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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Chiang Rai village leader kills and cuts up his mother after raping daughter
An assistant village leader in Chiang Rai has been arrested and charged with dismembering his own mother in a fit of anger. Investigators say the mother had threatened to tell police that the 35 year old man had raped his teenage daughter. The man was the assistant head of the Hua Wiang village in Wiang Pa Pao district, situated between…
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Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai – all suffering choking smog today
The whole Bangkok and its suburbs is suffering from excessive PM2.5 dust and smoke particles in the air today. Around the city the readings have been uniformly ‘unhealthy’ for the entire day with readings as high as 188 particles of 2.5microns per cubic metre. Putting a stamp on the whole appalling situation is the list of the world’s Top 10…
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Mother and daughter arrested over 7 million baht fortune-telling scam
Appears the pair weren’t smart enough to predict the police coming to their door. A Thai fortune teller and her daughter have been arrested after charging a customer more than 7 million baht for predictions and forecasts about their life. Normally, fortune-telling sessions, popular in Thai life, range between 100 and thousands of baht, depending on the popularity of the…
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Former deputy commerce minister and police lieutenant arrested for suspected murder
Former deputy commerce minister and police lieutenant colonel Banyin Tangpakorn was arrested this morning, along with two other people, in the central province of Nakhon Sawan. Police believe the three were involved in the disappearance of the brother of a senior Criminal Court judge. Banyin is a former MP for Nakhon Sawan, of the now-defunct Palang Prachachon party. The arrest…
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Udon Thani thief arrested after “invisibility spell” fails to work
Police in the northeastern province of Udon Thani yesterday arrested a thief claiming to have magical powers, after his “invisibility spell” failed to work. Thirty-two year old Anurak Promwang claims to have used the spell successfully many times in the past, and blames the removal of his trousers for his arrest. Security footage captured the thief in action, including the…
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Used-car dealer, entire family dead in mass suicide
A used car dealer and his entire family in the northern province of Phitsanulok have been found dead, in an apparent mass suicide. Even the family dogs were not spared. The family were found asphyxiated, with a lit charcoal stove in the room. Police were called yesterday after relatives found the bodies. There were five dead people and six dogs…
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Principal beats 10 year old, threatens to kill him and “eat his liver with whisky”
A grandpa in the northeastern province of Surin couldn’t take it anymore and decided to file a police report after a school principal gave his 10 year old grandson a head injury. The statement alleges that the principal threatened to beat the boy to death and to “eat the child’s liver with whisky.” 83 year old “Supon” filed the report…
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Prayut visits Korat, offers compensation to shooting victims, families
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha went to Korat, in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, scene of the shooting rampage earlier this month that left 30 dead and 58 wounded. He met with people and families affected by the massacre and offered compensation totalling tens of millions of baht. He and accompanying ministers met locals after praying for peace at the…
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A week after Korat massacre, questions remain
A week after a rogue soldier went on a shooting spree, killing 29 and injuring 58, no one seems willing to take responsibility for the Army’s lack of security, which allowed the man to raid an armoury, steal weapons of war and kill and maim innocent civilians, Thailand Today reports. The massacre has prompted many, from all walks of life,…
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Heroin smuggler busted in Chiang Rai
A man has been arrested in Chiang Rai’s airport attempting to smuggle heroin. 27 year old Jatuporn Saeuan was searched and detained before boarding a flight to Bangkok when security officers found his behaviour suspicious. Security officers say Jatuporn “kept wandering back and forth in front of the entrance” to Mae Fah Luang Airport, so they asked demanded to inspect…
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Thousands gather for merit-making ceremony in Korat
Tens of thousands of mostly residents of Nakhon Ratchasima attended a Buddhist merit making ceremony in Korat today to pay tribute to the late King Narai the Great, founder and heroine of the north eastern province, Thao Suranaree, during the early days of the Chakri Dynasty, and to remember the victims of the mass shooting last Saturday. The gunman was…
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Terminal 21 Korat, scene of mass shooting, reopens with prayers
Four days after the mass shooting that left dead and more than 50 injured, the public turned out this morning to reopen Terminal 21 shopping centre in Nakhon Ratchasima, the scene of the carnage, in hope of raising spirits. Terminal 21 in Korat reopened its doors today to thousands of people who came to pray and make offerings to more…
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Khon Kaen monk arrested, disrobed after bomb threat
A monk in the northeastern province of Khon Khaen has been arrested and disrobed after giving false information to police. The monk called the 191 emergency line and stated that a bomb had been placed inside a hotel. He later claimed that the information was to make officers “more aware.” Police arrested 30 year old monk “Santisuk” in the province’s…
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Don’t blame the Thai army, blame the soldier – General Apirat
“The army chief offered his condolences to families of those killed and the injured and promised a career in the army if the victims’ children want to join the service.” The 32 year old gunman who shot 30 people dead during his Saturday afternoon shooting spree in Korat over the weekend, Jakrapanth Thomma, owned legally registered guns. He had five guns –…
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UPDATE: 12 year old boy shoots friend dead in Kalasin
A thirteen year old boy is dead in the northeastern province of Kalasin, after being shot by a friend playing with his father’s gun. Police and medical services were called to a house in Nong Kung Sri district on Sunday morning after the boy was shot, local media report. Police say that three boys were playing when one boy, aged…
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Slain policemen honoured in Royal ceremony
The two policemen who died ending the shooting rampage in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima were honourably received in a royally sponsored bathing ceremony in Bangkok yesterday. The bodies of Captain Trakul Tha-asa and Senior Sergeant Major Petcharat Kamchadpai, both 35 years old, were transported on ceremonial trucks from Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok, their coffins covered with the national…
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Land mine severs man’s foot in Phrae
A man in the northern province of Phrae had his foot blown off by a land mine yesterday morning while cutting bamboo. Police say the incident occurred at about 8am in a community forest. A medical team and a bomb squad were sent to the scene to investigate. 21 year old Yossakorn Chuchart told police that he and his father,…
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HM The King offers condolences, grants royal patronage of funerals
“The government is profoundly saddened by the mass shooting and would like to extend its moral support to all Thais and the people of Korat.” This morning the Thai PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha made a statement across the Thai television pool. He passed on a message from His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Her Majesty Queen Suthida who expressed their…
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Government officials wear black today, Korat residents grieve
Thailand’s cabinet ministers and officials at Government House will be wearing black clothing today as the Kingdom wakes to the first full work day since the Korat massacre – a mass shooting that has left at least 30 people dead, including the gunman. Government officials will officially mourn the innocent people killed in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima and…
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PM orders security review for nation’s armouries in wake of mass shooting
The death toll from the weekend’s shooting rampage in Korat has climbed 30, with 57 others injured. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, himself a general, yesterday ordered a review of security at the nation’s armouries. “If we had fully followed the standard security procedure, we would have been able to mitigate the degree of violence in this incident. Even if we insisted…
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Thai PM orders tighter controls on guns at military bases – 30 dead, 57 injured
“He was able to broadcast, unhindered, for nearly 5 hours before his stream was eventually taken down.” 30 people are now confirmed dead (including the gunman) as a result of Saturday’s Korat massacre, 57 people were injured. Thailand’s Prime Minister General Prayut Cha-o-cha listed the sad toll when facing the media yesterday. He also ordered a review of security measures…
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Thai media under fire for disobeying orders to “tone down” Korat massacre coverage
Thailand’s media is under fire from the government’s telecommunications regulator, the NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission). Cable TV and other news channels, who ignored official orders to stop broadcasting and streaming of Saturday evening’s lockdown and storming of the Terminal 21 shopping centre in Korat, have been informed they “will face consequences”. Some of the north east’s cable news outlets…
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Soldiers seize 100 kilograms of crystal meth in Chiang Mai
A clash with drug runners in Chiang Mai province today resulted in the seizure of around 100 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as “ice,” valued at about 100 million baht. Soldiers, acting on a tip-off, laid an ambush and were waiting for the drug runners. About 10 smugglers are thought to have been wounded in the the clash, which…
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UPDATE: Makha Bucha Day massacre – 25 killed, 31 injured
Hundreds of people were evacuated from Korat’s Terminal 21 shopping mall by late last night following a late afternoon shooting spree that’s currently claimed the lives of 25 and another 31 injured. As of this morning the gunman is still holed up in the shopping mall, apparently with hostages. The shopping centre, and surrounding areas, remains in complete lockdown and…
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UPDATE: Elite forces storm Terminal 21, gunman holding hostages – VIDEO
Following the shootings of innocent civilians by a Thai army sniper earlier this evening in Korat, north eastern Thailand, elite police and army forces of the Crime Suppression Division and Lop Buri-based Special Forces arrived at Terminal 21 shopping mall an hour ago. (Video of their arrival at Terminal 21 below) The armed gunman is believed to be still be…
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UPDATE: Thai army shooter shot his commander before going on Korat rampage
A confirmed 12 people have been shot dead, some social media are already reporting up to 20 may have been shot dead. Many more are injured after a Thai army soldier, identified as Sergeant Major Jakraphanth Thomma, went on a shooting rampage this afternoon in Korat, Nakhon Ratchasima. The mass shootings are said to have started around 5.30 this afternoon.…
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UPDATE: Thai Army soldier still at large in Terminal 21, Korat – Killed upwards of 12
As we update the story about the crazed Thai Army sniper going on a rampage around Korat in Nakhon Ratchasima, north east Thailand this afternoon, this is the latest information we have… • A Thai soldier allegedly killed his commanding officer before gunning down a reported 12 people. He was livestreaming the the entire incident as he slaughtered innocent people…
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Northern Thailand warned to brace for stormy weather
Thunderstorms and high winds are forecast for Thailand’s North and Northeast. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) is warning northern and northeastern provinces to brace for stormy weather from tomorrow to Thursday. DDPM director-general Monton Sudprasert said yesterday that high pressure from China and strong winds from the west will create thunderstorms, high winds and harsh weather. Provinces…
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Biker decapitated in Lampang
Police and rescue services in the northern Lampang province were confronted with a gruesome scene after the driver of a Kawasaki Z650 hit a metal lamp post in the middle of a downward section on the Lampang-Chiang Mai superhighway. The biker’s head, out of its helmet, was on one side of the road, his body on the other. The biker…
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