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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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10 biggest challenges retirees face in Thailand (and how to overcome them)
Retiring in Thailand comes with many benefits, like warm weather, affordable living, and a rich culture. However, it also brings challenges. Retirees must deal with visa rules, healthcare costs, language barriers, and cultural differences. Rising medical expenses, required insurance, and...
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Former air force officer murders ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend in Bangkok
A former Royal Thai Air Force officer murdered his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend at a house in Ratchathewi district in Bangkok yesterday morning. The perpetrator broke into the couple’s home and shot dead 24 year old Fah and 25 year old Korakot before fleeing the house. Fah was shot twice in the head and body and Korakot was shot…
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Large banana plantation near Bangkok goes viral, Thai netizens say owner wants to avoid land tax
One of the biggest exhibition centres and event venues, Impact Arena, in the central province of Nonthaburi, basically just north of Bangkok, is showing off its large banana plantation on their official Facebook page. The page claims the CEO desires to increase green spaces for people, but Thai netizens have figured out it’s just a way the controlling company is…
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Ranong reports 41 cases of monkey-to-human “Nousai” malaria
Authorities in Ranong, southern Thailand, have reported 41 cases of Nousai malaria in the province. Ranong’s Provincial Public Health office reported that most patients infected with Nousai malaria have a history of going deep into the forest. Nousai malaria, caused by the plasmodium knowlesi parasite, is passed from monkeys to humans through female Anopheles mosquito bites. Yesterday, the eastern province…
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Phuket police search for kidnapper and young girl he abducted months ago
Police are still on the hunt for a man who kidnapped a young girl on Rawai Beach in the main city district of Phuket in February. The girl’s mother reported the kidnapping on February 9, saying that a 33 year old man named only as ‘Camp’ abducted her 13-year-old daughter while the girl was selling flowers on Rawai Beach in…
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Bangkok governor-elect calls for calm and unity to get through the political storm
Chadchart Sittipunt has called for the citizens of Bangkok to put their differences to one side and come together in unity. The Bangkok governor-elect celebrated his 56th birthday yesterday with twin brother, Dr Chanchai Sittipunt, an associate professor and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, but still made time to send out a positive message amid squabbling…
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Government says PM listening to concerns over draft law on public gatherings, NGO funding
The Thai PM is paying attention to, and welcomes, the opinions of those opposed to a draft law on NGO funding and public gatherings. So says deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, according to a report in the Bangkok Post today. Wissanu says Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the Social Development and Human Security Ministry to compile a list of objections to the…
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Tesla registers as a company in Thailand
Tesla Company (Thailand) Ltd is now a registered company in Thailand, according to information found on the Department of Business Development’s website. The company registered today, on May 25, with an initial registration capital of 3 million baht. The primary purpose of Tesla in Thailand is to sell electric vehicles, or EVs. The company will also install and sell energy…
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Alleged drug dealer from Estonia arrested in Chon Buri after hiding for 4 years
An alleged drug dealer who managed to hide from police for 4 years has now been arrested in Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri province last week. Police arrested him for having a visa that expired in 2018. The alleged dealer, 39 year old Estonian national Janno Ojaste, was sentenced to three years in prison and a 4,000 baht fine…
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Teenage gunman goes on rampage killing 19 children and 2 adults at a Texas primary school
Nineteen children and 2 adults have been shot dead at a Texas elementary school. The 18 year old gunman burst into the Robb Elementary School in the city of Uvalde just before noon on Tuesday, Texas time, and opened fire on students aged between 5 and 11, fatally shooting 19 victims before making his escape. The alleged shooter, identified by Texas…
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19 children, 2 teachers killed as gunman opens fire at primary school in Texas
The death toll in this tragic mass shooting may rise. We will update the story through the day. 19 young children and 2 teachers have been shot dead at another school shooting in the US, this time at a primary school in the state of Texas. According to an AFP report, an 18 year old gunman entered the school, in…
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Phuket officials announce plans for 2 big tourism events next month
Phuket’s Deputy Governor Pichet has announced yesterday that the island province will host 2 major tourism events in June, which will each host hundreds of guests. One event is the Thailand Tourism Congress 2022, which will be held at Beyond Resort Kata from June 6-8. The other event is Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2022, which will be held at Angsana…
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Health ministry asks international airports to screen for monkeypox symptoms
Thailand’s deputy health minister says the country’s international airports are being asked to screen arrivals for monkeypox symptoms. According to Sathit Pitutecha, the screening will apply in particular to travellers from 17 countries where cases of the virus have been reported. “Each airport has a disease control unit and officials will intensify measures against monkeypox by being more vigilant.” The…
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Thai cult’s food products tested – feces, bacteria and mould detected
An update on the hidden cult commune in the Isaan province of Chaiyaphum… Local health authorities found the cult was operating a food businesses and seized all of the products for further investigation. The test results showed that the food samples from the group contained excessive amounts of mould, Coliform and bacteria, usually found in feces. At the start of…
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Thailand could drop its mask mandate by mid-June, says Ministry of Public Health
After two years of compulsory mask-wearing in indoor and outdoor spaces, Thailand aims to drop its mask mandate by mid-June, according to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health Dr. Kiattipoom Wongrachit. At a conference held today at Diamond Plaza hotel in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, Kiattipoom said the ministry is considering dropping the compulsory mandate as soon…
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Woman suffers burns as bus bursts into flames after brake failure
A woman suffered burns to her arm as passengers fled a blazing bus outside a busy shoppin mall yesterday evening. The airconditioned and gas-fuelled bus caught fire in Nonthaburi, northwest of Bangkok, due to a failed brake system which lead to it overheating, according to the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority. Around 30 passengers fled the blaze but, unfortunately, one female…
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Fowl play by Malaysian cartels forces government to ban export of poultry
The Malaysia government yesterday revealed it is banning the export of all poultry from the country while it investigates the illegal activity of cartels controlling the price and shipment of its produce. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob made it known Malaysia will halt the exports of 3.6 million chickens a month from June 1, to investigate the cartel pricing allegations.…
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Phuket opens new prison facility with more space as demand increases
The Department of Correction has officially opened a new prison in Phuket in response to the increasing number of inmates. The new prison has much more space compared to the former, notoriously small, prison facility in Phuket Town. The inmates have now been moved from the old prison to their new, hopefully temporary, home. The prison has nearly 3,000 inmates…
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Commerce Ministry says Thais should sell to Chinese customers on TikTok
The Ministry of Commerce has come up with a cunning plan that Thai people could make more money by selling products, especially clothes, to Chinese people via the popular TikTok app. The ministry also came up with tips and ideas for Thai sellers who want to win new Chinese customers on TikTok. Yesterday, the Director-General of the Department of International…
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Thailand’s biggest new attraction “Andamanda” opens in Phuket
Moisture and adventure meets Thai culture and mythology at Andamanda, Thailand’s biggest water park, covering 58 rai of land in Kathu, in Phuket, southern Thailand. On Saturday, Thailand’s former deputy prime minister Suwat Liptapanlop attended the water park’s grand opening. The new theme park is located on the main road to Patong, about 800 metres west of the Samkong intersection,…
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AirAsia plane lands on wrong runway in Bangkok
Today, Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority – or CAAT – reported a “serious incident” which took place earlier this month. On May 4, an AirAsia Airbus A320-200 landed on the wrong runway at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport. The Thai AirAsia aircraft departed Ranong city at 12:43 and landed on Don Muang’s unassigned 21L runway at 13:36, instead of the 21R runway…
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Luxury Parliamentary Club open for Thai MPs with spa, karaoke and massage rooms
The recently opened Parliament House of Thailand will have a new luxury Parliamentary Club for House of Representatives MPs and Senators to relax, with a spa, massage, karaoke room, fitness, gyms, ballroom dance and other recreation activities. Yesterday, the Chairman of the Senate committee to Organise Activities for Social Benefit and Recreational Activities of the Senate, Peerasak Porchit, took Thai…
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Thailand defends human trafficking record
Thailand yesterday defended its human trafficking record and hit back at US accusations that the illegal transportation of people is a critical national problem. A Thai delegation, led by Chettaphan Maksamphan, director-general of the Department of American and South Pacific Affairs, met with US Department of State officials in Washington last week to discuss the matter ahead of the 2022…
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11 Malaria patients found in Thailand’s east, blood from monkeys on Koh Chang tested
The eastern Thai province of Trat has reported 11 malaria patients, 9 from Koh Chang and 2 from the Bor Rai district. The type of malaria found in the residents is the parasite plasmodium knowlesi. The disease was first detected in the local monkey population and then transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Blood from random monkeys on Koh Chang has…
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Dozens of Rohingya die off Myanmar coast after boat capsizes on way to Malaysia
A boat carrying at least 90 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar’s Rakhine state to Malaysia capsized off the coast of Myanmar on Saturday, killing at least 14 people, mostly children. More than 50 passengers remain missing after the boat capsized during a storm and 23 survivors were detained by police in Pathein district in Myanmar’s Ayeryarwady region. The UN reports that…
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Thailand’s genomics centre to launch monkeypox tests in next 2 weeks
The Centre of Medical Genomics from Ramathibodi Hospital is developing a Monkeypox test from the genetic codes obtained from Portugal and Belgium. The test will provide the result within 24 hours, and it is expected to be ready for use in the next 2 weeks. The official Facebook page of the Centre of Medical Genomics announced on May 21 that…
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Cruise ships set to return to Phuket for first time since pandemic
All aboard! The southern Thai island of Phuket is set to welcome back the cruise ships, for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic. According to a Bangkok Post report, the Spectrum of the Seas will dock in Phuket next month. Pichet Songtan from the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre Region 3 says officials have given the…
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Woman finds cockroaches in Cafe Amazon hot chocolate in eastern Thailand
A Thai woman finished drinking her cup of Cafe Amazon hot chocolate when she felt like there was something in her mouth. She was almost sick when she spat multiple baby cockroaches out into a glass. Cafe Amazon issued a statement apologising for the incident on their Facebook page yesterday and temporarily closed the store that served the cockroach-infused hot…
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Fire on Philippines ferry kills 7 passengers, 120 rescued, 7 still missing
A fire on a passenger ferry in the Philippines has left 7 people dead, with another 7 still missing. According to an AFP report, 120 have been rescued so far. The fire broke out on the Mercraft 2 at around 6.30am local time yesterday (5.30am Thai time). The ferry, which has a 186-passenger capacity, was transporting 134 passengers and crew…
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NGO representatives gather at UN in Bangkok to protest draft control law
Representatives of various non-profit organisations have gathered at the United Nations’ headquarters in Bangkok to oppose a draft law being considered by the government. Under the law, the government would have more control over public gatherings and be able to monitor the financial transactions of NGOs. A group of non-profit organisations are calling for the draft law to be ditched,…
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Thailand introduces strict screening for arrivals from countries with monkeypox
With more cases of monkeypox being reported in the UK and elsewhere, officials in Thailand are ramping up health screening for overseas arrivals. Just as Covid-19 entry restrictions are being eased, international travellers will need to complete a health declaration card on arrival in the kingdom. According to a Bangkok Post report, the card will have a QR code, which…
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