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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.
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9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...
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Thai Airways profits nearly tripled in last year’s final quarter
Thai Airways International (THAI) had a strong financial performance in the final quarter of 2022, reflecting the gradual recovery of Thailand’s tourism industry. According to the national flag carrier’s annual financial statement filed with the Thai Stock Exchange on February 24, the net income for the fourth quarter of 2022 surged to 11.15 billion baht, almost triple the 4 billion…
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3 Thai transwomen attacked by group of taxi drivers near Soi Cowboy
Three Thai transwomen reported they were attacked by a gang of taxi drivers near the popular nightlife spot, Soi Cowboy, in Bangkok at 4am on Tuesday, February 28. The victims also claimed that Thong Lor Police ignored their pleas for justice because they were transgender. One of the victims, 24 year old Watchaya, spoke to the media about the incident…
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Aussie man apprehended in Phuket after taking erratic joy ride in stolen car
Thai police apprehended an Aussie man after he was found to have stolen a car at the Phuket International Airport and proceeded to take an erratic joy ride. The man reportedly stole the car at the airport’s car park, hit a parked vehicle and fled the scene. He then ran through two police checkpoints before he was apprehended. According to…
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Thai woman caught performing oral sex on foreign man in Pattaya (video)
Pattaya has once again gained notoriety for its reputation as a “Sin City” after a video went viral of a Thai woman performing oral sex on a foreign man near the Pattaya Music Festival location. The Pattaya Online News Facebook page reported today that a witness sent a two-minute video to Thai media yesterday. In the video, a woman wearing…
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Vendors in eastern Thailand deny monitor lizard meat sold at market
Vendors at a market in Thailand’s eastern Trat province deny that monitor lizard meat is being sold there. This news comes after two suspects arrested in the central Suphan Buri province claimed that the reptile meat was sold to markets in Trat along the Thai-Cambodian border. Reporters from ThaiRath visited the Bo Phloi municipal fresh market in Trat’s Bo Rai district…
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All bets off as MP faces gambling charge in Parliament
All bets are off according to spokeswoman Pongsri Tharaphume who revealed “an investigation will be launched” into an incident involving an unnamed MP who allegedly engaged in gambling activities at his office in Parliament. Parliament president Chuan Leekpai has requested an investigation to determine whether the MP violated the House’s code of ethics. The investigation was initiated in response to…
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Cops charge Canadian who claimed he was mugged in Patong
UPDATE Cops have charged the Canadian tourist who last month claimed he was violently mugged in Patong. Patong Police say the tourist, 28 year old William Lamarche-Saint-Louis, was not robbed as he said he was, and he started the fight. Police said that after a full investigation, it was found that the incident began when Saint-Louis sat on a beach…
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China responds to Thailand’s crackdown on grey businesses by reaffirming support
China is responding to Thailand’s crackdown on grey businesses by reaffirming its support. The two countries say they have been cooperating closely in suppressing transnational crimes. The Chinese Embassy pledged to help bring such businesses to justice on its Facebook page today. Online gambling and call centre scams are among the Chinese businesses that were found to be illegally operating…
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Ladyboy steals English tourist’s gold necklace in Phuket
Police managed to reunite an English tourist with his gold necklace after it was snatched by a ladyboy in the Patong area of Phuket, southern Thailand, in the early hours of this morning. At 4.30am, officers at Patong Police Station were informed that a tourist’s gold necklace was stolen in front of the Central Department Store in Patong. Police rushed…
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Koh Lipe tourism industry loses 10 million baht after local fisherfolk protest
Local fisherfolk in the southern province of Satun have blocked the Pak Bara Pier to stop people from using it in protest after being banned from fishing for a month due to overlapping rules from two government departments. The result of the closure has affected the tourism industry, especially on Lipe Island, which lost revenue of over 10 million baht. The…
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Motorbike crash kills Phuket man
A motorbike crash killed a Phuket man in the early hours of this morning, while another two people were left injured. The fatal crash happened at 3am on Sri Soonthorn Road, in the Cherng Talay area of the Thalang district. Rescuers arrived on the scene to find the body of 51 year old motorbike rider Pomngnara. His female passenger had…
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Two suspects in Tangmo case plead guilty to ‘recklessness causing death’
More than one year after Thai actress Nida ‘Tangmo‘ Patcharaveerapong drowned in the Chaophraya River, two suspects in the ‘speedboat gang‘ have confessed to all charges including recklessness causing death. The four remaining suspects denied all charges. Tangmo’s mother Panida Siriyuthyothin said the confessions follow new evidence she submitted to the court on February 24. The new evidence is dashcam…
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Stolen Aboriginal spears return home after 253 years
The Aboriginal community hailed news spears stolen by British explorer James Cook over 250 years ago are returning home. The Aboriginal spears were stolen by Cook and his landing party when they first arrived in Australia in 1770. After a 20-year effort by indigenous people, the four stolen spears – believed to be the last remaining of dozens collected by…
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Hong Kong launches free airline ticket giveaway to reboot tourism
Hong Kong’s government-supported “Hello, Hong Kong” ticket giveaway of half a million free airline tickets is swamping airline websites. Cathay Pacific, one of the carriers participating in the programme, said it had allocated all 17,400 round-trip tickets from Thailand to Hong Kong within the first hour of the giveaway, even though it was scheduled to last seven days. The airline…
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11 Thai police officers arrested for alleged gang rape of 14 year old
A children’s foundation is rallying for justice after a 14 year old girl was allegedly gang-raped by 15 men. Eleven of the men are reported to be serving Thai police officers and the teenage girl was supposedly raped on multiple occasions in Leoi province in northeast Thailand over a two-year period. Today, officials from the Children, Youth and Families Foundation…
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Thai men condemed for inappropriately touching Taiwanese YouTuber
Thai and Taiwanese netizens condemned two Thai men for inappropriately touching a Taiwanese YouTuber, Ar Yuan, while she was travelling in Bangkok. The Taiwanese YouTuber, Ar Yuan ( 一隻阿圓) runs a YouTube channel called I am CIRCLE (一隻阿圓) which promotes travel and lifestyle videos and draws over 762,000 subscribers to her channel. According to the Taiwanese news agency, ETtoday, Ar…
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Thais angry after British Ambassador to Cambodia posts ‘Khmer dessert’ photo
Thais are not happy with the British Ambassador to Cambodia. Ambassador Dominic Williams posted a photo on Facebook earlier this week with the caption “Khmer dessert.” However, Thais believe the sweets pictured in the photo are Thai desserts. The desserts include a mung bean sweet called luk chup, a coconut pudding called Taco, a mung bean sweet called med kanun,…
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Thai Model, Ticha Kanticha, promotes sex-ed and positivity in Thai society
Kanticha Chumma, also known as Ticha Kanticha, has become a prominent figure in Thailand due to her impressive win as the best model in the reality show, The Face Thailand Season 2. However, her influence extends beyond the modelling industry, and she has become an advocate for sex education and challenged social norms in Thailand. The 28 year old model,…
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Police arrest Cambodian for raging fire at Pattaya ‘secret’ beach (video)
Police arrested a homeless Cambodian national yesterday under suspicion of starting a raging fire at a secret beach in Pattaya, eastern Thailand, on Monday night, causing damages amounting to 300,000 baht. On Monday, 41 year old fisherman Teeraphat Iampinyo discovered a raging fire at a secret beach – mostly used by fishermen to sell fish and store equipment. The beach…
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King Charles III evicts Prince Harry, offers his home to Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew, the former friend of convicted pedophile and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has reportedly been offered Frogmore Cottage after King Charles III evicted Prince Harry and his wife Meghan from their home. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed the news, but Buckingham Palace has yet to comment on the matter. Harry and Meghan currently reside…
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Transgender actress marries wealthy Thai businessman
Transgender actress, model, and beauty queen Poyd Treechada Petcharat yesterday tied the knot with wealthy Thai businessman Oak Bhavagha Hongyok. The ceremony, held at Phuket’s Baan Ar-Jor, followed the traditional Peranakan style, which originated with the wave of Chinese immigrants to the region six centuries ago, reported The Straits Times. The 36 year old Poyd gained international recognition after winning…
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Frenchman pays the price for revving noisy motorbike in Phuket
Police tracked down and fined a Frenchman yesterday for annoying residents by revving his loud rented motorbike along the Bangla Road in Phuket, southern Thailand, in the early hours of Monday morning. At 5am on Monday, Phuket traffic police were tipped off that a group of four to five ‘dek waen’ (motorbike racers) were causing a ruckus outside a convenience…
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Philippines airport officers steal 5,100 baht from Thai tourist
Two customs officers at Manila Airport in the Philippines were caught on video stealing 5,100 baht from a Thai tourist at a baggage check counter. The video of the two customs officers stealing money was posted on Facebook by Piyawat Gunlayaprasit on February 22. Piyawat reported that he heard another Thai tourist, identified as Kitja Tbabtim, shouting that his money…
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New Zealand tourist gets lost in forest in Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand
A New Zealand tourist got lost in a forest on Thailand’s Koh Pha Ngan island in the southern Surat Thani province on Sunday. Friends of the man, 56 year old Shaw Mace Bushel, alerted police that he had gone missing from his resort at 4am. Bushel’s friends had searched for him but failed to find him. A team of officers…
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Meatball seller wins 6 million baht lottery jackpot in Thailand
A meatball seller from Buriram province in northeast Thailand won the first prize of 6 million baht in the government lottery yesterday. She says she won’t stop selling meatballs. The newfound millionaire, 53 year old Champa Sumahungphan, revealed how she chose the winning numbers. Champa explained that she was riding around the Thai Samakkadi subdistrict on her motorbike and attached…
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Thai Eastar Jet CEO faces arrest on breach of trust charges
The CEO of Thai low-cost carrier, Thai Eastar Jet Co., Park Seok-ho, is facing arrest on charges of breach of trust and other offences, according to the Jeonju District Prosecutors Office in Jeonju, South Korea. The prosecution requested a pretrial detention warrant for Park, and a court hearing is set to take place later today, reported Yonhap News Agency. Park…
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German woman injured in Krabi cave
A German woman was injured in a cave in Thailand’s Krabi province on Tuesday. The 61 year old tourist fell while walking inside the cave at Ka Narb Nam Mountain in the main city district. She was left unable to walk. The rescue mission was arduous due to the cave’s location. A rescue team had to get to the cave…
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Phuket immigration launches ‘red card’ system for wayward foreigners
Phuket immigration is launching a ‘red card’ system for wayward foreigners which will see them deported after two offences. Praphansak Prasansuk, Commander of the Immigration Region 6 office, announced the system yesterday. “Under the system, a foreigner will be designated a ‘yellow card’ for a first offence. The foreigner will be issued a formal warning and the relevant embassy will…
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Selfridges’ Thai owners take on 70 billion baht debt
Central Group, Selfridges’ Thai owners along with Austrian enterprise Signa Holdings, have taken on another £1.7 billion (US$ 2 billion, 70 billion baht) of debt in a strategy to increase investment returns. The London branch of Bangkok Bank provided the loan, secured against the lease on the retailer’s London flagship store. Selfridges said the loan would “release capital” for the…
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Over 7,000 Russians in Phuket apply for visa extensions
Over 7,000 Russians in Phuket are applying for visa extensions in a bid to stay in Thailand. Local immigration chief, Thanet Sukchai, says the great weather is one factor in their attempts to stay. “Phuket is a nice place to visit with delicious food and good weather. As word has spread about the island, Russian tourists keep coming to the…
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