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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The Coronavirus effect – Phuket and hotel report
by Bill Barnett, c9hotelworks.com “Perhaps the biggest wild card is the mounting number of travel advisories across the globe based on Covid-19” In what is a continuing storyline on the global coronavirus outbreak, Bill Barnett reports on the impact on Thailand’s most popular island destination, Phuket. He says that the impact on the Phuket tourism market is creating a challenging landscape.…
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Once bustling, Chiang Mai tourist areas are now deserted
Thai news agency MCOT has become the latest media outlet to bemoan the devastating effect of the coronavirus (Covid-19) on Thai tourism, after their reporters went to the once thriving area of Nimmanhaemin. Online blurbs about the area still describe it as having “buzzing dining and nightlife, hip cafes, fashion boutiques and a weekend craft market.” But a month after…
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4 Uzbek women rescued from human traffickers in Pattaya
Four Uzbek women were rescued in Pattaya yesterday by Uzbekistan embassy officials and Chon Buri Provincial Police after allegedly falling victim to a human trafficking scam. A team of police raided a condominium in South Pattaya near the entrance of Phra Tamnak hill. See the video version of this story HERE: The raid comes after Chon Buri police learned from…
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High school students join wave of anti-government protests
Students in some of Bangkok’s most exclusive private high schools announced yesterday that would hold rallies in solidarity with anti-government protests being staged on college campuses across the nation. Students at the all-girl Satriwithaya School, located next to Bangkok’s iconic Democracy Monument, were urged on social media to gather at 3pm. Using the hashtag #SWStandsWithDemocracy, the organizers said there would…
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Canadian murder suspect to be extradited to US
A murder suspect from Canada has lost his appeal against extradition to the United States after Bangkok’s Appeal Court upheld a lower court’s ruling, sending him to face a murder charge there. The ruling was handed down this afternoon. The extradition was sought by the Office of the Attorney-General against Matthew Alexander McGowan, accused of fatally shooting another person in…
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Arrested former cop escapes cuffs, flees Chiang Mai hospital
A former Chiang Mai policeman, arrested for a burglary in his home district of Sanpatong, has escaped from custody. Police are now hunting for the the fugitive. The officer, identified only as “Pawaret,” was arrested over the weekend and held at a police station but had to be taken to the local hospital because he’d had suffered injuries after an…
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Thai family of three are focus of local coronavirus outbreak in northern Bangkok
UPDATE Three worrying new Thailand coronavirus cases are being reported as coming from the same family. A 65 year old man, the grandfather in the family, had returned from Japan with his wife but didn’t disclose his situation or travel history to health workers when he took himself to hospital with a fever. The grandfather tested positive and his workplace,…
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Expansion of airport to make Hua Hin an international tourist destination
Hua Hin, long considered a bucolic backwater compared with other resort destinations in Thailand, may be about to morph into something quite different; local media reported on Saturday that the Thai government has approved a major expansion of Hua Hin’s Airport, which could turn the sleepy resort town into a genuine international tourist destination rivalling other more established destinations in…
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Fugitive shot dead in gunfight with police in Nakhon Si Thammarat
A fugitive is dead after a gunfight with police in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The man, identified as 30 year old Pongsak Jessadarom, of the province’s Muang district, was wanted on three warrants for theft. Police were notified this morning by local residents of two thieves attempting to break into a house. A motorcycle patrol soon arrived…
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Opposition MP alleges PM and army behind cyber propaganda
An opposition MP says he’s holding PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha responsible for a network of social media that have been allegedly running a cyber campaign against critics of the current government. They accuse the PM and supporters of the government about spreading fake news and derogatory comments about them. An MP of the now-disbanded Future Forward Party, Viroj Lakkana-adisorn, says…
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Drunken man arrested threatening people with large knife on Pattaya beach
Pattaya City police arrested a highly intoxicated Bangkok man yesterday afternoon for carrying a large knife and threatening tourists and locals on Pattaya Beach. The incident began at around 11:00am, according to police, who say the man, who was severely intoxicated, was openly carrying a large knife, yelling incoherently and threatening people on the beach. Police were called by local…
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Chevrolet Thailand says ‘no’ to compensation demands for cars sold before discounts were announced
Yesterday, a group of Chevrolet car buyers submitted a letter to Chevrolet Sales (Thailand) at the company national HQ at Rasa Tower, in Bangkok’s northern suburbs. They were demanding the company should compensate them for having bought their cars at full price, just before Chevrolet announced it was pulling out of manufacturing cars in Thailand. Specifically they were complaining about…
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Cambodia burns, Bangkok chokes, schools closed
Bangkok mums and dads will need to sort out what to do with the kids for the rest of the week after the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration closed public schools from today because of the excessive air pollution. Most of the smoke and haze is blowing in from Cambodia with light easterly winds. All schools under the supervision of the BMA…
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Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai – all suffering choking smog today
The whole Bangkok and its suburbs is suffering from excessive PM2.5 dust and smoke particles in the air today. Around the city the readings have been uniformly ‘unhealthy’ for the entire day with readings as high as 188 particles of 2.5microns per cubic metre. Putting a stamp on the whole appalling situation is the list of the world’s Top 10…
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Suspects in abduction, murder of judge’s brother taken for re-enactment
When the brother of a senior judge in the central province of Nakhon Sawan was abducted in broad daylight in front of the Bangkok South Criminal Court on February 4, police feared the worst. Today, three of the six suspects alleged to have been involved in the abduction and subsequent murder were escorted by officers of the Crime Suppression Division…
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Two news cases confirmed in Thailand, pushing total to 37
The Thai Public Health Ministry has announced two new Coronavirus cases in Thailand. A 31 year old woman and a 29 year old taxi driver. The two cases pushes the Thai confirmed Covid-19 confirmations up to a total of 37 cases since the outbreak began at the end of December last year. Permanent secretary for health, Sukhum Kanchanapimai, confirmed that…
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British sailor, adrift for 3 days, rescued by Thai navy
A British man had to be towed to shore along with his sailboat after the craft’s motor broke down off Phuket, leaving him adrift for three days before he was rescued. The operations centre of the 3rd Naval Area in Phuket got a request from the cargo ship Miclyn Endurance yesterday afternoon to help a sailboat, the Pollen Path, which…
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Bangkok has a surplus of 100,000 new condos as Chinese buyers stay home
Bangkok’s condominium market is facing its biggest challenge in decades with one of its key feeder markets sitting it out at home. The capital’s soaring condo market, once a favourite for Chinese investors, looks towards a bleak year with Chinese investors having other things to worry about, or simply unable to travel to Thailand, due to coronavirus fears. Bloomberg economists predict…
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Thai Baht on the slide over fears of spread of Coronavirus outside China
What goes up must go down. The Thai baht has continued to weaken against leading international currencies, trading at 31.70 to the US$ in yesterday’s trade. The falls reflect regional concern over the coronavirus spreading beyond China. In the past few days both central South Korea and parts of northern Italy have reported outbreaks of the virus. Kasikorn Research Centre…
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Thai stocks plummet nearly 4% in Monday SET trading
The Stock Exchange of Thailand finished yesterday at 1,435.56 points, a decrease of 59.5 points, or nearly 4% – that’s compared to Friday’s close on the SET. The daily trade volume for Monday was 76.431 billion baht, with an index high of 1,474.12 and a low of 1,435.56. Asian bourses were hammered as confidence was inhibited by rising cases of the…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: World cases exceed 80,000, Italy tries to contain outbreak
The number of reported cases from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has risen to 80,150 across the world, resulting in 2,701 deaths. 27,595 people have recovered from the virus, the death rate is still hovering below 2%. The rate of new cases in China is starting to flatten while there are some new global hotspots outside of China, principally central South…
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Thailand News Today – First episode of a new daily TV program
Thai exports figures rise in January Whilst there’s been plenty of economic challenges around for Thailand, including the high Thai baht and a levelling out of tourist arrivals, exports for January 2020 unexpectedly rose according to ministry figures. It’s the first rise in six months, and an increase of 3.35% from the exports 12 months earlier. Reuters had earlier forecast…
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Uncertainty as Malaysian PM Mahathir resigns
Just days after Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammad was given a mandate by the ruling coalition to stay on until after November’s APEC Summit, he has submitted a letter of resignation to the nation’s king. His office made the announcement today, amid talk of forming a new coalition. The fate of Malaysia’s current ruling coalition has been in doubt since surprise…
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Top 10 laws to beware of in Thailand
Did you know that it’s illegal in the UK to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armor? Or that it’s legal to shoot a Scotsman with a crossbow under certain circumstances? Most countries have outdated laws on the books that seem odd today, but as a visitor to Thailand, there are some laws you should always be…
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17 kids rescued in Phuket human-trafficking raids
“All 17 children were Cambodian and were taken to the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families on Koh Siray.” Thai police have taken 17 children into protective custody after a series of coordinated raids in Patong. They say the children were being exploited by a human trafficking gang, who beat them with a wire clothes hanger if they did bring…
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World’s biggest band launch their new album “Map of the Soul: 7” BTS
From the first determined drum stroke in the new BTS music video (below) you get the sense that these guys mean business for their new album. The music video for their first official single ON kicked over more than 70 million views in its first 2 days since launch. The world’s biggest band BTS – in terms of album sales,…
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Ten reasons western foreign tourists are not wanted in Thailand
Adam Judd, writing for Pattaya Unplugged, has opined about western foreign tourists not being wanted in Thailand. He brings up some interesting topics, largely from the standpoint of an American living in Pattaya. Tell us what you think on our Facebook page. The following are my opinions but based on many talks with people from many different backgrounds and cultures.…
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Mother and daughter arrested over 7 million baht fortune-telling scam
Appears the pair weren’t smart enough to predict the police coming to their door. A Thai fortune teller and her daughter have been arrested after charging a customer more than 7 million baht for predictions and forecasts about their life. Normally, fortune-telling sessions, popular in Thai life, range between 100 and thousands of baht, depending on the popularity of the…
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UPDATE: 3 year old drowns at Blue Tree water park, Phuket
A 3 year old boy drowned yesterday at the Blue Tree water park in Cherngtalay, Phuket. The incident happened late yesterday afternoon. The incident at the newly-opened (middle of 2019) water park on Srisoonthorn road was reported about 6.30pm, according to Pol Capt Yanpatr Malai, a police investigator with the Cherngtalay police, as reported in Bangkok Post. The father has been…
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Coronavirus UPDATE: Spark in cases in Italy and South Korea, Air Asia cancels flights
Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases have now reached 79,561 around the world, with 77,345 of the cases confined to China. The rise in cases has been principally in China with 409 new cases and South Korea with 161 new cases. 2,619 people have died from the infection. The major outbreaks, outside China, have been in South Korea, aboard the Diamond Princess (still…
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