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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Woman’s body in luggage found floating in Mekong River
Royal Thai Marine Corps police yesterday found a suitcase stuffed with the body of a dead woman floating in the Mekong River in the Isaan province of Nakhon Phanom. Officers from Nakhon Phanom Provincial Marine Police Station fished the luggage out of the Mekong about 20 metres away from the station’s dock. Officers from That Phanom Police Station, That Phanom Crown…
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Naga Fireball Festival is coming to Isaan on October 10
Organisers of the annual Naga Fireball Festival are hoping the gala will once again recapture the imagination of all visitors after a couple of barren Covid-19 pandemic years. The festival is back in the Isaan province of Nong Khai on October 10 and promotors are predicting a bonanza event that will help boost the provincial economy by 70% to 80%.…
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Drug chase ends in flipped car, 6 million spilled Yaba pills
Chiang Rai police chased suspected drug traffickers until a truck flipped and nearly six million Yaba pills spilled out. The drug bust was the culmination of an ongoing drug smuggling investigation by the police. Several suspects are still wanted in connection to the incident that was reported yesterday. Police had been alerted to a group of drug traffickers earlier and…
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Viral video: American man joins Thai dance in Isaan rite
A TikTok video has gone viral of a twinkle-toed American man taking part in a traditional Thai dance routine at a religious ceremony in the Isaan province of Sisaket. Thai netizens hailed his nimble footwork, dancing skills, and endeavour. A Thai TikToker, Ryansdiary, posted a video of the 36 year old American man, Scott Spyway, taking part in the parade…
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Prices plummet on cannabis, farmers ask for regulation
Who could have seen it coming? With the decriminalisation and deregulation of cannabis, prices have plummeted and farmers are asking for price regulation from the government. Now people can grow the plant on their own and sell the crops. The original farmers with government contracts have seen an 80% to 90% reduction in the value of their crops. In many…
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6-hour whiskey drinking contest draws criticism
A contest to drink booze straight for six hours? Maybe not the best idea. A rice whiskey drinking competition is drawing criticism online from readers questioning the safety of such an event. The contest was advertised online on Friday and is scheduled to take place on October 11. The location appears to be Donna Kham House farm, in Ban Thaen…
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Police lieutenant in NE Thailand reportedly kills motorcyclist in crash
Last night, a police lieutenant in northeast Thailand reportedly crashed into five motorcycles and killed one motorcyclist. CCTV footage caught the lieutenant ramming his truck into the motorcycles waiting for a traffic light at a traffic island in Buriram province. The motorcyclist killed was a 25 year old waiting to make a U-turn. After the crash, the lieutenant’s pickup truck…
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Fight between teens leads to stabbing in NE Thailand
There was a knife attack involving groups of teenage boys in Thailand’s northeast province of Khon Kaen last night. Students in Grade 9 from the Mathayom Suksa school stabbed three Grade 11 boys at the school in their abdomens and lungs. The attack happened outside the school in the Nam Phong district. One of the injured boys, Narongrit, told police…
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Father allegedly beats 6 year old son to death in drunken rage
A father faces up to 20 years in prison after he allegedly beat to death his six year old son in a drunken rage in northern Thailand. Police reported the 33 year old father confessed to killing his son and dumping the child’s body in the Ping River in Kamphaeng Phet province. Police questioned the father, named only as Korakot,…
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Cannabis-stealing school principal thought plants were free
A principal at a well-known school vehemently denied stealing a cannabis plant from a MotoGP event over the weekend, but backtracked when police presented security footage of the theft. The incident took place at the Chang International Circuit in Buri Ram on Saturday, where the newly-legalised plants were being stored for an event meant to promote cannabis tourism. The principal,…
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Prawit billboard comes with note asking for legal leniency
In the northeastern province of Bueng Kan, billboards have been appearing promoting caretaker Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan. One recently spotted sign in the province’s main city of the same name along the Laos border came with a note attached asking authorities to go easy on them for erecting the billboard, possibly skirting payment and regulations. The sign features a large…
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World record petrified tree to become geological tourist attraction
After being certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest petrified tree trunk log ever found anywhere in the world, officials in the province of Tak are developing plans to turn the tree site into a geological-based world-class tourist attraction. The world record was verified in July in Tak, a northern province of Thailand lying on the…
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Volunteers transform into superheroes for fair in northern Thailand
Look out, here comes the Spiderman! Or is it? Volunteers in Thailand’s northern province of Uttaradit are dressing up as superheroes for a fruit fair held in the main city district this week from September 13-22. The volunteers are working with police to entertain children in their Spiderman, Hulk, Venom, and Captain America costumes. They are also helping children and…
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Boy in northeast Thailand dies of respiratory disease
A boy in Thailand’s northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima died of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) on Monday. This is the first death from RSV reported this year, but a doctor from Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital warns that RSV could be more virulent this year. The doctor, Jiraruj Chomchoey, said that at least one child has been admitted to the…
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Rain flooding likely to dampen third quarter flood of tourism
Thailand has been ecstatic to finally welcome back tourists – mostly – but now, after the pandemic, a new threat to tourism has emerged. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said it expects a normally profitable third quarter to be muted by the flooding in 21 provinces across Thailand. The floods are expected to affect corporate travel especially. Much of…
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Chiang Mai hosts Thai style Halloween to make merit for ghosts
Thai people in the Mae Jo Town Municipality of the San Sai district in Chiang Mai province joined the northern Thai-style Halloween event and parade on Saturday to make merit for ghosts and souls from hell. People in the northern part of Thailand believe that ghosts and souls rise from hell to visit their relatives and ask for merits on…
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NE Thai man kills fiancé & himself after discussing engagement ceremony
A man in northeast Thailand yesterday shot and killed his fiance and himself after the couple had reportedly met to talk about their engagement ceremony. The bodies of the man, 62 year old Thongsai, and his girlfriend, 39 year old Kritsana, were found on a cassava plantation. Kritsana’s sister told police that Kritsana had gotten home from work when Thongsai…
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UPDATE: Police superintendent transferred to “inactive” post after pub raid
UPDATE The saga continues around the pub that was raided in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province early yesterday morning. The police superintendent of Chiang Rai’s city district police, Colonel Kittipong Sukwattanapun, has now been transferred to an “inactive” post in the operations centre of the provincial police headquarters. The transfer is punishment for his alleged failure to control the operations…
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Teenage girl’s body found in northeast Thailand forest
The body of a teenage girl has been found on Friday in a forest behind her school in Thailand’s northeast province of Buri Ram. The girl, 17 year old Nichada Salangam, had reportedly skipped her last class of the day with two friends before her body was found. Nichada’s friend Chularat said the three friends had skipped class to eat…
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Officials bust hundreds of Chiang Rai teens drinking underage
A team of officials has busted hundreds of teenagers in the northern Chiang Rai province drinking under Thailand’s legal age of 20. The officials raided a pub in the main city district early this morning and found 325 people drinking underage, with some as young as 16 years old. Many of the youngsters dashed away on motorcycles when they saw…
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Pervert arrested for sexually violating a Thai heroine’s monument
A naked pervert was arrested by police for trying to have sex with a holy monument in Nakhon Ratchasima, or Korat, in the Isaan part of Thailand. The 30 year old man, Preechar Chumpla, was arrested on Friday, August 26, at the Thao Suranaree or Ya Mo Monument in the Non Somboon sub-district, Seng Sang district, in Nakhon Ratchasima province.…
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