rent free inside Thailand PM Prayut’s head
Exiled Thaksin Shinawatra poked fun at Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hinting he is living rent free inside the Thai premier’s head. The former Thailand PM took a humorous swipe at the current prime minister on a social media platform saying he is “obsessed” with him after PM Prayut mentioned Thaksin on the first day of the censure debate on Tuesday.…
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‘Whiskey prevents Covid-19’ claims monk caught drink driving in northeast Thailand
Police caught a Buddhist monk as drunk as a skunk driving a pickup truck in Loei province, northeast Thailand, yesterday at 9.30am. The monk claims his concoction of rice whiskey and lemons prevents Covid-19. Yesterday morning, police from Loei Provincial Police Station received a report that a drunk monk was asking people for money and “causing mayhem” around the market…
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Thailand admits using surveillance to spy on democracy activists
Less than a day after police denied using the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to track Thai democracy activists a government minister admitted Thailand does use surveillance to monitor individuals. Successive Thai governments have been accused by Human rights groups of using broad definitions of national security as a pretext to prosecute or suppress the activities of their main rivals. And on…
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Four year old witness helps police catch gamblers in central Thailand
Police could not contain their laughter during an interview with a four year old witness to a crime in central Thailand yesterday. The innocent child gave police important information about a group of gamblers, including his parents, during a raid at a house in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province in central Thailand. Yesterday, police received a complaint that a group…
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Thailand’s Zipmex crypto exchange blocks transfers and withdrawals
Another cryptocurrency exchange is in trouble, blocking withdrawals of both cash and crypto from its platform as go 6pm last night. Zipmex Thailand, a crypto-trading platform, has announced that the withdrawal of baht and cryptocurrency on its platform “has been suspended temporarily”. In the announcement, the CEO outlined a number of difficulties and challenges facing the Thai crypto exchange. He…
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US upgrades Thailand to Tier 2 in human trafficking report, but…
The US has promoted Thailand from the “Tier 2 Watch List” up to “Tier 2” in their annual Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report, as confidently predicted by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan back in May. However, Thailand still has a long way to go, according to the report. The report praised Thailand’s “significant efforts” to eliminate human trafficking, which include…
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Thailand’s heavy rain is coming back
After a brief break, Thailand’s heavy rain is coming back with a vengeance for the rest of this week. The Thai Meteorological Department said there should be heavy to very heavy rain throughout most of the kingdom from today, July 20, until Sunday, July 24. This includes the North, Northeast, Central, East, and South regions. Those living near the coast…
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