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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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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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Taiwanese tourist tragically drowns while snorkeling off Krabi
A Taiwanese tourist tragically drowned while snorkelling off an island in Thailand’s Krabi province. The tourist, 36 year old Yueh Lee, had been snorkelling off the island of Koh Hong on Tuesday, according to his friend. The unidentified friend said they had been looking at coral reefs. Lifeguards then noticed that Yueh had been lying face down in the water…
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UK YouTuber’s video on Thai boy racers praised by netizens
Thai netizens hailed UK YouTuber JimmyTheGiant for his documentary-style video “Thailand’s Most Hated Subculture,” which sheds light on the persistent issue of boy racers in the kingdom. Many have called on Thai authorities to take the issue seriously and sort it out. The term “Dek Waen” is used to describe teenage boy racers who ride motorcycles or drive cars, very fast. However,…
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Thailand extends emergency decree in Deep South
Thailand is extending the emergency decree in the Deep South for another three months. The decree applies to the border provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat and will run from March 20 to June 19. According to the Bangkok Post, the newest extension of the decree marks the 71st time it has been issued. The Deputy Prime Minister, Prawit Wongsuwon…
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Expensive flights to Thailand too hot for Chinese mainland mainstream
Expensive flights to Thailand from bigger cities in China are delaying Thailand’s tourism recovery. Most tariffs are still one and a half times more than pre-pandemic prices, while for smaller cities, fares are more than double previous levels According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn, while most tickets are cheaper than last year, prices for March…
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American soldier dies at Cobra Gold military exercise in Thailand
An American soldier attending the annual Cobra Gold military exercise in Thailand was found dead in the bathroom at an army camp in Lop Buri province, north of Bangkok, yesterday at 9.40am. Officers from Mueang Lop Buri Police Station travelled to the 31st Infantry Regiment to find the soldier deceased in the bathroom in a pool of blood. There was…
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Japan’s births hit a new low last year
Japan’s population crisis has deepened as the number of births recorded in the country hit a new low last year, despite efforts by the government to reverse the decades-long decline. Statistics released by the Ministry of Health yesterday show that the country saw 799,728 births in 2022. This was the lowest number on record, and the first time it has…
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Chinese businessman allegedly behind 10 million baht worth of fake auto parts in Thailand
A Chinese businessman allegedly ran a warehouse with counterfeit auto parts in Thailand. Yesterday, police and officials seized about 200,000 counterfeit auto parts worth around 10 million baht in Thailand’s central Nakhon Pathom province. Local police, economic crime suppression police, and other officials raided a warehouse in the Nakhon Chaisi district. The team arrested the building’s caretaker, 24 year old…
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50 elephants ‘addicted to sugarcane’ destroy 2000 rai of crops in Thailand
A herd of around 50 wild elephants has migrated into farmland in Loei province in northeast Thailand, destroying 2000 rai of crops so far. There is no sign of them retreating into the forest. Recently, around 50 elephants migrated into agricultural land in the Phra Kradueng district from the Phu Luang Wildlife Sanctuary. No wonder the elephants moved away from…
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4 police officers and 3 men arrested for smuggling motorcycles
Authorities arrested four police officers, one Thai man, and two Cambodian men yesterday at a pier in the southeastern province of Trat for smuggling six motorcycles into a neighbouring country. The Marine Special Unit 182 received a tip-off from an authority spy that the smuggling was to take place at a pier in the Mai Root sub-district, Khlong Yai district…
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2 men arrested for animal trafficking, over 100 carcasses seized
Two men were arrested yesterday in the central province of Suphan Buri for trafficking protected animals. The authorities seized over 100 carcasses of monitor lizards and turtles, making the largest number on record. Authorities from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division, or Greencop, and U-Thong Police Station were notified that a house owner, later identified as 73 year old…
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Tel Aviv – Bangkok flight time reduced by 2.5 hours
Flights between Tel Aviv and Bangkok, Thailand, just got three hours shorter thanks to the government of Oman who made the long-awaited decision to open its airspace to aircraft from all countries, including Israel. On Sunday, an EL AL Israel Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Bangkok flew through Oman’s airspace, becoming the first Israeli airline to do so, three…
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Venus and Jupiter to be visible in Thai skies for the next few nights
Stargazers will be happy to hear that Venus and Jupiter will be visible in Thai skies for the next few nights, according to the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT). NARIT said the two planets will almost touch each other in the night sky on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Nation Thailand reported. The institute said Venus and Jupiter will…
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Faith-based businesses: Your good luck is their bad luck
There’s big money in misery. In times of economic downturn and instability, many Thais turn to spiritual practices such as prayer, amulets, and fortune telling for support. As a result, many faith-based businesses have emerged to offer solutions to people’s problems. But as the economy grows stronger and more stable, faith business profits are falling. With the onset of the…
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Police say key suspect in macau888 case fled Thailand last month
Police say that a key suspect in the Macau888 gambling network case fled Thailand last month, along with his girlfriend. The suspect, 32 year old Kittipong ‘Big’ Kajornboonthavorn, is the younger brother of alleged macau888 gambling kingpin ‘Benz Daeman.’ Benz was finally arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport upon his return to Thailand on February 14. According to the head of the Cybercrime…
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Man arrested 19 times for thefts in Pattaya
Maybe the 19th time is the charm? A man was arrested in Pattaya for stealing a Russian woman’s phone, and, as it turns out, he had previously been arrested for theft 19 times before. The 54 year old Thai man was arrested this time after he was caught stealing a phone from a Russian woman. She reported to the police that…
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Fisherman claims Pattaya beach fire was an act of arson
A fisherman claims that a recent fire on a lesser-known Pattaya beach was a deliberate act of arson. The beach, located on Soi Naklua 18, is mostly used by fishermen who store their fishing gear, tables, and chairs. They later sell their catches in the nearby area. The blaze occurred between 3am to 4am on Monday, burning some of the…
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