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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Where are the CCTV cameras? Hua Hin locals
A motorcycle-bombs scare on Sunday has put the spotlight back on the planned CCTV cameras that were promised after a series of bombings in Hua Hin back in 2016. Officials at the Hua Hin provincial hall Hua are now being pushed to speed up the planned installation of hundreds of public-area security cameras in the wake of the weekend’s bombs…
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Softening Chinese yuan no threat to Thai baht
The Chinese yuan dropped sharply to its weakest level against the US dollar in more than a decade, raising fears of further dangerous escalation in the US-China trade war. Yesterday, the Chinese yuan dropped below the 7 yuan to the US dollar threshold, marking the first time the renminbi has depreciated against the dollar since May 2008. The depreciation of…
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Potential for retirement properties in Thailand
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com While a number of property offerings in Phuket, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and more recently in Bangkok have promoted themselves as retirement-centric offerings, the jury is still out on the broad success of the sector. Despite retirement communities and assisted living being mainstays in Western countries like the US, UK and Australia, these are…
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‘Wipha’ whips up some storms and floods around Chiang Mai
PHOTOS: Entry to a local school turns into a river – The Nation Flooded roads are slowing down traffic and movement around the Chiang Mai area as a result of the fallout from tropical depression ‘Wipha’ which crossed the North Vietnam coast, heading westward towards Thailand, over the weekend. Om Koi district saw flooded road sections, while a large tree…
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Injured sea turtle rescued by tour boat operator in Phuket – VIDEO
PHOTO: Nikorn Marine An injured sea turtle has been rescued by a tour boat operator in Phuket today. The boat crew of Nikorn Marine found a sea turtle while sailing the ‘Nichakorn 2’ near Coral Island, off Chalong. The turtle was found injured, trapped in a fishing net, with its rear left flipper missing, though the wound seemed old and…
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800 media professionals laid off or contracts unfairly terminated
The National Union of Journalists Thailand says the media situation in Thailand is looking increasingly grim with around 800 media industry staff either being laid off or having had their contracts unlawfully terminated. A portion of the media professionals also say they were not sufficiently compensated, in violation of Thailand’s labour laws. Also, many said they had not been paid…
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Wat, who and why? Thai PM wants to bring monk Dhammajayo to justice.
Government opposition MPs are questioning the motives of the Thai PM to take over the reigns of the Department of Special Investigations. Some say it’s retribution for failing to being to justice the fugitive monk, and spiritual leader of the Wat (Temple) Phra Dhammakaya, Luang Por Dhammajayo. At least one advocate of the fugitive monk Dhammakaya is a government MP,…
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Thai man sets fire to his Mercedes Benz because Daddy won’t pay bar tab
PHOTOS: Thai Rath What do you do if you run up a 5,000 baht bar tab and Daddy won’t pick up the cost? Incinerate the Mercedes Benz that Daddy had gone guarantor. That’s precisely what Kittisak Kritklao, the son of a property developer in Udon Thani, did after running up a bill of 5,000 baht at the Tawan Daeng Pub. He told…
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Baby in a rush in Chon Buri, born with 12 fingers and 12 toes
PHOTOS: sanook.com A mother has given birth to a healthy baby girl on the side of the road in Chon Buri. It does happen, sometimes the baby can’t wait until mum arrives at hospital. But this special bundle of joy has 12 fingers and 12 toes. But this was no surprise to the mother and grandmother who also have six…
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Minister books meeting to discuss 120 kph speed limits on Thai motorways
PHOTO: Thai Residents The new Thai Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob will be chairing a meeting in the middle of August to discuss the proposal to raise the speed limit of private cars on Thailand’s four-lane highways to 120 kilometres per hour. Part of the proposal says that cars travelling in the far-right lane of a four-lane highway must also keep…
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New Parliament House opens for sittings of MPs next week
PHOTO: Artists impression of a completed Parliament House not he banks f the Chao Phraya. Only the parliamentary meeting halls are complete for use at this stage The Thai Parliament speaker Chuan Leekpai is ordering tight security at the new Parliament House in Bangkok’s Kiak Kai area for an inaugural meeting today. He declined to answer when asked by reporters…
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Weekend RCEP meeting move closer to the world’s biggest trading bloc
PHOTO: Asia Nikkei Whilst the UK looks to walk away from the EU trade bloc and the US continues to ramp up the trade war with China, the formation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which would be the largest trade bloc in the world, continues to gather pace. The RCEP, initiated by ASEAN in 2012, is a proposed…
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Police look for for three men, two women following Friday morning’s Pratunam fires
Whilst small explosions were going off around Bangkok last Friday during the peak hour between 7-9am, there was also a fire reported in the Pratunam area, famous for its clothes markets and popular with locals and tourists. At this stage police believe the fires may be part of the wider blast incidents on Friday morning. Read some of The Thaiger…
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US vlogger cops a ‘vlogging’ from disgruntled Pattaya locals
SCREENSHOT: “Chuck Wow” in full narrative, just before being attacked A North American amateur ‘vlogger’ filming in Walking Street, Pattaya, has ended up annoying the locals and being attacked with his camera rolling. The video begins with “Chuck Wow” commenting on the body size of a prostitute standing outside a 7-Eleven in a stream-of-thought narration. “That girl is all kinds of…
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US President shares “thoughts and prayers” over Texas shooting while a second mass shooting happens in Ohio
PHOTO: France 24 US President Donald Trump and wife Melania have sent “heartfelt thoughts and prayers” to the families and friends of victims in one of two mass murder gun attacks in the past 24 hours. About 20 people were killed and 26 injured in a shooting rampage at a Walmart and neighbouring stores in El Paso, Texas on Saturday…
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Thai police suspect southern insurgents in co-ordinated ATM explosions in Pattani
PHOTO: Charoon Thongnual Suspected insurgents have blown up three ATMs in two districts in the Southern Thai province of Pattani, near the Malaysian border. The assailants escaped with banknotes from one of the ATMs. At this stage local police and security officials suspect insurgents were responsible for the bombings, but are still considering if the incidents could have been related…
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Bangkok authorities roll out voice-guides for vision-impaired at zebra crossings
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) says they will install voice-guide equipment at 54 more zebra crossings on major roads next year to assist people with eyesight disabilities to cross roads and add additional safety at the crossings. The BMA’s Traffic and Transport Department says the department is pursuing a plan to install voice guides at all 522 zebra crossings in…
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Immigration police spruik more successes with their biometrics systems
Immigration police have arrested three more unwanted foreigners for crimes committed in Thailand. The arrests follow people stopped at Immigration queues trying to enter the country last week. In reporting on the success of the biometric systems, police say the new systems helped identify the people and crimes they been allegedly involved in, even though the process of taking all…
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Representative of HM King and Queen visits Bangkok bomb blast patients
King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida instructed His Majesty’s assistant private secretary to visit the five individuals injured by the bomb blasts around Bangkok during peak hour on Friday morning. AVM Pakdee Saengchuto delivered flowers and gift baskets to the five victims in hospital and conveyed Their Majesties’ concerns. His first stop was at Saint Louis Hospital in Sathorn district,…
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Drunk driver plunges into parked cars in Pattaya, one person seriously injured
PHOTOS & VIDEO: The Pattaya News A man remains in hospital after a drunk driver lost control of his vehicle and plunged into parked vehicles on the other side of the road. Three other vehicles have also been damaged in the early morning incident on Pattaya Sai 3 Road in North Pattaya. Pattaya City Police were notified of the incident…
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Hong Kong protesters defy China’s warnings with more rallies
Anti-government protesters kicked off another mass rally yesterday as they defy increasingly stern warnings from China over the unrest that has plunged the city into crisis. The semi-autonomous Chinese financial hub has seen two months of protests and clashes triggered by opposition to a planned extradition law. Emboldened by the early win for the proposed extradition laws to be withdrawn,…
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Laguna Phuket launch entry-level condos
Laguna Phuket has launched a new entry-level condominium project named SkyPark. Pre-launch pricing ranges from 2.9 to 4.3 million baht for fully furnished units. The SkyPark development has three condominium blocks of approximately 140 units each, so 420 units in all. Unit types start at studios (28 square metres), one-bedroom (30-39 square metres) and two-bedroom (40-60 square metres). Features include rooftop…
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Thai Airways announces extra flight to Europe and Australia
Thai Airways International is adding fights to Paris, Vienna and Melbourne effective starting October 27 through to at least the end of March next year. Flights to Paris will increase from daily to 10 a week, but it will also involve a downsizing of aircraft from the mega A380 to a mix of the Boeing 777-300 and the smaller A350-900…
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Thailand and EU prepare for signing of a strategic trade partnership
Thailand and the European Union are ready to sign a draft Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to promote bilateral trade and investment in the future. Federica Mogherini, an EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and vice chairwoman of the European Commission, met today with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha during her visit to Thailand to attend the ASEAN Plus Foreign…
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3 Bangkok students arrested in connection with yesterday’s bomb blasts
Three Bangkok technical students have been arrested this morning (Saturday) as part of the investigation into the four explosive devices planted in bushes in the middle of Rama 9 Soi 57/1 yesterday. The students were aged 15, 16 and 17. Thai PBS report that the suspects have confessed during initial questioning at Huamark Police Station. The police plant to question the…
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More tickets go on sale today for the Bangkok theatre performances of The Lion King
Due to high demand, the Bangkok theatre season of The Lion King live at Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre has been extended. Bookings are open for the extended season today. The Lion King is on its way to Thailand for the first time for an exclusive season of performances starting September 14 and will now run until October 27. For more details about…
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Canadian nuisance arrested in Pattaya for harassing people with his jet ski
PHOTOS: Sanook.com Police were first notified about a foreign man “harassing” boats in off the Pattaya coast driving a Jet Ski. According to reports from some of the people affected, the man was cutting off other boats causing “dangerous risk” and he was also climbing into random tourist boats in the area. The man then drove his jet ski into…
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Ranger patrol targeted with roadside bomb in Pattani, two injured
FILE PHOTO – The southern insurgency has killed more than 7,000 in the past two decades Two rangers have suffered injuries in an ambush when insurgents detonated a roadside bomb. The attack was on a patrol unit in Pattani province last night on the main road of Moo 1 village in Tambon Paku in the Thung Yang Daeng district. Police say…
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Southern insurgents likely behind the Bangkok bombings – Deputy PM Prawit
A meeting of Thai security and intelligence officials last night, chaired by Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan, has determined southern insurgents were likely behind the spate of ‘warning’ bombs that went off around the capital yesterday morning. At the same time they haven’t completely ruled out political motivations despite an attempt by Thailand’s army chief Gen. Apirat Kongsompong to politicise the…
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All calm in Bangkok following Friday morning’s spate of explosions
The PM says there will be no special laws enacted to respond to yesterday’s bomb blasts around Bangkok. Prayut continues to urge people not to panic and says police will rush to bring the perpetrators to justice. The PM, who is also the defence minister, also ordered police to step up security and appealed for people to report any irregularities…
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