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...
-
Happy Birthday? 7 year anniversary of coup in Thailand
Yesterday markED the 7th anniversary of the coup in which the National Council for Peace and Order took control of Thailand and Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, then chief of the Thai Army, rose to power. Differing opinions persist as regards progress for Thailand in the last 7 years and also the failings of the Thai ‘government’ since the coup. Some argue…
-
Pattaya mansion shooting suspect in jail, 6 associates lose visas
The suspected gunman in last week’s Pattaya luxury mansion shooting remains in custody while 6 others believed to be living there have had their visas revoked. Region 2 Police officers confirm that the suspect, who opened fire on two police officers while they were attempting to serve a search warrant at the mansion, is being held in the Nong Plalai…
-
B.1.351 South African Covid-19 variant found in Thailand
Like the world’s most morbid bingo game, Thailand can mark off B.1.351 on its Covid-19 scorecard. The strain of Coronavirus, sometimes called the South African variant, has been detected in undocumented migrants working in the southern province of Narathiwat. After studying samples collected May 13 from the cluster in the Tak Bai district, the Covid-19 Network Investigations group and independent…
-
Friso and Gregg have been working in Bangkok’s Klong Toey slums for a year
If you would like to help, please send a message at either of these Facebook pages. Bangkok Community Help is a registered Foundation. https://www.facebook.com/BkkCommunityHelp https://www.facebook.com/dinnerfromthesky There are some amazing people helping out their local Thai communities to get through this Covid mess in Thailand; foreigners rolling up their sleeves to help communities hard hit by the Thai government’s restrictions and…
-
Covid-19 outbreak in Phetchaburi factory of 682 employees
682 employees in a Cal-Comp Electronics factory in Phetchaburi have been infected with Covid-19, forcing a 14-day closure. The company has 3,300 employees and results are still pending for 2,000 more employees Covid-19 tested in the outbreak. The factory owners intend to take care of all their employees during this voluntary shutdown. The cluster has widespread repercussions, as the provincial…
-
1000+ Covid-19 infections and Indian variant in work camp
A construction site camp in the Laksi district of Bangkok that had found a Covid-19 outbreak recently has spiralled out of control with over 1,000 Covid-19 infections including the dreaded Indian variant. 66% of the camp workers tested positive for Covid-19, with 36 of the 80 samples analyzed revealing the Indian variant, a strain much more contagious than the original.…
-
Rawai bar charged for Covid-19 violation, serving alcohol
The Honey Pot, a popular bar in Rawai, Phuket, was raided last night, with the manager being charged for serving alcohol in violation of Covid-19 restrictions. The Chalong Police arrived around 10:20 pm after receiving a tip about a local bar selling alcohol the foreigners. The bar manager was taken into custody and brought to the Chalong Police Station. The…
-
DDC justifies plan to get 2 extra doses per AstraZeneca vial
The Department of Disease Control in Thailand has come under fire for plans to stretch vials of AstraZeneca to get more Covid-19 vaccines out of each vial. While the official recommendation is to produce 10 vaccines out of each AstraZeneca vial, the DDC argues that there’s enough material inside to produce up to 12 shots. The government has been receiving…
-
Thai PM orders a crackdown on Thailand’s leaky borders
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is asking the country’s security authorities to “step up” surveillance along the country’s four borders – with Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos – to help stem the flow of illegal migrants sneaking into Thailand. Thailand shares a massively long 2,500 kilometre border with Myanmar, most of the area undefined and littered with walking tracks through dense…
-
For the 0.81%: Microsoft officially retires Internet Explorer
If you are a tech dinosaur who misses his flip phone and is still mourning the loss of MySpace and AOL, perhaps you’d better sit down before reading on. After a 25 year run, Microsoft announced that it is officially retiring Internet Explorer, once the browser that ruled the internet. Before you fire up your old Netscape Navigator to Ask…
-
BTS smash YouTube records with their new song “Butter” and are courted by Rock royalty
On Thursday the internet-of-music went into a minor churn when the band Queen’s Twitter account commented about the forthcoming BTS release of ‘Butter’, the South Korean band’s second full-English track. “Are you ready, hey are you ready for this? Another One Bites The Dust.” Was Queen doing a collaboration with the 21st century’s biggest music act? A quick listen to…
-
Phuket pushes for proactive vaccination to reach 70% goal
A push is underway to get people registered for mass vaccination in Phuket in an effort to still reach the 70% threshold to reopen to international tourists on July 1. In a meeting on the Phuket Tourism Sandbox plan at the provincial hall on Thursday, a new proactive scheme was hatched to get people registered and vaccinated. Phuket has set…
-
Covid UPDATE Saturday: 3,052 new infections and 24 Covid-related deaths
This morning the public health ministry has added another 3,052 infections and 24 new Covid-related deaths over the past 24 hours. Out of today’s new cases, 605 came from the country’s prisons where major clusters have emerged. The daily totals, even without the prison numbers, show a slow upward trend in new cases, the vast majority around Bangkok in high-density…
-
Domestic tourism in China booming despite Covid-19
With international tourism all but dead for many parts of the world as governments keep borders tightly under control, China is experiencing a renaissance in domestic tourism. Perhaps it’s ahead of the curve, as the first country to deal with Covid-19, or perhaps it’s the strict handling of the virus keeping infections to almost nothing for many months, but a…
-
Thailand focuses on international, but needs domestic tourism
With Covid-19 closing borders for more than a year, the damage from losing international tourism has revealed a major weakness in Thailand’s overall tourism strategy. With up to 18% of the country’s GDP brought in by tourism, the disproportionate dependence on foreign travellers and lack of attention to domestic tourism has ravaged the industry and the national economy. Thailand had…
-
Thailand News Today | Chon Buri jump in cases, China vaccinates citizens around the world | May 21
The province of Chon Buri, just east of Bangkok, has reported a big jump in Covid cases today, China has sent vaccine doses to Thailand to have Chinese citizens inoculated under Beijing’s “Spring Sprout” program, A dog owner is reeling after his beloved pet brought him a “gift” of 2,000 methamphatime pills and A Chinese man, with citizenship based in…
-
UPDATE: Chinese man arrested after shooting and injuring police in Pattaya
UPDATE: According to Daily News, Pol Capt Phanthep Sribunnak remains in a coma following the shooting. Pol Sen Sgt Maj Kreetha Thipnet was also injured with a shot to his right leg, although reports already say he is “out of danger”. ORIGINAL STORY: A Chinese man, with citizenship in Saint Kitts and Nevis, is in custody after shooting and injuring 2 Pattaya…
-
15 workers in Bangkok test positive for Covid variant first found in India
Workers at a construction camp in Bangkok tested positive for the Covid-19 variant first detected in India. The only other cases reported in Thailand involving the B.1.617 strain were a mother and her 4 year old son who both tested positive for the virus while in quarantine after travelling from Pakistan. Many of the workers at the camp in the…
-
Labour Ministry to provide 9.2 million workers with vaccine
Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin announced that under Section 33 of the Social Security Act, over 9 million employees will receive a Covid-19 vaccine and don’t need to register on the Mor Prom Line account. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha posted on Facebook Wednesday that these 9.2 million workers would receive priority vaccines as at-risk essential workers. Insured employees that have to work…
-
850 disabled people at Father Ray Foundation receive vaccines
Covid-19 vaccines were administered to 850 disabled people and staff members of a popular, long-running charity foundation in Pattaya. Members of the Father Ray Foundation were able to receive the jabs in-house at the Redemptorist Technological College for People with Disabilities the charity has run since 1984. The foundation expressed overwhelming thanks to the medical workers from the Banglamung Hospital…
-
Covid UPDATE: 3,481 new cases and 32 deaths, provincial totals
3,481 new Covid-19 cases and 32 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. There are now 42,827 active Covid-19 cases in Thailand. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 123,066 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 735 virus-related deaths. Out of the new cases, 1,036 infections were…
-
Miscommunication over rules sees Thai man angrily footing bill for Covid test in Phuket
After a Thai man’s angry video went viral over allegedly having to pay for a Covid-19 test in order to enter Phuket, the provincial Vice Governor has responded. Piyapong Choowong admitted that the rule for those entering Phuket had recently changed, nixing the requirement of those arriving to undergo a Covid rapid antigen test. The man says he paid 450…
-
Vaccine registration for foreigners in Thailand to open June 7
Foreigners living in Thailand will be able to register for a Covid-19 vaccine starting June 7, the first day of the country’s mass vaccination campaign. Foreigners can register for a vaccine on-site at hospitals. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Natapanu Nopakun recommends that expats register for a vaccine at a hospital that has their health records on file. Expats need…
-
Japan adds Thailand to travel ban list, some exceptions
Japan has barred the entry of foreigners who are travelling from Thailand and 6 other countries in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19, particularly the more infectious variant first detected in India. The restrictions, adding to Japan’s long list of banned arrivals, go into effect today. Foreigners who have been to Thailand,Cambodia, Sri Lanka, the Seychelles, Saint Lucia, East…
-
China provides vaccine doses for citizens living in Thailand
In a global Covid-19 immunization campaign, China has sent vaccine doses to Thailand to have Chinese citizens inoculated under Beijing’s “Spring Sprout” programme. A vaccination site under the programme is already up and running in Bangkok. The Associated Press says China had donated 500,000 doses, and Thailand then agreed to vaccinate Chinese expats. Around 150,000 Chinese nationals live in Thailand. “Spring…
-
Chiang Rai introduces strict requirements for travellers from “dark red” provinces
From today, if you’re travelling to Chiang Rai from any of the 4 “dark red” central provinces (Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, and Samut Prakan) things just got a bit trickier. The northern province has introduced tough disease prevention measures for visitors from the strictly controlled zones, which will also apply to Chiang Rai residents arriving home from those provinces. Thai…
-
US President Biden signs hate crimes law to help protect Asian Americans
After multiple incidents of violence against Asian Americans in the US, President Joe Biden has recently signed a hate crime law. As violence against Asians in America has been on the rise since the Covid-19 pandemic, Biden told Asian American politicians and senior members of Congress that racism has long been toxic. He says the Asian American community has been…
-
Government confirms 3 channels for vaccine registration
The Thai government says people (Thais) can avail of 3 channels to register for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout which begins on June 1. In addition, spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri says there will be no “walk-in” vaccination centres, after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha stopped the programme. The PM says Thai nationals seeking a Covid-19 vaccine will be able to register through the Mor…
-
Chinese man arrested after pulling machine gun on police in Pattaya
A Chinese man is now in custody after shooting and injuring 2 Pattaya police officers who were trying to reprimand him over an online gambling syndicate. 35 year old Jang Yang pulled a machine gun on the transnational crime team as they went to serve him with an arrest warrant. Members of the SWAT special police task force entered the…
-
Bodies of Thai workers killed in Gaza strike to be flown home next week
Thailand’s Labour Minister, Suchart Chomklin, has confirmed the bodies of 2 Thai men killed in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, will be flown home next week. 44 year old Weerawat Karunborirak and 24 year old Sikharin Sangamram were working in Israel when they were killed by a rocket strike launched by the Palestinian Hamas group. Suchart says he…
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.