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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Several Thai street food eateries earn spots on 2023 Michelin Guide list
Thailand’s culinary scene is making waves. It was announced yesterday that 189 street food eateries across the kingdom have made it to the 2023 Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list. Out of the 189 restaurants and eateries that made it to the list, 84 were street food eateries, and 105 were restaurants. Michelin Guide’s international director, Gwendal Poullennec, said the high…
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BOGOF Tesla+house offer fails to excite New Zealand homebuyers
A BOGOF Tesla+house offer fails to excite New Zealand homebuyers. A homeowner in New Zealand is offering a “free” Tesla to anyone who buys his house. The house – a seven-bedroom, five-bathroom monstrosity – has been on the market for weeks. The Kiwi house price bubble is well-and-truly burst. Inflated prices fell more than 10% in October alone, the 11th…
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UK bird flu epidemic threatens to cancel Christmas
As a bird flu epidemic in UK poultry farms threatens to cancel Christmas, the impact of the nation’s worst-ever bird flu outbreak on Christmas supplies will be discussed by MPs later this month. The epidemic, caused by unhygienic conditions at industrial turkey production facilities is in Norfolk, the centre of turkey production. With more than 50 cases in the last…
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APEC 2022: Protesters clash with riot police in Bangkok, Thailand
Riot police clashed with protesters at Asoke Intersection in Bangkok this afternoon as world leaders gather in the Thai capital for the APEC Summit 2022. Due to road closures, the intersection is the closest the public can get to the summit which is being held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre from November 16-19. Police ramped up security in…
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Man stabbed by friends over row on politics and Thai PM
A man was stabbed by friends after a row about Thai politics and the tenure of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The offender was angry that the victim did not support the Thai PM. Officers from Marb Ta Phut Police Station were notified of the stabbing incident at 3.30pm yesterday, November 16. The incident happened at a shophouse in the Soi…
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Thai FDA to go after misleading ads for nasal spray supposedly preventing Covid
Thailand’s FDA is going after misleading ads that make it appear that a nasal spray can prevent or heal Covid-19. The FDA is currently gathering evidence to take legal action. The FDA’s deputy secretary-general said today that Besuto Qlears nasal spray has an instruction for people to use it when they develop cold or flu-like symptoms. The deputy secretary-general said…
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Dead body of unidentified foreign man found in Chon Buri sea
A Thai sailor found the dead body of an unidentified foreign man in the sea off Samae San Island in the Sattahip district of Chon Buri. A one-kilogram rock was found in the man’s backpack. The foreigner’s body was found about 200 metres away from Nam Sai Beach on Samae San Island. He is believed to be about 40 to…
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Burmese junta to release former UK ambassador, Australian economist, and Japanese journalist
The Burmese junta is set to release a former UK ambassador, an Australian economist, and a Japanese journalist who have been detained in Myanmar. The three are being released under amnesty which includes over 6,000 other prisoners. Former UK ambassador Vicky Bowman was arrested with her husband on August 24, and the two were sentenced to a year in prison. Reuters…
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Indian tourists injured in fight with ganja seller on Pattaya’s Walking Street
Indian tourists were injured in a fight with a ganja seller on Pattaya’s Walking Street. The fight broke out in the early hours of the morning on November 14. The weed seller said the tourists had bought ice cream from a shop near his stall when they came to sit down at one of his tables. The seller said the…
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Residents in a Chiang Rai district forced to breathe poisonous hydrogen cyanide for months
Thai people on the border of Thailand and Myanmar have been suffering for months after they unknowingly inhaled poisonous hydrogen cyanide (HCN) being belched into the atmosphere by a factory in Myanmar. Residents in the Mae Sai district of Ching Rai province have been protesting for months about a noxious odour and what appears to be low-white clouds hanging above…
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Phuket restaurant managers arrested for selling parrotfish
There’s been another parrotfish incident in Thailand, this time in Phuket. Three restaurant managers on the island province have been busted for selling parrotfish, a protected animal in Thailand. Officers inspected restaurants in Karon on Tuesday and Wednesday. The three restaurants inspected were Chic Restaurant, found with nine parrotfish, Bounty Seafood, found with five parrotfish, and Ton Tan Seafood, found…
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Police auction off water buffaloes seized from drug dealer in northeast Thailand
Thai police confiscated 16 water buffaloes from a drug kingpin in Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast Thailand, and sold them at auction today for almost 390,100 baht (US$10,882). Earlier this month, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) seized 4.2 million baht in assets from “Yutt Nong Ya Khao,” the kingpin of a drug trafficking network in Isaan. The court…
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Amnesty International calls on Thailand to help stop Myanmar violence
Amnesty International yesterday called on Thailand to help stop the violence in Myanmar. The organisation marched to the UN building on Ratchadamnoen Nok Road to submit a letter urging the Thai government to help, as Thailand is the host of the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. The letter listed four demands: The Thai government should use every possible means to…
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Songkhla hotels demand longer opening hours on Malaysian border
Longer opening hours for a controversial night entertainment strip which borders Malaysia in Ban Dan Nok, Songkhla, will boost the local economy and attract visitors according to the Hatyai Songkhla Hotels Association, who have a lot to gain if the change goes ahead. Association president Sitthiphong Sitthiphatprapha said Ban Dan Nok had been left out of tourism promotions, despite many…
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Thailand gets 200 million baht discount for World Cup TV licence
Three days before the first match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off and Thailand is out on the street with a begging bowl trying to collect money from both the government and private sectors to cover the broadcasting licence. Incredibly, FIFA gave in to Thailand’s embarrassing ancient bartering scheme and knocked 200 million baht off the original asking price…
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Senior sets junior student on fire in sick Uni hazing ritual in Thailand
Senior students at a famous university in Bangkok sprayed a first-year student with spray paint and set him on fire during a hazing ritual – or initiation ceremony – causing him serious burns on his body and genitals. Thanaphon [surname reserved], a 19 year old mechanics student, filed a complaint at Bang Phlat Police Station after he was attacked and…
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New direct flight from Oman makes its way to Phuket
A new direct flight from Oman made its way to Phuket International Airport on Monday. The Oman Air flight arrived in Phuket from Muscat, Oman’s capital. The flight carried a total of 162 passengers, who received HKT souvenirs upon arrival, The Phuket Express reported. Phuket has seen a number of new direct flights arrive recently. The flagship airline of Russia…
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Search continues for French tourist missing in Thailand
The search for the missing French tourist believed to be lost in the jungle in Surat Thani province in southern Thailand continues today after it was temporarily called off last night due to heavy rains. He was last seen six days ago. Three witnesses provided useful testimony which has helped police to narrow down their search. Frenchman Gollino Cyrit Tizzlano…
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The spiritual significance of lotus flowers in Thailand
If you live in Thailand, you’ve probably noticed the country’s scenic lotus flowers blooming in ponds across the kingdom. These flowers add a great deal of beauty to Thailand’s scenery. But did you know that lotuses also hold significance in Thai Buddhism? Lotuses grow from mud, and are therefore believed to symbolise growing toward light and warmth, and rising above…
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Anti-APEC protesters warned not to pop a squat at Bangkok’s City Hall
Anti-APEC protesters are being warned to not pop a squat at Bangkok’s City Hall after the “Citizens Stop Apec 2022” leader said they intended to remain there. Patsaravalee “Mind” Tanakitvibulpon, the group’s leader, says many protesters had travelled from other provinces and had no way of finding accommodation, so they planned on sleeping overnight at City Hall. According to Bangkok Post,…
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US actor Kevin Spacey faces new sexual assault charges in UK
US actor Kevin Spacey faces new sexual assault charges in the UK after being cleared of wrongdoing in a US trial of similar charges. Spacey did an about-face in the US trial when he at first apologised to an actor who accused him of assault. He then took back his apology after saying he should not have apologised for something…
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Two petrol stations bombed in southern Thailand
Two petrol stations in Pattani province in southern Thailand were bombed yesterday evening. No one was killed or seriously injured. Police believe the attacks were carried out by insurgents and possibly in retaliation to an incident on November 7 when the police killed an insurgent who bombed a petrol station in Pattani. There were seven warrants out for his arrest…
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4 teenagers arrested from a sadistic gang of 17
Police arrested four teenagers from a sadistic gang of 17 members who kidnapped, tortured, and forced three teenage victims to perform oral sex for one of the gang members. One of the gang members is reported to be an actor in a Thai Netflix series while a perverse woman in the group is reported to be famous on Thai TikTok.…
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Unhinged cop shoots bar owner after being refused free food & drinks
An unhinged cop allegedly killed the owner of a karaoke bar in the southern province of Songkhla last Sunday, November 13, because he refused to offer free food and drinks. The senior sergeant major of police, Santiparp Rit-it-thiphat, was temporarily removed from his position after he shot dead the karaoke owner, 55 year old Pranate Chuea-la-ong. The victim’s wife, 55 year…
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Hotel maids busted for stealing from Pattaya tourist’s room years ago
Two hotel maids were busted yesterday for stealing items including gold jewellery and cash from a tourist’s room in Pattaya years ago. Police arrested one suspect, 44 year old Aranya, at a rental room in the central Ayutthaya province. They arrested the other suspect, 36 year old Pratchalee, in Samut Prakan. Aranya was arrested under a warrant issued by the…
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Fisherman reels in dead body from Chao Phraya River
A Thai man went fishing last night at Nonthaburi Pier on the Chao Phraya River in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok and unexpectedly hooked the dead body of an unidentified man. The 37 year old fisherman, Pitsanu Phukird, told police that he was fishing on the pier at about 1am when he caught what he believed was a big fish. Pitsanu’s…
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Thai airline oversells tickets on domestic flight causing passengers to miss wedding
Four passengers looking forward to a wedding sadly didn’t make it in time after a Thai airline allegedly oversold tickets on a domestic flight from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok to Udon Thani in northeast Thailand this morning. At 8am, Phaiboon Sawanprai – a subdistrict chief from Rayong province – told reporters that he had bought four valid plane tickets via…
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Unruly passengers disrupt two flights in Singapore
Since the Covid-19 pandemic air rage has been a disturbing growing trend. And this past week, Singapore had two incidents of flights being disrupted by unruly passengers. A flight on Scoot, Singapore Airlines’ low-cost carrier, was delayed when passengers refused to fasten their seatbelts for landing. And last week, a passenger was banned from Singapore Airlines after lashing out and…
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Police chief suspended as Pattaya pool villa suspects fess up
The chief of Chon Buri police has been suspended pending an investigation into his connections with fake suspects organised to confess to an assault and shooting case at a Pattaya pool villa in central Pattaya last month. National police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas transferred Pol Maj Gen Kittanate Thanananthavisin to an inactive post at the Royal Thai Police Department…
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Thai elephant given to Sri Lanka lives unhealthy life & works hard
Animal rights protection organisation RARE Sri Lanka urges Thailand to reclaim the Thai elephant they gave them 20 years ago because the animal is suffering at the hands of its owners. RARE Sri Lanka told Thairath that the Thai elephant, Sak Surin or Mathu Raja, was given to Sri Lanka as a gift in 2001. The Thai elephant was requested…
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