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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Car and house loans surged in 2018
The Bank of Thailand says they’re concerned about the double-digit growth in loans for cars last year. The central bank is now monitoring the trend and will keep track of statistics for the rest of 2019. Their concerns about the Thai mortgage market the year before resulted in new regulations coming into effect this April. Loans for cars were up…
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2,810 MP candidates line up for March 24 election
107 candidates, for positions as Members of Parliament, and two prime ministerial candidates have been disqualified from running in the March Thai general election. Of the 2,917 party-list registered candidates, from 77 political parties, 2,810 candidates and 68 prime ministerial candidates from 44 parties have qualified after being checked by the Election Commission. While the EC didn’t disclose the names…
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Voters like Prayut as PM but prefer Pheu Thai as the party they will vote for
With the election campaign now digging into its first week on the hustings, the polls are starting to indicate where the early poll sentiments are leaning. Thai PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha is the favourite for the prime minster’s position following the election, but Pheu Thai is the party people want to see lead the formation of the new government, according…
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19 injured after bus crashes into Sa Kaeo property
PHOTOS: สวยพันธุ์ไม้ ท้ายบ้าน / อาสาสมัครมูลนิธิร่วมกตัญญูจังหวัดสระแก้ว จุดวัฒนานคร 19 people have been injured after a bus plunged into a local house today. FM 91 BKK reports that the accident happened at 8.10am this morning near Wattana Nakhon District Office in Sa Kaeo, on the Cambodian border, east of Bangkok. At the scene police found 19 people injured as a result of the…
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Thailand’s Constitutional Court accepts case to dissolve Thai Raksa Chart
Thailand’s Constitutional Court has voted unanimously to accept the Election Commission’s ruling that the Thai Raksa Chart party be disbanded over its nomination of Princess Ubolratana as its prime ministerial candidate last Friday. The party will be given seven days to present its defence in writing before the Court deliberates on the party’s future. Meanwhile electioneering is continuing for the…
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Weather for February 15
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 32ºC. Winds S at 15 to 25 km/h. Phuket Generally clear. High 32ºC. Winds ESE at 15 to 30 km/h. Chiang Mai Partly cloudy. High 35ºC. Winds SSE and variable . Pattaya Partly cloudy. High 31ºC. Winds S at 15 to 25 km/h. Hua Hin Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds SSE at 15 to 30 km/h.…
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Leaked document shows the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry planned to delay pesticide ban
The Hazardous Substance Committee may fail to reach a decision on whether to ban paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos, said Apichin Jotikashira, Industry Ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary. Apichin, who is a committee member, told environmental activists and those who claim they have been affected by agrochemicals today, that if new information about the impact of banning the herbicides and pesticides was…
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Tourism Council of Thailand promises to raise standards of tourist safety
By Chadamas Chinmaneevong, ttgasia.com The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) says they are “joining hands with state agencies including the Department of Land Transport, Marine Department and Tourism Authority of Thailand to improve tourist safety standards nationwide and overturn perceptions of the country as a dangerous tourist destination.” The project is a reaction to the many, many safety related incidents that…
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Constitutional Court meets today to rule on future of Thai Raksa Chart
PHOTO: Thai Raksa Chart party leader Preechaphol Pongpanit awaits the decision of the Constitutional Court today whether to proceed with the case to disband the party The Constitutional Court is meeting today to decide whether or not to consider the request of the Election Commission to have the Thai Raksa Chart Party dissolved for breaching the political parties act. The…
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Songkran extended to a five day holiday this year
You have five full days to get soaked this year as the Cabinet has approved an extended public holiday for Songkran 2019. Songkran enthusiasts, and everyone else, now have an additional public holiday on Friday April 12 (Songkran, the Thai New Year, is on April 13 every year). Government assistant spokesman Colonel Athisit Chainuwat said that state enterprises, financial institutions,…
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Weather for February 14
Bangkok Generally clear. High 33ºC. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Phuket Generally clear. High 32ºC. Winds E at 15 to 30 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 36ºC. Winds SE and variable. Pattaya Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 km/h. Hua Hin Generally clear. High 32ºC. Winds SSE at 15 to 30 km/h.…
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The day that shook Thai politics
OPINION It was just another Friday except that it was also the final day that political parties were able to nominate MPs for the March 24 elections. And their proposed candidates for the role of the a Prime Minister following the election. PM Prayuth Chan-ocha would announce his candidacy sometime during the morning, the worst kept secret in Thai politics.…
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Slow phase out of ‘Paraquat’ meets resistance
Activists are voicing their objections to the Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach’s proposal to ban the use of paraquat in three years instead of one. The Hazardous Substance Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting tomorrow to reconsider the banning of three controversial agricultural chemicals – paraquat, glyphosate, and chlorpyrifos. But the BioThai Foundation has disclosed the minister’s text…
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Swedish duo caught in Thailand for laundering 250 million baht
PHOTO: INN Thai police have announced the arrest of 51 year old Jan Olof Norlander for alleged money laundering following the arrest of his accomplice last November. The two men are wanted by Swedish authorities for laundering 248 million baht (68,000,000 Swedish kronor) between January 2016 and April 2018. In November, the accomplice, 38 year old Bo Karl Robin Lundholm was…
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Weather for February 13
Bangkok Generally clear. High 35ºC. Winds E at 10 to 15 km/h. . Phuket Generally clear. High 33ºC. Winds E at 15 to 30 km/h. Chiang Mai Morning clouds followed by afternoon sun. High 35ºC. Winds SE and variable. Pattaya Morning clouds followed by afternoon sun. High 31ºC. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 km/h. Hua Hin Partly…
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Hakeem al-Araibi’s release from Thai detention follows a meeting between Thai FM and Bahraini Crown Prince
The decision to drop an extradition request against Australia-based former Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi stems from a visit by the Thai foreign minister to Bahrain. The Bahraini withdrawal of extradition demands, that enabled al-Araibi to walk free on Monday, was made after a meeting in Bahrain earlier that day between the Bahraini Crown Prince Salman al-Khalifa and Thai Foreign Minister…
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Authorities fear 1000% rise in meth shipments just the tip of the iceberg
The number of seizures of high-purity crystal methamphetamine continues to surge in northern Thailand. The demand rises and the methods of detection and enforcement also improve. It’s a vicious circle. Authorities say the number of drug seizures have risen 1000% in just the past 2 years, a stark indication of the growth in industrial-scale production in neighboring Myanmar. Some 18.4…
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General Prawit dismisses rumour of military coup as ‘fake news’
The Thai Deputy PM Gen Prawit Wongsuwan has dismissed a rumour in social media of a possible military coup against the government of Prayut Chan-o-cha as ‘fake news’. Rumours were rife following the sharing of a false announcement allegedly issued by the NCPO dismissing commanders of the three armed forces. Gen Prawit is ordering an investigation into the sources of…
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Hakeem al-Araibi: Free to return to Australia
Hakeem al-Araibi is free to leave Thailand tonight. A Thai court has ruled that the extradition case against Melbourne-based footballer and refugee, Hakeem al-Araibi, has been dropped. • Hakeem al-Araibi was detained after flying to Bangkok in November • Jjailed over allegations he vandalised a police station in Bahrain during the Arab Spring protests in 2011 The Government has confirmed…
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Illegal foreign cigarettes flooding in as new local tobacco taxes loom
Growers of tobacco in Thailand, and those selling cigarettes and tobacco products, are feeling the pinch as illegal foreign cigarettes flood the local market. Sanook reports that the Thai Tobacco Monopoly says changes to excise regulations means a packet of the cheapest Thai cigarettes would rise from 60 to 90 baht per pack from October this year. A tobacco retailer…
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Sightings of pink dolphins off coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat
A pink dolphin has made our Sunday better with these photos in the Gulf of Thailand. The breed is quite famous for the Gulf waters off Khanom in Nakhon Si Thammarat, near Koh Samui. According to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation, there are around 60 dolphins living in the area. They can swim as fast as 37…
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EC meets tomorrow to discuss Thai Raksa Chart’s controversial PM nomination
The Election Commission is expected to meet tomorrow (Monday) to deliberate the Thai Raksa Chart party’s future following their nomination of Princess Ubolratana as a prime ministerial candidate in the March 24 election. But the EC’s secretary-general, Jarungvith Phumma, has declined to comment on the matter when asked about the party’s surprise Friday PM candidate, saying only that “all issues would…
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Thai AirAsia X flies to Brisbane June 2019. Thai Airways cut services to Australia.
PHOTO: Airbus Today Brisbane Airport announced that the low-cost carrier Thai AirAsia X would start operating from the Queensland capital flying to Bangkok four times a week from June 2019. This will be Thai AirAsia X’s first Australian destination and would be using the Airbus A330-300’s which have 12 premium seats available in a 2-2-2 layout, and 365 economy seats…
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Can the Princess be PM?
Analysis The Princess was nominated. Her brother, HM Thai King, objected. Thai Raksa Chart postponed their campaign launch on Saturday morning. The PM and Election Commission have stayed silent. With the weekend allowing cooler heads to sift through yesterday’s events, next week it is hoped some clarity will emerge about the Princess’ nomination as a prime ministerial candidate that threw…
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Two headless bodies found on Rayong beaches near Pattaya
PHOTOS: Sanook Two headless bodies have been found on Mae Rampueang Beach and PMY Beach in Rayong. The area the bodies were found is about 40 kilometres from Pattaya. The first one was a naked male headless body. Cut wounds were found on his neck. On his wrist police found found a distinguishing tattoo written in English alphabet. Police believe…
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Two Burmese arrested with 20 kilograms of ‘ice’ in SUV
PHOTO: Three Pagodas Border Pass in Kanchanaburi Two Burmese men have been arrested with 20 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of around 30 million baht. The drugs were hidden in the modified gas tank of their SUV in Kanchanaburi’s Sangkhlaburi district yesterday morning. The police followed up on a tip-off about a Ford Everest SUV smuggling drugs…
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HM The King says sister’s candidacy ‘inappropriate’ and ‘unconstitutional’
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn says his elder sister’s candidacy for prime minister in the March 24 election is “inappropriate” and “unconstitutional”. A strongly worded statement was issued around 11pm last night. It was the second time in less than 24 hours when the Palace had stepped into the murky realm of Thai politics. Earlier yesterday it was announced by the…
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“Princess cannot run for office” – King of Thailand
After a dramatic day in Thai politics yesterday, where the Thai Raksa Chart Party dropped a bombshell into the election campaign by nominating Princess Ubolratana, the King’s eldest sister, as a prime ministerial candidate, the drama continued last night with a statement from HM The King. The Thai monarch issued a strongly-worded statement around 11pm, prohibiting his older sister Princess Ubolratana…
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Thai tourists abandoned at Suvarnabhumi after buying dodgy tour to South Korea
PHOTOS: The Tourist Police Bureau A Thai man has been arrested over the operation of an non-existent tour. He has abandoned five Thai tourists who had bought a tour to South Korea at Suvarnabhumi Airport this week. The Tourist Police report that 32 year old Thai man Puwanart Prakam was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport. He has failed to present a…
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“Compassion for the people” Thai Raksa Chart of Princess Ubolratana
The sister of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn is now seen as a leading prime ministerial candidate for a political party loyal to fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra in the March 24 elections. The Thai Raksa Chart party dropped the political bombshell this morning. 67 year old Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Varnavadi broke a long-standing tradition of Thai royalty staying out of…
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