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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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SE Asia’s most popular islands still ‘on hold’ as they wait to re-open to international tourists
Foreign tourists may be allowed back on to Boracay’s famed beaches in the Philippines as early as October. Meanwhile the Indonesian beach resort of Bali has shelved any immediate plans to re-open the island. In Thailand, the beaches of Phuket remain largely empty whilst the provincial government tries to promote the island as a “safe and sealed” destination to limited…
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Soi Dog Foundation is looking for flight volunteers
One of Thailand’s favourite charities, the Soi Dog Foundation, has put out the call for any foreign nationals from European and North American destinations who are heading to those destinations soon to come forward as potential flight volunteers to help adopted pets arrive at new overseas homes. Over 100 adopted animals are currently waiting patiently at the shelter in Phuket…
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Last bodies found in sunken Koh Samui ferry
Divers found the bodies of 2 missing men after a car ferry capsized off the coast of Surat Thani earlier this month. The divers found the bodies trapped between lorries chained up to the sunken ferry, Raja 4. They were the last people missing. 18 year old Tiwakorn Vacharit was a crew member on the ferry and 47 year old…
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Company drafts THAI’s rehab plan, faces criticism
The rehabilitation plan for Thai Airways International, or THAI, isn’t looking great. It was presented to the Central Bankruptcy Court yesterday and creditors questioned the expertise of the company chosen to draft the plan. EY Corporate and Advisory Services, appointed by THAI, faced criticism regarding their technical experience when it comes to drafting a plan to restructure a company, especially…
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Officials investigate Bangkok condo after Malaysian tests positive for Covid-19
Officials from Thailand’s Public Health Ministry are investigating an unnamed Bangkok condo development after it was revealed a man who stayed there tested positive for Covid-19 on returning to his home country. It’s understood the 46 year old Malaysian man displayed no Covid-19 symptoms, and tested negative for the virus, when he left Thailand on August 5. However, a second…
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Phuket eyes October 1 as launch date for “Safe and Sealed” tourism plan
The Tourism and Sports Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, says his ministry hopes to kick-start a careful and limited re-opening to international tourism from October 1, beginning with the southern province of Phuket. According to a report in the Bangkok Post, Phiphat’s ministry will meet with the Public Health, Interior, Foreign and Transport ministries on August 27 to discuss the introduction of…
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The year of living dangerously – Thai protesters utter the unthinkable
OPINION An estimated 10,000 anti-government protesters packed Bangkok’s Democracy Monument and the roads either side on a warm Sunday afternoon, calling for democratic reform, changes to the NCPO-written constitution and for the dissolution of parliament. They also spoke about the country’s head of state, questioning the institution. Even a few months ago this would have been considered an absolute no-go topic…
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Malaysian man in Bangkok tests positive for coronavirus
Just short of 2 weeks after a trip to Bangkok, a man returned home to Malaysia and then tested positive for the coronavirus. Thai health officials are investigating to determine who was in contact with the man while he was in the country and if there are any local infections. Deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department Tanarak Plipat said the…
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Well-known Chinese restaurant in Chon Buri catches fire
A popular Chinese restaurant in Chon Buri caught fire over the weekend. The flames damaged the Tai Hi Restaurant’s roof, refrigerator and freezer. Most of the fresh food in storage was destroyed. The restaurant, in the Bang Pla Soi district, caught fire at around 2am on Saturday morning. Tai Hi staff called the owner who rushed to the scene. When…
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Chon Buri pawn shop loses millions in fake gold scam
All that glitters is not necessarily gold. Owners of a Chon Buri gold shop learned the hard way, explaining to police that they’ve been tricked by a group of scammers pawning fake gold. Krit and Anadda Tianmai, owners of the Thong Tian Nid Gold Shop, say they lost more than 9 million baht. People, many who claimed they were construction…
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Motorcyclist dies on his way to Bangla Bike Night
A Kuwaiti man died on his way to Bangla Bike Night in Patong Beach, Phuket after crashing his motorcycle into a power pole. At around 12:45am today, locals heard a loud noise and found the man on the ground next to the power pole. They say he was in a pool of blood and his Kawasaki z900 motorcycle was nearby.…
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Thousands of job applicants line up Bangkok hotel before sunrise
Not hundreds, but thousands of job applicants showed up to a Bangkok hotel before the sun came up early yesterday morning. Some slept outside to be first in line to file an application at the Miracle Grand Convention Hotel in the Lak Si district. By 4am, 5,000 people were waiting outside the hotel. The hotel advertised 300 vacant positions and…
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Up to 10,000 gather in massive Bangkok pro-democracy rally
Special guest writer Will Langston Up to 10,000 pro-democracy supporters attended a rally at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument yesterday. The crowds started swelling from around 3pm. Prior to the event, one of the organising groups, Free Youth, promoted the rally via their massive Facebook page following of over 350,000 followers. While the demographic of the crowd mainly consisted of high school and…
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Phuket officials outline plans for economic recovery
As Thailand’s tourist hot spots struggle under the devastating economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, officials in Phuket are attempting to kick-start tourism in the province. Focusing initially on domestic tourism, deputy governor Pichet Panapong hopes a number of planned events will draw visitors to the southern province. The Phuket Seafood and Gastronomy Festival, which started at the weekend and…
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Bad news for Boss as Thai prosecutors put him back on the ‘wanted’ list
3 weeks ago Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya must have thought it was Christmas after charges him were dropped by the Office of the Attorney General (for reasons that still remain a mystery), and then police said he was free to return to Thailand. That’s now all changed and the fugitive now finds himself a wanted man again with some charges reinstated…
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Indonesia participates in Phase 3 clinical trials for Chinese C-19 vaccine
Indonesians have been getting involved in Phase 3 of testing for a Covid-19 vaccine developed by a Chinese company. The partnership between the Indonesian state-owned Bio Farma and Chinese company Sinovac BioTech started in early July. Now Indonesia has recruited 1,620 volunteers for the critical part of the vaccine trial. The first 20 Indonesians rolled up their sleeves for the candidate…
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Warrants issued for key members of Free People movement
The Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for 15 prominent members of the Free People movement, which organised the protest held at the Democracy Monument on July 18. 3 of the 15, Thammasat University student Prit “Penguin” Chivarak, human rights lawyer Anon Nampa and Panupong Jaadnok, aka “Mike Rayong”, have already been arrested before and released on bail. The 12…
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Aussie hailed as hero after fighting off shark to save wife
An Australian man saved his wife from a shark attack yesterday by punching the shark until it released her. Police say the couple were surfing at a beach near Port Macquarie, 4 hours north of Sydney, yesterday morning when she was bitten twice on her right leg. Paramedics treated the 35 year old at the beach before she was later…
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Labour minister says unemployment less than half of predictions
Thailand’s labour minister told a Friday press briefing that the number of unemployed people in Thailand is around 2 to 3 million, less than half the 7 to 8 million previously predicted. He said that since The National Economic and Social Development Council did the calculation, “it cannot be wrong… as the latter is Thailand’s economic planner”. Given the gravities…
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Mauritius oil spill tanker splits apart
A Japanese tanker ship that ran aground on a reef off the island of Mauritius last month, threatening an ecological disaster in the Indian Ocean, has broken apart, authorities said yesterday. The Mauritius National Crisis Committee said the condition of the MV Wakashio was worsening early on in the day and by the afternoon it had split. A statement issued…
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Suspect arrested in Kanchanaburi sugar factory murder
Police in the western Kanchanaburi province have arrested a man for the August 6 murder of a sugar factory repairman in Bo Phloy district. 50 year old Boonthad Lawa, an employee in the factory’s repair and maintenance section, was found dead in a room of the workers’ dormitory last Monday. The body had 6 knife wounds, was bloated and “emitting…
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Tourism authority predicts September revenue jump
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is expecting tourism revenue in September to grow by 20% compared to the same month last year, after the government approved September 4 and 7 as compensation holidays for this year’s Songkran Festival, which was “postponed” due to the Covid-19 crisis. We’re assuming they mean domestic tourism because there sure aren’t many foreign tourists! The…
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Academics defend protests
Legal scholars at 2 Bangkok universities defended students’ right to protest today, and a prominent opposition politician reacted to yesterday’s arrest of student leader Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak by slamming PM Prayut Chan-o-cha for “breaking his promise” to listen to young protesters. Law experts at Thammasat University called on the government to stop using the law to deprive students of their…
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Pattaya spending millions on “facelift”
The world famous resort town of Pattaya is spending 160 million baht to improve the city’s beaches in a bid to attract domestic tourists. Pattaya’s mayor says the landscape redevelopment, on a 4 kilometre stretch of Pattaya Beach, will begin in October and is expected to be finished by the end of the year. “The City of Pattaya needs to…
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Major police presence expected at rally
Authorities yesterday announced that 4 companies of Bangkok police will be deployed to maintain peace and order at the major pro-democracy rally planned for this afternoon at Democracy Monument. The Metropolitan Police Bureau has arranged for 4 companies, 600 officers in total, to be present at the venue. Traffic police will also be dispatched to facilitate movement in the area.…
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Struggling Samui seeks government help
Desperate for tourism revenue during the ongoing travel ban and with not more than a dribble of domestic visitors, the president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui says he needs to meet with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration to come up with guidelines to allow foreign tourists to visit Samui. And soon. Worasit Phong-amphan says Samui saw 2.3…
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Toddler, locked in hot van, dies after 4 day coma
A 2 year old boy is dead after 4 days in a coma, due to being left in a hot van outside a daycare centre in the southern Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Staff at Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital confirmed the death of Thanakit “Nong Kongbin” Yodmanee yesterday afternoon, saying his organs failed. The boy was taken to hospital on…
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“Penguin” released on bail
22 year old anti-government activist Parit Chiwarak, known by his nickname “Penguin”, was released on bail this afternoon around 2:15 in Bangkok. He was arrested yesterday and charged with breaching internal security rules and breaking the Emergency Decree enacted in April to stop the spread of Covid-19, among other charges, by co-organising a protest on July 18. Since that July…
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Joint operation nabs 29 illegal Cambodian migrants in a Kaeo
Officials in the eastern border province of Sa Kaeo, with help from other law enforcement agencies, arrested 29 illegal migrant workers from Cambodia last night in the Ta Prayha subdistrict. Led by the deputy commander of the Burapha Forces, an elite squadron also known as the Tigers of the East, a large team located the group, who were on foot…
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Amnesty International demands “Penguin’s” release
The Thailand chapter of Amnesty International is calling on police to immediately release student protest leader Prit “Penguin” Chivarak, after he was arrested yesterday on charges of sedition and inciting public unrest. AI Thailand Director Niyanut Kotesarn said in a statement issued last night that the arrest of the Thammasat University student amounts to suppression of free expression and contravenes…
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