Northern Thailand News
Northern Thailand news, Chiang Mai news, business, tourism, and culture—stay updated with breaking stories, local events, and travel insights from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pai, and beyond. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Northern Thailand news source.
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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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74 year old German arrested for alleged murder of teenage Thai wife in 2010
A 74 year old German, accused of stabbing his much younger wife to death, has been arrested after nine years on the run. Siam Rath reports that Heinz Jurgen Theil has been arrested in Chiang Rai province and is now in custody, charged with murder. Police say Theil is accused of stabbing his 17 year old wife, Janjira Jantapool, in…
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National Geographic tries to secure rights to produce Tham Luang rescue doco
National Geographic has made top level contact with the government-appointed Creative Media Committee to negotiate shooting a documentary about last July’s dramatic rescue operation at the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai. British diver Rick Stanton, who was actively involved in the complicated rescue operation to save the 13 young Mu Pa footballers, says that the British cave diving team wrote a letter to the…
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Air quality in 9 northern provinces worse in March-April
Smog problems in nine of Thailand’s northern provinces is forecast to get worse during the next two months due to forest fires. This is despite a complete ban on the open burning of vegetation or trash. Chongklai Worapongsathorn, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation spoke to local fire fighters before they are sent to…
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Lemon-sized hailstones hit 700 homes around Udon Thani
by Seksanti Kalayanawisut “Some of the hailstones were as big as a lemon.” Udon Thani provincial authorities have inspected around 700 homes in Mueang, Phen, Ban Phue, Si That and Kumphawapi districts that were damaged in a freak hailstorm last night. At Tambon Nikhom Songkhro in Mueang district, Udon Thani deputy governor Pramote Thanyapheud led officials to check out damage…
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19 year old mother slashes three year old son’s throat in Yasothon
WARNING: This story may be shocking to some readers PHOTO: Sanook A 19 year old mother has used a kitchen knife to slash the throat of her three year old son in Yasothon in Thailand’s north-east. Thairath reports that Yasothon Police were notified of the incident at the woman’s lodgings last night at 7 pm. Police and rescue workers arrived…
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Thailand will swelter through searing temperatures this summer
Temperatures in Thailand this summer is forecast to be 1-2 degrees Celsius warmer than last year. The announcement comes from the Thai Meteorological Department director-general Phuwiang Prakammin. And it’s predicted to hit 42-43C in seven provinces in northern Thailand. In Thailand summer, as a regional season, is listed as running between February 21 to mid-May. Phuwiang says daytime temperatures in…
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Usable water level in Khon Kaen’s main dam dangerously low
One of the north-east’s largest dams is running dry. And the dry season has just begun. About a year ago, Khon Kaen irrigation officials were discharging excess water through Ubol Ratana Dam (pronounced Ubonrat) to increase reservoir capacity to ease flood problems in Thailand’s northeastern province of Khon Kaen. Now, the same officials are urging people in the province to…
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Snakes! 2,000+ snakes seized in Thai-Laos border sting
182 baskets containing 2,730 rat snakes and cobras – worth 1 million baht in total – have been intercepted as they were about to be smuggled out of Thailand and into Laos. Mukdahan Wild Animals Checkpoint officials were joined by personnel from other agencies in confiscating the reptilian cache. Mukdahan is located on the far north-eastern Thai-Laos border Following a tip-off…
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Tham Luang caves closing for retrieval of all rescue equipment
Chiang Rai’s Tham Luang caves, the scene of the international cave rescue last July, will close to all visitors from February 19 to allow Thai Navy SEALs to enter and recover equipment left in the cave after the rescue mission. The mission, which captured the attention of media around the world and changed the young men’s lives forever, extracted 13…
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Uighur escapees captured and back in Mukdahan jail
Seven undocumented Uighurs, who escaped from an immigration facility in northeast Mukdahan, on the Laos border in far north-east Thailand last week, have been recaptured. Pol Colonel Sith Sirikangwalkul, the acting Immigration chief for the region, says that one was recaptured on Tuesday (February 12), the same night everyone escaped, and two more were found in a forest two kilometres away…
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UPDATE: Kalasin shooting. Husband dies after shooting.
A Kalasin private school executive, shot in the head after a Valentine’s Day fight with his wife, has died in hospital as a result of his injuries. The death of 45 year old Ratthasart Panichpongsapak has prompted police to file a murder charge against the man’s 44 year old wife Mayura Panichpongsapak. Mayura was initially charged with attempted murder and…
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Husband shot after wife questions “mystery” phone call
A man in Kalasin was seriously wounded with a gunshot to the head early this morning. Kalisan is in the north-east of Thailand. Daily News reports that the man’s wife says she was ‘furious’ after her husband refused to explain a mystery phone call during a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. Somdej police arrived at the two storey house after the local Asoke…
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Motorbike driver dies after his head crushed in Udon Thani, truck driver flees
A motorbike driver has died after his head was crushed by a truck and trailer yesterday. The trailer diver fled the scene in Udon Thani. The accident occurred in Kudjab Road in Mueang Udon Thani, North East of Thailand. Police and emergency responders arrived to find the body of Thai man, later identified as 39 years old Sutin Ngonchalee. Nearby…
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Up up and away – getting married aloft in Chiang Rai
PHOTOS: The Nation Twenty couples, Thais and foreign, have taken their vows and married aloft hot-air balloons over Chiang Rai today. Among the lovebirds were actor Danai Jarujinda and his fiance Phraewwanich Kijthawornsawat, who decided to tie the knot after 11 years together. “Balloon Love” is held at Singha Park Chiang Rai Balloon Fiesta, which runs from February 13-17. The…
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Khon Kaen faces its second week of crippling air pollution
The north-eastern hub of Khon Kaen heads into a new week still struggling with heavy air pollution that has persisted over the past week. The Air Quality Index peaked at 206 yesterday. All the readings in the region were well beyond safe limits. Smoke haze has also enveloped the main city, Chum Phae, Mancha Khiri, Kranuan, Ubol Rattana and Phra…
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North-east wallows in heavy air pollution, Bangkok improves
Bangkok has had a respite in the past week from almost two months of heavy air pollution. Whilst the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority, government and pollution control department dithered around with spurious explanations, the pollution persisted. Water cannons, fire departments spraying water from atop city towers, amateur drones flying tiny ‘clearing’ missions and asking factories to shut down, kept the media…
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Air pollution problems move to Khon Kaen
Pollution continues to choke the north-east province of Khon Kaen with the Air Quality Index reaching 187 yesterday, well beyond the “moderate” safety limit of 100. This morning it’s reading at 174. Associate Professor Dr Kittichai Triratanasirichai, a former president of Khon Kaen University, says the pollution in Khon Kaen had worsened mainly due to the burning of sugarcane and…
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Thai and Burmese authorities detain 81 in search for drug gang
by Natthawat Laping “Is wanted Thai drug trafficker 30 year old Pannawit Pathum among the group?” Burmese authorities have conducted raids at entertainment venues, hotels, resorts and residential communities near the Thai-Myannar border opposite Chiang Rai’s Mae Fah Luang district and rounded up 81 Thai nationals who had illegally entered the country. Chiang Rai Immigration superintendent Pol Colonel Ekkorn Busababodin…
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Nan blossoms in pink splendour
Tourists are flocking to the far northern province of Nan, on the Laos border, this weekend to witness the beauty of wild Himalayan cherry tree blossoms, widely known as “Thai sakura”, at a research station in Nanoi district. Kanyarat Natebutr, chief of Tonnam Kunsatan research station said that the areas around the station, where cherry trees, green maple and macadamia…
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Narcotics Control Board say they’ve prevented 300 million meth pills coming into Thailand
PHOTO: Niyom Termsrisuk, ONCB secretary-general – The Nation “During the period, the ONCB led officials to search 84,000 villages and arrested 90,000 suspects in some 80,000 cases.” The Office of Narcotics Control Board says that it’s managed to prevent 300 million methamphetamine pills from flowing into the country in Q4, 2018. The ONCB secretary-general Niyom Termsrisuk says the agency also…
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Troops intercept pickup with 2.85 million meth pills – one smuggler killed
A shootout with Army troops has resulted in the death of a drug suspect while attempting to smuggle 2.8 million methamphetamine pills into Thailand from neighbouring Myanmar. Troops from the Pha Muang Taskforce were patrolling a border road in Chiang Rai’s Chiang Saen district, in the far north of Thailand, when they spotted the pickup truck at about 10.40pm. Ttroops…
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Aussie cave divers given top honours for their role in last year’s Tham Luang rescue
PHOTO: Richard Harris and Craig Challen along with Australian PM Scott Morrison Cave rescue divers Dr. Richard Harris and Craig Challen have been jointly named Australian of the Year for their heroic efforts helping to save 13 young footballers from a flooded cave in Chiang Rai. In July 2018, Adelaide anaesthetist Dr Harris and retired vet Dr Challen, from Perth, made…
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Thai cave rescuers announced as the Australians of the Year 2019
Craig Challen and Richard Harris have been awarded as the 2019 Australian of the Year for their contribution the Thailand cave rescue mission. They were part of the international contingent of skilled divers that brought expertise to the team that were able to figure out a way to safely extract the 13 members of the Mu Pa football team in…
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Drug dealers involved with teenager’s killing in Khon Kaen
PHOTOS: Immigration Bureau A Thai drug dealer has found to be involved with the death of a boy who was attacked and killed in a school football field in Khon Kaen last week. The Immigration Bureau is reporting that the 17 year old boy was attacked at a school football field in. Police have arrested some suspects they believe to…
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Cave divers reunite to retrieve equipment at Tham Luang caves
Divers involved in last July’s rescue of the 13 young Mu Pa footballers from the flooded Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai, are to reunite to retrieve around 100 tonnes of equipment left behind from the rescue. The Thai navy SEALs and Finnish diver Mikko Paasi re-united this week for the first time since July 2018 when the last members…
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Swiss man accused of overstaying visa and theft charges
by Kamthon Kongsombat PHOTO: Security footage from the Phuket jewelry store in December 2018 – Facebook The Immigration Bureau says they’re going to blacklist and deport a Swiss man who overstayed his visa and is also accused of series of thefts in Nongkhai and Phuket. The Nongkhai deputy immigration police chief Colonel Prasit Somjaiprasong says that Julien Andre Junior Cotting,…
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19 year old caught transporting drugs to Korat in a hired taxi
PHOTOS: The Nation A young man has been arrested after being allegedly found with methamphetamine pills, marijuana and a gun in a taxi at a checkpoint in Nakhon Ratchasima. Police say he had hired a Bangkok taxi to take him, along with the drugs, to a client in Buri Ram. Pol Lt Col Ronnarong Surathot, deputy commander of Chokchai police…
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Baby elephant dies from horrific wounds after being caught in hunter’s trap
A baby elephant has died after a hunter abandoned her, tied up to a fence in a forest in Rayong. The little elephant died after suffering from horrific wounds. The elephant, only one month old, was found by villagers in Rayong tied up to a fence with a rope cutting deep into her ankle. Read the story of her discovery…
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Chiang Rai Tourist Police hunting another foreign graffiti sprayer – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Chiang Rai Tourist Police The Chiang Rai Tourist Police are hunting for a foreign man who was caught on CCTV footage spraying on a wall near the old bus terminal in Chiang Rai. The northern Tourist Police office yesterday were trying to find the man who is clearly identified on CCTV footage spraying the wall of a restaurant. Anyone who…
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Burmese man arrested with 300 kilogram of ‘ice’ in Chiang Rai
A Burmese man from the Shan State has been arrested after troops intercepted his pickup and found a large shipment of 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine last night. The Pha Muang Taskforce had officers set up a checkpoint on the bypass near Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district between the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge and Ban Nam Jam village in Tambon Pong…
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