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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The 5 most common travel emergencies in Thailand and how to be prepared
Thailand is a popular destination known for its dynamic culture, stunning beaches, and bustling cities however, travellers can face unexpected travel emergencies that include medical issues, road accidents, petty theft, and natural disasters. To ensure a safe and enjoyable trip,...
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Bangkok: Crackdown on Grand Palace scammers
Another crackdown. This time, on one the oldest tourist scams on the books. Bangkok Post reported that 87 people were rounded up in an operation around the Grand Palace in Bangkok following complaints of foreign visitors being pressured into purchasing unwanted services. “A total of 87 people were arrested in the operation of which 68 were booked for violating traffic regulations…
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Pattaya: Russian on overstay, and his wife, arrested for stealing motorbike
Pattaya Police have arrested a Russian man after stealing a motorbike from a Hungarian in the seaside party town earlier this month. 26 year old Vladimir Zhulabrev allegedly stole a motorbike belonging to retired Hungarian doctor 71 year old Gabor Tamas Pethoe while it was parked outside a condo in the Nong Prue area on June 10. Police arrested Zhulabrev…
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Thai PM confirms February election during visit to UK
by Vipaporn Pooritanasarn Thai PM General Prayut Chan-ocha has confirmed the the country will hold a general election early next year along with readiness to strengthen trade ties with England. He’s made the statement during his visit to the UK this week. General Prayut had talks with Speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Fowler about promoting trading opportunities between the…
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Bangkok: 13 billion baht of drugs – up in smoke
The Thai Food and Drug Administration is about to incinerate 6,322 kilograms of confiscated drugs. It will be a bonfire valued at around worth 13 billion baht ($395 million) to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26. The big fire will be fuelled by 5,514 kilogram of methamphetamine pills, 486kg of crystal meth, 108kg…
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Phuket Surf Series 2018
The Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket office, in collaboration with Surfing Thailand and the Phuket Surfing Club, is hosting the Phuket Surf Series 2018 from June to October this year. A media briefing was held yesterday at SurfHouse Phuket in Patong in spectacular sunshine. Just across the road, at Patong Beach, the monsoon surf was surging into the west coast…
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Phuket: Andaman Hotelier and Tourism Fair 2018
The event is being held on June 22-24 from 10am to 9pm at the Central Festival Home Work’s side under the concept Green and Innovation. The event was officially opened on June 22 by Phuket Vice Governor Thawornwat Kongkaew and Deputy Director of the Phuket Office of Tourism Authority of Thailand Montri Manator. They say the Fair aims to support and…
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Chiang Mai: New Zealander accused of masterminding murder of his Korean mother Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai police have arrested a New Zealander for allegedly masterminding the murder of his Korean mother by setting it up as quarrel between his wife and his elderly mother. 50 year old Brian Lee was arrested and charged with masterminding the murder of 76 year old An Jung Ja at a house in the Mountain View village in Tambon…
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Bangkok: Female’s head and body parts found in bags north-east of city
PHOTOS: Thai Rath The mutilated body of a female has been found in the Soi Klong Samwa, in the north-eastern outer suburbs of Bangkok. Minburi police, forensic experts and members of the Por Teck Tung Foundation headed to the location where the body was found. In a shoulder bag, wrapped in a black rubbish bin liner, was the head of…
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How much would you pay for a plastic amulet?
The shenanigans at the Kathu Temple, where Chinese tour buses are arriving daily in their droves to purchase ‘lucky’ and ‘magic’ amulets, continues. This time two Dutch tourists, interested to visit a temple and check out the alleged lucky amulets, were horrified by what they discovered. The two, who have asked us not to publish their names, visited the temple…
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Narathiwat: 40 pipe bombs seized at a checkpoint on busy highway
Police in Narathiwat have uncovered 40 pipe bombs together with other potential bomb-making paraphernalia from a pickup truck at a checkpoint. The pick-up was travelling on the Sungai Kolok-Takbai highway in the southern province of Narathiwat. Thai PBS are reporting that highway police set up a checkpoint on the main north-south highway. Around midday, a gold-coloured Isuzu pick-up approached the…
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WhatsApp stopping support on millions of smartphones – are you affected?
Tech.ThaiVisa are reporting that WhatsApp has quietly announced that it will stop working on a number of iPhones and Android devices. The Facebook-owned messaging platform, which boasts 1.5 billion users worldwide, will cut off millions of users from its service within the next two years. WhatsApp announced the death knell for older smartphones in a blog post titled “support for…
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Thai PM features on front of Time magazine’s Asia edition
Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is being featured on the cover of Time magazine’s Asia edition for the start of July, available on July 2. The cover carries the headline: “Democrat. Dictator. Which path will Thailand’s Prayuth Chan-o-cha choose?” General Prayuth Chan-ocha appears at ease among the lavish trappings of politics. Thailand’s Prime Minister is never far from doting courtiers in Bangkok’s…
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Songkhla: Pet dog leads family to missing boy
A faithful dog has led a family of a missing five year ld boy to a Songkhla reservoir. Sadly, it turned out that the youngster had already drowned. The body of Panattha Thammaro resurfaced at about 8am this morning (Friday). The family said the boy disappeared from home at 3pm Thursday and couldn’t be found. Then at 8pm the dog, named…
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Chiang Mai: Virtual Stadium coming to Central Festival
A Virtual Stadium is coming to Chiang Mai for World Cup fans. The Central Pattana Group, together with Kasikorn Bank and Chang, are bringing what is described as the Virtual Stadium to Central Festival in Chiang Mai for just two days according to a press release. To satisfy the thirst of Thai football fans, the three organisations are transforming the…
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Soi Dog – Going, going green!
To celebrate the World Environment Day on June 5, 2018, the Soi Dog Foundation implemented a series of actions to reduce its carbon footprint as well as improve its Corporate Social Responsibility and ‘best practice.’ While the core mission of the Foundation remains the same, Soi Dog now goes one step further by measuring the impact of its work within…
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National: How many days over-stay?!
PHOTOS: Thai Tourist Police Bureau A 70 year old British pensioner has been named as the foreigner with the longest over-stay in the 15th round of “X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner”. the weekly national immigration crackdown. In cooperation with other agencies, Tourist Police announced the arrest of 110 foreign undesirables in 83 raids. People were busted for running romance scams, skimming operations, drug…
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Two motorbike taxi drivers arrested in public transport drug crackdown
A team of officials led by the Provincial Police Region 8 Police have conducted drug and alcohol tests in a campaign at the new Phuket Bus terminal in Rassada yesterday (June 21). The campaign ran from 3-5pm. Sarawut Pakdee, a law enforcement officer of the Provincial Police Region 8 says, “Phuket’s Governor Norraphat Plodthong is very concerned about public transport safety…
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Nine arrested in Phuket drunk-driving campaign
Nine people have been arrested during random checks last night (June 21)around Phuket Town. A team from the Phuket City Police set up a checkpoint from 8.30pm to 11.30pm on Pa Lean Road in Phuket Town to enforce traffic rules and conduct random alcohol breath tests. 88 drivers had alcohol breath tests. Nine of them were found over the alcohol…
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Politics: Yingluck’s first public message in 10 months
Former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra has spoken out for the first time since she fled Thailand nearly 10 months saying thank you to her supporters for their birthday wishes. Khaosod English reports that Yingluck, who remains immensely popular among ‘red shirt’ supporters, despite her exile, said her influential brother, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, also treated her to two meals on the…
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Elvis’s plane up for auction. It’s now or never.
If you’re in the mood for buying a bit of music, and aviation, history, it’s now of never! CNN reports that there’s no engine, the cockpit’s a mess and the red velvet seats are not fit for the once king of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Restoring this plane will require a heap of cash, a hunk of burning love, paint, an engineer…
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School teacher humiliates student over unpaid school fees
A mother is crying foul after she claims her son was humiliated by a teacher who stuck a note on his shirt saying he owed 700 baht in unpaid school fees. The names of the mother, her son and the school have been withheld although you can trace back the original post on Thai Facebook pages. The mother posted the…
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Loose plastic chairs and locked exit door – Krabi-Phi Phi ferry
There is no doubt a lot of infrastructure is at critical ‘overload’ stage where tourist attractions are struggling to cope with the sheer number of tourists and visitors coming to the region. This applies to the transport infrastructure getting people here and there as well. While there has been an announcement about new ferry services linking the golden tourist triangle…
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Man drowns in Phuket jet-ski accident
A man has died after falling off from a jet-ski at a lagoon in Thalang yesterday (June 21) Thalang Police were notified about the incident at a lagoon on Srisoonthorn Road near the Valley Housing estate in Thalang at 4.30pm. Phuket Marine Police, diving rescue workers and the Thalang Police were involved in the search for the body. The search was…
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Cheap plastic chairs being used on Krabi-Phi Phi ferry
There is no doubt a lot of infrastructure is at critical ‘overload’ stage where tourist attractions are struggling to cope with the sheer number of tourists and visitors coming to the region. This applies to the transport infrastructure getting people here and there as well. While there has been an announcement about new ferry services linking the golden tourist triangle…
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Motorbike driver dies exiting Bang Khu underpass
A 43 year old Thai man died in a motorbike accident when he was driving out of the Bang Khu Underpass in Koh Kaew yesterday (June 21). Police were notified of the accident at Bang Khu Underpass on Thepkrasattri Road at 3.40pm. They arrived at the scene with rescue workers to find a man who was later identified as 43…
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Fake goods seized at a Patong warehouse
Yesterday afternoon (June 21) police raided a warehouse at SB Plaza market in Patong and seized counterfeit goods valued at many hundred thousand Baht. A team of officers from the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD), together with a search warrant, raided the warehouse. Police found counterfeit goods including fake brand name bags and clothes. Officers arrested a man named ‘Bobby…
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One Chinese drowns, two others rescued at Koh Racha
Yesterday (June 21) strong waves battered three Chinese swimmers who went swimming, unattended, at Patok Beach on Koh Racha. Two of them were rescued while the third drowned. The body of a Chinese man was identified by the Phuket Tourist Police as 30 year old Su Wang when his body was brought back to Chalong pier. No signs of struggle…
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Monkeys released at Koh Payu – video and photos
Yesterday morning (June 21) 80 monkeys were released at Koh Payu, off the coast of Phuket. This island covers 26 rais plot of land. Water tanks were also installed on Koh Payu last week. Read more HERE. Pongchart Chouehorm, the Director of the Natural and Wildlife Education Centre and his team released 80 monkeys on their new home on Koh Payu.…
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Sansiri launches THE BASE Central – Phuket
Sansiri launched another one of their ‘BASE’ branded condos with the launch of ‘THE BASE Central Phuket’. Quoting from their media release, “The design is influenced by an enchanting lifestyle where the native people and Chinese from across the seas come together to create the Peranakan culture under the new concept ‘MARK MY BASE’.” Poomisak Julamaneechot, Vice Managing Director of…
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Krabi: Chinese tourist drowns at Railay Bay
After all the heavy monsoonal weather along our coasts in recent days, we’re lucky we haven’t had more reports of risky swimmers getting into difficulty. Sadly, Krabi has reported a drowning. Thai Rath reports that a 32 year old Chinese tourist staying in the Railay Beach area drowned after ignoring officials’ warnings not to go into the water. The report says…
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