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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School director ambushed in Pattani
The director of a school in Pattani’s Panareh district escaped an ambush by four suspected insurgents this morning, police said. The director, Thawil Sae-ham, was driving to Ban Nam Bor School when he was attacked by four men on two motorcycles on the main road of Moo 3 village in Tambon Phor Ming. Thawil said both pillion riders fired AK-47…
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Baby elephant rescued from muddy pit in Chumpon
by Prasit Leehakhunakorn A two year old male elephant, ‘Chao Duan’, has been rescued after it fell into a 70 centimetre deep and four metre wide muddy pit where it was stuck for two days in Chumphon province. The elephant is now recovering under the loving care of veterinarians, although its hind legs remain immobile for now. Nam Tok Ngao…
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‘Romantic conflicts’ suspected in murder of Chinese woman
A 28 year old Chinese woman, found dead at the Ton Nga Chang waterfall in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district on September 20, is suspected to have been murdered by a male compatriot and two accomplices. This revelation from the Deputy Tourist Police Bureau Commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakparn today. Police suspect a romantic conflict as a motive for the murder…
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Chinese woman’s death at a Hat Yai waterfall is now a murder investigation
An investigation into the mysterious death of a Chinese woman at a waterfall in near Hat Yai has now become an official murder investigation. A Chinese man has emerged as a prime suspect and Thai police also seeking evidence in China and working with Chinese police. Tourist Police Division’s deputy commander Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakparn says that he was soon…
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How many twins in one Trang school?
Sanook is reporting that a primary school in Trang has an unusual problem. It’s a confusing time for teachers and students with 20 sets of twins in classes from kindergarten up to primary 6. In the past the school has had as many as 28 twins in some years over the past decade. That is more than any other school…
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Fishing worker reported hanged on returning boat
FILE PHOTO The skipper of a fishing boat has reported to police that one of his workers allegedly hanged himself on the boat as it returned to Songkhla fishing pier last night (Monday). But the wife of the dead man, 37 year old Anucha Kahapanna, doubts whether her husband committed suicide and is asking police to investigate whether it was…
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Surat Thani oyster farmstay burns down
PHOTO: Daily News The Sinmana Farmstay oyster farm and resort has burned down after staff unwittingly sprayed the entire property with an accelerant to keep away mosquitos on Friday. Sinmana Farmstay is located in the Kanchanadit District, Surat Thani, and was popular with tour groups who stay at the resort and caught oysters during their trip there. According to staff at…
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Eating your way around Songkhla
by Pattarawadee Saengmanee – The Nation Weekend As we come in for landing at Hat Yai International Airport, I see clear sky reflected in the azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Despite the weather App warnings, the sun was out. Sightseeing is first on the agenda though and after a pleasant 40-minute drive from the airport to Songkhla Old…
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Policeman killed and four injured in insurgent ambush in Yala
FILE PHOTO – The Nation A policeman has been killed and four villagers injured in an apparent ambush by insurgents in Yala’s Raman district yesterday (Wednesday). Tha Thong police in Raman were alerted just after 5pm about the attack on a pickup truck at the boundary between Raman and Pattani’s Thung Yang Daeng district. When police and an Army unit…
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Train hits car in Hat Yai
A driver has been injured after his car was hit by a train in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district yesterday morning (Wednesday). The Bangkok-Padang Bezar train hit the car at a rail crossing in Ban Lop Moom in Tambon Patong. The car driver, Aeb Meekaew, was critically injured and taken to the Hat Yai Hospital. The 58 year old train driver,…
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District in Thailand’s south declared Special Control Zones
Special report from Chularat Saengpassa – The Nation “We have no idea what will happen next. The soldiers have been keeping a close eye on people going in and out of the village.” Locals in parts of Pattani’s Nong Chik district now live in fear due to the strong military presence in their hometown. “We are scared and don’t want to…
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Major ‘ice’ haul intercepted in the South
FILE PHOTO An enormous haul of 280 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as “ice”, was found hidden in a pickup truck that was spotted abandoned in an oil palm plantation in Satun’s Manang district. Supoj Sirisaeng, an assistant chief of Tambon Nikhom Pattana, alerted police to check the vehicle after it was found in the plantation. The pickup was taken…
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Two rangers killed, four others injured in Pattani ambush
FILE PHOTO – The Nation Another attack in the deep south. Thai PBS reports that two para-military rangers have been killed and four others seriously wounded in an ambush by a group of armed men. The attack was followed by a gun fight in the Nong Chik district of Pattani late last night (Tuesday). Nong Chik police headed to the…
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Three arrested in Pattani with alleged home-made bomb
PHOTO: Nine hurt in bomb blast in Pattani in 2015 – The Star Police and rangers have arrested three men in Pattani this morning (Saturday) after they were allegedly found with a homemade bomb in a gas cylinder. Police and rangers were patrolling a rubber plantation in Ban Lan Chang village in Tambon Taping, Sai Buri district and spotted two motorcycles.…
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Trang councillor arrested over roadwork attacks
A member of the Trang Provincial Administration Council and another Trang resident were brought in for questioning to a military camp yesterday morning (Wednesday). Police say it’s part of the investigation into a case in which unknown assailants burned two road construction machines on the night of July 14 and opened fired on its workers on July 16. The 56…
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Police on the hunt for two ‘Malay-speaking’ assailants in Songkhla
Following up from the shooting story in Songkhla yesterday… Police in the South have released a sketch of what witnesses described as a “Malay-speaking gunman” after an elderly Buddhist couple were gunned down at their house and furniture shop in Songkhla’s Thepha district yesterday. Read the story from yesterday HERE. The shop house belonging to 68 year old Uthit Chanrat…
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Sister and boyfriend arrested over alleged rape of 12 year old autistic girl
Two youths have been arrested in Songkhla after a 15 year old girl allegedly let her 19 year old boyfriend rape her 12 year old autistic sister. The accused girl and her boyfriend of three months, Sanpich Kobbai, also allegedly returned to the girl’s home in Songkhla’s Sadao district, to rob her 73 year old grandmother of a gold ring,…
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Arson attack on Yala electricity building and vehicles
Five alleged insurgents have raided an office of the Provincial Electricity Authority in Yala and set fire to the building and two vehicles just after midnight. Police said the attackers raided the PEA office in Ban Bannang Dama in Tambon Bannang Dama of Yala’s Kabang district at 12:30am (Thursday) and tied up six officials leaving them them at the rear…
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Trang Moon Festival 2018 – cultural shows, food stalls, contests
The ‘Trang Moon Festival’ has long been observed by Chinese people in Thung Yao in Trang province’s Palian district. The 2018 Trang Moon Festival is scheduled for September 22-24. Through the staging of this traditional festival, the Chinese commemorate the fight for their nation against the Mongols. Trang province was one of Thailand’s trading ports and trade with the Chinese…
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Singaporean’s house catches fire in Hat Yai
PHOTOS: Manager Online A fire has partially destroyed a two storey luxury house occupied by a Singaporean in Hat Yai. Manager online reports that the fire took control of the house in the City Park housing estate on Phonpichai Road in Hat Yai, Songkhla. The Mittaparb Samakkee Hat Yai rescue foundation arrived at the scene, followed by firefighters from the…
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Indonesian forest fires spread smoke into southern Thailand
Smoke from forest fires in Indonesia has begun to affect areas of Thailand’s southern region, including the Hat Yai district of Songkla, where particulate levels are now considered detrimental to health. Smoke from Indonesian forest fires has shrouded much of Songkla province extending out to sea, impacting on visibility for boat operators. Songkla Fisheries Association Head, Suradech Nilubon has issued…
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Three year old suffocates in Pattani school van
WARNING: This story may be distressing to some readers Pattani police have charged a school van driver after a three year old girl was forgotten and locked in a vehicle at a school and subsequently died of suffocation. 23 year old Ahama Saro-Eng was summoned by police on this morning (Thursday) to face a charge of negligence causing death after…
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Songkhla hospital saves 78 year old British man
The Prince of Songkhla University Hospital has performed special surgery valued around 1 million baht to save the life of a retired Briitish naval officer for humanitarian reasons and is organising donations to send him back to the UK. 78 year old Kenneth George Smith told reporters from his hospital bed that he appreciated the help from the Songklanagarind Hospital,…
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Peaceful Pattani – the other side of the southern province
By Pattarawadee Saengmanee, The Nation Weekend The former capital of the ancient Langkasuka Kingdom, Pattani province in Thailand’s far south has traditionally been feted for its multiculturalism, though sadly the ongoing violence has kept it well off the tourist map for more than a decade. But his southern province bordered by Narathiwat, Yala, and Songkhla has plenty to offer the…
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Jealous wife attacks husband with Ito kitchen knife in Chumpon
Police and rescue medics rushed to the scene of an attack on a Chumpon man. Sanook reports that Police found 38 year old Anon with serious wounds to his head and arm on a concrete road outside a house. He was taken to Sawee Hospital. They found out that the attacker was Anon’s estranged wife, 45 year old Nit. Both are construction…
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Father and mother found in Trang murder-suicide
Two Trang parents dropped their children off with a relative and then drove away. Not long after police found the two dead in an apparent murder-suicide. TNA reports that two were allegedly arguing over extra-marital relationships and jealousies. They left the children with an older sister while they drove off to sort out their differences. Police from the Huay Yort station…
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Great southern comforts – Narathiwat
by Pattarawadee Saengmanee The southern province of Narathiwat is a great place to chill, unspoilt by mass tourism and full of southern surprises. Narathiwat shares a border with Malaysia. A stone’s throw from the Narathiwat airport are the white sands of Ban Ton Beach where I stretch out while my media friends tuck into a Southern-style lunch in Chulabhorn marine camp’s…
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Trang shipping container retrieval will resume tomorrow
The Trang Harbour Office says the operation to retrieve 16 containers that fell off a cargo ship in the sea off Trang province would resume again tomorrow (Monday). Commander Chatkul Wanitchanat, director of the Trang Harbour Office, says the operator of the MV.NP Love Gistic 2 ship could not find a crane on the barge to pull the containers out…
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Fourth Buddhist Yala rubber tapper injured in a week
PHOTOS: The Nation Police in Yala are reporting that another Yala rubber tapper has been killed by suspected Muslim militants in the southern border province. The incident happened this morning (Wednesday). The victim becomes the fourth Buddhist rubber tapper in a week to be attacked by suspected Malay-Muslim insurgents. Police said 46 year old Sukho Khamkaew was injured when a…
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Boom Boom on the border
PHOTO: The attractions of Thailand’s southern border town usually become apparent after sunset On one side of the Thai/Malaysian border is Sungai Golok, on the Malaysian side it’s the town of Rantau Panjang. The two towns are separated by the Golok River as well as decades of furious fighting between Muslim separatists who want to reclaim some of the southern…
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