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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What’s not covered by health insurance in Thailand?
Health insurance in Thailand has important limits that everyone should know. Many policies do not cover pre-existing conditions, motorcycle accidents, extreme sports, or specific treatments. These gaps can lead to unexpected costs during emergencies. Coverage for outpatient care and hospital...
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Koh Lipe tourism industry loses 10 million baht after local fisherfolk protest
Local fisherfolk in the southern province of Satun have blocked the Pak Bara Pier to stop people from using it in protest after being banned from fishing for a month due to overlapping rules from two government departments. The result of the closure has affected the tourism industry, especially on Lipe Island, which lost revenue of over 10 million baht. The…
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Motorbike crash kills Phuket man
A motorbike crash killed a Phuket man in the early hours of this morning, while another two people were left injured. The fatal crash happened at 3am on Sri Soonthorn Road, in the Cherng Talay area of the Thalang district. Rescuers arrived on the scene to find the body of 51 year old motorbike rider Pomngnara. His female passenger had…
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Two suspects in Tangmo case plead guilty to ‘recklessness causing death’
More than one year after Thai actress Nida ‘Tangmo‘ Patcharaveerapong drowned in the Chaophraya River, two suspects in the ‘speedboat gang‘ have confessed to all charges including recklessness causing death. The four remaining suspects denied all charges. Tangmo’s mother Panida Siriyuthyothin said the confessions follow new evidence she submitted to the court on February 24. The new evidence is dashcam…
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Thailand wins award for ‘Best Tourist Country’ in Sweden
Thailand continues to make waves across the globe for its reputation as a tourist magnet. Thailand has been recognised as the Best Tourist Country at the 30th annual Grand Travel Awards 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. Organised by TravelNews, the award is based on a survey conducted by research company Nordic Bench, which collected responses from 3,227 Swedish travellers and travel professionals…
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Hong Kong launches free airline ticket giveaway to reboot tourism
Hong Kong’s government-supported “Hello, Hong Kong” ticket giveaway of half a million free airline tickets is swamping airline websites. Cathay Pacific, one of the carriers participating in the programme, said it had allocated all 17,400 round-trip tickets from Thailand to Hong Kong within the first hour of the giveaway, even though it was scheduled to last seven days. The airline…
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11 Thai police officers arrested for alleged gang rape of 14 year old
A children’s foundation is rallying for justice after a 14 year old girl was allegedly gang-raped by 15 men. Eleven of the men are reported to be serving Thai police officers and the teenage girl was supposedly raped on multiple occasions in Leoi province in northeast Thailand over a two-year period. Today, officials from the Children, Youth and Families Foundation…
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Thai men condemed for inappropriately touching Taiwanese YouTuber
Thai and Taiwanese netizens condemned two Thai men for inappropriately touching a Taiwanese YouTuber, Ar Yuan, while she was travelling in Bangkok. The Taiwanese YouTuber, Ar Yuan ( 一隻阿圓) runs a YouTube channel called I am CIRCLE (一隻阿圓) which promotes travel and lifestyle videos and draws over 762,000 subscribers to her channel. According to the Taiwanese news agency, ETtoday, Ar…
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Indian community pushes for Holi festival near Pattaya Beach
Pattaya’s Indian community is pushing for the upcoming Holi festival to be held near Pattaya Beach. The festival, considered ‘Indian Songkran’ by some, is to be held on Sunday, March 11. The Pattaya Indian Association and Domestic Tourism Association met with Pattaya Mayor Poramase Ngampiches to request the hosting of the “Happy Holi Festival of Colours in Pattaya Thailand” near…
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Thai Model, Ticha Kanticha, promotes sex-ed and positivity in Thai society
Kanticha Chumma, also known as Ticha Kanticha, has become a prominent figure in Thailand due to her impressive win as the best model in the reality show, The Face Thailand Season 2. However, her influence extends beyond the modelling industry, and she has become an advocate for sex education and challenged social norms in Thailand. The 28 year old model,…
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Police arrest Cambodian for raging fire at Pattaya ‘secret’ beach (video)
Police arrested a homeless Cambodian national yesterday under suspicion of starting a raging fire at a secret beach in Pattaya, eastern Thailand, on Monday night, causing damages amounting to 300,000 baht. On Monday, 41 year old fisherman Teeraphat Iampinyo discovered a raging fire at a secret beach – mostly used by fishermen to sell fish and store equipment. The beach…
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King Charles III evicts Prince Harry, offers his home to Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew, the former friend of convicted pedophile and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has reportedly been offered Frogmore Cottage after King Charles III evicted Prince Harry and his wife Meghan from their home. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed the news, but Buckingham Palace has yet to comment on the matter. Harry and Meghan currently reside…
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Ex-boyfriend shoots teacher 3 times at kindergarten in Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand
An ex-boyfriend shot his ex-girlfriend, a kindergarten teacher, three times in northeast Thailand’s Nong Bua Lamphu province yesterday. The man shot the teacher, Wanpen, twice in the chest and once in her stomach, at the kindergarten where she taught. One witness, a contractor renovating the school, said he heard gunshots and found Wanpen lying near the front door of the…
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Frenchman pays the price for revving noisy motorbike in Phuket
Police tracked down and fined a Frenchman yesterday for annoying residents by revving his loud rented motorbike along the Bangla Road in Phuket, southern Thailand, in the early hours of Monday morning. At 5am on Monday, Phuket traffic police were tipped off that a group of four to five ‘dek waen’ (motorbike racers) were causing a ruckus outside a convenience…
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Philippines airport officers steal 5,100 baht from Thai tourist
Two customs officers at Manila Airport in the Philippines were caught on video stealing 5,100 baht from a Thai tourist at a baggage check counter. The video of the two customs officers stealing money was posted on Facebook by Piyawat Gunlayaprasit on February 22. Piyawat reported that he heard another Thai tourist, identified as Kitja Tbabtim, shouting that his money…
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New Zealand tourist gets lost in forest in Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand
A New Zealand tourist got lost in a forest on Thailand’s Koh Pha Ngan island in the southern Surat Thani province on Sunday. Friends of the man, 56 year old Shaw Mace Bushel, alerted police that he had gone missing from his resort at 4am. Bushel’s friends had searched for him but failed to find him. A team of officers…
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Lion cub escapes Chinese man’s house in Pattaya
Residents of a luxury village in Pattaya called on the authorities to investigate the home of a Chinese man after they witnessed a white lion cub roaming around the community. The 39 year old Chinese man named Shen Tai contacted Pattaya authorities on Tuesday night that his three month old female white lion cub had gone missing. Later, he informed…
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Thai Eastar Jet CEO faces arrest on breach of trust charges
The CEO of Thai low-cost carrier, Thai Eastar Jet Co., Park Seok-ho, is facing arrest on charges of breach of trust and other offences, according to the Jeonju District Prosecutors Office in Jeonju, South Korea. The prosecution requested a pretrial detention warrant for Park, and a court hearing is set to take place later today, reported Yonhap News Agency. Park…
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German woman injured in Krabi cave
A German woman was injured in a cave in Thailand’s Krabi province on Tuesday. The 61 year old tourist fell while walking inside the cave at Ka Narb Nam Mountain in the main city district. She was left unable to walk. The rescue mission was arduous due to the cave’s location. A rescue team had to get to the cave…
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Phuket immigration launches ‘red card’ system for wayward foreigners
Phuket immigration is launching a ‘red card’ system for wayward foreigners which will see them deported after two offences. Praphansak Prasansuk, Commander of the Immigration Region 6 office, announced the system yesterday. “Under the system, a foreigner will be designated a ‘yellow card’ for a first offence. The foreigner will be issued a formal warning and the relevant embassy will…
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US Army officer dies during Cobra Gold military exercise in Thailand
UPDATE The US Army officer who was found dead at a Thai army camp in Lop Buri province, central Thailand, on Tuesday morning has been identified as 37 year old Maj. Andrew Cotter. Cotter was taking part in the multinational military exercise Cobra Gold. Yesterday, US and Thai officials said that no foul play was suspected. Superintendent of Mueang Lop…
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Over 7,000 Russians in Phuket apply for visa extensions
Over 7,000 Russians in Phuket are applying for visa extensions in a bid to stay in Thailand. Local immigration chief, Thanet Sukchai, says the great weather is one factor in their attempts to stay. “Phuket is a nice place to visit with delicious food and good weather. As word has spread about the island, Russian tourists keep coming to the…
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Taiwanese tourist tragically drowns while snorkeling off Krabi
A Taiwanese tourist tragically drowned while snorkelling off an island in Thailand’s Krabi province. The tourist, 36 year old Yueh Lee, had been snorkelling off the island of Koh Hong on Tuesday, according to his friend. The unidentified friend said they had been looking at coral reefs. Lifeguards then noticed that Yueh had been lying face down in the water…
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UK YouTuber’s video on Thai boy racers praised by netizens
Thai netizens hailed UK YouTuber JimmyTheGiant for his documentary-style video “Thailand’s Most Hated Subculture,” which sheds light on the persistent issue of boy racers in the kingdom. Many have called on Thai authorities to take the issue seriously and sort it out. The term “Dek Waen” is used to describe teenage boy racers who ride motorcycles or drive cars, very fast. However,…
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Greta Thunberg detained twice during demonstration over Indigenous rights
Greta Thunberg has been detained twice during a recent demonstration over indigenous rights. The environmental campaigner was participating in the demonstration in Oslo, Norway, when police removed her and other activists. According to the Japan Times, Thunberg joined protesters on Monday in demanding the removal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer pastures used by Sami herders in central Norway. The…
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Expensive flights to Thailand too hot for Chinese mainland mainstream
Expensive flights to Thailand from bigger cities in China are delaying Thailand’s tourism recovery. Most tariffs are still one and a half times more than pre-pandemic prices, while for smaller cities, fares are more than double previous levels According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn, while most tickets are cheaper than last year, prices for March…
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American soldier dies at Cobra Gold military exercise in Thailand
An American soldier attending the annual Cobra Gold military exercise in Thailand was found dead in the bathroom at an army camp in Lop Buri province, north of Bangkok, yesterday at 9.40am. Officers from Mueang Lop Buri Police Station travelled to the 31st Infantry Regiment to find the soldier deceased in the bathroom in a pool of blood. There was…
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Japan’s births hit a new low last year
Japan’s population crisis has deepened as the number of births recorded in the country hit a new low last year, despite efforts by the government to reverse the decades-long decline. Statistics released by the Ministry of Health yesterday show that the country saw 799,728 births in 2022. This was the lowest number on record, and the first time it has…
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Makha Bucha Day Monday: lots of Buddhism, no booze
Buddha Days: holidays of religious celebration for Thais and sober frustration for foreign tourists. Next week Thailand will celebrate Makha Bucha Day, an important religious holiday for Thai Buddhists. The holiday falls on Monday, March 6. While the day may not hold the same religious significance for non-Buddhists, it is still recognized as a significant day in Thai culture, and…
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50 elephants ‘addicted to sugarcane’ destroy 2000 rai of crops in Thailand
A herd of around 50 wild elephants has migrated into farmland in Loei province in northeast Thailand, destroying 2000 rai of crops so far. There is no sign of them retreating into the forest. Recently, around 50 elephants migrated into agricultural land in the Phra Kradueng district from the Phu Luang Wildlife Sanctuary. No wonder the elephants moved away from…
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4 police officers and 3 men arrested for smuggling motorcycles
Authorities arrested four police officers, one Thai man, and two Cambodian men yesterday at a pier in the southeastern province of Trat for smuggling six motorcycles into a neighbouring country. The Marine Special Unit 182 received a tip-off from an authority spy that the smuggling was to take place at a pier in the Mai Root sub-district, Khlong Yai district…
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