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.
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Nambia: A timeline of Germany’s brutal colonial history
1840s: Missionaries from the German-based Rhenish Missionary Society arrive in what is now called Namibia. 1883: Adolf Lüderitz, one of Germany’s first prominent colonialists, signs an agreement with Chief Joseph Frederick of Bethanie in what is now southern Namibia. The treaty gives the German businessman rights to the area around a strategic natural harbor called Angra Pequena, which he renames…
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Alleged cable thief busted in Phuket, accomplice possibly still at large
A Phuket man was arrested recently after he allegedly stole telephone and communications cables throughout the island. The man allegedly sold the cables for scrap near his house in Phang Nga. Wichit police and members of the Crime Suppression Region 5 and officials from the TOT company showed up at Chaturong Bhumlamnao’s house to arrest him. The TOT had previously…
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Wednesday Covid Update: 11,252 new cases; provincial totals
141 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 15,753 with 15,659 of those fatalities during the recent wave, which was first recorded on April 1. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA reported 11,252 new Covid-19 cases and 13,695 recoveries. There are now 129,071…
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Tesla stock dive costs Elon Musk $7 billion, World’s Richest Man title
While it may have been a rough week for many in the stock market, sell-offs hit Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk particularly hard. The often provocative tech innovator, crypto agitator, and founder of Tesla lost more than US $7 billion in 24 hours, knocking him from his perch as the world’s richest man. Before anyone starts a GoFundMe, it…
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Post-Covid condition MIS-C afflicted 30 to 40 children, 1 death
A post-Covid-19 condition called MIS-C has affected 30 to 40 Thai children and may have caused the death of one youth. The condition, multiple-system inflammatory syndrome in children, can affect children and teens who had been affected and then recovered from Covid-19. The president of the Royal College of Paediatricians of Thailand explained that the condition is fairly rare but…
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Manhunt underway for foreigner who allegedly prepared bread using his feet
A manhunt is underway by the Immigration Bureau after a video surfaced of a man, believed to be a foreigner, who allegedly used his feet to prepare bread for packaging. The video was supplied to the IB and they responded that they will search for the suspect. It was not clear what charges the man may face for his foot…
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Burmese man arrested for rape and assault of Thai woman
A Burmese man accused of the assault and rape of a Thai woman he had hired as a maid has been arrested by Phuket City Police. The 42 year old man lives near the fishing port area in Rassada and was taken into custody after the Phuket Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant yesterday. The 47 year old woman from…
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Army provides food for the Rawai Sea gypsy community
The Royal Thai Army has set up a food kitchen for the Rawai sea gypsies as the community has been in lockdown since September 15. The lockdown will remain in place until September 28. The Royal Field Kitchen Car has been cooking and handing out food for almost 2 weeks now. They have travelled all over the island to bring…
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Governor announces restrictions on Phuket Vegetarian Festival
The Phuket Vegetarian Festival will be scaled down and under tight restrictions this year to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The weeklong festival, where some practice self-mutilation to connect with the spirit world, draws tourists from across the country, and the world. The Phuket governor announced that this year’s festival from October 5 to 15 will have restrictions on the…
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Former deputy attorney-general to be investigated over serious wrongdoings in Red Bull hit-and-run case
An investigation is to take place into alleged serious transgressions by a former deputy attorney-general involved in the 2012 hit-and-run case against Vorayuth Yoovidhya. Nate Naksuk is to be investigated over his decision to drop the charges against the Red Bull heir, who is accused of killing a Bangkok policeman in the hit-and-run incident. The Bangkok Post reports that the…
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Melbourne hit by 6.0 magnitude quake, tremors across south-east Australia
The Australian city of Melbourne, capital of the south-eastern state of Victoria, has been struck by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake, damaging buildings but with no serious injuries reported. The quake struck on Wednesday morning, with tremors felt as far away as Adelaide and Sydney. It measured higher on the Richter scale than a 5.6 quake that struck Newcastle, New South…
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Esports officially recognised as professional sport, new opportunities follow
The Thai professional sports committee has agreed to welcome Esports, also known as electronic sports, into the fold of professional sports in Thailand. The announcement was made official in the Royal Gazette. Esports represents video game-based sports that can be enjoyed alone in a room or with teams. The games include first-person shooter games, such as the assortment of Call…
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Industry body says Thai government must borrow another 1 trillion baht
The chairman of The Federation of Thai Industries is calling on the government to borrow another 1 trillion baht to kick-start the economy in 2022. Supant Mongkolsuthree says the extra funds are desperately needed to boost an economy devastated by the fallout from the pandemic. According to a Bangkok Post report, he says the government’s borrowing of 500 billion baht…
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Wednesday Covid Update: 141 deaths and 11,252 new cases
Today, 11,252 new Covid-19 cases and 141 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April, in the most severe wave of the virus in Thailand, 1,482,494 people have tested positive for Covid-19. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA has recorded 13,695 recoveries. There are now 129,071 people being treated for Covid-19.…
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FDA passes on using Sinopharm vaccine for children over 3 years old
Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration has denied Sinopharm’s request to administer Covid vaccinations to children over 3 years old. The FDA cited a lack of data on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Dr Paisan Dankhum, the Deputy Secretary General of the FDA, says the FDA committee and experts across many agencies had discussed the safety and effectiveness of…
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October Pattaya reopening on schedule according to mayor
Despite Chon Buri having the fourth highest Covid-19 infection rate in the country, the mayor of Pattaya City said that they are ready and on schedule to reopen international tourism on October 1. While there has been a lot of doubt over partial or full reopening next month for Thailand, the mayor assured that the “Pattaya Move On” Sandbox program…
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Travel data to Thailand for 106 million people unprotected online
106 million visitors to Thailand over the last 10 years were discovered to have had their personal information unsecured online. Comparitech, a cyber security firm that discovered the database, revealed that the data has been unprotected online without any password protection possibly for the last decade. The unprotected data included people’s full names, passport numbers, gender, residency status, date they…
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Mexico finds a Latin American ally in Venezuela’s Maduro
The recent summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Mexico was the first big meeting of its kind since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Participants ranged from Cuban head of state Miguel Diaz-Canel to Ecuador’s laissez-faire conservative president, Guillermo Lasso. Even Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro made a last-minute appearance — though he is wanted…
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Namibia debates German genocide deal
Namibia’s parliament on Tuesday resumed debate around the signing of a joint declaration with Germany regarding the former colonial power’s recognition that it perpetrated genocide in the early 1900s. Parliamentary debates in June had been suspended as Namibia battled a devastating wave of COVID-19 infections, which delayed the National Assembly in agreeing to Berlin’s May offer of a formal apology…
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Is reconciliation with New Delhi possible in Indian Kashmir?
“Just like everything else in Kashmir, I am a shadow of my previous self,” says 58-year-old Shabir, a boatman from the city of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. Shabir, whose name has been changed, used to be the proud owner of a traditional yellow Shikara boat on Dal Lake. The lake’s floating market had been Shabir’s bread and butter. That was…
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Soldier allegedly assaults neighbours following horn honking
A soldier in Nonthaburi, a central Thai province, allegedly assaulted his neighbours at their home because one of the victims had honked his motorbike’s horn to let his wife know he was home. The victims, 39 year old Piamsuk Bunruang and 42 year old Alisa Choksinsombun filed a police report yesterday following the attack. Thai Residents says the soldier punched…
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Border agencies instructed to look out for gun smuggling along Myanmar border
Thai border agencies have been instructed to be even more vigilant along the border with Myanmar to ensure weapons aren’t smuggled out of the Land of Smiles. Defence spokesman Lt Gen Kongcheep Tantrawanich says the order was handed down from Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon amid recent reports that arms dealers were smuggling military-grade weapons into Myanmar where fighting between the…
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Tuesday Covid Update: 10,919 new cases; provincial totals
143 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since the start of the pandemic last year, 15,612 people infected with Covid-19 have died with 15,518 of those fatalities during the country’s latest wave of the virus, which was first recorded on April 1. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 10,919 new…
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Officials clarify Korat police van stopped at the beach after collecting murder suspect
Cops in the northeastern Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima, AKA Korat, recently came under fire, figuratively, for allegedly using an official police van to take a trip to the beach. Police launched a fact-finding committee to investigate after pictures and videos surfaced of the police van arriving at a beach in Phetchaburi, a central Thai province, and people getting out…
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Scientists study bats in Cambodia to find clues about Covid
Scientists are collecting samples from bats in Cambodia to better understand the Covid pandemic. The researchers chose the region as a similar virus was found there in bats years ago. 2 samples were taken from horseshoe bats back in 2010 in the Stung Treng province, which is close to Laos. The samples were placed in freezers at the Institut Pasteur…
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Iran enriches uranium as the West watches on
Iran may now be capable of producing enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear warhead within just a month. That’s according to US experts who were quoted in The New York Times last Wednesday after reviewing classified new data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The experts weren’t permitted to speak in an official capacity, but told the newspaper…
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Update: government official that allegedly stole from fund meant for the disabled spent all the money on gambling
In an update to yesterday’s story, Pisal Sukjaitham, the government official who was arrested for allegedly embezzling 13 million baht from a fund meant for the disabled, allegedly confessed, after being interrogated, that he spent all the money he stole on gambling. In another development in the story, INN says that officials are now saying 45 million baht was stolen…
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Flight restrictions to the US to ease in November – US government
The US of A has announced that it will remove Covid travel bans on air travel for all passengers starting in November, provided the passengers are fully vaccinated and have submitted to testing and contact tracing. The Covid response coordinator for American president and Corvette fan Joe Robinette Biden, Jeffrey Zients says the new “consistent approach” will take effect sometime…
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Bali to re-open for international yachts with fully vaccinated crew, passengers
The director of a Bali yachting firm says Indonesia is preparing to ease entry restrictions for yachts and fully vaccinated crew and passengers. Thomas Taatjes from Asia Pacific Superyachts says foreign nationals will be required to present proof of Covid-19 vaccination when applying for a visa. “Foreigners who apply for the visa must have a certificate showing they are fully…
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British Airways tests first ever net-zero carbon emissions flight
British Airways has tested the first passenger flight operating on sustainable aviation fuel, while off-setting the remainder of emissions. TTR Weekly reports that BA1476 flew from London Heathrow to Glasgow last week, after the airline pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. BA says it will achieve its goal through a series of short, medium, and long-term measures. The…
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