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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FBS celebrates 16 years with an adventurous Birthday Quest
Leading global broker FBS is marking its 16th anniversary with a special campaign — FBS Birthday Quest. Over the past 16 years, FBS has been on an incredible journey alongside its clients. Now, as a way to give back, the...
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Phuket homeowner checks CCTV to find foreign couple canoodling outside house
A Thai woman away in Germany was lost for words on Tuesday when she checked her Phuket home’s CCTV camera footage to see a foreign couple – a man and woman – having sex in front of her house. Homeowner Waralak Frisch often resides in Germany with her husband, so she installed security cameras to check on the safety of…
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Thai police say plan to change uniforms ‘a waste of money’
Plans to change the uniforms of parliament police, 6 months after they were issued with new ones, have been put on hold after officers objected, calling it “a waste of taxpayers’ money.” Sixty parliament police officers gathered at the parliament building, in Dusit district, yesterday to submit a letter to the President of the National Assembly, Chuan Leekpai, to oppose…
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Missing man rescued after night alone in middle of Phang Nga Bay off Phuket
A man who went missing in the middle of the ocean in Phang Nga Bay off Phuket on Tuesday has been rescued. The man, Panit, had taken off on his jet-ski in the afternoon from a pier in Koh Si Ray, a town near Phuket’s main city district. But the jet-ski ran out of fuel once he neared Phang Nga’s…
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Thai PM faces fourth censure motion next month
The next political challenge for Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is next month when a censure motion is put to the lower house by opposition MPs. The debate is scheduled for July 18 – 22 and there is no certainty how the votes will eventually fall at this time. Renegade MPs, new political factions, the PMs falling popularity and a looming…
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UPDATE: Police arrest fraudulent Japanese restaurant owner at Suvarnabhumi Airport
UPDATE: Police arrest fraudulent Japanese restaurant owner at Suvarnabhumi Airport Today, Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau arrested the fraudulent owner of Daruma Sushi, a famous Japanese restaurant chain, at Suvarnabhumi Airport. “Metha” returned to Thailand today having fled to Dubai in the UAE on June 16, after he received over 500 complaints from unhappy customers and staff. Police said Metha caused…
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Thais face death penalty if they take cannabis-related products into Indonesia
The Royal Thai Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, cautioned Thai people against taking cannabis and hemp into Indonesia as they could face the death penalty. The official Facebook page of the Royal Thai Embassy in Jakarta today uploaded a picture with a message saying, “The Royal Thai Embassy in Jakarta would like to warn Thai people not to carry cannabis, hemp,…
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Frenchman found dead in luxury villa in Koh Samui, Thailand
The body of a Frenchman was discovered at a luxury pool villa in Koh Samui, off the coast of the southern province of Surat Thani, at 9:30am this morning. Officers from Koh Samui Police Station were called to a detached house in Na Muang subdistrict after a cleaner discovered the body of 45 year old Christophe Cedric Moulinaires lying dead…
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Sri Lanka petroleum company in extreme debt, country hitting “rock bottom”
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is snowballing even further. The island nation’s PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka might be falling to “rock bottom” now that its major petroleum corporation is in extreme debt. He said that because of the debt, no other countries are willing to provide Sri Lanka with fuel. “Currently, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is $700 million in…
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Burmese refugees left stranded on desert island in Thailand for 3 days
Today, the Thai army picked up 16 Burmese refugees who were left stranded on a desert island off the coast of Ranong province, southern Thailand, for 3 days and 2 nights. The group came to the island from Myanmar by boat and were told to wait for another boat to take them across to the mainland. However, the boat they…
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Commuters asked not to flick hair on the BTS Skytrain
Here we go again. Commuters on the BTS Skytrain with long hair have been asked to refrain from flicking their hair because there is a danger it will hit the faces of other commuters, especially during rush hours, the BTS Skytrain operator says. Several commuters complained about passengers flipping their hair on the train and, on occasion, accidentally hitting the…
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German national falls to death from rooftop in Songkhla
An elderly German national fell to his death from an apartment rooftop in the southern province of Songkhla this morning. A security camera recorded the man’s body landing on the road below the 6-story building. Police were told that the man, 81 year old former marine Klaus-Dieter Buchholz, had lived alone in the apartment in the Hat Yai district for…
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Monkeypox arrives in Singapore and South Korea
Cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in Singapore and South Korea. Since the outbreak began in May, Singapore’s case is the first recorded in Southeast Asia. Singapore’s Ministry of Health confirmed that a 42 year old British flight attendant tested positive for monkeypox on June 20. He was in Singapore between June 15 and June 17, and again on June…
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Koh Samui tourist viewpoint to temporarily close following troubling inspection
A tourist attraction in Koh Samui is set to temporarily close after officials inspected the site. Officials from the southern province of Surat Thani discovered yesterday that Overlap Stone viewpoint had been operating without a business operator licence. Furthermore, there was no bridge construction licence for the bridge that connects to the site’s giant rock mass. Now, the viewpoint is…
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Bangkok’s plan to become the Venice of the East… again
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt yesterday met with the Federation of Thai Industries president to plan a grand project to turn the Hua Lamphong Canal into an example of the Venice of the East, an oft-mentioned nickname for Bangkok in the past. The 56 year old Chadchart met with Kriengkrai Thiennukul to discuss a solution to improving the city’s water quality,…
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At least 250 killed in Afghanistan earthquake
A powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake has devastated Eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 250 people. Hundreds more were injured and countless homes were destroyed in 4 districts of Paktika province after the earthquake struck in the early hours of this morning, while most people were sleeping. The epicentre was 44 kilometres from the southeastern city of Khost near the border of Pakistan,…
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Breaking the glass ceiling: Thai hotels push for gender equality at women’s hospitality event
As a study reveals that 90% of general managers in Thai hotels are men, an important event in Phuket aims to understand why women still encounter barriers to career progression. Gender equality is high on the agenda for Thai hotels as a hospitality event held recently in Phuket addressed the imbalance in the industry in leadership positions for highly qualified…
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Grab bike ‘taxis’ forced to get commercial licenses in Thailand
A win for ‘Win’ motorcycle taxi riders today after new rules force Grab riders into the same transportation regulations. Of course, the new rules will probably force up the prices for Grab bikes from next month when the app-based ride-hailing service will have to comply with the same rules governing ‘Win Motocy’ motorcycle taxi riders. The orange-safety-vest-clad Win drivers are…
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Energy Ministry encourages consumers to use charcoal stoves to combat gas hike
The Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency has a solution to solve the recent gas hike: use a charcoal stove if cooking gas is too expensive. The department’s official Facebook page yesterday uploaded a picture of a stove, with a caption saying ‘a charcoal stove is durable, helps save money, uses less charcoal, and offers a lot of heat.”…
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Man dies after being hit by SRT Dark Red Line train in Bangkok
An unidentified man was reported dead after being hit by a Dark Red Line train, of the State Railway of Thailand, between Lak Hok and Don Mueng Stations. The train operator, SRT Electrified Train Company Limited, insisted that the man wasn’t a passenger and sneaked into the restricted area for some other unknown reason. The official Facebook page of the…
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Flip a coin – bumpy ride for the crypto-faithful
The following is a news opinion and NOT financial advice. If you’re into trading or investing in cryptocurrencies you already know it’s been a rocky ride. Just one roller coaster crypto-ride – Bitcoin – stands out since it hit a peak on November 8 last year. And has tanked 70% of its perceived value since. Today the online crypto-gurus are…
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30 houses destroyed in Bangkok blaze
A fire in Bangkok gutted about 30 houses in the city’s Pathumwan district yesterday. Locals whose homes were burned to the ground were housed at a temporary shelter near a community centre, and received relief services. Four of the locals suffered from smoke inhalation, and traffic in the area was closed to help a bedridden patient reach King Chulalongkorn Memorial…
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2 year old foreign child in ICU after Pit Bill attack in Pattaya, Thailand
A 2 year old foreign boy is being treated in the ICU after he was mauled by a Pit Bull in Pattaya on Monday. The young child suffered a broken jaw, torn cheeks, and an open wound on his head which required 200 stitches. At 4pm on Monday, a foreign nanny took 2 foreign boys – aged 2 and 4…
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Thailand and UK sign ambitious bilateral trade deal
Thai Deputy PM and Minister of Commerce, Jurin Laksanawisit, met UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, Penny Mordaunt, in London yesterday to explore ways of increasing bilateral trade and committing to an ambitious trading relationship. The 2 politicians concluded business at the UK-Thailand Joint Economic and Trade Committee by signing a programme of work, including Government-to-Government and Government-to-Business activity,…
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Getting rid of masks and revised closing times in Thailand – waiting for official rubber stamp
Whilst we might be rid of the Thailand Pass on July 1, there appears to be an administrative delay to the changes in mask requirements and changes to the closing times. In clarifying new face mask guidelines, Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, the spokesperson for CCSA says that all 77 provinces in Thailand would be redesignated as green zones. Previously there were…
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Weather wreaks havoc on Pattaya
Heavy rain, wind, and floods have wreaked havoc on Pattaya yesterday. Areas with serious flooding and damage included South Pattaya, Central Pattaya, Soi Siam Country Club Pattaya, Soi Buakhao, and Pattaya Third Road. Glass panels knocked out by fierce winds fell from buildings onto several cars in Central Pattaya. Meanwhile, several roads including Sukhumvit Road were under water, disrupting traffic.…
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BEAM me up! App-based electric scooters come to Phuket
by John Magee What costs 200 baht in a taxi but 30 baht on a BEAM? Chances are that you’ve seen these little purple scooters BEAMing around Phuket, particularly in the Laguna area, Patong, and Phuket Town. Indeed, they are appearing in growing numbers not only in Thailand but also, for starters, in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Turkey, and…
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Thailand offers 5-year income tax exemption for foreign actors
The cabinet approved a 5-year personal income tax exemption for foreign film stars who earn income from foreign movies shot in Thailand. The government revealed they wanted to attract more film crews and expected the movie industry to generate about 17.5 billion baht over those 5 years. The PM’s Deputy Spokesperson, Ratchada Thanadirek, says that the government wants to encourage…
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Japanese restaurant owner makes slippery getaway
The owner of a popular Japanese buffet restaurant, Daruma Sushi, made a slippery getaway from Thailand last week leaving a trail of chaos behind and complaints from over 500 people. A number of those people had lodged fraudulent complaints against the owner with the police and the consumer protection agency. The owner disappeared a day before he closed all 27…
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