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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Russian boxer dies after falling from hotel balcony in Pattaya
PHOTOS: รักสยาม นิวส์ A 35 year old Russian was found dead around 6.30am yesterday in a pool of blood with serious head, arm and leg injuries after falling from a condo balcony in Pattaya. Ruk Siam News reports that Pattaya police and emergency responders headed to Building B of the Sea Breeze Jomtien Resort after receiving reports that the man…
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Prayut meets up with Thai expats in New York ahead of UN meetings today
PHOTOS: ศ.ดร.นฤมล ภิญโญสินวัฒน์ Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has been meeting Thai expats in New York before his attending the UN Climate Summit and other meetings this week. Prayut and his entourage, including Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, arrived at the Plaza Athenee Hotel on the 64th street yesterday around midday on a sunny New York day. Prayut was welcomed by Nipon…
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UK travel icon Thomas Cook bankrupt, stranding tourists
PHOTO: Axios.com “This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world.” British travel giant Thomas Cook declared bankruptcy today after failing to reach a last-ditch rescue deal. The collapse triggers the UK’s biggest repatriation since World War II to bring back stranded passengers. The 178 year…
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UK travel giant Thomas Cook collapses leaving 150,000 holiday-makers stranded
PHOTO: Bye bye Thomas Cook – The Independent Thomas Cook, the iconic British travel and airline company, has collapsed after last-minute negotiations failed to find a solution for the debt-ridden company. The tour operator’s failure affects 22,000 jobs worldwide, including 9,000 in the UK alone. Thomas Cook had been operating for 178 years. The company is now bankrupt. The collapse…
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Yangon’s boom falls short across river – waiting to bridge the gap
by Su Myat Mon and Dene-Hern Chen “An enormous industrial zone spanning the area south and west of the river, largely funded by money from Korea and China, is under consideration.” On her scruffy, downtrodden bank of the river, teashop-owner Khin works just a few hundred metres over the muddy water from Myanmar’s capital Yangon, and dreams of the riches…
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Russian man and his dog found dead on Koh Samui
A 51 year old Russian man, identified as Vyacheslav Kolbunov, has been found dead at his home on Koh Samui. A dead pit bull was also found in the room, with two other pit bulls discovered in an enclosure outside the home. Koh Samui police and forensic officers discovered drug paraphernalia, along with a coffee cup and a glass containing…
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Thailand’s Department for Disease Control issues Chikungunya warning
PHOTO: www.wikipedia.com Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai from the Department of Disease Control says over 10 people in central Thailand have contracted chikungunya since July, and urges people to take precautions, saying those with high fever and joint pain should seek medical advice without delay. In total, since the beginning of the year, 7,481 people have been treated for chikungunya, with all…
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Significant developments in cannabis farming in Thailand
PHOTO: www.growbarato.net In what’s thought to be the first-ever industrial scale manufacturing facility for medical cannabis within the Asean Region, Maejo University in Chiang Mai has planted 12,000 cannabis sprouts – the largest lot in the country. It’s hoped the result will eventually be 1 million bottles, each containing 5ml of cannabis oil, by February. Senior officials from the Ministry…
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Overturned truck was carrying 450 kilos of crystal meth
PHOTO: Thai PBS World Police have seized about 450 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice), with a street valued around 225 million baht – a major shipment of the illicit drug. The seizure followed a ten-wheel truck ending up on its side after crashing into a traffic island in Phetchaburi province on Friday night. The truck driver, 45 year old Adinan Laeha, and…
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Travel giant Thomas Cook teetering on financial collapse
Unable to adapt to the move online as smaller, nimbler travel companies thrive, Thomas Cook, the household name in international travel, is close to financial collapse. And the collapse could leave up to 150,000 British tourists stranded overseas. The iconic British travel giant Thomas Cook say they’ve failed to find any further private investment to stave off collapse and now…
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Vietnam Airlines opening direct Phuket to Ho Chi Minh City flights
by Bill Barnett c9hotelworks.com Vietnam Airlines will commence direct flights between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Phuket on October 27. Flights will operate three days a week, on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The airline is also launching direct Ho Chi Minh City to Denpasar (Bali) service. Vietjet Air, the popular new low-coast airline out of Vietnam, is currently servicing the increasingly…
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The youth are revolting. ‘Millions’ protest in kid-power global climate strike
PHOTO: Greta Thunberg leads kids and adults from 150 countries in massive climate strike today – Sarah Silbiger by Peter Hutchison “We are the future and we deserve better,” 12 year old Lilly Satidtanasarn, known as “Thailand’s Greta” for her campaign against plastic bags in malls. Masses of children skipped school to join a global strike against climate change that teen…
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Police arrest Chiang Mai couple over home-made CBD oil
PHOTO: Urine Drug Test Chiang Mai Police have arrested a husband and wife selling homemade CBD oil (Cannabidiol) online after receiving complaints that a cancer patient died after allegedly using the oil. Police entered the house with a search warrant and found 3.4 million baht cash along with quantities of the CBD oil they were selling online. Officials received information that…
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Sampling Saigon street food with XO Tours
PHOTOS: XO Tours Find yourself in Saigon and looking to learn more about the local street food scene? Well, if your sense of adventure is in intact and you prefer to receive your knowledge first hand, then XO Tours can provide you with a fascinating and insightful trip through the streets of Saigon. Sitting on the back of a moped…
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Phuket social enterprise shop takes the first steps
PHOTOS: stepswiththeera.com A Bangkok-based social enterprise has made its debut in Phuket as it opened a new zero-waste shop, cafe and vocational training centre in Cherng Talay. The shop is run by Steps With Theera and provides a range of plastic substitutes including bamboo straw sets, bamboo toothbrushes and SuperBee wax wraps, alongside a refill station with beauty products from…
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Finance Ministry launches 100 billion stimulus package to kickstart sagging economy
PHOTO: thailandshoppingdining.com The Government is kicking off a new stimulus package valued at 100 billion baht to “stimulate the grassroots economy”. Prasong Poontaneat, permanent secretary of the Finance Ministry reported that the government is preparing a brand-new stimulus package. “The Finance Ministry and related agencies will spend more than 100 billion baht on approximately 30 million low-income households nationwide.” The…
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6 year old Burmese boy dies from bike-pickup truck crash
SOURCE: khaosod.co.th A 6 year old Burmese boy has died following a motorcycle accident when his parents crashed the vehicle onto a pick-up truck earlier this week. He died in the intensive care ward at Vachira Hospital yesterday morning (Thursday) The accident occurred on September 15 near Soi Pramote, Chaofa West Road, Chalong. The boy’s father, 39 year old Thein…
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Delta airlines jet plunges 30,000 feet in controlled descent
PHOTO: Twitter:Harris Dewoskin “Other passengers relayed that they were hastily tapping out texts on their phones thinking that they might crash.” Passengers on a Delta flight, from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, were terrified when their plane plunged mid-air, dropping nearly 30,000 feet in around 9 minutes. Delta report that the flight experienced a “cabin pressurisation irregularity” during the journey. The flight…
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More arrest warrants issued over Bangkok’s August bomb attacks
PHOTO: Voice of America The Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for five more suspects yesterday over their alleged involvement in the simultaneous bomb and arson attacks in Bangkok back on August 2. Police presented evidence against them to the court yesterday to obtain warrants for their arrest. They are accused of being members of an unlawful syndicate and collaborating to carry…
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Could you be a digital nomad in Thailand?
Are you a digital nomad? Working online wherever you can find a seat and wi-fi? According to digital nomad websites, some of the most popular locations to work online around the world include Chiang Mai & Bangkok (Thailand), Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Bali (Indonesia), Lisbon (Portugal) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). What do all these cities have in common? The main…
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Thailand’s August exports fall further than expected
Some more lumpy economic news for Thialand as the focus is on the monthly customs clearances to provide a compass for the country’s economy. Customs-cleared exports dropped in August 4% compared to the same month a year earlier. Exports unexpectedly rose in July, according to the commerce ministry today. The decline in August has shown itself to be greater than…
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New traffic laws come into force for Thailand today
PHOTO: ThaiVisa From today, an amendment to the Land Transport Act means traffic police can no longer confiscate driving licences. Police can still record the details of a driver’s licence but must then return it. The new system will also remove the risk of licences being lost while in the care of the police, as has happened in the past.…
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Our oceans are key to fighting climate change
by Amélie Bottollier-Depois and Marlowe Hood “There are at least three types of actions humans can take to help repair the damage and ensure that oceans don’t turn from friend to foe.” Humanity must heal oceans made sick by climate change and pollution to protect marine life and to save itself, experts warned days before the release of a major…
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US vaping-related illnesses surpasses 500
The links between vaping and critical lung disease appear to becoming more frequent and obvious although health authorities are struggling to find the ‘smoking gun’ that is the actual cause of the current list of cases. More than 500 people have been diagnosed with vaping-related breathing illnesses. An eighth death has also been reported. The US Food and Drug Administration says…
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Southern Thailand smog well above safe levels
PHOTOS: Charoon Thongnual – The Nation Hat Yai, the main city in Songkhla, has been among the worst hit by the smog engulfing parts of southern Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. The business district of Hat Yai has been hard hit with PM2.5 particles exceeding the safety standards of 50 (set by the World…
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Immigration overhaul – TM6 disappearing and TM30 App being launched
“We made the decision last Friday. Within two to three months, life will be much easier for foreign tourists and expats.” In what appears to be a major overhaul of immigration procedures, dare we say ‘modernisation’, foreign visitors will soon no longer have to fill out the “TM6” arrival forms. The white and blue form has been a source of…
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Phuket university’s safe-sex campaign attracts 390 volunteers
Yesterday, saw the return of Prince of Songkhla University’s Safe Sex Campaign. Now in its third year, some 390 PSU students turned up to support the campaign by making safe sex packs, which are then distributed free to bars in Patong. The safe sex packs include a condom and lubricant. It was the biggest turn-out of students since this corporate social…
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14% of condos around Bangkok are empty – good time to buy
Looking for a condo around Bangkok? Now might the right time to take the plunge with the head of the Appraisal and Estate Agents Foundation saying some areas have between 8-14% vacancy rates, some areas of Bangkok up to 17.5%. Dr Sophon Pornchokchai made the remarks at a news conference yesterday. “Adding developer price wars, plus inducements to purchase, this…
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Robber steals Thailand Post van, then robs gold shop in Bangkok
A man dressed up in a Thailand Post uniform has got away with gold necklaces valued around 70,000 baht. He robbed the gold shop in Bang Phli, Samut Prakan and then fled in a Thailand Post van. Samut Prakan includes the southern and south-eastern suburbs of greater Bangkok. It was revealed later that Thailand Post had reported the van stolen the night before…
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Bangkok shophouse partially collapses in the rain
An abandoned shophouse in Bangkok’s Bang Plat district partially collapsed last night. No one was injured as the three-unit shop house, spread over four floors on Soi Charansanitwong 96/2 in Bang Or subdistrict, had been empty for a while. Officials said the fourth and third floors collapsed onto the lower floors, causing glasses and pieces of wood, and concrete, to fall…
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