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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Investigations begin into the sinking of Chao Phraya dinner cruise boat
75 passengers, crew and staff were rescued last evening after a triple-deck timber dinner cruise vessel capsized in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River. Both Thais and foreigners were aboard the boat. An investigation has begun into the incident. The vessel, called High Season, operating as a ferry and restaurant, listed to the right, capsized and then sank in the Chao Phraya…
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Crazed knife-wielding man arrested in Pattaya while threatening others
An unnamed Thai man has been arrested on Pattaya’s Beach Road and charged with causing a public disturbance after wielding a large knife and attempting to cut his own throat while threatening bystanders. The man was shirtless and rambling incoherently, with drugs or alcohol suspected to be involved. The Pattaya News reports that the man stole the knife from a…
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Chiang Mai protesters perform in pouring rain
by guest writer Will Langston Pro-democracy activism continues its public display in Chiang Mai City. For the third time in a week, activists and protestors gathered under outside old walls of the city to demonstrate. The name of the performance yesterday was entitled “EAT (I’M) ARE”. The title is wordplay based on the famous steak eatery in Thailand called ‘EAT…
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Philippines’ capital to re-enter lockdown as Covid cases surge in Manila
Manila and the surrounding Philippine provinces are heading back into lockdown from tomorrow, for a period of at least 2 weeks. The decision comes as the Philippines’ capital recorded a significant spike of over 100,000 new cases of the Covid-19 virus. Thai PBS World reports that the country’s President, Rodrigo Duterte, is imposing the lock-down on Manila and the adjacent…
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Phuket may be chosen as test case in phased re-opening to foreign tourists
As the Tourism Authority of Thailand considers how the country might safely re-open its borders, the Bangkok Post reports that there are tentative plans afoot to kick off the project with Phuket, possibly in October. The director-general of the Department of Health, Panpimon Wipulakorn, says Phuket’s position as a self-contained island means it would be easier to control any potential…
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Chon Buri and Pattaya residents told to prepare for a week of rain and potential floods
Rain, and more rain. That’s the forecast for many parts of Thailand today. Already, over the past 24 hours, there has been torrential rain storms hitting parts of Phuket and Chiang Mai. Today the Thai Meteorological Department is forecasting a week of poor weather ahead in the Chon Buri province, east of Bangkok. There is an 80% chance of rain…
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Thai PM orders seizure of body of key “Boss” witness for new autopsy
The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered officials to seize the body of a new witness who emerged 10 days ago in the Boss Yoovidhya hit-and-run case from 2012. The PM has instructed a new autopsy to end public speculation about the circumstances of his death – a motorcycle road death in Chiang Mai last week. Meanwhile, Chiang Mai police released…
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City of Melbourne wakes to first day of 6 week lockdown and curfew
Australia’s southern state of Victoria is now under a state of emergency and a state of disaster. The state government have given police greater powers to help enforce the latest restrictions in a draconian bid to reduce the community transmission of Covid-19. The capital of Melbourne is now in a 6 week lockdown to tackle the latest spike in virus…
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UPDATE: Koh Samui ferry capsize. 2 more found alive.
The body of the skipper of a capsized ferry has been recovered, whilst 2 others have been found. This leaves 3 people still missing. Surat Thani governor Wichawut Jinto announced the latest info following the capsize of the Koh Samui car last night. The Raja 4 ferry was loaded with rubbish from the island, 3 10-wheel lorries and a pickup,…
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Korat driver injured after smashing into Buddhist shrine
A driver in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, aka Korat, sustained sustained serious injuries after his pickup truck slammed into a Buddhist shrine. Police were notified of the accident in the Klui sub-district. Police and emergency responders rushed to the scene to find a pickup truck crashed into a concrete religious pillar shrine in the middle of a roundabout. The…
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Swiss clothing firm denies layoffs
Contradicting earlier reports, Triumph International (Thailand) has denied any link with a garment company that laid off 800 employees on Friday. A statement from the Swiss Triumph Holding AG on yesterday said the company sold its production facilities in Thailand to Body Fashion (Thailand) 4 years ago. Accoding to the company’s head of corporate communications: “In fact, Triumph has handed…
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Ratchaburi man arrested for murder, faking his own death
Police in the western Ratchaburi province say a man, facing a possible jail sentence, faked his own death by killing another man, staging a car crash and burning the body. The announcement comes nearly a week after police discovered the body of a man who had apparently burned to death in a vehicle at a car upholstery shop. It was…
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Hundreds left jobless as Air Force cancels golf club contract
Hundreds of people were left jobless in Chiang Mai yesterday after Wing 41, a property owned by the Royal Thai Air Force and the location of the Star Dome Golf Club, put up a sign cancelling its contracts with all renters. According to Wing 41, all contracts expired yesterday and as of today Star Dome will no longer be open…
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Facemask business dispute leads to shooting
Bangkok police say a business rivalry over facemasks was the reason behind a gunfight that left a man injured in the city’s Bang Khae district. Officers at Lak Song Police Station were informed early this morning that a yellow Porsche was fired at many times in front of a Bang Khae home. The injured man was sent to hospital. Initial…
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Red Bull witness drank with other biker before his death: police
In the latest development in the case of Red Bull scion Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, police in Chiang Mai now say the key defence witness who died Thursday in a motorcycle accident was seen drinking with the other motorcyclist involved before the incident. Officers say they used CCTV video to trace the route of the 2 motorcyclists to a karaoke bar.…
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Covid-19 UPDATE: 5 new cases found in quarantine, no deaths (August 2)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced 5 new cases of the virus in state quarantine, all Thais returning from abroad. The new cases bring the total number of infections in Thailand to 3,317 since the outbreak began. There hasn’t been a community infection of Covid-19 for over 2 months. 7 people were discharged from hospital today bringing the total…
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Thai Airways to operate repatriation flights to Denmark, Taiwan
Thai Airways has arranged 2 repatriation flights to Taipei and 2 to Copenhagen this month, to bring back foreign nationals who were stranded by the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline’s acting president says the Taiwan flights will fly on August 5 and 14, leaving Suvarnabhumi Airport at 8:25am and arriving in Taipei at 1:05pm local time; Chansin Treenuchagron said the flights…
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Wanted drug dealer killed in Korat shootout
Police in in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, aka. Korat, say the drug dealer who shot and seriously injured an undercover officer and fled, was killed in a shootout in Khong district yesterday. On Wednesday, 38 year old Phadungsil Lohakart allegedly shot officer Song Tuaykrathok, who was posing as a buyer of crystal methamphetamine, after realising it was a…
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Survey: China travel may take a year to recover
Data from the latest travel report by ITB China Travel Trends show that it’s possible – even likely – that the Chinese outbound travel market will take up to a year to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey of 200 Chinese outbound travel agents examined the anticipated travel behaviour of outbound Chinese tourists once the beginnings of recovery are…
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State schools told not to fully re-open until the CCSA gives permission
The Office of Basic Education Commission has ordered public schools to wait for a formal approval from the CCSA (Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration) before re-establishing their full timetable. Since schools reopened at the start of July, schools with large classes of students have been required to split upinto two groups, operating on an odd/even basis with half the class…
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Pattani police hunt thief in fatal bag snatching – VIDEO
Police in southern province of Pattani, along the Malaysian border, are hunting for a thief on a motorcycle who snatched the bag of a woman riding pillion on another motorbike, causing her to fall, fracturing her skull and killing her. Video footage from CCTV cameras on the road in Pattani’s central district shows the suspect, wearing a mask and full-face…
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220 kilograms of marijuana seized, 2 arrested in Nakhon Phanom
Authorities in the upper northeastern Nakhon Panom province arrested 2 men last night on charges of smuggling 220 kilograms of marijuana. They reportedly told police they they did it because they needed money after the Covid-19 outbreak left them unemployed. The arrests came after authorities got a tip that a drug gang planned to smuggle marijuana from Laos into Nakhon…
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Trump threatens US TikTok ban
Donald Trump said yesterday that he plans to sign an executive order – perhaps as soon as today – banning the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok from the US. Such a ban would mark the culmination of national security concerns over the safety of personal data handled by TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, which became 1 of only a handful of…
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Korean man in Phuket suicide
In an apparent suicide, the body of a South Korean man was found in a pickup truck in the city district of the southern resort province of Phuket yesterday, his head covered in a plastic bag. Police found the white pickup, with Phuket licence plates, in the car park of the Golden Triangle Been Co. in tambon Vichit after being…
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Duterte tells Filipinos to clean masks with petrol
Stressing that his advice is not a joke, bombastic Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday told his people to use petrol as a disinfectant for protective facemasks. The outspoken leader made a similar remark last week which his spokesman said was a joke, reminding the public that Duterte often says things in jest. But in a televised address yesterday, Duterte declared:…
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Jet ski explodes in Chon Buri – VIDEO
A jet ski exploded yesterday at Chon Buri’s Bang Saen beach, near Bangkok. Rescue workers and firefighters arrived to find a blue/black jet ski on fire. They were able to put out the fire but vehicle was completely destroyed. Fortunately, 46 year owner Suthep Jarworrak suffered only minor injuries and some skin burns. The rescue team administered first aid before…
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Sa Kaeo couple in murder/suicide
Police in the eastern Sa Kaeo province, along the Cambodian border, say a 61 year old man and his 44 year old wife are dead after what they’re calling a murder/suicide. The incident in the Ban Mai Nong Sai subdistrict was reported at around 6am yesterday. Authorities arrived at the scene to find 44 year old Nuengthai Klomkraok dead in…
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Road carnage mounts as couple killed in Nonthaburi crash
Thailand’s road carnage continues to mount: police and rescue services were called in Nonthaburi, just north of Bangkok, after an incident in which an Isuzu pickup truck collided with a barrier then crossed over a metal fence at 6:30 yesterday. 2 people, 45 year old Adisak, and his 46 year old wife Suchada, were thrown out of the vehicle and…
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Vietnam records first Covid-19 deaths
Vietnam announced today that 2 people have now died of Covid-19 complications, just a day after it recorded its first-ever coronavirus death, as it struggles with a renewed outbreak after 99 days without a locally transmitted case. Both patients died in hospital in Da Nang, a hotspot with more than 100 cases in the past week, more than half of…
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Thai delivery app merger gets 3.5 billion baht boost
Homegrown Thai delivery app Line Man is merging with its longtime partner, online restaurant review platform Wongnai Media. Line Man has secured fresh capital investment worth US$110 million (3.5 billion baht) from BRV Capital Management to bolster the new entity. The merger marks the first time any member of the Japan-based Line Group has secured a financial investment of this…
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