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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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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“It wasn’t me.” Russian denies stealing money and beating up exchange booth attendant in Pattaya
PHOTO: Daily News The Russian man accused of attacking a Thai woman at a Jomtiem exchange booth and making off with nearly 700,000 baht is denying his involvement in the robbery. This is despite the incident being caught on CCTV. Earlier 30 year old Sunee Kaewyu was assaulted and robbed in a money exchange booth on Sukhumvit Road outside the…
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Australian teacher shot by ex in Chiang Mai
An Australian teacher, reportedly trying to get back together with his Thai girlfriend, has been shot in the stomach in the car park of a Chiang Mai apartment. 47 year old Jean Paul Bull, an English teacher at a well known Chiang Mai university, remains in hospital recovering from his injuries. He had gone to invite his 39 year old…
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Day Four – Road toll much higher than last year
Thailand’s Songran road death toll has reached 248, with 2,557 injured in 2,449 accidents during the first four days of the so-called seven dangerous Songkran days (Wednesday to Saturday). The figures marked an across-the-board increase over the same period last year, which saw 226 deaths, 2,457 injured and 2,385 road accidents. On Saturday alone, there were 603 accidents, killing 57…
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MC quits teenage-targeted NCPO propaganda TV show
An MC of a junta-run TV program aimed at younger teenage viewers says her resignation from the show was due to “different working attitudes” while the junta government denied any involvement with the production. Pawaran Bannarak announced her decision to quit “Thailand Moves Forward Teenage Edition” on Saturday. “Because I love being an emcee so much, I can’t afford to…
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National TrueMove ID data leak
The NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecom Commission) is seeking an urgent meeting with executives of TrueMove H, one of the country’s three major mobile phone operators, to inquire about a probable massive leak of customers’ personal data. The likely leak, including individuals’ ID cards and passport numbers, was first reported by Blognone, an online technology news service, when Niall Merrigan,…
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HIV positive Australian begged Thai woman for sex with two year old granddaughter
Howard Hawke outside Bendigo Magistrates’ Court, Victoria. PHOTO: Jason Walls A HIV positive Australian man repeatedly called a woman in Thailand begging to have sex with her two year old granddaughter, a court has heard. Pig farmer, 69 year old Howard John Hawke from Kangaroo Flat in Victoria, was arrested in 2017 after police intercepted phone calls of him talking…
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Russian suspect nabbed after million baht money-exchange robbery in Pattaya
A Russian man has been nabbed at Suvarnabhumi international Airport after Chon Buri police launched a manhunt to find the Russian who allegedly robbed a money exchange booth of nearly one million baht in cash. Police say the robbery took place at a booth in Jomtiem in Sattahip District, Chonburi yesterday morning (Saturday). After checking the CCTV on site, Police…
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Songkran revenues flow whilst hot-season temperatures soar
Songkran Festival has attracted millions of Thai and foreign tourists to popular destinations nationwide, generating significant revenue for local economies. Last week Tourism Authority of Thailand economic forecasters were predicting a 10 percent rise in spending this year. Chuchat on-charern, the Tourism Authority of Thailand chief for the southern province of Phang-nga, said an estimated 155,000 tourists visited the province,…
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Day Three – the carnage continues
The accumulated road death toll for the first three days (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) of the so-called ‘Seven Dangerous Days’ over the Songkran holiday, rose to 188 at the end of Friday, the Road Safety Centre announced today. Pol Maj-General Ekkarak Limsangkart, commander of the Special Branch Police Division 3, said the first three days of the road accidents monitoring period…
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Criminal offences to avoid during Songkran.
Splashing water on people not wanting to get wet, or having asked you not to splash them, during the Songkran Festival can lead to imprisonment. This from a Thai lawyer, adding many common violations of laws during the festive period may carry severe penalties. Ratchapon Sirithaworn, a legal expert and owner of the Facebook fanpage “LawByRachaponsLawyer”, which provides knowledge on…
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Congratulations “Miss Elephant of Bang Nam Phueng”
So it’s not all about the splashing. Samut Prakarn’s Phra Pradaeng district has hosted a unique beauty pageant to celebrate this year’s Songkran festival in which contestants were required to be transgender and weigh at least 120 kilograms. This was the eleventh year that the authorities of Bang Nam Phueng district organised the contest for those ‘larger size’ entrants, but…
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Two women drown after trying to save swimmers – Ubon Ratchathani
Two women, one of them seven-month pregnant, drowned in the Chi river in Ubon Ratchathani yesterday morning (Friday) as they tried to help a 13 year old and older man as they got into difficulties. Upon Ratchathani is in the country’s far east near the Cambodian border. The tragedy occurred when 35 year old Sudjai Pansiri, who was seven months…
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Longer Songkran holiday break = more accidents
Extended celebrations for the 2018 Songkran Festival are being blamed for an increase in road accidents involving drunk driving, but the Interior Ministry is assuring that the country’s roads will be safer this year due to more traffic checkpoints and strict law enforcement. The Road Safety Centre yesterday reported the outcome of the second day of operations for the Thai…
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Day Two – Disgraceful road statistics from the first two days of Songkran
In just the first two days of the Songkran “seven days of danger” from April 11-17, a total of 99 people have already been killed in traffic accidents, with another 1,085 injured. The road accident count for the beginning days of the notorious Songkran accident period have increased compared to the same period last year, while nearly 60,000 drunk drivers…
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National airports coping with the inbound and outbound crowds
PHOTO: National News Bureau The country’s second largest airport, Don Muang International, is reporting a smooth operation despite the high volume of passengers for the Songkran holiday, heading out and arriving, in Bangkok. Deputy Minister for Transport Pailin Chuchotetaworn has affirmed a full deck of immigration officials has been dispatched to the airport to facilitate outbound travelers. “Despite a large…
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Songkran launches around the country
Police continue to push public safety measures but traffic still poses challenge. As holidaymakers and locals heading home started to reach their destinations nationwide yesterday for the traditional Thai New Year celebrations this weekend, various sites confirmed their readiness to host impressive events and also implement public safety measures. At Bangkok’s Khao San Road Thai actors Chatchawal Phetchwisit, Wichan Meesom…
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39 die nationally on first day of Songkran Seven Days of Danger.
Whilst Phuket has had a clear Day One (Wednesday) for what’s called the ‘Seven Days of Danger’, the rest of the country has notched up 39 people killed as of last night. Police say that drunk driving remains the biggest problem and cause of death. Police report 477 road accidents on the first day of the Songkran holiday reporting period.…
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Samui jet ski operators scoop Russian tourist out of the surf
SCREENSHOT by Sanook.com A Russian tourist has been pulled out of the Samui surf by a Jet Ski. The female tourist was swimming at Chaweng Beach on Koh Samui when witnesses say she appeared to get caught in a rip and dragged out to sea. Jet Ski operators at the beach heard the woman’s screams but was was caught in…
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Songkran Day One: 2,700 charged for drunk driving
Songkran’s Seven Days of Danger is only into its second day (Thursday) and police have already nabbed nearly 3,000 motorists for drunk driving. A Government spokeswoman said this morning that 156 vehicles were seized Wednesday and 2,716 motorcyclists and other drivers were charged with drunk driving. Deputy spokeswoman Col Sirichan Ngathong said stepped-up spot checks on roads had identified 3,339…
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Another 81 foreigners arrested in the latest ‘X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner’ sting
FILE PHOTO: X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner raid in Bangkok Tourist police joined forces with other police agencies nationwide to search 123 spots around the country and arrested 81 foreigners on several charges in the latest in its X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner operations. This was the seventh operation targeting illegal foreigners in the Kingdom, many working illegally for schools and language courses. The…
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Nearly one million meth tablets seized in police sting in Songkhla
Police have intercepted an enormous shipment of almost one million methamphetamine tablets with a street value of 48 million baht from a pick-up truck in Songkhla. Police say they were acting on a tipoff. They headed to Tambon Jataen to wait for a pickup truck they were told would be delivering the illicit cargo to southern provinces. A pickup up…
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Songkran storms on the way for the Northern and Central regions
Songkran is the time to farewell the hot season and welcome in the forthcoming wet season but the actual weather is wasting no time getting in on the celebrations. The Thai Meteorological Department is warning people in the Central and Northern parts of the country to brace for another round of summer storms from April 15-18. In an announcement yesterday…
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Rayong supercharged by China’s ‘Belt and Road’
FILE PHOTO: U-Tapao Airport Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com reports… China’s massive outward bound economic expansion is now experiencing a massive impact on Thailand’s enormous infrastructure initiative, the EEC (Eastern Economic Corridor). A clear example of this is in the country’s Rayong province, which last year hosted 7 million visitors. According to consulting group C9 Hotelworks newly released Rayong Hotel Market…
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Murder, rape, dead bodies in pools – The toll of dead young British tourists visiting Thailand
PHOTO: Luke Miller (left) was found dead at the bottom of a pool in Koh Tao in 2016 Why is there a mounting toll of young Brits dying, often in mysterious circumstances, in Thailand? 60 or so unexplained, or poorly explained, deaths in just 24 months actually. Britian’s Daily Mail Online has dug deep into the vault of strange disappearances and…
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Two fatal accidents in the same spot within 12 hours – Tak
Two fatal bus accidents have taken place at exactly the same spot in Tak province within a 12 hour period topping off a horror two weeks for buses and passenger vans on Thai roads. And Songkran starts tomorrow, the most dangerous time on Thailand’s roads each year. Victims of the second tragedy were actually officials inspecting the scene of the…
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Manhunt on for six suspects in the Sungai Golok attacks
Army offices and local police are now hunting down six men for suspected involvement in last night’s attacks in Narathiwat. The six men are suspected of being involved in bomb explosions at three residential areas in Sungai Golok district, injuring 13 people. (Sungai Golok is the last town in Thailand before you cross over the Malaysian border) Police also note…
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6 killed, 44 injured in another bus crash in Tak
Another crash, again involving a bus carrying Burmese workers back home for Songkran. Six Burmese migrants have killed and 44 others were injured when a bus taking them from Tak to Chachoengsao lost control and crashed down a roadside hill last night (Monday). Pol Capt Kiarttisak Boonplong, deputy inspector of Mae Thor police station, said 28 of the injured workers…
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EU set to change its tune on Thai fishing
Yesterday southern fishermen in Songkhla, Pattani and Trang were threatening to go on strike if the Thai government didn’t lift restrictions imposed on them to help satisfy demands by the EU over illegal fishing practices. Today a representative from the EU is pouring praise on the Thai government for its actions to clean up the industry. Smells fishy!? The Nation…
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Southern violence injures four – attacks in Sungai Golok and Pattani
Violence continues in two deep southern provinces last night (Monday), injuring at least four people. Initial reports said that at least four people were injured when bomb attacks hit Narathiwat’s Sungai Golok district and Pattani provinces. In Sungai Kolok, the bomb attacks took place in two areas, injuring at least three. In Pattani, the explosion seriously injured a volunteer, identified…
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