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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    See the best of Northern Thailand this winter on a budget

    The Thaiger key takeaways Peak season brings higher prices, but smart planning and local know-how can help you experience Northern Thailand affordably. Chiang Mai, Pai, and Chiang Rai offer plenty of free or low-cost attractions, from temples and canyons to...

  • Health Ministry says to keep traditional Songkran activities dry | Thaiger

    Health Ministry says to keep traditional Songkran activities dry

    Thai officials have yet to set regulations on the massive water celebrations for Songkran, the Thai New Year, but the Public Health Ministry is recommending dry activities for the traditional ceremonies. To prevent the spread of Covid-19, the ministry is advising that Thais avoid the traditional act known as “rod nam dam hua,” where water is poured on the hands…

  • Deaths due to Covid-19 pandemic much higher than reported figures, study shows | Thaiger

    Deaths due to Covid-19 pandemic much higher than reported figures, study shows

    The Covid-19 death toll is much higher than what has been officially reported, according to a recent analysis published in The Lancet, a medical journal. The analysis estimates that the global number of fatalities related to the Covid-19 pandemic reached 18.2 million by December 31, 2021, which triples the number of deaths reported at 5.94 million. The findings were based…

  • 8 passengers killed, 20 injured after bus headed to Bangkok crashes into bridge pillar | Thaiger

    8 passengers killed, 20 injured after bus headed to Bangkok crashes into bridge pillar

    Eight bus passengers were killed and more than 20 injured after a double-decker bus crashed into the concrete pillar for the overhead bridge. A total of 32 passengers were on the Bangkok – Suwannaphum bus operated by the state-run Transport Company. Five people died immediately at the scene and three later died at the hospital. 22 people, including the driver,…

  • Thai Armed Forces warn that Russia will sanction APEC trade bloc if war continues | Thaiger

    Thai Armed Forces warn that Russia will sanction APEC trade bloc if war continues

    With Thailand chairing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade bloc this year, the Thai Armed Forces have warned Russia is likely to impose sanctions if the war on Ukraine continues. “If the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, economic sanctions on APEC will emerge.” The trade block is made up of the US, Russia, China, Japan, Australia, Canada, South Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand,…

  • Pattaya opens hotline to support stranded Ukrainian and Russian tourists | Thaiger

    Pattaya opens hotline to support stranded Ukrainian and Russian tourists

    The Pattaya Tourist Police have launched a hotline to help Ukrainians and Russians facing financial issues or cancelled flights due to the conflict in Ukraine. Tourists and expats in Pattaya can call the hotline number at 1155 or use the application Tourist Police i lert u. Thousands of Russian tourists are stranded in Thailand due to flight cancellations and sanctions…

  • Transfer money from Thailand to banks overseas fast with DeeMoney | Thaiger

    Transfer money from Thailand to banks overseas fast with DeeMoney

    Press Release DeeMoney Looking for a better and easier solution for sending money overseas from Thailand? Look no further, than DeeMoney! The problems people face with the traditional and modern-day banking system is that its expensive, opaque and usually involves a lot of intermediaries. Before your money reaches your overseas bank account, you sometimes don’t realise how much money has…

  • Tangmo’s mum demands second autopsy, visits police in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Tangmo’s mum demands second autopsy, visits police in Bangkok

    The mother of deceased actress ‘Tangmo’ is demanding a second autopsy on her daughter’s body by the Justice Ministry’s Central Institute of Forensic science. The mother, Panida Sirayuthyothin, went with a lawyer to the First Region Provincial Police Bureau in Bangkok yesterday to make her demand. Panida’s lawyer says Panida is suspicious about wounds on Tangmo’s body. While a forensic…

  • What Happens When Foreigners Die In Thailand? | Thaiger

    What Happens When Foreigners Die In Thailand?

    Do you need a will as a foreigner or expat living in Thailand? What roles do the embassy have to play in such a case? What if you don’t have a will? Does all your money and assets go to the state if you don’t have a beneficiary? Is it cheap or expensive to have a will? Tim sits with…

  • Tangmo: Watch her memorial services online (livestream link) | Thaiger

    Tangmo: Watch her memorial services online (livestream link)

    Three days of Christian memorial services for Thai actress Nida Patcharaveerapong aka “Tangmo” (แตงโม) are scheduled to take place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 11-13, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm each day, at Liberty Church Bangkok in Saphan Sung district, near Suvarnabhumi Airport east of Bangkok. The services are open to family, fans, the general public and the media. There…

  • Four Afghan women win scholarships to Bangkok university | Thaiger

    Four Afghan women win scholarships to Bangkok university

    Despite living under the Taliban’s grip, four Afghan women have won scholarships to study at Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok. The women were chosen based on their academic records, and determination to promote women’s participation in Afghan society. The executive director of the Thai Pipe Industry told the Bangkok Post the women will be role models and mentors to…

  • VERSO International School – Thailands Future Ready School | Thaiger

    VERSO International School – Thailands Future Ready School

    SPONSORED: Welcome to Verso International School. This exciting new learning experience centre is the largest school in the BKK metropolitan area. It is the first truly innovative American future- ready school in Thailand. With a syllabus rarely found amongst current Thai education institutions, they offer something unique, modern and designed for today’s international youth. VERSO puts your child in the…

  • Bangkok doctor warns of healthcare collapse if Covid-19 is not dealt with | Thaiger

    Bangkok doctor warns of healthcare collapse if Covid-19 is not dealt with

    A Bangkok professor at Chulalongkorn’s Faculty of Medicine warns that Thailand’s economy isn’t strong enough to handle Covid-19 if the situation gets out of hand. He noted that Thailand’s economy is weaker than the economies of European countries. “With fewer economic resources than wealthy countries, the impact of the outbreak will be too tough to handle”. Several healthcare resources in…

  • Federation of Thai Industries wants gov to scrap Test & Go, stop fuel price crisis | Thaiger

    Federation of Thai Industries wants gov to scrap Test & Go, stop fuel price crisis

    The Federation of Thai Industries has called on Thailand’s government to scrap the Test & Go scheme, and stop the ongoing fuel price crisis. On Thursday, the president of the federation suggested easing Test & Go to support tourism and a recovery for the Thai economy. The FTI suggested that Thailand only require fully vaccinated travellers to show proof of…

  • Tangmo’s fans to rally “for justice” today in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Tangmo’s fans to rally “for justice” today in Bangkok

    A crowd of fans of Thai actress “Tangmo”, who died last month under suspicious circumstances, will rally today in front of Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok. The rally will begin at 10am today (Saturday) at the police headquarters on Rama I Road.  Tangmo’s fans claim the investigation into her death is not transparent. While a forensic doctor who examined…

  • Driver focused on GPS accidentally drives into canal in Korat | Thaiger

    Driver focused on GPS accidentally drives into canal in Korat

    A driver focused on the GPS accidentally drove into a canal, sinking his pick-up truck. The driver and the other four passengers managed to safely get out of the vehicle. The driver says he was in an area that he wasn’t familiar with in the northeastern province Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat. With his eyes focused more on the…

  • Thai citizens donate over 5 million baht to Ukraine | Thaiger

    Thai citizens donate over 5 million baht to Ukraine

    Over 5 million baht has been donated by Thai citizens to help with humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. As of yesterday, 5,306,750 baht had been collected by the Embassy of Ukraine in Thailand, which has been transferred to the National Bank of Ukraine. The donations will help people affected by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The news follows yesterday’s…

  • Columbia Pictures Aquaverse water park to open in Chon Buri next month | Thaiger

    Columbia Pictures Aquaverse water park to open in Chon Buri next month

    The new Columbia Pictures Aquaverse water park in Chon Buri is officially opening to the public next month after plans were delayed due to Covid-19. The themes for attractions are based on popular movies and animations like Jumanji, Ghostbusters, and Hotel Transylvania. The water park also offers the world’s first wave pool cinema, allowing guests to watch movies on a…

  • Tangmo saga continues, as key witness questions autopsy report | Thaiger

    Tangmo saga continues, as key witness questions autopsy report

    As the family, friends and fans of Thai actress Nida “Tangmo” Patcharaveerapong begin a three-day celebration of her life this evening, the conclusion of the police investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death will continue, as police await the results of further forensics examinations. Now a fresh autopsy is reportedly being conducted in response to new allegations and significant…

  • PM Prayut to board first official flight to Yala’s new airport, chair opening ceremony | Thaiger

    PM Prayut to board first official flight to Yala’s new airport, chair opening ceremony

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha will be onboard the first flight to the new Betong Airport in the southern province Yala to preside over the opening ceremony on Monday. The prime minister hopes the airport will stimulate the southern border provinces’ economic development, encourage domestic and international commerce and improve security in the area. The airport, under construction from 2017 to 2019,…

  • Farmers sleep on the streets of Bangkok for 42 days calling for action on debt | Thaiger

    Farmers sleep on the streets of Bangkok for 42 days calling for action on debt

    Farmers from all over Thailand are sleeping under a busy expressway in Bangkok to call on the government to solve the problem of farmers’ debt. So far, the protestors have slept on the streets for 42 nights. The farmers request that their debt be transferred from central government banks, which charge high interest rates, to the Farmers’ Rehabilitation and Development…

  • Man claiming to be Tokay gecko catcher allegedly kills 2 pet dogs, steals valuable rosewood house pillars | Thaiger

    Man claiming to be Tokay gecko catcher allegedly kills 2 pet dogs, steals valuable rosewood house pillars

    A thief who claimed to be a Tokay gecko catcher poisoned two pet dogs and stole two house pillars made from valuable rosewood in the early hours of yesterday morning in the Isaan province Surin. 42 year old Saman Sooklom, who rents a house in Surin, woke up yesterday to find that his two pet dogs were dead and the…

  • Man arrested for kidnapping a 6 year old boy, forcing the child to beg on the streets | Thaiger

    Man arrested for kidnapping a 6 year old boy, forcing the child to beg on the streets

    A man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 6 year old Cambodian child in Bangkok and forcing the boy to beg for money on the streets. The Mirror Foundation, a Thai non-governmental organisation, says the man has been forcing children to beg on the streets for more than two years in various provinces. The child was abducted from a convenience…

  • Two officers accused of stealing motorbikes from police station’s evidence department | Thaiger

    Two officers accused of stealing motorbikes from police station’s evidence department

    Two police officers in southern Thailand are being accused of stealing 36 motorbikes, which had been confiscated from suspects. The motorbikes had been seized from suspects and were being kept at the police station in Songkhla as evidence. The officers allegedly sold the stolen motorbikes to other police officers. A former police station superintendent accused the two officers of stealing…

  • Friday Covid Update: 24,792 new cases; provincial totals | Thaiger

    Friday Covid Update: 24,792 new cases; provincial totals

    63 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 23,575 with 1,877 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 24,792 new Covid-19 cases and 22,065 recoveries. There are now 222,998 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…

  • Thai prisons ban alcohol-based gel after inmate dies, others hospitalised from drinking hand sanitiser | Thaiger

    Thai prisons ban alcohol-based gel after inmate dies, others hospitalised from drinking hand sanitiser

    Alcohol-based hand sanitiser is being banned at Thai prisons after one inmate died, another blinded, and 31 others injured from mixing the hand gel with soft drinks to get drunk. All forms of alcohol products are typically prohibited on prison grounds, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, with major outbreaks at Thai prisons infecting tens of thousands of inmates, rules were…

  • Thai government to change how Covid-19 deaths are recorded | Thaiger

    Thai government to change how Covid-19 deaths are recorded

    The Public Health Ministry says it will adjust how it records Covid-19 deaths after it emerged that up to 30% of patients who died passed away as a result of underlying illnesses. According to a Bangkok Post report, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul says officials will revise the data to ensure the cause of death in Covid patients is more accurately…

  • Forensic doctor denies ‘signs’ Thai TV actress Tangmo was hit in the head | Thaiger

    Forensic doctor denies ‘signs’ Thai TV actress Tangmo was hit in the head

    A recent autopsy on the body of the Thai TV actress known as “Tangmo” shows that there was no sign she was hit in the head with a hard object before drowning in the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok last month, says a forensic doctor who examined the body of the 37 year old celebrity. There were reportedly no broken…

  • Government ramping up vaccination of the elderly ahead of Songkran holiday | Thaiger

    Government ramping up vaccination of the elderly ahead of Songkran holiday

    Health authorities in Thailand are accelerating the Covid-19 vaccine rollout for the elderly population ahead of the Songkran holiday in April. Sumanee Wacharasin from the CCSA says the government wants to ensure people over the age of 60 receive a booster dose to maintain high immunity. The move comes as many people plan to return home, reuniting with elderly relatives…

  • End in sight for Thailand Pass once Covid-19 declared endemic – TAT | Thaiger

    End in sight for Thailand Pass once Covid-19 declared endemic – TAT

    The governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says tourism numbers may need to be revised down due to the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which includes surging oil prices and rising inflation. Yuthasak Supasorn adds that entry restrictions will be relaxed in stages as officials move to declaring Covid-19 endemic. Cabinet has already approved a Public Health Ministry…

  • Officials warn about various scam Thailand Pass emails, some with malicious links | Thaiger

    Officials warn about various scam Thailand Pass emails, some with malicious links

    Thailand Pass applicants are being warned about numerous scam emails from accounts posing as the Department of Consular Affairs or a team from the Thailand Pass system. Some emails are requesting personal information, such as passport numbers, and others include an encrypted link. Officials haven’t confirmed if any other information besides email addresses has been compromised from the Thailand Pass…