News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
The Thaiger is your essential resource for staying connected with Thailand’s captivating blend of tradition and modernity. To remain in the loop with the country’s most trusted news source, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
-
Sponsored
Blazing opportunity: Four Twenty Thailand offers franchise programme
Did you know that Four Twenty, Thailand’s premier cannabis brand, has a franchise programme? That’s right, you can now join their efforts to bring high-quality cannabis products and a vibrant community experience to more locations across Thailand. Four Twenty has...
-
Thailand poised to break through 40 million arrivals in 2019
Thailand welcomed a record 38.27 million tourists in 2018. That’s up 7.5 percent from 2017 arrival figures. The Thai tourism ministry announced the figures this morning. In December, tourist arrivals amounted to 3.85 million. The ministry is also expecting the number of tourists visiting Thailand in 2019 to increase by another 7.5 percent. For 2019, the ministry expects to break through the…
-
Bangkok air pollution: PM demands action and threatens limiting road traffic
PHOTOS: The Nation The Thai PM says he is determined to step up measures to fight the worsening air pollution problem plaguing Bangkok. Limiting the use of vehicles with an odd-even day schedule is on the cards, he said. Speaking at the opening ceremony of “Our Country, Our Future” exhibition yesterday, Prayut warned that if the smog in Bangkok was…
-
Pattaya air quality suffering as well
Pattaya public health authorities are advising residents at the resort to keep up-to-date with news about Pattaya’s air quality woes. Report in The Pattaya News suggest that the 2.5 PM particulate matter was at its worst in the early morning hours and in the evenings. Here’s the current reading of Pattaya air quality (5pm Thursday). Thai environmental specialist Rungnapha Thapnonghee…
-
Bangkok Air Quality: PM2.5 dust particle problem closes 437 schools
PHOTO: Thai PBS At least one group of Bangkokians were happy today. The Ministry of Education ordered all schools in Bangkok closed until at least this weekend. The situation will be reviewed after then. Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwangkuang ordered all the 437 schools under the supervision of the City Hall closed until the weekend in order to prevent young school…
-
His Majesty pays Phang Nga boy’s medical costs – more operations Saturday
HM the King has helped pay for some of the medical care for the seven year old boy mauled by four stray dogs at a beach in Phang Nga last weekend. He is now recovering in Vachira Phuket Hospital. The boy was attacked in Ban Tha Noon, Takua Thung district on Sunday. Dr Chalermpong Sukhonthapol, spokesperson for the hospital, says…
-
Bangkok Air Quality: BKK Governor calls for help as PM2.5 smog continues
PHOTO: Jor Sor 100 traffic radio – Bangkok Air Quality Bangkok’s governor is calling on experts to provide advice on how best to tackle the severe air pollution that blankets the city and is causing the wrong sort of headlines for the capital. The Pollution Control Department reported 41 Greater Bangkok areas as having unsafe levels of PM2.5 – airborne…
-
Peter Denman from Channel 3 visits Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation
The famous actor from Channel 3, Thai-British Peter Denman, paid a visit to Soi Dog Foundation in Phuket on January 28. He visited so he could get to know more about the work they do and spend some quality time with the animals. He has also been nominated to be one of Soi Dog’s Brand Ambassadors as well. During the visit, he had…
-
68 year old Canadian drowns off Koh Phi Phi
PHOTO: Nui Bay, only accessible by long tail boat Police on Koh Phi Phi have confirmed that a 68 year old Canadian has died after being recovered from the water at Nui Bay. The incident happed around lunchtime yesterday (Wednesday). The man has been identified as Zbigniew Sarna and Embassy officials have been alerted. Mr Sarna was travelling with a…
-
King Maha Vajiralongkorn supports boy attacked by dogs at Sarasin Bridge
PHOTO: The Phuket PR Office His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn has ordered that the boy, bitten by soi dogs at a Phang Nga beach this week, to be under special medical care by royal command. The seven year old boy was seriously injured after being attacked and mauled by a group of dogs near Sarasin Bridge last weekend. Read the…
-
Weather for January 31
Bangkok Partly to mostly cloudy. High 33C. Winds light and variable. Phuket Partly cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High 32C. Winds E at 15 to 30 km/h. Chance of rain 30%. Chiang Mai Plenty of sunshine. High 33C. Winds light and variable. Pattaya Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. High 29C. Winds WSW…
-
Russian man dies after drowning in a villa pool in Cherng Talay
FILE PHOTO (Original photo removed at the request of the Villa owner) A Russian man has died after drowning in a pool at a house in Cherng Talay. The Cherng Talay Police say that they were notified by the Thalang Hospital that a foreign man had died while being transported to hospital after being found floating face down in a…
-
Air quality for Thailand – January 31
Central Thailand Everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects Northern Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Southern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number…
-
Bangkok smog: Odd-even number plate driving rule threatened
PHOTO: PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. Praying for a change in the weather? PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is warning that he might be forced to introduce the odd-even number rule for traffic in Bangkok if all other measures to ease the health-threatening smog problem in Bangkok and its peripherals fail (they have so far). With his Article 44 powers, the Prime Minister could…
-
The ‘sweet generation’ head back to school in Hua Hin
by Piyarat Nildee Hua Hin residents may be wondering why some of their more mature residents have been putting on school uniforms and heading back to school. Some of the elderly Prachuap Khiri Khan residents reported at a special college for ‘the Sweet Generation’ yesterday, ready for classes and ready to learn again. Hundreds have enrolled in the School for…
-
Bangkok smog: Students stay at home whilst drones buzz overhead
High smog levels in Bangkok are forcing more than 400 schools to close today and tomorrow in an attempt to protect children from harmful effects. The education department says it will review the situation over the weekend. The Thai capital city is experiencing some of its worst-ever ongoing air pollution levels which are exacerbated by ultra-fine dust particles known as…
-
Thailand’s Central Group planning to invest $200 million in Grab
Central Group, Thailand’s biggest shopping Centre and department store operator, is planning to invest US$200 million (6.3 billion Thai baht) in ride-hailing giant ‘Grab’, according to sources ‘familiar with the matter’ today. The deal seals a strategic partnership where the Thai retail giant will help Grab expand its business in Thailand. Central Group would invest in Grab’s Thai business unit.…
-
Lithuanian woman saved from jumping from upper roadway at Phuket Airport – VIDEO
VIDEO: Newshawk Phuket A Lithuanian woman has been saved after being spotted standing on the side of the upper roadway at the Phuket International’s Airport terminal yesterday. The Sakoo Police were notified of the incident at 2.20pm. A foreign woman has been plucked to safety by two Thai bystanders after spotting the woman standing on the ledge of the upper…
-
Burmese migrants, heading for Malaysia, stopped in Chumphon
Police and soldiers in Chumphon have arrested 37 Burmese people who were heading to Malaysia. Security forces, including troops from the 44th Army Circle, checked a wooded location where residents had seen a group of strangers in a makeshift camp. The 33 men and four women had no travel documents and appeared exhausted in their rough camp behind a deserted…
-
Palang Pracharat nominate PM Prayut as a candidate
The new junta-sympathetic Palang Pracharat Party has officially nominated three prime ministerial candidates. One of them is the current PM, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. After a party executive meeting today, party secretary general Sontirat Sontijirawong announced the party will nominate Prayut, its party leader Uttama Savanayana and Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak as its candidates in the prime ministerial list. They will…
-
Singapore people with HIV shocked by data leak
from The Straits Times 14,200 people living with HIV in Singapore, who had their personal details leaked, are stunned. The Singapore Ministry of Health has revealed that some 1,900 names in the leaked data were of people who had already died. An HIV-positive US citizen, who had been deported from Singapore after serving a jail term, has leaked online the personal…
-
Bangkok smog forces school closures and PM insists on odd/even car driving days
The Education Ministry is ordering educational institutes in Greater Bangkok to close for two days, starting tomorrow (Thursday), after smog worsened today. The ministry will review the situation this weekend to decide whether the measures would be extended, said minister Dr Theerakiat Charoensettasin. The decision follows instructions from PM Prayut Chan-o-cha for the ministry to consider urgent measures to deal…
-
NLA poised to pass 100 laws before the next election
The NLA, the ‘upper house’ where Thai laws are debated and passed, is set to pass no fewer than 100 laws before leaving office when the new government is elected. The statement was made by the president of the National Legislative Assembly, Pornpetch Wichitcholchai. The head of the NLA has announced that the legislators will pass about 100 bills currently…
-
Narcotics Control Board say they’ve prevented 300 million meth pills coming into Thailand
PHOTO: Niyom Termsrisuk, ONCB secretary-general – The Nation “During the period, the ONCB led officials to search 84,000 villages and arrested 90,000 suspects in some 80,000 cases.” The Office of Narcotics Control Board says that it’s managed to prevent 300 million methamphetamine pills from flowing into the country in Q4, 2018. The ONCB secretary-general Niyom Termsrisuk says the agency also…
-
Warned to keep quiet about Russian oligarch – Belarusian ‘sex coach’
The 28 year old Belarusian model, deported from Thailand two weeks ago and who claimed to have information on Moscow’s attempts to interfere in 2016 US elections, claims she was ordered by Russian security agents to keep silent about her dealings with a Russian billionaire. Anastasia Vashukevich, aka. Nastya Rybka, the “sex coach” arrested in Pattaya last February along with…
-
800K methamphetamine pills seized in Chumphon
PHOTOS: Region 8 Police 800,000 methamphetamine pills have been seized in Chumphon this week. A staged media scrum was held at Region 8 Police headquarters in Mai Khao yesterday, led by the Region 8 Police Commander Lt Gen Pongwut Pongsri. The arrests came after police and soldiers set up a checkpoint on Bangsaphan – Chumphon Road in Patiw, Chumphon. Following…
-
Authorities urge curbs on burning incense sticks for Chinese New Year
The Public Health Ministry is calling on people to burn shorter incense sticks and avoid setting fire to paper offerings during this Chinese New Year in order to help prevent the air pollution situation from getting worse. Chinese people usually burn paper offerings in dedication to gods, goddesses or ancestors on special occasions such as the Chinese New Year, which…
-
Air quality for Thailand – January 30
Central Thailand Everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects Northern Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Southern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number…
-
Weather for January 30
Bangkok Plenty of sunshine. High 34C. Winds E at 10 to 15 km/h. Phuket Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 31C. Winds E at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 50%. Chiang Mai Plenty of sunshine. High 32C. Winds light and variable. Pattaya Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 31C. Winds WSW at 10…
-
Bangkok to Los Angeles in just over 5 hours. The second supersonic revolution.
PHOTOS: boomsupersonic.com When the world’s first supersonic passenger jets took to the skies (in December 1968 – The Russian TU-144, followed not long after by Concorde in March 1969) the two aircraft had been designed with slide rulers and tested in rudimentary wind tunnels. The age of computer design and digital bench testing was a generation away. Still, the feat…
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.