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.

  • Sponsored

    The 5 most common travel emergencies in Thailand and how to be prepared

    Thailand is a popular destination known for its dynamic culture, stunning beaches, and bustling cities however, travellers can face unexpected travel emergencies that include medical issues, road accidents, petty theft, and natural disasters. To ensure a safe and enjoyable trip,...

  • Chinese tourists expected to flock back to Phuket and Chiang Mai

    Chinese tourists expected to flock back to Phuket and Chiang Mai

    Chinese tourists are expected to flock back to Phuket and Chiang Mai after China eased travel restrictions on its citizens on January 8.  Now, the two tourism hotspots expect a significant jump in travel on direct flights from China from January 18, according to local airport authorities. There will be one daily direct flight from China to Chiang Mai, and three…

  • Two fugitive Korean underwear bosses arrested in Thailand

    Two fugitive Korean underwear bosses arrested in Thailand

    Police arrested two wanted Korean fugitives – the former and current chairman of the Ssangbangwool Group – on a golf course in Thailand yesterday after eight months on the run. According to prosecutors in South Korea, the pair were arrested by Thai police on a golf course in Pathum Thani province just north of Bangkok at 7.30pm. South Korean prosecutors suspect…

  • Pattaya dwellers not happy with homeless living in abandoned building

    Pattaya dwellers not happy with homeless living in abandoned building

    Pattaya dwellers aren’t too thrilled about homeless people living in an abandoned building in the city. On Monday, local media reported that a group of homeless people were camping at an abandoned building on South Pattaya Road in the Nongprue sub-district of Bang Lamung district.  The building was home to a former convenience store that lost business during the Covid-19…

  • Woman injured by falling traffic sign on a Pattaya road

    Woman injured by falling traffic sign on a Pattaya road

    A backhoe digger accidentally pulled down some electric wires and a traffic sign, knocking a woman off her motorcycle while she was riding past the spot, on Jomtien Beach Road in Pattaya. The incident happened yesterday, January 10, in front of Soi Jomtien 12 on Jomtien Beach Road in the Bang Lamung district of Pattaya. A 46 year old woman…

  • Philippines storms take at least 11 lives in past week

    Philippines storms take at least 11 lives in past week

    Storms over the past week in the Philippines have reportedly taken at least 11 lives thus far with more heavy rain forecasted. According to Thai PBS World, bad weather has hit the southern and central islands since Christmas weekend. Flooding and landslides have left 52 people dead with hundreds forced to uproot and leave their homes. The Civil Defence Office…

  • Cops bust thieving couple who sold items to second hand shops in Phuket

    Cops bust thieving couple who sold items to second hand shops in Phuket

    Cops busted a thieving couple in Phuket on Monday, a husband and wife team who stole items and sold them to second hand shops. Police say the husband has been identified as Banjerd, and the wife as Toon Mathurasorn, The Phuket News reported.  A Russian man, Oliver Thurman, alerted Wichit Police on January 6 that a towing rig and a…

  • Cabinet announces change to holiday calendar

    Cabinet announces change to holiday calendar

    The government yesterday announced a change to the Thai holiday calendar. Government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul revealed the Cabinet has declared Friday, May 5, a special holiday, making it a four-day holiday for Coronation Day. The Cabinet agreed to change the date because this year’s Coronation Day falls on a Thursday, reported Bangkok Post. “The long holiday for Coronation Day will…

  • Ghosts in Thailand: some eerie sites to explore

    Ghosts in Thailand: some eerie sites to explore

    Thailand is known for its beautiful beaches, delicious food, and rich culture, but it also has a dark side. Thai culture has long believed in ghosts, some good, some bad. A large percentage of people in modern life are still afraid of ghosts in Thailand and as such, the country has some infamously haunted and eerie places. Here are a…

  • Curriculum options available at international schools in Thailand

    Curriculum options available at international schools in Thailand

    International schools in Thailand offer a wide range of educational curriculums, each designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in their future studies or career paths. These curriculums include the International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), and American, British, and French curriculums. Each curriculum has its own strengths and focuses, such as the development…

  • Phang Nga’s turtle nesting season continues with more nests discovered

    Phang Nga’s turtle nesting season continues with more nests discovered

    Phang Nga’s turtle nesting season continues and more nests are being discovered. Two more nests were found, bringing the total number of nests unearthed to eight so far, The Phuket Express reported today.  The nests were found on the Baan Thung Darp Beach in the Koh Phra Thong sub-district of Kura Buri district. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources…

  • Thai AirAsia ranked 3rd most on-time low-cost airline in the world

    Thai AirAsia ranked 3rd most on-time low-cost airline in the world

    Thai AirAsia is ranked the third most on-time low-cost airline in the world and the most punctual carrier in Asia-Pacific countries in 2022, according to Cirium, a data analytics company in the aviation and travel industry. The average on-time rate reported by Cirium was 97.47% The Chief Executive Officer of Thai AirAsia, Santisuk Klongchaiya, announced the company’s good news yesterday,…

  • Daily direct flights between Phuket and Shanghai to takeoff next week

    Daily direct flights between Phuket and Shanghai to takeoff next week

    Daily flights between Phuket in southern Thailand and Shanghai in China will takeoff next Wednesday, January 18, operated by Shanghai’s Juneyao Airlines. The inaugural flight will be the first direct service between Phuket and mainland China in almost three years. China reopened its borders yesterday, and given that China was once Thailand’s top tourism market, Thailand braced itself for an…

  • Over 500 drivers in Thailand have traffic points deducted on first day of new system

    Over 500 drivers in Thailand have traffic points deducted on first day of new system

    Thailand’s new driving penalty point system proved to be a challenge for over 500 drivers on the first day of its implementation. The new system came into effect yesterday, and 540 drivers in the country had points deducted.  According to the spokesperson of the Royal Thai Police Major General, Archayon Kraithong, the top three offences that got points deducted were:…

  • Police on the prowl for scam gang after Thai teen commits suicide

    Police on the prowl for scam gang after Thai teen commits suicide

    Police are on the prowl for a scamming gang after a teenage boy committed suicide in Thailand’s central Nonthaburi province. The boy, 15 year old Arthit, hung himself in a wooded area in the Pakkret district on Sunday.  Arthit left a note apologising to his mother for stealing up to 15,000 baht from her purse. Investigators later found that criminals…

  • Thailand informs airlines about removal of Covid-19 vaccine rule

    Thailand informs airlines about removal of Covid-19 vaccine rule

    Unvaccinated travellers heading to Thailand can now feel at ease knowing airlines around the world have been informed that Thailand no longer requires arrivals to prove they are vaccinated against Covid-19. Thailand momentarily reintroduced the two-dose Covid vaccine entry requirement with barely any notice as a measure to mitigate the risk of importing a caseload of coronavirus from China, which…

  • Piracy in decline around the world

    Piracy in decline around the world

    The Covid-19 pandemic has been rough on everyone. But as we focus on rebuilding tourism and the economy, spare a moment in your thoughts for Jack Sparrow. A new report says that last year worldwide pirate activity was at its lowest since 2008, and possibly since 1992. Piracy and robbery on the high seas are at their lowest levels since…

  • Immigration police arrest two Chinese fraudsters illegally living in Thailand

    Immigration police arrest two Chinese fraudsters illegally living in Thailand

    In two separate but similar cases, Immigration Police arrested two Chinese fraudsters posing as businessmen and illegally living in Thailand. Collectively, the pair scammed victims of over 2 billion baht. Case 1 Police arrested a 44 year old Chinese national named Changguan (pseudonym) who allegedly scammed hundreds of victims of over 1.4 billion baht by persuading them to invest in…

  • Soapy king makes PM Prayut’s inauguration slippy

    Soapy king makes PM Prayut’s inauguration slippy

    Former soapy king turned amateur super-sleuth Chuwit Kamolvisit tried to gatecrash Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s inauguration into United Thai Nation (UTN) Party yesterday. PM Prayut officially joined the UTN Party yesterday where he gave an impassioned speech on how he values the democratisation process, seemingly forgetting that he toppled the democratic process when seizing power in a 2014 army coup.…

  • Bangkok City Hall assesses Covid readiness

    Bangkok City Hall assesses Covid readiness

    With travel increases to Thailand, and with the reopening of China, comes the risk of spreading Covid-19. Bangkok City Hall is taking steps to ensure that visitors can enjoy their stay while keeping themselves and others safe as they brace for an influx of tourists. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt tasked his deputy governors with conducting a full assessment of the…

  • Chinese tourists trickling in after reopening

    Chinese tourists trickling in after reopening

    With a back and forth over Covid-19 restrictions, as China opens its doors for its citizens to travel outbound again, the wave of the coveted Chinese tourist demographic has been nothing more than a trickle. The first arrivals in three years on a direct flight from China to Thailand landed in Bangkok on January 8, with 200 enthusiastic travellers. After Covid…

  • Malaysia investigates Russian daredevils who trespassed onto Merdeka 118

    Malaysia investigates Russian daredevils who trespassed onto Merdeka 118

    Malaysian authorities are investigating a Russian ‘daredevil’ couple for trespassing after videos of them standing on top of the second tallest building in the world, the unfinished Merdeka 118 tower in Kuala Lumpur, went viral. On Saturday, Malaysia‘s Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said there are no records of the Russian couple entering or exiting Malaysia. On December 28, Malaysian…

  • Thai gold necklace thief arrested after fleeing to Myanmar

    Thai gold necklace thief arrested after fleeing to Myanmar

    The Thai thief was arrested by Burmese police officers yesterday after stealing a 150,000 baht gold necklace from a shop in the northern province of Chiang Rai and escaping by swimming to Myanmar. The theft happened at a gold shop named Seri Phan in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai on November 26 last year. The male thief pretended…

  • Thai army shoots dead 6 foreign ketamine traffickers

    Thai army shoots dead 6 foreign ketamine traffickers

    Thai paramilitary rangers shot dead six drug traffickers smuggling 300 kilograms of ketamine into Thailand in the forests of Chiang Mai province near the border of Myanmar at 3am today. In the dead of night in the dense jungle, Thai paramilitary rangers crossed paths with “foreign drug traffickers” in Mon Pin subdistrict in Chiang Mai’s Fang district. The rangers reported that…

  • Two 10 year old schoolchildren killed after reckless sedan crashes into school bus

    Two 10 year old schoolchildren killed after reckless sedan crashes into school bus

    Two 10 year old schoolchildren were killed and another 19 were injured after a reckless sedan driver crashed into a school bus. The smash caused a collision between a school bus and a minibus on a road in the northern province of Phichit. The incident happened on the Phichit-Saklek Road in the Mueang district of Phichit at 5.30pm yesterday, January…

  • Marine department warns boats after trawler sinks in South Thailand

    Marine department warns boats after trawler sinks in South Thailand

    Large waves are continuing to wreak havoc on boats in Thailand’s waters.  The country’s Marine Department warned boat operators to be extra cautious after a fishing trawler sank in South Thailand on Saturday night.  The trawler sank in the Gulf of Thailand about 18.2 nautical miles off the coast of Pak Phanang district in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Fortunately, marine…

  • British man claims he was tortured by Thai police

    British man claims he was tortured by Thai police

    A British man claims he was tortured by Thai police for seven days straight in Phuket, southern Thailand when his holiday abroad went gravely wrong. British authorities have launched an investigation into the alleged abuse, reports FirstPost. He allegedly sustained broken ribs, bruised limbs, septic infections, swollen wrists, and lost four teeth in the ordeal. The victim, 51 year old Carl…

  • What makes Amari Phuket a private tropical paradise?

    What makes Amari Phuket a private tropical paradise?

    Sponsored Phuket’s crystal clear waters, stunning beaches, and vibrant nightlife make it an unrivalled travel destination in Thailand. What’s more, the island is renowned for its stunning resorts, boasting luxurious amenities and spectacular views of the Andaman Sea. Amari Phuket, one of Phuket’s luxurious 5-star beach resorts, sets itself apart as a private paradise. But what differentiates it?  Private yet…

  • Thailand’s second-hand car sales industry predicted to rise modestly

    Thailand’s second-hand car sales industry predicted to rise modestly

    The Association of Used Car (AUC) predicts the second-hand car market in Thailand will increase by 15% this year despite the ongoing shortage of semiconductors needed for the production of new vehicles. The worldwide shortage of semiconductors is exacerbated by a political game of cat and mouse between China and Taiwan. Taiwan is largely known as the semiconductor capital of…

  • Thai island holds first Full Moon party of the year, draws 20,000 tourists

    Thai island holds first Full Moon party of the year, draws 20,000 tourists

    Thailand’s island of Koh Pha Ngan welcomed its first Full Moon party of the year on Friday night, drawing 20,000 tourists, according to Surat Thani’s vice governor.  The party experienced a bit of rain, but after the rain cleared, tourists were able to have a blast dancing on the beach.  Vice Governor Choosak Rooying told The Phuket Express that so…

  • Unleash the power of Thai Cuisine: 7 health benefits of a Thai diet

    Unleash the power of Thai Cuisine: 7 health benefits of a Thai diet

    The Thai diet is a healthy and nutritious way to eat. It is full of flavorful dishes that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. It is also low in sodium, bad cholesterol, and fat, making it a great choice for anyone looking to lose weight or improve their overall health. The Thai diet also contains anti-inflammatory ingredients, which…