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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Uber: leaked documents show unethical, possibly illegal tactics
Uber has long been known for their very aggressive growth into the ride-sharing market around the world but leaked private documents now show that many of its tactics were morally questionable and potentially illegal. The leak has been called The Uber Files and has been analyzed by dozens of news organizations to exubertract information from the 124,000 records that were…
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Bangkok chief has dig at city works for 13 year delay to new tunnel
The Director of Bangkok Public Works Department has promised Chadchart Sittipunt that the new Fai Chai Tunnel will be open for use on August 1 after the city chief had a dig at him over the project dragging on for 13 years. The director, Taiwut Khankaew, guaranteed the tunnel would be ready in time, reporting the project was 90% complete.…
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Rise in holiday travel matches rise in severe Covid infections
The 5-day holiday weekend is driving up tourism numbers, but there also seems to be a rise in patients with severe Covid-19 infections that the Department of Disease Control says will likely increase from holiday travel. This warning came from the epidemiology director of the DDC, who laid out increases in severe coronavirus infections as well as those who require…
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New universe selfie, astonishing first photo from the James Webb space telescope
The very first image from the new James Webb Telescope has made its public debut today. Imagine holding a single grain of sand at your arm’s length. This amazing photo contains everything inside the piece of space covered by that tiny grain of sand. In this astonishing premiere for the new space telescope, the photo reveals, in sharp detail, over…
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Buddhist monks save child from drowning in the Chao Phraya river
Two Buddhist monks from Wat Bang Sai temple, located on the waterfront in Samut Prakan province, jumped into the Chao Phraya river on Saturday and saved a child who was drowning. Once 13 year old Khanin recovered from the incident, he explained that he was swimming with his friends when the water underneath him suddenly became very cold. He said…
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Thai stuntman kidnapped in drug smuggling ring in Myanmar
The mother of a famous Thai stuntman coach has appealed to the police to bring her kidnapped son home from Myanmar after he got caught up in a drug smuggling ring. Thai stuntman trainer, Ramai “Dan” Moripunt, is locked up in a Burmese prison after being accused of drug trafficking with two Thai friends. The 40 year old travelled from…
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UPDATE: Woman’s corpse “naked and covered in bite marks” found in northeast Thailand
UPDATE: Today, police arrested the man suspected of murdering his wife, Daeng, whose body was found naked and covered in bite marks at her home in Buriram on Monday. Police detained and arrested Nithipot, aka “Dao” at a relative’s house in Huai Thalaeng district in Nakhon Ratchasima province this morning. Police brought him back to Buriram for questioning at Phutthaisong…
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India population expected to surpass China in 2023, world to hit 8 billion
For years, China has been the most populous country in the world, followed by India. But a report by the United Nations predicts that next year India will outpace China and become the country with the largest population in the world. With the slowing pace of mortality and high fertility rates in large portions of the world, the UN warns…
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Cost of electricity in Thailand could rise to 5 baht per unit by September
Electricity bills in Thailand could become more expensive than ever by September, according to a source at the Office of Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). In the last 4 months of the year, the cost of electricity in Thailand could break the 5 baht per unit barrier for the first time, rising by 90 to 100 satang per unit. The official…
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Four year anniversary of Phuket’s sinking of the ‘Phoenix’ – 46 people drowned
This week commemorated the fourth anniversary of the rescue of the 13 members of the Wild Boar football team from the Tham Luang Caves in Chiang Rai, a story that gripped international audiences. That story had a happy ending. But the ongoing drama in northern Thailand masked a much sadder story, that of the sinking of the tour boat, the…
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US$37 billion smart city gets green light in Pattaya
Plans to build a US$37 billion smart city in Chon Buri got the go-ahead yesterday by the Eastern Economic Corridor Policy Committee. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, who chaired the meeting, revealed the smart dream hub can be realised thanks to public and private investment in automotive, robotics, healthcare and logistics companies. The investment will create about 200,000 jobs and accommodate 350,000…
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Thai passenger traffic and flight schedules on the increase
Domestic travel in Thailand is in for a good July, with two long weekends and airlines starting to add to their schedule, resuming flights and frequency that have been otherwise subdued. The Aeronautical Radio of Thailand and the International Air Transport Association are reporting an increased pace of domestic flights in Thailand, matching the general global trend. Nopasit Chakpitak, the…
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Burmese military expanding surveillance and facial recognition
In what they claim to be a bid to keep cities safe and secure and preserve civil peace, the military junta controlling Myanmar is installing facial recognition cameras made in China in cities all across the turbulent country. This surveillance began after the military coup in February 2021, and at least 5 cities are already under their watchful eye. This…
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Missing Frenchman found drowned at Ko Chang Lonely Beach
The missing body of a Frenchman lost at sea at Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach yesterday was found this morning. The 22 year old Frenchman, identified as Ramkurran, 22, went swimming yesterday with his Spanish girlfriend, Clara Crospo Canellas, and did not return to shore. The 21 year old woman’s dead body was found at about 8.10am floating in the sea…
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Man in northeast Thailand pays 3.9 million baht dowry… for a buffalo
The owner of a “high so” farm in Korat, northeast Thailand, gave a “dowry” of 3.9 million baht – in cash – for a 22 month old male buffalo named Chaoboonterm from Khon Kaen province. The man said he wants to breed the buffalo, which he said is a “textbook” Thai beauty. Supachai Winitphon, aka “Sia Noi” is the owner…
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Storms cancel ferry service for Koh Samui, Pha Ngan, and Tao
While Surat Thani has been gearing up for a huge holiday weekend, the weather has other plans. Scattered storms with extremely high winds have disrupted power as well as ferry schedules, with Surat Thani Governor Wichawut Jinto ordering the cancellation of all ferry services today until at least tomorrow, including to the popular tourist islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha…
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Pattaya wants to enact city’s own cannabis-control law
Pattaya’s council is already fed up of waiting for a national cannabis act to be passed, so the city has started to draft its own cannabis-control law. Pattaya’s Deputy Mayor Thitiphan Phettrakul chaired a meeting on Friday to discuss rules and regulations needed to control and prohibit the use of cannabis and hemp, especially in schools. Cannabis was delisted as…
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Thailand flies flags at half-mast today in memory of Shinzo Abe
Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered all government agencies and state enterprises to fly their flags to half-mast today in memory of former-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated while campaigning in the city of Nara in western Japan on Friday. The request was announced this morning by government spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana. PM Prayut has asked all government agencies…
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Dozens of call centre scammers caught in Thai-Cambodia net
Dozens of Thai scammers have been arrested and illegal call centres shut down after a sophisticated months’ long Thai-Cambodian law enforcement operation closed the net on their fraudulent activity. According to different reports, numbers between 15 to 89 Thai scammers took part in a number of illegal activities in Cambodia to extort money by false means in everything from romance…
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“Corpse” floating in Bangkok canal turns out to be old man meditating
Onlookers rightly called the police when they saw a stiff body floating along a murky Bangkok canal. In a frenzy, dozens of people were shouting from the canal side, but the floating man did not respond. Everyone thought he was dead. Until… A brave man jumped into the canal and waded through the mud to check whether the floating man…
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Driver critical after collision involving 5 vehicles in Phuket
A driver is in critical condition after a collision on a road toward Phuket International Airport involving five vehicles. The 26 year old pickup driver now in a critical state, Inyat Kendphet, tried to overtake a taxi on Don Chom Thao Road in Moo 4, Thepkrasattri, but was unable to move back into his own lane in time to avoid…
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Chatuchak Market revitalisation planned by BMA and SRT
Once a bustling centre of commerce and socialising, Chatuchak Market has been much quieter since reopening after being closed down because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now the State Railway of Thailand is cooperating with local authorities in Bangkok and City Hall to try to revive the famous market back to its previous thriving glory. As with most of the tourism…
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BA.2.75 Omicron sub-variant causing “concern” for authorities in SE Asia
The UN and the World Health Organisation is actively following a new sub-lineage designated BA.2.75, another variant of the Omicron derivative of Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2 ). It was first detected in India and has since been found in 10 other countries. The Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Ghebreyesus, noted that new Covid-19 infections, globally, have increased nearly 30% over…
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Father & 7 year old son shot as gang warfare erupts in Pattaya
A 7 year old child and his father were shot as gang warfare erupted on the streets of Banglamung district at the weekend. The father and son were caught in the crossfire as two rival gangs of teenagers clashed in a Pattaya neighbourhood on Saturday night. The neck of the boy, Nong Moodaeng, was grazed by a bullet while his…
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Khao San scam: Tourists forced to pay for returning lost wallet
A new warning has gone out as yet another scam is being perpetrated on foreigners in the tourist backpacker mecca that is Khao San Road. This scam targets would-be do-gooders trying to help return a lost wallet. A man recently reported to local media that he had been leaving a bar late at night when all the clubs and nightlife…
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Driver allegedly drunk in fatal car crash in Pattaya
One man died and another was seriously injured yesterday in an alleged drunk-driving incident in the Sri Racha district, between Chon Buri and Pattaya. Driver Somsak Phuchanha was killed instantly after his car crashed into a road barrier causing an electricity pole to collapse onto his vehicle while driving home from a music concert yesterday morning in the Sri Racha…
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Soggy pizza and long hours of waiting – 4 years since the Tham Luang cave rescue
“There were times when kilometres underground standing in waist-deep water, we’d be eating a piece of soft pizza in a break… two guys from different countries, different cultures.” Four years ago, yesterday, the last group of four football players from the Chiang Rai Mu Pa (Wild Boar) team were brought out of the Tham Luang Caves. It took three days,…
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Thailand happy to be pawn in US, China economic war
Thailand still appears to be a pawn in the ongoing economic war between the US and China – or is it? US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Thailand PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Don Pramudwinai, on Sunday, as part of his Southeast Asia tour. The Thai PM welcomed the US diplomat and stated his happiness in…
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Mobile phone growth to increase 400% in next 3 years across Asia Pacific
Over the next three years, the expansion of 5G connectivity in the Asia Pacific region is expected to increase by 400%. GSM Association, a conglomerate of telecom operators worldwide, says the ‘metaverse’ and greater uptake in the latest generation of smartphones is fuelling the growth. The GSM Association is an industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile network operators…
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Raising King and Queen Pillars Ceremony near Lieb Tang Rodfai Road in Pattaya
On Friday morning, July 8th, a traditional Thai ceremony took place near the Lieb Tang Rodfai Road in Pattaya to celebrate the rise of eight pillars of a new Eastern Economic Corridor development project (EEC), where five luxury villas and a hotel are scheduled to be constructed. The architect responsible, Mario Kleff, and his construction company Wandeegroup Asia Co. Ltd.,…
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