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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Sponsored How one hospital visit in Thailand could cost more than your whole trip
Thailand is a favourite spot for travellers who want to enjoy more while spending less. From cheap street food to low-cost hotels and fun attractions, it’s easy to stretch your budget here. But there’s one thing many people don’t think...
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656 people arrested for illegal World Cup betting
The Royal Thai Police (RTP) have had a ball this week cracking down on illegal FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar football betting. During the first week of the tournament, the RTP arrested 656 Thai people for hosting or joining illegal football betting platforms, seizing nearly 200,000 baht from croupiers. The Assistant to the Commissioner-General of the RTP, Phanurat Lakboon, yesterday…
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CCTV across Phuket to be integrated as part of “Phuket Crime-Free”
Phuket Governor Narong launched a new initiative earlier this week called “Phuket Crime-Free.” As part of the initiative, Phuket officials are making some innovations on the island province’s CCTV networks. CCTV networks across Phuket will now be integrated into one system. On Tuesday, there was a mass signing of an MoU between agencies and government offices involved. This included 12…
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Thai pro car racer fined 1,000 baht for writing-off Ferrari worth 25 million baht in Bangkok
A skilled professional car racer faces a 1,000 baht fine after smashing a friend’s precious red Ferrari worth 25 million baht (US$695,000) into a tree in Bangkok yesterday. The driver, Nawin “Gaga” Yasri, was sent to hospital with a back injury while the expensive car is a write-off. An officer from Don Mueng Police Station rushed to Phahonyothin Road in…
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Wild elephant electrocuted to death in eastern Thailand
A wild elephant was electrocuted to death at a jackfruit plantation in the middle of the jungle in Chachoengsao province in eastern Thailand yesterday. A farmer installed electric wires around his farm to prevent his jackfruit from being stolen by elephants. At 1pm yesterday, officers at Tha Thakiab Police Station were informed that a wild male elephant was found dead…
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Dead body of unidentified transwoman found in canal near Bangkok
A local fisherman found the dead body of a transwoman floating in a canal in Pathum Thani province near Bangkok. Her identity is unknown. Officers from Klong Luang Police Station were notified of the dead body in Song Canal in the Klong Luang district of Pathum Thani yesterday at 2pm. The body was spotted floating under a wooden house along…
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PTSD cat seeks new home following Narathiwat terror blast
A PTSD cat seeks a new home following the Narathiwat terror blast. Apart from the tragic loss of life and destruction of property, the car bomb that destroyed Narathiwat police apartments on Tuesday left one former resident homeless and hungry. A cat that was owned by one of the Narathiwat police officers lost in the blast is suffering from PTSD.…
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Thai visitors to Japan up fourfold
Thai visitors to Japan are up 26,000. The number of Thai people holidaying in Japan increased from 7,600 in September to 34,000 this month as Japan ended its Covid-19 restrictions and eased visa rules. At least a million Thais are expected to visit in 2023. President of the Thai-Japan Tourist Association Anake Srishevachart expects Japan to welcome more than 100,000…
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Keeping it ‘reel’ as giant catfish season casts of in Thailand
Local fishermen were keeping it “reel” this week as the annual giant catfish catching season cast off at the Kaeng Krachan Dam in Phetchaburi province in the central part of Thailand. Giant catfish season in Thailand lasts two months and the nation’s fishermen are allowed to set their reels going from November 20 to January 20. But it isn’t open…
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Thailand bans recreational use of cannabis inside cafes
Cannabis shops and cafes in Thailand are no longer allowed to let customers smoke the plant recreationally on the premises anymore. On-site consumption of cannabis for medical purposes is still permitted if the cannabis is sold by a medical practitioner. The announcement was made in the Royal Gazette yesterday and is effective immediately. The announcement states that the Ministry of…
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Hua Hin has a huge new beer bar complex
There’s been an exciting development in Hua Hin’s nightlife- a huge new beer bar complex. The new Nice 94 complex is located on Soi 94, behind Wonderland and Rock Zone. It has about 40 bars. Across the street from Nice 94, another smaller beer bar complex is also being built. This news comes as Soi 94 has been developing more…
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Elon Musk sees net worth plummet by US$100 billion after Tesla shares hit record low
Elon Musk has reportedly seen his fortune cut by over US$100 billion this year, but he is still the richest person in the world. According to Fortune, the CEO of Tesla has a net worth of between US$170 billion to $182 billion, edging him slightly ahead of Bernard Arnault, the founder of luxury goods giant LVMH. Arnault reportedly has a…
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Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘terror and murder’ after missile strike kills newborn baby
Ukraine’s president is accusing his Russian counterpart of bringing “terror and murder” to his country after an alleged Russian missile strike killed a newborn baby. The missile hit a maternity unit in the Ukrainian town of Vilnyansk in the country’s southern Zaporizhzhia region. The only woman in the facility was the baby’s mother who was rescued from the building along…
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One-third of adult Thai citizens applied for welfare
Applications for welfare have seen a huge jump, with 22 million Thai people requesting a state welfare card in the latest round of registration. That massive figure equates to about one-third of the entire adult population of Thailand. It is a huge jump from the current 13.5 million people now carrying welfare cards in the country. The figures come after…
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Venomous snake rescued from beer in Australia
Australian reptile rescuers have come to the rescue of a thirsty snake found with its head wedged inside the ring-pull opening at the top of a beer can. Photos and video posted to Facebook by Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation show rescuers responding to a report of a snake trapped in a beer can in Brighton, Queensland. The rescuers arrived to…
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Hotel loan program extended through June 2023
Hotels trying to recover from closing down for the Covid-19 pandemic are getting a little extra financial help. The Thai Cabinet has decided to extend low-interest soft loans until June 2023. The loans were created to help hotels address property repairs after many opted to close when customers dried up because the borders closed amid the pandemic. The announcement was…
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Police go after transgender sex workers, urge them not to damage Pattaya’s tourism image
Police are going after Pattaya’s transgender sex workers. Last night, a team of Pattaya Police and Tourist Police inspected Beach Road, arrested 36 suspected transgender sex workers, and took them to the station for identity recording. The inspection’s leader, Police Lieutenant Colonel Pitchaya Khiaoplueng, stressed to the suspects that they could not loiter on the beach and offer sexual services…
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Alleged Chinese drug tycoon married to Thai policewoman surrenders to police
Chinese businessman “Tuhao,” wanted on drug charges in Thailand, surrendered to police today after they raided his mansion in Bangkok this morning. The accused is married to a high-ranking Thai police officer who works for the foreign affairs division. Yesterday, Southern Bangkok Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant for “conspiring to commit drug offences and possessing…
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Brazil’s far-right president challenges election results
Brazil’s far-right president is challenging the country’s election results, which saw him lose in October. President Jair Bolsonaro’s party, the Liberal Party, has argued that ballots from some machines were compromised during the second round and that the electoral court should reject them. Several news outlets reported today that Brazil’s supreme court justice has now given the party 24 hours…
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Airlines argue that flights only need one pilot
If we’ve learned anything from Elon Musk’s tumultuous slash-and-burn takeover of Twitter it’s that gutting essential workers can wreak havoc on a business. Or many in the airline industry have learned nothing. Airlines and international regulatory agencies are calling for the International Civil Aviation Organization to drop the requirement of two pilots per flight. They argue that commercial flights can…
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Man crashes car into elephant at Khao Yai National Park
A Thai man risks a charge of violating the National Park Act after he crashed his sedan into an elephant at Khao Yai National Park in the central province of Nakhon Nayok. The driver was hurt in the collision and sent to Pak Chong Nana Hospital to have his injuries looked at. Officers reported that they are still looking for…
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Bangladeshi terrorists who hacked American blogger to death escape
Two Bangladeshi terrorists who hacked an American blogger to death in 2015 managed to escape a crowded court in Dhaka on Sunday. Police said that bikers sprayed them with chemicals before taking away the convicts. The Islamist militants had been on death row for killing Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy. Roy referred to himself as an engineer by profession and a…
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Business is booming on Khao San Road thanks to the World Cup
Business is booming on Khao San Road in Bangkok thanks to the FIFIA 2022 World Cup. The President of the Khao San Road Business Association, Sa-nga Rueangwattanakun, revealed that businesses on Khao San Road increased by 50%. Sa-nga said visitors flocked to entertainment venues and restaurants in the area to watch the World Cup matches providing a welcome boost to…
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Unswerving Covid-19 policy kills off Shanghai F1 GP
China’s dictatorial Covid-19 policy has killed off Shanghai’s return to the Formula 1 calendar next year. F1 has not visited China since 2019 and was due to return for the fourth time in 2023 on April 16. The key sticking point is that F1 staff would not be given exemptions from quarantine requirements in the event of being infected. F1 refuses…
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Chinese woman stabs Russian boyfriend’s Chinese mistress to death in Bangkok
UPDATE The Chinese woman who murdered a fellow Chinese woman in a Bangkok shopping mall toilet yesterday told police that the deceased was in a secret relationship with her Russian boyfriend. The foreign killer was found to have overstayed her visa in the kingdom, said police, adding that 36 year old Tang Jun entered Thailand on a tourist visa which…
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Patong business operators want transgender sex workers “cleaned up”
Patong business operators on Bangla Road want transgender sex workers to be “cleaned up,” in addition to food and drink vendors. The president of the Patong Entertainment Business Association, Weerawit Kreuasombat, said… “While Patong officials are now increasing safety management measures on Bangla Road, transgender prostitutes should be cleaned up too. We consistently get complaints that they are annoying and…
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Record-breaking twins born from 30 year old frozen embryos
Twins Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway entered the Guinness Book of Records for being overdue babies – by a staggering 30 years! OK, they weren’t technically inside a mother’s womb for three decades waiting to be born. They were 30 year old frozen embryos, which broke a world record for the longest-frozen embryos to ever result in a live birth. CNN…
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Thailand and Cambodian officials agree to remove mines in border areas
Thai and Cambodian officials have agreed to remove mines in shared border areas. Cambodian PM Hun Sen instructed provincial authorities to clear the mines after partaking in the 30th anniversary of the mine action exhibition. According to Phnom Penh Post, the PM called on all relevant authorities to work with the Thai side of the border before discussing border issues…
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Indonesian earthquake death toll reaches 268 with 151 still missing
The death toll from the latest Indonesian earthquake has risen to 268, with 151 still reported missing. The quake which hit the island of Java, has injured 1,083 people according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. The quake hit the city of Cianjur on Monday afternoon, with one woman saying her home started shaking like it was dancing. According to…
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36 sex workers in Pattaya arrested for prostitution
Thirty-six prostitutes in Pattaya were arrested last night near Walking Street for selling their bodies. Channel 3 reported that the Pattaya tourist police, and volunteers, patrolled Pattaya Walking Street yesterday at about 10pm. Officers were acting on complaints by tourists that they had been robbed in the area and their mission last night focused on the resort’s sex workers illegally…
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Phuket man who slit father’s throat faces murder charges
UPDATE The Phuket man who slit his father’s throat on Monday now faces charges of murder. The man, 26 year old Arnon Kammanochart, slit the throat of his father, 51 year old Uthai Kammanochart, in Thalang district. Arnon claimed that he was defending himself from his father. He said his father physically attacked him when he didn’t have money for…
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