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 10 biggest challenges retirees face in Thailand (and how to overcome them)
Retiring in Thailand comes with many benefits, like warm weather, affordable living, and a rich culture. However, it also brings challenges. Retirees must deal with visa rules, healthcare costs, language barriers, and cultural differences. Rising medical expenses, required insurance, and...
-
Friends, enemies, neighbors? The Taliban and the Middle East
A recent editorial in Al-Alam, an Iranian-owned Arabic-language publication, warned people not to trust the Americans the way the Afghan people did. The people of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Libya “link the fate of their countries and their people with America and believe this will open a new door, through which they will enter into a bright and brilliant…
-
Airlines pushing for September reopening for domestic flights
Struggling airlines are backing a push to reopen domestic flights in September from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport, a hub for low-cost carriers. Negotiations are in progress with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, and budget airlines to create travel and safety regulations to resume flights. Airlines are struggling to remain liquid as nearly all domestic…
-
CCSA predicts that Covid-19 infections may have peaked
Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration officials are saying that there are encouraging signs that Covid-19 infections are levelling off and have peaked. The news comes despite some doctors predicting up to 400,000 new cases, or even, as one doctor suggested, half the Thai population having or having had Covid-19 by the end of the next 100 days without mass vaccination.…
-
Police officers seen dining in restaurant despite Covid-19 rules
A picture and story have gone viral on Thai social media where people complained about the inequality in who has to follow rules and who doesn’t. The uproar was caused by 2 police officers who were spotted dining in a local restaurant in Bangkok despite continued Covid-19 restrictions prohibiting dine-in service. The police officers were identified to be from the…
-
Covid UPDATE Saturday: 261 Covid-related deaths, news briefs
This morning the Thai public health department has added a further 20,571 infections to the Covid totals. 235 of today’s infections are from Thai prisons. There’s also been 261 new deaths announced from the past 24 hours. 23,159 patients have been released from hospitals and field hospitals in the past 24 hours as well. Provincial totals will announced early this afternoon. •…
-
Police arrest 21 people at Pattaya party violating Covid-19 decree
Yet another party breaking all Covid-19 restrictions was just broken up in Central Pattaya tonight, with 21 people arrested. The event was in front of the Tree Town Market area on Soi Buakhao and police raided the party just before 9 pm. Pattaya and the rest of the Chon Buri province is now a maximum control dark red zone, and…
-
AfricaLink on Air – 20 August 2021
Are civilians across Africa arming themselves?+++Ivory Coast closes borders+++Al-Shabab’s presence in Somalia as AU mission winds down+++Nigerian teen helps youths with vocational training+++Sports SOURCE: DW News
-
Vaccine developers calls for 3 billion baht to release by Songkran
A research leader for one of the 4 Covid-19 vaccines developers in Thailand has pushed for a government fund of 3 billion baht to accelerate development and have vaccines out by Songkran 2022. Kiat Ruxrungtham, the research team lead for Chula-VAC001, an mRNA vaccine being developed by the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University, has spent the last few days…
-
Old man attacked by dogs, loses arm, when delivering lemons
Attempting to drop off a bag of lemons at a neighbour’s house, a 79 year old man instead lost his arm as the neighbour’s dogs viciously attacked him. The attack took place in the Panat Nikhom district of Chon Buri on Wednesday. Rescue workers were called to the aid of Juea “Keang” Kitijutirakun after he sustained serious injuries from multiple…
-
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says restrictions are likely to be eased by early September
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says disease control measures, including nightly curfews and business closures in Bangkok and other “dark red” zones, are likely to be eased by early September as the Covid-19 infection rate, while still high, is beginning to decline. The prime minister made the announcement on his Facebook page saying that while the Covid-19 case count has been around…
-
Teenagers arrested for handing out small bombs at Bangkok protest
Police arrested three teenagers for allegedly distributing ping pong bombs at Sunday’s protest in Bangkok’s Din Dang area. Officers say the teenagers had added more gunpowder to the explosives to make them more powerful. Police seized 75 ping pong bombs from a suspect’s home. The teenagers allegedly told police that they had purchased the 100 ping bombs from a factory…
-
Protester injured and loses sight in one eye, family plans legal action
A 29 year old protester injured in a Bangkok rally last week has lost sight in one eye. Tanat Thanakitamnuay’s family says his right eye was hit by a “blunt cylindrical object” – which Coconuts Bangkok says was a tear gas canister – tearing the cornea, rupturing the eyeball, and causing his retina to peel off. Several protesters have been injured…
-
Afghanistan: Local journalists as cornerstones of reporting
“In front of me, the American military is firing warning shots in the air. Behind me, the Taliban are storming the airport compound.” This was Natalie Amiri on German television, quoting a telephone conversation she had with an Afghan colleague who called her from Kabul airport on Wednesday. As the presenter of Weltspiegel, a foreign affairs magazine program on German…
-
Traveling abroad? This helpful tool lets you check visa requirements all at once
Press Release As the world slowly opens up, more and more people are itching to get out of the house and take a much-needed vacation. However, with so many new visa-free arrangements and entry rules, it can be hard to keep up with the requirements for each individual country. Thanks to this, many are left scratching their heads and asking…
-
Phuket government warn businesses against price gouging
The Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panapong has reinforced the warning for vendors in Phuket to avoid price gouging or overcharging customers. He requested officials in Phuket to be vigilant in checking stores and vendors to make sure their pricing is reasonable and not artificially inflated. With the economic pummeling Thailand, and Phuket in particular, have taken with the loss of international…
-
Friday Covid Update: 19,851 new cases; provincial totals
Thailand’s total Covid-19 case count since the start of the pandemic has surpassed 1 million. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 19,851 new Covid-19 cases and 240 coronavirus-related deaths today. Out of the 1,009,710 Covid-19 cases reported since the start of the pandemic last year, 980,847 have been reported in the latest and most severe wave, first recorded on…
-
Immigration police arrest man for allegedly laundering money for drug trafficking syndicate
A 31 year old man from India was arrested by Thai immigration police for allegedly laundering money for an international drug trafficking syndicate in Southern Thailand. Officers say the man has been buying gold with money obtained through the illegal drug trade and opened an electrical appliance store in Bangkok’s Pahurat area as a cover for the money laundering operations.…
-
Last surviving Khmer Rouge leader denies role in Cambodia genocide
The last former leader of the radical communist Khmer Rouge regime is denying charges of genocide. The Khmer Rouge brutally ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and led to the death of around 2 million people. Some were killed in mass executions by the Khmer Rouge and some were tortured to death. Others died while they were forced to work…
-
Thailand planning travel bubble with South Korea once Covid crisis eases
Thailand plans to launch a travel bubble arrangement with South Korea once the Covid-19 situation improves, according to tourism officials. The Tourism Authority of Thailand says the plan would allow for quarantine-free travel between the 2 countries, with hopes it will provide Thailand with a much-needed tourism boost. The plan has been confirmed by the TAT’s Thanet Petchsuwan, who will…
-
Amnesty International demands investigation into shooting of protesters
Amnesty International Thailand is calling for a full investigation into the shooting of young anti-government protesters, with 1 teenager currently in a coma. The unnamed 15 year old was shot in the back of the neck, while a 14 and 16 year old were also shot. The father of the 14 year old has already filed a police complaint. However,…
-
Friday Covid Update: 19,851 new cases and 240 deaths
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 19,851 new Covid-19 cases and 240 coronavirus-related deaths today. In the latest and most severe wave of the virus in Thailand, first recorded on April 1, there have been 980,847 confirmed Covid-19 infections. Over the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA has recorded 20,478 recoveries from Covid-19. There are now 205,079 people…
-
Will Moscow shake hands with the Taliban?
“We are not worried.” This comment by the Russian president’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Samir Kabulov, sums up Moscow’s reaction to the changeover of power there. On Sunday, Kabulov justified this stance on the state television channel Russia-1, saying that Russia had “good relations” with both the former Afghan government and the Taliban. This despite the fact that the terrorist…
-
Relative of DW journalist killed by the Taliban
Taliban fighters hunting a DW journalist have shot dead one member of his family and seriously injured another. The Taliban were conducting a house-to-house search in western Afghanistan to try and find the journalist, who now works in Germany. Other relatives were able to escape at the last moment and are now on the run. DW’s director general, Peter Limbourg,…
-
Essay: Authors of the ‘War on Terror’ in denial to the bitter end in Afghanistan
“It will probably be like last time. When they took Kabul overnight,” Kabul resident Ahmad Jawed, 30, told me last Saturday. When the militant Islamist TalibanTaliban first captured the Afghan capital 25 years ago, Jawed was a young child. But he remembers that morning well. Suddenly the fighters were there, while the members of the mujahedeen government, who had been…
-
SEC fears cryptocurrency trading by inexperienced traders
The Securities and Exchange Commission in Thailand is worried about crypto investor ignorance as cryptocurrency trading volume in Thailand surged to 700 to 800 billion baht over the past 10 months. The chief executive of Zipmex Thailand predicted trading will hit 1 trillion baht by the end of 2021. At the PostToday Cryptocurrency Forum 2021 yesterday the Zipmex executive said…
-
Village under Covid-19 lockdown after old woman lies
The dishonesty of an old woman led to an entire village in Buriram being sealed off on lockdown due to a Covid-19 outbreak she created. The woman lied about her visiting daughter and son-in-law to avoid the 14-day quarantine set in place to allow enough time to avoid a Covid-19 outbreak. The 75 year old woman lives in the village…
-
Afghanistan: What Taliban takeover means for the region
The Chinese government has so far appeared to be at ease with the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover of the country. “The Chinese embassy in Afghanistan is continuing to operate as normal, and its ambassador and embassy staff will remain in their posts,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Monday. Most Chinese citizens in Afghanistan…
-
Haiti earthquake confirmed death toll passes 2,000
As rescuers continue to work to assess the losses in Haiti, the death toll from Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake has surpassed 2,000 people. The devastating effects of the earthquake on the poor island nation have left thousands homeless, and today 250 more were added to the death count, reaching 2,189 people according to Haiti’s civil protection agency. They estimate the…
-
60 of 155 national parks reopened across Thailand
With Covid-19 closing or prohibiting many things people love about Thailand – nightlife, massage shops, cheap drinks, even some beaches – the country’s natural beauty is once again be available for people to enjoy. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has reopened 60 of the 155 national parks across all of Thailand from now until further notice.…
-
Father of teenager that was shot near Monday’s protest files police complaint
The father of the teenager who was shot near the Din Daeng Police Station in Bangkok as Monday’s pro-democracy protest was going on has filed a complaint with the police today. The father is demanding that the shooter face legal ramifications for what happened to his son. Choonhavan Homya’s 14 year old son, who was shot in the shoulder, will…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.