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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10 biggest challenges retirees face in Thailand (and how to overcome them)
Retiring in Thailand comes with many benefits, like warm weather, affordable living, and a rich culture. However, it also brings challenges. Retirees must deal with visa rules, healthcare costs, language barriers, and cultural differences. Rising medical expenses, required insurance, and...
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Bangkok less popular, Taipei heads the list – World’s favourite city for expats
PHOTO: This year’s #1 city for expats – Taipei, Taiwan – Time Out Bangkok has dropped from #5 (in 2018) to #20 this year in the annual Expat City Ranking – a big drop from its former position as a darling of the world expat community. But Asian cities continue to dominate the annual global Top 5 in the Expat City…
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Four family members killed, 8 injured, after van driver falls asleep at the wheel in Prachuap Khiri Khan
PHOTO: sanook.com A horrific road accident has claimed the lives of four family members, and left eight other passengers with serious injuries after the van they were travelling in hit a tree in Prachuap Khiri Khan, central-southern Thailand. The incident happened as the van headed south on the Phetkasem Highway. The family were travelling from Ratchaburi in central Thailand to…
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Pattaya Police up their game in knee-jerk reaction to German TV report
PHOTOS: The Pattaya News If you want to get things moving in Thailand, make a documentary saying how bad things are and show it on international TV. A German documentary slamming Pattaya has so far had more success than a hundred directives from head office. The documentary was titled Achtung Abzocke. The documentary portrayed Pattaya in a less-than-flattering light, so…
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Army chief slams reports Thanathorn avoided conscription as “fake news”
PHOTO: Thai Army Chief General Apirat Kongsompong – Eleven Media Group In rare support for the man who has been campaigning against the Thai Army’s grip on the Nation’s affairs, the Thai Army Commander-in-Chief has come out in defence of Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, following false allegations that he used a fake document to avoid military conscription. Thai PBS…
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Tesco to sell assets in Thailand and Malaysia
Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, has announced it may sell off its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia. A statement says that “following inbound interest, it has commenced a review of the strategic options for its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia, including an evaluation of a possible sale of these businesses.” In other words, they want to sell. “The evaluation of strategic…
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Russian tourist bitten by a monkey on To Sae Hill, Phuket town
PHOTOS: Phuket Hotnews On December 10, a report emerged that a tourist had been bitten by a monkey on the popular To Sae Hill viewpoint in Phuket Town. The video shared on social media shows that the man was bleeding a lot from his arm before another man helped attend to the wound to stop the blood. A volunteer who…
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Phuket’s high season delayed until after Christmas
PHOTO: The Hotel Specialist “Diversifying Phuket’s market to rely less on Chinese tourists is key to improving tourism in the province.” It will be a quiet Christmas in Phuket as the island’s high season will come late for hotels this year, with most reservations are for after the Christmas celebration. Tourism in Phuket usually increases in November, but this year’s November…
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More direct flights between Vietnam and Thailand amid growth in tourism
PHOTO: Asia 361 Thailand is gearing up to welcome more Vietnamese visitors, with a number of airlines increasing direct flights between both countries and adding some new routes too. The Tourism Authority of Thailand says the additional routes should help boost the number of first-time visitors from Vietnam. The Nation reports that several carriers are launching new services from beyond…
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Driver sees red, smashes window of car parked in disabled zone
PHOTO: Thai PBS World A driver who’s had enough of able-bodied people parking in disabled parking bays has vented his frustration by smashing the car window of one such offender. The incident is understood to have taken place in the parking lot of a Big C in Chiang Rai, with the man posting about it on social media, saying he…
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UPDATE: Polish and Thai kayak pair still missing off Phuket
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket As we enter day four of the search for 26 year old Mateusz Juszkiewicz from Poland and his female Thai friend, 23 year old Werakan Sirirakon, there is no update other than the pair are still missing. Last evening Rawai’s mayor, Arun Solos revealed that the missing pair were wearing life vests when they set off for…
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Stray bullet hits minivan, kills female passenger
PHOTO: sanook.com A 27 year old woman has died after a stray bullet hit the minivan in which she was travelling and penetrated the right-hand side of her body. The incident appears to be an accident. Thai Residents reports that the shooting took place around 1.30am yesterday morning. It’s understood the woman was travelling from Buriram in Thailand’s north east, to Bangkok…
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Injured Irish tourist refuses to pay, starts fight, ends up on footpath in Pattaya
PHOTOS: The Pattaya News An Irish tourist who was allegedly attacked at a bar shortly after arriving in Pattaya was in fact the instigator, according to the venue’s staff and management. 46 year old Bart O’Gready was found unconscious on a sidewalk and bleeding heavily from multiple wounds early yesterday morning. He claimed to have been attacked by bar security,…
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Hotel association wants rules on short-term rentals, home sharing
PHOTO: Airbnb and other accommodation-share businesses, plus a glut of newly opened hotels rooms across the country, is putting pressure on the traditional hotel model The Thai Hotels Association has again asked for a meeting with the Minister of the Interior to discuss the impact of short-term rentals and home sharing services like Airbnb on the domestic hotel business. The…
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British diver’s lawyer claims jury blundered in Elon Musk defamation trial
PHOTO: Getty Images “That is a serious problem. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a bullying billionaire or a penniless troll, that behaviour is destructive.” – Vernon Unsworth’s lawyer, Mark Stephens Elon Musk could face a retrial in his defamation case after a lawyer for the British cave diver Vernon Unsworth, based in Chiang Rai, claimed the jury blundered. The Tesla founder…
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UPDATE: No sightings after a full second day of searching for missing kayak couple off Phuket
PHOTOS: Phuket People’s Voice Air and sea searches continue today as up to one hundred people are now involved in the search for a Polish tourist and his Thai girlfriend who went missing after they, and their kayak, went missing off Phuket on Saturday evening. Read that story HERE. 26 year old Mateusz Juszkiewicz from Poland and a female Thai…
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Drunk driver collides with motorcycle in Phuket, killing the rider
PHOTO: Phuket Hotnews On December 8, Thalang police received a report about an incident on Srisoonthorn Road, opposite the Baan Manik PTT petrol station, in Thalang district, Phuket. At the scene, police found that a grey pick-up truck had collided with a blue Honda Wave motorcycle, causing one death. The motorcycle was lying on its side in the middle of…
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Thai army takes delivery of Chinese battle tanks
Thailand’s Army has taken delivery of Chinese tanks and armoured personnel carriers, just three months after receiving armoured infantry vehicles from the US. The army received 10 shiny new tanks and 38 armoured personnel carriers from China. All the hardware was taken to the Adisorn Cavalry Centre in Saraburi province for inspection. The government hasn’t officially acknowledged its Chinese acquisitions…
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Pattaya officials shamed into beefing up tourist security after German TV report
Pattaya officials are stepping up tourist safety measures after a German TV program reported widespread scams in the popular Thai ‘sin city’. The Thai Interior Ministry has told agencies to tighten tourist security in what’s widely seen as a knee-jerk reaction to the criticism in the documentary. The TV show Achtung Abzocke documented scams such as taxi fare price gouging,…
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Artist eats $120,000 banana at exhibition
A performance artist shocked a crowd at the Art Basel show in Miami by eating a very expensive snack: an art exhibit that had already been sold for US$ 120,000. The exhibit, a banana duct-taped to the wall at Galerie Perrotin, was a work by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan titled “Comedian,” and had already been sold to a French collector.…
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Bad report card for PM Prayut after 6 months in office
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has scored poorly in an opinion poll by the National Institute for Development Administration, or NIDA, after his first six months in office. The poll ran from November 29-December 3 and included 1,278 adults from across Thailand with varying occupations and education levels. The purpose of the survey was to gauge satisfaction with the Thai PM’s…
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BTS is Thailand’s most-streamed act on Spotify for 2019
…and the most streamed K-Pop act in the world. Another year of music is about to play its final chords. Streaming services, a mere curiosity a decade ago, are now the main source of revenue for many artists. In 2019, Streaming music will account for 80% of industry revenues, nearly US$9 billion this year. Bangtan Sonyeondan, better known around the world…
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Polish tourist and Thai female remain missing after kayak trip off Phuket
PHOTOS: Phuket People’s Voice A helicopter has now joined the growing fleet of vessels who have been searching for a Polish tourist and a Thai woman. The pair disappeared after hiring kayaks with friends at Ya Nui Beach in Phuket yesterday afternoon. Search efforts resumed early this morning after a fruitless search last night. 26 year old Mateusz Juszkiewicz from…
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Tesla’s Elon Musk wins defamation trial over ‘pedo guy’ tweet
PHOTO: Christian Monterrosa/EPA “My client went toe to toe with a billionaire bully.” Tesla’s mercurial Elon Musk has emerged victorious after a defamation trial as a federal court jury swiftly rejected the US$190 million claim brought against him by a British cave explorer, Vernon Unsworth, who Musk branded a “pedo guy” on Twitter. The incident happened during the attempts to…
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Thai beauty takes Miss Supranational crown
PHOTO: PAGEANTCircle A Thai contestant, Anntonia Porsild, has been crowned Miss Supranational 2019, beating out contestants from 77 countries. She is the first Thai to receive the honour. Miss Supranational is a privately organised beauty pageant organised by a Polish TV network. Yana Haenisch from Namibia, Jesica Fitriana from Indonesia, Janick Maceta del Castillo from Peru, and Gabriela De La…
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Booming regional meth industry – Thailand, Myanmar, China and Laos
“At the same time significant investment has been made in new highways and bridges in an out of Myanmar, Thailand, China, Laos, Bangladesh and Vietnam. This has provided a boom in movement of products like food and clothing. And drugs.” A UN Drugs and Crime report released this year states that the methamphetamine trade is now worth a staggering US$30-61…
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Leading anti-drug enforcer warns Thailand is becoming an emerging hub
PHOTO: A small meth lab raided in the Shan State, one of many thousands of undetected facilities, hidden under the jungle canopy – Daily News Thailand is becoming a major conduit for drug cartels, according to Niyom Termsrisuk, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board. The growth of meth labs has exploded in the lawless Shan State of…
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Family of Burmese rebel leader arrested in Thailand
PHOTO: Major General Tun Myat Naing and his wife Ma Hnin Zar Phyu – The Irrawaddy Thai Immigration police arrested the wife and children of a top commander, Major General Tun Myat Naing of the Arakan Army, an active insurgent group fighting for greater autonomy in western Myanmar. Officials at the Thai Immigration Bureau’s Chiang Mai office arrested Ma Hnin Zar…
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Strong winds topple power poles in Prachuap Khiri Khan
PHOTO: Chaiwat Satyaem Strong winds have knocked down four high-voltage poles in the south-central province of Prachuap Khiri Khan, damaging roadside shops and buildings. The disruption damaged local power and electrical appliances in many homes in the Pran Buri district, south of Hua Hin, on Saturday. The damage happened whilst the Thai Meteorological Department was issuing more warnings of strong winds in…
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Increase agreed for Thailand’s minimum wage
PHOTO: Chiang Mai Citylife Thailand’s minimum daily wage is going up. But not by much. The National Wage Committee has singled out nine provinces for a 6 baht increase in the minimum daily wage, while the rest of the country gets an increase of 5 baht. The Permanent Secretary of Labour, Suthi Sukosol, confirms the nine provinces are Chonburi in eastern…
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Thai government looks to revive Pak Bara and Songkhla deep-sea port projects
The government is looking at reviving deep sea-port projects in the south of Thailand. They were shelved two years ago as the government bowed to public opposition at the time. The Transport Ministry is considering reviving the Pak Bara, Satun, and Songkhla deep-sea port projects. Both projects are in the south of the country. The projects have been shelved at…
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