Northern Thailand News
Stay updated with the latest Northern Thailand news at The Thaiger, your ultimate source for regional information. Keep informed on local events, business developments, and lifestyle stories in popular locations like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Pai.
Our in-depth coverage includes famous monuments such as the White Temple and Doi Suthep. Whether you’re a resident or a visitor, The Thaiger’s Northern Thailand news page is your essential guide to exploring this culturally rich region. Delve into the vibrant community and diverse culture with our expertly curated content, designed to keep you connected and well-informed.
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Sponsored 5 best wine bars in Bangkok offering rich and quality wine
It’s wine o’clock! Whether you’re all about fruity reds, sweet whites, or funky naturals, Bangkok has many great spots to sip your favourite varieties. But with an array of options to choose from, and the constant rise and fall of...
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Central and upper Thailand residents warned to stay indoors
Thailand’s Meteorological Department is warning people to avoid out-door activities due to the current high temperatures which are forecast to exceed 43C today in several northern provinces. They are also advised to stay clear of big trees, poorly-erected structures or large billboards because of freak summer storms and strong winds caused by a low pressure cell over the northern…
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Central and north swelter with threats of summer storms
The mercury shot up to 40C in Bangkok yesterday and 35 other provinces in north and north-east Thailand also experienced hot to very hot weather amid brewing summer tropical storms. The Thai Meteorological Department pointed to the hot low pressure cell covering upper Thailand and the southerly and southeasterly winds prevailing over the North, the Northeast, the Central, the East,…
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Burglar drowns Pomeranian puppy before stealing computer and cash
A 21 year old Udon Thani tertiary student has returned from Songkran to find her Pomeranian puppy drowned in a water bin and her boyfriend’s laptop computer and cash stolen. Muang Udon Thani police were contacted lunchtime yesterday (Tuesday). The dog’s owner was Monthira Anthapanya who told police she had locked the four month old puppy in her rented room while she…
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Pick-up driver slams into roadside steel shop, injures three
A drunk driver bounced off the side of a road in Ubon Ratchathani and then skidded side-ways into a roadside shop where young Songkran revellers were waiting quietly outside to greet passing vehicles. The crash ended up injuring three as the people waiting outside the shop scattered to get away from the black pick-up as it slammed into the shops.…
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Severe localised storms predicted for central, north and north-east until April 16
FILE PHOTO The meteorological office (TMD) says there could be localised severe thunder storms for the entire upper area of the country until Tuesday. The north, north-east, eastern seaboard and central regions, including Bangkok and surrounding areas could all be randomly hit by tropical thunderstorms. The TMD office director Phuwiang Prakhammin has warned of rain storms, thunder and lightning, high…
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Forest fires destroy 2.7 million rai of land whilst Chiang Mai is back on top
by Tossapol Boonpat Bush fires have devastated nearly 2.7 million rai (there are 2.5 Rai in an Acre) of forests in nine northern provinces. The Mae Hong Son forest fire and haze control centre says that satellite imaging from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency shows that from January 1 to March 16, 2,680,634 rai was destroyed by wildfires.…
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Passengers injured as bus overturns in Si Saket
PHOTOS: ร่วมด้วยช่วยกัน / ธนบุรี 12 No deaths have been reported following a bus overturning in Si Saket in eastern Thailand today. The bus, travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani, overturned on Rattana Buri – Sisaket Road in Si Saket, east of Bangkok on the Cambodian border. No deaths were reported but there were some injuries in the incident.
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Rescued baby elephant transferred to specialist elephant hospital in Surin
PHOTOS: The Nation A baby elephant, rescued from an unused drain in Bueng Kan, on the Laos border near Vientienne, has been transferred to a specialist elephant hospital in Surin for treatment. Wildlife officials moved the baby elephant, now named ‘Chabakaew’, from Bueng Kan’s Bungkla district yesterday. It reached the elephant hospital in Surin this morning. A team of veterinarians…
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Motorcyclist survives being run over at traffic light in Nakhon Nayok – VIDEO
VIDEO: Baan Na Police A motorbike driver has survived after a truck trailer ran over him and his motorbike at traffic lights in Nakhon Nayok, just north-east of Bangkok, yesterday. Daily News reports that the motorbike driver had stopped at the traffic light, waling just in front of the truck. The truck driver apparently was unable to see the motorbike.…
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Royal approval for four light-rail train projects, including Phuket
A Royal Decree has given final approval for electric light-rail train projects in Phuket, Phang Nga, Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima. Komchadluek reports that His Majesty the King has given the royal go-ahead for the long-touted and much-discussed projects from Phuket to Phang Nga, Chiang Mai and Nakhonn Ratchasima. The royal approval was issued on April 4, 2019 for the…
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Ministry works towards ending sugarcane burning in three years
The Ministry of Industry is proposing to the Thai Cabinet a plan to end sugarcane farmers’ annual burn-off of their plantations before harvesting. The practice is being largely blamed for the north’s smog problems. But they are recommending a three year moratorium before completely stamping out the annual agri-burning. Thai PBS reports that the plan will be incorporated into a…
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Tourism dries up for Songkran in north this year
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says tourism levels during the Songkran break will be down by 10%, partly due to the northern haze problems. Chiang Mai is one of the country’s most popular Songkran festival locations. Meanwhile, the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) says the strong baht is encouraging Thais to travel overseas during this year’s Songkran festival. TAT…
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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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Counting down PM’s 7 day deadline in Chiang Mai – so far no change
by Piyaporn Wongruang, Tim Newton Last week PM Prayut Chan-o-cha issued an order to end the haze crisis in the North within seven days and declared the situation part of the national agenda. Two days to go and there is still no respite of the hazardous levels of smoke and smog besetting the northern capital and adjacent provinces. The PM met…
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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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74 year old Swede found dead in his Udon Thani home
PHOTO: khaosod.com A 74 year old Swedish man was found dead in his Udon Thani home yesterday. He is believed to have died about a week ago. Police say there are no suspicious circumstances. His body was sent for an autopsy at the Udon Thani Hospital. A neighbour called police at 6.45pm last night to check the house in Moo 1…
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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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Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, continue to suffer under persistent haze
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times Air pollution levels remain high in many of the northern population areas with little respite on the horizon for the smog-stricken northern provinces. Chiang Mai Natural Resource and Environment Office director Saratcha Suriyakul Na Ayudhaya says that public, private and other sectors are contributing to the lowering the levels of air pollution by spraying water and…
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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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Stash of methamphetamine tablets seized from Mae Sai plantation
by Natthawat Laping About 50,000 methamphetamine pills have been seized by rangers of the Pha Muang task force along the Thailand-Myanmar border in Chiang Rai province. The drugs were seized at 6am yesterday (Monday) when patrolling rangers heard a dog barking at someone in an isolated banana plantation in Muang Daeng Tai village, Tambon Mae Sai, in Mae Sai district.…
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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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