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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Mekong River is turning blue. That’s not good.
PHOTO: britannica.com Water levels in the Mekong River are now reaching a critical point. The river’s normally brown waters have turned aquamarine, like sea water, and sandbars are emerging, some of them several kilometres long. Arthit Panasoon, president of a conservation group in the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom, says the rare change in water colour, although it might look…
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Thailand’s Pulse Clinic now opens in Hong Kong
PHOTO: Jonathan Wong Today is World Aids Day. Whilst the treatments and social acceptance of HIV and AIDS has come a long way since those scary days in the early 80s, stigmas remain, particularly in Asia. The Thaiger would like to commemorate the day by featuring a story about local Thai hero Dr Deyn Natthakhet Yaemim who has made knowledge about…
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Tourists head to the spectacular Red Lotus Lake in Udon Thani
PHOTO: The Nation Local and foreign tourists are flocking to the Nong Han Lake, aka Red Lotus Lake, in Udon Thani to catch the spectacular display of natural bright pink lotuses blossoming. The phenomenon occurs each year during December and January. The lake, located in Kumphawapee district, Udon Thani, is famous for its annual natural carpets of water lilies floating…
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German dies after fall from condo’s 27th floor
PHOTO: The Nation Police were called to a condominium block on Sukhumvit Soi 79, Phra Khanong, following a report that man had fallen from the 27th floor last night (Friday). They were joined at the scene by emergency responders and volunteer rescue workers and a medical examiner from Chulalongkorn Hospital. They arrived to find the body of a caucasian male,…
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Huge potential for electric car industry in Thailand
Have you considered getting an electric car yet? What’s your impediment? Cost? Selection? Too ‘out there’ for you at this stage? Electric cars (EVs) are yet to go mainstream in Thailand as yet. But there is little doubt the popularity of locally built and imported EVs will rise over the next few years. There will be more choice, the cars…
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Bangkok is #1 in travel index for fourth year in a row
PHOTO: TakeMeTour Bangkok, despite some recent tourist number woes, continues to be ranked near the top in most world travel indices. Now Bangkok has been ranked first in the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index (GDCI) for international overnight visitors for the fourth straight year. And the sixth time in the past decade. Thailand is the only country in this year’s…
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Former Chiang Rai Governor says “The Cave” wrong in some places
Chiang Rai’s former governor Narongsak Osottanakorn, says he’s disappointed in Tom Waller’s movie “The Cave”. He said the film does not depict all the details of the real-life drama and is “wrong in some places”. Narongsak went to a special premiere of Tom Waller’s movie “The Cave”, along with members of the team involved in the rescue, on Monday night. The…
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Thailand and Hong Kong sign five trade agreements
PHOTO: TNA.mcot.net Thailand has signed five MoUs (memoranda of understanding) with Hong Kong, in a commitment to forge “greater economic ties between various creative, technological and development agencies” in both countries. The Nation reports that the MoUs were signed by Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak and Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam, as they co-chaired the 1st Thailand-Hong Kong Special Administrative Region…
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Elderly woman fifth person to die from ‘magic’ brew mixed with toad’s blood
PHOTO: Instagram/The Pattaya News There’s been another victim to people’s drinking a cocktail of alcohol and toad’s blood. Apart from sounding revolting, it can also kill you. The illegal brew has been in circulation with police still trying to apprehend the person selling it. A 78 year old woman from Chonburi, east of Bangkok, has died after drinking the alcoholic…
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Ban on used car imports comes into force in December
PHOTO: Roni Motors Thailand “After December 10, all used vehicles imported for personal use will be confiscated and destroyed immediately.” Keerati Ratchano, the director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, says his department is gearing up for a ban on importing used cars to Thailand, to be introduced by the Commerce Ministry in December. The ban was first announced in July…
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Two K-Pop stars sentenced to prison for sexual assault, filming it and sharing it
PHOTO: soompi.com 30 year old K-Pop singer and songwriter, Jung Joon-young, and 29 year old musician Choi Jong-hoon have been convicted of conspiring in the sexual assault of a woman who was incapable of resisting. The decision was handed down by the Seoul Central District Court yesterday. The Court also found Jung guilty of filming women against their will and…
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“The Thai economy is teetering on recession” – Kasikorn Bank
A financial analyst is sounding the warning bells saying that the Thai economy is on the verge of a recession while the baht will remain strong. The head of capital markets research at Kasikorn Bank, Kobsidthi Silpachai, says all eyes will be on Thailand’s economic growth to see if it slows in the fourth quarter, compared to the third. The economy…
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Thai government introduces property stimulus package
PHOTO: homeservicerayong.com “Buyers must earn no more than 100,000 baht a month and be registered on the Revenue Department’s tax database.” Thailand’s Finance Ministry spokesman Lavaron Sangsnit says that the three major housing associations are ready to support the government’s latest stimulus measures to support home purchases. There was a meeting between Ministry officials and the Housing Business Association, Thai Real…
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Thai bank returns 10 million out of 13 million stolen. “Sue us for the rest”
PHOTO: khaosod.com 13 million baht was stolen from a grandmother’s bank account by a bank employee. The bank has now returned 10 million baht and told her that if she wants the rest she’ll have to sue for it. The Thai language story didn’t announce the name or location of the bank although The Thaiger has ascertained it is in…
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Thai household debt hits all-time high of 340K baht per house
Household debt in Thailand is at a record high. A survey carried out by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce shows that household debt has increased by 7.4% since this time last year and now sits at a record high of 340,000 baht. The survey was carried out between November 11-23, canvassing 1,201 people around the country. The…
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Thai government confirms introduction of “double entry” tourist visa
PHOTO: The Nation The Thai government has announced a new double-entry tourist visa. The government says the new measures would allow a visitor to go in and out of Thailand to neighboring countries, such as Cambodia, Laos or Malaysia, then back into Thailand. The deputy secretary general to the PM, Kobsak Pootrakul, says a double-entry tourism visa will be introduced.…
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Thai driver nearly sends car into reverse plunge from fourth floor of car park
PHOTOS: JS100 Radio A woman has had a lucky escape after nearly reversing her car off the fourth floor of an office car park. The Bangkok Post reports that this is the second time a driver has repeated the feat at the car park of the Food and Drug Administration in Nonthaburi, north of Bangkok. A year ago, a driver…
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Thailand Charter Week a great success for Thai yachting industry
Organisers of the Thailand Charter Week hope to make next year’s event even bigger after this month’s successful inaugural edition at Phuket Yacht Haven. Yachts hosted familiarisation cruises around Phang Nga Bay and surrounding areas. The second edition is being held from November 14-18, 2020. Many of the world’s most renowned brokerage houses, Asia’s leading charter companies and Thailand-based yacht service…
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Phuket tollway and tunnel project, linking Kathu and Patong, awaiting approval
PHOTOS: Phuket People’s Voice Phuket’s first ever tolled highway, to be built linking Kathu to Patong route, is awaiting approval from the government’s committee on public-private partnership. This will be the first ever tolled highway in Thailand that also allows motorcycles. The infamous, and much-discussed, Patong Tunnel, and accompanying link roads, has been a slow-burn story over the past two…
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Mon refugees continue to flee Myanmar to Thailand
PHOTO: Piyarat Chongchaoren Myanmar’s ethnic Mon civilians continued pouring across the border into Thailand yesterday, fleeing from the fighting between Burmese troops and rebels on the border near the western province of Kanchanaburi. The fighting began on Wednesday morning in Myanmar’s Bo Yeepun village, about 2km from the Three Pagodas border pass in Sangkhla Buri district. More than 700 people…
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Two Aussies, Nigerian and Thai arrested with a kilogram of crystal meth – VIDEO
PHOTO: Pattaya ‘Drug Cartel’ Sting Operation Two Australians, a Nigerian and a Thai woman have been arrested in Pattaya with a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine valued at 350,000 baht. A team of police raided a home in the Nong Prue district and arrested 46 year old Jamie Robert Hansom and 58 year old Steven Brett Hovi, both Australian, 38 year old…
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Soi Dog reaches new milestone – neutering 100,000 animals in one year
“The day we see no suffering of stray animals on the streets and the eradication of rabies in Thailand.” That’s the long-term goals of the Soi Dog Foundation. The non-profit organisation has made great strides towards these so far in 2019 by surpassing 100,000 stray dog and cat sterilisations in a calendar year for the first time in its history,…
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Member of committee to ban farm chemicals quits in protest over U-turn
PHOTO: Assoc. Prof. Jiraporn Limpananont Pongspaj Samranvejporn – Thai PBS World The Thai Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit is being challenged over his claims of a “unanimous vote of support” to overturn the decision to ban the controversial agri-chemicals. A member of the National Hazardous Substances Committee, that oversaw the original ban on the agri-chemicals paraquat, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate, has resigned in…
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Major fire averted after resident leaves the chicken cooking in Pattaya
PHOTO: The Pattaya News Disaster has been narrowly avoided after a fire started in an electric skillet at a condo in Pattaya, filling the building with smoke and terrifying adjacent residents. Pattaya City police were notified of the fire at 9pm Tuesday, at a condominium primarily for local Thais. Firefighters and police rushed to the scene to find smoke gushing from…
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US President Trump signs bill protecting Hong Kong rights
PHOTO: Voice of America Despite fears in some corners that he would attempt to veto it, President Trump has signed into law a US bill in support of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. It’s a move that is unlikely to assist in the current negotiations as the trade war between China and the US continues. AFP reports that Trump had…
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Thai Airways absent from new Top 10 list of world airlines
PHOTO: airlineratings.com The airline review website AirlineRatings has just announced its list of the Best Airlines 2020 and Thailand’s national carrier is absent. In fact Thai Airways isn’t even in the top 20 airlines, as compiled by the website. The Nation reports that the list was drawn up by seven editors with a combined 200 years’ experience in the travel…
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Over 50% of businesses ignoring orders on wastewater release into central Thailand canal
PHOTO: Iloilo Wanderer The Pollution Control Department says over 50% of businesses are ignoring orders regarding the discharge of wastewater into Klong Saen Saeb. The canal connects Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river with the central Thailand provinces of Prachinburi and Chachoengsao. The Nation reports that between 2016 and 2019, over 289 establishments out of 600 have stuck to the rules issued…
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Pattaya taxi drivers attacked by group of Grab drivers
Taxi spats are now turning into taxi wars over challenges to ‘turf’ long established by traditional taxi services in Thailand, now under pressure from the newer app-based services. The most recent scuffle in Pattaya where over 10 Grab drivers have allegedly attacked a group of regular taxi drivers. Reports by Thai-language 77kaoded and The Pattaya News say the incident took…
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“New” committee reverses ban on farm chemicals
The Thai government will lift the proposed ban on the herbicide glyphosate, and delay the ban on paraquat and the pesticide chlorpyrifos for six months. It’s an astonishing turn of events given the extensive public debate and insistence by some government ministers that it WON’T reverse the ban under any circumstances. Just two days ago Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s…
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Thailand unlikely to abolish the draft
Thai Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon says military conscription won’t be scrapped any time soon, as there aren’t enough volunteers signing up for service. Prawit told reporters conscription is meant to avoid manpower shortfalls, but admitted that conscripts represent a small percentage of all recruits, appearing to contradict himself. “If conscription is abolished and something untoward happens to Thailand, there won’t be…
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