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.

  • American man attacks 3 foreign motorcycle riders in Koh Chang

    American man attacks 3 foreign motorcycle riders in Koh Chang

    A violent American man attacked three foreign motorcycle riders yesterday in Koh Chang, an island in the eastern province of Trat. The community leader reported that he has committed a similar attack in the area before and believes his violence is a result of stress. The perpetrator was reported to be a 60 year old man named Michael Doherty. Doherty…

  • Sushi terrorism a growing problem in Japan

    Sushi terrorism a growing problem in Japan

    Sushi terrorism might not be a phrase in your daily vocabulary but it’s becoming an alarming issue in Japan. Defined as the act of handling sushi and utensils in a disgustingly unsanitary manner in conveyor belt sushi restaurants, sushi terrorism has been a trend in viral videos in Japan for the past month. The threat of sushi terrorism has caused…

  • BMA launches healthcare scheme to aid elderly in Bangkok

    BMA launches healthcare scheme to aid elderly in Bangkok

    A new healthcare scheme was launched in the capital on Monday to help Bangkok’s elderly people. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) recently conducted a workshop to launch the Urban Sandbox: Klang Model at BMA General Hospital. The initiative aims to enhance healthcare services for the growing number of elderly individuals residing in Bangkok’s inner-city areas. The workshop was led by…

  • High-speed rail project linking Bangkok to Chiang Mai expected to begin

    High-speed rail project linking Bangkok to Chiang Mai expected to begin

    Thailand and Japan’s collaborative high-speed rail project, linking Bangkok to Chiang Mai, is expected to begin soon after years of planning. The first phase of the project would see the railway run from Bangkok to Phitsanulok for over 380 kilometres, then continue to Chiang Mai for another 288 kilometres. As officials from both countries met, Japanese agencies say the first…

  • 89% of bank accounts in Thailand hold less than 50,000 baht

    89% of bank accounts in Thailand hold less than 50,000 baht

    The Bank of Thailand (BOT) reports that 88.88% of bank accounts in Thailand hold less than 50,000 baht (US$1,423) in deposits, according to Komchadluek. In total, there were 121.4 million bank accounts in Thailand at the end of 2022. Of those, 98.5 million (88.88%) held less than 50,000 baht and 1,023 bank accounts (0.0008%) held more than 500 million baht.…

  • Chinese man arrested for raping Chinese woman in Bangkok

    Chinese man arrested for raping Chinese woman in Bangkok

    Thai police arrested a Chinese man yesterday in the eastern province of Rayong for raping a female fellow citizen at a hotel in Bangkok in December last year. According to the police report, the Chinese victim filed a rape complaint against a 47 year old Chinese man named Yao Kequan at Prawet Police Station in Bangkok in December last year.…

  • Thai police find large lot of drugs in Chiang Rai, Lampang provinces

    Thai police find large lot of drugs in Chiang Rai, Lampang provinces

    Thai police have reportedly found a large lot of drugs in the northern provinces of Chiang Rai and Lampang. The police say they confiscated nine million methamphetamine tablets, 20 kilogrammes of ketamine, and 297 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine (Ice) in three separate seizures. The first seizure saw police finding 12 plastic boxes with two million methamphetamine pills, 297 kilogrammes of…

  • Hua Hin beach launches twin campaigns to tackle smoking and jellyfish perils

    Hua Hin beach launches twin campaigns to tackle smoking and jellyfish perils

    Two campaigns dedicated to different causes took off at a Hua Hin beach on Tuesday. Officials launched an anti-smoking campaign, as well as a jellyfish awareness campaign. The Smoke-free Beach project, and the jellyfish awareness campaign, were launched at Hua Don beach in Khao Takiab. The campaigns aimed to educate tourists about the harmful effects of smoking on the environment,…

  • Campaigners call for decriminalisation of sex work in Thailand

    Campaigners call for decriminalisation of sex work in Thailand

    A number of women’s rights groups marked International Women’s Day yesterday to campaign for the legalisation of sex work, alongside a series of measures to support women in the industry. The groups gathered near Government House to make their demands known, arguing that decriminalising sex work would provide greater protection to workers in the industry, who would then be entitled…

  • Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province gets tourism blast from long weekend

    Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province gets tourism blast from long weekend

    Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province got a tourism blast during the recent long weekend. The province generated a revenue of over 548 million baht, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The director of TAT’s Prachuap Khiri Khan Office, Atchawun Kongkapan, reported that the tourism atmosphere in the province was very lively during the holiday weekend, with hotel occupancy…

  • THAI Airways announces 2023 summer schedule

    THAI Airways announces 2023 summer schedule

    THAI Airways has announced its summer schedule and expanded its services around the globe. The flagship carrier of Thailand will add 39 routes to Europe, nine to Asia, and 30 routes to China for the summer. Between March 26 and October 28, more routes will operate and flights will run more frequently on the most travelled routes. THAI Airways kickstarted…

  • Thailand woos crypto companies with tax waiver

    Thailand woos crypto companies with tax waiver

    Thailand‘s Cabinet approved a tax waiver for cryptocurrency firms yesterday. The Cabinet decided that companies raising funds by issuing digital tokens for investment are exempt from paying corporate income tax and value-added tax (VAT), according to a government spokesperson. Once the new tax waiver is implemented, crypto companies can issue investment tokens in Thailand without any tax on primary or secondary…

  • Proposed RESTRICT Act could ban TikTok in the US

    Proposed RESTRICT Act could ban TikTok in the US

    TikTok banned in the United States? If a new bipartisan bill gets its way, the popular short-video app could be blocked due to national security concerns. US Senators Mark Warner and John Thune have introduced a bill called the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act that could ban TikTok and other security…

  • Belgian man tragically dies after trying to defuse argument in Patong

    Belgian man tragically dies after trying to defuse argument in Patong

    A Belgian man tragically died after he reportedly tried to defuse an argument in Patong. The man’s friend told Patong Police that he had been in a heated argument with a Thai man at an apartment in Soi Nanai. The victim had been trying to stop the heated exchange, and for unknown reasons, he reportedly ran and slipped, hitting his…

  • Bear cub smuggler arrested in northern Thailand

    Bear cub smuggler arrested in northern Thailand

    Two tiny Asian black bear cubs were seized from a smuggler in Mae Hong Son province in northern Thailand yesterday. The smuggler, who was arrested under suspicion of wildlife trafficking, claims he saved the bears when their mother got chased by a dog on the Myanmar side of the border. Head of the Office of Conversation Area 16, Pornthep Chareonsuebsakul,…

  • Landfill fire covers district of eastern Thailand province with smoke

    Landfill fire covers district of eastern Thailand province with smoke

    A landfill fire covered a district of a province in eastern Thailand with smoke on Monday. The thick blanket of smoke engulfed Sa Kaeo province’s main city district in the afternoon after the city’s main landfill caught fire. Nation Thailand reported yesterday that, as of press time, the fire still had not been fully extinguished due to heavy winds. It took…

  • Cambodian trans snatches gold necklace from Singaporean man in Bangkok

    Cambodian trans snatches gold necklace from Singaporean man in Bangkok

    Lumphini Police arrested an illegal Cambodian transwoman after she stole a gold necklace worth about 30,000 baht from a Singaporean man last night by pretending to greet and hug the victim while he was walking near Asok BTS Station in Bangkok. The official Facebook page of Lumphini Police Station reported today that they arrested a 36 year old illegal Cambodian…

  • Chinese Samanea Group building largest retail centre in Thailand

    Chinese Samanea Group building largest retail centre in Thailand

    Chinese retail giant Samanea Group plans to create the largest retail and wholesale centre in Thailand, much to the chagrin of Thai importers. They worry that the centre will flood the country with cheap Chinese goods. The Samanea Plaza, located on Bangna-Trat Road in Bang Sao Thong District, Samut Prakan province, already operates a massive shopping centre. Over 100 service…

  • Desperate elephants flee massive forest fires in eastern Thailand

    Desperate elephants flee massive forest fires in eastern Thailand

    Desperate wild elephants are fleeing massive forest fires in Thailand’s eastern Trat province. The fires have destroyed more than 2,500 rai of forests since February 26, and the poor creatures are trying to escape. A herd of 13 elephants in the Klong Kaew Waterfall National Park have started moving out, Naewna reported yesterday. Rangers flew a drone which spotted the…

  • Dead body of illegal Thai worker found on mountain in South Korea

    Dead body of illegal Thai worker found on mountain in South Korea

    A South Korean employer was arrested for concealing the death of an illegal Thai worker and leaving his dead body on a mountain. The cause of the death is under investigation. The South Korean police believe the man died of a health issue as his accommodation was unhygienic. The dead body of the 67 year old Thai man named Boonchu,…

  • Phuket man fires gun in hospital car park in spat over parking space

    Phuket man fires gun in hospital car park in spat over parking space

    Yet another parking spat in Thailand has resulted in a gun being drawn. A Phuket man yesterday fired a gun at another man’s car in a hospital parking lot in a spat over parking space. The incident happened on the fifth floor of Vachira Phuket Hospital’s car park building at 9.30am. The man, 31 year old Thanakorn Thongek, had reportedly…

  • Tories gang up on Gary Lineker for calling out Nazi policy

    Tories gang up on Gary Lineker for calling out Nazi policy

    Tories are ganging up on sports presenter Gary Lineker after he likening the Conservative Party’s asylum policy as “not dissimilar to that used by (Nazi) Germany in the (19)30s.” Far-right Tory MPs reckon the popular BBC presenter should be sacked. The Match of the Day presenter took to Twitter to remark on a video posted by the Home Secretary, Suella…

  • Minivan driver claims he wasn’t asleep, screaming tourists caused crash

    Minivan driver claims he wasn’t asleep, screaming tourists caused crash

    A minivan full of Russian tourists crashed either as a result of a screaming passenger or a sleeping driver, depending on who you believe. The minivan crashed into a tree after the driver was seen slumping over in his chair and one of the passengers screamed loudly, either out of fear, or too quickly to wake up the sleeping driver.…

  • Five powerful Thai women to know about on International Women’s Day

    Five powerful Thai women to know about on International Women’s Day

    Today is International Women’s Day, and people across the world are celebrating women’s achievements and triumphs over adversity. In Thailand, women still face a number of barriers to equality. The country has deeply entrenched problems with abuse and trafficking of women, maternity leave, and a range of other issues. Yet, Thailand has several prominent, powerful female leaders. Below are five who you…

  • Thailand tourism industry hails success of We Travel Together scheme

    Thailand tourism industry hails success of We Travel Together scheme

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand hailed the success of its We Travel Together scheme after holidaymakers rushed to book hotels during the latest phase of the programme. Within just six hours of the hotel subsidy programme’s availability, a remarkable 112,876 room nights were reserved out of the 560,000 available, demonstrating a high level of demand. According to Tourism Authority of…

  • Small plane crashes in central Thailand, 1 dead, 1 injured

    Small plane crashes in central Thailand, 1 dead, 1 injured

    A small plane crashed into a shrimp pond in Samut Sakhon province in central Thailand this morning, killing one man and injuring one woman. At 7.24am, the Samut Sakhon Provincial Incident Notification and Command Centre reported that a two-seater Tecnum P92 aircraft crashed into a pond at a shrimp farm along the Khok Kham – Sandap Road behind the Sinsakhon…

  • DMCR report an abundance of healthy sealife in Krabi

    DMCR report an abundance of healthy sealife in Krabi

    Officers from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre (DMCR), Lower Andaman Sea were pleased to report the abundance of healthy sealife after they performed an aerial survey over Krabi last week. Between March 1 to March 5, 22 dugongs and 74 sea turtles were discovered. Yesterday, the Director of the DMCR, Lower Andaman Sea, Santi Ninlawat, reported…

  • American teacher charged with reckless homicide over 8 year old’s drowning in Chumphon

    American teacher charged with reckless homicide over 8 year old’s drowning in Chumphon

    An American teacher has been charged with reckless homicide after the drowning of an eight year old boy in Chumphon province. The boy’s family, however, says they don’t blame the teacher for his death. According to Khaosod English, the 45 year old teacher was an employee of a local church in Map Ammarit Sub-District, Pathio District. He was on holiday…

  • Irate Thai man who set his own car on fire has absolutely no regrets

    Irate Thai man who set his own car on fire has absolutely no regrets

    An irate Thai man who set his car on fire in the northeast Udon Thani province has absolutely no regrets. The man, 58 year old Panya, set fire to his sedan on Sunday after continuing to experience problems with the car’s electrical system and trouble getting the car to start. The issues really ground Panya’s gears. When he wanted to…

  • Thai woman steals motorcycle from drunk foreigner in Pattaya while he vomited

    Thai woman steals motorcycle from drunk foreigner in Pattaya while he vomited

    Pattaya Police yesterday arrested a Thai woman for stealing a motorcycle from a foreigner in Pattaya. The opportunist thief grabbed the chance to steal the motorbike while the foreign man parked his motorcycle to vomit on the roadside. The 38 year old man named Fiorenzo Cardinali filed a complaint with Pattaya Police after discovering his Yamaha Grand Filano motorcycle had been…