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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Thailand’s favourite giant panda dies in Chiang Mai Zoo aged 19
A beloved male giant panda, on permanent loan to Thailand from China, has died aged 19 in Chiang Mai. Thais are morning the death of the hugely popular black and white mammal whose sex life captivated the kingdom. Chuang Chuang, a resident of the northern city’s zoo since October 2003, arrived with female Lin Hui, where the pair lived in…
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68 year old Australian hangs himself after alleging Pattaya police failed to take a missing passport report
A 68 year old Australian has been found hanged in a room in Buriram, north east Thailand. Buriram police were called to the hotel near the city bus station after receiving reports about the deceased foreigner on the third floor room. The man was hanging from a nylon cord and had been dead for an estimated three hours. Attached to the…
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Thammanat Prompao misses cabinet meeting today, calls in sick
Controversy-prone deputy agriculture minister for the Prayut government, Thammanat Prompao, isn’t feeling well today and has called in sick. He’s even provided a photo of himself in bed as proof of his need for a day off. After weathering a week of questions about his dodgy degrees and heroin-trafficking days back in Sydney in the 90s, he’s now succumbed to…
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No impact on PTT’s imports from Saudi oil refinery attack: Thai minister
Thai energy minister Sontirat Sontijirawong claims that last Saturday’s attacks on two major oil-processing facilities run by the Saudi-owned company Aramco will not affect oil imports of the Thai petro-chemical giant PTT group. He added that he had learnt from Aramco and related parties that the situation there was under control and the damage was being assessed. The incident would…
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Hong Kong train derails during morning peak
“The cause of the derailment was still under investigation but there was no immediate suggestion of foul play…” A passenger train has derailed during the morning peak hour in Hong Kong. Three people were injured in the incident. Images from the scene showed three carriages had left the tracks and were zigzagged across the rails near Hung Hom station in…
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Wissanu admits Thammanat Prompeo’s educational credentials were not checked
Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngarm admits that the Office of the Secretary-General of the Cabinet had not vetted the educational background of Captain Thammanat Prompao, before he was appointed deputy agriculture minister, because the vetting process might have delayed the appointment of the cabinet. But he says the embattled deputy agriculture minister might be replaced “if there is an ethics problem”.…
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Two foreigners arrested in Pattaya for long overstays
A woman from Turkmenistan has been arrested in Pattaya for overstaying her Thai visa by 2,675 days. It’s understood the woman was detained by Chonburi Immigration and the Tourist Police on Friday. She was stopped outside a hotel in what was a random passport check in the area. On the same day, a Russian man who was randomly stopped and checked…
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Police officer caught drinking on the job
A police officer in Nakhon Si Thamarat, southern Thailand, is being investigated for allegedly consuming alcohol while working. The offence is understood to have taken place while Pol Lt-Col Somsak Faipakdee was at his office, during work hours. The Thai-language Daily News reports that the officer, a member of the Border Patrol Police of Tungsong District, is being investigated on…
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Chiang Mai’s favourite giant panda, Chuang Chuang, has died
PHOTO: Giant Panda Chuang Chuang enjoys his birthday treats at Chiang Mai zoo last year The resident Chiang Mai Zoo giant panda, Chuang Chuang, has died aged 19. The Chiang Mai zoo director made the announcement yesterday. Chuang Chuang was also known as Thewan in Thai and as Kham Ai in the indigenous Lanna language. Pandas normally live for around…
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Tour company owner arrested over non-delivery of discount luxury airline tickets
PHOTO: Sanook Again, if it sounds too goof to be true, it probably is, especially when it comes to airline ticket scams. The Thai Crime Suppression Division Police have arrested a tour company owner wanted over 6 arrest warrants. Her tour company was selling fake plane tickets to victims claiming that the company was able to source extremely cheap tickets…
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Thai poll favours new airport in Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok
Sanook report that most Thais are in favour of building a new airport in Nakhon Pathom, 57 kilometres west of the capital Bangkok. The old Don Mueang airport is to the north of Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi, to the east. In a Nida Poll 65% of respondents thought the new airport in Nakhon Pathom was a good idea citing benefits to tourism and the…
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Industry group calls for further cut in Thai policy interest rate
“Thai private sector, recently adjusted downward the export growth projection for this year to 2.9 – 3%.” The Federation of Thai Industries have their hopes set on the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Thailand making another cut in the policy interest rate, currently set at 1.5%. With the US Fed looking to drop its interest rate this week,…
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Thai PM insists government flood victims aren’t being ignored
PHOTO: A dog tries to keep dry on a flooded street in Thailand’s northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani – Krit Phromsakla Na Sakolnakorn – AFP Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he attaches great importance to relief operations designed to alleviate the suffering of flood victims and the government has procedures to compensate them. A government spokeswoman Naruemol Pinyosinwat was taken aback…
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“Phuket needs a world class exhibition and convention centre”
“Two key developments we are tracking is Central Festivals next phase of expansion and Proud Groups Andamanda project that both have significant concerence, meeting and incentive space.” Plans to promote Phuket as a world-class MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) location are being obstructed by many impediments – inefficient town planning, poor transport systems and poor availability of land in tourist…
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Saudi plant attacks: Oil prices soar more than 10% in early trading
Oil prices have surged more than 10% after attacks on two Saudi Arabian plants that slashed output in the world’s top producer by half. West Texas Intermediate jumped 10.68% to $60.71 and Brent climbed 11.77% to $67.31 in early Asia trading following the blasts at facilities run by state-owned giant Aramco. Meanwhile the US President Donald Trump is blaming Iran…
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Biometrics identify 8 fake passports in 3 days
PHOTO: Workpoint News Thai Immigration Police have been lauding the success using their new Biometrics System at the airports. In 3 days, 8 foreigners have been nabbed using fake passports. In the case of these 8 cases, all the passports were purchased from an Iranian Agent. Immigration Police reported the arrest of the foreigners on September 13 who were using…
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30,000 uni students take the long and winding road up Doi Suthep
PHOTOS: The Nation Some 30,000 students, past and present, and staff from the Chiang Mai University headed up Thailand’s holiest mountain yesterday on the university’s annual trek to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. It’s the university’s 55th anniversary of the annual climb. Freshmen from 20 faculties from two of the CMU campuses trekked up the winding 14 kilometre road from…
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Another dead dugong found off the coast of Trang
PHOTO: The baby dugong Mariam, who brought a lot of publicity to the plight of the local dugong population, died in August Another dead dugong has been discovered floating in the Andaman Sea, between Koh Ya in Trang and Koh Ngai Island in Krabi. The corpse was discovered yesterday by a local tour boat. It’s been a bad year for…
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US Fed poised to cut rates this week
“Hiring, while strong, has slowed. Business investment is moribund. Exports are weakening. And manufacturing – always a vital economic weather vane – is in recession.” by Douglas Gillison Facing a dauntingly uncertain economic horizon and constant criticism, including insults and demands for stimulus from the US president, the US Federal Reserve is set to cut interest rates this week. In speeches…
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Warnings out for bad weather in central and southern provinces
PHOTO: The Nation The Thai Meteorological Department says people in the lower Northeast, the Central region, including Bangkok and its vicinity, the East and the South (Andaman coast) should brace for more heavy rains and dangers from accumulated rainfalls today. The warning comes as five northeastern provinces remain submerged and 42 rural roads remain impassable due to floods. The department…
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More than half of the tigers moved from the Tiger Temple have died
“The tigers became weak from stress from living in captivity and their conditions steadily deteriorated until they succumbed to their death.” 86 out of a total of 147 tigers kept at two wildlife breeding stations in Ratchaburi province, after they were confiscated from the infamous Tiger Temple in Thailand’s western province of Kanchanaburi about three years ago, have died from…
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World’s largest trading bloc to be concluded by the end of the year
The next negotiating round for the formation of RCEP will be held in Da Nang, Viet Nam on September 19-28 . RCEP is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and when negotiated and signed, will become the world’s largest and most powerful trading bloc. RCEP includes all ASEAN economies, plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Economic ministers…
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Large Thai business feeling the effects of US-China trade war, rise of the baht
So what do Thailand’s big banks say? The ongoing US-China trade war and the appreciation of the Thai baht against other currencies is now starting to impact larger corporates in Thailand. Wasin Saiyawan, senior executive vice president and chief of wholesale banking at Siam Commercial Bank says, that although large businesses are resilient to any impact and their ability to…
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Phuket’s Surin Beach’s anti-erosion walls fails causing another environmental disaster
PHOTOS: ขยะมรสุม ขยะมรสุม has posted on their Facebook page about the ugly and failed attempt at an erosion wall at Phuket’s Surin Beach (photos below). He said in his post… “Found this big pile of trouble at Surin Beach. What are these sacks for? Are they becoming trash? You won’t conquer nature with sand sacks. If you want to make…
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Pattaya Cricket Club match report – Indoor cricket league
September 12 was the inaugural round of the recently created Pattaya Indoor Cricket league. PCC was due to play Asian Stars B whilst Rugby School Thailand (RST) were due to play Asian Stars A. Unfortunately, both Asian Stars teams failed to materialise, so PCC played RST. This hotly contested match also saw the appearance of new members to PCC –…
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Why the Chinese are more important than Western tourists to Thailand
OPINION by Dan Cheeseman – Dan About Thailand We need to wake up and smell the roses, us Westerners are no longer an important group for the Thailand tourism industry – in fact, we are what you would call ‘niche’ – and with good reason. The Chinese are here in numbers and not only will this continue to grow but…
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Historic discovery of earliest sound films shot in Thailand
PHOTO: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation / University of South Carolina “Film historian Dome Sukhawong discovered the films in 2018, in the University of South Carolina archives.” Four films made nearly 100 years ago are believed to be the first sound films recorded in Thailand. The films were screened at the Thai Film Archive for the first time on Monday. Film…
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Embattled Thammanat Prompao considers 100 defamation lawsuits against accusers
PHOTO: Reuters The high-profile deputy Agriculture Minister, and government ‘fixer’, Thammanat Prompao says he will file about 100 defamation lawsuits against individuals and organisations who have dug up his criminal past, including his reported heroin-trafficking past in Australia, including a four year jail term, and people questioning his educational credentials. He claims they are all a plot to discredit him.…
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Family of Thai woman seriously injured in Pattaya balcony fall blames French husband
The family of a 28 year old Thai woman who was seriously injured when she fell five floors from a condo balcony in Pattaya are blaming her French husband for the accident. Sunisa suffered life-changing spinal injuries and is no longer able to walk, with her sister Natchaya having given up her job to care for her. It’s understood Sunisa’s…
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Thai woman arrested after 13 year old Burmese girl forced into prostitution
by Tossapol Boonpat Police have arrested a local Mae Hong Son woman for allegedly procuring a 13 year old girl as a prostitute for sex with a string of local men. Mae Hong Son is west of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, on the Myanmar border. Mae Hong Son police say the woman, whose name had not been names at this…
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