Pattaya News
Welcome to The Thaiger’s Pattaya news page, your one-stop destination for the latest happenings in Thailand’s coastal town, AKA Sin City of the East! Our dedicated team delivers up-to-the-minute news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from Pattaya, covering everything from local politics and business to entertainment and lifestyle. Stay informed about the city’s thriving tourism industry, expat community, and vibrant nightlife, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
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Is cannabis really safe? Here’s what you need to know
Thai society’s views on cannabis continue to change for the better as the industry grows. More and more people are starting to embrace the plant for its medicinal and holistic wellness benefits. But despite growing acceptance, some stigma and perception...
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Mountain Bar & Bistro restaurant for sale to pay for pub fire
Anyone in the market for a restaurant with an infamous locale, here’s one you can probably get a great deal on. The Mountain Bar & Bistro restaurant in Sattahip, Chon Buri, owned by and adjacent to the Mountain B nightclub that burned down earlier this month on August 5 with 20 deaths, is for sale. On Friday, local media spotted…
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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,…
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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.…
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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…
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UPDATE: 16 Middle Eastern joyriders in Pattaya arrested
UPDATE Pattaya police arrested 16 Middle Eastern joyriders and seized 43 motorcycles on Monday night after complaints from locals. Police made known they are still on the lookout for the rest of the racers and that the relevant motorcycle rental shops would be charged too. Officers from the Provincial Police Region 2, and Mueng Pattaya Police Station, held a press…
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Pattaya locals gather to promote road safety
A crowd of about 200 locals in east Pattaya gathered at a school on Monday to raise awareness about Thailand’s problems with road safety. Speakers discussed the kingdom’s poor driver training, and the even worse enforcement of motorcycle helmets, which riders often don’t wear. Among the crowd was Chon Buri Deputy Governor Naris Niramaiwong, along with teachers, students, and volunteers.…
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Chon Buri man on the loose after allegedly axing wife to death
Yet another incident of an enraged man allegedly killing his partner has emerged in Thailand, this time in the Sri Racha district of Chon Buri. Police yesterday found a woman, 40 year old Wanrat Ruabrat, lying dead on the floor of her kitchen with brutal head injuries. They also found a bloodied axe at the scene of the crime. Wanrat’s…
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Makhot scoops 50,000 baht in Miss LGBT Thailand heat
The winner of the Miss LGBT Chon Buri pageant announced she was proud to represent her community in the final of the competition next year. Makhot scooped first prize and 50,000 baht at the event yesterday hosted at the Royal Garden Plaza Pattaya by Miss LGBT Thailand. Miss LGBT Thailand 2023 provides an opportunity for all LGBT individuals to showcase…
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Locals angry as Middle Eastern joyriders race through Pattaya
Middle Eastern joyriders have turned Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya into a racing track… again, and locals are sick of it. Locals urged police to use the full force of the law and impose serious measures as the number of racers on Sukhumvit Road has increased over the past two months. Last night, Thai media reported that a group of more…
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Drunk woman gets earful after biting tourist’s ear off in Pattaya
A drunken Thai woman was arrested on Saturday in Pattaya after an unprovoked attack on a Thai-American tourist without reason, biting his right ear off, and swallowing it. The 28 year old offender, Kannika Khamthon, was arrested after the incident and taken to Muang Pattaya Police Station. Police reported she was very drunk, and couldn’t answer questions. Kannika was also…
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One dead and one rescued from deep well after cover breaks
In hindsight, sitting atop a well cover isn’t the safest place for a casual chat. Two local Thai men in Bang Lamung found that out the hard way after their chatting turned to horror when the cover they were sitting on broke, plunging them into a deep well. One man was rescued but the second man died in the water…
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Pattaya Police Station deemed “satisfactory” in annual evaluation
Pattaya Police have received a high enough score to be deemed “satisfactory” in the Royal Thai Police’s annual assessment this week. The Pattaya Police Station scored 90% on the evaluation. The evaluation assessed police on: general service, criminal justice administration, security of lives and property, traffic control and management, personal management and development, and police drilling and tactics. The evaluation…
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‘Dead body’ on Thailand beach turns out to be sex doll
Beachgoers were horrified when a naked corpse turned up on Chon Buri province’s Bang Saen beach in eastern Thailand yesterday. Rescue workers rushed to the scene to investigate, but upon closer inspection, the “corpse” turned out to be a rubber sex doll. The top half of the doll was covered with a shirt while the doll’s bare bottom and legs…
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Ferocious cobra bites rescuer’s girlfriend in Chon Buri
A ferocious cobra bit a rescuer’s girlfriend in Chon Buri’s Sri Racha district this week. Locals had called the rescuer on Tuesday after spotting the two-meter-long monocled cobra in their house. The species is highly venomous. The 41 year old Pattipan, an officer from a foundation, arrived on the scene. He brought his girlfriend, 29 year old Apirat, along with…
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Motorbike taxi driver saves teenager from suicide in eastern Thailand
A motorbike taxi driver stopped an 18 year old woman from jumping off an overpass in Sriracha, Chon Buri province, on Tuesday. “Ked” recently discovered she was pregnant and said that her boyfriend forced her to take abortion medication before dumping her on the side of the road while she was heavily bleeding. The motorbike taxi driver, 60 year old Noppadol…
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Father tragically drowns while fishing in Chon Buri pond
A Chon Buri woman tragically lost her father, after he drowned in a deserted pond in the main city district yesterday. The woman, 22 year old Maneemol, went to look for her father, 54 year old Kwanjai after she noticed he had been out fishing for an unusually long time. Maneemol arrived at the pond to find her father’s bucket…
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Sick German man fails in suicide attempt in Pattaya
A German man with a debilitating medical condition tried to shoot himself but missed in a failed suicide attempt in Pattaya. The 82 year old man, believed to be Jonas Wolfgang Dietrich, was found unconscious with a gun wound to the chest on Sunday at about 10.30pm at 352/58 Village No. 5, Nong Prue Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District in Chon…
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Pattaya cops arrest spurned lover armed with gun after car chase
A high-speed car chase between police and a spurned lover armed with a gun ended when officers managed to arrest the man in a state of emotional duress in Pattaya. Police were called to the scene of a domestic dispute between Jane Ditphakdi and an unnamed woman, who rejected his advances, and another man trying to mediate the argument yesterday…
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Mountain B Pub’s real owner surrenders while police guard venue
The presumed real owner of the Mountain B Pub has now turned himself in. Somyos Panprasong, now considered to be the actual owner of Mountain B Pub, which claimed the lives of 19, after his son Sia B surrendered to police in the wake of the fire, reported to the Phlu Ta Lung Police Station today and was placed under…
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CSD requested to take over Mountain B Pub fire investigation
Citing a distrust for local officials, a coalition of representatives of many who were injured or died in the Mountain B Pub fire are calling for the Crime Suppression Division to take over the investigation. A group representing 13 of the victims officially complained yesterday to the CSD, asking them to replace local police in running the investigation into the…
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Speedo-wearing middle-aged joggers in Jomtien cause uproar
Scantily clad women are a fairly common sight in Pattaya, in clubs by night and on the beach by day. But when the gender roles were reversed, people on social media were going nuts over two middle-aged men jogging up Jomtien Beach Road, wearing nothing more than tight Speedo bathing shorts as they ran. Photos posted on social media on…
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VIDEO: Young Thais have a blast at Pattaya Music Festival weekend 2
Young Thais had a blast during the second weekend of the Pattaya Music Festival last night, and on Friday. Hundreds of teens took to Jomtien Beach to watch popular singers and bands perform live, including pop-rock artist ‘Stamp.’ Hip hop artists also performed. Video footage from The Pattaya News shows the eager youngsters packing onto the beach and the roads around it.…
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Pattaya night club owner gives free meals on Thai Mother’s Day
A Pattaya night club owner performed an act of kindness on Thai Mother’s Day on Friday. The Stones House night club is located on Pattaya’s famous Walking Street, a tourist hotspot and renowned party area. But this past Friday evening was a time for families lining up in front of the club. The club’s owner, Amporn Kaewsang, worked with her…
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Thief caught after showing off on TikTok the money he “earned”
One common lesson that seems to need to be learned and relearned frequently in the age of sharing your life on social media is: if you’re doing crimes, maybe don’t post about it online. Police in Chon Buri arrested a man in Chon Buri after he posted a video on TikTok waving fistfuls of cash and bragging about earning so…
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Mountain B victims to be compensated by Thailand govt
Families of victims of the Mountain B fire tragedy in Chon Buri last week will each receive 110,000 baht compensation from the government, the Thai Justice Minister announced. The tragedy claimed its 17th victim this morning, Lt. Cl. Palitdet Chumngern, a marine in the Royal Thai Navy, died at 7.54am at Sririraj Hospital. A Thai Ministry of Justice meeting yesterday…
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Free noodles for beach cleaners after Pattaya Music Festival mess
Music festivals are fun, but they often create heaps of trash. One Pattaya noodle vendor felt sympathy for some beach cleaners dealing with the mess from the Pattaya Music Festival this past weekend. So she decided to treat them to her noodles for free. The vendor, 51 year old Walaiphan, said she saw how hard everyone was working to clean…
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Death toll of Mountain B fire rises to 17
Another person injured in the Mountain B fire died in hospital this morning, raising the total death toll of the tragedy to 17. The blaze which swept through the nightclub in Sattahip district, Chon Buri province, happened a week ago today. Lt. Cl. Palitdet Chumngern, a marine in the Royal Thai Navy, died at 7.54am this morning at Sririraj Hospital,…
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UPDATE: Chon Buri police couldn’t find victim of car crash… on the back seat
UPDATE The Director of the Inter-City Motorway Division, Highway Department, Thanasak Wongthanakijcharoen, defended his highway officers after they were criticised for their slapstick approach to a car crash investigation which couldn’t find the body of the dead driver in the rear of the vehicle. The director said his team didn’t look for the driver’s corpse because it is a department…
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Mountain B fire death toll rises to 16
The Mountain B tragedy continues as another person injured in the fire dies in hospital. A 23 year old man identified as Sittichai Ouilert died at Chon Buri hospital at 10.21pm yesterday, after he was caught in the fire which swept through a Chon Buri nightclub on Thursday night. A total of 13 people died at the scene in the…
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Pattaya’s tourist buses are back at the floating market, but missing Chinese
Now that many of Thailand’s Covid-19 restrictions have eased, tourists are boarding buses to Pattaya once again. Tour buses were back at the Pattaya Floating Market earlier this week. While there were several Indian and Vietnamese tourists on the busses, the buses were missing a group that once played a major role in Thailand’s tourism market- the Chinese. One boat…
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