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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Soldier and partner assault police in Walking Street brawl
PHOTO: Siamchon News A conscript, whom Thai media have described as a ‘gay soldier’, refused to go quietly after creating trouble in Walking Street. It got worse from there… His partner became involved after a member of the public stepped in to assist a police officer before the men were finally overpowered. The melee continued at the Pattaya police station…
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Man arrested with drugs at Phuket Checkpoint
A man has been arrested at the main Phuket Checkpoint with 60,000 methamphetamine pills and one kilogram of crystal methamphetamine. The Tha Chat Chai Police and Phang Nga Provincial Police arrested 28 year old Kitti ‘Uat’ Pueanrak from Phang Nga on Tuesday. Police seized 60,000 methamphetamine pills and one kilogram of crystal methamphetamine at the Tha Chat Chai Checkpoint at…
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Rolling out the e-visas – cutting time in immigration queues
Thailand has officially launched its new e-Visa on Arrival (E-VOA) application system. This way foreigners from approved countries will be able to apply for their visa before their travel date, online, and avoid paperwork and approval when they arrive. The new system is expected to cut processing times to little more than one minute when passengers arrive and is seen…
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Two workers’ camps go up in flames within four hours
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket, Khun Patong8144 and The Thaiger There have been two separate fires today, in different areas in Phuket. At this stage The Thaiger believes that both were Burmese workers’ living accommodation, or work camps. There has been no immediate reaction from police about any connection between the two fires, both at workers camps within four hours of each other.…
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First ever ‘Elephant Travel Mart 2018’ to promote ecotourism in Thailand
A new ecotourism event, Elephant Travel Mart 2018, jointly hosted by ‘Save Elephant Foundation’ and ‘Asian Elephant Projects’, aims to bring together ethical elephant tour operators and tour agencies in Chiang Mai on December 14. The event, taking place at Khum Kan Toke, Chiang Mai, is conceived by the founder of ‘Save Elephant Foundation’, Sangduen Chailert (Lek), who works tirelessly…
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Fire destroys workers’ camp in Kathu
A fire completely destroyed a workers’ camp in Kathu this morning. No injuries were reported. Kathu Police were notified about the incident at a the accommodation in Soi See Kor at 7.10am. Police and rescue workers, along with firefighters with four fire engines, arrived at the two storey building where there were 40 rooms, to find the building well ablaze.…
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Thaiger Radio News – Thursday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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Boon Rawd – the reluctant sea turtle
A sea turtle, a sole survivor from a cluster of 87 sea turtle eggs found at Koh Racha last year, is a hesitant swimmer and reluctant to return to the sea. Yesterday officials and veterinarians from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resource (DMCR) Phuket Office and the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC) brought the sea turtle to Koh Racha…
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Political parties give the NCPO a cold shoulder
PHOTO: Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjaajiva – The Nation Thank you… next. Thai political parties are saying thanks, but no thanks, to an invitation to meet with the NCPO tomorrow for a ‘briefing’ about the forthcoming election. The number of parties boycotting tomorrow’s meeting with the junta is growing with Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjaajiva announcing his party also will not be attending. The…
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Thai PM foreshadows coming Royal coronation
The Thai PM has announced that His Majesty’s coronation will take place after the next general election, slated for February 24 next year. Gen Prayut says the government is waiting for the King to issue a royal command which would announce the date and set in motion the schedule for the coronation ceremonies. As part of the traditional ceremony, water…
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Living with elephants – avoiding problems in Khao Yai national park
Khao Yai National Park, north of Bangkok, is instructing tourists how not to anger the park’s wild elephants as they walk on or besides the roads. Tourists travelling to the national park from Prachin Buri Province at the Noen Hom entrance are likely to meet wild elephants in the morning and evening, according to national park officials. They are likely…
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Want that perfect picture? Just wait your turn.
PHOTO: Tomas Alfoldi In this modern day of social media it seems so many are out to get that ‘perfect shot’, and will go to great lengths to get it. Seeing a picture of someone perched on some isolated cliff overlooking some natural wonder and thinking to yourself ‘I’ve got to get that picture!’. We’re often confronted with the challenge…
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Bangkok #2, Phuket #11 – World’s most popular destinations
“Phuket rank 11th with about 11.9 million tourist arrivals this year, higher than last year’s 11.6 million arrivals making it Thailand’s most important economy outside Bangkok.” Bangkok has come in second place in the list of the world’s top cities for tourism. The list has been compiled by Euromonitor International. Their Top 100 City Destinations 2018 report has just been…
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Huge fire in Bangkok guts recycling plant
Residents from a next door four-storey apartment building have been evacuated as a result of a huge recycling factory fire in Bangkok. No one was injured in the major blaze which took fire-fighters more than three hours to get under control. Damage, including to several rooms in the apartment building, has been valued at more than 20 million baht. Pol…
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“Plastic, the Material that Binds the Planet” – Talk in Phuket
by Ocean Recovery Alliance Join us for a deep dive talk on plastic pollution and some of the global activities underway to slow the flow of pollution to our waters. Speaker, Doug Woodring, was recently awarded the Prince’s Prize for Innovative Philanthropy from Prince Albert of Monaco for his work on this topic, and he is a leading global thought…
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Thaiger Radio News – Wednesday
Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere…
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PM says joining Palang Pracharat “is under consideration”
PHOTO: Asia Times In the first real official hint he may be about to enter the political fray for next year’s Thai general election, the PM Prayut Chan-o-cha admits that the pro-military Palang Pracharat Party would be a choice if he is to jump into politics. Normally shrugging off such questions, he was answering a reporter’s question and said aligning…
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Many fish caught at Nai Harn Beach – normal phenomenon
Lots of Torpedo Scads have being caught at Nai Harn this week is a normal phenomenon, which happens twice in a year. About 10 local Kata fishermen caught ‘Torpedo Scads’ (Hardtail scad, Finny scad, Finletted mackerel scad, Cordyla scad), about 3,000 – 4,000 on Sunday night. Many people were worried that this was abnormal or a portent of disaster. Suchart…
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Eight Phuket monks defrocked after testing positive for drugs
Eight monks from three temples in Phuket have been defrocked after posting positive drug tests. Phuket officers raided three temples in Mueang Phuket and Kathu district – Samkong Temple, Kathu Temple and Thepnimit Temple – after locals complained about drug in the temples. Officers conducted urine drug tests on the monks. The drug tests show that one monk from Samkong Temple…
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How much should you be paid working in Thailand?
The Thailand Board of Investment has an entire website listing key jobs and the wages that should be expected to be earned in the land of smiles. The webpage also lists years of experiences, penalty rates, public holidays, overtime payments and severance entitlements. So, as a Senior accountant, with five years experience, you should be earning up to 80,000 baht…
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Registration renewals will be denied to traffic fine non-payers
Maybe it belongs in the same category as the Patong Tunnel or the Phuket Light Rail – those stories that just drag on for, well, decades… Now the Land Transport Department is finally claiming they’re ready to link the data bases from the Police and Land Transport so they can better track traffic offenders who haven’t paid their fines. The…
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Drivers of fatal migrant truck arrested in Phattalung
by Thanyawee Chansuksri. PHOTO: Chaiwat Satyaem Two brothers from Phatthalung have been arrested in their province over their alleged role in the pickup-truck crash in Prachuap Khiri Khan on November 30. The incident led to two deaths and 12 injuries of illegal Burmese migrant workers. Suspects, 29 year old Anurak Khongdaeng and 27 year old Sompong Khongdaeng, for whom the Prachuap…
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The Long March towards electric cars
by Syed Mansur Hashim – The Daily Star They’ve sold 770,000 electric vehicles last year, up 50% on the year before. And there’s already 352,000 electric buses on their roads already. When it comes to electric vehicles (EVs), the world has some catching up to do. According to Forbes magazine, Chinese manufacturers produced and sold 770,000 EVs in 2017. This…
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Serial masturbator caught on camera at Phuket condo
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket A man has been sighted on camera while he was masturbating in front of his room at a Phuket condominium in Phuket Town. A facebook user “Lebsuay Phuket” has posted two videos with a message read, “please shared this to warn other women.” “This has been happening since five month ago. He comes out about 3am, sometimes…
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Injured dolphin from Nai Yang Beach still in critical condition
The injured dolphin found at Nai Yang beach last week is still in critical condition. A laser treatment is being used as part of the healthcare for the dolphin. The dolphin was found on Friday. Read more about last week’s rescue HERE. At the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC) veterinarians and volunteers are now taking care of the dolphin 24 hours a…
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Two races on Day One of Phuket King’s Cup
The 32nd Phuket King’s Cup Regatta was off to a flying start yesterday with a strong breeze of up to 17 knots, allowing race organisers to hold two races in all classes off the southern part of Phuket. In the top flight IRC Zero Class – for the slick, stripped down racing keelboats – Australian Ray Roberts and his crew…
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December 4 – Thailand’s national day of shame
Today is Thai Environment Day. Today convenience stores, trade stores and shopping malls will refrain from providing single-use plastic bags to shoppers and at the same time will campaign for donation of cloth bags to be distributed to hospitals for containing medicines. Whether any of this actually happens, we will see. The proposed plastic bag-free day is the outcome of…
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TAT grapples with real numbers in the wake of the Chinese tourism slump
“Tourist arrivals in Phuket have increased by 10%, with more visitors from India though Chinese arrivals have not picked up since the Phoenix tourist boat tragedy in mid-July.” This summary from Kanokkittikar Kritwutthikorn, director of the Phuket office of the TAT. Last week the local tourist body was quoting a 20% increase as the island’s tourist chiefs appear to be unable…
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Russian model becomes Queen of Malaysia after marrying Muslim king
Oksana Voevodina, is now the ‘first lady’ of Malaysia following the wedding to Malaysia’s monarch Muhammad V of Kelantan. She married the king in a royal wedding ceremony in Moscow after reportedly converting to Islam earlier this year. The beauty queen rose to fame when she was crowned Miss Moscow back in 2015 at the age of 22. Oksana – who has…
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E-visas available from February 2019. China first country.
The Consular Affairs department is launching a new e-visa service from February 2019. It will initially available in China and then expand to other countries over a period of three years. Kasikornbank Bank is co-operating with the Consular Affairs unit to handle the e-payments, . The service will be available from February 15, 2019 and, initially, for residents of Beijing only.…
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