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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 How much travel insurance should cost you in Thailand (By trip length)
When planning a trip to Thailand, travel insurance is a smart investment that can save you from unexpected costs. Whether it’s medical expenses, lost luggage, or trip cancellations, the right coverage can provide peace of mind and financial protection against...
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Ex Thai military man shoots his mother in law after drunken row
A former military man shot his mother in law in a drunken rage last night after a row with a next door neighbour. Chaluay Karnjiakjorn, a former paramilitary officer from a Volunteer Defense Corpse, stole an M16 rifle and fired randomly at houses in the Nong Chang district of the central province of Uthai Thani. His 78 year old mother-in-law…
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Sri Lanka’s military raids protest camp outside president’s office
Ever since Sri Lanka descended into chaos, protesters have been camping outside of the presidential office in Colombo. But police and military aren’t having it, and today, they pulled down tents and arrested protesters. A police spokesperson confirmed that nine men were arrested, and would appear in court today. Following the raid, the area around the office has been calm,…
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Group closing in on Thailand ministers involved in Pegasus spyware scandal
The group behind the ground-breaking report revealing Thai democracy activists were targeted by the Israeli spyware Pegasus program, insists they are closing in on those behind the attacks. Citizen Lab, iLaw, and DigitalReach, revealed Monday that 30 activists and academics from Thailand had their Apple iPhones hacked between 2020 and 2021 by Pegasus’ advanced software program. Today the digital security…
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Fake bomb detectors come back to haunt the Thai PM in parliament
What’s made of plastic, has a few pieces of wire and two plastic antenna probes? A bomb detector, of course. The Thai army was duped into purchasing the dodgy bomb detectors 13 years ago. Some 320 of them! With the ongoing insurgency in southern Thailand, the bomb detectors were a potential solution for ferreting out small ordinances in the three…
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A Mission To Unchain And Rescue The Working Elephants With Digital Art – Unchained Elephants
Thailand has long been a prized tourist destination, with people travelling globally to visit. A popular bucket list activity for many of these people is a visit to an elephant camp. For the tourists, it is a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience, being so close to such a magnificent creature. For the elephant, however, it is a lifetime’s experience of torment, fear…
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Thai tourism ministry to get 2 billion baht ‘booster shot’
The Tourism and Sports Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, yesterday revealed his department expects to get a 2 billion baht “booster shot budget” to push Thai tourism this year after complaining to the prime minister. Phiphat revealed he approached PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and asked for the extra cash after being ignored by the man in charge of allocating additional funds, the Director…
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Bangkok restaurant ranked 39th best in the world
A restaurant in Bangkok has been ranked 39th in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. The restaurant, Sorn, has won two Michelin stars. A hotspot for fine dining, Sorn serves traditional southern Thai cuisine. Sorn’s head chef, known as ‘Chef Ice,’ received the award at a ceremony in London earlier this week. Chef Ice expressed his honour over winning the…
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Wednesday’s record rains in Bangkok cripple the centre of the city
Wednesday night’s downpour wasn’t just torrential, it was record-breaking! It was the highest rainfall recorded in 67 years in some areas of the centre of the Thai capital. Even the 20 baht convenience store raincoats were no match for the downpour. Rainfall measured at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre in Khlong Toei district on Wednesday night was 132.5mm, surpassing the…
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Zoo in central Thailand accused of mistreating elephants
A zoo in central Thailand’s province of Samut Prakan has been accused of mistreating its elephants. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation found four elephants in bad condition at Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo. Now, the zoo’s management is liable to a fine of up to 40,000 baht. Officials from the department found the elephants to…
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6.4 earthquake strikes Myanmar and northern Thailand, 47 tremors so far
A series of earthquakes struck Myanmar’s Shan State and Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand last night and throughout the early hours of this morning. The earthquakes began at around 11.30pm yesterday and as of 7am, a total of 47 tremors ranging in magnitude from 2.4 to 6.4 on the Richter scale had occurred. More earthquakes are expected today, according…
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UPDATE: Officials raid religious cult, no illegal action found
UPDATE The new religious cult that caught the globe’s imagination for allowing followers to drink alcohol got raided yesterday. But officials from Chiang Yuen district in Mana Sarakham province in northeast Thailand found no illegal activity. Chiang Yuen’s District’s Chief, Somporn Kuankamkong, officers from Internal Security Operations Command, Buddhism Office, and Public Health Department, yesterday visited the cult temple, Phra…
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Day Three – no confidence debate. Luxury watches, dodgy bomb detectors and the coup leader
Day three of the no-confidence motion and parliamentary debates revealed that then-General Prayut, the Commander in Chief of the Thai Army, was the brains and instigator behind the 2014 military coup that ousted the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra. It also had the Energy Minister defending the government’s current power development plan, fending off accusations of corruption. It was also…
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Indian tourists are picking up Phuket’s Old Town economy
Phuket’s recovering tourism economy is picking up again thanks to Indian tourists. Indians have been the biggest tourist group in Phuket, and Thailand overall this year. Since May 1, over 72,000 Indian tourists have visited Phuket, according to the president of Phuket Old Town Tourism Community, Somyot Pathan. Phuket’s ‘Old Town’ in the main city district is a particular hotspot…
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Thailand’s first monkeypox case is identified in Phuket tourist
Thailand has recorded its first case of monkeypox, the 71st country in the world during this recent outbreak, only the fourth since the start of the 21st century. The virus has only been endemic in a few Central African countries up to this stage. The 27 year old man, who had been travelling from Nigeria, was confirmed with monkeypox after…
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Thai mother turns blind eye as daughter raped by stepfather
An alleged pedophile offered the father of a 12 year old girl he raped 100,000 baht in cash to buy his silence. The father refused. The rapist was in fact the teenage girl’s 59 year old stepfather and lived with the child’s birth mother who ignored the abuse. The girl said her mother knew everything but asked her not to…
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Elephant stabs mahout to death with its tusks in southern Thailand
An elephant stabbed its mahout – or elephant trainer – to death with its tusks yesterday morning in Nahkhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand. The elephant stood watch over the man’s corpse for hours, said police. Yesterday at 10.30am, officers from Chawang Police Station received a report that a man had died after he was pierced by his own…
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Chiang Mai’s 1-month pledge to clear dead power cables
Chiang Mai Municipality promises to remove all of the city’s dead wires and cables within a month. When they finish burying the new cables underground is another matter. Following residents’ complaints, the municipality began tidying power and communication lines around the Wang Sing Kham community yesterday while another project to transfer cables underground continued near Chiang Mai University. Since the…
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Oldest giant male panda on earth dies in Hong Kong
Wildlife lovers have a reason to mourn, now that the oldest giant male panda on earth has died today in Hong Kong. The panda, named An An, was 35 years old when he passed away today at Ocean Park. The giant panda believed to have lived the longest was a female panda who died at 38 years old in 2016.…
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Bedraggled rats can’t cope in Bangkok floods
Even rats couldn’t cope with the treacherous knee-deep flash floods which struck several areas of Bangkok last night. Bedraggled rats piled up on top of each other on the side of Sukhumvit Road, which was hit particularly badly by the floods after hours of continuous and heavy rainfall. Rats are excellent swimmers and can tread water for up to three…
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ICONSIAM to unveil ICS, a ‘Mixed-Use Lifestyle Town,’ featuring retail, office and hotel facilities linked to the BTS Gold Line
Press Release ICONSIAM, a world-class landmark located on the majestic Chao Phraya River – a joint-venture between three leading retail and real-estate developers: “Siam Piwat, Magnolia and CP,” is set to unveil ICS, a ‘Mixed-Use Lifestyle Town’ developed to amplify the thriving potential of the Thonburi area. ICS fosters an integration of urbanity and community that truly reflects today’s lifestyle…
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Thai doctor tells Covid-infected men not to fear shrinking penis
A urological surgeon from Thailand insists there is no hard evidence to suggest a man’s penis will shrink if he gets Covid-19 despite claims to the contrary. Dr Nantawat Siritanan, from Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital, located in Khan Na Yao District, Bangkok, told men not to waste time worrying whether their manhood will shrivel if they catch the coronavirus. Nantawat was…
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Floods sweep pickup into dam in eastern Thailand, 1 survives and 2 missing
Floods swept an ice delivery pickup truck into a dam in Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand, in the early hours of this morning. The driver managed to escape and swim to safety but two Burmese labourers are still missing. Police from Bo Win Police Station received a call at 5.30am to say that two people were missing after a vehicle…
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University in Bangkok suspends lectures following floods
Thailand’s heavy rains have hit Bangkok hard, and one university in the capital has even suspended lectures today due to flooding. Ramkhamhaeng University announced on its Facebook page today that lectures on both of its campuses are cancelled due to flooding inside and outside the compound. One of the university’s campuses is located on Ramkhamhaeng road in the city’s east.…
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Woman carries sharp knife onto Vietnam Airlines flight
A Vietnamese woman managed to get a sharp knife through airport security and aboard a domestic Vietnam Airlines flight on Monday. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has launched an investigation into the incident. An elderly lady is pictured peeling fruit with a sharp 20 centimetre knife on Vietnam Airlines flight VN208 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi…
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A bad egg: Pattaya’s egg thief scrambles
Pattaya and Chon Buri have had a variety of bizarre thieves: underwear burglars, cactus robbers, and now, an egg thief. In the past week, two egg merchants in Pattaya have complained that thieves stole their eggs. One of the merchants, who was robbed on July 19, said the eggs stolen from her were worth over 8,600 baht. The merchant, 40…
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British Airways flights to Thailand suspended until 2023
British Airways isn’t heading back to Bangkok until at least next year. Tour operators were hoping the British flagship carrier would be adding regular flights again between Heathrow and Bangkok in time for Thailand’s high season, just when the winter kicks in in the UK. British Airways was originally set to resume flights in November this year but has now…
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Nok Air to make Chiang Mai a new global destination hub
Nok Air announced it is turning Chaing Mai International Airport, in the northern province of Chaing Mai, into a new hub of domestic and global routes. The airline yesterday invited Chaing Mai Governor, Wuttiphum Julangkun, and the media to a press conference at Chiang Mai City Hall, at the Chang Phueak in the Mueng Chiang Mai District, to discuss the…
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‘Whiskey prevents Covid-19’ claims monk caught drink driving in northeast Thailand
Police caught a Buddhist monk as drunk as a skunk driving a pickup truck in Loei province, northeast Thailand, yesterday at 9.30am. The monk claims his concoction of rice whiskey and lemons prevents Covid-19. Yesterday morning, police from Loei Provincial Police Station received a report that a drunk monk was asking people for money and “causing mayhem” around the market…
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Pattaya village protests after 3 decades without tap water
Locals of one village in East Pattaya are fed up after not having tap water for 30 years. On Tuesday, a crowd of over 50 people in Moo 4 village protested the lack of water and empty promises from officials. The village is located in Chon Buri province’s Bang Lamung district. The villagers have to pay 170 baht for a…
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Heavy rains cause disruption around Thailand, Bangkok commuters deluged
Yes, it is the wet season. And, just in case you doubted it, Mother Nature has thrown down the rain in buckets to make sure you don’t forget, including Bangkok overnight. The Thai Meteorological Department has issued warnings of “isolated heavy to very heavy rain in most parts of the country” up to July 24. Some parts of the country,…
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