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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Sponsored Moving with family? Here’s how to cut health costs in Thailand
Relocating to Thailand with your family brings exciting new opportunities, but it also comes with the challenge of managing healthcare costs in a new system. Thailand has both public and private healthcare options, each offering different prices and quality of...
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Police officer allegedly shoots and kills married couple, injures ex-wife at Isaan restaurant
A police officer was arrested for allegedly firing shots in an Isaan restaurant, killing a married couple and severely injuring his ex-wife. 44 year old Aram Sangchai is facing charges of premeditated murder. Aram had just returned home to the Isaan province Buri Ram from Bangkok after working with a police unit at the November 27 pro-democracy protest. The Bangkok…
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5 family members killed in early morning collision in Nakhon Ratchasima
An early morning collision today has taken the lives of 5 family members in Thailand’s lower northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. One boy, aged 5, and two girls, aged 3 and 11, along with other family members, were killed when a pickup and sport utility vehicle collided in the Non Daeng district at around 6:40 am on the Mitrapap highway…
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Ron Howard to direct cave rescue feature film ‘Thirteen Lives’ in Australia
The Australian Government is putting up A$13 million to Imagine Entertainment and film giant MGM to shoot a live-action feature film called Thirteen Lives, based on the Chiang Rai Tham Luang cave rescue story. The film will be shot in Queensland, Australia in the hinterland areas behind the Gold Coast. The film will be directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind,…
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Rare sighting of an endangered clouded leopard at Isaan mountain range
An endangered clouded leopard was spotted at a mountain range in the Isaan province Si Sa Ket. The rare sighting, captured using a camera trap, was the first time in about 20 years the wildcat has been seen in the Phnom Dongrak mountain range which borders Cambodia. Since the park rangers stepped up patrol against poaching and made efforts to…
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Monk dies after jumping in front of speeding train in north-east Thailand
A monk has died after jumping on to rail tracks and into the path of an approaching train in the north-eastern province of Si Sa Ket, near the Cambodian border. The incident occurred at a provincial train station in front of horrified witnesses at around 10.30am yesterday. According to a Nation Thailand report, police say the 55 year old’s body…
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480 kilograms of marijuana seized on Laos border
Police have seized 480 kilograms of, what they say is, “high-grade” marijuana in northeastern Thailand in a routine roadside search. The search was conducted near the border in Nakhon Phanom province. Police say the smugglers were looking for alternate routes now that the roads and traditional border crossings from Myanmar and Laos had been closed. 25 year old Likit Boonprasit…
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Thai man in Surin greeted by crocodile in his toilet
Surprise! A Thai man in Surin province was greeted by an unexpected visitor as he took an early morning toilet break. The man, 52 year old Korn Yudirom, says he got up at 3am to use the toilet, which is located separately from his main home. The man thought water was left running in the toilet, after hearing noises after…
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9 arrests as police net huge drugs haul in 4 cases in north, north-east
Millions of methamphetamine pills, over 800 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, and over 700 kilograms of cannabis have been seized by police in 4 separate cases. The Narcotics Suppression Bureau confirmed the seizures, along with the arrests of 9 suspects, at its headquarters in Bangkok. The parade of police and the seized narcotics are a staple in Thai police PR. The…
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Flooded underpass finally drained after locals get officials’ attention with viral photos
A flooded underpass in the Non Sung district of Nakhon Ratchasima has finally been drained after locals posted photos of them pretending to turn the area into a tourist attraction and swimming pool. The State Railway of Thailand waited for almost a month before draining the water after the area was flooded by heavy rain. Jitiwat Nakchamsilp came up with…
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Army orders investigation into soldier’s death
The Royal Thai Army is to carry out an internal investigation into the death of a soldier at a military base in the north-eastern province of Khon Kaen. 21 year old Rachata Senasanit was found hanged on November 1, with an initial probe ruling his death as suicide. However, the victim’s father, Surachai Senasanit, claims an employee at Srinagarind Hospital’s…
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Udon Thani police seek woman who abandoned newborn baby at roadside
Police in the north-eastern province of Udon Thani are looking for a woman who abandoned a newborn baby girl at the side of the road. The newborn was found on the Mumon-Nakwang Road by a woman from the neighbouring province of Amnat Charoen. Nation Thailand reports that 27 year old Watchara Jaruchai was driving home after making merit at a…
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Family demands investigation after conscript found dead at army base
The family of a young conscript that was found dead, hanging in a military base bathroom, is demanding an investigation claiming the 22 year old army private was physically assaulted during his training and he had no motive to commit suicide. Pichawat Wiangnon was found hanged to death at Military Circle in northeastern province Roi Et. Officers at the base…
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2 dead, including 15 month old boy, in traffic accident in north-east Thailand
A man and a 15 month old boy have died, while an 11 year old child has been injured, in a collision between a 10-wheeler truck and a motorbike. The Bangkok Post reports that the collision happened last night, in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. The 55 year old truck driver, Thongpoon Buakkhunthod, says he was travelling on the…
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Monk detained after allegedly sending explicit video to 20 children
A monk in Udon Thani is facing charges after he allegedly sent an explicit video of himself to 20 children, inviting them to have sex with him in exchange for money. 49 year old Pramuk Jaroensuk was forced to leave his monkhood and was charged with publishing pornographic material and attempting to have sexual intercourse with minors. The monk came…
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Fuel tanker explodes after collision in Buri Ram
A fuel tanker has exploded after a collision with a trailer truck, causing both vehicles to be engulfed in flames in a series of explosions. Fuel from the 40,000-litre tank spilled out onto the road, spreading about 1 kilometre to nearby homes and into the sewers. People trying to douse the spreading flames found they were just pushing the flaming…
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Thai woman dressed as a zombie sells dead people’s clothes – VIDEO
A zombie saleswoman is selling dead people’s clothes online. 32 year old Kanittha Thongnak sells clothes of the deceased on a Facebook live stream while dressed as “the living dead”. She gives a story behind every pieces of clothing, explaining how each person died. Perhaps it would be a real business kill in most countries, but not in Thailand where…
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Tham Luang exhibition opens in Chiang Rai, including a replica of part of the cave – VIDEO
A replica of parts of the Tham Luang Cave has been opened for visitors to learn more about the famous cave rescue and experience some of the difficulties faced by rescuers in a replica of parts of the cave, well 30 metres of it anyway. The exhibition attempts to simulate some of the key incidents that happened during the cave…
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The Isan Project honours a hero of Tham Luang cave rescue
The Isan Project has collaborated with the TAT on new marketing campaign featuring music commemorating the Tham Luang cave rescue. The story of how 13 young men, members of the Mu Pa (Wild Boar) football team, were saved in the caves of Chiang Rai continues to ignites interest in the miraculous internationally-followed rescue in July 2018 from the flooded Tham…
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4.4 million methamphetamine pills seized near Laos border
Police seized 4.4 million methamphetamine pills worth more than 400 million baht after a police chase in the Northeastern province Bueng Kan near the Thai-Laos border. Thai media says the alleged drug traffickers threw black bags full of the drugs out onto the road during the police chase and drove off into a rubber farm in the Bung Kla district.…
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Lucky escape for chickens in Udon Thani as crocodile caught trying to enter coop
Rescue workers in the north-eastern province of Udon Thani have ruined a hungry crocodile’s dinner plans, capturing it as it was trying to enter a chicken coop in the sub-district of Mak Khaeng. Nation Thailand reports that local rescuers were called to remove the 3 metre long croc as it was attempting to enter the chicken enclosure and enjoy a…
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Inmates escape from Thai prison using soap to rust the cell bars
2 Turkish inmates escaped from a Thailand prison in a daring, if not slippery, escape. Their main tool? Soap. They used soap to cover the bars of their cell in the Tak’s Mae Sot district. Over time, the soap caused the metal to rust and they were able to break the cell bars. Apparently, this isn’t their first cunning escape…
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Students at Naresuan University mark 1973 uprising with candlelit vigil
As tens of thousands of protesters gathered at Government House in Bangkok yesterday, students at Naresuan University in northern Thailand were commemorating a 1973 uprising with a candlelit vigil. The October 14, 1973 popular uprising, known as the “Day of Great Sorrow” was a defining moment in Thailand’s history, ending the ruling military dictatorship of the time and changing the…
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Residents in border areas accuse officials of lax control over Burmese drivers
Residents in the Mae Sot district of Tak province, bordering Myanmar, have criticised what they see as lax checking of Burmese truck drivers arriving from the Covid-hit neighbour next door. Concerned residents are calling for the Friendship Bridge to be temporarily closed in light of a surge in virus cases in Myanmar. The bridge, which spans the Moei River, connects…
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Alleged kidnapping attempt in Isaan region, missing child found tied up
A girl was allegedly kidnapped by a group in the Isaan province Amnat Charoen. She was found with tied up and her was mouth stuffed with paper. The girl says a teenager approached her and offered candy. She said she wasn’t hungry and that she didn’t have money, but the teen allegedly replied that it was okay and he had…
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Isaan governor orders investigation into 3 year old boy’s death
The governor of Isaan’s Kalasin province ordered an investigation into the death of a 3 year old boy. Relatives say the child died after falling out of bed. Medical examiners say the child’s forehead was swollen, eyes were bruised and arm was broken. The child’s family says the boy fell off the bed and then collapsed in the bathroom, but…
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Mobile testing units dispatched to Tak after Burmese drivers test positive
After 3 Burmese lorry drivers tested positive for Covid-19 in the northern province of Tak, officials have sent mobile testing units to the Mae Sot district to test around 4,000 Thais and Burmese in high-risk border areas. Mae Sot mayor, Thoetkiat Shinsoranan, says all residents are being told to stay home as much as possible. The Bangkok Post reports that…
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Man arrested for posing as air force pilot, conning woman out of 800,000 baht
A 44 year old man has been arrested in the northern province of Sukothai, after claiming to be a pilot with the Royal Thai Air Force and cheating his girlfriend out of 800,000 baht. Thai Residents reports that the man, named only as Prapol, denies all the charges against him. The victim, named only as Miss A, says she met…
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8,000 homes inundated in Nakhon Ratchasima after 2 days of torrential rain
The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging emergency services and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in the Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima, in Thailand’s north east, to urgently attend to the suffering of the region’s flood victims. Flooding has cut electricity and water supplies to several areas around the district. 8,000+ houses have been flooded after the overflowing…
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Students at northeastern university accuse police of disrupting rally, harassment
Students at Maha Sarakham University, in the north-east of the country, are accusing the police of harassing them and attempting to disrupt a planned rally. The leader of a pro-democracy student group has taken to Facebook to point the finger at plain-clothes and uniformed officers who arrived at the university to carry out a search, and to remind organisers of…
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Man ran over by Bangkok-Ubon train in Nakhon Ratchasima province
A man has been run over by a Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani train early this morning in the northeastern province of Korat, with rescuers saying his body was cut in half. Police rescue workers say they discovered the man’s mutilated body at around 2am about 200 metres from the Huay Thalaeng district railway station. Police say the man appears to be between…
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