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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  • Obec to cut school hours | Thaiger

    Obec to cut school hours

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Obec to cut school hours The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) will start implementing a policy to reduce classroom hours from this second semester, Obec secretary-general Kamol Rodklai said yesterday. The agency would at first reduce study hours in…

  • Japanese surrogacy dad Shigeta faces police summons

    Japanese surrogacy dad Shigeta faces police summons

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Japanese dad Shigeta faces police summons The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police will summons Mitsutoki Shigeta for questioning after a DNA test initially confirmed the 24-year-old Japanese man’s claim that he had fathered the nine surrogate babies recently discovered in a Bangkok condominium. Meanwhile, Boonreung…

  • NCPO appoints new national police chief

    NCPO appoints new national police chief

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Somyot gets national police chief job in unanimous vote The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung was yesterday chosen in a unanimous 6:0 vote by a junta-installed selection committee as the new Royal Thai Police chief. He will replace Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit,…

  • Copilot passes out midflight, dies

    Copilot passes out midflight, dies

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Copilot passes out midflight, dies The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A co-pilot for budget airline Lion Air collapsed mid flight, 20 minutes after taking off from Hat Yai for Bangkok yesterday. The pilot of flight SL 8537 returned to make an emergency landing at Hat…

  • THAI steps up fight against Ebola

    THAI steps up fight against Ebola

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community THAI steps up fight against Ebola The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Private and public organisations are putting more precautionary actions in place here against the Ebola outbreak in Africa to ensure safety. Thai Airways International (THAI) yesterday demonstrated aircraft cleaning and vaccination at Suvarnabhumi Airport…

  • NCPO chief Prayuth invited to take the Ice Bucket Challenge

    NCPO chief Prayuth invited to take the Ice Bucket Challenge

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO chief Prayuth invited to take the Ice Bucket Challenge The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The “Ice Bucket Challenge” fund-raising activity has gone viral in social media, to the extent that even junta chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has been challenged to take the plunge. Surabot…

  • Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe

    Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Bangkok clinic closed amid surrogacy probe The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police yesterday raided and suspended obstetrics and gynaecology services at a Lat Phrao clinic for 60 days pending investigation into reports that it provided surrogacy.The clinic allegedly provided services to 1,000 Thai and foreign customers…

  • Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest | Thaiger

    Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Infant killed by ATM shock laid to rest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The two-year-old girl killed by a short-circuit at an ATM in Trang province was buried yesterday, though police say they have yet to charge anybody. The burial ceremony was held at Wat…

  • Prayuth vows 2015 budget won’t burden country, will boost economy

    Prayuth vows 2015 budget won’t burden country, will boost economy

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO aims to avoid budget debt The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told the National Legislative Assembly yesterday the proposed budget would not leave problems or debt for the country in the long run – as he would only be in power…

  • 22 injured in boiler explosion

    22 injured in boiler explosion

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 22 injured after boiler explosion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A five-meter-high boiler exploded at a dyeing plant in Samut Prakan’s Muang district early yesterday, injuring some 22 workers and residents. Several nearby homes were also damaged. Most of the victims – 17 in total…

  • Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’

    Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Surrogacy law ‘must be of world standard’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Australian Government has asked Thailand to adopt international standards when it passes a surrogacy law this year. Acting permanent secretary for Justice Charnchao Chaiyanukit said yesterday that Australian Ambassador to Thailand James…

  • Police to charge contractors in deadly building collapse with negligence

    Police to charge contractors in deadly building collapse with negligence

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Police to charge contractors with negligence The Nation/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police will charge contractors of the building that collapsed on Monday in Pathum Thani province for negligence causing deaths and injuries. At least eight people, including a mother and her baby, were killed, while about…

  • Tragic end to building collapse in Pathum Thani

    Tragic end to building collapse in Pathum Thani

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Tragic end to building collapse in Pathum Thani The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Buri Ram woman who made a desperate dash from the northeast to Pathum Thani in search of her husband – trapped in a building that collapsed late on Monday – was…

  • Treasury Dept challenges claim only 100 Bt10 coins minted in 1990

    Treasury Dept challenges claim only 100 Bt10 coins minted in 1990

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Treasury Dept challenges claim only 100 Bt10 coins minted in 1990 The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Treasury Department has denied a claim that just 100 Bt10 coins were minted in 1990.The department’s director general, Naris Chaiyasoot, spoke yesterday shortly after there was a Bt100,000…

  • Udomdej favoured to take over as the next Army chief

    Udomdej favoured to take over as the next Army chief

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Udomdej favoured to take over as the next Army chief The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Deputy Army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr appears the front runner candidate to succeed General Prayuth Chan-ocha as the head of the Army. Prayuth, who is in charge of the ruling…

  • Over 100 Thai surrogates may be carrying babies for Aust couples

    Over 100 Thai surrogates may be carrying babies for Aust couples

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Probe into ‘baby clinic for Aussies’ The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Health Service Support Department is investigating a Bangkok clinic that provided surrogacy services to more than 100 clients, including the Australian couple linked to the baby Gammy controversy and probably many other Australians.…

  • Lao woman with Bt30 million held at border | Thaiger

    Lao woman with Bt30 million held at border

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Lao woman with Bt30 million held at border The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A 42-year-old Laotian was detained in the border province of Mukdahan yesterday for allegedly trying to smuggle Bt30 million in cash out of the country. The woman who was identified only as…

  • Probe into Japanese ‘dad’ eyes baby trafficking intent

    Probe into Japanese ‘dad’ eyes baby trafficking intent

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Probe into Japanese ‘dad’ eyes baby trafficking intent The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Police are looking into whether the 13 babies purportedly linked to surrogacy services were meant to be trafficked, as evidence suggests a Japanese man fathered at least nine infants via surrogate mothers.…

  • Japanese man sought in surrogacy scam flees

    Japanese man sought in surrogacy scam flees

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Japanese man sought in surrogacy scam flees The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A young Japanese man has left Thailand after emerging evidence suggests he might have played a key role in a surrogacy gang. Thailand does not yet have specific laws to control surrogacy. Legislation…

  • NCPO eyes lifting martial law | Thaiger

    NCPO eyes lifting martial law

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community NCPO eyes lifting martial law The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chief has a plan to lift the martial law soon, Lt-General Kampanart Ruddit, director of the Reconciliation for Reform Centre said yesterday. He added that the NCPO…

  • Sondhi loses appeal, gets 20 years in prison

    Sondhi loses appeal, gets 20 years in prison

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Sondhi loses appeal, gets 20 years in prison The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Appeals Court yesterday upheld the primary court’s jail verdict against media tycoon and former yellow-shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul, sentencing him to 20 years in jail for violating the Securities and Exchange…

  • Australia authorities track down Thai surrogate paedophile

    Australia authorities track down Thai surrogate paedophile

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Australia authorities track down Thai surrogate paedophile The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Australian authorities said Thursday they had finally contacted a man exposed as a convicted paedophile at the centre of a Thai surrogate baby scandal, as his son defended him as a changed man.…

  • Fear of surrogacy being misused for stem cells

    Fear of surrogacy being misused for stem cells

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Fear of surrogacy being misused for stem cells The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Following the much-publicised case of the unauthorised surrogacy involving a Thai mother and an Australian couple, a raid by police and soldiers at a Bangkok condominium found nine babies thought to have…

  • Thousands turn to NCPO to resolve woes

    Thousands turn to NCPO to resolve woes

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thousands turn to NCPO to resolve woes The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The number of complaints filed at Government House seeking help from the junta over the past two months has doubled from the same period last year during the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, according to…

  • Banned game found offensive to monarchy

    Banned game found offensive to monarchy

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Banned game found offensive to monarchy The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Culture Ministry yesterday explained that the simulation game Tropico 5, which allows players to build their own forms of government on a remote island, was banned because it contained content that appeared to…

  • Luxury homes at former DSI chief estate torn down

    Luxury homes at former DSI chief estate torn down

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Luxury homes in former DSI chief family estate torn down for encroaching on national forest The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Two luxury homes in the compound of former Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tarit Pengdith’s family estate in Nakhon Ratchasima province have finally been…

  • Draft law on surrogacy ready to be submitted for NLA review | Thaiger

    Draft law on surrogacy ready to be submitted for NLA review

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Draft law on surrogacy ready to be submitted for NLA review The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The use of a surrogate mother remains a grey area for Thailand but there is hope that draft legislation now ready for review by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA)…

  • Health ministry probes surrogacy case

    Health ministry probes surrogacy case

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Health ministry probes surrogacy case The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Public Health Ministry has launched a fact-finding probe into a case of surrogacy in which a baby boy born with Down’s syndrome and congenital heart problem late last year was left with the Thai…

  • Boy, 9, killed and 14 hurt as packed songthaew crashes

    Boy, 9, killed and 14 hurt as packed songthaew crashes

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Boy, 9, killed and 14 hurt as packed songthaew crashes The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A Prathom 3 student was killed and 14 others injured when a songthaew, a converted truck used to transport passengers, slammed into a parked 10-wheeler in Nakhon Pathom’s Sam Phran…

  • Thais fleeing chaos in Libya to arrive home tomorrow | Thaiger

    Thais fleeing chaos in Libya to arrive home tomorrow

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thais fleeing chaos in Libya to arrive home tomorrow The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The first group of Thai workers evacuated from Libya will arrive in Thailand tomorrow, Employment Department chief Sumet Mohosot said yesterday. The 18 workers, who were employed by Swiss watch-making company…