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 A healthy tomorrow starts today: Celebrate the great American Smokeout day
The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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Regional: Thailand pitching ambitious plan to co-host 2034 World Cup
PHOTO: stadiumastro.com The 2018 event has barely started and local pundits are already pondering a pitch for the 2034 World Cup, 16 years away! The Straits Times is reporting that Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam are set to launch a bid to joint host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, according to reports. Speaking at an event held on June 16, Fifa…
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Visa hassles for South African teachers
PHOTO: Study Abroad By Eric Haeg According to an official announcement from the Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, citizens from South Africa, “are advised to apply for visa (sic.) at the Royal Thai Embassy or Royal Thai Consulate-General in their respective countries if they do not reside in Malaysia.” This list also includes citizens of dozens of other African, Middle…
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Chiang Mai: Controversial housing estate to be ringed with ‘No Man’s Land’ signs
The Government brokered a deal where all but four apartments would have to be removed las month. Yet people are now living in the 45 houses on the slopes of Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. So what’s going on? The Doi Suthep Forest Reclamation Network said it would post “No Man’s Land” signs around the Chiang Mai mountain housing estate…
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Samui: Woman arrested for running illegal dental clinic
Of all the things you probably wouldn’t ever want to use – a self-taught dentist. So thanks to the police on Samui for tracking down this alleged ‘cosmetic tooth doctor’. A self-taught dental practitioner has been arrested on Koh Samui yesterday (Sunday) for opening an illegal clinic to attach fashion braces for clients. Pol Lt-Colonel Sompol Buranathet, deputy commander of…
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Bangkok: 30 sex offenders nabbed at Thai airports since the start of 2018
Thai Immigration are reporting successes using the new Advance Passenger Processing System where warnings come up on the screens of Immigration staff as people are processed on arrival at Thai airports. Daily News is reporting that Thai Immigration says 30 sex offenders have been arrested at five Thai airports since the start of this year. They claim that this represents about…
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Chonburi: Emotions spill onto the streets during World Cup match
Where there’s a World Cup match playing at a pub, there’s going to be alcohol. And where there’s long games there’s going to be some pent-up emotions. According to Sanook, violence erupted between a group of Thai and Chinese men during the Argentina vs Iceland World Cup match on Saturday night in Phanat Nikom, north of Pattaya and east of…
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Coastal erosion experts ringing alarm bells
“This is a big problem needing urgent solution.” Erosion is eating away five metres of land every year along a combined 42 kilometre long stretch of Thailand’s coastline. The situation is now so serious that a consulting firm is proposing that the government invoke an already-passed environmental law to protect the hard-hit coasts. Kittipoj Permpul, a public-participation expert at a consulting…
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Chonburi school hazing ceremony – Grounds for concern
School hazing ceremonies are a part of Thai culture. At schools it can be as innocent as the Wai Khru ceremony where students prostrate themselves in front of their teachers to show respect, to the more colourful ceremonies devised by older students and lecturers at universities which have also drawn concern from sections of Thai society. It’s all part of…
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Bangkok: Be brave to speak, get better jobs and a better social life
(Translated) Young Thais students are still being subjected to a largely rote learning style of education. But some young Bangkokians are speaking out about widening their education and life to embrace the English language as well. And some Universities say they’re on the right track. tnamcot.com is reporting that Thais who are speaking English and conversing with foreigners have big advantages…
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Thai economic growth forecast projections up to 6% – World Bank
The World Bank is looking to boost projections for growth in the Thai economy. In the last financial quarter, expansion of the Thai economy hit a five-year high. Ulrich Zachau, the World Bank’s director for Thailand and regional partnerships, says that a stable outlook and signs that Thai business is investing again domestically are among the positive factors for the…
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Is a fresh crackdown on alcohol-related sales and businesses on the way?
The Thai junta is warning that it intends to enforce harsh measures regulating the advertising and promotion of alcohol, in a move that will affect thousands of businesses throughout the country. Details of the law, which affected business claim is vague and open to interpretation, are provided below. There has been a number of raids on pubs, clubs and hotels…
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Chiang Mai: Judicial officers have “no plans to move out” – Doi Sutep housing controversy heats up
Despite a ban on use of the controversial housing project on the slopes of Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, judicial officials are not only living there but refuse to move out. The campaigners against the ‘scar of Doi Suthep’ held a meeting today, to address the issue of officers living in the judicial housing, despite a government order that nobody…
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Pattaya: Pump Up Dance Club raided
PHOTO: Pump Up Club/Facebook Police raided a dance club pub in Pattaya early this morning (Saturday) for remaining open past the legal closing time and arrested 19 people over alleged drug abuse. Police from Pattaya Police station and the Tourist Police division 2 raided the Pump UP Pattaya pub at 3am after receiving complaints from residents of the neighbourhood that…
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Bangkok: Another 50 foreigners arrested in weekly immigration shakedown
In the latest of the weekly crackdowns on illegal immigrants, police in Bangkok have rounded up another 50 foreigners, for overstaying their visas and entering the Kingdom without the correct documentation. The Tourist police joined forces with other police agencies to search 87 areas around the country on Friday night and arrested 50 foreigners, mostly for overstaying their visa and…
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Up in smoke. 61 million meth pills and 486kg of crystal meth.
61 million meth pills and 486kg of crystal meth, 108kg of heroin, 122kg of opium, 10kg of ecstasy pills, 5kg of cocaine and 7.3 tonnes of marijuana and kratom leaves. Raids, stings and seizures around the country have netted an astonishing amount of drugs in recent months – almost one meth pill for every single Thai! So what happens to…
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Nakhon Pathom: Man shoots pregnant girlfriend dead, injures her father
A man fatally shot his pregnant girlfriend and severely injured her father and himself inside the Nakhon Pathom Hospital on Friday at around 1:30pm. Police did not identify the attacker and two victims. Witnesses told police that the young man turned up at the hospital and had a dispute with the woman and the older man who appeared to be…
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Pattaya: Koh Larn survey shows tourism over-whelming facilities on island
Consultants have completed a long-awaited survey of Koh Larn’s tourist capacity. The survey says it’s the first step toward new zoning laws to protect the island’s ecosystem. Ampai Sakdanukuljit, assistant director of the Tourism and Sports Council, officially presented the Silapakorn University report his group commissioned to Pattaya Deputy Mayor Apichart Virapal, Tourism Authority of Thailand Pattaya office Director Suladda…
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Youth warned to avoid World Cup gambling trap
In the hours leading up to the kick of the 2018 Fifa World Cup, advocates against young people gambling on the football were parading in downtown Bangkok. A 2017 survey found that 2.4 million Thais engaged in football gambling valued at a reported 140 billion (yes BILLION) baht. The survey also says that 82.6 per cent of secondary student punters…
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Regional: AirAsia says MAVCOM’s ‘damaging tourism growth’
PHOTO: Sputnik International ‘Now everyone can fly,’ but not as many as AirAsia would like. They’re going into a head to head battle with the Malaysian aviation compliance body, MAVCOM. AirAsia is accusing Malaysia’s aviation body, MAVCOM, of holding back the country’s aviation and damaging tourism growth. The airline made the accusations in a rebuttal of an earlier statement released…
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National: 260,000 tonnes of electronic and plastic trash imported from China
Thai PBS is reporting that about 260,000 tonnes of trash have been imported into Thailand in the first five months of this year period this year. This compares to 116,000 tonnes imported for the whole of 2017, said This from the Customs Department spokesman Mr Chaiyuth Khamkhun. He added that, of the trash imported this year, it included 52,200 tonnes of…
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Muslim students’ dress code ‘could be divisive’
“I am extremely worried and concerned that this move will widen rifts,” Wisoot Binlateh, the director of Sheikul Islam’s coordination centre in the South, said yesterday. Parents and academics are expressing concern over the Education Ministry’s move to leave it up to the schools and their monastic landlords to decide on the dress code for Muslim students. Thailand’s deep South,…
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Leading players want charter amended after election
A symposium “Thailand’s Future Democracy: Overcoming Traps and Dreams?”was held yesterday at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan Campus. Probable players in a future political arena, Abhisit, Chaturon and Thanathorn, see the junta’s legacy as barrier to genuine democracy. The Junta-sponsored charter, which imposes curbs on politicians, remains the prime target of big political parties who aim to replace it after the…
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60,000 counterfeit travel mugs seized in BKK raids
Most of us will have a branded 100 baht T-shirt somewhere in one of our drawers, maybe even a fake Louis Vuitton bag or wallet, or a Tag Heuer watch we haggled in a Patpong market for 1,500 baht. Fakes are everywhere in Thailand. But travel mugs? 60,000 travel mugs?! Some 60,000 plastic coffee cups, tumblers and mugs bearing brand…
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Chiang Mai: Doi Suthep homes “at risk from natural disasters”
A separate issue has arisen in the case of the controversial buildings on the slopes of Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. Building engineers are pointing their fingers at the steep slopes around structures that were initially built to be the residences of court officials in Chiang Mai province, saying they’re a potential natural disaster waiting to happen. There are “significant…
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Sattahip: Grisly find on rocks near Navy School
A teacher’s assistant made a grisly find yesterday around rocks near the Chumpon Navy School, south of Pattaya. Sattahip police went to investigate. The remains are believed to have been washed up from the sea and are at least one to two months old. They were found in the Bang Saray area. They consisted of the hips and legs of…
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Bangkok: 400,000 baht spending spree and holiday with stolen ATM cards
SCREENCAPTURES: Channel 7 Credit card theft is an ongoing cat and mouse game between criminals, bank encryption technology and lawyers fighting to recover lost funds from victims. In this case the cards were recovered and the culprits apprehended. Channel 7 report that CCTV footage from a 7/11 store in Bangkok revealed on Thai TV showed the moment when a Thai…
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Southern Insurgency: Emergency decree extended another three months
The government has extended the state of emergency in the three southernmost provinces for a further three months. The extension was announced in the Royal Gazette yesterday (Wednesday). The emergency decree covers Narathiwat except Sungai Kolok district, Yala except Betong district and Pattani except Mae Lan district. The announcement of the emergency decree in Royal Gazette states that the extension is…
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Authorities inspect under-construction hotels in Koh Phi Phi
The Army, police and administrative officials have inspected several under-construction hotels on Koh Phi Phi in the Krabi province amid allegations that they lacked land rights documents, permission to build, or were encroaching on a national park. They first searched an under-construction hotel on a hill with a view of the sea where 30 buildings and a large pond were…
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National: A hidden world of male sex slavery
by Rina Chandran @rinachandran. Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths A special report from Reuters outlining the hidden side of mass tourism that Thai authorities don’t like to talk about – a situation the boy’s customers would never discuss and the human casualties of the (hush, hush) male sex trade. The male sex workers often fall through the cracks of society and…
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88 million baht seized from ex-officials of destitute fund
The AMLO (Anti Money Laundering Office) has seized 41 assets worth 88 million baht from three former senior officials at the Social Development and Human Security Ministry and nine alleged accomplices as part of the probe into the misappropriation of allowances and related irregularities at protection centres for the destitute. AMLO acting secretary-general, Pol Maj-General Romsit Viriyasan, yesterday said the…
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