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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What’s not covered by health insurance in Thailand?
Health insurance in Thailand has important limits that everyone should know. Many policies do not cover pre-existing conditions, motorcycle accidents, extreme sports, or specific treatments. These gaps can lead to unexpected costs during emergencies. Coverage for outpatient care and hospital...
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Train hits car in Chiang Mai, family survives
Police from Chiang Mai’s Saraphi police station yesterday received a report of a train hitting a car and rushed with rescuers to the scene at a crossing in Yang Nueng district. Once there, they found a badly damaged black Toyota Vios. The rescue team helped a family of three from the vehicle and took them to hospital, while the damaged…
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Prawit defends police chief promoting his own son
Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday that there is nothing illegal about the police commissioner promoting his own son to a senior police rank despite not meeting all of the criteria. The Royal Thai Police Office insists that Chanant Chaijinda was promoted on merit, and not because he’s the son of national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda. The RTPO was responding…
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Pattaya Floating Market cleans up its act to prevent Coronavirus
Pattaya’s Floating Market has been vigourously scrubbed down in an effort to increase hygiene and prevent the potential spread of the Novel Coronavirus. Staffers cleaned the entire venue from top to bottom yesterday. Surface areas were cleaned with disinfectant and alcohol spray. Every vendor in the hundreds of booths and stalls took part, to make sure potential tourists know the…
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73 year old Swede found dead in Chiang Mai condotel
Chiang Mai health authorities have reported the death of a 73 year old Swedish man in the northern province. He was found dead in a his condotel in Chang Phueak district on Monday. The body was discovered by staff, who immediately called police and health officials over fears of the Novel Coronavirus. The body was identified as that of Gunnar…
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Army officer wounded in Chiang Mai firefight with drug runners
A firefight with drug smugglers in Chiang Mai province’s Chiang Dao district has left an army officer wounded and in hospital. A patrol was dispatched to a border village in Chiang Dao on Sunday, after a tip-off. The informant said drugs would be brought across the border through the Nong Kalang pass. Early yesterday a group was spotted coming from…
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Alarms raised after Hunan bird flu outbreak
The Livestock Development Department raised alarms yesterday in the wake of a bird flu outbreak in the Hunan province of China, just south of Hubei, the epicentre of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak. Director-general of the department Sorawit Thanito says provincial officials were ordered to advise local farmers to prevent the disease and apply medicine in high-risk areas. According to Sorawit,…
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20 kilogram python caught after dog gives warning in Sri Racha
A three meter long python was caught yesterday after a dog in Chon Buri province’s Sri Racha district barked out multiple warnings. Authorities were notified of in the afternoon of an incident at a house in Nongkham. Rescue workers arrived at the house to find the huge python near the house where the dog was barking at it and keeping…
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The knock-on effect. Coronavirus hits Phuket hotels.
The Thaiger’s occasional Phuket hotel management contributor is back with some inside knowledge of the current situation for hoteliers on the holiday island. That the coronavirus situation is affecting hotel bookings, is an understatement, he says. Here’s some of the current thinking as Phuket hoteliers stand around the water-cooler and mull the situation. Our writer has asked to remain anonymous……
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Police officer murdered, mutilated
The body of a police officer was found in the northeastern province of Kalasin yesterday. He had been stabbed to death and his body severely mutilated. Police later tracked down and arrested 45 year old Amornlak Jitkoh, a Kalasin native, who had fled and hidden in a forest in Nakhon Ratchasima province. He was persuaded to surrender and return to…
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Police chase, arrest two women with 300 kilograms of compressed marijuana
Authorities in the northeastern Nong Khai province arrested two women yesterday and seized 300 kilograms of compressed marijuana. The two were captured after trying to run a police checkpoint. Police told reporters the arrests came after a tip-off that marijuana would be smuggled from neighbouring Bung Kan province, once a part of Nong Khai. It was to be transported to…
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Bangkok food delivery riders demand legal protections
If you’ve got a smartphone, a motorbike and a bit of cash, you can get work straightaway in Bangkok… but it comes at a cost. Though the income is potentially high, online food delivery drivers face heavy workloads, long hours, customer complaints and high levels of risk. GrabFood riders held a protest in Bangkok last week, saying that they get…
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Thailand Inventors Day 2020 celebrates outstanding Thai inventions
Yesterday marked Thailand Inventors’ Day, when the National Research Council granted awards to outstanding researchers, inventors and innovations in the prevention of PM2.5 airborne dust and, it is thought, aerially transmitted Coronavirus, were put on display. An air scrubber manufactured by ALPIN ELECTRONICS, an innovative high performance machine ten years in development, on display at the 5 day event. The…
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Regional news source publishes smuggled photos from Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Centre
A regional news source, linked to the Catholic Church, has published a group of photos over the weekend slamming Thailand’s notorious Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Centre. The article claims the Centre has “squalid and overcrowded conditions in which inmates, including children, women and the elderly, have been forced to languish for months and even years on end.” The Union of Catholic…
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Crash in Samut Prakan downs 5 power poles
Blackout lasts 10 hours, damage estimated at 3 million baht A pickup truck crashed into a power pole in Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok, on Saturday night, bringing down a total of five poles and a transformer, creating a blackout and blocking traffic for about 10 hours. Police say the incident occurred at about 10pm. The impact broke the pole…
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Light winds across Thailand and cooler weather in the Northern hills
Watch out for some fog in the hills around the north of Thailand, a continuation of the smog problems in the city and a chance of thunderstorms during the day in parts of the south. A high-pressure system over upper Thailand and the South China Sea is weakening that will cause morning fog as well as cooler weather in some…
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Thai doctors claim drug cocktail treats Coronavirus
Doctors in Bangkok believe they’ve discovered a cocktail of drugs that effectively treats the Wuhan Coronavirus. At a media briefing yesterday, the two doctors claimed that a combination of flu and anti-AIDS drugs has been shown effective in treating patients who tested positive for the virus. The two doctors from Rajavithi Hospital, Kriangsak Atipornwanich and Subsai Kongsangdao, declared the combination…
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Russian woman drowns in Patong
A 34 year old Russian woman drowned while swimming at Patong beach on Saturday. Lifeguards performed CPR on the woman before she was taken to Patong Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to police, who were alerted at 9am. Police say the woman, whose name was witheld pending notification of relatives, travelled with her boyfriend to Patong with the…
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Coronavirus UPDATE – Confirmed cases exceed 17,000, 362 deaths
The Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has now spread to 27 countries and territories worldwide. There are 17,387 confirmed cases and 362 deaths as of this morning. Welcome to our Monday morning update as we enter a new month with the coronavirus still growing , both inside China and outside, with the first death outside China over the weekend – a 44…
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Danish man dies in Chon Buri skydiving incident
A 30 year old Danish man is dead after his parachute failed to open in central Thailand on Saturday. The incident occurred at a jump site in the Sri Racha district of Chon Buri province. Police were alerted at 12:30pm. The 30-year-old Danish national, Stefan Eiriksson Andersen, was found lying face-up and unconscious, blood coming from his mouth and nose.…
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Coronavirus UPDATE – first death outside China, 14,559 confirmed cases
Deaths from the coronavirus outbreak have now reached 305 today, including the first outside China, a 44 year old Chinese man in the Philippines. 14,559 people are now confirmed with the virus, the vast majority in China. Whilst the fatality rate remains at 2% with the current level of cases, many have also recovered and returned home. Many remain in…
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Welcome home – 17 Surat Thani students return from Hubei, China
17 electronics students from Surat Thani Technical College in Thailand’s south, who had been studying on a high vocational certificate course at Xingtai Polytechnic College in Hubei, China, have arrived home. They are healthy and happy to back with their families. The 17 arrived at the Surat Thani International Airport, via Suvarnabhumi, yesterday jus after 9 in the morning. The…
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Three people dead in road incidents south of Bangkok
Three people are dead following two separate accidents in the Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan, south and east of Bangkok’s centre. The first incident occurred around 7.30pm on Saturday night on the Bang Na-Trat highway. A married couple were killed after their motorcycle was run over by a six wheeled truck. The couple were identified as 58 year old Somchai…
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Coronavirus UPDATE – 14,551 confirmed cases, first death outside China
“The Philippines has confirmed this morning the second coronavirus case in the country and, notably, the first death in the country and the first outside China” Philippines’ Health Secretary Francisco Duque III Deaths from the coronavirus outbreak have now reached 304 today. 14,551 people are now confirmed with the virus. An increasing number of countries are also imposing restriction on travel…
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Man walks into his own funeral in southern Thailand
It was the double-take of the year. In the middle of a funeral at a local temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, the man, who was the main attraction at the event, walked into his own funeral. After attendees got over their surprise, and relief, that their relative was actually alive, the question arose, “who is the person inside…
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Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai hard hit over ‘palpable’ tourism drop
The 2019-nCoV coronavirus, the official name for the Wuhan or Novel Corononavirus, is resulting in dozens of high-season flights to Thai southern beach resorts being cancelled. The virus is already deemed an international public health emergency by the World Health Organisation. “While Patong survived and thrived after SARS, the tsunami and a few army coups, this virus is stripping our…
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Phuket’s governor appeals for calm, issues warning over fake virus news
Amid the flurry of news stories about the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, Phuket’s Governor Phakaphong urged people this week to beware of fake news and reports that don’t cite their sources. “Fake news has been shared on social media, making people worried and damaging Phuket’s tourism image. Please check before believing it, reduce the panic.” One report that went viral this…
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Thailand’s King sends message of support to China
“Myself and the Thai people stand by the Chinese people and wish you success in overcoming this crisis, with the expectation that the situation will be restored to normal as quickly as possible.” His Majesty Maha Varichalongkorn, the King of Thailand has expressed his concern over the novel coronavirus outbreak in China and is wishing the Chinese government success in…
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Health officials now checking Chinese tourists in Phuket hotels
Health officials in Phuket are checking up and visiting Chinese tourists at local hotels over worries about the Wuhan Coronavirus. Though there are no confirmed cases on the island, officials are performing the checkups as precautions intensify to contain the spread of the virus. Phuket’s deputy governor says officials are now taking more proactive measures to combat the coronavirus, with…
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Police catch serial bag and gold snatcher in Pattaya
Pattayans and tourists can breathe a little easier with the arrest of a serial gold and bag snatcher who preyed on both Thais and foreign tourists. Pattaya police report that 25 year old “Beer” was arrested Thursday. CCTV helped nab the suspect, who was responsible for many snatch-and-grab thefts in Pattaya. He snatched a gold necklace from a Thai woman on…
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Chiang Mai confirms first coronavirus case
Chiang Mai health officials have confirmed the first positive case of the coronavirus in the northern city. The patient had come for treatment from Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital and later tested positive for the virus. The Ministry of Public Health announced yesterday that five more people in Thailand had been confirmed as carrying the novel coronavirus, and one of…
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