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.

The Thaiger is your essential guide to navigating Pattaya’s dynamic landscape. To stay connected with the most trusted news source in town, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.

  • Sponsored

    Top 10 reasons for expats to get a comprehensive health insurance in Thailand

    Moving to Thailand offers plenty of excitement and adventure, but the local healthcare system can be complex to navigate as an expat. From unique health risks to high costs at private hospitals, having a comprehensive health insurance plan is essential....

  • Four crew plucked out of the water after freight ship sinks in Gulf of Thailand

    Four crew plucked out of the water after freight ship sinks in Gulf of Thailand

    Four crew members of a freight ship that sank near Koh Si Chang in Chon Buri province late on Wednesday were rescued, officials said. Phithak Watanapongpaisal, director of the marine traffic and safety of Laem Chabang deep sea port, said his centre was alerted at 11.40pm that the Phattara Marine 6 boat with 72 containers had sank near Koh Thai…

  • Two more Chinese airlines flying into Pattaya

    Two more Chinese airlines flying into Pattaya

    PHOTO: Planespotters.net More Chinese airlines heading to Thailand. This time they’re adding services to the eastern seaboard. Two Chinese airlines are headed to U-tapao airport, 36 km south of Pattaya. Donghai Airlines is flying from Wanzhou to U-tapao, while Kunming Airlines is launching a service from Kunming this July. Donghai Airlines is already flying three times a week to U-tapao…

  • Suspected Russian pedophile arrested in Pattaya

    Suspected Russian pedophile arrested in Pattaya

    Thai police continue to close in on foreign pedophiles operating in Thailand. A 39 year old Russian man has been arrested by Thai Tourist Police on charges related to the possession of child pornography. On Wednesday police raided a property in the Pratumnak Hill area of Pattaya and arrested 39 year old Alexey Fadeev. During the raid police confiscated a notebook…

  • Police launch operation ‘Rooting Out Crime for a Livable City’ – Pattaya

    Police launch operation ‘Rooting Out Crime for a Livable City’ – Pattaya

    Law enforcement officers have been deployed in Pattaya to launch an operation police claim will ‘make the city livable’. The operation will run until next Monday under the code name ‘Operation Rooting Out Crime for a Livable City’. In launching the operation at 6am yesterday (Wednesday), Pol Col Apichai Krobphet at Pattaya police station says they want foreign visitors to…

  • Pattaya’s Walking Street gets a ‘family’ make-over.

    Pattaya’s Walking Street gets a ‘family’ make-over.

    Walking Street in South Pattaya is facing its biggest makeover in decades early next year for a more family orientated feel. The unsightly hanging wires are set to be buried underground in an effort to beautify the infamous red light street to appeal to families. But not everyone is thrilled about it – the operators are worried about the effect on…

  • Big boats blamed for trash on Koh Si Chang, Chonburi

    Big boats blamed for trash on Koh Si Chang, Chonburi

    By Daily News The local mayor is blaming big boats at anchor offshore dumping their rubbish into the sea off Koh Si Chang in Chonburi. Mayor Damrong Phetra says there were no local people throwing trash on Ngu Beach – his team were constantly having to clear up the rubbish and it definitely came from boats, he said. Daily News…

  • Two Nigerians arrested in Pattaya over alleged romance scam

    Two Nigerians arrested in Pattaya over alleged romance scam

    Pattaya police have arrested two Nigerians alleged to be members of a romance scam preying on Thai women. 28 year old Ositadima Ibeh and 30 year old Chinedu Calistus Ndubuisi were accused of being members of gangs conducting romance scams and skimming cards, said Pattaya police chief Pol Colonel Wichai Krobphet at a press conference on Monday. Police seized forging…

  • Chonburi sting nets suspects and drugs

    Chonburi sting nets suspects and drugs

    A police sting operation led to the arrest of three young male suspects and the seizure of 218,000 methamphetamine pills, 4,150 grams of crystal methamphetamine or “ice” and 700 Ecstasy pills in Chon Buri province’s Sri Racha district. Police Region 2 chief Pol Lt-General Jitti Rodbangyang told a press conference on Sunday that the suspect, 22 year old Saran Silarak,…

  • Panwa Boonak crowned 2018 Thailand Optimist National Championship

    Panwa Boonak crowned 2018 Thailand Optimist National Championship

    131 Optimist dinghies competed at the 2018 Top of the Gulf Regatta in Pattaya, all vying for top honours in the Thailand Optimist National Championships, and the three-day competition was fierce, with reigning champion Panwa Boonak (THA) looking to hold off strong challenges from fellow Thai juniors and many of the best young sailors from around Asia. Thailand’s premier youth…

  • British man dies in fall from Pattaya condo

    British man dies in fall from Pattaya condo

    A British man has fallen to his death from the 18th floor of a Pattaya condominium early today (Wednesday), in what is believed to have been a suicide. Pol Lt Col Kamol Uppakarat was alerted at 1am about the death at a luxury condominium in Tambon Na Klua in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district. The body of 68 year old…

  • Pattaya tour boat operators continue to use beachfront

    Pattaya tour boat operators continue to use beachfront

    Many boats have continued to use the beachfront area to pick up and drop off tourists despite being ordered to resume using Chon Buri’s Southern Pattaya Pier (Laem Balihai) from today (Tuesday). Boat owners had been using the beach temporarily during the restoration of the pier. They claimed they could not switch back to using the pier as they were…

  • Day Two – Top of the Gulf Regatta

    Day Two – Top of the Gulf Regatta

    PHOTOS: Guy Nowell What a difference a day makes. Yesterday’s grey skies and consistent rain was replaced with hope this morning as blue skies hinted of a better day to come. A full fleet of boats headed out to their respective start lines as 120+ Optimists and more than 70 in the Single-Handed Monohull Dinghy and Double-Handed Monohull Dinghy classes…

  • Storms hit Bangkok and Central regions

    Storms hit Bangkok and Central regions

    The Big Mango got a battering last night whilst rains are expected sometime on Phuket during Saturday and Sunday, but not the torrential rains that hit Bangkok. Heavy rains and strong winds hit several areas of the capital last night. A bus stop on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road, outside the head office of petroleum giant PTT, collapsed as a result of strong…

  • Pattaya swingers party interrupted by authorities

    Pattaya swingers party interrupted by authorities

    Authorities raided a swingers party in Pattaya over the weekend. The party was held in a hotel in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district. When officials raided the hotel late on Saturday night, they found many foreigners openly engaging in ‘swinging’ and group sex. There were 14 couples who came from many countries including the United States, Canada, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany,…

  • Foreigners detained in Pattaya sex orgy raid

    Foreigners detained in Pattaya sex orgy raid

    PHOTO: Siamchon News More raids in Pattaya after police and authorities raided a ‘sex party’ being held at a hotel allegedly managed by a 53 year old Chinese man. Local police, immigration officers and Tourist Police carried out the raid after reports that the 30 room hotel located in the Nong Prue area was being used to host sex and…

  • PM appoints two new ex-politicians as advisors

    PM appoints two new ex-politicians as advisors

    The PM is starting to surround himself with more politicians and fewer Army people in the lead up next year’s planned election. The PM, who has always described himself as ‘not a politician’, is showing all the signs of strategically aligning himself with the right people to make him a choice as ‘outside PM’ should the new lower house not…

  • Belarusian prostitute has her day in BKK court

    Belarusian prostitute has her day in BKK court

    Anastasia Vashukevich, the Belarusian model and self-branded sex-guru detained in Bangkok, who made extravagant claims about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, is due in court today. She has offered to dump on several Russian businessmen linked with Russian President Putin with alleged links to US businessmen and politicians close to the US President. Anastasia Vashukevich, AKA Nastya Rybka, was…

  • Briton admits to beating wife to death in Ubon Ratchathani

    Briton admits to beating wife to death in Ubon Ratchathani

    A British man is in police custody after allegedly kicking his wife to death in a fit of rage. 51 year old Kevin Smitham reportedly beat his wife, 29 year old Kanda, after she refused to have sex with him and he accused her of having an affair, Banmuang reported. Locals say they heard the pair arguing at about 10pm…

  • “It wasn’t me.” Russian denies stealing money and beating up exchange booth attendant in Pattaya

    “It wasn’t me.” Russian denies stealing money and beating up exchange booth attendant in Pattaya

    PHOTO: Daily News The Russian man accused of attacking a Thai woman at a Jomtiem exchange booth and making off with nearly 700,000 baht is denying his involvement in the robbery. This is despite the incident being caught on CCTV. Earlier 30 year old Sunee Kaewyu was assaulted and robbed in a money exchange booth on Sukhumvit Road outside the…

  • Russian suspect nabbed after million baht money-exchange robbery in Pattaya

    Russian suspect nabbed after million baht money-exchange robbery in Pattaya

    A Russian man has been nabbed at Suvarnabhumi international Airport after Chon Buri police launched a manhunt to find the Russian who allegedly robbed a money exchange booth of nearly one million baht in cash. Police say the robbery took place at a booth in Jomtiem in Sattahip District, Chonburi yesterday morning (Saturday). After checking the CCTV on site, Police…

  • Rayong supercharged by China’s ‘Belt and Road’

    Rayong supercharged by China’s ‘Belt and Road’

    FILE PHOTO: U-Tapao Airport Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com reports… China’s massive outward bound economic expansion is now experiencing a massive impact on Thailand’s enormous infrastructure initiative, the EEC (Eastern Economic Corridor). A clear example of this is in the country’s Rayong province, which last year hosted 7 million visitors. According to consulting group C9 Hotelworks newly released Rayong Hotel Market…

  • Kids from around Asia head to Pattaya for Thai Optimist National Championships

    Kids from around Asia head to Pattaya for Thai Optimist National Championships

    PHOTO: Thailand Optimist National Championships – Guy Nowell By Duncan Worthington Thailand’s premier youth sailing event is just around the corner. The Thailand Optimist National Championships, held as part of the Top of the Gulf Regatta, will see more than 100 youngsters from around Thailand and Asia compete over three days (April 29 to May 1, 2018) in Pattaya. First sailed…

  • We’re in for a bumper Songkran this year

    We’re in for a bumper Songkran this year

    Economists are predicting a bumper Songkran festival this year due to a number of factors. he University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting says surveys indicate that Thai new year revellers are showing greater willingness to spend more this year. They estimate there will be 3-5% growth in spending which they predict will bring…

  • Pattaya’s Belarusian sex coach charged with prostitution

    Pattaya’s Belarusian sex coach charged with prostitution

    FILE PHOTO Anastasia Vashukevich, (AKA Nastya Rybka) the Belarusian ‘sex expert’ who claims to have insider dirt on Russian attempts to meddle in the US election, has been charged with prostitution. Last month she went public asking the US to help her out from her predicament, detained in a Thai prison in Bangkok, in exchanged for information on alleged ties between…

  • THAIGER TODAY Monday, March 26

    THAIGER TODAY Monday, March 26

    Driver point demerit system proposed (again) | Taxi driver found dead | Thai Government seeking exemptions over US tax tariffs | Serbian tourists fined over ‘innapropriate’ clothing at temple | Box jellyfish warning in waters off Trat | French tourist beaten up by 5 men in Pattaya | NGOs seek extension for registration of migrant workers | 35 passengers have…

  • THAIGER TODAY Friday, March 23

    THAIGER TODAY Friday, March 23

    Another bus crash of students in Ayutthaya | Ladyboys behaving badly in Pattaya | Phuket to become foam-packaging free| Top 25 toast destinations in Asia | Land Transport office wants to crack down on double decker buses | Thailand’s tourist numbers on the rise and rise.

  • THAIGER TODAY Thursday, March 22

    THAIGER TODAY Thursday, March 22

    16 dead following bus crash in Nakhon Ratchasima | Prawit may be invited in for a ‘chat’, NACC | Pattaya attackers charged by police | No water splashing on main roads for Songkran this year | Another tour bus crash in Phang Nga and a fatal accident on notorious Patong Hill | Austrian drowns in Pattaya | Young British traveller…

  • THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, March 20

    THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, March 20

    MH370 has NOT been found | Bar owner in Pattaya bashed unconscious | 10 million baht worth of marijuana seized in Chumpon | Officials concerned over damage on Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao | Nok Air being asked to ‘please explain’ over poor on-time record | 103 ‘practice bombs’ found near Vachira Hospital Bangkok.

  • Banned! Dart board ban now in effect across Thailand. Bars urged to get boards registered.

    Banned! Dart board ban now in effect across Thailand. Bars urged to get boards registered.

    Thailand’s ban on bars and entertainment venues allowing punters to play darts is now in affect nationwide. In January, officials in Pattaya raided bars along Soi 6 to confiscate the ‘illegal’ dart boards.Bar owners and staff were told that venues must now have a dart board license if they wanted to be able to allow customers to play the popular…

  • 5 Reasons to head to the Top Of The Gulf Regatta 2018

    5 Reasons to head to the Top Of The Gulf Regatta 2018

    Now entering its 14th year, the Top of the Gulf Regatta at Ocean Marina in Pattaya has grown to become an award-winning multi-class regatta held annually in the Gulf of Thailand. Homed at Ocean Marina Yacht Club, the regatta has morphed from its humble roots into one of the largest sailing events in Asia today, and attract sailors of all…