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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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    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...

  • VIDEO: Brazillian footballer thanks the wrong girlfriend in an interview

    VIDEO: Brazillian footballer thanks the wrong girlfriend in an interview

    A Brazilian football player might have put a foot in his mouth this week when he was asked in an interview if he wanted to give a tribute to someone. The goalkeeper, Kainan, gave a seemingly noble reply. He said… “To my girlfriend, who’s working now, Thank God, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. Grazi, a hug to you!” But Kainan’s…

  • New rules drafted for Pattaya’s sea-walking tourists

    New rules drafted for Pattaya’s sea-walking tourists

    Pattaya has drafted some new rules this week for ‘sea-walker’ tourists, a.k.a divers to protect its coral reefs. If the rules take effect, there will be codified underwater zones where divers can walk. These zones should have no coral, if possible. If it’s not possible to create entire zones with no coral, then divers won’t be allowed to come within…

  • In push for religious harmony, Thailand recognises more churches

    In push for religious harmony, Thailand recognises more churches

    In a push for religious harmony, Thailand has officially recognised three Catholic churches in the kingdom this week. The Ministry of Culture officially approved the churches on August 23, after the churches had reportedly waited 93 years for recognition. The newly approved churches are: Saint Thomas the Apostle Church in Bangkok, Saint Monica Church in Nan Province, and Saint Joseph…

  • Pao Tang app provides free birth control from NHSO

    Pao Tang app provides free birth control from NHSO

    The Thai government is addressing unwanted pregnancies in the country with a new programme offering free birth control pills. A deputy spokesperson for the government explained that the programme would help women get access to free birth control using a mobile app called Pao Tang. The campaign was created to try to slow the frequency of unintentional and unwanted pregnancies…

  • Moderna suing Pfizer for using their tech in Covid vaccines

    Moderna suing Pfizer for using their tech in Covid vaccines

    After Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine brought in US$22 billion so far this year compared to Moderna’s US$10.4 billion, Moderna is suing Pfizer, claiming they copied technology in developing their vaccines. Moderna, a decade-old company that had been pioneering mRNA technology long before Covid-19, had said at the start of the pandemic that they wouldn’t enforce related patents to help the world…

  • Pioneering the Cannabis business in Thailand feat. Tai ‘Four Twenty’ | Thaiger Podcast Ep.4

    Pioneering the Cannabis business in Thailand feat. Tai ‘Four Twenty’ | Thaiger Podcast Ep.4

    Introducing one of the pioneers for cannabis in Thailand, Tai Taveepanichpan. Tai is a young entrepreneur and the owner of Four Twenty Thailand, Cannagrow Technology and Cultivate. Companies that sell cannabis cultivating equipment, grow cannabis and cannabis dispensaries in Thailand. In this podcast we talk about the current situation of cannabis in Thailand, where it’s heading and what lies ahead…

  • Thailand’s sixth monkeypox patient says symptoms started while she was in Qatar

    Thailand’s sixth monkeypox patient says symptoms started while she was in Qatar

    A young woman in Thailand’s northeast province of Maha Sarakham is the kingdom’s sixth confirmed monkeypox patient, the Department for Disease and Control (DDC) announced yesterday. The 21 year old woman says her symptoms started while she was in Qatar for work. The woman had worked as a masseuse in Qatar and said that while she was there, she started…

  • Prayut shows up to work unannounced, as Defence Minister

    Prayut shows up to work unannounced, as Defence Minister

    After being removed from his position as Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha didn’t miss a beat and quietly showed up to work yesterday at his other job, as Minister of Defence. The former PM made a low-key – and unannounced – entrance, arriving at the Ministry of Defence in his car at around 10am. While the Constitutional Court has yet to…

  • THG chairman who lied about vaccines for stock profit resigns

    THG chairman who lied about vaccines for stock profit resigns

    Thonburi Healthcare Group founder and chairman Dr Boon Vanasin announced he will step down today after the Securities and Exchange Commission reported it would ban him from sitting on the board of any company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The move is a result of some shady claims last year about THG importing Pfizer vaccines that caused stock…

  • Thailand’s Favourite Restaurants 2022 by Koktail to be presented by Siam Paragon

    Thailand’s Favourite Restaurants 2022 by Koktail to be presented by Siam Paragon

    Press Release Thailand’s Favourite Restaurants by Koktail, is partnering with Siam Paragon to host the most exciting culinary event ever in Bangkok. The event, “Thailand’s Favourite Restaurants by Koktail” will be held over two days from 27-28 August 2022 at Parc Paragon, Siam Paragon. The event is open to the public from 11 am until 9 pm on Saturday 27th…

  • Officer issues arrest threat to security after his bike is clamped

    Officer issues arrest threat to security after his bike is clamped

    A Thai policeman threatened to arrest security guards after they clamped his motorcycle at a condominium in Bangkok. He also refused to pay the parking fine. Yesterday, the Facebook page, โหลกแดง in the Multiverse of Madness, or Red Skull in the Multiverse of Madness, shared a video of a policeman arguing with security guards at a condo in the Bang…

  • Abysmal roads causes woman to give birth inside car in NE Thailand

    Abysmal roads causes woman to give birth inside car in NE Thailand

    A woman from Surin province, northeast Thailand, was forced to give birth in a car after dire road conditions prevented her from reaching the hospital in time. Locals want to raise awareness of the sorry state of road affairs in Khok Phued village in Ban Cham subdistrict. Locals say the 2.5 kilometre stretch of “road” is the only entrance to…

  • UPDATE: National park in central Thailand closes 5 waterfalls due to flash floods

    UPDATE: National park in central Thailand closes 5 waterfalls due to flash floods

    UPDATE The national park in central Thailand, where a waterfall was devastated by flash floods this week, has closed five waterfalls as rain continues to pour down. Khao Yai National Park announced the closure in a Facebook post today. The Haew Narok waterfall, the park’s largest, will be closed until September 30. Meanwhile, four other waterfalls will be closed until…

  • UPDATE: Casino robbery in Bangkok sparks investigation into local police corruption

    UPDATE: Casino robbery in Bangkok sparks investigation into local police corruption

    UPDATE Today, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Police Division 1 Pol. Cl. Ekarat Pao-in gave an update about the Din Daeng casino robbery. Ekarat is also now acting Superintendent of Din Daeng Police Station since five Din Daeng officers are being investigated for corruption. Ekarat said that he and other officers searched the casino and “didn’t find anything at…

  • Man gets scammed by two escorts in one night in NE Thailand

    Man gets scammed by two escorts in one night in NE Thailand

    A man who would rather not be named says he was deceived by not one, but two prostitutes last night in Loei province in northeast Thailand. The man filed a complaint against the women at Mueang Leoi Police Station this morning but, to no one’s surprise, the police couldn’t help him. The 24 year old man from Mueang district –…

  • Jerk steals donation money from Pattaya noodle restaurant

    Jerk steals donation money from Pattaya noodle restaurant

    A massive jerk has snatched money off of a donation tree at a Pattaya noodle restaurant this week. CCTV caught the thief breaking through a thin wall of the restaurant on Monday night, before grabbing the cash from the donation tree worth 2,000 baht. The suspect wore shorts and a t-shirt. The disheartened restaurant owner, 36 year old Chotika Chantakot,…

  • 3 injured in possible insurgency bomb attack in S Thailand

    3 injured in possible insurgency bomb attack in S Thailand

    An insurgency attack has not been ruled out as a bomb flipped over a truck injuring three passengers in the southern province of Narathiwat last night. The bomb went off on Highway No 4217 which runs through Ban Iso village in Narathiwat’s Chanae district causing the truck to flip about four times, knocking over an electricity pole, before it landed…

  • UPDATE: Burmese junta releases statement on charges for former UK ambassador

    UPDATE: Burmese junta releases statement on charges for former UK ambassador

    UPDATE The Burmese junta said in a statement yesterday that it has charged a former UK ambassador to the country with immigration offenses. This news comes after anonymous sources reported yesterday that the former ambassador Vicky Bowman and her husband had been detained in Yangon. Local media reports that the two had been detained on Wednesday night, and are being…

  • Elderly woman killed by wild elephant in eastern Thailand, 2 relatives injured

    Elderly woman killed by wild elephant in eastern Thailand, 2 relatives injured

    An elderly lady was trampled to death by a wild elephant at a rubber plantation last night in Chachoengsao province in eastern Thailand. Her daughter and granddaughter survived the attack but are badly injured. The women say they had abandoned their car to walk home because the road was undrivable after heavy rain, which is when they crossed paths with…

  • Last weekend of Pattaya Music Festival starts tonight

    Last weekend of Pattaya Music Festival starts tonight

    Tonight and tomorrow night (Friday and Saturday) are your last chances to experience the Pattaya Music Festival if you haven’t already! For the next two nights, the festival will go out with a bang on Pattaya Central Beach, and Koh Larn. Tonight there will be performances on Central Beach by pop-rock artists and bands Polycat, Tattoo Colour, Getsunova, and Cocktail.…

  • Floor collapses at Hua Mark Police Station in Bangkok

    Floor collapses at Hua Mark Police Station in Bangkok

    The job of a policeman is hard enough without having something to stand on, as officers discovered in Bangkok this week. The first floor collapsed of the 55 year old Hua Mark Police Station on Ramkamhaeng Road in the Bang Kapi district on Wednesday morning. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. At 11am, the first floor gave way which is used…

  • US spits dummy out in China tit-for-tat airline row

    US spits dummy out in China tit-for-tat airline row

    The childish rattle-throwing, tit-for-tat games continue between the United States and China with the US declaring it is banning 26 flights to China in response to the mainland suspending some US flights for importing Covid-19. The US spat its dummy out in objection to China revising its Covid policies. The mainland stated on August 7 that if 4% of passengers…

  • Koh Samui man busted for allegedly opening illegal venue

    Koh Samui man busted for allegedly opening illegal venue

    One Koh Samui man’s new entertainment venue, which he named ‘Dream Land,’ has turned into the scene of his worst nightmare. Officers from Bo Phut Police station raided Dream Land yesterday, and the owner now faces charges of opening the venue without a permit. The man, 45 year old Puwanai, also faces charges of selling alcohol over the legal time…

  • Police save woman stuck in her own bathroom for 3 days in Bangkok, Thailand

    Police save woman stuck in her own bathroom for 3 days in Bangkok, Thailand

    Yesterday, Thai police saved a woman locked in her bathroom for three days at her home in the On Nut area of Bangkok. Believing she would die alone in the bathroom, the woman had written a chilling goodbye message on the bathroom wall. At 7.14pm, officers from Phra Nakhon Police Station received a call from a woman – Ms. A…

  • More tourists are heading to Pattaya, but spending less cash, mayor says

    More tourists are heading to Pattaya, but spending less cash, mayor says

    As Thailand slowly rises from the ashes of Covid-19’s economic destruction, more foreign tourists are heading to Pattaya. The catch? They’re spending less money, according to the city’s mayor Poramet Ngampichet. Pattaya’s changing demographics in tourism may have something to do with the spending differences. The mayor said on Tuesday that this year, the million foreign tourists that have arrived…

  • Thailand prepares for influx of foreign criminals this High Season

    Thailand prepares for influx of foreign criminals this High Season

    Thailand is a known beacon for fugitives attempting to slip under the radar. Thai police are worried that when tourist arrivals spike in high season – between October and February – that the country will also see an influx of foreign criminals. Thai police are working with embassies all over the world to set plans in case foreign crooks slip…

  • Former UK ambassador and husband reported detained in Myanmar

    Former UK ambassador and husband reported detained in Myanmar

    The former UK ambassador to Myanmar and her husband have been detained in Yangon, two anonymous sources reported today. A spokesperson for the Burmese junta did not answer calls from Reuters seeking comment on the situation. A British embassy spokesperson has said the embassy is concerned about the arrest. She said… “We are in contact with the local authorities and are…

  • Northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai Zoo conducts emergency ostrich escape drill

    Northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai Zoo conducts emergency ostrich escape drill

    Ostriches may be flightless birds but they’re still considered a flight risk at Chiang Mai Zoo. In an emu-sing drill conducted on Tuesday afternoon, zoo staff simulated an ostrich escape situation to ensure that they are well prepared in case one of the big birds flees its nest. Although the man in the ostrich costume may not look overly menacing,…

  • Thai Airways restructures plans to get back in black

    Thai Airways restructures plans to get back in black

    Thai Airways announced it is renting three more planes and hiring 600 more staff this year as part of its restructuring plans. After cutting costs, selling stock, chasing debts, and distributing plane seats, Thai Airways’ turnover rate in the third quarter of this year is expected to increase. Not only that, the President of the Reorganisation Committee of the Thai…

  • Waterfall and national parks in central Thailand devastated by flash floods

    Waterfall and national parks in central Thailand devastated by flash floods

    A waterfall and two national parks in central Thailand’s Nakhon Nayok province have been devastated by flash floods since yesterday. A large amount of reddish brown water poured down into Nang Rong Waterfall in Khao Yai National Park. The waterfall’s water level rose to over half a metre, submerging a bridge. At another national park in the province, water levels…