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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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What’s not covered by health insurance in Thailand?
Health insurance in Thailand has important limits that everyone should know. Many policies do not cover pre-existing conditions, motorcycle accidents, extreme sports, or specific treatments. These gaps can lead to unexpected costs during emergencies. Coverage for outpatient care and hospital...
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Government warns fake vaccine certificates bring fines and jail
Authorities are speaking out against a trend online suggesting that it is easy and safe to enter Thailand using forged vaccine certificates. A number of illegal services have been seen online offering fake vaccine certificates that people can purchase rather than actually get vaccinated. But the authorities are reminding people that it’s not just wrong to put the safety and…
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New park in Bangkok to open by Christmas
A new Bangkok park will be open on Christmas day. The area along Chong Nonsi canal is being renovated to be the Klong Chong Nonsi Public Park. The park is separated into five parts spreading over 12 kilometres along Silom to Rama 3 road. The first part of the park around Silom to Surawong road will be open on December 25.…
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Royal Thai Navy sinks three old battleships during “goodbye” ceremony
Royal Thai Navy sank three old battleships during a ceremony to say goodbye to the retired vessels. Phuket’s PR department says aiming it to be a marine ecosystem learning park, habitat for fish population and coral reef as well as a destination for divers visiting Phuket in the future. The suitable ways of disposing of old ships is still up…
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Ecotourism: the future of Thailand
As Thailand is known worldwide for its stunning landscape and culture, travelling through the Kingdom has always been popular. Ecotourism may just be the future of travel to the Southeast Asian country, amidst climate change and increasing efforts in sustainable living. As ecotourism efforts not only benefit tourists and local communities, it benefits the environment. Countries can be supported with…
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Thailand and Cambodia to discuss reopening borders along Sa Kaeo
Thai officials plan to hold talks with their counterparts in Cambodia to discuss reopening the land borders between the two countries. The governor of the border province Sa Kaeo held a meeting yesterday to discuss plans for reopening entry checkpoints. Four border crossing spots are in the plan included with permanent crossing point Ban Khlong Luek – PoiPet in Aranyaprathet…
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Thailand’s nora folk dance recognised by UNESCO as “Intangible Cultural Heritage”
Southern Thailand’s traditional, and ultra-elaborate, folk dance “nora” was recognised by UNESCO as a piece of Thailand’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage.” The Nora performance, which can last up to three days and three nights, will join the elite ranks of Thailand’s other two recognised on the heritage list, the Thai massage and masked Khon dance The announcement was made during the…
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CentralWorld in Bangkok to host a five day New Year’s countdown party
For those who missed one of the biggest countdown events in Bangkok due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CentralWorld is back with a five-day countdown to 2022. The event, dubbed “centralwOrld BangkOk cOuntdOwn 2022,” will take place at Bangkok’s CentralWorld department store from December 25 to 31 from 8pm to 12:15am daily, according to Central Pattana Public Co. Executive vice-president of…
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US Secretary of State Blinken cancels Thai visit, meeting with PM due to Covid concerns
The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken cancelled the Thai leg of his Southeast Asia tour and his meeting with PM Prayut chan-o-cha after a journalist with the travelling press corps tested positive for Covid-19. Blinken had arrived at his second destination in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, on Tuesday for a two-day visit after he left Indonesia. The US embassy issued…
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Man arrested for allegedly stealing 50,000 baht in railway property
A 51 year old man in northern Thailand’s Phrae province was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly stealing rail track screws and plates valued at around 50,000 baht. The man was detained by the Railway Police Division in Den Chai district and was charged with theft of official property. Railway authorities had been curious if someone was constantly stealing the screws…
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11 dead, 25 still missing after boat capsized off Malaysian coast
11 people drowned and another 25 people are still missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Johor in southern Malaysia. Bodies of Indonesian migrants were found on a beach in Tanjung Balau early yesterday morning. Officers at Johor Fire and Rescue Department found the overturned boat on the shore near the bodies. So far, 14 people survived. The…
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Cambodia to appoint foreign minister as next ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar
Following Cambodia’s chairmanship of ASEAN for the year 2022, the country’s foreign minister, Prak Sokhonn, will be appointed as the bloc’s new special envoy to Myanmar, Prime Minister Hun Sen told the press during a speech at the inauguration of a luxury hotel in Phnom Penh today. Sokhonn will succeed Brunei’s Second Foreign Minister, Erywan Yusof, as the current ASEAN…
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Activists in Vietnam land dispute jailed for criticising government on social media
Two Vietnamese activists have been jailed for social media content about a violent clash with the authorities that resulted in the deaths of 4 people. According to an AFP report, violence broke out as activist villagers were protesting plans to build a military airport on their land. Officials were trying to erect a fence at Dong Tam commune on the…
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Thailand launches new tourism portal to make visiting the Land of Smiles easier
The Tourism Ministry has launched a new online portal it hopes will make visiting Thailand easier for the 8 – 15 million tourists currently expected next year. According to a Bangkok Post report, the website, called Entry Thailand, has been allocated a budget of 49.6 million baht for its first phase. The portal lists the information and documents travellers need…
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New rules for scuba diving boats in Thailand to increase safety
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Warawut Silpa-archa has introduced new safety measures that ban large commercial scuba diving boats from getting too close to dive sites. The rule would apply to national parks only so far and would require big boats to stay 100 to 200 metres from dives sites. Scuba companies that offer diving by taking many customers…
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India: What is left of matrilineal societies in Kerala?
Aparna Gopinathan considers herself privileged because her daughters will carry forward her family name. In a country infamous for its preference for sons, Gopinathan comes from a family that follows a system of matriliny, which is now unusual in her southern state of Kerala. The system of matriliny in Kerala was most commonly seen among Nair people, a regional group…
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Peshawar school massacre parents: ‘We kept his pen’
For Shahana Ajoon, every December brings grief, anger and agony for her family which is still struggling to come to terms with the deadly terror attack on a school in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, seven years ago. Ajoon’s torture is mirrored among the parents of the 132 school children who were killed in the massacre on December 16,…
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Artisanal bakeries in Niger fight for survival
Artisanal bakeries in Zinder, Niger, are threatened by industrial bakeries. This artisanal bakery has resisted the competition. Wheat flour and other products, such as oil, sugar and firewood, are becoming more and more expensive. Despite the difficult situation, the bakeries manage to retain their customers. Their street vendors sell the bread at crossroads, the bus station and markets. Modern bakeries…
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Decomposing headless body found along the beach in Songkhla
A man out for a morning stroll this morning along the beach in the Muang district of Songkhla happened upon a grizzly discovery: a decomposing dead body on the beach, minus its head. The 72 year old man who discovered the headless body, which had decomposed to the point of being mostly bones, promptly notified the police of the morbid…
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World in Progress: Kenya’s mysterious rising lakes
Antje Diekhans went to explore how people and wildlife are coping with the dangers of rising water levels. Her feature is narrated by Evelyn McClafferty. SOURCE: DW News
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Omicron variant: 9 cases confirmed, 5 more suspected in Thailand
Omicron is slowly creeping into Thailand. Officials have announced that there have now been 9 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 diagnosed within the borders of Thailand. Those nine cases have been fully genome sequenced and confirmed that they are definitely the new and highly infections variant. Omicron is believed to be more contagious but less severe than…
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Cambodia, Phillippines report first cases of Omicron Covid-19 variant
Omicron appears to be quickly making its way into Southeast Asia, as the Philippines and Cambodia both reported the first cases of the new variant on the same day. The Philippine Department of Health said today that it has detected the country’s first two imported cases of the Omicron virus strain following the 48 samples sequenced yesterday. Those two patients…
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Cabinet approves 82.5 billion baht project plan to clean up Bangkok’s polluted canal
Bangkok’s Khlong Saen Saep is in for a major cleanup. Garbage litters the waterway and wastewater flows into the canal, which is a major water transit with an express boat service running through the capital. To tackle the problem, the Thai Cabinet approved an 82.5 billion baht, 11-year rehabilitation project. The waste from the canal, which connects with the Chao…
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Sakharov Prize: European Parliament to honor Alexei Navalny
Speaking to DW ahead of the ceremony Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov said, “the Sakharov prize is a very important recognition of our anti-corruption activities as a whole and the achievement of the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Alexei Navalny 10 years ago.” “He’s not a lonely man in an ocean of silence, he is a man who managed to…
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Phuket taxi charged with death of Swiss tourist in motorbike crash
An accident in Phuket has left a Swiss tourist dead and a local taxi driver in custody being charged with his death. The crash took place Monday when taxi driver reportedly lost control of his vehicle and ploughed into the Swiss man who was driving by on his motorbike. The accident took place near Nai Harn in Rawai sub-district. Witnesses…
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Wednesday Covid Update: 3,370 new cases; provincial totals
29 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 21,260 with 21,166 of those fatalities during the latest wave, which was first recorded on April 1. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 3,370 new Covid-19 cases and 4,557 recoveries. There are now 46,315 people in Thailand being…
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Candidate for Bangkok governor under fire after claim he studied under Einstein’s grandson
A candidate for Bangkok governor is under fire after he claimed to have studied engineering under Albert Einstein’s grandson, and even went as far to say he’s the only one in Thailand that has studied under an Einstein. But a Thai reporter decided to fact check the claims and found that the American professor has no connection to one of…
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Bangkok man calls for rescue after locking penis in padlock
In a story that we can’t believe has happened twice this year, a man has gotten his penis stuck in a padlock and required emergency medical rescue services. This time, the incident took place in the Phaya Thai district of Bangkok where Ruam Katanyu Foundation rescue workers were summoned to the scene. When they arrived at the street off of Rama…
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Ask the Girls (Part 2) – Questions you’ve always wanted answered
Should sex toys and porn be properly legalised in Thailand? Do Asian women like or prefer dating western men? Join Natty as she asks the girls questions you’ve always wanted answered. This is Part 2 of a new entertainment segment we like to call, Ask the Girls.
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Pfizer booster shots on offer in Rayong, 1,000 per day for 3 days
3,000 Pfizer vaccines are set to be administered as booster shots in Rayong from Wednesday to Friday, 1,000 each day at Memorial Hospital Sirindhorn Rayong. The vaccines will be given for free for qualifying people who meet the criteria laid out by the hospitals. The vaccines will be available for those who are already fully vaccinated with Sinovac, Sinopharm, Astrazeneca,…
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Red Cross Fair being held online again this year due to Covid-19
For the second year in a row, the national Red Cross Fair is being held online only due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. The fair takes place every year all over Thailand as a fundraiser to support the Red Cross and their programs, especially those to help the poor and people in need. The Red Cross often steps in…
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