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.
-
Thieving monkey safely caught in Chon Buri
A mischievous macaque, aka. rhesus monkey, has been caught after stealing food from local residents in Chon Buri province’s Banglamung district. Authorities of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation were notified of the monkey yesterday afternoon at a housing estate. They arrived at the scene to find the male monkey, estimated at around 2 years old, eating…
-
Zero new cases. Covid-19 update, first time since March
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration today reported no new coronavirus cases for the first time since March 9, keeping Thailand on track for the second phase of reopening and easing of Emergency Decree restrictions scheduled for this Sunday (but yet to be confirmed). Thailand has a total of 3,017 cases and 56 reported deaths since the outbreak began in…
-
Naked man steals motorbike in Nakhon Si Thammarat – VIDEO
On Sunday a completely naked man seized a motorcycle from a shocked woman in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat and rode away on it. Police found him yesterday at a nearby market, still without clothes. The incident occurred in broad daylight and in full view of witnesses. It was recorded and posted on Facebook and, predictably, went viral. The…
-
‘Vongfong’ heads northwest along Philippines coast
The first potential typhoon for this year’s typhoon and storm season in the western Pacific now has a name. It’s been called ‘Vongfong’ and is is quickly becoming a threat to the Philippines. While the peak of the western Pacific typhoon season is late summer, there are frequent storms in the winter or early spring due to the warm waters of…
-
Gang leader arrested for fraud million baht scheme
Police have caught the leader of a gang who stole millions posing as government officials to bribe contractors into handing over money for fake construction projects. The alleged boss of the scheme, 50 year old Rachasak Butpornprasert, was arrested at an Ayutthaya temple after being wanted by police for a year. Butpornprasert also goes by the name “Noppadol Srino” according…
-
Regional travel bubbles, the short-term tourism solution
As nations slowly get their heads around the first outbreaks of Covid-19, the attention is now pivoting to re-opening businesses. And re-opening borders for tourism. But, at least for the short term, the future of tourism will probably be regional travel bubbles – loose agreements between neighbouring nations to allow (reasonably) free travel between two or three countries. Staying isolated…
-
Australian government warns citizens not to let down their guard as restrictions ease
The Australian government is warning its citizens not to let their guard down as some restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus are lifted. The country has had 98 deaths from around 7,000 cases to date. Given the devastating figures coming from many other parts of the world, Australia (and neighbouring New Zealand) appear to…
-
Former Future Forward members claim they’re behind political slogan campaign around Bangkok
Former members of the now defunct Future Forward party say they are responsible for projecting a political slogan on to some of Bangkok’s most iconic landmarks Sunday night, and say more’s to come. Coconuts reports that the political figures, now members of a group called “Progressive Movement,” shared a video of activists using projection equipment from within a van. The…
-
Newborn found dead in southern Thailand university pond
There was a tragic moment last Monday when the body of a newborn baby was discovered in a pond at a southern Thailand university. . A security guard at Walailak University in Nakhon Si Thammarat province saw a black plastic bag floating near the edge of the pond. He told police that “the smell was strong and foul”. Inside the…
-
44 arrests at Pattaya pool party, drugs and firearm seized – VIDEO
44 people have been arrested at a birthday party after police raided a pool villa in central Pattaya at 1:30 this morning. It’s understood 3 of those arrested were Chinese tourists; the remainder were Thai. All face charges of breaking curfew and violating the Emergency Decree. 1 man, 41 year old Thanasak Kaewsri, had an outstanding warrant for drugs and…
-
6 police officers face charges of extortion, assault
Further to a story reported earlier in The Thaiger, things are heating up in the central province of Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok. A surprise visit by national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda at the Klong Dan police station last week has exposed alleged acts of assault and extortion by a suspected gang of criminal policemen. The officers on duty…
-
Fishing industry seeks 50,000 men amidst Covid-19 migrant exodus
With millions of Thais unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, one business is definitely hiring: a senior government official said Saturday that Thailand’s fishing industry is seeking to hire as many as 50,000 men to go to sea aboard trawlers. The chief of the Department of Employment’s provincial branch in the southern province of Ranong, Phithoon Damsakhon, was quoting a…
-
Thailand News Today – Tuesday, May 12
Thailand’s national figures for Covid-19 patients – May 12 Only 2 new Covid-19 cases have been announced today bringing the national total in Thailand to 3,017 cases. No additional deaths were reported keeping the accumulated death toll from Covid-19 at 56 cases. One case was a 19 year old Bangkok woman, the other a 51 year old Thai woman from…
-
Checkpoint-tech introduced at the Phuket road entry point
Today 10 million baht was donated to the Tha Chatchai checkpoint (at the northern road entry on the island) for a new project called “Phuket Smart Check Point”. The project is aimed to support the islands’ reopening measures and help conduct screenings for high-risk groups. Not only will the project be used for Covid-19-related issues but the project will also…
-
Major slump in tourists expected this year
It’s not looking to good for Thailand’s tourism industry. This year will have the lowest numbers the country has seen in over a decade, and that’s assuming there’s some reopenings for international travel sometime later in the year. With the coronavirus pandemic freezing up international travel, the number of foreign tourists are expected to fall by 65% this year, according…
-
Thailand rescue dog from meat trade performs on Britain’s Got Talent
A dog rescued from Thailand’s illegal meat trade brought tears to those on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent. There was silence as the story of Miracle the dog played on a screen to the audience. A photo flashed on the screen of when the dog was crushed in a cage piled high with dogs. “When the dog rescuer first saw him…
-
Thailand’s national figures for Covid-19 patients – May 12
Today at the daily press conference led by Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, the regular spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, he reported only 2 new Covid-19 cases bringing the national total in Thailand to 3,017 cases. No additional deaths were reported keeping the accumulated toll at 56 cases. Both confirmed cases were reported to have lived in the same…
-
Thailand receives 30 million baht shipment of medical PPE from China
Today at Don Mueang International Airport General Chanchan Changmongkol, the Deputy Minister of Defense represented the Thai government in receiving medical equipment and supplies from Mr. Yang Xin, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, to aid the people of Thailand during the Covid-19 outbreak. The shipment had a value of 6 million yuan or 30 million baht and…
-
6 arrests after attack on Pattaya shop owner and family for refusing to sell alcohol – VIDEO
Six curfew-breakers have been arrested for allegedly attacking a Pattaya shop owner and his family, as well as damage to their business and car, on Saturday night. The shop owner had refused to sell the perpetrators alcohol as it was after the curfew, with a further ban on alcohol sales after 6pm in Chon Buri province. The Pattaya News reports…
-
Phuket bus driver shares government quarantine facility with coffin
A bus driver who left Phuket to return to his home city of Trang was left feeling a little, well, uneasy when he realised he would be sharing his government quarantine facilities with a coffin. Were the authorities just ‘planning ahead’? Or just a ‘whoops’ moment? The man had left Phuket as part of the exodus of some 50,000 people…
-
Health officials say they’re ready for a “second wave” of Covid-19
As countries around the world start to ease some of the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of Covid-19, the fear of a “second wave” persists. Now a report in Nation Thailand says healthcare officials in Thailand are using the lessons from the past fews months, in the treatment of Covid-19 patients, tracing and testing, and are prepared…
-
Survey shows a third of people believe Thailand will be Covid-free in 3-6 months
A survey conducted by the Super Poll Research Office shows that a third of people believe Thailand will be free from the Covid-19 virus within 3 to 6 months. Thai Residents reports that Super Poll conducted a survey of 1,255 citizens on May 6, which also revealed that over 32% believe the virus will be gone in as little as…
-
“Bangkok’s tap water is safe for cooking” – Metropolitan Waterworks
When people travel to Thailand they’re always warned not to drink the tap water. Or cook with it. But improved sanitation over the past few decades has now improved the quality of tap water around parts of the country, especially in the capital. Now the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority say that it is safe to use tap water to cook rice.…
-
Bangkok police hunt activists who projected slogans onto landmarks of 2010 protests
The slogan Seek the Truth (in Thai) has been projected onto several Bangkok landmarks in what appears to be a commemoration of the violent end to political demonstrations in 2010. That year, protests rocked Bangkok for 3 months between March and May, when over 100,000 supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra (known as the “Redshirts”) descended on the city, demanding elections.…
-
A 16 year old girl has now come forward in Mukdahan school rape case
Three of the teachers, suspected in a gang rape case against a 14 year old girl at a school in Mukdahan province in Thailand’s northeast are now likely to face charges for the sexual assault of a 16 year old student as well. The teenager has been placed into the custody of the ministry of Social Development and Human Security.…
-
The next batch of reopenings in Thailand, coming this Sunday
We should find out more today about the next raft of re-opening for Thailand’s businesses. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has been consulting with the private and public sector to make the next move as Thailand reboots its economy in a second phase of re-openings. The Thai cabinet will meet today to discuss the proposals. Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin says…
-
Thailand News Today – Monday, May 11
Thailand national figures for Covid-19 – May 11 This morning 6 new cases of the Covid-19 cases have confirmed across the country, bring the total in Thailand to 3,015 cases. Of the 6 cases, 4 were reported in Phuket yesterday afternoon but were not included in yesterday’s national tally of 5 cases. Today Phuket has announced no new cases. The…
-
24 people arrested after police raid on Samui bar
22 foreigners and 2 Thai nationals have been arrested at a bar called La Bohemia on the Gulf island of Koh Samui last night. All were charged with breaking the emergency decree, which prohibits restaurants selling alcohol and gatherings of people. Acting on a tip off from local residents, police from the Bo Phut police station raided the La Bohemia…
-
Human Rights Watch says Thailand should free detained migrants
A significant number of migrants in Thailand’s Songkhla immigration detention centre have the coronavirus and the Human Rights Watch is saying all them should be free due to the dangers of the coronavirus pot the other detainees. In an article urging the release of the migrants, the HRW said the virus infections “spread like wildfire in squalid lockup” and that…
-
Food sharing pantries across Thailand help the hungry
The coronavirus outbreak hit some families hard and some are without income and in need of basic food. Community pantries, stocked with basic, yet essential, food items have been popping up all over Thailand to help the hungry and people simply knocked sideways by the suddenness of the impact from the outbreak. The project is called “Pantry of Sharing.” One sign says…
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.