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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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Weather for February 12
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 34ºC. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 km/h. Phuket Afternoon showers. High 31ºC. Winds E at 15 to 30 km/h. Chance of rain 30%. Chiang Mai Partly cloudy. High 33ºC. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 km/h. Pattaya Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 km/h. Hua Hin Morning thunderstorms. High 31ºC. Winds…
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Authorities fear 1000% rise in meth shipments just the tip of the iceberg
The number of seizures of high-purity crystal methamphetamine continues to surge in northern Thailand. The demand rises and the methods of detection and enforcement also improve. It’s a vicious circle. Authorities say the number of drug seizures have risen 1000% in just the past 2 years, a stark indication of the growth in industrial-scale production in neighboring Myanmar. Some 18.4…
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49 baby leatherback sea turtles hatched on Phang Nga Beach – VIDEOS
PHOTOS / VIDEOS: Thon Thamrongnawasawat/ DMCR 49 baby leatherback sea turtle hatched on Kuek Kak Beach in Takua Pa, Phang Nga last night. 48 of them have survived and headed straight for the Andaman Sea once they got their bearings. A large leatherback sea turtle had laid eggs on a beach in Phang Nga in December. Read more about the delight…
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Hakeem al-Araibi leaves Thailand to be re-united with his wife in Melbourne – VIDEO
Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who was facing an extradition trial in Bangkok since his detention in November last year, was heading back to Australia last night after the Bahraini authorities decided to withdraw their extradition request. Bahrain’s decision yesterday ended all judicial proceedings underway in Thailand. It also ended a tense diplomatic spat between Australia and Bahrain which had Thailand…
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Tourist falls from fourth floor of Suvarnabhumi
A Russian tourist was fatally injured after falling four floors at the country’s largest airport. Police say he climbed over a glass wall on the fourth floor in the passenger terminal at Suvarnabhumi and jumped. Royal Thai Police deputy spokesman Pol Col Kritsana Patanacharoen says 44 year old Mikhail Sinitsyn landed on the second floor after his fall early this…
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Hakeem al-Araibi: Free to return to Australia
Hakeem al-Araibi is free to leave Thailand tonight. A Thai court has ruled that the extradition case against Melbourne-based footballer and refugee, Hakeem al-Araibi, has been dropped. • Hakeem al-Araibi was detained after flying to Bangkok in November • Jjailed over allegations he vandalised a police station in Bahrain during the Arab Spring protests in 2011 The Government has confirmed…
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Thailand loses its ‘cheap living’ reputation – Numbeo
Many of Thailand’s most popular tourist and retiree destinations are becoming the most expensive places in Southeast Asia to settle down, being beaten by Malaysian and Indonesia counterparts. The cost of living survey was conducted by comparison site Numbeo. Comparing the region’s top 18 destinations, Numbeo lists Bangkok as the second most expensive city after Singapore. But Pattaya, Phuket and…
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Injured three metre king cobra caught in Krabi
PHOTOS: Krabi Pitak Pracha Foundation An injured three metre king cobra has been caught in Krabi today, the fourth king cobra caught in the past month in Krabi. Krabi Pitak Pracha rescue workers were notified that a snake was hiding inside a house in Krabi City. A rescue worker used a snake snare to catch the 3 metre reptile. The…
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A new round of Southern peace talks gives hope but the Junta is stalling during the election campaign
Peace talks to end the long-running conflict in Thailand’s southernmost provinces hit a stumbling block last week when Thailand’s new peace negotiator failed to attend a scheduled meeting. The struggle, commonly referred to in international media as the ‘southern insurgency’, has been between Muslim guerilla fighters and the Thai army, partly over borders, and partly fueled by religious and cultural differences.…
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Romanian tourist dies in Phuket motorbike incident
A Romanian man has died after a motorbike accident at Ao Yon in Wichit on Saturday. Wichit Police report that they were notified from the Phuket City Police that the body of a foreign tourist, who had died from injuries received in a road accident, was being kept at the Vachira Phuket Hospital. The man was later identified by the…
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Bangkok street racers collide with one dead and 18 injured
PHOTO: Raorak Samut Sakhon Foundation A collision during a late night street race in Bangkok has resulted in the death of one racer and another 18 being injured during a pile up. The dead biker has been identified as 20 year old Jeerasak Chanprieng. The incident took place in the early hours of Sunday (1:15 am) when emergency responders were…
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Illegal foreign cigarettes flooding in as new local tobacco taxes loom
Growers of tobacco in Thailand, and those selling cigarettes and tobacco products, are feeling the pinch as illegal foreign cigarettes flood the local market. Sanook reports that the Thai Tobacco Monopoly says changes to excise regulations means a packet of the cheapest Thai cigarettes would rise from 60 to 90 baht per pack from October this year. A tobacco retailer…
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Two Russian tourists die in Patong Hill crash
Two Russian tourists have died following a crash on Patong Hill last night. The Patong Police were notified of the incident at 10.30pm on Phra Baramee road at the hair-pin curve on the way up the hill from Kathu. Emergency responders arrived and found a damaged passenger pickup truck. The driver was 47 year old Thavorn Glasueak. Nearby they found…
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Weather for February 11
Bangkok Morning thunderstorms. High 32ºC. Winds S at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 60%. Phuket Generally clear. High 34ºC. Winds E at 25 to 40 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 35ºC. Winds SE and variable. Pattaya Hua Hin Morning thunderstorms. High 31ºC. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 60%. Ko…
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UPDATE: An ‘engine malfunction’ blamed for boat collision off Phuket
A number of Chinese tourists and boat crew were injured as a result of their speed boat hitting a small oil tanker off the east coast of Phuket on Saturday afternoon. At this stage the investigation reveals that the speedboat’s engine ‘malfunctioned’. (Is that like ‘brake failure’?) The oil tanker’s captain says that he had stopped the tanker to help…
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Khon Kaen faces its second week of crippling air pollution
The north-eastern hub of Khon Kaen heads into a new week still struggling with heavy air pollution that has persisted over the past week. The Air Quality Index peaked at 206 yesterday. All the readings in the region were well beyond safe limits. Smoke haze has also enveloped the main city, Chum Phae, Mancha Khiri, Kranuan, Ubol Rattana and Phra…
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Sightings of pink dolphins off coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat
A pink dolphin has made our Sunday better with these photos in the Gulf of Thailand. The breed is quite famous for the Gulf waters off Khanom in Nakhon Si Thammarat, near Koh Samui. According to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation, there are around 60 dolphins living in the area. They can swim as fast as 37…
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EC meets tomorrow to discuss Thai Raksa Chart’s controversial PM nomination
The Election Commission is expected to meet tomorrow (Monday) to deliberate the Thai Raksa Chart party’s future following their nomination of Princess Ubolratana as a prime ministerial candidate in the March 24 election. But the EC’s secretary-general, Jarungvith Phumma, has declined to comment on the matter when asked about the party’s surprise Friday PM candidate, saying only that “all issues would…
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Thai AirAsia X flies to Brisbane June 2019. Thai Airways cut services to Australia.
PHOTO: Airbus Today Brisbane Airport announced that the low-cost carrier Thai AirAsia X would start operating from the Queensland capital flying to Bangkok four times a week from June 2019. This will be Thai AirAsia X’s first Australian destination and would be using the Airbus A330-300’s which have 12 premium seats available in a 2-2-2 layout, and 365 economy seats…
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Father and daughter killed traveling to Bangkok to apply for masters degree
A father and his daughter were killed after their car careered off the road in Lampang and hit a tree. Police say 58 year old Rongthep Ratanapipit was driving his daughter 22 year old Latthawan Ratanapipit from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to apply for master degree, when he apparently dozed off behind the wheel. The car crashed into a tree in…
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UPDATE: Speedboat collides with oil tanker off Phuket
A number of Chinese tourists have been injured, one seriously, after the speed boat they were on hit a small oil tanker off the east coast of Phuket yesterday afternoon (Saturday). The speed boat, Sai Nam, was carrying 10 Chinese passengers, including two children, was heading back to Phuket after a day at Koh Phi Phi. The tour was between…
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40 year old Burmese woman dies in Nonthaburi car crash
A Burmese woman has been killed when the car she was a passenger in hit a concrete barrier on a road in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district, just north-west of the capital. Bang Yai police said the accident happened at 4.30am yesterday (Saturday) on the Bangkok-bound Kanchanapisek road in front of the Boonthong plants market in Tambon Saothong Hin. The…
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Can the Princess be PM?
Analysis The Princess was nominated. Her brother, HM Thai King, objected. Thai Raksa Chart postponed their campaign launch on Saturday morning. The PM and Election Commission have stayed silent. With the weekend allowing cooler heads to sift through yesterday’s events, next week it is hoped some clarity will emerge about the Princess’ nomination as a prime ministerial candidate that threw…
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Twelve injured in boat accident off Phuket – PHOTOS
PHOTOS: มานพ สิงห์ 8823 / Newshawk Phuket Twelve passengers were injured in a boat accident near Koh Rang off the east coast of Phuket. There was also one captain and a crew on the boat The Phuket PR reports that the speedboat’s name is ‘Kor Sainam’ and that it collided with another boat carrying the name ‘Chock Kreangkrai’. 12 passengers…
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“I wish you all good luck and happiness” – Princess Ubolratana posts on Instagram
PHOTO: The four children of King Bhumibol, Rama 9 Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, elder sister to the Thai King, has posted a message on her Instagram account this morning thanking Thais for their love and support. The sister of His Majesty the King posted the message shortly after 6am. His Majesty prohibited her from standing in the upcoming election…
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Thai Raksa Chart Party cancels China Town campaign launch today
The Thai Raksa Chart Party has cancelled plans today to launch their election campaign in Bangkok’s China Town. This follows a dramatic day yesterday when the party dropped a political bombshell by announcing that Princess Ubolratana was the party’s sole candidate for prime minister. Thai Raksa Chart leader Preechaphol Pongpanit stunned the media when he submitted the name of Princess…
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Two headless bodies found on Rayong beaches near Pattaya
PHOTOS: Sanook Two headless bodies have been found on Mae Rampueang Beach and PMY Beach in Rayong. The area the bodies were found is about 40 kilometres from Pattaya. The first one was a naked male headless body. Cut wounds were found on his neck. On his wrist police found found a distinguishing tattoo written in English alphabet. Police believe…
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North-east wallows in heavy air pollution, Bangkok improves
Bangkok has had a respite in the past week from almost two months of heavy air pollution. Whilst the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority, government and pollution control department dithered around with spurious explanations, the pollution persisted. Water cannons, fire departments spraying water from atop city towers, amateur drones flying tiny ‘clearing’ missions and asking factories to shut down, kept the media…
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Five metre king cobra caught in Krabi restaurant – VIDEO
A five metre king cobra was caught inside a restaurant in Krabi by plucky rescue workers yesterday. Krabi Pitak Pracha rescue workers arrived at the restaurant to find the restaurant staff and customers outside the restaurant. A staffer says that the king cobra was found at the back of the restaurant inside the kitchen. A rescue worker used a snake…
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Two Burmese arrested with 20 kilograms of ‘ice’ in SUV
PHOTO: Three Pagodas Border Pass in Kanchanaburi Two Burmese men have been arrested with 20 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of around 30 million baht. The drugs were hidden in the modified gas tank of their SUV in Kanchanaburi’s Sangkhlaburi district yesterday morning. The police followed up on a tip-off about a Ford Everest SUV smuggling drugs…
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