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.
-
Sponsored
9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...
-
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…
-
Pattaya Fireworks Festival hoped to boost economy over upcoming weekend
The Pattaya Fireworks Festival is approaching with many hoping it will boost the economy over the upcoming weekend. Stacked with long fireworks shows and some hotels offering promotional fares for advance bookings, officials say they hope it will wake up the weekend as Thais and foreigners alike take part in the annual short list festival. The festival runs over November…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Pattaya beer bar catches on fire, landlord accuses evicted tenant of arson
A Pattaya landlord is accusing an evicted tenant of arson after a beer bar housed in his building caught on fire late yesterday morning. Police and firefighters are continuing their investigation and did not comment on what they suspect caused the fire. The building owner, 68 year old Chanathida Rasamussen, says the fire was out when he arrived at the…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
Thai protester released on bail, tells his side of the story after head-butt incident in Pattaya
A follow up to yesterday’s sad incident with a Thai protester ending up head-butting a 52 year old Russian man who was watching a small protest on the Jomtien foreshore with his 10 year old daughter and Thai wife. The incident happened on Monday evening at the Dongtan Curve. The protester, Narathiwat “Ken” Khamma, was arrested and jailed for the…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Norwegian expat in Pattaya arrested on child porn charges
An elderly Norwegian man has been arrested in Pattaya on charges of downloading, collecting, and possessing child pornography. The 87 year old expat was arrested yesterday in the Jomtien area, after authorities identified his computer IP address as being the source of illegal downloads of child sexual abuse material. The Pattaya News reports that members of the Institute of Forensic…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
“Pattaya Model” to focus on Special Tourist Visa visitors from China and Russia
Pattaya wants to cash in on the new Special Tourist Visa scheme and local officials plan to introduce the “Pattaya Model” to help boost the local economy after it took at beating from the lack of international tourists due to the pandemic. They’ll focus on drawing in Chinese and Russian tourists on the new long stay visa, according to Pattaya…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Illegal gambling site taken down after raids, alleged earnings up to 10 billion baht
Billion, with a ‘B’. A group of 6 Thais have been arrested over the operation of an allegedly lucrative illegal online gambling website. The website, since closed down, was called ‘Marwin Net.com’ which was allegedly connected with previous raids in Chon Buri. Police claim that the gambling ring has generated an astonishing 10 billion baht. The online gambling ring is…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Pickup truck crashes into elephant as herd runs across Chon Buri road
A herd of wild elephants running across a road in Chon Buri caused a driver to crash into an elephant, damaging his Isuzu pickup truck and injuring a 20 year old passenger. 34 year old Sompong Duangknam says he was heading to the province’s Ban Ang Kraden district when a group of about 20 elephants ran out of the forest and…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Police search for suspect after man shot, critically injured near Chon Buri shipyard
Police are searching for a suspect who allegedly shot a 37 year old man near a shipyard in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district. Son Kuengsamrong was found lying on the ground with a bullet wound just below his rib cage. He was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition. A truck driver passing by yesterday afternoon noticed Son lying…
-
The Pattaya to Hua Hin bridge. Government discusses 900 billion baht investment.
The government is looking into a so-called “Thai Bridge” that would connect Pattaya to Hua Hin, an estimated 900 billion baht investment. The project would be part of the Eastern Economic Corridor development plan aimed at improving the transportation and infrastructure in Thailand. The 900 billion baht investment is expected to take 10 years to financially implement, according to chairperson…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.