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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    5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)

    Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...

  • Lampang province sets example for vaccine registration

    Lampang province sets example for vaccine registration

    Vaccine hesitancy is proving to be a big problem in the quest to reach herd immunity and reopen Thailand, but Lampang province has outdone all the others in jab registration. In the northern province with just 740,000 people, nearly 224,000 have already registered for their Covid-19 vaccine, a number only topped by Bangkok’s 7 million residents registering just over 500,000…

  • American leaves hospital after being denied Covid treatment in same room as Thai wife

    American leaves hospital after being denied Covid treatment in same room as Thai wife

    An American man, who tested positive for Covid-19, is back in the hospital after fleeing when he was denied a shared room with this Thai wife-who was also undergoing Covid treatment. The 51 year old man left the northeastern Amnat Charoen province Chanuman hospital on May 9th after doctors declined to move his bed to that of his wife’s room.…

  • American man arrested in Chiang Mai for allegedly killing pregnant Thai wife

    American man arrested in Chiang Mai for allegedly killing pregnant Thai wife

    An American man has been arrested for allegedly murdering his pregnant, Thai wife and hiding her body in a rubbish bin. Police say 32 year old Jason Matthew Balzer then dumped his deceased wife’s body in a field in northern Thailand. 32 year old Pitchaporn Kidchob’s mother became concerned for her daughter’s welfare after seeing Balzer flee their home on…

  • Thai Meteorological Dept. warns northern Thailand of severe storms through May 7

    Thai Meteorological Dept. warns northern Thailand of severe storms through May 7

    The Thailand Meteorological Department says severe storms, especially in the north, will be present through May 7. The announcement detailed the forecast with gusty winds and hail being included in the conditions due to a high pressure system from China. It also warned residents to stay away from big trees, unsecured buildings, large billboards, and outdoor places in general. Farmers…

  • Buri Ram sees 2 villages go into lockdown after 8 Covid-19 infections

    Buri Ram sees 2 villages go into lockdown after 8 Covid-19 infections

    Thailand’s northeastern, or Isaan, province of Buri Ram, is seeing 2 villages ordered to go into lockdown after 8 Covid-19 infections have threatened the community. The provincial communicable disease committee is ordering the villages of Ban Sao-e and Ban Nong Phai, located on Moo 2 and Moo 12, respectively, to lockdown from 6pm on May 2. The villages have around…

  • 10 new infections in Nakhon Phanom province linked to entertainment venues

    10 new infections in Nakhon Phanom province linked to entertainment venues

    Thailand’s northeastern Nakhon Phanom province is reporting 10 new infections today, with most being traced back to entertainment venues. The new infections raise the Covid-19 case number in the “red-zoned” province to 43. And, more than 1,500 customers of those entertainment venues have been tested for the virus, with results expected this week. The customers were from an entertainment venue…

  • Hospital in north-east suspends non-urgent treatment after patient dies of Covid-19

    Hospital in north-east suspends non-urgent treatment after patient dies of Covid-19

    A hospital in the north-eastern province of Buriram has temporarily closed for non-urgent treatment after a patient died from complications arising from Covid-19. Prakhon Chai Hospital has announced the closure on its Facebook page, saying all non-urgent treatment is suspended for 2 days, to allow for deep cleaning and disinfecting of several wards. All medical staff who had contact with…

  • Khon Kaen University terminates well-known American scholar after he allegedly participates in decentralisation workshop

    Khon Kaen University terminates well-known American scholar after he allegedly participates in decentralisation workshop

    Khon Kaen University’s famous American scholar, David Eirich Streckfuss, is now without a work permit after his participation in a workshop that partially involved decentralisation. The university terminated his work permit after immigration police paid him a vist, in what they say, was a routine interview for visa extensions. Streckfuss is an independent academic who oversees the Council on International…

  • Driver charged in bus fire that killed 5, injured 12

    Driver charged in bus fire that killed 5, injured 12

    After yesterday’s horrific bus fire left 5 dead and 12 injured, the driver is now charged with reckless driving causing deaths and injuries. The tour bus ended up in flames at 12:30 am, not long after leaving the Khon Kaen bus terminal heading to Bangkok with 33 passengers on board. The bus had originated in Bung Kan and stopped in…

  • Northern Thai provinces starting Covid restrictions as 3rd wave spreads

    Northern Thai provinces starting Covid restrictions as 3rd wave spreads

    Thailand’s northern provinces are starting to impose more self-quarantines or travel restrictions to combat the recent Covid-19 outbreak that has spread quickly throughout northern Thailand. Phichit and Lampang provinces are the latest in northern Thailand to impose a variety of covid-19 restrictions on people entering. A Thailand Interior Ministry told Chiang Rai Times that the longer list emphasises the seriousness…

  • 5 killed, including 2 children, in north east Thailand bus disaster

    5 killed, including 2 children, in north east Thailand bus disaster

    5 people are dead, including 2 children, and another 12 seriously injured after a double-decker interprovincial bus caught fire near Khon Kaen. It was heading to Bangkok. The bus erupted into flames just after midnight on the Mitrapap highway. There were 33 passengers on the bus. The bus driver was also injured. The 407 Pattana Company bus left Bung Kan…

  • Chiang Rai sees 2 new infections linked to Bangkok, Chiang Mai entertainment venues

    Chiang Rai sees 2 new infections linked to Bangkok, Chiang Mai entertainment venues

    Chiang Rai is reporting 2 new Covid infections that are linked to entertainment venue clusters from Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The people who tested positive for the virus have entered a 14 day mandatory hospital quarantine. The governor of Chiang Rai and chair of the Communicable Diseases Committee ordered anyone travelling to the province from a red zone to self-monitor…

  • UPDATE: Divers rescue monk stuck in flooded cave in northern Thailand

    UPDATE: Divers rescue monk stuck in flooded cave in northern Thailand

    Update: The monk was safely rescued from the flooded cave at around 11:30am today. Divers say the monk was fatigued and had a low fever. Original story… Rescue workers are attempting to free a Buddhist monk who has been stuck in a flooded cave in northern Thailand for at least 4 days. The monk, named in a Pattaya News report…

  • 16 Thais busted running 10 illegal online gambling sites

    16 Thais busted running 10 illegal online gambling sites

    16 web admins are in custody today after being arrested around the Buriram province today for allegedly operating 10 illegal online gambling websites. The group of Thai nationals are accused of renting a house where they secretly operated a string of websites where people could gamble online including sajoker123.com. Police received a number of complaints in March from neighbourhood residents…

  • Northern Thailand summer storms damage almost 3,000 homes

    Northern Thailand summer storms damage almost 3,000 homes

    Almost 3,000 homes are damaged after northern Thailand summer storms wreaked havoc in 11 provinces. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department says Pichit, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai and Nan are among the hardest hit. 1 death was also reported in Nan province when a tree branch fell onto a woman’s car, killing her. 5 others were injured in Nan, Pichit and Surin.…

  • Thai man arrested after beating and killing dog for being “mangy”

    Thai man arrested after beating and killing dog for being “mangy”

    A 24 year old Thai man has been arrested in northeastern Thailand’s Udon Thani province, for beating and killing a dog because it appeared to be “mangy.” Watchdog Thailand, posted a graphic video clip on Facebook of the man assaulting the dog several times with a knife and pipe in front of its owner’s house. Later that day, the dog’s owner…

  • Senior official arrested in north-east Thailand on 2 million baht bribery charges

    Senior official arrested in north-east Thailand on 2 million baht bribery charges

    A senior Thai official in the north-eastern province of Mukdahan has been arrested, along with his assistant, on bribery charges. The provincial chief of the natural resources and environment office, Suradet Akkarach, and Ms Pan Saengviroon, are accused of receiving 2 million baht for facilitating the return of confiscated Siamese Rosewood timber to a merchant from Laos. The timber, housed…

  • Monk kicks Thai teenager in face after he refuses to buy him food

    Monk kicks Thai teenager in face after he refuses to buy him food

    A monk in northern Thailand’s Lampang Province has allegedly taken matters into his own hands by kicking a Thai teenager in the face after he refused to travel 5 kilometres to buy food for the monk. According to the 16 year old boy’s mother, her son was visiting a young monk at the local temple and was playing games with…

  • Thai man confesses to cutting wife’s throat and dumping her body in a pond

    Thai man confesses to cutting wife’s throat and dumping her body in a pond

    A northeastern Thai man has allegedly confessed to killing his wife by cutting her throat and then dumping her body into a public pond. The man allegedly told a relative what he did, who says she initially didn’t believe him. So she and her other relatives went to check it out, finding the woman’s body partially covered by a sack…

  • Investigation launched into boy scout drowning in north-east Thailand

    Investigation launched into boy scout drowning in north-east Thailand

    Officials in the north-east province of Kalasin have launched an investigation into the drowning of a school student while partaking in boy scout camp activity. 15 year old Thongnoppakao Sitha died on Tuesday, after a teacher allegedly instructed him to dive into a pond. The activity was part of a mock war, in which the teachers threw rocks at the…

  • Officials tracking down foreigners with fake IDs opening up illegal businesses in Chiang Rai

    Officials tracking down foreigners with fake IDs opening up illegal businesses in Chiang Rai

    Thai news site TNA is reporting that the Department of Special Investigation is investigating 255 foreigners who are allegedly in possession of fake Thai IDs in the Wiang Kaen district of Chiang Rai. The report also claims that they were operating illegal businesses. One of the suspects is Chinese but carried a Thai ID saying that he was a Thai…

  • Hospital allegedly offers a meager 5,000 baht initially to dead patient’s family after neglecting him for hours

    Hospital allegedly offers a meager 5,000 baht initially to dead patient’s family after neglecting him for hours

    A northeastern Thai hospital is allegedly offering a meager 5,000 baht to a patient’s family after he died while waiting to be treated. The Bua Yai Hospital director, Charnchai Boonyusays, says he feels “regret” over the 46 year old’s death after hospital staff allegedly neglected to treat him for hours. Sompong Sammor, was admitted to the hospital with a swollen…

  • Chiang Mai hotels slash prices amid ongoing slump in tourism

    Chiang Mai hotels slash prices amid ongoing slump in tourism

    Hotels in the northern province of Chiang Mai have been forced to cut their rates by up to 90%, in a desperate bid to attract more domestic tourists. According to a Bangkok Post report, La-Iad Bungsrithong, from the northern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association, says with tourists mainly favouring the southern beach destinations this month, hotel operators in the…

  • Hospital in northern Thailand closes to visitors after 2 patients test positive for Covid-19

    Hospital in northern Thailand closes to visitors after 2 patients test positive for Covid-19

    A hospital in the northern province of Tak has had to shut its doors to visitors after 2 patients treated at the facility subsequently tested positive for Covid-19. Nation Thailand reports that Mae Sot Hospital is now closed to visitors until Monday. It’s understood that 19 staff members have had contact with 2 patients who tested positive for the virus.…

  • Thai Public Health Ministry starts cannabis cultivation project in Buri Ram

    Thai Public Health Ministry starts cannabis cultivation project in Buri Ram

    A cannabis cultivation project is being launched by Thailand’s Public Health Ministry in the Isaan province Buri Ram. 6 cannabis plants will be given to each member of the local Non Malai Community Enterprise as a pilot project on commercial cultivation of cannabis, according to the director of the ministry’s cannabis research group, Kitti Losuwannarak. Cannabis flowers and buds will…

  • Man arrested in northeast Thailand, accused of producing fake bank notes

    Man arrested in northeast Thailand, accused of producing fake bank notes

    Police in the north-eastern province of Si Sa Ket have arrested a 37 old man accused of producing counterfeit currency. Phichaphob Phankham was detained at a property in the Nong Phai district as part of an investigation into a trail of fake 100 baht notes in circulation in Si Sa Ket and neighbouring provinces. Police say his arrest follows the…

  • Mae Sot schools close after just 1 hour reopening when 5 students were found infected

    Mae Sot schools close after just 1 hour reopening when 5 students were found infected

    All 15 schools in Mae Sot district of Tak province have been ordered to close again just 1 hour after the first day of school reopenings in the province, as 5 children tested positive for Covid-19. Mae Sot City Municipality Office issued an urgent order to close all schools in the district after a vendor tested positive for Covid-19. At…

  • North East aviation college faces funding shortfall and allegations of corruption

    North East aviation college faces funding shortfall and allegations of corruption

    Almost 200 million baht has “disappeared” from the bank account of the International Aviation College, part of the Nakhon Phanom University. They’ve now approached the Thai government for support to help tackle its liquidity problems. Without an injection of cash the aviation college may have to close down. The IAC has trained thousands of Thailand’s commercial pilots in one of the…

  • Air pollution reaches “unhealthy” levels in Thailand’s north and northeast

    Air pollution reaches “unhealthy” levels in Thailand’s north and northeast

    18 provinces in Thailand’s north and northeast are being hit by a wave of smoke and air pollution as the burning season kicks in for the country’s agricultural sector. The next 2 months are the peak of the burning off season for agricultural waste as farmers prepare their land for the next crops of corn, rice and sugar and use…

  • Ring road collapses leaving at least 10 injured in Nakhon Ratchasima

    Ring road collapses leaving at least 10 injured in Nakhon Ratchasima

    An elevated section of a ring road in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima has collapsed, leaving at least 10 workers injured. The incident occurred on Sura Narai Road in tambon Khok Sung in Muang district at around 2pm today. The injured included 1 Thai and the others Cambodian and Burmese nationals. Most had cuts on their bodies while some…