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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Floods hit five villages near the Tham Luang cave rescue site – Chiang Rai
PHOTO: Local News2010A month ago the local villagers near the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai were volunteering with food and helping hands. Now they’re fighting to save their homes. Mountain run-off last night (Monday) has hit five villages in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, near where the young Moo Pa (Wild Boars) football team was recently rescued from the…
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‘The Heroes’ unveiled in Chiang Rai
A 13 x 3 metre mural has become the latest step in immortalising the Tham Luang cave rescue for generations to come. The mural will shortly be moved to be part of an exhibit which will be constructed at the front of the mouth of the caves. “The Heroes” is a canvas painting which portrays the story and the many,…
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Australian doctor reveals about the complicated sedation of Mu Pa 13
Dr Richard Harris, the Australian doctor involved in the Tham Luang cave rescue, has revealed new details about the sedation of the young football team, following a ceremony at Government House in his home city of Adelaide on Thursday where he received a standing ovation. Thai PBS reports that Dr Harris spoke about howhe taught the other divers how to…
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Sing Buri and Chiang Rai – major drug busts
Police in Sing Buri, central Thailand, say they’ve cracked open a major drug syndicate with the arrest of key members. A major drug-trafficking ring’s members were arrested along with 11,600,000 methamphetamine pills and some 700kg of crystal methamphetamine or “ice”. The announcement from the deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan yesterday. Following a tipoff by undercover police on…
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Thai and foreign media warned off Mu Pa 13
“Stay away.” That’s the warning issued by the public relations office of Chiang Rai province after a correspondent of America’s ABC News conducted an interview with the youngest of the survivors from Tham Luang cave in defiance of advice of psychiatrists and child welfare officials. The film crew also visited the church for 14 year old Adul Sam-on where church…
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Seven arrested over a 300 kilogram ‘ice’ shipment in Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai is in the news for a different reason this morning after six adults and a 15 year old have been arrested over a drug bust in Chiang Rai early today (Monday). The Nation reports that most of the group were riding in a suspected “spotter” car ahead of a a truck full of crystal methamphetamine, aka ‘ice’. Fourteen…
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Soldiers water down protest plans ahead of PMs north-eastern visit
Police visited the home of an Ubon Ratchathani academic over the weekend to ask that he and university students refrain from engaging in protests when PM Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha visits the north-eastern province over the next few days. Khaosod English reports that police officers went to the university lecturer Teerapon Anmai’s home and asked him not to make any political…
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Foreign media slammed for intruding on the Mu Pa 13
The Mu Pa 13 spoke to the Thai and world media on Wednesday night in a one-time-only media conference. Authorities said that it was now time to leave the team alone and let them re-unite with their families and friends, and get back to their studies and football. The media have mostly respected the wishes and left the team alone…
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The one hour expedition that lasted three weeks
The 12 Mu Pa teenage footballers and their coach planned visit the Tham Luang caves on June 23. They arrived around 4pm and ventured inside with a plan to spend about an hour exploring. They were meant to be out by 5 pm. 18 days later the last of them emerged after a ‘miraculous’ (their words) rescue involving hundreds of…
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Thai citizenship likely for one of the Mu Pa team
PHOTOS: The Nation During the rescue of the Mu Pa 13 from the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai it emerged that three of the team members and their 25 year old coach Ekkapol, were ‘stateless’ – caught in a bureaucratic neverland between Thailand and the nearby border Myanmar area which isn’t recognised by the Myanmar government. Their status leaves…
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“We only intended to visit the cave for an hour” – Mu Pa 13
PHOTOS: The Nation The Mu Pa Academy team and their assistant coach yesterday fronted the media as a group for the first and last time last night in Chiang Rai in a carefully staged media event. Questions from local and international media were carefully vetted before being addressed to the team members who, all dressed in match team T Shirts,…
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British divers reveal more details – VIDEO interview John Volanthen
Whilst the Mu Pa 13 team, along with some Thai Navy Seals, doctors and psychiatrists have participated in a group interview in Chiang Rai tonight, some of the British divers have related their stories to the British press. Three of the British divers involved in the extraordinary rescue of 12 boys and their football coach who were trapped inside the…
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The team were ‘heavily sedated’ – Australian diver
PHOTO: thewest.com.au The team of 13 rescued from the Tham Luang caves last week were ‘heavily sedated’ to assist in their successful recovery and to avoid panicking. One of two Australian experts who were with the Mu Pa football team and helped in last week’s rescue from the Tham Luong cave in Chiang Rai says the boys and their coach…
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“They’ll grow up to work for country’s benefit” – Dr Pak
“I’m confident that the Mu Pa boys will grow up to be excellent citizens of the country and work for the benefits of the country’s future and reputation,” wrote Dr Pak Loharnchun in a Facebook post. The Army doctor played a leading role in helping the boys. The doctor also posted photos of himself giving the boys goodbye hugs in Chiangrai…
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“Leave the kids alone” – Child psychiatrist
(4 minute read) The global attention drawn to the dramatic rescue mission has shone a glaring spotlight on the 12 young footballers from the Mu Pa Academy, making them unwitting public figures. Psychiatrists are stressing that the boys should draw on their own personal strength and support from their families to avoid becoming tainted by fame. Child psychiatrists are advising…
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Chiang Rai: Mu Pa team pay tribute to Saman Kunan
The Mu Pa Football players trapped in the Tham Luang Caves for almost three weeks paid tribute to the Navy SEAL who lost his life during the rescue operation. Wiping away tears, the boys wrote messages of thanks on a portrait of the former Navy SEAL Saman Kunan, who died July 6 during an operation to deliver oxygen tanks to…
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Chiang Rai: Mu Pa team sends messages from hospital
The Mu Pa team have each sent a message from hospital. Here’s the video and the translation underneath. Enjoy. https://www.facebook.com/PhuriNews/videos/294712554406895/ Prachak Sutham (Note), 14, said he was now in good health and he would like to thank all the rescuers. Duangphet Promthep (Dom), 13, said he would like to eat rice with stew pork leg and he would like to…
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Chiang Rai: Mu Pa team speak of their ordeal
As the team continues to recover in the Chiang Rai Prachanukro Hospital, the parents and guardians are now being given time with they kids. Here are some of the first details to emerge from some of the team members, as reported by Marisa Chimprabha… Chanin ‘Titan’ Wibulrungrueng Chanin Wibulrungrueng, one of the 13 Mu Pa Academy football club members who were…
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“Massive, massive relief” – Diver Richard Stanton speaks
“The mission was an order of difficulty much higher than anything that’s been accomplished anywhere around the world by any other cave diving team.” The British diver who found 12 Thai boys and their coach trapped alive in a flooded cave has described his “massive relief” as he counted them one by one, in what he called an unprecedented rescue…
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Up close and personal – team continues to recover
The 13 footballers rescued from a flooded cave in Chiang Rai province continue to recover under the supervision of staff at the Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital. Relatives have even been up to visit them and be with them. The Public Health Ministry inspector-general Dr Thongchai Lertwilairattapong gave the latest report card on the group’s recovery this morning (Friday). He reports that the…
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Thai Navy SEAL video reveals rescue method
In the days leading up to the eventual evacuation of the Mu Pa team members from Tham Luang caves we were told that the teenagers were being taught to swim and dive in preparation for their arduous trek out of the cave, much of it underwater. This was reported by The Thaiger as well. Following the release of a Thai…
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From inside the cave – bringing out the team. Thai Navy SEAL video.
The Thai Navy SEAL Facebook page has released a video clip that shows for the first time how the 13 Mu Pa Academy football team members were evacuated from the Tham Luang cave. The 12 young footballers and their 25 year old assistant coach were trapped in the cave since June 23 after flash floods blocked their exit. They were…
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Australian cave medic emerges to his own tragic news
In the wake of yesterday’s euphoria following the final five team members being successfully evacuated from the Tham Luang caves, a sad epilogue. An Australian doctor, Richard Harris, partly responsible for looking after the Thai football team during their cave ordeal, emerged last night, exhausted but relieved they job was over. Some sad news awaited him. He was told that…
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American film crew already in Chiang Rai plotting movie
As the rescue mission around the cave swings into a huge clean up operation, a US film crew has already arrived in Chiang Rai. Two American producers have been sniffing around plotting a movie project about the 12 young Mu Pa Academy footballers and their assistant coach who were trapped in the cave for more than two weeks. The final…
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Chiang Rai: Final five OUT of the Tham Luang caves
The Mu Pa football team will have the full group back together again soon. Number Nine emerges from the Tham Luang caves just after 4pm, Tuesday, Thai time. Today’s rescues are well ahead of schedule. FOUR to go!!! Plus there will be three Thai Navy Seals and one doctor to evacuate as well – they were inside with the team…
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Chiang Rai: Solid food but no TV – Doctors report on the first eight out of the cave
The eight members of the Mu Pa Academy football club, already rescued from the Tham Luang Cave in the past two days, are in good health mentally and physically. But attending doctors say all had high white blood cell counts and two initially showed indications of pneumonia. Senior health officials briefed reporters at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital this morning, saying…
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Media slammed for unethical reporting – Narongsak Osottanakorn
PHOTOS: Karl Vandenhole and The Nation “Unethical reporting by the media has hampered the rescue operation to retrieve the 13 trapped footballers from the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai. Reporters have broken the law and the rights of their news sources to get the latest stories,” this from the Mission Control chief, Narongsak Osottanakorn. He yesterday issued a stern warning…
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Ekkapol Chanthawong – Parents are refusing to blame him
PHOTO: From video of Thai Navy Seals Facebook page Eight out, five to go. But Ekkapol Chanthawong, the assistant football coach of the Mu Pa team, trapped in Tham Luang cave since June 23, is being credited with keeping his young team alive during their ordeal. He’s 25, the rest of the young team are between 11 and 16 years…
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Chiang Rai: Team member 5 out of the caves
A young Mu Pa Academy footballer has emerged from Tham Luang cave at about 5pm, becoming the fifth teenager extracted from the cave in Chiang Rai province. The team member, whose name has not been revealed, was taken by ambulance from the cave in Mae Sai district before boarding a chopper to Chiang Rai Prachanukraw in Muang district. …
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Day Two evacuations underway
Evacuations are now well underway in day two of the process to extract the 13 players from inside the cave. Four were extracted from the cave last evening, according to an official announcement by former Governor of Chiang Rai Narongsak Osottanakorn. Yesterday divers and rescuers succeeded in recovering four of the 12 young players after divers headed into the cavern, prepared…
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