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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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,...
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21 Thai citizens reported dead in fire casino in Cambodia
The death toll has risen on the fire incident this morning at the Grand Diamonds City and Casino in Poipet city in Cambodia. Thai officials confirmed that 21 Thai citizens were killed and another 53 were injured in the fire. The Cambodian authorities have not yet confirmed a full report on the deaths and injuries. Officials from the Burapa Internal…
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Aeroflot to launch direct flights from Bangkok to Irkutsk
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot is launching direct flights from Irkutsk in Russia to Bangkok, Thailand, starting January 18, 2023. A Boeing 737-800 will service the route which will run twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with a flight time of 6 hours and 25 minutes. Irkutsk, known as “Paris of Siberia,” is Russia’s 25th-largest city by population. It is the…
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110,000 traffic tickets issued to speeding drivers ahead of road safety campaign
The Highway Police Division revealed that 110,000 speeding tickets were issued ahead of Thailand’s seven-day road safety campaign. The Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Damronsak Kittiprapas, launched the road safety campaign named Seven-day Dangerous (7 วัน อันตราย) today, December 29. The campaign aims to reduce the number of road accidents during the traditional holiday season when many Thais will…
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A forgetful husband tests marriage after accidently abandoning his wife on a road trip after taking a quick leak
For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death us do part, and in an emergency toilet break situation, every marriage is tested to some degree. And, an absent-minded husband truly tested the strength of his marriage on a road trip last week. He pulled over by the roadside to quickly take a leak before climbing back into…
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Road safety campaign spells disaster for Chiang Mai rescue services
A rescue service in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, is receiving the same “false alarm” phone call over and over again thanks to a controversial road safety campaign. Thailand sees a surge in road accidents and road deaths every year between December 29 – January 4, gaining the nickname “Seven Days of Danger.” Road safety campaigns aim to remind motorists to take…
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Thailand to offer free Covid-19 booster shots to foreign tourists
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports Ministry (MOTS) announced its plans to provide free Covid-19 booster shots for foreign tourists entering Thailand next year. The disclosure will be welcomed by many who fear another Covid wave after China announced it will open its borders and relax quarantine measures. The MOTS also briefed the press that the government will introduce the…
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Russians take Thailand by storm
Since September, Russian tourist arrivals in Thailand have increased sevenfold. A number of favourable factors make Thailand the perfect place to escape the icy grip of winter in Russia this year. Thailand, especially Pattaya and Phuket, has always been a popular holiday destination for Russians, with 1.48 million of them arriving in Thailand in 2019. Pre-pandemic, Russia was once Thailand’s…
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Police track down suspect in murder of woman dumped in garbage bin
Police believe the person responsible for the death of the woman dumped in a garbage bin in the Khao Sok National Park at the border of Phang Nga and Surat Thani is her boyfriend. Police reported they found evidence in the boyfriend’s home related to the murder of the woman, Suphattra Yodkaew, and is now on the run. Police identified…
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Thailand prepares to welcome infected tide of Chinese tourists
As Thailand prepares to welcome an infected tide of Chinese tourists, in the US, the Biden administration is changing its policy for arrivals from China, including Hong Kong, and Macau. Washington is scared. Coronavirus infections running rampant in Beijing could spawn new and more dangerous variants. From January 5, all travellers from China, including Hong Kong, and Macau, must present…
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Patani Colonial Territory not played in Chiang Mai
Law students at Chiang Mai University cancelled a game night during which they planned to play the card game Patani Colonial Territory, following a visit by a mysterious “officer.” Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) report that a plainclothes “officer,” visited the Faculty of Law and other university administrators on December 26 after a student group announced that they were…
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Scottish man fights for his life in Thai hospital
A Scottish man is fighting for his life in a Thai hospital after a virus triggered a respiratory disease and rendered him unconscious while on holiday. Robert Kessell flew to Thailand on November 24 for a three-week holiday but was struck by illness on Thursday, December 8. The 66 year old, from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire, was rushed to Pattaya…
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Thai police rescue pregnant woman walking 600 kilometres from Isaan to Bangkok
With just 50 baht to her name, a pregnant woman attempted to walk from Ubon Ratchathani in northeast Thailand to Bangkok yesterday in search of a new start. She decided to undertake the arduous journey after she was betrayed by her Thai boyfriend of five years. Yesterday, officers from Warin Chamrap Police Station stopped to help a woman of Tai…
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At least 10 dead & 30 injured in fierce casino fire in Cambodia
At least 10 people died in a fierce fire incident in the early hours of this morning at the Grand Diamonds City and Casino in Poipet city in Cambodia, on the border with Thailand. According to a report on Channel 3, the blaze started on the 7th and 8th floors of a 17-storey building in the Grand Diamonds City at…
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Pattaya Police fine Norwegian tourist 5,000 baht for public lewdness
Police tracked down, arrested, and fined the foreign tourist who made headlines on Monday for fornicating with a Thai woman against a power pole on the mean streets of Pattaya in eastern Thailand. Yesterday, the Superintendent of Pattaya City Police Station Pol Col Kulchat Kulchai detained a 49 year old Norwegian man under suspicion of public lewdness. The scandalous Scandinavian…
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German man’s yacht vanishes from Phuket, Thailand
A search is underway to locate ‘Marco Polo,’ a German man’s yacht, which mysteriously vanished from a pier in Phuket, southern Thailand, yesterday morning. At 11am, 58 year old Marco Käfer of German nationality found that his eponymous boat was missing from Phuket’s charming Nai Harn Beach in Rawai district. Concerned Käfer was informed by a witness that three people…
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VIDEO: air rage incident on Thai Smile Airways flight from Bangkok to Kolkata
Footage of an air rage incident emerged yesterday of two Indian passengers swapping punches on a flight from Bangkok to Kolkata in India. A passenger recorded footage of the fracas and uploaded it to social media where it quickly went viral. It captures two men swapping insults, then punches after boarding a Thai Smile Airways flight that was set to…
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Chinese tourists may bring growing pains to the Thai travel industry
While people in the tourism and entertainment sector are celebrating China’s announcement to reopen and allow outgoing travel, others have raised fears about the potential problems that could come with an influx of Chinese tourists. Some fear an overwhelming surge of Chinese tourists flooding Thailand’s hotspots. Others worry that the healthcare systems in Thailand could be overburdened by the influx…
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Anarchic passenger causes chaos on bus trip from Phuket to Bangkok
An anarchic passenger caused chaos for other travellers on a journey from Phuket to Bangkok today. The nuisance man annoyed his fellow passengers, illegally smoked, insulted staff members, and smashed a window with a fire extinguisher before leaping from the bus into busy oncoming traffic on Rama II Road in Bangkok. The driver of a Phuket-Bangkok coach bus, 51 year…
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Thai police arrest gang of Chinese visa overstayers in Bangkok
Thailand’s Immigration Police arrested a gang of Chinese visa overstayers in the Chatuchak district of Bangkok yesterday. On Monday, North Bangkok District Court issued a search warrant for a property in Soi Sermsuk to investigate a group of “suspicious aliens.” Officers from the Immigration Bureau searched the property yesterday and found that seven Chinese nationals were staying there. All seven…
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Coach bus driver praised after giving free rides from central Thailand to Isaan
Thai netizens hailed a bus driver for offering free rides to anyone wishing to spend the festive season with their families in the Isaan province of Sa Kaeo. The free trip was from Samut Prakarn province in central Thailand which was nearly 200 kilometres long. The Facebook page Spotlight Bangpoo (สปอร์ตไลท์บางปู) announced the free rides from Samut Prakarn to Sa Kaeo…
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Amateur gunmaker learned how to make guns on YouTube
An amateur gunmaker confessed to police that he bought gun parts through a Lazada app and learned how to make the weapons on YouTube after officers swooped to make an arrest following a tip-off. Police raided the gunmaker’s house in the Sattahip district in Chon Buri at 11pm yesterday and arrested him on charges of illegally making guns and selling…
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Rawai residents shocked by baby crocodile
Residents in the Phuket district of Rawai got a bit of a shock yesterday when they encountered a baby crocodile. The little croc was hanging out at a local lotus pond in the neighbourhood. Many of the neighbours called city officials to report the unnerving visitor. The Rawai Municipality began receiving reports yesterday about a baby crocodile on the loose…
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Thai shooting champion accused of murder
A Thai shooting champion was arrested yesterday in connection with a murder case six years ago in the southern province of Surat Thani. The marksman denied all allegations, claiming that he is a professional and wouldn’t have missed the target like those already charged. A kratom seller hired three gunmen to murder another kratom seller, 54 year old Thawatchai Wichianchai,…
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Top 5 foreign nationalities buying condos in Thailand in 2022
Chinese nationals bought the most condos out of any foreign nationality in Thailand this year despite the difficulties posed by Beijing’s strict Covid-19 restrictions, which are finally easing up after three years. In Thailand, foreigners are permitted to own 49% of the units in any condominium building. The remaining 51% must have Thai ownership. Although fewer Chinese bought condos in…
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Pace Launches Media Campaign on Tuk-Tuks – Buy Now Pay Later With 0% Interest
SPONSORED Pace is a Buy Now Pay Later service from Singapore which helps consumers split payments into 3 months with 0% interest. Since late 2017, there are now more than 100 participating stores and 2000 points of sale across Thailand. Popular brands such as Nike, Superdry, Victoria’s Secret, Michael Kors, Bath & Body Works, EVEANDBOY, Mango, Aldo, Boardriders, OWNDAYS and…
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Ceremony launches “Seven Days of Danger” for Phuket roads
The yearly road safety campaign for the holiday week called “Seven Days of Danger” was officially launched in Phuket yesterday. The week is from December 29 to January 4, when each year the rush of holiday travellers on the roads leads to an increase in accidents and road deaths. A ceremony hosted at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday, led by Phuket…
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HTMS Sukhothai update: Thai navy confirms 22 dead, 7 missing
At 8.20am today, the body of a Thai navy sailor from the sunken HTMS Sukhothai was found on the coast of Koh Samet island, Chumphon province, southern Thailand. In a press release, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy Admiral Pokrong Monthatphalin said that 76 out of 105 crew members survived after the ship went down off the coast of Prachuap…
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Survey reveals which Thai provinces drink the most alcohol
On Monday, a doctor gave an interesting lecture about provincial alcohol consumption in Thailand at a conference held by the Centre of Addiction Studies in Bangkok. Dr Athip Tan-Aree, M.D., from Srithanya Hospital in Nonthaburi province, revealed the results of a nationwide survey that asked 84,000 Thai respondents questions about their alcohol drinking habits. The survey found that 28% of…
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Destitute man walks 1,000 kilometres over 11 days with 2 daughters to find job
The heart-wrenching story of a destitute man who walked 1,000 kilometres over 11 days to find work to feed his two starving children has a happy ending. The jobless man, Norraphat, and his two daughters, aged 10 and 12 years old, began their long arduous journey from a relative’s house in the Tung Wa district of Satun on December 11.…
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Thai DCD: you probably won’t die of a brain eating amoeba
The Disease Control Department (DCD) in Thailand is reassuring people that the chances of dying from a brain-eating amoeba are very, very small. The statement comes after news got out that a man returned to South Korea from a trip to Thailand and died of Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba. The DCD director-general reported that only 17 infections have been…
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