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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Baby elephant being moved to specialised care after falling in drain
Officials have relocated a baby elephant rescued from a drain in a Bueng Kan village on the weekend to a wildlife protection facility to receive treatment for an infection.Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary officials moved the young elephant from an open pen at the edge of the forest in Bung Kla district to the Kokkwang Forest protection base nearby. The base…
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Costs rise for northerners as they struggle with smoke haze – Nida Poll
People in the North are being hit by additional costs as they struggle with the ongoing haze crisis even as more forest fires erupted in some areas of the north yesterday. A Nida Poll survey of 1,253 respondents shows that nearly 57% of respondents are having to bear additional costs to protect themselves from the pollution. It was not revealed…
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Moral and social media support pours in for leading medical marijuana researcher
Khao Kwan Foundation president Decha Siripat has been receiving moral and social media support after a combined force of police, military and anti-narcotic officials raided the foundation’s offices in Suphan Buri last Wednesday, seizing about 200 marijuana plants, cannabis oil, dried marijuana seeds and marijuana powder. Some foundation staff were also held in police custody on charges of illegal possession of narcotics whilst a summons…
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“Toxic air pollution shortens children’s lives by 20 months”
In the wake of the PM’s visit to Chiang Mai this week, and more than two months of high levels of hazardous air pollution, a report emerges that links air pollution to the life expectancy of children. The international report says that air pollution will shorten life expectancy of children by up to 20 months on average. The 2019 State…
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Smoke haze hits northern Songkran hotel bookings
By Sakaorat Sirima, Nattawat Laping The Northern smog crisis is taking its toll on the popular tourist region, with officials admitting a significant drop seen in hotel-room bookings, even in Chiang Mai, which is otherwise hugely popular as a destination for Songkran celebrations. “Thai tourists are worried that the haze will harm their health,” La-iad Boonsrithong, the president of the…
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Baby elephant rescued from unused drain in far north-east Thailand
A baby elephant has been rescued from an unused drain in Bueng Kan’s Boongkla district in far north east Thailand this morning. Local villagers of Ban None Phaisarn in Tambon Khokkwang contacted officials of the Phu Wang Wildlife Sanctuary after they found the baby elephant trapped in the 2 metre deep well in a rubber plantation. About 20 officials and villagers…
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Cave rescue doctors reveal the drugs used to sedate the Mu Pa football team
The Australian medical consultants involved in the rescue of the 13 Mu Pa (Wild Boar) football team players from the Tham Luang Caves last year say that the evacuees were anesthetised with Ketamine before being swum and carried to safety. Richard Harris, the South Australian anaesthetist and cave diver who led the medical part of the rescue operation, and his…
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Police intercept 9 million methamphetamine pills near Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai police have foiled an attempt to smuggle nine million methamphetamine pills in Wiang Pa Pao district this morning. Police found the drugs when they intercepted and searched a car on the Chiang Rai-Chiang Mai road in Ban Tala village in Tambon Sanslaee. Police declined to give details of the arrested suspects, saying they need to conduct further investigations…
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Big farm companies causing the smoke problems in the north
by Chularat Saengpassa, Sakaorat Sirima Experts see little changing, even after Prayut’s visit to Chiang Mai today, and blame the government’s policy to push corn cultivation. The PM is in Chiang Mai today speaking to provincial governors. But eminent medical specialists based in Chiang Mai are warning that the health impacts from prolonged exposure to smog are real and urgent tangible…
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Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai suffer haze and smoke until at least May
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is flying to Chiang Mai tomorrow (Tuesday) to meet with with the northern provincial governors. Most of the northern provinces, including Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, are likely to face health-threatening haze problems from PM2.5 dust particles until at least early May according to meteorologists. The poor air quality has been a constant part of daily life…
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PM heads north tomorrow to tackle smoke and haze issues
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha flies to Chiang Mai tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to host a meeting of the upper northern provincial governors to discuss the haze and smoke which has enveloped the region for the past two months. A deputy spokesman for the Government, Lt-Gen Weerachon Sukondhapatipak, says the PM has been closely monitoring the haze situation and wants first-hand information…
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Buriram villager killed by rampaging wild elephant
by Surachai Piraksa A 37 year old man from a village in Buriram province has been stomped to death by a wild elephant early today in Tambon Lam Nang Rong. Following the discovery of his dead body at 6am in a rubber plantation, police and rescue workers, along with a medical examiner, went to inspect the scene. They found the…
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Two day rescue of six baby elephants stuck in mud pool in Nakhon Ratchasima – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: DNP Six baby elephants have been rescued from mud pool in Nakhon Ratchasima following two days of delicate efforts from officials. The Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plants Conservation reports that they found the baby elephants on Wednesday while forest officers were patrolling in the forest in Sengsang, Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast of Thailand. During the afternoon they stumbled…
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Nepali fugitive arrested in Nakhon Phanom for jobs scam
A Nepalese man has been arrested in Nakhon Phanom, on the far north-east Thai border with Laos, over alleged deception of 16 compatriots. He’s alleged to have scammed more than 5 million baht from them by promising jobs in a foreign country. Immigration Police chief Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn says 37 year old Prashu Rum Gurung was arrested under…
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Study: Psychosis in teens linked to air pollution
“One of the most consistent findings over the past few decades has been a link between cities and psychosis.” Whilst the high levels of air-pollution, smog and smoke remain high in the north and north-eastern provinces of Thailand, a new study has been released that links high levels of smog and psychoses in young adults. Joanne Newbury, lead author of…
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60 year old arrested over alleged rape of neighbour’s 14 year old daughter
Police have arrested a 60 year old man for allegedly raping a 14 year old girl in Khon Kaen.The suspect, identified only as ‘Song’, was arrested after the girl’s mother filed a police complaint saying the man had allegedly raped her daughter, and on several occasions. The woman told the police that she first learned of the rapes on March…
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Thaksin: Election rigged with many irregularities
Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra told Agence France-Presse yesterday that Thailand’s election was marred by “irregularities” and “rigged”. He says the military rigged the election system to retain their political grip on the kingdom. “Everyone knows in Thailand, everyone international that observed the election in Thailand, knows that(there is irregularities,” he told AFP in English. “What we call, we should call,…
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Two Future Forward candidates win Pheu Thai strongholds in Chiang Rai
Two long-time champions of the Pheu Thai Party in Chiang Rai have been defeated by candidates of the new Future Forward Party in yesterday’s general election. In Constituency 1, Pheu Thai several-term MP Samart Kaewmeechai was toppled by Future Forward’s Ekkapop Pianpiset in a closely run contest. Ekkapop, who had resigned his position as a doctor at a private hospital…
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Summer storms on the way for north, north-east
FILE PHOTO People living in the north of Thailand are being warned to brace themselves for some summer thunderstorms until Wednesday. The Meteorological Department issued an alert today saying the storms will be caused by a high-pressure system from China that will interact with the hot weather over upper Thailand. Outbreaks of summer thunderstorms will be likely from today to…
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King awards rescuers of Mu Pa football team
His Majesty the King has awarded 187 people, including 115 foreigners, with The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn for the rescue of the Mu Pa football team last July. The announcement in the Royal Gazette reads the government recognises that those people who helped those in peril performed good deeds and deserved to be honored. They will be granted the…
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100 houses damaged after storm hits Nakhon Ratchasima districts
by Prasit Tangprasert A tropical storm has left more than 100 houses damaged after it hit Nakhon Ratchasima province, north-east of Bangkok, yesterday. Nakhon Ratchasima’s Governor Wichian Chantanothai says… “We are in the process of surveying damages.” He made the comment as he was handing out relief items to storm victims in Sikhiu district. He said authorities planned to ask soldiers…
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Cabinet waives tolls for 8 days over Songkran break
Thailand’s cabinet has decided to waive tolls on the Bangkok-Pattaya and Bangkok-Bang Pa-in-Bang Phli motorways starting April 10 until midnight on April 18. This takes in the main Songkran break between April 12 – 14 and the annual ‘seven days of danger’. A Cabinet spokesperson say that a large number of people are expected to leave Bangkok for the provinces…
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31 injured when bus overturned in Nakhon Ratchasima
by Prasit TangprasertPHOTOS:โนนสูง “อาสา” ฐานหน้าโรงพยาบาลโนนสูง Thirty one passengers have been injured, two critically, when a Nong Khai-Rayong inter-provincial bus overturned in Nakhon Ratchasima early this morning. Police and rescue workers were alerted at 2.40am to the scene on Mitraparp Highway in Ban Don Tabaeng, Noen Sung district in Nakhon Ratchasima. The blue and white air conditioned bus was carrying 41…
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Specialist clinics for pollution-related symptoms to be set up around the country
The Public Health Ministry says they are now preparing to set up specialised clinics to treat patients suffering from pollution-related symptoms in the northern parts of the country. “At present, we have just one such clinic in the country. So, we have decided to introduce many more,” according to permanent secretary Dr Sukhum Karnchanapimai. He made the pledge in response…
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TAT expects 2.3 million tourists for this year’s Songkran
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is expecting more than 2.3 million local and foreign tourists will join the various Songkran celebrations this year. They say that should generate 20 billion baht+ in revenue for tourism and tourism-related services. TAT’s Governor Yuthasak Supasorn says 300,000 international arrivals are expected to celebrate the five day festival starting April 12, along with two…
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Surin train runs over homeless man
A homeless man has been killed after being hit by a passenger train in Surin’s main city district early today. Surin is north- east of Bangkok on the Cambodian border. A policeman on duty at the Surin station was alerted at 5.48 am that the man, who police report appears to be in his 50s, was killed as the train…
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Week kicks off with more choking haze and cancelled flights in the north
From Nan to Mae Hong Son, Phrae, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, choking smog continues to be a persistent problem and part of daily life in the North, where more than 400 brushfire hotspots have now been identified. Most of the fires are in Mae Hong Son, on the far north-west border with Myanmar, which counted 100. Bangkok Airways has…
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Plastic waste fire smothers village in acrid smoke
by Prasit Tangprasert Firefighters are struggling to control a major fire at a plastic waste-separating factory in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Noen Sung district which began on Wednesday afternoon and is still not completely completely extinguished. Nakhon Ratchasima is the gateway to the north-east, heading out of Bangkok.Villagers in Ban Don Ree and Ban Som say they are worried about the health…
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PM concerned over public safety in northern areas because of tropical storm warnings
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he’s concerned over public safety in risk areas of tropical storms that have been forecast for the northern regions up until next Tuesday. He’s instructed all authorities to promptly take preventive and relief measures against potential damage. Deputy government spokesman Lt. Gen. Werachon Sukondhapatipak says the PM is concerned over the welfare and safety of…
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Two men, 14 buffaloes killed in Phayao truck crash
Two men and 14 water buffaloes have been killed when a truck transporting 20 buffaloes lost control and overturned in Phayao’s Muang district, east of Chiang Mai.Police say the incident happened at 4.48am on the Ban San Khajao-Huay Nam Khao road in Tambon Tha Wang Thong, Phayao. The truck driver, Kitisak Phanphon and his passenger Kamphol Srikham, both 30 years…
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