News

Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. The Thaiger delivers the latest national news that matters.

  • Sponsored

    Thailand vs. the West: What expats save on healthcare each year

    Healthcare in Thailand is much cheaper than in Western countries, making it a great choice for expatriates looking for affordable medical care. Both public and private healthcare options offer high-quality services, with savings of up to 80% on procedures like...

  • Village chief survives accidentally shooting himself while driving in central Thailand

    Village chief survives accidentally shooting himself while driving in central Thailand

    Somehow, a village chief accidentally shot himself in the leg and hand while driving through Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province in central Thailand yesterday. He tried to drive himself to the hospital but ended up crashing into a temple. At 12.22am, officers from Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Police Station received a report of a car accident at Phra Si Sanphet…

  • Thailand welcomes nearly 11 million tourists this year

    Thailand welcomes nearly 11 million tourists this year

    Tourist arrivals in Thailand could hit the 11 million mark before the year is through, according to the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Yuthasak Supaporn. Between January 1 and December 20, Thailand welcomed 10.9 million tourists from around the world, the governor said this morning. With High Season in full swing, Yuthasak said he expects tourist arrivals…

  • Accused Bangkok fraudster attempts to flee justice

    Accused Bangkok fraudster attempts to flee justice

    A defendant in a fraud case attempted to escape justice yesterday when he fled from Bangkok’s Criminal Court. Prasit Jiewkok’s comedy attempt to flee was foiled by police and corrections officials who captured him after he left the building.With the help of accomplices, Prasit changed out of his prison clothes in a courtroom toilet. Prasit is on trial with eight…

  • Charities and leaders treat Pattaya kids to Christmas party

    Charities and leaders treat Pattaya kids to Christmas party

    Generous people in Pattaya are in the holiday spirit of giving. Local leaders and charities treated kids in Pattaya’s Khopai community to a Christmas party on Tuesday. Soi Khopai is located in the Bang Lamung district. The children got to eat yummy food, play games, and win prizes. Santa Clause made an appearance at the party, gifting children candy, toys,…

  • Jealous Thai husband strangles wife and sleeps next to her body all night

    Jealous Thai husband strangles wife and sleeps next to her body all night

    A drunk Thai man strangled his wife and slept next to her dead body on Tuesday night in Udon Thani province in northeast Thailand. He said he didn’t know she was dead. At 10am on Wednesday, officers from Mueang Udon Thani Police Station were notified that a husband killed his wife at a construction workers’ residence in Kak Khaeng district.…

  • Commerce experts predict Thailand’s consumer spending will hit 17 year high during New Year

    Commerce experts predict Thailand’s consumer spending will hit 17 year high during New Year

    Commerce experts predict that Thailand’s consumer spending will hit a 17 year high during the New Year period coming soon. The president of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) discussed the UTCC’s predictions at a conference on “Consumer behaviour and spending during the 2023 New Year Festival.” The president, Thanavath Phonvichai, said the period is expected to…

  • Thai man exchanges fake US dollar bills for baht at two banks in Thailand

    Thai man exchanges fake US dollar bills for baht at two banks in Thailand

    Yesterday, police arrested a Thai man in Pattaya who successfully exchanged fake US dollar bills for Thai baht at two banks in Thailand. The suspect said he was paid 2.5% of the cut to commit the crime. Police seized 759 counterfeit US dollar bills upon arresting 54 year old Nawat Singhawak in Chon Buri province’s Bang Lamung district yesterday. First,…

  • Taxi driver killed in railway crossing crash in Bangkok, Thailand

    Taxi driver killed in railway crossing crash in Bangkok, Thailand

    A taxi drove through the barrier and was struck by a train at a railway crossing in Bangkok early this morning. The taxi driver was instantly killed in the crash. Officers at Thung Song Hung Police Station received a report early this morning of a train crashing into a public taxi at the railway crossing opposite the North Park Intersection in…

  • Self-proclaimed inventor of iconic chicken tikka masala cuisine dies at 77

    Self-proclaimed inventor of iconic chicken tikka masala cuisine dies at 77

    The self-proclaimed inventor of the iconic chicken tikka masala dish has died at the age of 77. The Glasgow chef, Ahmed Aslam Ali, previously claimed that he invented the dish by creating the sauce from a can of tomato soup. He owned a restaurant called Shish Mahal in the 1970s, which his nephew says, became his life. “He would eat…

  • Small but mighty group of Afghan women take to the streets over university ban

    Small but mighty group of Afghan women take to the streets over university ban

    A small but mighty group of Afghan women took to the streets to protest against the Taliban’s ban on university education for women. The latest move to restrict human rights for women in the country saw the Taliban’s minister for higher education ordering all private and public universities to bar women from enrolling and attending. According to the Straits Times,…

  • Thai university student sentenced to prison on royal defamation charges

    Thai university student sentenced to prison on royal defamation charges

    A Thai university student has been reportedly sentenced to prison on royal defamation charges. Aukit Santiprasitkul, 23, a Ramkhamhaeng University Faculty of Law student was charged with royal defamation and breaking into data on a computer system. The charges allege that the hacking of the computer system affects national security under the Computer Crimes Act, which is the same act…

  • Druggie bites police officer who caught him stealing electricity in southern Thailand

    Druggie bites police officer who caught him stealing electricity in southern Thailand

    A man high on drugs bit a police officer’s arm while under arrest for stealing electricity in Krabi province in southern Thailand yesterday afternoon. The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) were informed of some suspicious wires leading into the house of 31 year old Natthaphong in Krabi’s Tap Prik subdistrict. Natthaphong managed to tap into the PEA’s electricity for free by…

  • Kindergarten students save up to buy blankets for the needy in northern Thailand

    Kindergarten students save up to buy blankets for the needy in northern Thailand

    Kindergarten students in Chiang Rai province in northernmost Thailand saved up one baht every day for a year to buy blankets for people suffering in the cold weather this winter, especially those living at high altitudes in the province’s mountainous regions. Teachers at Chiang Rai Kindergarten invited students to join a charitable project entitled “Doing 89 Million Good Deeds for…

  • Driver hits wild gaur in northeast Thailand, both injured

    Driver hits wild gaur in northeast Thailand, both injured

    A driver hit a wild gaur in Thailand’s northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima last night, injuring both himself and the gaur. The driver hit the gaur on Highway 3052 in Wang Nam Khiao district. The driver said he saw the gaur cross in front of him, too close for him to stop or avoid hitting it. Rescuers arrived on the…

  • Thai police arrest 4 men for making homemade guns and selling them online

    Thai police arrest 4 men for making homemade guns and selling them online

    In a sting operation, Royal Thai Police officers posed as customers to crack an illegal gun network in Thailand. Police arrested four men for illegally making homemade guns and selling them online. Initially, police seized guns and other weapons from a gang of vocational college students who were arrested for fighting. When police found out the youngsters purchased the weapons…

  • Teen brutally stabs other teens with scissors in Phuket fight

    Teen brutally stabs other teens with scissors in Phuket fight

    In a brutal fight in Phuket this week, a teen attacked a group of other teens with a pair of scissors near a school in the main city district on Monday. The suspect is a 16 year old boy, while his victims are 14-17 years old. Thai media reported that a group of teens went to meet the attacker at a…

  • Forest ranger and 4 locals arrested for illegal logging in northeast Thailand

    Forest ranger and 4 locals arrested for illegal logging in northeast Thailand

    Yesterday, police arrested a forest ranger – whose duty is to protect the forest – and four of his friends for illegal logging in Khon Kaen province in northeast Thailand. The gang cut down protected and valuable species such as Siamese rosewood and Burmese padauk. The police’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD) recently travelled to Khon Kaen’s Nong Ruea district…

  • CBD oil review: best cannabis oils to buy in Thailand in 2022

    CBD oil review: best cannabis oils to buy in Thailand in 2022

    Press Release CBD oil, also referred to as cannabidiol and sometimes cannabis oil, is widely available in Thailand. You get to enjoy the health benefits of marijuana, minus the high part that some find unpleasant. However, there are so many different cannabidiol oils to consider that it can be difficult to make the right pick that fulfils your requirements. With…

  • Yell BKK launched ONETOUCH’s special edition package, ‘Amulet of Protection’

    Yell BKK launched ONETOUCH’s special edition package, ‘Amulet of Protection’

    Press Release Thailand ranks 2nd in teen pregnancy among other ASEAN countries, and this doesn’t include STDs. ONETOUCH, a Thai condom brand, wants to take part in minimizing the problems by helping recap how to use condoms correctly in an unforgettable way. Beliefs, amulets, wish-washes, and Thai people are inseparable with no gender or age in between. That’s why there…

  • ‘Rescued’ scammers return home from Cambodia

    ‘Rescued’ scammers return home from Cambodia

    The group of seven ‘rescued’ scammers who returned home from Cambodia had begged, live on air, to be rescued from a different set of scammers – this time Cambodian / Chinese. The two men and five women crossed the border in Sa Kaeo’s Aranyaprathet district on Tuesday evening, escorted by Thai embassy staff and Cambodian security officials. Only four had…

  • Thailand creates new department to tackle climate change

    Thailand creates new department to tackle climate change

    Thailand has created a new department to tackle climate change. The new department, named the Department of Climate Change and Environment, aims to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2065. The new department is responsible for proposing and developing strategies, plans, and programmes on climate change and greenhouse gas reduction as agreed at the COP26 meeting. The ministry of Natural Resources…

  • Thai police make 12,000 gambling arrests during World Cup 2022

    Thai police make 12,000 gambling arrests during World Cup 2022

    Thailand‘s anti-gambling laws did not deter Thais from placing bets on the FIFA World Cup 2022. In fact, the Royal Thai Police made more than 12,000 gambling arrests between November 19 and December 18, 2022. Nearly all forms of gambling are illegal in Thailand, apart from the government-sponsored lottery, according to the Gambling Act (1935). Anticipating violation of this law…

  • UN Security Council adopts long-awaited resolution on Myanmar crisis

    UN Security Council adopts long-awaited resolution on Myanmar crisis

    The United Nations Security Council has adopted a long-awaited resolution to the crisis in Myanmar. The Council called for Myanmar’s junta to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a famous political prisoner whose democratically-elected party was ousted from power by the military in February 2021. The 15-member council has been divided on the situation in Myanmar for decades and has…

  • Thai PM’s secretary-general appointment may be questioned in debate over political ethics

    Thai PM’s secretary-general appointment may be questioned in debate over political ethics

    Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha may be grilled in a debate over ethics concerning his secretary-general’s appointment. The opposition is reportedly planning to hold a general debate shortly after the New Year as it focuses on what it describes as the unethical appointment of the new secretary-general. Pheu Thai Party leader, Cholnan Srikaew, told the Bangkok Post, that the opposition is…

  • Indonesia could bring Myanmar junta to justice after taking over ASEAN chair next year

    Indonesia could bring Myanmar junta to justice after taking over ASEAN chair next year

    Indonesia could bring Myanmar’s junta leaders to justice after the country takes over as the chair of ASEAN. A group of Indonesian legal experts may have found an impact on the fate of the junta that seized power in Myanmar. The experts made the case to amend a law that was enacted back in 2000 which restricts punishment for human…

  • Iranian footballer mimes hanging gesture to protest executions

    Iranian footballer mimes hanging gesture to protest executions

    Another Iranian footballer is courageously sounding the alarm on Iran’s executions of protesters. Rather than celebrating his goal, the football player, Meysam Tohidast, mimed a gesture of hanging himself after scoring at the Tehran Derby, to protest the executions. Iran International English yesterday tweeted video footage of Tohidast putting one hand around his neck, while making a fist above his…

  • 90% of hotels in Chiang Mai fully booked during New Year

    90% of hotels in Chiang Mai fully booked during New Year

    If you’re planning on visiting Chiang Mai in northern Thailand this New Year, then you had better be quick, because 90% of hotel rooms in the province are already booked up, according to the Thai Hotels Association (Northern Region). Hotels in the province are expected to generate one billion baht in revenue during the high season, which runs from November…

  • Ukraine’s Zelenskiy appeals to US Republican lawmakers for additional aid in Congressional speech

    Ukraine’s Zelenskiy appeals to US Republican lawmakers for additional aid in Congressional speech

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is appealing to US Republican lawmakers for additional aid during his speech to the US Congress. Zelenskiy made his first trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine with Ukrainian Americans offering support upon his arrival at the US Capitol. “It is a great honour for me to be at the US Congress and speak to you and…

  • Zelenskiy’s US visit gives Ukrainian Americans hope

    Zelenskiy’s US visit gives Ukrainian Americans hope

    President Zelenskiy’s visit to the US is giving Ukrainian Americans hope that the US will assist Ukraine further against the Russian invasion. Dozens of pro-Ukrainian activists gathered near the White House to support Zelenskiy as he made his first trip abroad since the war started. The group called “US Ukrainian Activists” then met at the US Capitol to hear Zelenskiy’s…

  • Authorities bust yet another overstayer on Koh Samui

    Authorities bust yet another overstayer on Koh Samui

    Surat Thani immigration officers busted yet another overstayer on Thailand’s island paradise of Koh Samui, The Phuket Express reported yesterday. The British man, 74 year old Dennis Robert Desmond, had overstayed his visa by 38 days. Officers arrested Desmond in front of a hotel in Koh Samui’s Bo Phut sub-district, on Choeng Mon-Chaweng Road. The officers brought Desmond to Bo…