Thailand News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, and lifestyle—get breaking updates from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. Stay informed on Thai society, economy, tourism, and expat life with The Thaiger.
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Driver loses head, 34 injured after bus smashes into truck in Saraburi
PHOTOS: Sawang Buri Phra Chaai rescue workers A tour bus from Bangkok, traveling to Ubon Ratchathani in the north east, has collided into the rear end of a ten-wheel truck in Saraburi around midnight last night. The tour bus driver was beheaded from the impact of the collision while 34 of the passengers were injured. Khaosod reports that the incident…
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WARNING: Dengue cases four times worse than last year
A nationwide alert has gone up about a big rise in Dengue cases across the country. Hospitals nationwide are being ordered to set up emergency facilities to deal with the worrying rise in cases of dengue fever since the start of 2019. Workpoint News reports that, in January alone, there were four times as many cases of the disease compared…
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Truck carrying gas tanks overturns in Rayong
PHOTOS: Eastern Fire Fighters A truck carrying gas tanks has overturned in Rayong causing several small blasts and a fire. FM 91 Traffic Pro reports that fire fighters were notified of the incident yesterday in Wangjan, Rayong, south-east of Bangkok. Emergency responders arrived at the scene to find a six wheeler truck overturned on the side of the road with…
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Happy National Elephant Day – March 13
The annual National Thai Elephant Day was held yesterday, March 13, to celebrate and draw public attention for more concerted efforts to save the species and protect its habitat including showcasing how important the species is to the country. Thailand has witnessed a severe decline in elephant numbers with less than 3,000 wild elephants now remaining in the kingdom. Here’s…
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Alcohol ban this weekend and the following weekend of the election
There will be a 24 hour alcohol ban this weekend as well as on the weekend of the general election on March 24. Sunday, March 17 will feature a day of pre-voting where alcohol sales and distribution will be forbidden from 6pm on Saturday, March 16 until 6pm on Sunday, March 17. That will precede the ban on the following…
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Who is grounding Boeing’s 737 Max 8 planes?
In the wake of Sunday’s crash of an Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max series aircraft, the second crash in a ‘similar’ situation to one six months earlier off Jakarta, several of the world’s airlines have now grounded the planes as a precautionary measure. At this stage both Thailand and India have not grounded the aircraft. China’s fleet of some 97…
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New trend ‘Challenge for Change’ rubbish cleanup
PHOTO: We Don’t Deserve This Planet A Facebook page named ‘We Don’t Deserve This Planet’ is running a campaign ‘Challenge for Change’ for rubbish cleanups. The site is an international page. The Facebook page says “Let it be trending!” with the hash tag #ChallengeForChange. “Here is a new #Challenge for all. Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or…
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4 ways Thais use Twitter. Which one are you?
With hundreds of millions of users globally, Twitter is many things to many people. Amongst Thailand’s growing Twitter community, it’s interesting to see how users are evolving the way they use Twitter. Trending topics change rapidly as Thai users jump from one hot topic to another, while favourite celebrities and musicians remain relatively consistent. Below are just four ways Thais…
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Despite the dangers, Thai police chief says ‘OK’ to pickup passengers over Songkran
SCREENSHOT: GamerGirl566 (video below) Police are not going to impose restrictions for people riding in the back of pickup trucks over the Songkran holidays this April. The national deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul has said it’s OK for passengers to ride in the tray space at the back of pick-ups “as long as they are deemed safe”. Last year suggestions…
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The Nan “U-Turn of Death”. A fatality almost every day.
Thailand’s U-Turns, a favorite traffic mechanism of Thai road planners, are a cause of constant delays, dangerous turns and frequent fatalities. Daily News reports on a U-turn in Nan, northern Thailand, where there is a fatality almost every day. Nan is east of Chiang Mai on the Laos border. The police had shut it but the locals wanted it reopened…
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Long queues and poor arrangements greet early Thai voters in KL
PHOTO: Thai PBS A long queue of waiting voters spilled out of the Thai embassy compound in Kuala Lumpur during yesterday’s early voting. Over 4,000 Thai nationals working in Malaysia turned up at the Thai embassy in KL yesterday to cast their ballots. The actual Thai election day is on March 24 but foreign embassies provide opportunities for Thai expats to cast their vote…
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Is Thailand falling behind in the startup race? Techsauce Global Summit Bangkok
PHOTO: Oranuch Lerdsuwankij, CEO and co-founder of summit organiser Techsauce Media by Asina Pornwasin Oranuch Lerdsuwankij, CEO and co-founder of summit organiser Techsauce Media, underlined the forthcoming conference’s importance as a platform for tech enthusiasts across different industries to discuss digital knowledge, ideas and experiences. She says the summit is bringing tangible changes to the tech ecosystem across Thailand and…
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Government considers blanket alcohol bans on April 13
There’s a 24 hour ban on alcohol on the weekend preceding AND the actual election weekend this month. And next month is Songkran with the Government mooting possible blanket bans on Songkran day, April 13. This year the Government says they want an alcohol ban on the biggest annual holiday for Thais. It’s also part of the week when there…
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“Might undermine the Thai constitutional monarchy” – Charter Court
The Constitutional Court has disbanded the Thai Raksa Chart Party for nominating a member of the Royal Family as its candidate for PM in the forthcoming election. The ruling said that such a move “might undermine” the Thai constitutional monarchy system, which placed the monarchy above politics. The court ruled unanimously to dissolve the party under Article 92 of the…
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Constitutional Court dissolves Thai Raksa Chart party and bans party members
The Thai Constitutional Court has ordered the dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart Party for naming Prince Ubolratana, a member of the Royal Family, as its prime ministerial candidate. The Court claims this action undermined Thailand’s constitutional monarchy. The court has also banned all 14 members of the party’s executive board from politics for 10 years in a stunning decision that…
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Weather for March 7
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 34ºC. Winds S at 15 to 25 km/h. Phuket Partly cloudy. High 32ºC. Winds NW at 15 to 30 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 37ºC. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Pattaya Partly cloudy. High 31ºC. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 km/h. Hua Hin Generally clear. High 33ºC. Winds SE at 15 to…
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Fire engulfs textile factory in Chon Buri
PHOTO: The Nation A fire has partially destroyed two warehouses at a textile factory in Chon Buri’s Ban Bueng district, north-east of Pattaya. The fire started at the Dtex Industry Company factory in Moo 1 village in Tambon Map Phai before 6:30am yesterday morning. Ten fire engines arrived when the fire had swept through the first warehouse, whose roof collapsed,…
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Two lawyers killed in alleged hit and run – Surin
Police say a road incident where two lawyers were killed and the driver injured in Surin province’s Sangkha district, might have been a hit and run. Duangthip Hangchaidee and Issara Charoenpittaya were killed and their driver 30 year old driver Napat Plobmuang was injured in yesterday’s accident on the main road in Ban Nong Yoh village, Tambon Takong. Duangthip’s body…
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Three dead and nine injured after truck brake failure in Sa Kaeo – VIDEO
SCREENSHOT: Facebook/อนันชัย พูพิลึก Three people are dead, nine people are injured and five vehicles have been damaged after a truck’s brakes failed in Sa Kaeo, near the Cambodian border. Thairath reports that the accident happened in Sa Kaeo yesterday. The truck collided head on with five vehicles as it sped down a hill. One of the sedans caught fire after…
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Weather for March 6
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 35ºC. Winds S at 15 to 25 km/h. Phuket Partly cloudy. High 31ºC. NE winds shifting to WNW at 15 to 25 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 36ºC. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Pattaya Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds S at 15 to 30 km/h. Hua Hin Partly cloudy. High 32ºC. Winds SSE…
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Thanathorn’s “unfinished 1932 mission” questioned
PHOTO: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit appears on Channel 3 “May I ask what is the 1932 unfinished mission that Thanathorn, the party leader, announced he will complete?” The Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s controversial remarks, that one of the party’s policies is to complete the ‘unfinished mission of the 1932 coup makers’, has provoked a strong reaction among Thai royalists. The…
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Future Forward deputy leader admits sharing fake news
The Future Forward party deputy leader Lt-Gen Pongsakorn Rodchompoo has told the Technology Crime Suppression Division police that he shared a fake news story about Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan. But he claims he had no way of knowing that it was fake. Thai PBS reports that Pol Lt-Gen Surachet Hakparn, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, posted in Facebook today saying…
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Weather for March 5
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 33ºC. Winds S at 15 to 30 km/h. Phuket Partly cloudy. High 31ºC. NE winds shifting to WNW at 15 to 30 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 36ºC. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Pattaya Partly cloudy. High 31ºC. Winds S at 15 to 30 km/h. Hua Hin Partly cloudy. High 32ºC. Winds S…
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Royal Coronation schedule takes shape
His Majesty King Maha Vachiralongkorn has asked that his coronation ceremony should be ‘economical’ and ‘in line with Royal tradition’. The instructions have been forwarded to Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, head of the coronation organising committee. The Coronation ceremonies will be held between May 4-6. Describing the ceremony as second only in importance to the Royal cremation of the late…
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Parents urged to monitor children on ‘Momo Challenge’
PHOTOS: NBT / NNT The Mental Health Department is urging parents to closely monitor children’s online activities due to the ‘Momo Challenge’ reports. The Nation reports that ‘Momo Challenge’, associated with a grotesque bird, has sneaked into YouTube and its YouTube Kids platform and coerced young watchers to take up risky, potentially deadly challenges. The Momo Challenge, dismissed by many…
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Vaping network urges Thai authorities to rethink e-cigarette laws
“Thai authorities had demanded a 40,000 baht bribe from a Frenchwoman to free her after she was arrested for possessing an e-cigarette.” E-cigarette users are calling on the Thai government to quickly come up with appropriate solutions to regulate e-cigarettes, and clarify the current laws, in order to protect the country’s image among foreign tourists. The network say it also…
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Same same but not very different – Election 2019
By Jintana Panyaarvudh Campaigning ahead of the March 24 election is getting a little too heated in the view of some observers. The old habit of slinging mud between rival politicians has revived prompting critics to raise concerns. “The world has evolved but Thai politicians have failed to develop or employ new, creative methods in their campaigns to attract voters,”…
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Weather for March 4
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 33ºC. Winds S at 15 to 30 km/h. Phuket Partly cloudy. High 31ºC. E winds shifting to W at 15 to 25 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 37ºC. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Pattaya Morning thunderstorms. High 31ºC. Winds S at 15 to 30 km/h. Chance of rain 80%. Hua Hin Partly cloudy,…
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Woman attacks Lottery MC during draw in Phatthalung – VIDEO
The live broadcast of the government’s bi-weekly lottery draw was interrupted when a 35 year old woman threatened one of the MCs with a screwdriver. The lottery draw, held in Phatthalung province’s City Hall yesterday, was being broadcast live on Channel 5. The hall was full lottery enthusiasts and government officials when the attack happened. The attacker, later identified as…
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Anti-vaxers blamed for astonishing rise of Measles in 2018 – UNICEF
“Measles is more contagious than tuberculosis or Ebola, yet it is eminently preventable with a vaccine that costs pennies.” Thailand figures in the Top 10 countries in the world where measles cases rose alarmingly in 2018. Most of the rises of Measles cases in Thailand have occurred in the three southern-most provinces where a large Muslim majority live. In some…
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