South Thailand News
Southern Thailand news, Phuket news, Koh Samui news, and Krabi updates—stay informed on business, tourism, and local events from Trang, Songkhla, Yala, and beyond. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Southern Thailand news source.
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Toon is on the run again for hospitals in the Andaman region
Yesterday (July 30), Atiwara Kongmalai, aka Toon Bodyslam, met with Dr. Supot Pukaoluan, The Director of Krabi Hospital, to discuss about his marathon-running-charity project, Kao Khon La Kao. Toon will be running in parts of the Andaman region in October to raise funds for five hospitals The five government hospitals which will be recipients of funds raised from the running…
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Young Thai caught between a rock and a hard place in Satun
A 20 year old Thai has been rescued from getting stuck in a rock crevice for nine hours. Sanook reported that the man was out looking for wild orchids with a friend on Saturday. He fell down into a rock crevice before being found and rescued by local foundation rescue volunteers. The incident happened at the Phu Pa Phet Cave…
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Thais across the country commemorate HM the King’s birthday
PHOTOS: The Nation To commemorate His Majesty the King’s birthday today, celebrations have been held around the country. In Songkhla the Fifth Artilleryman Battalion performed a 21 gun salute as a military honour to celebrate His Majesty’s 67th birthday. The firing of cannons from four artillery machines was performed at Mahavajiravudh Songkhla School in the Muang district of Songkhla province.…
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Durian drives southern economy with new Chinese 700 million baht factory
A Chinese company has invested 700 million baht to establish a durian processing factory in Songkhla’s Thepha district. The establishment of the Kunming-based company in southern Thailand is an indication of the growing love for durian in China and a growing export potential for the ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ fruit. Manguwang Food Company will employ up to 1,200 workers at its 700 million…
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Thai military under fire over alleged torture of a man in Pattani
PHOTO: Pattani United Liberation Organisation president Mr. Kasturi Mahkota An apparently healthy man, taken to a military camp in the Thai southern province of Pattani for interrogation on Sunday night, has ended up in the provincial hospital’s intensive care unit with brain swelling. The Pattani United Liberation Organisation is condemning the Thai military over the incident. Kasturi Mahkota, PULO president,…
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Ministers visit Thai southern provinces for economic brainstorming session
PHOTO: Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, centre, arrives for a meeting in Yala yesterday – The Nation The new Thai Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit (and leader of the Democrats), along with the Deputy Transport Minister Thavorn Senniam and Deputy Interior Minister Niphon Bunyamanee, held a multi-party discussion yesterday at the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre in Yala province. The meeting aimed…
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National agenda will be prepared for dugong conservation in Thailand
PHOTO: Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa in Koh Libong, Trang, yesterday/Facebook Speaking to reporters during a trip to Koh Libong in Trang yesterday, the new Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said that Thailand should draft a national agenda for dugong conservation. He was visiting the ‘nursery’ of the the young dugong ‘Mariam’ saying that Thailand could become…
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TMD issues a new weather warning for tropical storm Danas
The Thai Meteorological Department has issued another warning about tropical storm Danas since saying it’s on the move, from the Philippines’ Luzon, north and north-eastward into the East China Sea. The storm appears headed for Taiwan and likely to dump plenty of heavy rain on the way. The storm is ‘sucking’ in moisture from the Indian Ocean across southern Thailand,…
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Koh Phi Phi dugong died from a gastrointestinal infection
PHOTO: Department of National Parks, Wildlife & Plant Conservation Another dead dugong was discovered over the weekend off Koh Phi Phi in Krabi province. Department of Marine and Coastal Resources veterinarians have determined the death was caused by stomach infection and chronic inflammation of the intestines. Another was found off the coast of Trang on the weekend as well. The…
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Thai politician sought after quartet arrested with large drugs haul
by Jessada Chantharak A Narathiwat politician is on the run following the issuing of an arrest warrant after being implicated in a major local drug bust. A politician at the Narathiwat OrBorTor has been implicated by four drug suspects as the person who hired them to move 459 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, a very large quantity of ‘ice’. Three men, aged…
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Visiting time to see baby dugong Mariam is now restricted
Tourists and local well-wishers are flocking to get a glimpse of ‘Mariam’. She’s become an internet hit. But that’s also caused other problems. The high number of Thai and foreign tourists heading to Duyong Bay in Tambon Koh Libong in Kantang district, Trang, to watch officials looking after seven month old orphan dugong Mariam is prompting authorities to issue regulations to…
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Thais fined for failing to report resident foreigners within 24 hours
PHOTO: Naew Na More Thai nationals have been charged and fined for failing to report foreigners who were staying at their accommodations within 24 hours of checking in. The article didn’t specify if they were guest house proprietors, landlords or hotels owners. In any case, someone must register if foreigners are staying at their establishments within 24 hours of check-in. 23 year…
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Dugongs ‘live’ from today starring Miriam and Yamil
PHOTO: กรมทรัพยากรทางทะเลและชายฝั่ง Be your own director, choose the camera and follow your baby dugongs live. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and TOT are running live trials for a livestream of the care facilities where the two young dugongs ‘Mariam’ and ‘Yamil’ are now living, one in Trang and one in Phuket. The DMCR and TOT intend to provide…
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Thailand’s Princess Sirivannavari names Krabi’s baby dugong ‘Yamil’
Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari has proposed the name ‘Yamil’ for the orphaned baby dugong found stranded in Krabi on July 1. The animal was rescued by villagers and sent for treatment and rehabilitation by marine veterinarians in Phuket. Read about the baby dugong being found HERE. Netizens were invited to name the orphaned baby dugong by officials yesterday. Many…
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Dead dugong, dolphin found off southern Thai beaches
PHOTO: Manoch Wongsuryrat A three-metre long dugong has been found dead off the coast of Trang in southern Thailand. The total number of dead dugong found this year has reached seven, according to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources when they spoke to Thai PBS. Fishermen found the mammal and towed it ashore for veterinarians to examine. The dugong…
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Mariam the baby dugong ‘goes live’ soon
PHOTO: Hannaret Hripai and Srichai Anuraktichai Officials started installing six CCTVs along the coast of Koh Libong in Trang province today so that netizens will be able to monitor the life of Mariam, the baby dugong that was found washed up on a Krabi Beach in May. Residents and visitors will now be able to ‘bay sit’ (or dugong sit)…
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89 year old Trang grandmother raped by 71 year old neighbour
PHOTOS: Daily News A 71 year old man in Trang has been arrested after confessing to raping an 89 year old neighbour. Daily News reports that Palian police arrived to find that the woman’s granddaughter, Naphawan, had already taken matters into her own hands and beaten up Yap Chaiphak. She admitted to police that she had hit Yap repeatedly with…
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Burmese worker arrested for stabbing workmate to death in Surat Thani
A Burmese worker has been arrested shortly after allegedly stabbing another Burmese man to death during an alleged drinking argument in Surat Thani’s Tha Chang district, north of Surat Thani city, police said. 26 year old Hern Gogo was arrested inside an oil palm plantation in a village in Tambon Sawiad where he was hired to work with the victim,…
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Two suspects in custody after Surat Thani police officer killed during drug sting
PHOTO: The car that ran over Pol Sen Sgt Maj Poonkrit Buakaeo was found on Friday morning – Supapong Chaolan The body of a police officer, killed on duty during a drug sting in Surat Thani on Thursday evening, was repatriated to his home province of Nakhon Si Thammarat for religious ceremonies yesterday. Meanwhile two suspects accused of killing the officer…
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Manhunt for drug suspect who ran over policeman in Surat Thani
PHOTO: ThaiRath Surat Thani police are hunting for a drug suspect who allegedly ran over and killed a policeman while fleeing arrest in Ban Ta Khun district, west of Surat Thani, last night. The deputy provincial police chief says 46 year old Pol Sen Sgt Maj Poonkrit Buakaew was killed as he was shooting the tyres of a car that was…
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Mariam Live – the Trang baby dugong show
Mariam LIVE. Coming soon to your laptop or smartphone. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) is preparing to live stream the daily life of the orphaned baby dugong Mariam currently being nursed at Koh Libong in Trang province. Mariam, now six months old and weighing 30 kilograms, is the latest internet star after being rescued in Krabi on…
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Facial recognition security push in Thailand’s South
Concerns are being raised over the move to force all mobile phone users in Thailand’s South to submit their photos for facial-recognition identification. The edict says those who fail to do so by October 31 will have their mobile phone service blocked. The Cross Cultural Foundation says the order given to Thailand’s telecom operators was ‘racial profiling’. “The use of facial-recognition…
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Van driver and nine passengers injured in Songkhla van accident
A passenger van driver and nine passengers have been injured after the vehicle careered off the Asian Highway in Songkhla around lunchtime today. When emergency responders arrived they found the van driver unconscious behind the wheel. All nine passengers had been injured. Three of them, one with a broken arm, were taken to the Narakin Hospital. The incident happened just after…
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Marium, the Trang dugong, washed up on Libong beach
Six month old dugong, Marium, was released back in the sea early yesterday after she washed up onto the beach for a second time in Trang’s Libong Island. Marium was found on Krabi’s Ao Tung Beach on April 29 after getting lost and separated from her mother.and taken to Trang to recover. Dugongs are classed as “vulnerable to extinction” and…
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35 year old arrested over Pattani Big C bombing and other insurgency-related crimes
PHOTO: Remnants of a car bomb that exploded in front of a Big C in Pattani on May 9,2017 A suspect has been arrested by Thai security forces in Songkhla’s Thepa district. The man is believed to be a wanted insurgent – the subject of four arrest warrants in relation to violent incidents in the deep South. He’s been identified…
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Thai PM orders probe into Rohingya boat incident off the coast of Satun
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered an investigation after a boat carrying 65 ethnic Rohingya and five Burmese men was swept into the shore at Koh Rawi off the coast of Satun in southern Thailand. The PM has asked officials to find out who was behind the incident. The PM has also urged public health agencies to provide the immigrants with…
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Police investigating possible Thai links to Rohingya boatpeople marooned on Rawi Island
PHOTO: Thai PBS 65 Rohingya were discovered yesterday on Koh Rawi off the coast of Satun province, north-west of Malaysia’s Langkawi island, after their boat’s engine broke down on its way, presumably to Malaysia. One Thai national was identified amongst the group. Authorities are questioning the man into possible involvement in human trafficking. The boat was found 500 metres away from…
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Fishermen say they will protest fishing bans off Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
Fishermen in Nakhon Si Thammarat are warning of mass protests against the provincial governor if he doesn’t act and allow them to fish legally in the seas off the provincial coast. The south Thailand fishermen say they’re being harassed by fishery officials. 500 local fishermen gathered yesterday to air their grievances to the newly elected Palang Pracharat MP for the…
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Little Marium growing up in a Dugong Thai nursery
Marium, an orphaned baby dugong found along the Krabi shore two months ago, will remain in the care of a dugong nursery on Koh Libong in Trang for at least six more months. ‘Marium’ means ‘beautiful woman of the sea’. Chaiyapruek Weerawong, head of the Koh Libong Wildlife Preserve, says the female dugong would then be released in the open…
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Driver shot at Songkhla checkpoint after shootout with soldiers
PHOTO: ISOC Region 4 Forward Command Soldiers have shot a suspected drug courier as he tried to speed through a checkpoint following an exchange of gunfire with soldiers. The incident took place in the Saba Yoi district, in front of a school, last night around 8pm. Saba Yoi is the southern-most district in the province of Songkhla. 42 year old…
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