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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Travel insurance and digital nomad insurance protect travellers but cater to different needs. Travel insurance is for short trips, like vacations or business trips. It covers things like medical emergencies, trip cancellations, and lost bags. It works best for people...
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Road-resurfacing in Kathu leaves traffic hazard
Good news for people driving around the Kathu Ring Road (specifically the section going past the Loch Palm Golf Course entrance), the roads are being resurfaced from the entrance of Soi Namtok to near the entrance of Loch Palm Gof Course today (Monday). Bad news, the roadmakers have left a 8-12 cm gap between the surface of the road and…
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Four Malaysians arrested over alleged call-centre scam
Tourist police have arrested four Malaysian men who allegedly worked for a call-centre scam gang by transferring victims’ money to Dubai. The arrests were announced today at the Phaholyothin police station in Bangkok today (Monday). Police say the four suspects collaborated with Thai accomplices to steal Internet banking account details and OTPs (one-time passwords) from three Thai victims. They allegedly…
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Phattalung man dies in van/bike crash in Kathu
A 25 year old man from Phattalung, Wanlop Pothongkham, cut in front of a van with his motorcycle and was killed yesterday (March 25). At the scene, on Wichit Songkram Road before Plus Condo 2, Kathu police found the van with the 43 year old driver, Somporn Kohsaman, parked on the left lane of the road with damage on his…
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New ‘Start Up Camp’ visas on offer soon
The Thai government is to offer ‘Start-up Camp’ visas to foreign IT and tech experts, this from the PM’s Office Minister Kobsak Pootrakool. Areas affected will include Phuket, Chiang Mai, Bangkok and the Eastern Economic Corridor. The government will also revamp the tax law to encourage start-ups to stay here instead of later moving to low-tax regime countries such as…
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Earth Hour saves power, lowers emissions – Bangkok
Bangkok saved 2,002 megawatts of electricity as a result of observing the 2018 Earth Hour last night (Saturday). Deputy Bangkok Governor Chakkapan Phewngam revealed the results, explaining further that the figures meant savings of 7.9 million baht and the reduction of 1,026 tonnes of carbon monoxide emissions. In the capital, the Earth Hour event was held at Central Plaza Grand…
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35 tourists jump off burning dive boat in Krabi
35 passengers escaped unscathed after a diving boat called ‘Chontara’ they were travelling in caught fire near an island in Krabi province late last night/Sunday morning. No injuries were reported. The diving boat with 35 passengers was on its way back from a diving trip from Lanta Island to Phi Phi Island just after midnight. Fortunately, a nearby boat was…
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Points system for traffic offences to be considered by Thai cabinet
A national road safety committee is pushing for a new points system that can be applied to drivers licenses as part of an effort to force better standards of driving and provide a blunt reminder of the importance of road safety. Under the points system, motorists who commit traffic offences will loose points from a starting total of 12 points.…
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3 Women arrested after picking up drugs parcel in Phang Nga
Police Region 8 have arrested three women who picked up a drugs parcel at the Takuapa bus terminal in Phang Nga, which contained drugs with a street value up to 4 million Baht. The investigative team received a report that there would be drugs smuggled via a Bangkok – Takuapa bus. The bus staff delivered the parcel to the bus…
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Alleged Phuket gunmen arrested
The two gunmen who allegedly shot a local man in Rassada have been arrested but they still deny all charges. The hitmen, including 26 year old Warin ‘M’ Khemma and 26 year old Damrongrit ‘Boat’ Srijaturat, from Udon Thani, are believed to have shot local men Sinchai Kaewlipon and Jakkapan Saluay-Iam. After an investigation police claim that Sinchai owed the…
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Double fatality in Krabi bus crash
PHOTOS: มูลนิธิกระบี่พิทักษ์ประชา (Krabi Rescue) In what’s been a horror week on Thailand’s roads, two people have been killed and another six injured after a tour bus crashed into a pickup at an intersection in Krabi last night around 10pm (March 23). The double-decker bus was heading to Krabi Airport to pick up tourists. The accident happened in the Ao Luek…
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Tour bus drives over Kata Hill roadside
A Chinese tour bus careered over the side of a 10 metre deep last night. The driver has blamed the slippery road conditions last night. 15 Chinese tourists were injured. The accident occurred on the curve heading down Kata hill heading westward, just after the Karon PEA Office. Police found the 52 year old driver, Wisut Krasaeporn, and tourists climbing…
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Bus driver admits taking methamphetamine before fatal journey
The 44 year old driver (reported to be 45 in other media) of the bus which crashed in Nakhon Rachasim on Wednesday night, killing 18, was arrested in roadside buses where police found him hiding after he fled the crash-scene as emergency responders dragged the dead bodies from the wreckage. Krissana Juthachuen has admitted that he used methamphetamine to keep…
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“US-China trade war will hurt Thai exports” – Economist
By Wichit Chaitrong, The Nation The Government has been urged to brace for the impact from a possible trade war between the United States and China with US President Donald Trump planning to impose tariffs on many Chinese goods and China vowing to retaliate. Sompop Manarungsan, veteran economist and president of the Panyapiwat Institute of Management, yesterday said he was…
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Phuket gets Number Two in list of Top Asian Destinations
The trip advisor list of Asia’s top 25 destinations is in. Good news… Thailand has five locations in the Top 25 reader-voted list. Bad news, Thailand’s not Number One. The Indonesian island of Bali has come in Number One with Phuket in Number Two spot. Hanoi in Vietnam is in Number 3, Cambodia’s Siam Reap Number 5 and the mega-city…
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THAIGER TODAY Friday, March 23
Another bus crash of students in Ayutthaya | Ladyboys behaving badly in Pattaya | Phuket to become foam-packaging free| Top 25 toast destinations in Asia | Land Transport office wants to crack down on double decker buses | Thailand’s tourist numbers on the rise and rise.
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14 Thai Provinces off Rabies ‘red zone’ list
The Department of Livestock Development (DLD) has taken 14 provinces off its list of rabies outbreak zones. Another 24 provinces remain on the list because they contain areas where rabies is still suspected. Originally, zones in 38 provinces were announced in January, with the observation period expiring on Tuesday (March 20). The DLD Deputy Director-General Jeerasak Pipattanapongsophon says that, as…
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Livestock Department promises NO “Set Zero”
The Department of Livestock Development (DLD) is giving assurances to the Soi Dog Foundation that the department will not follow a policy of “Set Zero” – wiping out all stray dogs in Thailand. The assurance that there will be no countrywide slaughter came from the DLD’s Director of the Division of Veterinary Quarantine and Inspection, Dr Burin Sorasithisooksakul. It came…
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Governor rolls up his sleeves in a clean-up day at Phuket’s stray dog shelter
Phuket’s Governor, Norapat Plodthong, led a big group of officials and volunteers along with staff from Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation to cleanup, paint and donate their time at Phuket’s Stray Dog Shelter yesterday (March 20). The Governor rolled up his sleeves and worked along with the other volunteers to give the shelter a well-needed publicly-funded home for Phuket’s strays. The…
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, March 22
16 dead following bus crash in Nakhon Ratchasima | Prawit may be invited in for a ‘chat’, NACC | Pattaya attackers charged by police | No water splashing on main roads for Songkran this year | Another tour bus crash in Phang Nga and a fatal accident on notorious Patong Hill | Austrian drowns in Pattaya | Young British traveller…
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Foreign thief captured on video in Patong
A Facebook user named ‘Thep PK’ has posted a video showing footage of a western man at a beer garden in Patong stealing a bag from the tourists sitting next to him. https://www.facebook.com/phuketgazette/videos/1652661594811662/ Facebook/Thep PK The man was looking left and right several times and kept staring at the bag that belonged to a group of four tourists who were…
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Anonymous corpse retrieved floating near Rawai
A dead body, which is believed to be of a western man, has been discovered floating near Koh Kaewpissadan, on the west coast of Rawai yesterday (March 21). Police from Chalong station, Marine Police, Forensic Police and a medical team from Vachira Hospital as well as Phuket Ruamjai rescue team went out to collect the body with a boat belonging…
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Police ban water splashing on main roads for Songkran
The Royal Thai Police are looking to impose a total ban on water splashing activities on main and secondary roads throughout Thailand during from April 11-17, the Songkran holiday break. They are citing road safety as the reason for the drastic plans. In phuket, in the past, Chao Fah east and west, Viset Road in Rawai and parts of Thepkasattri…
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Nakhon Ratchasima bus crash kills 16
At least 16 people were killed on Wednesday evening when their double-deck coach crashed with a 18-wheel truck before slamming into roadside shops in in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Wang Nam Khieo district, 300 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, and ending up in a ditch. Witnesses say that the driver of the coach survived the accident and fled from the scene. The accident…
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Phuket gives away more than 12,000 shirts to public drivers
Phuket Vice Governor, Sanit Srivihok, chaired a give-away ceremony this morning (March 21), aiming to encourage public transport drivers to dress more professionally. The 12,810 shirts are divided into categories of public transport by color, including a white shirt for taxi, Tuk Tuks with the number plate that begins with 30, bus and van drivers with the plates that begin…
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Van carrying Swedish tourists smashes into truck in Phang Nga
Just one day after a double fatality in a tour bus in Phang Nga (story HERE) another passenger van has crashed into the back of a 10 wheel truck on the Phetkasem highway in the Takua Thung district, Phang Nga. The truck was carrying seven Swedish tourists, three have been injured. Yesterday, a passenger van carrying Chinese tourists crashed into…
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Krabi finds 6 rabies-infected dogs
Krabi Provincial Public Health Office have announced a warning to local residents after finding 6 dogs with rabies infection yesterday (March 20). Officials are reminding all people that if they are bitten, scratched or licked by stray dog or cat, to seek medical attention and get a rabies PEP vaccine. The Chief of Krabi Provincial Public Health Office, Dr. Apichai…
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THAIGER TODAY Wednesday, March 21
Soi Dog Foundation comments about Rabies ‘scare’ | HM The King visits exhibition of gifts celebrating 200 years of bilateral relations with the US | Phang Nha gunman rounded up by locals | PM calls for political parties to ‘tow the line’ with setting election date | Investigation continues into fatal Phang Nga tour bus crash | Premchai’s wife charged…
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Whoops. Billboard faux pas in The Philippines.
It was bound to happen sooner or later. This time someone snapped the OMG moment so we can all share the embarrassment of the Executive Building Centre in The Philippines. A pornographic video was aired on one of the digital billboards flagging the Executive Building Centre in Makati Avenue, Makati City yesterday, around 2 p.m. The spectacle was captured by a…
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Takuapa hitman bailed up by locals
A 50 year old hitman, Banjong Chaisawad, was caught by local people in Takuapa District, Phang Nga, after shooting two men who were working on a fishing raft at the time. Ban Namkem Police received a report yesterday (March 19) about two men being shot, including 39 year old Sudkhet Samranrat, who was shot in his lower ribs, near his…
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Truck crashes into motorcycle and kills 63 year old
A 10-wheel truck has crashed into a motorcycle and killed a 63 year old woman, Nunoi Kraisat, instantly. After an investigation, Muang Phuket Police found that the motorcyclist was riding with her niece at the back heading to the Piboon Sawaddee School for a graduation ceremony. She stopped to wait to turn right while the truck followed and hit the…
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