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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Ranong slot machine. ATM glitch gives customers 10 times more cash.
An ATM in southern Thailand turned into a very generous slot machine as lucky customers were getting 10 times the amount they had asked to withdrew. One person withdrew 2,700 baht, but the machine handed out 27,000. Another withdrew 1,200 baht and got 12,000. Some people filed a report and handed the money immediately over to Ranong police over the…
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Songkhla teen charged with attempted murder after stabbing his mother
A teenage boy allegedly stabbed his mother multiple times because, he told police, he couldn’t live up to her expectations and said he wanted the freedom to make his own decisions without parental scrutiny. The 16 year old boy is charged with attempted murder and use of a deadly weapon. The mother has serious injuries but is in stable condition.…
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Phase 3 easing generated 200 billion baht into Thai economy
Phase 3 of Covid-19 restriction easing, which began June 1, has generated 200 billion baht of additional cash flow into the economy. With many other establishments returning to business as usual tomorrow, the Thai Chamber of Commerce has launched a forum for the brainstorming of ideas on the next business trends under the “new normal,” that must comply with health…
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Covid-19 update: 1 new imported case (June 14)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 1 new imported coronavirus case and no new deaths today taking the total number of infections in Thailand to 3,135 since the outbreak began in January. The death toll remains at 58. The CCSA says the new case is a 35 year old female Thai student who returned from the US last Monday.…
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Survey says… most Thais prefer to keep foreign tourists out, for now
“The local respondents showed little interest in visiting the more popular foreign tourist magnets of Pattaya and Phuket.” A recent Suan Dusit Poll asked Thais whether they wanted foreign tourists visiting Thailand soon. 75.7% said “no”. 54.4% said they would prefer the Thai people to tour their own country first before heading overseas. 21.3% say they are afraid foreign visitors…
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Bangkok removing trees to make way for underground walkways
As part of a new “landscape improvement project,” the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has begun removing trees along Na Phra Lan Road, to pave the way for an underground network of walkways. 34 trees on the road will be removed, and the “Silpakorn Nokrob” (around Silpakorn) Facebook page yesterday called the decision “heartbreaking” for locals and conservationists. In April the BMA…
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Pattaya to upgrade 6 U-turns after public outcry
6 U-turns in the greater Pattaya City area are being upgraded to prevent road accidents, after a recent spate of fatalities. Pattaya City’s mayor told The Pattaya News yesterday that the improvements are being carried out to make the U-turn areas wider and safer. “6 U-turns on Sukhimwit Road are being fixed and constructed from Jittapawan Temple to the Makro…
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Bangkok’s sky park bridging the Chao Phraya ready for opening
Bangkok now has an elevated garden overlooking the Chao Phraya River, after architects transformed a portion of an abandoned electric train project into a green pedestrian bridge. For 30 years, the unfinished Saphan Phut line stood as a reminder of the Lavalin Skytrain project, which was abandoned in 1992. The project began in 1984 under former PM Prem Tinsulanonda. Today…
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Local Covid-19 spike shuts Beijing district
An area of Beijing is on a “wartime footing” and the city has banned tourism and travel after a cluster of Covid-19 infections centred around a major food market sparked fears of a new wave of infection. Concern is growing of a second wave of the virus, which has infected more than 7.835+ million people worldwide and killed more than…
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Crowned bats captured, studied as possible Covid-19 carriers
Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, and the Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, are researching whether Thailand’s “crowned bats” could carry or transmit the Covid-19 coronavirus. The chief of the department’s wildlife health management section says they went to a cave in in the eastern province of Chanthaburi, home to millions of the bats, to capture more…
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6 major zoos, 127 national parks to reopen tomorrow in Thailand
Starting Monday, 6 of Thailand’s major zoos will reopen for visitors free of charge, and 127 of the country’s 155 national parks are also set to open their doors again. The minister of natural resources and environment told a press briefing that Chon Buri’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Chiang Mai Zoo, Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo, Songkhla Zoo, Khon Kaen Zoo, Ubon…
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No Aussie dollars in Thailand for at least 3 months
As Thailand starts to poke its head out over the Covid-19 parapet and look towards its travel future, there is at least one country that won’t be lining up at Thai immigration any time soon. Australians, an enduring stalwart of Thai tourism traffic, are banned from leaving the shores of the land downunder for at least another 3 months. The…
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Justice minister targets drug money laundering
With the government struggling to find revenue streams for its economic stimulus plans to rebuild an economy battered by Covid-19, Thailand’s justice minister thinks he has an idea to help. He wants authorities to target businesses that launder drug money from the Golden Triangle and has set a target of 1.5 billion baht by August. The minister says anti-drug forces,…
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Thai road deaths surpass 6,000 for year to date
Thailand’s publicly announced goal of a maximum 664 road deaths per year from 2020 now seems fanciful, by a factor of 10 of more. The Daily News reports that as of yesterday, the death toll at the scene of traffic incidents in Thailand since the beginning of the year stood at 6,120. 43 died at the incident scenes on Wednesday…
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Covid-19 update: 5 new cases, all imported (June 13)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration today announced that 5 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the previous 24 hours. All 5 were imported cases of Thai students returning from Saudi Arabia. No new deaths were reported. The total number of confirmed cases since the beginning of the outbreak in Thailand now stands at 3,134. The death toll remains at…
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Homicide ruled out Ukrainian woman’s Koh Samui death
Police in the southern Surat Thani province now say the death of a Ukrainian woman on Koh Samui was either from natural causes or suicide, and have specifically ruled out homicide. Officers found 32 year old Olga Frolova’s phone in her knapsack and suggest that she died while resting in the forest from exhaustion and heat, or at her own…
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Heavy rains and flash floods predicted until next Tuesday from ‘Nuri’
The Thai Meteorological Department is warning that tropical storm ‘Nuri’ could bring heavy rains and cause flash flooding in at-risk areas across Thailand. A low-pressure system that developed in the Philippine Sea, and was tracked over the central Philippines has moved into the South China Sea, has become a tropical depression. At 4am today the department officially announced tropical storm…
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Government denies rumours of fines for online alcohol-related pics
Despite recent reports, the Office of the Alcohol Control Committee is dismissing a rumour about individuals being fined for posting images of alcoholic drinks on social media. The rumour went viral, with some saying individuals can be fined to up to 50,000 baht for posting images of alcoholic beverages online, or up to 10 times that amount if they’re manufacturers.…
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Dengue fever outbreak sickens nearly 6,000 Thai kids
While the Covid-19 outbreak is easing in Thailand, there is growing alarm over a nationwide outbreak of dengue fever, which has sickened nearly 6,000 children already this year. On June 2, Thailand had recorded 15,385 cases of dengue fever, which killed 11 people, according to the director-general of the Department of Disease Control. More than a third of those cases,…
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Chulalongkorn University defends shrine demolition for new condos
Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University is defending its plan to demolish a historic Thai-Chinese shrine on its grounds to clear the land for high-rise buildings with condominiums and dormitories. A statement from the university’s estate office says the Chao Mae Tabtim Saphan Luang Shrine will be rebuilt at a new location close to the original site within 6 months, with a re-opening…
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6 arrested for alleged child sex trafficking, 5 teen girls rescued
Police say 6 people in Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi provinces, west of Bankok, have been arrested on suspicion of child sex trafficking. 5 child prostitutes, at least one as young as 14 were rescued in Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi provinces, and 6 people taken into custody. Acting on a tip, officers of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division yesterday arrested the 6 and…
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Surat Thani fishermen want government intervention in “cockle war”
Cockles – and Thailand’s “cockle wars” – are back in the news this week. Fishermen in the southern Surat Thani province are calling for clearer guidelines on cockle catches, as their conflict with shellfish farmers drags on despite intervention from provincial authorities. Last Wednesday, a man rode in on his jet ski, firing a gun as some 300 fisherman raided…
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The one that didn’t get away… a fish tale with a happy ending
A man has been joyfully reunited with his prized, and very valuable, fish after leaving it in a pink Bangkok taxi. The fish’s owner hailed cab 6880 from Chatuchak market but got out of the vehicle in the Klong Toei area, leaving his “Channa Barca” snakehead fish inside in a plastic bag. The owner immediately contacted radio station JS 100,…
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Thailand News Today – Friday, June 12
4 Thais repatriated from India found with Covid-19 today Today the government announced 4 new cases of Covid-19, all were reported as repatriated Thai citizens from India. All have been quarantined in Chon Buri and tested positive during their 14 day stay. All have been mostly asymptomatic. India had the most Covid-19 cases in Asia with a total of 298,283…
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Curfew lifted from June 15, many activities resume, pubs and bars will remain closed
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has officially approved lifting the national curfew effective Monday. The centre made the decision at its meeting today, which was presided over by Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. The 11pm-3am curfew will be lifted from June 15 but the national state of emergency in the country will continue. The centre has also decided to strictly…
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Controversy over university’s plan to demolish Chinese shrine
A Bangkok university plans to demolish a historic Chinese shrine on the property to build student dormitories. The shrine’s caretakers have until next week before they are evicted to make way for Chulalongkorn University’s new buildings. But the caretakers and student activists say “no.” Apparently the university has been pressing keepers of the Thapthim Goddess Shrine to move for about 2…
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State hospital investigation into ‘suspicious’ drug company donations
More than a hundred hospitals will be investigated for allegedly receiving what health officials are describing as “suspicious” donations from pharmaceutical companies. The hospitals allegedly had a deal with the some of the drug companies – hospitals get a 5% discount and the rebate would be sent back to the hospital, labelling it as a “donation”. The 186 hospitals being investigated…
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Young girls raped in 2 separate cases
A Northern Thailand man was arrested for allegedly raping his stepdaughter after a complaint was filed by the biological father. In another case, an Isaan man was arrested for allegedly raping his niece’s 5 year old daughter. In Lampang, Northern Thailand, a 46 year old man was arrested yesterday. The 9 year old girl’s biological father says his daughter called…
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Thai doctors warn about the dangers of fashion braces
Those in Western countries don’t typically look back fondly on teenage years with a mouth full of braces and painful trips to the orthodontist. But in Thailand, having braces is seen as a symbol of wealth. They’ve even become a fashion trend with many fake braces being sold illegally (yes, really!). Thai doctors are warning about the risk of serious…
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4 Thais repatriated from India found with Covid-19 today (June 12)
Today the government announced 4 new cases of Covid-19, all were reported as repatriated Thai citizens from India. Dr. Taweesilp spokesman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says… “1 of the cases was a 39 year old housemaid, who returned to Thailand on June 4 and was quarantined in Chon Buri province. She showed no symptoms, but tested positive for…
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