News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
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Taxes up, bribes down – Palang Pracharath Party wants venues to operate legally
The ruling Palang Pracharath Party’s Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn wants to make it easier for entertainment venues to operate legally. The Minister for the Digital Economy would like to see bars and clubs operate within the tax system, bringing in fiscal revenue and administration fees while reducing the scope for bribery. Chaiwut said on Sunday that Palang Pracharath members had agreed that…
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The most common complaint about Bangkok taxi drivers is…
Bangkok dwellers are not happy with the city’s taxi drivers. Since new taxi fares came into effect on January 16, there have been over 2,000 passenger complaints about taxi drivers in Bangkok, with the biggest proportion of them concerning cabbies’ rejection of passengers, according to the Land Transport Department. Of the 2,120 complaints, 720 concerned cabbies’ rejection of passengers, 455…
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‘Big Joke’ team search home of alleged triad leader Yu Xinqi
Following last week’s Facebook revelations by the Pied Piper of Bangkok Chuwit Kamolvisit, immigration police Saturday searched a house in Bangkok’s posh Watcharaphol area belonging to alleged triad leader Yu Xinqi. The house belongs to the Chinese businessman who Chuwit alleges set up the Shaanxi Association of Thailand, without a license from the Ministry of Interior. The search of the house…
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Emotional return home for stolen Cambodia treasure
The vast treasure trove of antiquity stolen by a British art smuggler has been returned home to Cambodia. In September last year, a Cambodian delegation visited London to investigate whether the United Kingdom was harbouring cultural treasures stolen from Khmer sacred temples. It turns out there were, and a lot more surprises as well. Cambodia sent a list of missing artefacts to the British Museum,…
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Patong Police catch 3 Mongolian credit card thieves
Patong Police caught three Mongolian credit card thieves yesterday. This was after a Malaysian man, Choi Mei Choo, and a Singaporean woman, Ho See Ling, filed police reports on February 11. The two said their wallet was stolen at a pier in Patong, and that they later received SMS messages about expensive products being bought with their credit card. Patong…
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Nok Air to launch Bangkok – Korat route
Low-cost carrier Nok Air plans to connect Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok to northeast Thailand in the coming months with a new direct flight to Nakhon Ratchasima, aka “Korat.” Chief Executive Officer of Nok Air, Wuttipoom Churankun, said the Bangkok – Korat route should begin after Songkran Festival in April 2023. The date of the route’s inaugural flight hasn’t yet…
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Sexual exploitation is not everyone’s cup of tea in Kenya (video)
Explosive revelations have emerged regarding the sexual exploitation of workers on tea farms in Kenya that supply some of the UK’s most beloved supermarket brands, including PG Tips, Lipton, and Sainsbury’s Red Label. An undercover reporter investigating the matter uncovered the sordid reality in which more than 70 women on Kenyan tea farms had been subjected to sexual abuse by…
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WARNING: Don’t buy fingers online!
If you could count on your hands how many people were ripped off in a recent online scam, you are probably not their target victim. A couple went public to the press to expose what they believe is a scam they encountered when trying to buy replacement fingers online. Yes, fingers. While this is a fairly specific scam targeting a…
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Phuket dwellers run for Turkey and Syria
The people of Phuket are stepping up for victims of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Early yesterday morning, hundreds of Phuket dwellers gathered to participate in a charity fun run to raise funds for earthquake victims. The run was organised by the Phuket Tourism Association (PTA), and supported by more than 16 local private businesses and government agencies. The…
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Tourism in South Thailand province jumped by over 600% last year, officials say
South Thailand’s picturesque beaches and islands continue to reel in tourists. The number of tourists that visited South Thailand’s Surat Thani province last year jumped by over 600% from 2021, according to officials. The province includes the holiday paradise islands of Koh Samui and Koh Tao. Surat Thani Governor Witchawut Jintoe, citing the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, said the…
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Woman’s body found floating in waters of Koh Tao, Thailand
A boat driver found a woman’s body floating in the waters of Koh Tao island in Surat Thani province in southern Thailand, the Thai Maritime Enforcement Centre (MECC) reported this morning. The woman was discovered floating among 20 200-litre oil barrels around 12 nautical miles northwest of Koh Tao island in the Koh Pha Ngan district. Speedboat operators from Koh…
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Thailand schools and colleges banned from expelling pregnant schoolgirls
Thailand has implemented a new directive to prohibit schools, colleges and education institutions from expelling, banning or transferring pregnant schoolgirls. Previously, it was easy for an institution to get rid of pregnant students but the new directive, published in the Royal Gazette on Friday, has put a stop to all that. The mandate was jointly signed by the Education Ministry…
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Australian drug trafficker breaks silence on hellish 7 years in Thai prison
An Australian woman convicted of drug trafficking has broken her silence about her hellish seven years behind bars in a maximum-security prison in Bangkok, Thailand. Holly Deane-Johns was spared the death sentence and handed 31 years in prison in 2003 after pleading guilty to attempting to post 10.6 grams of heroin from Thailand to Australia in 2000 when she was…
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New hospital aims to boost Samui medical tourism
A new hospital hopes to boost medical and wellness tourism on the popular holiday island of Koh Samui. Wattanapat Samui Hospital has just opened its doors, marking the fifth medical facility on the island. The hospital has 380 beds, specialist personnel, and modern equipment that are expected to boost confidence in Koh Samui as a wellness destination. Dr Somchai Chansawang,…
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Government websites mostly hacked to promote gambling
When a government website gets hacked, one might assume it’s an act of cyber warfare or a government opposition protest group. The truth is far less nefarious. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) announced that, out of about 500 cyberattacks on government websites last year, two-thirds of the hacks were to promote online gambling websites. According to the…
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Christian Atsu’s body returns home to Ghana
The body of former Newcastle United footballer Christian Atsu has been returned to his native Ghana. He died in the earthquake that hit Turkey two weeks ago, The transportation of the 31 year old’s coffin was carried out by members of Ghana’s armed forces after the flight arrived in Accra last night. Atsu was discovered dead beneath his residence in…
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Thai Airways cabin crew forgets to collect meal trays before landing on Singapore-Bangkok flight
Thai Airways is ‘”urgently investigating” why cabin crew failed to collect meal trays on a Singapore – Bangkok flight before landing on the runway at Suvarnabhumi Airport after an irked passenger recorded the incident on TikTok. TikTok user Praewa Nang Mana (@Praewa_panicha) posted a clip of food trays sitting on the foldable tables of three seats. As the plane lands,…
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Young Polish woman claims to be Madeleine McCann, citing rare eye defect (video)
A 21 year old Polish woman has made an extraordinary claim that she may be Madeleine McCann, the four year old British girl who went missing while on holiday with her parents in Portugal in 2007. The woman posted a six-minute video on the Instagram account @iammadeleinemcann, stating that she has the same rare eye defect as Madeleine and wants…
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Russian woman rushed to hospital after Patong hotel fire
Rescuers rushed a Russian woman to a hospital after a fire broke out at a Patong hotel kitchen on Saturday. The woman, Svetlana Stashko, suffered from smoke inhalation after the blaze broke out on the hotel’s first floor. The hotel is located on Phang Mueang Sai Kor Road. Firefighters arrived on the scene and were able to put out the…
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Thai cops bust Chinese man over counterfeit electronics worth 20 million baht
Thai cops busted a Chinese man in Bangkok over counterfeit electronics that cost over 20 million baht. Officers from the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) found fake phones and electronic devices in a raid at a warehouse in the Don Mueang district on Friday. The team searched three buildings and found Huang Yiqun, a 56 year old Chinese national, working…
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ASEAN to rescue trafficking victims from Chinese gangs
Thailand is a key destination country for migrant workers, human trafficking, and forced labour. Many IT jobseekers who end up in Thailand look to ASEAN to rescue trafficking victims recruited by Chinese gangs as slaves in cybercrime factories. ASEAN is now to help rescue these trafficking victims reeled in with promises of high-paying jobs overseas which turn out to be…
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Thailand’s Q4 economy slows as exports decline
Thailand’s Q4 economy grew by 1.4% in the final quarter of 2022 with hopes high for a tourism-led recovery. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy grew slower than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022 as exports and manufacturing declined. The much-anticipated rebound in tourism will continue to boost the recovery this year as global demand for manufactured goods declines. On a…
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Woman’s body found in water tank believed to be suicide
An elderly woman’s body was discovered in a 2,000-litre water tank behind a house in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. The grizzly discovery was made this morning behind a row house near a commercial building in Mueang district. Police believe the 67 year old woman committed suicide. The woman had been missing since February 15, and her husband has been searching…
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2 monkeys dead as police catch smugglers red-handed
We’re not going to make a “monkey business” pun, but there’s big business in smuggling monkeys. Two men were apprehended attempting to catch long-tailed macaques and were expecting to receive up to 100,000 baht per monkey. Police arrested the two men at the Wat Khao No tourist attraction in Nakhon Sawan. A 23 year old man and a 37 year…
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AoT increasing airport services to meet tourist demand
Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok’s global gateway, plans to increase services to deal with the influx of arriving passengers. Thailand saw a swift surge in travellers after China’s recent decision to reopen its borders. The Airports of Thailand (AoT) announced Friday that the measures will help tackle delays in passenger servicing time, particularly during peak hours. They say they have already…
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Russian brotherhood stealing Phuket jobs
Hotels are unwelcoming. In the massage parlours, everyone is tense. Down Walking Street, in the girly bars, excitement is high and the air is filled with fearful chatter. The girls are aquiver in anticipation. The Russian ‘brotherhood’ (bratva) stealing Phuket jobs is bringing a whole new style of beatings and rapes to Thailand’s peaceful brothels. How will the new regime…
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Single Russian roulette bullet kills two men
A single irresponsible bullet ended the life of two men playing a game in Ayutthaya in the early hours of yesterday morning. While playing a game of Russian roulette, a 30 year old man fired a .38 calibre pistol at his head and lost the game. The bullet passed through his head and hit his 23 year old friend who…
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Chinese billionaire tech banker Bao Fan is missing
Chinese billionaire tech banker Bao Fan is missing. The disappearance of the China Renaissance renegade chair is not a huge surprise but raises fears of a fresh crackdown on China’s finance industry With billionaire boss either banged up or on the lam, Renaissance, one of the country’s top investment banks has plunged into turmoil. ‘Do not believe the rumours’ Bao…
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Thailand’s new lotteries sold via Pao Tang app
The Government Lottery Office approved a plan for Thailand’s new lotteries – the six-digit (L6) and three-digit (N3) lotteries. The move was proposed by the Finance Ministry. Entry into the L6 lottery will be 80 baht (US$2.30), the same as lotteries currently available. The L6 lottery will only be available in digital format. Tickets will be sold via the Pao…
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Singapore sees first Covid vaccine death
The Ministry of Health (MOH) in Singapore announced the death of a 28-year-old Bangladeshi man, likely related to a Covid-19 vaccine. He died away 21 days after receiving the Moderna/Spikevax vaccine. The State Coroner has confirmed that the cause of death was myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. The MOH has also stated that the man’s death was a “medical…
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