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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Court approves Thitisan custody extension, investigate further
As police in the Crime Suppression Division continue their investigation into Pol Col Thitisan “Jo Ferrari” Utthanaphon, the Nakhon Sawan court approved an extension to keep him in custody for 12 days. The Muang district police say they need time as they still have 10 witnesses to question. In Thai law, an indictment must be made as quickly as possible,…
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The Taliban’s broken promise to protect journalists
After the Taliban ousted the Afghan government earlier this month, a spokesman for the militant group made a series of public pledges amid heightened scrutiny — and skepticism. The tone may have been conciliatory, but the West and international organizations, including the UN,eyed the statements warily. One such pledge outlined in the Taliban’s August 17 statement was that there would…
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Trying to flee Kabul: ‘We had no information at all’
Ahmad R., software developer from southern Germany I got married in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. We wanted to fly out earlier, but all flights were canceled. I registered with ELEFAND, which is the German Foreign Ministry’s online portal for German citizens in crisis areas, and I got an answer early last week telling us to head to Kabul airport. We…
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New York TAT says US travellers look for trips without quarantine
The New York Office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says that Americans who are fully vaccinated are looking to travel to destinations without complex restrictions. American travellers are looking away from previously popular destinations like Europe and Canada, and when they look for tropical beach destinations, quarantine-free destinations like the Maldives and the Caribbean are drawing the customers that…
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Humanitarian situation worsens in Ethiopia’s Tigray region
The United States had already warned that food aid would run out this week for millions of hungry people under a blockade imposed by Ethiopia’s government on the embattled Tigray region. Ethiopia has been embroiled in a conflictthat flared nearly ten months ago in Tigray and which has spilled to other regions. The government has also struggled to contain other…
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Flooding in Pattaya over 1 metre deep strands cars, floods homes
Pattaya was battered this morning by heavy rains that caused flooding in rural areas and major city roads in Pattaya and Banglamung. The floods stranded many vehicles on the road with some areas seeing floodwaters reaching up to 1 metre high. Many criticised local authorities as flood management projects were supposed to help avoid situations like this. The heavy rains…
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South Korean journalists fear new laws will muzzle media
South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is pushing ahead with controversial amendments to a law that critics charge are designed to muzzle the media and will give the government wide ranging powers to restrict freedom of the press. Domestic media outlets have been joined by international press organizations and legal experts to condemn the revisions. Opposition parties have vowed to do…
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‘Sindhustan’: Discover the journey of Sindhi Hindus to India
In her documentary film “Sindhustan,” Sapna Bhavnani tells everyday stories of Sindhi Hindus who were forced to leave Sindh — now Pakistan — for India. Despite decades of separation, their deep connection to Sindh remains. SOURCE: DW News
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Restrictions eased in “dark red” provinces; new “Covid Free” initiative
“Thai officials are shifting their focus to work on ways the public can safely live with the presence of the coronavirus rather than trying to completely eradicate it.” Disease control measures are easing in Thailand’s “dark red” provinces, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced today. Starting September 1, the ban on interprovincial public transportation will be lifted, restaurants will…
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Afghan activist says Ashraf Ghani and Joe Biden caused misery and chaos
Few people have such an insight into the politics and conflicts of Afghanistan: Fatima Gailani was one of only four women engaged in peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha for the past 11 months. After Kabul fell to the militant Islamists on August 15, those efforts now seem like a distant past. The former president of the…
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Phuket Covid-19 numbers drop slightly to 169, no new deaths
Though today’s Covid-19 numbers in Phuket are lower than yesterday, they do push the rolling weekly total above 900, 10 times the original threshold for reevaluating the Phuket Sandbox. One new Sandbox infection was identified, along with 169 domestic infections yesterday. Now, new deaths have been reported. The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office report confirmed the new infections and no…
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Friday Covid Update: 18,702 new cases; provincial totals
18,702 new Covid-19 cases and 273 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, raising the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,139,571 and the Covid death toll in Thailand to 10,587. The latest and most severe wave of infections, first recorded on April 1, has accounted for 1,110,708 of the cases…
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Officials inspect Phuket and consider Covid-19 lockdown extension
As Covid cases surge and weekly infections rates are now over 10 times the original threshold of 90 infections that would prompt a reconsidering of the Phuket Sandbox, officials in Phuket are now discussing an extension of lockdown measures on the island. Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakparn (yes, Big Joke is back!) and his team inspected the Phuket Sandbox and the…
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Packages of methamphetamine pills found floating in Chiang Rai rivers
Packages containing around 1.2 million methamphetamine pills were found floating in rivers in the northern province Chiang Rai. Apparently, the packages had been floating in the Mae Lao and Ing rivers for three days. Villagers reported the packages of drugs to police. Narcotics suppression officers searched the area and found a total of 1,268,000 methamphetamine pills. Officers suspect traffickers floated the…
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US records over 100,000 patients hospitalised with Covid-19
Bad news: 100,000+ people are currently hospitalised with Covid-19 in the US. Good news (if you’re vaccinated): The the vast majority of this wave’s hospitalised patients are yet to be vaccinated. The latest surge of Covid cases sweeping the US is largely driven by the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus. The more than 100,000, currently in US hospitals, in…
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470 kilograms of marijuana seized in Isaan; reportedly smuggled from Laos
Police in the Isaan province Nakhon Phanom seized 470 kilograms of compressed marijuana valued at around 10 million baht and arrested a 26 year old man on drug charges. Officers in the province’s Sri Songkhram district stopped a Mitsubishi Pajero which was travelling from Ban Phaeng, a district along the Mekong River bordering Laos. Police searched the vehicle and found…
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Thailand to be added to UK “red list” from Monday
Bad news for British sandboxers on Phuket or elsewhere, as well as anyone else planning to travel from Thailand to the UK: the country is being added to the UK’s red list. The British Department of Transport says that from Monday, Thailand joins Montenegro as the 2 new additions to the UK government’s red list. This means UK residents arriving…
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Government asks opposition not to invite public to vote to remove PM from office
A government spokesman has asked the opposition Pheu Thai party to drop its plan to invite the public to vote on the PM’s removal from office. Thai PBS World reports that the opposition party is planning to ask the public to cast their votes online during, or shortly after, a no confidence debate against PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and 5 of…
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Friday Covid Update: 18,702 new cases and 273 deaths
Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 18,702 new Covid-19 cases and 273 coronavirus-related cases today. Since April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,110,708 Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, 20,163 recoveries were reported. Thailand now has 185,200 active Covid-19 cases. With the latest and most severe wave on a downward trend, there…
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Runaway cop wanted for alleged murder turns himself in in Chon Buri
A police chief who allegedly killed a suspect while in custody has surrendered to police in Chon Buri, saying he was just trying to protect society from the dangers of drugs. A video of Thitisan Utthanaphon allegedly suffocating a suspect by placing plastic bags over his head has gone viral, leading to the dismissal of 7 officers, including Thitisan. He…
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‘Jo Ferrari’ – his arrest, press conference and investigation
Details have now emerged on the arrest of former policeman Thitisan Utthanaphon, aka “Chief Joe” or “Jo Ferrari”, the Nakhon Sawan police station superintendent accused with 6 other officers of torturing and suffocating a suspect in custody, allegedly in an attempt to extort 2 million baht. Despite previous reports originating in Thai media, the fleeing officer was not found just…
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Vaccine inequality may see poorer countries lose $2.3 trillion
A new study found that the global economy will lose US $2.3 trillion due to slow Covid-19 vaccinations and that less wealthy countries will suffer disproportionately. The study by the Economist Intelligence Unit stated that because vaccine rollouts are much slower than those of wealthy nations, the developing and emerging countries will see the most loss. The Asia-Pacific Region is…
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Lebanon: Life without gas and electricity
Lebanon is suffering from the worst economic crisis in its history. Dramatic shortages of electricity, gas and other supplies make life in the country extremely difficult. SOURCE: DW News
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Government says yes, no, yes, no, yes on Chinese ATK deal
If you are a casual reader of The Thaiger you are may have read that the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation made a deal to import 8.5 million antigen test kits at the urging of hospitals desperate to quickly test and treat Covid-19 patients. Perhaps you even followed up and learned about the pause on purchasing after the Rural Doctors Society blasted…
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COVID and military coup cripple Myanmar economy
Zaw Min (name changed) is a construction worker in his 30s from the Yangon suburb of Hlaing TharYar in Myanmar. He recounts how he sold his second-hand motorcycle for 150,000 kyat ($91, €77.5) in September out of financial desperation. Min was forced to find new ways to feed his family when he couldn’t find work in his profession amid Myanmar’s…
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YouTube pulled 1 million Covid-19 misinformation videos
More than 1 million harmful videos have been removed from YouTube since February 2020 for containing Covid-19 misinformation. The video-sharing platform that is one of the most visited websites in the world, second only to its parent company Google, announced on Wednesday the total after criticism that YouTube is a major source of Covid-19 disinformation. Politicians and government leaders have…
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Inside Europe
You can also listen to this episode of Inside Europe wherever you get your podcasts. We’ve available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox and all other podcast players and platforms. Please follow/subscribe to our podcast and, if you enjoy Inside Europe, share it with a friend. Thank you for listening! SOURCE: DW News
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Public Health Ministry to propose easing of restrictions for vaccinated residents
With the number of active Covid-19 cases on a downward trend, the Public Health Ministry plans to make a proposal to ease measures for those who are fully vaccinated, or who have passed Covid-19 tests, in provinces classified as “dark red” and “red” for high infection rates. The ministry plans to propose dine-in services at restaurants to be allowed for those…
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No special protection for police that allegedly killed man in custody, says police
Police inspector general Visanu Prasartthongosoth wants outraged citizens not to worry that officers will get off with a slap on the wrist for their alleged involvement in the torture death of the man they had in custody. Visanu says no special protection for the police officers will be given. Thai media says that despite reports that say Thitisan Utthaphol has…
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NACC investigating cars and wealth of fugitive Chief Joe
As the story of the 7 police officers accused of suffocating a man to death while trying to extort him for 2 million baht continues to unfold, 2 of the officers are currently fugitives, including Pol Col Thitisan “Chief Joe” Utthanaphon whose incredible wealth and fleet of cars has come under intense scrutiny. Now the National Anti-Corruption Commission has launched…
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