Pattaya News
Pattaya news, politics, business, tourism, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s coastal entertainment hub. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Pattaya news source.
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Sponsored Weekend road trip routes across Thailand [2025]
Weekend road trips in Thailand are a great way to enjoy beautiful scenery, local culture, and quick getaways without much travel time. From winding mountain routes in the north to coastal drives in the south, every journey brings new sights...
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Pandemic has washed away Pattaya’s “soapy” massage parlours
While the Covid pandemic has hit Thailand’s businesses hard, it has also washed away its not-so-legal soapy massage parlours after tourism has dried up its clientele. Such places, known as glorified brothels, have left many masseuses out of work as boards have barricaded the once booming establishments. Soapy Massage (àap-òp-nûat, อาบอบนวด, literally bath, steam, massage)… These are the bigger massage parlours where…
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Phuket sees 300 million baht boost over long holiday weekend
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says that Phuket has received a much-needed 300 million baht boost over the 4 day long weekend with around 54,000 tourists flocking to the island from last Thursday through to yesterday. Phuket Office Director Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, reports that the average expenditure per visitor was about 5,500 baht, which was higher than the average spend for…
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Mother travels to Pattaya to desperately search for her missing daughter
50 year old Chanapa Yuthiya has travelled from Chaiyaphum province to Pattaya, over 400 kilometres, to desperately search for her missing daughter. The grandmother has taken her 7 month old granddaughter along, after she says her daughter has been out of touch and unable to be reached since November 17. Chanapa filed a complaint to Pattaya City police last Thursday…
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Drunk besties turn on each other and sustain injuries in knife fight
A pair of so-called drunk besties, in the Banglamung district of Chon Buri province, apparently turned on each other after midnight yesterday, with both sustaining knife injuries after an altercation. Rescue workers arrived at a rental room in Khao Maikaew to find the 2 injured men. 48 year old Chaiyaphon Kannarat and 42 year old Apinan Kongprem were taken to…
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Teenagers break vending machine by inserting beer bottle tops to pay for coffee
A group of teenagers in the eastern province of Chon Buri has been caught on CCTV inserting flattened bottle tops into a coffee vending machine, causing it to break. In the footage, 4 teenagers, male and female, can be seen arriving on a motorbike and parking in front of a convenience store in the early hours of Wednesday morning. They…
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Pattaya supply boat destroyed in offshore blaze | VIDEO
A speed boat, moored off Pattaya, caught fire last night. It was in clear view for people at the nearby beaches. No one was injured in the incident but the vessel has received extensive damage. Pattaya City Police were notified of the blaze at 8pm. Local police, Pattaya marine officials and emergency services rushed to the scene. The boat was…
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Hitman arrested over 14 year old cold-case murder in Pattaya of NZ businessman
An arrest has been made in a 14 year old Pattaya cold case following the arrest of a Thai man who allegedly murdered a New Zealander in 2006. 40 year old Yiamwut Julapong, aka. Pokpong, is now in custody in Phetchabun province after a raid led by Crime Suppression Division. ‘Pokpong’ was wanted under an arrest warrant issued by Pattaya Court back…
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Good samaritans help motorbike stuck in Pattaya construction pit
A 30 year old man has good samaritans to thank after they helped pull his motorbike out of a construction pit in Pattaya. The motorbike became stuck in the pit on South Pattaya Road at about 3:30am yesterday morning. The man claims he didn’t see the pit, despite multiple signs, lights, and barriers. The area under construction was blocked with…
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Chon Buri royalists, pro-government groups, gather to show support for the Monarchy
Thousands of royalist supporters and pro-government factions have come together in Chon Buri to show their support for the Thai Monarchy. Actor brothers, Bin and Ekapan Bunluerit, were also present at the rally on Chonlamark Vithee Road, as well as the mayor of Pattaya, Sonthaya Khunplome, and his brother, Wittaya Khunplome. The governor of Chon Buri, Phakthorn Thianchai, was also…
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Third person killed by an elephant in the past month in Chon Buri’s Bo Thong district
A woman tapping rubber trees was stomped to death by a wild elephant in Chon Buri’s Bo Thong district. She is the third person in the district killed by an elephant in the past month. The wild elephants have been an ongoing problem and district chief Kittipong Kittikul says he’s been trying to control the wild animals in the area.…
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Chon Buri man allegedly killed neighbours over dispute about their barking dog
A Chon Buri man allegedly shot and killed his neighbours because their dog was barking. 49 year old Jirat Wuttimananon turned himself in to police and allegedly admitted to fatally shooting the married couple after an argument about the barking dog. He faces murder charges. “I have been annoyed with the dog for a long time and made many complaints.…
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Man arrested after allegedly pulling a gun on a woman at the ATM
A man was arrested after he allegedly pulled a gun on a woman at an ATM outside a Chon Buri petrol station and demanded money. Police quickly arrived to the gas station on Sukhumvit Road and arrested 36 year old Tawat Jantawon who allegedly told police he had taken a small amount of crystal methamphetamine. Police searched the man and…
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Investors see opportunity in Pattaya hotel market
Although travel restrictions are still tight, investors see potential opportunities in Pattaya’s hotel market. Many are reimagining the 2021 market by focusing on domestic demand. Property consultancy JLL says the ongoing Eastern Economic Corridor development comes into play. U-Tapao International Airport in Rayong expanding to increase capacity by 5 million passengers and a high speed rail is in the works…
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52 year old Russian head-butted by Thai protest leader in Pattaya
A small protest gathering in Pattaya’s Jomtien Beach last night turned ugly when one of the protest leaders targeted and assaulted a 52 year old Russian expat who was watching on with his 10 year old daughter and Thai wife. The tall Thai man in the floral shirt, named as Narathiwat “Kane” Khamma, became agitated and started yelling obscenities at…
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Cement truck driver blames brake failure after vehicle overturns
A driver was able to escape serious injuries after the cement truck he was driving flipped over in Banglamung yesterday morning. The driver has blamed brake failure for the incident. Emergency responders were notified of the accident on Saturday morning at 10am in Baan Ton Krarok. Police arrived to find the overturned cement truck on the road. The 61 year old sustained…
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Pattaya police stage fake brawls as part of training drill
Police and rescue workers in Pattaya have carried out a training exercise that involved simulating fake brawls in a nightclub and a hospital. Officers were taking part in a drill to prepare them for such incidents, with an increase in domestic tourists expected in the coming high season months. Pattaya has a number of large events coming up, including a…
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Pattaya journalist injured as foreigner steals gun, fires at police, then kills himself
An armed man has killed himself after a stand-off with police in Pattaya that lasted several hours, during which a journalist was shot. It’s understood the man, a 25 year old American citizen, stole a Glock 9mm with 8 bullets from a shooting range, with staff trying but failing to stop him from making his getaway on a motorbike, according…
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Live grenade found in garbage pile near Chon Buri housing estate
A man found a live grenade in a garbage pile near a Chon Buri housing estate. 48 year old Sukhawut Wichada said he was looking around the area for papaya when he came across the grenade. “I was searching for papaya before I found this… I knew it was a grenade. I ran away before calling the police.” Both police…
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Pattaya security guard arrested for indecent exposure in front of school
A security guard has been arrested for public indecency after exposing himself and masturbating in front of teachers and students at a school in Pattaya. The Pattaya News reports that 29 year old Marut Ruchiwong is accused of carrying out the acts at the gate of Wat Sukree Bunyaram School, in the district of Banglamung. It’s understood Marut drove his…
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Elephants chase motorbike driver to Chon Buri home
Wild elephants chased a motorbike driver in Chon Buri, following him to a family’s home where he stopped and asked to hide inside. 3 elephants ran after him to the house and damaged the front of the home. Luckily, the elephants weren’t able to enter inside the home and the family, including a child and a pregnant woman, were not…
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Pattaya – fighting to survive its Covid crisis
Pattaya, like some of Thailand’s other former tourist hotspots, is facing some critical challenges. Hundreds of thousands of workers have left the city because there’s simply no work and up to 50% of the city’s shops are closed, some never to re-open. The Thaiger filmed most of this video on a long weekend at the end of October, the busiest…
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6 face extortion charges after allegedly posing Thai immigration police officers
Police have arrested 3 people and issued arrest warrants for 3 others on extortion charges after they allegedly posed immigration police officers in Rayong and visited business owners with migrant staff, asking them for money. Police say 6 men wearing immigration police uniforms visited business owners in Rayong on September 15. They allegedly asked for money from the businesses with…
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Chon Buri fire kills 1, injures another
A building in Chon Buri caught fire yesterday afternoon, killing 1 person and seriously injuring another. The fire started on the second floor of the 4 storey building on Pattaya’s Sukhumvit Road and it took firefighters an hour to extinguish. The second floor was destroyed and a burnt body was found in one of the rooms. Another person was severely…
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Pattaya springs back to life over the long weekend, more to come
Pattaya, struggling along for the past 7 months with a handful of domestic tourists and Bangkok weekenders, has had its busiest weekend for a long time, albeit a long weekend created by the public holiday in commemoration of King Chulongkorn. Much of the increased traffic were Thai faces, a big change to the city’s old demographic of international tourists and…
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Bangkok Airways add 3 new local routes to their schedule
Some domestic routes are being added as local routes continue to expand. This time Bangkok Airways has announced it’s resuming its Samui-Phuket, Phuket-Hat Yai and Phuket-Pattaya/Rayong (U-Tapao) flights. The first additions to the schedule will be the Phuket-Samui flights resuming this Sunday, October 25, and the Phuket-Pattaya flights start again next Tuesday, October 27. The Phuket-Samui flights will be operating…
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Pattaya residents accuse Greek expat of throwing sewage, threatening neighbours, and damaging property
Residents of a housing estate in the district of Banglamung in Pattaya, have filed a police report against an expat they accuse of threatening and damaging behaviour. According to The Pattaya News, neighbours say the Greek national has threatened them, as well as “throwing sewage” at their homes, and damaging their fences. They add that, despite filing a police report…
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Burmese worker killed, 11 injured, in Chon Buri truck collision
A pick-up truck carrying migrant workers has collided with another truck in the eastern province of Chon Buri, killing 1 and injuring 11. The victims are all thought to be Burmese nationals. The Pattaya News reports that the accident occurred in the sub-district of Nong Kangkok, with the dead man named as 35 year old Mr. Juan. The 11 injured…
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Royalists gather in Chon Buri to support the Thai Monarchy amid anti-government protests
While pro-democracy protesters have been gathering nationwide over the past week, especially in their cat-and-mouse “pop up” protests around the capital, calling on an end to the military-run government and pushing the Thai PM to resign, royal supporters gathered at Chon Buri’s Banglamung District Office to show their support for Thailand and the Thai Monarchy. They say they welcome discussion…
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Pattaya bar ladies use YouTube to make money during pandemic – VIDEO
Can’t visit the ladies in Pattaya? Just go to YouTube and type “Pattaya bar live” in the search bar. A number of videos and live streams will come up from various bars in Pattaya. The area was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic with a ban on international tourists, battering the local economy that heavily relied on foreign visitors. But…
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Pattaya bars making money from live streaming for customers overseas – VIDEO
Since foreign tourists can’t visit the bars in Pattaya, some of the bars are live streaming and posting videos online to allow people to chat and connect with the female bar staff, partially making up for revenue lost during the pandemic. The Pattaya News says the chats aren’t explicit, just a friendly chat between the bar staff with men who…
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