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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Pattaya business and tourism official calls for more government help during Covid crisis
Pattaya is in desperate need of more government assistance, according to the president of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association. Despite getting a spurt of additional visitors from Bangkok each weekend, the general visitor economy remains perilously low. Speaking to reporters, Ekasit Ngampichet says Pattaya business owners face several challenges as a result of the fallout from Covid-19. “I would…
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Thai expats show their support for local pro-democracy protests
The protests have been popping up around Thailand, and overseas. Support of the pro-democracy demands by students and activists has spread beyond the borders of Thailand. A group, calling themselves ‘Thais Rise Up” in Scotland says they are holding their own rally at the end of this week in Edinburgh with same demands – to call for the dissolution of the…
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North cleans up after wet weekend
5 provinces in Thailand’s North – Chiang Mai, Phayao, Lampang, Nan and Phrae – all suffered serious flooding on Saturday, causing damage in 15 districts, 189 villages and more than 1,400 households. Nan province suffered the most, with 960 households in 6 subdistricts damaged and 1 person dead. Officials in Chiang Mai warned visitors and residents to stay away from…
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Royal Thai Navy front media today to explain purchase of 2 Chinese submarines
After the outcry over a house budget committee’s decision to approve the purchase of another 2 Chinese submarine’s last week, the Royal Thai Navy will front the media today to explain the controversial 22.5 billion baht acquisition. A Royal Thai Navy source has told Thai PBS World that “a clarification is necessary”, because members from the Pheu Thai party had…
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Murder suspect captured after motorbike crash
Police in the southern province of Surat Thani say a man with 3 arrest warrants, 1 each for for murder, attempted murder and robbery, was caught after a motorcycle incident in the early hours of this morning in the city’s central district. The Surat Thani police chief said that at about 12.10am a motorcycle ran off the road at a…
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Pattaya tipped to stage huge airshow in 2023
Officials in Pattaya confirmed this week that the resort town is slated to hold a major international airshow in 2023 at the U-Tapao airport. The event is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors and to be the biggest-ever airshow in Asia. A spokesman for the Pattaya City Business and Tourism Association confirmed the announcement and said the show…
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Khon Kaen sees second rally in 3 days
Khon Kaen, 1 of the “big 4” cities of Isaan in Thailand’s northeast, saw a brief anti-government demonstration in its central district last night, the second in 3 days. The rally at the democracy monument on Srichan road in the Khon Kaen municipal area started at around 9pm. A group of students and and supporters of the Free People group…
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Heavyweight doctors oppose Phuket plan to admit tourists
A number of prominent physicians, some advisors to the Ministry of Public Health and the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, have posted on social media this weekend that they strongly oppose opening Thailand to tourists in any way, shape or form. Their concerns follow the government’s announcement yesterday of its plan to cautiously reopen the southern resort island of Phuket…
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Grandmother sentenced for pimping granddaughter
A grandmother in Thailand’s South has been given a 55 year prison sentence for offering her 14 year old granddaughter for sex to a local politician. The Foundation for Children, Youth and Families announced yesterday that the court handed the sentence to the defendant, identified as Sakol Phodee, on Wednesday. Chuwit Jantaros, secretary-general of the foundation said the court found…
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Udon Thani man charged with sexual assault of 7 year old daughter
A man in the northeastern province of Udon Thani has been arrested for alleged obscene acts with his underaged daughter. Police apprehended the man Friday at his rented home. He is also charged with using narcotics. A 38 year old woman, whose name is being withheld, brought her 7 year old daughter, to file a police report about an obscene…
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Charges expected in Phuket student’s death
Rajabhat University in the southern province of Phuket is denying reports that a first-year student was forced to run around an old mine on the campus until she collapsed and later died. University officials say the incident took place in a parking lot, maintaining that it was part of a sports activity and not a hazing ritual. Police say they…
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Can the Thai government put the cat back in the bag?
OPNION Who will be better at engaging a broad audience on social media? An incumbent conservative government run by former Army general and career politicians? Or a young, nimble, motivated group who are intuitive when it comes to using the modern online platforms? This is the current pickle for Thailand’s government, under the leadership of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and his…
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Ailing Kremlin critic Navalny “stable” after move to Berlin
Outspoken Russian opposition leader and frequent critic of President Vladimir Putin Alexei Navalny is in stable condition after arriving in Berlin by air ambulance yesterday, following a suspected poisoning. According to the the head of Cinema for Peace, the German NGO that chartered the flight after the plane touched down at Tegel airport in Berlin: “Navalny’s condition is stable.” 1…
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Official faces encroachment charge, American’s home seized in Petchabun
A senior official of the Office of the PM is facing encroachment charges after the seizure of a house built by an American man near Khao Kho national park in the northern Phetchabun province. Authorities filed a police report following an investigation by a team of forestry officials, soldiers and local authorities at the site on Thursday evening. They were…
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Thai tourism sector “seriously wounded” by pandemic
It goes without saying that Thailand’s tourist industry has been decimated by the impact of lockdown measures and border closures, not only in Thailand but around the world. But now a deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says that the kingdom’s tourism sector is “seriously wounded” from the Covid-19 pandemic. Thapanee Kiatphaibool said Thailand won’t get anywhere near…
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80% of Pattayans support monorail project
Authorities at a public hearing in Pattaya heard that 80% of local residents support plans to build a monorail to ease the resort town’s appalling traffic and transport problems. The proposed monorail would meet the proposed High Speed train at the station to the east of Sukhumvit Road, then travel along the motorway and along Sukhumvit before heading toward the…
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Outrage as Parliament votes to spend billions on submarines
The ruling coalition voted yesterday to confirm the purchase of 2 more Chinese submarines, sparking public outrage as the economy sinks and businesses close from the impact of the Covid-19 ‘lockdowns’ and border closure. The Royal Thai Navy has been pushing for the purchase since last year. The House subcommittee for Procurement, ICT, State Enterprises and Revolving Funds, which is vetting…
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Isaan man arrested for drug use while driving
Highway police in Isaan’s Surin province have arrested a man for using drugs while driving. Officers were working at a road checkpoint to prevent illegal activities on the road including racing, and to inspect vehicles for illegal goods such as drugs. The driver, “Samart”, and the passenger, Songchai Poksanit, both 25 and both locals from Prasat District, were using methamphetamine.…
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Teacher accused of sexually assaulting 11 year old in school toilet
A mother in the upper northeastern Kalasin province has filed a police report alleging that a 57 year old teacher sexually assaulted her 11 year old daughter, then offered 200,000 baht in exchange for not filing a complaint. The woman reportedly told police that on Thursday, her daughter behaved strangely after coming home from school. When she was questioned, the…
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Trucker electrocuted in Phuket – VIDEO
A 6 wheeler truck in the southern province of Phuket got entangled in power lines hanging above the road on Thursday, and sparks caused the wheels to catch fire. The driver tried to escape, but when his feet touched the ground, he burst into flames. He fell to the ground but managed to roll away. Police were notified of a…
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Thanathorn demands answers over budget increase for Royal office
Progessive movement leader and former head of the now-defunct Future Forward Party Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has been banned from politics for 10 years… but he’s still making his voice heard in the halls of power. In his capacity as an advisor to the House committee examining the budget bill, he questioned the justification for the increase in the budget for the…
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Girlfriend of Malaysian man with Covid-19 tests negative
Thai health officials are tracking down those who were in contact with a Malaysian man who tested positive for Covid-19 after he returned to his home country. Health officials report the man’s Thai girlfriend has tested negative for the virus. The 46 year old man, who had no coronavirus symptoms, tested positive for the virus on August 15 while quarantined…
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White ribbons, black magic mark Isaan’s biggest protests yet – VIDEO
Thailand’s northeastern provinces, also known as Isaan, saw 2 large-scale student protests attended mainly by high school students yesterday, one of them involving “black magic.” The rallies which each drew about 1,000 people, were held in Korat city as well as at the Khon Kaen Democracy Monument. Most of the Khon Kaen attendees wore white ribbons and called for PM…
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Man with ax ravages Thai neighborhood, shot dead by police
A man was shot dead by police after he allegedly ravaged a Northeast Thailand neighborhood, swinging an ax at locals and damaging things around him. Police say 40 year old Detsak Khonhan allegedly charged at an officer when asked to put the ax down. Police say the man ignored warning shots. An officer then shot Khonhan in the leg, but Khonhan…
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Pattani company turns marine debris into new shoes
Flip flops, sandals, thongs, whatever you want to call them, are often seen washed up on beaches along with plastic bags and bottles. Those old, forgotten shoes are being transformed into new flip flops by a Pattani company called Tlejourn, a Thai phrase meaning “wandering across the sea.” Using old sandals found on the beach, Tlejourn cleans and shreds them…
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CCSA officially extends Emergency Decree for a fourth time, through September
In a meeting today chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) resolved to extend the state of emergency to September 30. Yesterday the National Security Council said it had approved the extension as the amendment of the Communicable Diseases Act is still pending. The NSC insists that it will not enforce the Emergency Decree…
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Nakhon Si Thammarat crash kills 3, including pregnant woman
3 people are dead, including a pregnant woman, and another suffered severe injuries after a sedan and a pickup truck collided head-on in the Cha-uat district of the southern Nakhon Si Thammarat province last night. Police say the fatal crash happpened about 6:30pm in front of the PT petrol station in tambon Bantoon. Both vehicles, an Isuzu pickup and a…
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Lack of tourists sees return of endangered sea turtles to Koh Samui
Thailand’s ebach resorts maybe bereft of tourists, but another population is making a comeback: endangered hawksbill and green sea turtles are returning in droves. This year, as the Covid-19 pandemic emptied the nation of tourists, nests on Koh Samui in the southern Surat Thani province have burgeoned. Since February, some 838 baby turtles have scuttled their way across the island’s…
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Russian opposition leader, Putin critic in a coma after suspected poisoning – VIDEO
The spokeswoman for leading Russian opposition figure and fierce Putin critic Alexei Navalny says he is unconscious in hospital, suffering from suspected poisoning. The outspoken anti-corruption campaigner fell ill during a flight and the plane made an emergency landing. Doctors say he’s in a coma and they’re trying to save his life. His team suspects something was put in his…
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Justice Ministry offers protection to key Vorayuth witness
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin is vowing to protect all witnesses in the ongoing Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya fatal hit-and-run case, whether government officers or members of the public. He says a witness protection programme is in place to provide protection to the key witness. His remarks come after the suspiciously timed death of another key witness late last month. The witness,…
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