News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Fake goods seized and two arrested at Patong market
Soon we’ll all have to buy the ‘real’ branded items as the fakes are getting more difficult to find. The authorities and vendors continue to play a cat and mouse game in the ‘intellectual property’ crackdown. Officers yesterday raided another market in Patong and seized more than 4,000 counterfeit goods valued more than a million baht. A team of officers…
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Leatherback turtles face extinction
by Pratch Rujivanarom It may be too late to save leatherback turtles from extinction in Thailand’s seas, as a legal deadlock prevents a conservation status upgrade to protect this critically endangered turtle species and three other rare marine animals. Wildlife conservationists are warning that the slow pace of stepping up the conservation of the leatherback turtle, whale shark, Bryde’s whale…
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Two million stray cats and dogs by 2027 – warning from Livestock Department
by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun In the wake of the criticism on social media following the proposal of the new pet and livestock registration laws, the Livestock Development Department has hit back warning that we’ll face a crisis soon if we don’t take action now. “Stray dogs and cats must be registered and sterilised, otherwise their population will reach 2 million in 10…
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Chinese arrivals down by half in Chiang Mai
PHOTO: Chiang Mai News A crisis meeting for tour operators has been held in Chiang Mai where they learned that Chinese tourism was down 50% in the first nine months of 2018. Some measures were put forward to woo them back – including setting up Chinese language classes to improve communication with the tourists from China. Reasons blamed for the…
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Mu Pa drops in on Gen Prayut at Government House
PHOTO: Thai PBS Members of the Mu Pa football Academy and team are back in Thailand following their whirlwind overseas tour of Argentina and the US, including an appearance on one of the most popular talk shows in the world. This morning they had a meeting this morning with the Thai PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha at the Government House. Accompanied…
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Thai-flag footwear NOT ok
Thai social media is all in a lather today after photos of the latest fashion footwear in Paris were posted depicting Thai flags on the shoe designs. Well, so they thought. Not only were they outraged and angry, they are demanding apologies and jail for the perpetrators. But a legal spokesperson in Thailand points out that these are foreigners parading…
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Chiang Mai flasher arrested
A Chiang Mai man has been arrested for allegedly exposing himself to foreign women in downtown Chiang Mai in recent days. Police said 54 year old Anusorn Pheraket,who lives in Tambon Wat Ket in Chiang Mai’s Muang district, was arrested late yesterday. Police have obtained a court order to detain Anusorn pending further questioning before pressing charges. Police tracked down…
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Can Thailand lure the Chinese back?
After half a decade of incredible growth in Chinese tourism to Thailand, the numbers are now in a tail-spin as numbers drop off around the country. With annual rises of 20-50% per annum for half a decade there has been a big drop off in the last quarter (Q3) of 2018. This is the key statistic as compiled in two…
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More than 80 dance groups from around Thailand compete in “SHOW DC Dance Battle Revolution”
Dancers from all around Thailand took part in the recent SHOW DC Dance Battle Revolution 2018, which saw more than 80 dance groups going head-to-head for the inaugural championships crowns in three categories: B-Boy, Hip Hop and Cover Dance. Held at the popular shopping mall and entertainment mega-complex in Rama 9 area of Bangkok, prizes worth more than 100,000 baht…
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Phuket Immigration wind up ‘Operation X-ray Outlaw Foreigner’ crackdown
Phuket Immigration officers say they’re committed to the national crackdown called Operation X-ray Out Law Foreigner, especially on overstayers. As a show of force yesterday, more than 252 officers from the Phuket Immigration Office, the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Navy, the Phuket Provincial Police, Highway Police, Tourist Police and Marine Police assembled at the Phuket City Police Station.…
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Mu Pa make their American TV debut and get a surprise visitor
In their first in-studio interview since their harrowing time in the Tham Luang caves in June/July, the coach and 12 members of the Mu Pa soccer team sat down with American chat show queen, Ellen Degeneres to talk about their experience and how they stayed hopeful for 10 days trapped in the cave. Plus, the boys’ soccer idol, Zlatan Ibrahimovic,…
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‘Monk’ tries some alternative enlightenment
Thai Rath has shared a widely viewed CCTV clip featuring a man, apparently a monk, in saffron robes swinging a beer bottle at a man in a food market. The alleged monk appears to be holding a beer bottle. According to Thai Rath, the layman, believed to be a store-holder, confronted the monk asking why he was drinking beer in the…
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Man kills himself outside his home in Thalang
A Thai man has shot himself at a house in Thalang today. When Police and rescue workers arrived at the Suppamas housing estate in Paklok about noon, they discovered the body of 66 year old Somnueak Chanapan, a former staff member of the Khao Phra Thaew Non Hunting Area, on a chair in front of the house. Bullet wounds were found on…
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Two hour chase for escaped suspect in Krabi
Krabi Police took two hours to catch a suspect who successfully escaped whilst being prepared for a visit to court yesterday. The suspect is 20 year old Tanin Pueakkhwan from Krabi. Tanin was arrested on October 12 after stealing a truck battery. He was waiting to be transferred to the Krabi Provincial Court. While officers were preparing the court documents,…
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Tour operators boycott visits to Similan and Surin islands to protest new restrictions
The tour operators have had enough of the winding back of tour boat operations and are now resorting to boycotting and ‘disrupting’ the tours in order to get their protests heard. About 50 tour operators in Phuket and Phang nga say they’re suspending boat trips to Similan-Surin islands in the Andaman sea (off the coast of Phang-Nga) today and tomorrow…
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Thaiger Radio News – Monday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Minivan driver escapes serious injury after colliding with an ice truck in Thalang
A minivan diver has escaped serious injury after colliding into the back of an ice truck yesterday in Thalang. Thalang Police were notified about the incident on Thepkrasattri Road, southbound, near the Srisoonthorn Temple (Wat Baan Pohn). Police and rescue workers arrived to find a minivan driver with the front almost totally destroyed. No passenger were inside the minivan at…
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Similans re-open with tight new restrictions
by Pratch Rujivanarom The number of visitors to the Similan Islands will be capped at 3,850 people per day as part of new tourism management reforms to preserve the pristine natural beauty of the islands and promote sustainable eco-tourism. When Mu Koh Similan National Park reopens today, tourists will discover some changes on the islands; they will find more tranquil beaches…
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Chiang Rai’s Suwit Jaipom unveils charcoal portrait of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej
PHOTOS: localnews2010.com A Chiang Rai Artists, Suwit Jaipom, has unveiled a portrait of the late HM King Rama IX, that he has recently created to mark the second anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s passing. At his studio in Ban Pang Lao in the capital district of Chiang Rai, Suwit Jaipom, the president of ArtBridge Chiang Rai and local artist, has created…
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Man attacks woman in the street, captured on video
A video of a man publicly punching a woman in the face has gone viral on Thai social media. There is no indication where the incident happened. The clip, viewed 3.8 million times (as of Sunday 5pm), shows a man in a black t-shirt punching a woman in the face before taking her away. The woman then gets on the…
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Murdered Bangkok woman found in Hua Hin
by Wimon Thabkhong and Apichat Hongsakul The body of a 39 year old Bangkok woman, with multiple stab wounds in the neck, has been discovered stuffed in a large plastic box in the toilet of a rented house in Hua Hin district, Prachuap Khiri Khan province today (Sunday). The woman, who doctors estimate has been dead for three days before the…
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‘Ailing’ monk hangs himself from a tree in Uttradit
by Boonpim Baiya A monk appears to have committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree behind his temple in Uttaradit, a northern province. Police were contacted at 7am this morning by a fellow monk in the compound of Wat Wang Kapee. Police, a medical examiner and rescue workers headed to the temple to find the body of 58 year old…
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Mu Pa – from Mae Sai to Ellen Degeneres Show in LA
by The Nation/Asian News Network US daytime talk-show queen, Ellen Degeneres, posted on her Facebook page that the Mu Pa soccer team will be appearing on her program tomorrow (US time). “There was no story more captivating this summer than the Thai soccer team trapped in a cave.” She also posted a picture of herself with all the 13 Mu…
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Run out of money? Here’s the ‘how to’ guide to Begpacking.
PHOTO: backslackers.com “Aren’t you technically homeless? Why shouldn’t YOU cash in too. Why shouldn’t other people pay for you to travel? Begpacking (or beg packing) is a way for backpackers like you to earn money while you travel by begging for money or busking around the world.” Thailand has its fair share of ‘beg packers’ each year – young travellers…
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South East Asia tops travellers’ lists
by DataLeads – Asia News Network The Asia Pacific region accounts for 30 per cent of the world’s international tourism receipts. The region outperforms all other regions in terms of growth, with international tourist arrivals increasing an average 7% per year compared to the world average of 4%. China remains one of the leading destinations in Asia. It attracted the highest number…
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Thaiger Radio News – Sunday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Man’s body found at Bang Pae Waterfalls
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket Newshawk Phuket reported at 3.22pm today that emergency responders had been called to the Bang Pae Waterfall in Paklok to search for a 25 year old man from Pattani. He had gone swimming in the ponds at the base of the waterfalls, as many do, but vanished prompting the man’s friends to alert officials. At 5.07pm this afternoon…
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Chinese tourists heading elsewhere – what did you expect?
Don Ross of ttrweekly.com reflects on the self-imposed, but unplanned, reduction to Thailand’s tourist numbers – principally Chinese tourist numbers. If there were growing calls to limit or better control the problems of too many tourists, lax Thai safety laws have done part of the job already. Don writes… Just a few months back, the debate in Thailand focused on the…
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Day 4 – Phuket Vegetarian Festival processions ramp up the ‘crazy’
PHOTO: At least he’s taking sun shade wherever he goes – Kritsada Mueanhawong It just gets crazier as the days go by. With the shackles off this year (last year the festivities were subdued due to the impending grand Funeral for HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej), the Vegetarian Festival is back up to full speed. The impression we get is that the…
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Panicked tourism associations call for visa fee exemption for Chinese
The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) wants Chinese tourists to be exempt from having to apply and pay for their single-entry visas when they arrive in the Kingdom. The ATTA is urging the tourism minister to make this change. Vichit Prakobgosol, president of ATTA, says the measure is necessary to draw Chinese tourists back to the kingdom following a…
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