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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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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Smoke haze hits northern Songkran hotel bookings
By Sakaorat Sirima, Nattawat Laping The Northern smog crisis is taking its toll on the popular tourist region, with officials admitting a significant drop seen in hotel-room bookings, even in Chiang Mai, which is otherwise hugely popular as a destination for Songkran celebrations. “Thai tourists are worried that the haze will harm their health,” La-iad Boonsrithong, the president of the…
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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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Big farm companies causing the smoke problems in the north
by Chularat Saengpassa, Sakaorat Sirima Experts see little changing, even after Prayut’s visit to Chiang Mai today, and blame the government’s policy to push corn cultivation. The PM is in Chiang Mai today speaking to provincial governors. But eminent medical specialists based in Chiang Mai are warning that the health impacts from prolonged exposure to smog are real and urgent tangible…
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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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Two day rescue of six baby elephants stuck in mud pool in Nakhon Ratchasima – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: DNP Six baby elephants have been rescued from mud pool in Nakhon Ratchasima following two days of delicate efforts from officials. The Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plants Conservation reports that they found the baby elephants on Wednesday while forest officers were patrolling in the forest in Sengsang, Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast of Thailand. During the afternoon they stumbled…
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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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Thaksin: Election rigged with many irregularities
Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra told Agence France-Presse yesterday that Thailand’s election was marred by “irregularities” and “rigged”. He says the military rigged the election system to retain their political grip on the kingdom. “Everyone knows in Thailand, everyone international that observed the election in Thailand, knows that(there is irregularities,” he told AFP in English. “What we call, we should call,…
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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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King awards rescuers of Mu Pa football team
His Majesty the King has awarded 187 people, including 115 foreigners, with The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn for the rescue of the Mu Pa football team last July. The announcement in the Royal Gazette reads the government recognises that those people who helped those in peril performed good deeds and deserved to be honored. They will be granted the…
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Mu Pa football team helps recover equipment from Tham Luang Caves
PHOTOS: The Chiang Rai PR Office The 27 year old Coach Aek (left), and other members from the Mu Pa (Wild Boar) football squad, were on hand to help recover equipment from the Tham Luang Caves this week. Chiang Rai’s Tham Luang caves, the scene of the international cave rescue last July, remains closed to all visitors since February 19 to…
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100 houses damaged after storm hits Nakhon Ratchasima districts
by Prasit Tangprasert A tropical storm has left more than 100 houses damaged after it hit Nakhon Ratchasima province, north-east of Bangkok, yesterday. Nakhon Ratchasima’s Governor Wichian Chantanothai says… “We are in the process of surveying damages.” He made the comment as he was handing out relief items to storm victims in Sikhiu district. He said authorities planned to ask soldiers…
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31 injured when bus overturned in Nakhon Ratchasima
by Prasit TangprasertPHOTOS:โนนสูง “อาสา” ฐานหน้าโรงพยาบาลโนนสูง Thirty one passengers have been injured, two critically, when a Nong Khai-Rayong inter-provincial bus overturned in Nakhon Ratchasima early this morning. Police and rescue workers were alerted at 2.40am to the scene on Mitraparp Highway in Ban Don Tabaeng, Noen Sung district in Nakhon Ratchasima. The blue and white air conditioned bus was carrying 41…
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Specialist clinics for pollution-related symptoms to be set up around the country
The Public Health Ministry says they are now preparing to set up specialised clinics to treat patients suffering from pollution-related symptoms in the northern parts of the country. “At present, we have just one such clinic in the country. So, we have decided to introduce many more,” according to permanent secretary Dr Sukhum Karnchanapimai. He made the pledge in response…
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Female killed, 24 passengers injured in Korat bus crash
PHOTOS: Thai RathAn inter-provincial Khon Kaen-Bangkok bus slammed into the back of a truck on a Nakhon Ratchasima road early this morning. The collision killing the bus hostess and injured 24 passengers. It is the latest in a series of inter-provincial bus crashes over the past week. The Pak Chong police station was alerted at 2.30am to the accident on…
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TAT expects 2.3 million tourists for this year’s Songkran
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is expecting more than 2.3 million local and foreign tourists will join the various Songkran celebrations this year. They say that should generate 20 billion baht+ in revenue for tourism and tourism-related services. TAT’s Governor Yuthasak Supasorn says 300,000 international arrivals are expected to celebrate the five day festival starting April 12, along with two…
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Week kicks off with more choking haze and cancelled flights in the north
From Nan to Mae Hong Son, Phrae, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, choking smog continues to be a persistent problem and part of daily life in the North, where more than 400 brushfire hotspots have now been identified. Most of the fires are in Mae Hong Son, on the far north-west border with Myanmar, which counted 100. Bangkok Airways has…
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Plastic waste fire smothers village in acrid smoke
by Prasit Tangprasert Firefighters are struggling to control a major fire at a plastic waste-separating factory in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Noen Sung district which began on Wednesday afternoon and is still not completely completely extinguished. Nakhon Ratchasima is the gateway to the north-east, heading out of Bangkok.Villagers in Ban Don Ree and Ban Som say they are worried about the health…
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Northern haze to go onto ‘national agenda’
by Chularat Saengpassa – PHOTOS: The Nation Flights cancelled, schools closed, locals visiting hospitals in record numbers and the visual proof is overwhelming. Some of Thailand’s most beautiful areas and popular locations are shrouded in a dense smog and an equally hazy list of solutions. Calls for the government to tackle the problem of serious air pollution as a vital part…
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PM concerned over public safety in northern areas because of tropical storm warnings
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he’s concerned over public safety in risk areas of tropical storms that have been forecast for the northern regions up until next Tuesday. He’s instructed all authorities to promptly take preventive and relief measures against potential damage. Deputy government spokesman Lt. Gen. Werachon Sukondhapatipak says the PM is concerned over the welfare and safety of…
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Police claim they ‘had to kill’ north-east murder suspect
PHOTO: Police bring suspects to re-enact the motorcycle and body disposal in the two provinces – The Nation by Khamdee Phrommakong, Suriya Patathayo, Teerapol Khumsuk Police claim they “had to kill” a wanted murder suspect, 29 year old Somsak “Au” Ledlod, in Yasothon’s Kham Khuan Kaeo district as he stole a pickup truck to flee and may have hurt the…
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Chiang Mai has world’s worst air quality as fires rage in the north
This morning Chiang Mai had the world’s worst air quality.In the WHOLE world! Thailand’s northern city was ranked the #1 most air-polluted city on earth with a 209 air quality index score on airvisual.com. The air worsened to an AQI of 233 around noon. Meanwhile the Pollution Control Department reports the average 24 hour level of PM2.5 dust particulates had…
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