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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Thailand’s postal rates to go up after nearly 2 decades
For the first time in 18 years, Thailand’s postal rates are going up. The country’s Digital Economy and Society Ministry said that according to data from 2011-2020, Thailand Post has a social service burden of up to 18.4 billion baht, and it’s likely to keep rising. Yesterday, the Cabinet approved a proposal by the ministry to raise rates. Thailand’s profit…
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Truck drivers rally in Bangkok against spiking diesel price
Now that Thailand has announced the upcoming end of its diesel price cap, Bangkok truckers have rallied today to demand that the price cap continues. Currently, the price for diesel is capped is 30 baht per litre. But On Tuesday, Thailand’s Energy Minister said the retail price is now at 40 baht per litre, so the government have had to…
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Dog owners prosecuted for bathing dogs at waterfall inside Thai national park
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has prosecuted dog owners who brought dogs and bathed them at a waterfall inside the Khao Luang National Park in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The authorities said pets were banned from entering the national parks in Thailand to prevent the spread of diseases from the urban area. One…
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UPDATE: Police identify foreigners involved in shooting at Pattaya’s Harley-Davidson shop
Following a report on the shooting at a Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop in Pattaya, police expected that influential Thai residents and foreigners were involved. The officers say the group might have had some sort of conflict over the business and personal issues between members of two influential groups. The Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop located on Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya was the location…
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Phuket gets ready to shift into ‘endemic’ stage
Phuket Governor Narong announced in a meeting yesterday that the island province is getting ready to shift into an ‘endemic’ stage for its Covid-19 situation. At the meeting, held at Phuket Provincial Hall, it was noted that Phuket recorded an average of 162 cases a day. 87.7% of those were local infections. Only 2-3% of people confirmed infected required hospital…
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Thai ex boxer allegedly steals British tourist’s bag in Krabi
Police in Krabi arrested a former boxer at a house in Meuang district today for allegedly stealing a British tourist’s bag. The British man, 23 year old Fraser William, said he left his bag on the beach when he and his friend went swimming on Sunday. The bag had 5,000 baht in cash, along with credit cards and the key…
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Anutin says Thailand Pass may be scrapped, if Covid-19 continues to improve
The Covid-19 situation in Thailand is beginning to stabilise and if cases continue to decrease, the Ministry of Health will consider completely cancelling the Thailand Pass, according to Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. In an interview today, Anutin said the Covid-19 situation in the kingdom is improving. He said the total number of infections, hospitalisations and deaths are all decreasing, as…
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As tourists return, Pattaya’s Walking Street set to close to cars again
Pattaya officials say that starting tomorrow (Thursday), the city’s tourist magnet, Walking Street, will close to cars again, as it did in pre-Covid days. This news comes as more former bars have opened as ‘restaurants’, a loop hole in the Thai government’s Covid restrictions that’s been forced on bar owners so they can get their businesses open again. From 7pm…
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UPDATE: Police charge 6 suspects, close Tangmo investigation
Recklessness. That’s the conclusion police came to about what caused the death of Thai actress Nida “Tangmo” Patcharaveerapong, who fell from a boat and drowned in the Chao Phraya River in Nonthaburi, north of Bangkok, on the night of February 24. Police presented a summary of their monthslong investigation yesterday and announced charges against 6 suspects, including all 5 people…
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Man becomes first person ever to rollerblade across Thailand
A Thai man set a new record on Sunday by becoming the first person in the world to rollerblade from the northernmost to the southernmost tip of Thailand. The man’s journey from Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai to Betong district in Yala covered 2,051 kilometres and took 55 days. People have famously run the same route and many Thai’s…
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Thai virologist calls for young children to be protected as under 5s die of Covid-19
A leading Thai virologist is calling on parents to protect children under the age of 5 from contracting Covid-19, as there is no vaccine to protect them. According to a Thai PBS World report, Dr Yong Poovorawan from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, so far this year, 51 children have died of Covid-19, 39 of whom were under the age…
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Thailand’s Prayut calls for sympathy on end of diesel price cap
As Thailand’s price cap on diesel comes to a screeching halt next month, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is asking the public to try to understand the government’s limits in controlling prices. On May 1, the government is set to lower the subsidy on diesel. Up until now, the price cap has kept it at 30 baht per litre. On Tuesday, Thailand’s…
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Tourism Authority of Thailand sticking to target of 300,000 visitors a month
With a glass half-full in one hand, and a calculator in the other, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is confident the country will see 300,000 tourists a month – potentially more towards the end of the year. Yuthasak Supasorn says his agency will meet with tourism operators on April 29, to discuss promotional strategies for the international market. He remains…
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Sun will be directly overhead at noon today in Thailand
Grab your parasols. For a few minutes at noon today, pedestrians in Thailand won’t see their shadows on the sidewalk. That’s because at exactly 12:16pm, April 27, the sun will appear directly overhead in the Land of Smiles. However, the Meteorological Department says this does not guarantee that Wednesday will be the hottest day of the year, due to forecasted…
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Hotels urge government to reconsider collection of land tax as they fight to survive
The Thai Hotels Association is petitioning the government to reconsider collecting the full rate of land and building tax this year. THA president Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi says imposing the levy will have a serious impact on businesses fighting for survival. “The government should carefully look at the context, as hotel revenue remains much lower than the value of properties, especially…
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Taxi driver robs drunk foreigner, steals gold necklace, cash and passport
A taxi driver robbed a foreigner who was passed out drunk on the floor in front of a convenience store in Thailand. The thief grabbed his gold necklace and a bag containing cash, passport and other important documents before fleeing the scene. The exact location of the crime hasn’t yet been reported. The victim’s Thai girlfriend handed the CCTV footage…
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US company opens medical marijuana clinic in Thailand
A US cannabis company has jointly opened a medical marijuana clinic in Thailand, making it the first foreign franchise to do so. The clinic, located on Bangkok’s Sukhumvit Soi 13, treats Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cancer, eating disorders and insomnia. The clinic predicts that changes to Thai laws in July will allow them to give patients THC-dominant products for research purposes. Smoking…
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Tangmo: Police conclude Thai actress died of ‘recklessness’, 6 suspects charged
Following a monthslong investigation into the death of Thai actress Nida “Tangmo” Patcharaveerapong, police have finally charged all 5 of her boating buddies, plus a man who allegedly coached them, with various offences, including recklessness leading to death, lying to police and concealing evidence. At a press conference today at the headquarters of Provincial Police Region 1 in Bangkok, police…
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Not cleaning your air conditioner can cause pneumonia, says Department of Health
Professional air conditioner cleaning services have been swamped with work this week after Thailand’s Department of Health announced that dirty air conditioning units can cause pneumonia. Moist air conditioner units are breeding grounds for bacteria, viruses and fungi according to the department. High numbers of private residences and businesses have requested professional cleaning of their air conditioner units this week…
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Photographer beaten by ‘royalists’ near Democracy Monument
A photographer called Nattaphon, who works for a media agency, is still waiting for justice after being allegedly attacked by a group of ultra royalists near the Democracy Monument last week. He suffered bruises on his back, neck and upper arms. Just after he finished working and was packing up, he noticed a man wearing a long sleeve shirt and…
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1,000 Thai students fail exams due to ‘misunderstanding’
Around 1,000 Thai students have failed their exams to get into university after an exam supervisor told the students that they didn’t have to write down their names and serial numbers on their exam sheets. They believed what he had said and followed the instructions. Unfortunately, the Council of University Presidents of Thailand declined to mark their exam papers since…
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Yell Advertising- a fast emerging advertising agency in Thailand
Press Release In recent years, the rise of Chinese brands has impacted the advertising business globally. With massive spending growth, advertising agencies embraced that opportunity. But when you dive deep into detail, the Chinese have unique characteristics. Many network agencies have difficulty coping with the Chinese brands’ “world’s best-selling” mentality. Why do big brands find success working with a local…
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Prinn hands himself in to ‘acknowledge’ sexual abuse allegations
Former Democrat Party deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi handed himself over to police at Phetchaburi Police Station today at around 9am to “acknowledge” another complaint of sexual harassment filed against him. At 9am today, 45 year old Prinn handed himself over to Phetchaburi Police Station to be questioned by superintendent Pol. Col. Wanchai Khaoram. Prinn turned himself in to “acknowledge” the…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 13,816 new cases; provincial totals
120 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA in Thailand today, raising the pandemic’s total death toll in Thailand to 28,019 with 6,321 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24 hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 13,816 new Covid-19 cases and 21,072 recoveries. There are now 167,124 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
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Thai government “E-Cigarettes won’t be legalised in Thailand”
The Minister of Public Health, Anutin Charnvirakul, insists that the government won’t legalise e-cigarettes any time soon. He accepted that the current laws couldn’t control the spread or popularity of e-cigarettes at this time, but he said he had already assigned the National Tobacco Control Committee to work on the laws and revise them to control the use and sale…
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Country with biggest penis size revealed… it’s not Thailand
In a recent survey conducted by online pharmacy From Mars comparing erect penis sizes in 86 countries, Thai penises were ranked as the 7th smallest in the world (#80). The average erect Thai penis measures in at 4.27 inches (10.8cm). We’re not sure on the accuracy of the measurements, or how they performed them. Some of the measurements may be…
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Medic says Covid-19 will not be endemic while low vaccination can spark a new wave
The dean of Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine says Covid-19 is still capable of triggering a fresh wave and that more people must get vaccinated to counteract this. Dr Prasit Watanapa says while everyone now wants to see an end to the pandemic, Thailand is not yet at the stage where it can declare the virus endemic. Prasit was speaking…
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Tourism Council of Thailand calls for Thailand Pass to be ditched from June
The Thailand Pass should be done away with from June if the country is to have any hope of attracting 10 million foreign tourists this year. That’s the view of the Tourism Council of Thailand, whose vice-president, Vichit Prakobgosol, says ditching the onerous paperwork could bring in an extra 2 million tour group visitors. According to Vichit, even with additional…
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Corpse found floating in Gulf of Thailand
Fishermen discovered the body of a man floating on the surface of the sea around 500 metres away from the coast in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand yesterday. The man’s wrists and ankles had been tied up with ropes and weighed down with rocks. His identity remains unknown. The swollen corpse of a man, around 165 centimetres tall…
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Tourism to Thailand is increasing, but still has nothing on pre-pandemic levels
As entry restrictions into Thailand continue to ease, tourists are trickling back into the kingdom. Numbers of foreign arrivals are high compared to last year, but numbers are still low when compared with pre-pandemic levels. Tourism is expected to increase further from May 1, when tourists will no longer have to undergo any pre-travel or on-arrival Covid tests, and unvaccinated…
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