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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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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More drug crackdowns in Krabi
Krabi Police held a press conference yesterday (March 22) to announce that two alleged drug mafia gang leaders had been arrested in Krabi with almost 20,000 amphetamine pills and 2 million Baht worth of assets. The two drug dealers, including 43 year old Wirote ‘Bang Lai’ Khaokham and 25 year old Nantanat ‘Fa’ Ratchaniyom, who are Krabi residents, were arrested…
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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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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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Water truck careers off Patong Hill, killing one
There’s been another fatal accident on Patong Hill this morning (March 22). So far there’s been one fatality reported with another critically injured. A fully-loaded water truck has slipped over the side after crashing through the roadside barriers and fallen down the roadside cliff on the Kathu side. Long traffic delays in and out of Patong as a result, particularly…
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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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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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Soi Dog calls for probe after temple dog poisoning
Soi Dog Foundation (SDF) today called for a full investigation into the poisoning of dogs and puppies in front of children at a school and on temple grounds in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province, and called for an end to such atrocities. Video of the killings has gone viral on Facebook, with more than a million views by today. The SDF…
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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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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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Rabies: Genuine outbreak or misinformed panic?
By Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation Over the past few weeks, rabies has dominated social media in Thailand. The debate has been covered – and in some cases inflamed – by the traditional print and broadcast media across the country. Some people are now advocating what has been described as “Set Zero”, a massive country-wide slaughter or impounding of all stray…
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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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Chinese tour van crashed, kills two in Phang Nga
A Chinese tour van crashed this morning in Kokkloy, Phang Nga, just north of Phuket, into a 18-wheel, truck resulting in two casualties and seven injuries. The van, full of passengers, was traveling from Phuket to a pier in Phang Nga. At the scene, the truck was making a U-turn and the van crashed into the back of the truck.
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Australian engineer says he’s ‘found’ MH370 – Malaysian search team says ‘no’.
A report has emerged saying that Malaysia Airlines MH370 has been found. The official MH370 Response Team says the reports are ‘unfounded and baseless’. Malaaysia’s Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, also head of the Malaysian Civil Aviation Authority, say the team has read the stories in a number of junk UK media, Daily Star, The Sun Daily and The Star, express.co.uk and…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, March 20
MH370 has NOT been found | Bar owner in Pattaya bashed unconscious | 10 million baht worth of marijuana seized in Chumpon | Officials concerned over damage on Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao | Nok Air being asked to ‘please explain’ over poor on-time record | 103 ‘practice bombs’ found near Vachira Hospital Bangkok.
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Marine rescue workshop underway in Phuket
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Phuket Office, held a marine rescue workshop at the Dara Hotel in Kathu this morning (March 19) chaired by Deputy Secretary General of the ministry, Santi Pawai. The workshop was aiming to teach attendees about methods to deal with divers and customers in case of emergency, both underwater and on the surface, in the…
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Migrant workers registered with iris scan technology
Five southern coastal provinces with large numbers of migrant workers have pioneered the use of iris scans in the registration procedure, the governor of Samut Nakhon announced today (Monday). Prapas Malakan said labourers on fishing trawlers, at fish and seafood processing factories and at related industrial establishments had undergone the scans in his province and in Samut Prakan, Rayong, Ranong…
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Car thieves arrested in Soi Namtok in Kathu
Police received a report from Weeraporn Khamyindee that her Toyota Vios had been stolen inside Soi Namtok, Kathu, on March 17. After checking local CCTV cameras, police found that two thieves, 36 year old Prakarn ‘Aek’ Sangsawang from Prachinburi and 27 year old Seksan ‘Ton’ Ountan from Phuket. The two were arrested on March 18 at a hotel on Kra…
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Dual pricing. Fair or price gouging?
Photo TIT – This Is Thailand Facebook page Thailand’s dual pricing policy continues with, it seems, a completely random application of the system. In some places flashing your Work Permit might get you an exemption so you can pay local price but there is no consistency. What are your experiences with dual pricing? Do you think it’s fair? If we’re…
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Chiang Mai – the sixth worst air pollution in the world
Air pollution in the North continues to be critical, with small dust particles of 2.5 microns in size (PM2.5) exceeding safe limits at almost every air-quality testing station. The Pollution Control Department (PCD) revealed on Sunday that although PM2.5 levels had dropped from the previous day at almost every station, the amounts were still higher than safe standards. On average,…
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From Thaksin to Thanathorn – 20 years of political soap opera
COMMENT by Tim Newton New political parties are being registered at break-neck speed following the easing of the Junta’s ban on political activities. Most of the new parties will falter at the start line, unable to come up with the required minimum membership or capital to fund their campaigns. As new parties, they’re all going to have to fight for…
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Tourism set to rise 18% for this year’s Songkran
Songkran is on the way. That means water fights in the main tourist destinations around the country and Thais fleeing the cities and work locations to head back to their homes ‘upcountry’. With the official Songkran break starting on a Wednesday this year you can be assured that many will take the Monday and Tuesday off in that week and…
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More wi-fi hotspots and ‘tourist tags’ – Phuket Smart City
Phuket will increase the number of hotspots for free Wi-Fi Internet connection to 1,000 around the island as part of its ambition to turn the island into a “smart city”, according to Thailand’s digital economy minister. The province may also develop an electronic wristband system for foreign tourists so their identity and location would be known in case of untoward…
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Now, a SEVEN metre python!
A video posted on YouTube shows Pathum Thani snake catchers round up a seven metre long, almost 100 kilogram, python from near the yard of a PTT gas depot in Khlong Luang district, just north of Bangkok. Amnat Saengsawang said it was the biggest snake he has captured in 30 years of doing the job. Click to watch the video…
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Storm warning for central and north-east next week
After storms battered parts of the north-east at the start of this week, affecting more than 200 homes, the Thai Meteorological Department has issued another summer storm warning. They say storms are expected to hit northeastern and eastern regions from next Tuesday followed by the central and northern regions, including Bangkok, on Wednesday. They say the forecast bad weather is…
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7-11 rolling out facial recognition in its 11,000 Thai stores
Smile, you’re on camera. Your friendly, neighbourhood convenience store, 7-Eleven store is rolling out facial recognition technology. The Japanese-owned franchise has 11,000 stores in Thailand. The convenience store chain says they’ll will roll out the technology in a number of different ways, including to identify regular and loyal customers, monitor stock levels of products and better analyse customer traffic trends.…
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