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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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  • VIDEO: Thai netizens outraged as school makes student cut hair

    VIDEO: Thai netizens outraged as school makes student cut hair

    A student at a school in Kanchanaburi, western Thailand, has uploaded a video to social media sparking a meltdown on Thai social media. In the video, the student films a school teacher measuring her friend’s hair, while another teacher cuts it to follow the rules which state students cannot grown hair more than 9 inches from the top of the ears.…

  • International Hip Hop sensation at Sugar Club Phuket

    International Hip Hop sensation at Sugar Club Phuket

    Sugar Club Phuket is hyped to host the Thailand premier of US Hip Hop sensation Rae Sremmurd, live on Tuesday, January 22. Ever since Rae Sremmurd exploded onto the scene with SremmLife bangers “No Flex Zone”, “Unlock the Swag” & “No Type”, Hip Hop parties just haven’t been the same. Brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi may be relative new-kids…

  • Japanese family asks Thai authorities to raise reward for murder of daughter in 2007

    Japanese family asks Thai authorities to raise reward for murder of daughter in 2007

    PHOTO: SBS News Eleven years have passed since the murder of a Japanese woman in Sukhothai province (central Thailand) in 2007 and, with no developments, an existing cash reward for any information leading to an arrest is expected to be raised from 1.6 million to 2 million baht. In 2007, 27 year old Tomoko Kawashita arrived in Thailand alone and headed to…

  • Pick a date, any date – Thai election

    Pick a date, any date – Thai election

    February 24, then March 10, then ‘sometime before May 7’, now March 24. The only thing we can be reasonably sure about is that it will be on a Sunday (Thai elections are always held on Sundays). Yesterday, Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam hinted that the election could now be held on March 24. He painted March 24 as the “most…

  • New Thai E-Driving licences are 95% complete

    New Thai E-Driving licences are 95% complete

    Thailand law makers are looking to amend the 1979 Land Transport act to bring together databases from the Road Transport and policing departments as registrations and enforcement combine to make a digital traffic violation ticketing system. The National Legislative Assembly held a reading of the new bill yesterday (Thursday), which requires the Royal Thai Police and the Land Transport Department…

  • Air quality for Thailand – January 18

    Air quality for Thailand – January 18

    Northern Thailand Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected. Central Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Southern Thailand Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution…

  • Weather for January 18

    Weather for January 18

    Bangkok Mostly cloudy. High 30ºC. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. Phuket Partly cloudy, with a possible thunderstorm. High 32ºC. Winds E at 15 to 30 km/h. Chance of rain 30%. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 29ºC. Winds SSE and variable. Pattaya Morning clouds followed by afternoon sun. High 31ºC. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. Ko Samui…

  • Phuket declares rabies outbreak zone in Chalong

    Phuket declares rabies outbreak zone in Chalong

    A district livestock development office in Phuket province has announced a Rabies outbreak zone in the Chalong area yesterday. Sutat Niyomthai, Chief of livestock development officer of Mueang Phuket District, has announced that the Baan Na Yai, Moo 4 village in Tambon Chalong is a designated outbreak zone after a dog tested positive for Rabies. A rabies temporary control zone will…

  • Bangkok smog: Predicted to worsen over weekend

    Bangkok smog: Predicted to worsen over weekend

    Bangkok’s air pollution is expected to worsen today following slight improvements in weather conditions and some rain last Tuesday and Wednesday. Fewer locations reported fine particle dust beyond safe levels yesterday, while the Meteorological Department is issuing warnings about a high-pressure area hovering over Laos and the Northeast that will bring temperatures down by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius in…

  • More dead whales along the southern Gulf coast

    More dead whales along the southern Gulf coast

    Two young Omura whales have been separately found on Songkhla’s beaches. They were probably from the same herd. The bodies had already started decomposing when they were found. Pak Tae Ra villagers in Ranote district alerted a regional maritime research centre that a big whale was found on the beach. The centre’s chief Suthep Juela-ong found the remains of an Omura…

  • Thai monk caught 11 years later for sex with a minor

    Thai monk caught 11 years later for sex with a minor

    A monk accused of sexually abusing a 14 year old girl eleven years ago has finally been apprehended by the Crime Suppression Division police. He was arrested in his living quarters in Wat Srang Mai in the centre of Thailand. The 61 year old monk, Sorasak Siripattho, was wanted on an arrest warrant issued on February 11, 2008 on charges…

  • 19 year old caught transporting drugs to Korat in a hired taxi

    19 year old caught transporting drugs to Korat in a hired taxi

    PHOTOS: The Nation A young man has been arrested after being allegedly found with methamphetamine pills, marijuana and a gun in a taxi at a checkpoint in Nakhon Ratchasima. Police say he had hired a Bangkok taxi to take him, along with the drugs, to a client in Buri Ram. Pol Lt Col Ronnarong Surathot, deputy commander of Chokchai police…

  • Burmese human-trafficking suspect escapes from Songkhla police cell

    Burmese human-trafficking suspect escapes from Songkhla police cell

    PHOTOS: The Nation A Burmese suspect has broken free from a detention room at a police station in Songkhla today where he was detained pending a human trafficking investigation. Police say 27 year old Zaw Win somehow unlocked the padlock on the detention cell at the Bang Klam police station in Bang Klam district at about 7am this morning. A…

  • Belarusian ‘sex trainer’ deported from Thailand

    Belarusian ‘sex trainer’ deported from Thailand

    Anastasia Vashukevich, aka. Nastya Rybka, the Belarusian model who claimed she had ‘dirt’ on Donald Trump and Russian efforts to help win the US Presidency, has been shipped off to the airport and deported from Thailand. She was convicted of participating in a “sex training course”. “I want to get a bed. I want to get a bed so much! I have been sleeping…

  • Chiang Mai man arrested after raping his own mother

    Chiang Mai man arrested after raping his own mother

    A Chiang Mai man has been arrested after just being released from jail for killing his step father only to rape his own mother. 31 year old Chaiya Tanaa from Chiang Mai had caused distress to locals after he fled the area following the rape last month. Police discovered that he was hiding out in the forest and moved to…

  • Chiang Mai: The good, bad and ugly

    Chiang Mai: The good, bad and ugly

    PHOTO: TakeMeTour Post Magazine has published it’s ‘review’ of Chiang Mai, with the “good, bad and ugly sides to Thailand’s second city”. Here are some of their main points… The good There are more than 300 temples in Chiang Mai; they outnumber 7/11 stores, which takes some doing in Thailand. Situated in the heart of the old city, Wat Phra…

  • Burmese man shot after allegedly attacking policeman with knife

    Burmese man shot after allegedly attacking policeman with knife

    A Burmese man has been shot and injured after allegedly attacking a policeman with a knife yesterday afternoon. Police claim 45 year old Saw Luimia attacked a policeman at a road checkpoint in Tambon Mae Ngow of Mae Hong Son’s Khun Yuam district at about 2.20pm. Mae Hong Son is in the far north west of Thailand on the Myanmar border.…

  • Foreign teacher to be deported after his arrest over rape in Pathum Thani

    Foreign teacher to be deported after his arrest over rape in Pathum Thani

    PHOTOS: Immigration Bureau / Lamlukka Police Station The male Pakistani teacher, who was charged with rape this week in Pathum Thani, is to be deported. The Immigration Bureau Office reports that Immigration chief Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn headed to Lamlukka Police Station in Pathum Thani where the Pakistani man, a teacher and psychologist, had been arrested. Read more about the case HERE.…

  • Go-Air seeks more flight slots into Thailand amid increasing demand

    Go-Air seeks more flight slots into Thailand amid increasing demand

    PHOTO: Indian weddings are on the rise along with a big leap in new Indian tourism traffic to Phuket Indian-based budget carrier GoAir is looking for additional flying slots into Thailand airports amid growing air passenger traffic. The GoAir Vice-President Arjun Dasgupta says the airline wants to launch flights from seven more Indian cities, including Chandigarh and Lucknow, to Phuket.…

  • Air quality for Thailand – January 17

    Air quality for Thailand – January 17

    Northern Thailand Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Central Thailand Everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects Southern Thailand Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution…

  • Weather for January 17

    Weather for January 17

    Bangkok Generally clear. High 33ºC. Winds ENE at 15 to 25 km/h. Phuket Thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High 31ºC. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 100%. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 30ºC. Winds SE and variable. Pattaya City Partly cloudy. High 32ºC. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 km/h. Ko Samui Thunderstorms. High 24ºC. Winds…

  • Five metre king cobra caught with bare hands in Krabi

    Five metre king cobra caught with bare hands in Krabi

    A 20 kilogram, 5 metre king cobra has been caught by a skilled rescue worker with his bare hands in Krabi. Ao Nang rescue workers were notified that a king cobra was hiding near a local house in Krabi City. It took about 10 minutes for rescue workers to find the king cobra. 37 year old Sutee Naewhart, who found…

  • The Minister for Putting-Foot-in-Mouth

    The Minister for Putting-Foot-in-Mouth

    The Deputy PM, Prawit Wongsuwan, luxury watch lover and Defence Minister, is now becoming notorious as the Minister for Putting Foot in Mouth. Thailand’s deputy PM, talking to the media about the attack on the Thai hotel in Nairobi where 14 people were killed, said it was “good enough” that no Thais were killed in the terrorist attack. Addressing reporters…

  • Australian police arrest flight crew over drug smuggling

    Australian police arrest flight crew over drug smuggling

    PHOTO: Part of the drug haul seized by the AFP – Australia’s ABC News Malaysia’s Malindo Air have been caught up un an international drug smuggling case as some of their air crew are now accused of helping to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine worth millions of dollars from Asia to Australian cities. Australian Federal Police (AFP) have now arrested two flight…

  • New tsunami warning buoy installed off Phuket

    New tsunami warning buoy installed off Phuket

    A tsunami-warning buoy, valued at 12 million baht, is to be installed off the coast of Phuket, to replace the one that had been broken two years ago. It replaces one that hasn’t been working for 18 months. Two buoys were originally placed several hundred kilometres offshore in the original tsunami warning system following the 2004 Boxing Day tragedy. The…

  • Real police charge three Filipino women working for ‘fake’ charity in Pattaya

    Real police charge three Filipino women working for ‘fake’ charity in Pattaya

    PHOTO: Chaiyot Pupattanapong Pattaya police arrested three Filipino women for collecting donations from tourists for an ‘imaginary’ children’s foundation. The three women, 38 year old Ruthie Espina Babila, 50 year old Jessica Bayutas Ortega and 55 year old Belinda Austria Toledo claimed to represent the ‘Children’s Joy Foundation’. They were arrested while collection donations outside a restaurant in Pattaya today. Two…

  • PM Prayut kicks the election can down the road

    PM Prayut kicks the election can down the road

    PHOTO: The Nation February 24? No. March? April? Maybe May? PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has reaffirmed today that election will definitely be held by May 9 but gave no indication when exactly it will take place. It’s the first time he’s ever uttered an actual date. He says that under the new Thai Constitution, May 9 is the final date election…

  • Bangkok smog: Police on the lookout for dirty exhaust from vehicles

    Bangkok smog: Police on the lookout for dirty exhaust from vehicles

    by Khanathit Srihirundaj It’s either a knee-jerk reaction, media stunt or something we hope to see a lot more of. Checking vehicles with plumes of dirty smoke coming out of their exhaust. To help curb fine-particle dust pollution in Bangkok, traffic police have increased the number of checkpoints where they will check vehicles spewing black exhaust smoke. The number of…

  • The internet booms and print languishes in 2019 advertising spend

    The internet booms and print languishes in 2019 advertising spend

    Thailand’s Digital advertising market spend is poised to reach 124 billion baht in 2019. That’s a growth of nearly 5%. But newspapers, magazines, Cable TV and radio are on the nose as marketers stick with terrestrial TV and ramp up their digital portfolios. “Digital media is expected to grow 20% and is will nearly equal the value of TV advertising…

  • Bangkok smog: Chatuchak school closes for the rest of the week

    Bangkok smog: Chatuchak school closes for the rest of the week

    A kindergarten in Chatuchak, to the north of central Bangkok, has suspended classes because of air pollution that has landed Bangkok in the top 10 list of worst-polluted cities. Bangkok still lags far behind some of the world’s most polluted cities, including the Afghani capital Kabul (at 576), Delhi in India (306) and Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar (300). But the Top 10…