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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Sponsored How to choose the perfect family-friendly property in Phuket
Phuket has long attracted visitors from around the globe with its golden beach and lush green hills. Many come for a holiday and leave captivated, often deciding they want a piece of the island for themselves. That’s why, despite fluctuations...
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Thai baht hits highest level against the USD in six years
The baht finished in spectacular fashion after a year as one of the world’s most stable currencies, when it reached 30.15 baht against the US$, its highest level in six years. Kasikornbank Bank is forecasting that the Thai baht could move into a range of 30-30.30 baht to the dollar this week (up to January 3). Investors have been selling USD…
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159 people dead after first three days of Thai holiday campaign
PHOTO: VOA 159 people have died in the first three days of the Christmas/New Year holiday 7 day safety campaign. During those three days there has been 1,504 crashes resulting in 1,549 injuries. The numbers take into account last Friday up to midnight Sunday night. The capital, Bangkok, has registered the highest death toll and the highest number of drink-driving…
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Latest NIDA poll says Thanathorn “most suitable” for PM
A recent NIDA survey has named Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit “the most suitable person” for the post of Thai PM and his Future Forward Party as the best party to lead the country. The survey by the National Institute for Development Administration, or NIDA Poll, was conducted between December 18 – 20 on 2,511 Thai adults of various occupations and levels of education.…
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Thai police dis criticism of their Koh Tao Murder investigation
PHOTO: Bangkok Post Thai police have publicly hit back at foreign media allegations that their forensics investigation into the highly-publicised 2014 murder case on Koh Tao did not meet international standards. The publicity about their allegedly botched investigation began in 2014 with the brutal murder of two British tourists, David Miller and Hannah Witheridge, on Koh Tao island off Surat…
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Thai road toll jumps to 109 after first two days of seven day campaign
Road incidents during the first two days of the seven day New Year holiday period have risen to 974. The southern province of Surat Thani, just north of Phuket, had 33 incidents and 37 people injured. Chiang Rai and Nakhon Sawan have had the highest death toll with 6 deaths each. Police have been instructed to tighten up traffic checks…
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Thai justice minister supports chemical castration of rapists
The Thai Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin has given his support to a law that would require chemical castration for convicted rapists. Democrat MP Rangsima Rodrasmi proposed the law during a discussion in the House of Representatives on sexual violence. The House has created an extraordinary committee on the prevention of sex crimes. Rangsima suggested sex offenders should be castrated, chemically or…
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Thanathorn says he’ll fight for Thailand’s ethnic minorities
Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit says his opposition party will press for recognition of the basic rights of Thailand’s ethnic minorities, including ancestral land rights and access to state welfare. The party leader was in the western province of Tak on Friday to attend New Year celebrations among the Hmong hill tribe, and to seek their support for the…
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Indian visitors to Thailand help break tourist arrival record
With a few days left to go in 2019, Thailand has already stepped over last year’s record arrivals of 38,260,000. The 38,260,000th visitor to Thailand in 2019 arrived on December 20, a tourist from India, Devanshi Deepak Kesaria. Thailand has exceeded last year’s record for foreign tourist arrivals. This final result for tourist arrivals into the Kingdom in 2019 will end…
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Former Office of Buddhism chief sentenced to 20 years for corruption
PHOTO: National Office of Buddhism The former chief of the National Office of Buddhism has been handed a 20 year prison sentence for the mis-appropriation of temple funds. Thai PBS World reports that at the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases, Panom Sornsilp was found guilty of graft, along with the former director of the Office of Temple Renovation…
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Former NZ Olympic champion busted for working illegally at Bangkok fitness studio
PHOTO: Olympic.or.nz | Bangkok Get Fit Cycling Studio A former Olympic champion from New Zealand has been arrested for working in Thailand without a work permit. The Nation reports that 37 year old Kiwi, Marc Ryan, was arrested yesterday at the Bangkok Get Fit Cycling Studio in the Sukumvit district. The arrest came after police received reports of a number of foreign…
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Asia leads the way in travel technology over next decade
In an industry already heavily “disrupted” by technology, tourism and travel will see even more of the business-side move online. Singapore-based travel booking company Agoda says that single one-stop-shop apps for all travel needs, passport free travel, and mobile app check-in are the top three new travel trends expected by travellers. Their report indicates travellers now expect a lot more from their travel experience…
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Thai PM urges New Year partygoers not to drink and drive
A reflective Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has spoken out about his desire to further help the country, calling on citizens not to drink and drive during the year-end celebrations. The Nation reports that while speaking at an event in Bangkok, the PM declared his love for his fellow citizens, expressing his desire to change his name to something that better reflects…
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Thai reporter sentenced to 2 years jail over Twitter comment
A court has sentenced a reporter to two years in prison for libel, over a comment she posted on Twitter about a labour dispute at a Lopburi poultry farm in central Thailand. The case against Voice TV’s 30 year old Suchanee Cloitre is just one of 20 launched by Thammakaset, a supplier of poultry to Thai agri-business giant Betagro, since 2016…
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Woman shocked by eight million baht monthly power bill
PHOTO: Thai Rath/Channel 33 A 55 year old Ayutthaya woman was surprised to receive a power bill for more than eight million baht. Ayutthaya is a few hours drive north of Bangkok. Tanyanan Ketparn told Thai Rath that she was always punctual with monthly electricity bill payments, which is normally around 18,000 baht (which still sounds a lot unless Tanyanan is…
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Solar eclipse today across Thailand. Here’s how to watch it.
CAUTION: Looking at the sun directly and without proper equipment is dangerous and can cause blindness. Read more, along with some guidelines for viewing the solar eclipse, HERE. How it will look in your area below… The skies will darken across Thailand around midday today. The further south you are, the darker it will get as the moon moves over…
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Government trying to tame strong baht, but bank says it will remain strong in 2020
The prominent rise of the Thai baht in over the past year has had wide implications and effects, and PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says that state agencies have met often to come up with ways to tame the strong currency. Kasikorn Bank Research Centre has already released a report outlining reasons the baht will remain strong into 2020. The bank’s research arm…
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Where are Thai airbnb customers staying over the holiday period?
Where are the people booking share accomodation staying for the Christmas and New Year period? • Tokyo, Osaka and Hokkaido are among the top five trending destinations where Thai travellers usher in another year • Seoul is the most-booked overseas destination for Thai travellers on New Year’s Eve • Chiang Mai is the most popular domestic destination for Thai travellers…
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“Illuminati Case” against Future Forward Party rejected by Court
The “Illuminati Case”, a charge of sedition against the embattled Future Forward Party, has been rejected by Thailand’s Constitutional Court after a petition for an inquiry back in July. The complaint claimed the popular opposition political party is linked to ‘The Illuminati’, an imaginary secret elite seeking world domination, according to conspiracy theorists. So, to make this clear, the Thai Constitutional…
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Year-end tourism expected to generate over 80 billion baht
PHOTO: Kudla/Shutterstock The Kasikorn Research Centre says both domestic and foreign tourists in Thailand are expected to generate over 82 billion baht between December 28 and January 5, aka the ‘silly season’. This is traditionally the busiest time for holiday visitors to Thailand. This is up 1.3% year on year, but growth in 2019 is lower than the 7.4% growth…
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Two new airlines to hit Thai skies in 2020
PHOTO: Eastar Airlines Two new Thai low-cost carriers are set to take to the skies early 2020. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand made the announcement yesterday. They are the first new Thai airlines being launched since the lifting of the ‘red flag’ by the International Civil Aviation Organisation in 2017. Thai Eastar Jet and Thai Summer Airways have already…
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Careers and business heading for the scrap-heap. And the ones that will thrive.
Is your career headed for the scrap-heap? Rangsit University’s Economic and Business Research Centre for Reform has been studying the careers and businesses that are at high risk of disruption, layoffs or downright extinction. They’ve also identified 10 other careers that have a promising future. In discussing the detailed survey, the centre’s director, Anusorn Tamajai, said 12 careers faced high risk of…
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Baht to remain strong into 2020: Kasikorn Research Centre
The Kasikorn Research Centre believes that the Thai Baht is going to remain strong into 2020. KBank’s research arm forecasts the baht to move in a range of 30.10-30.50 Thai baht to the US$ for the next few quarters. But they warn a key domestic factor to be monitored closely will be November’s export data, which will be released soon. External…
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Thanathorn’s “flash mob” enjoys widespread support amongst Thais
The public is split over what is now being called the opposition’s “flash mob,” and “Skywalk Rally” organised by the Future Forward Party in central Bangkok on December 14, but supporters slightly outnumber opponents, according to a survey by the National Institute for Development Administration, or NIDA Poll. The poll was conducted on December 16-17 and included 1,277 Thai adults…
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Senate calls for urgent expansion Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport
PHOTO: Oriental Express Just days after Thailand set yet another annual record for incoming visitors, a Senate committee is urging the government to speed up the expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Senate Committee on Transportation, met with Airports of Thailand officials on December 19 and both sides acknowledged the urgent need for the expansion. After learning of the progress being made…
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Man arrested for using Twitter and Thai postal service to sell “ice”
… and not the frozen water stuff. The Narcotics Control Board has arrested a man for selling “ice,” crystal methamphetamine, using Twitter and shipping the drug by the Thai postal service. Kriangsak Hadda was arrested with a total 191.6 grams of crystal meth, according to authorities. Niyom Termsrisuk, the ONCB secretary-general says that this kind of clandestine trade has led…
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“Green heart passports” to promote eco-tourism around Thailand
Visitors to Thailand’s 155 national parks over the New Year holidays have a special surprise in store: the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation will distribute one million “green heart passports” to promote environmentally friendly tourism. The passports will be valid until December 31, 2020. Visitors to national parks can show their “passport” at the entrance, along with their…
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On Boxing Day the skies will go dark across Thailand – solar eclipse
The skies will go dark in Thailand around midday on Boxing Day. The sun will partly vanish and a ghostly pall will shadow the Kingdom. But it’s all good. It’s a solar eclipse, a completely natural phenomenon. The Nation reports that viewing spots have been prepared in Chachoengsao province, east of Bangkok, in Chiang Mai province in the north, Nakhon Ratchasima…
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Sixteen Singaporeans end up in hospital following van crash in central Thailand
Sixteen Singaporean tourists were rushed to hospital following a tour bus crash in Sing Buri, central Thailand. Their tour van careered off a road in the main city district on Friday night and ended up on its side in the roadside. The Ruam Katanyu Foundation rescue workers attended the scene and attended to the injured. 16 passengers were injured, 5…
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Thailand’s Army chief warns of a ‘proxy crisis’
PHOTO: Matichon The Army chief, General Apirat Kongsompong, is warning Thais about what he sees as a “proxy crisis” facing the country. The comments, without directly referring to the event by name, were a veiled criticism of the “Run Against Dictatorship” event coming up next month. The commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army took the “everything’s OK, but…” approach to…
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Thailand ramps up drink-driving campaign for new year break
Government, police and local agencies are launching their annual no-drink-driving campaign to raise driver awareness and, hopefully, reduce fatalities during the New Year holiday, designated for December 27 to January 2. Speaking in support of the campaign, Deputy national police chief Wirachai Songmetta announced 10 points of advice to drivers and bike riders in an effort to reduce road accidents…
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