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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5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
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2nd of 3 statements to court may support PM Prayut until 2025
The ongoing saga continues of whether suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will be able to extend his tenure more than the eight years he has already served, with speculation rife about a court document suggesting his constitutional eight years ends in 2025. The Constitutional Court is currently considering a pitch by Prayut himself as well as documents from two legal…
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New study shows smallpox vaccine ineffective against monkeypox
Despite previous hopes, the Department of Medical Sciences warned that most adults and seniors who have been previously vaccinated against smallpox are not protected from monkeypox, unfortunately. The news comes after testing in labs of people who received the smallpox vaccine when they were younger and are now over 40 showed no correlation between the inoculation and any immunity from…
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Locals pray to blue snake in northeast Thailand
On Sunday, villagers in Nakhon Ratchasima in northeast Thailand spotted a blue snake in a tree that has never been seen before in Thailand. Villagers lit incense and prayed to the snake, believing it is sure to bring them good luck. Isaan is brimming with snakes, but no one has ever reported seeing this kind of snake before. The bright…
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New MRT Pink Line causes flood to local school & community
The director of a school in Nonthaburi province near Bangkok said a flood to her school and nearby community is because of construction work to a new train station for the MRT Pink Line. The school director filed a complaint with the police and urged the construction company to take responsibility. The provincial governor demanded that the water is drained…
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Opening day of 2022 welfare sees 1.86 million people register
Yesterday marked the opening date for registration for state welfare for 2022, and people flooded the registration process both online and in person. By 3pm on the opening day, officials reported that 1.86 million people across Thailand had already registered for the state welfare card project. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, who also serves as the director-general of…
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Study uses mobile data to improve domestic tourism trends
A new study used mobile data from mobile operator DTAC’s customers to analyse their movements and extrapolate strategies for increasing domestic tourism within Thailand. The study was conducted by Chulalongkorn University, the National Digital Economy and Society Commission, and Boonmee Lab, and used data from June 2020 to October 2021 of 10% of DTAC’s customers who fit the travel parameters…
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Woman bitten by cockroach suffers allergic reaction in Thailand
A Burmese woman suffered a serious allergic reaction to being bitten by a cockroach while she slept in Kanchanaburi province, in the central part of Thailand. The 40 year old Burmese woman, Minor, woke with a start, nudging her sleeping husband saying she felt as if she had been bitten. He husband switched on the light to find a big…
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Public park becomes dog-friendly in Bangkok
Finding a green area to walk your furry friend in downtown Bangkok is difficult because pet dogs are not allowed in public parks. Thanks to a petition ran by dog-lovers and support from Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, Benjakitti Park in Asoke has become the first public park to open up its doors to dogs. Despite several inner-city condominiums allowing pets,…
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Truck carrying elephant overturns in northern Thailand
UPDATE The 50 year old male elephant who was badly injured in a road accident in Chiang Mai yesterday finally made it to the elephant hospital in Lampang province, 20 hours later. At around 9am yesterday, the truck transporting “Pooh Kham” from Mae Chaem to an elephant camp in Mae Wang overturned on the windy roads. At first, Pooh Kham…
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Hike on traffic fines delayed, but ticket prices will be consistant
Writing news in Thailand frequently means announcing something and then the next day announcing the opposite. And true to form, the new major hike in penalty fines for traffic violations announced before the weekend and scheduled to go into effect yesterday… have been retracted. But when they do go into effect, repeat offenders will be further penalised, and a new…
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British tourist hospitalised after accident at the Grand Canyon in northern Thailand
A 21 year old British tourist ended up in hospital after a backflip gone wrong off a giant inflatable at the notoriously dangerous ‘Grand Canyon’ water park in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. The Grand Canyon – somewhat less spectacular than its American counterpart but still beautiful – is located in a once-deserted quarry in the Hang Dong district. The park…
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Sweary tuk tuk driver tries to rip off tourists in Bangkok
A sweary Thai tuk tuk driver who tried to rip off a Singaporean couple on holiday in Bangkok has been fined by police and ordered to take a good driving awareness programme. The tuk tuk driver, Thongkham Cherdchai, picked up John Chen and his girlfriend on Sunday at about 2.45pm at Central World. The couple wanted to go to their…
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China approves world’s first inhaled Covid-19 vaccine
For those deathly afraid of needles, China is the first country in the world to approve the CanSino Biologics Inc Covid-19 vaccine, the first of its kind that is inhaled instead of jabbed. The vaccine manufacturer announced yesterday that it had won approval from the drug regulators of China to use the inhalant that they recently created as a booster…
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Thailand’s caretaker PM caught sleeping on the job
Caretaker Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan was caught sleeping on the job this afternoon. The 77 year old was in Krabi province today overseeing a joint meeting with several water and land use agencies to discuss water management issues when he dozed off. The image quickly went viral on Thai social media and drew a number of cheeky comments. Suthaporn Suriyakarn…
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Constitutional Court may make prime minister decision Thursday
The decision on Prayut Chan-o-cha’s future and the prime ministership may be decided this week as the Constitutional Court scheduled a special meeting on Thursday to discuss it. Last Thursday his legal team submitted a 30-page document that lays out his defence against all the arguments regarding his term limits to the Constitutional Court. The court will review this document,…
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Suspected thief electrocuted to death in Bangkok, Thailand
A Thai man was electrocuted to death in a suspected robbery sometime before 5am this morning on the side of a hotel in Bangkok. The hotel said they turn on electric wires during the night to prevent robberies. Lumphini Police Station received a report at 8am that a suspected thief had been electrocuted to death on the side of a…
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Truck carrying elephant overturns in northern Thailand
A rescue mission has been launched for a badly injured elephant after the truck transporting it overturned in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, this morning. The elephant could not get up due to its injuries. At 10.23am today, Thai Elephant Alliance posted a picture of the injured elephant, named ‘Pooh Kham’ on its Facebook page. Thai Elephant Alliance said they…
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Market fire in Donsak, gateway to Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan
A community market went up in flames in Donsak, the southern port district in Surat Thani province that serves as the gateway to the tropical tourist islands of Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan. The fire erupted in the wee hours yesterday morning and spread to damage two houses adjacent to the Donsak market. The fire erupted in a house…
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Thai minister quits post to fight alleged impropriety charge
Nipon Boonyamanee today quit his position as Deputy Interior Minister to fight an alleged corruption and misconduct case. Nipon is to face trial in the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on a charge of malfeasance, or impropriety, for refusing to pay about 52 million baht to Ponlavit Tech Plus Company for the purchase of two multi-purpose trucks while…
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Malaysian victim of human trafficking dies in northern Thailand
A Malaysian couple travelled to Thailand on Tuesday to look for their son but found out that he died at Mae Sot Hospital in Tak province, northern Thailand, on May 11. The 23 year old man is believed to have fallen victim to a job scam and trafficked to Myanmar. The hospital said Zhan had been “abused.” Zhan Feng, from…
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Royalists in Thailand target one-man German activist
Police are under pressure from royalists to prosecute the German activist who staged a one-man protest against the government of Thailand. The founder and leader of the King Protection Group, Songchai Nienhorm, filed a complaint against the activist, Moritz Pfoh, at Nua Khlong police station in Nua Khlong district of Krabi on Saturday. Songchai is urging police to take action…
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Thailand provides over 600,000 free cancer treatments in 9 months
Under the universal healthcare ‘Gold Card’ scheme, the government of Thailand provided 603,060 free cancer treatments in nine months. The free cancer treatments were provided by the National Health Security Office between October 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, according to Deputy Spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek. The number exceeded the government’s expectations by almost double. The government initially predicted that the…
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Corrections Dept. to sue Thai talk show for creating fake news
A female talk show host faces up to a year in prison after insulting the Department of Corrections and spreading fake news about Thai prisons. On August 31, the Thai talk show, Unfold a Secret or Chae (แฉ), invited a female influencer, Leena Jangjanja, to host a discussion about the Forex-3D scam involving a leading Thai actress, Savika “Pinky” Chaiyadej.…
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Bridge over troubled waters for Thailand-bound Russian snowbird tourists
Russian travellers have ritually sought out islands in the tropical sun since the demolition of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Hellbent on escaping bitterly cold winters, these snowbirds in the lead-up years to the pandemic became the second largest international source market for Phuket’s mass market tourism surge. Now, coming out of the pandemic in the age of a return…
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Phuket hotels team up with HSMAI for digital tourism and travel marketing workshop
Phuket’s tourism industry continues to wait and wonder when Mainland Chinese will be allowed to travel overseas, in the wake of China’s zero-Covid policy. As Thailand’s leading resort island moves towards the high season, hoteliers are looking to bridge the China gap and look to new markets to replace the expected lower volume of travel-challenged Russian tourists. Addressing these challenges is…
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Croc randomly shows up in Phuket temple pond
A crocodile randomly showed up in the pond of a Phuket temple on Friday. Monks at the temple on the Toh Sae Hill in Phuket’s main city district say they have no idea who released the croc there. The monks were afraid that the croc would hurt people who feed turtles in the pond. Luckily, the Phuket Fisheries Office removed…
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Machine invented to replace monkeys climbing coconut trees
Monkeys climbing coconut trees have been an icon in Thailand for years, but have also drawn the ire of animal rights groups like People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Now the Agriculture Department has invented a machine that can help farmers climb coconut trees themselves, eliminating the need to train and use monkeys to harvest coconuts. PETA released…
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UPDATE: Police superintendent transferred to “inactive” post after pub raid
UPDATE The saga continues around the pub that was raided in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province early yesterday morning. The police superintendent of Chiang Rai’s city district police, Colonel Kittipong Sukwattanapun, has now been transferred to an “inactive” post in the operations centre of the provincial police headquarters. The transfer is punishment for his alleged failure to control the operations…
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Thai officials warn of fake news and financial schemes on social media
Thai officials are warning the public that several fake news reports, including about financial schemes, are still going viral on social media. The Digital Economy and Society Ministry said today that from August 26 to September 1, it examined 266 social media posts. Of those posts, 141 contained fake news. Even though fake news on Covid-19 has dropped off the…
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Ice Woman: Interview with the world’s first Thai Wim Hof Method instructor
Kam Waritsara, aka ‘Thai Ice Woman,’ is the first Thai-certified Wim Hof Method (WHM) instructor in the world. Once Kam tried and tested the WHM, it became such an important part of her life that she vowed to make the technique accessible to Thai people. The WHM – discovered by Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof – comprises three pillars: breathwork,…
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