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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Hotels in South Thailand eager for surge in visitors this year
South Thailand’s hotels are eager for a surge in visitors during Thailand’s high season from October to December. About 80% of hotels in Songkhla province have reopened after ‘Thailand Pass’ was scrapped on July 1, according to the Songkhla Tourism Industry Council. Since Thailand Pass was scrapped, Songkhla has welcomed a rush of Malaysian tourists driving across the border. The…
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Pedo father & 2 stepbrothers jailed for raping 12 year old Thai girl
The father and two stepbrothers of a 12 year old Thai girl have been jailed for the alleged rape of the child. The father, 46 year old Yapard Aree-air, and two stepbrothers, 19 year old Arun Saeng-atit, and a 17 year old Khao, were arrested and charged, after the girl reported the incident to police in the southern province of…
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Southern Thailand rebel group considers 3 month ceasefire for Buddhist Lent
Another round of “peace talks” between the Thai government and rebel groups in Thailand’s Deep South was wrapped up yesterday at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – one of the most active and well-established insurgent groups in the south – is considering Thailand’s request for a three month ceasefire for the duration of Buddhist…
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Scam gang tricks child, steals over a million baht from his father
A man in South Thailand is the latest victim of the country’s call centre scam pests. A call centre scam gang tricked the man’s son into transferring 1,206,000 baht to the gang from his father’s bank account from July 7-25. The 49 year old man, ‘A’, and his 10 year old son live in the province of Nakhon Sri Thammarat.…
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Thailand has 2 of the world’s most beautiful beaches, UK newspaper says
After all these years, Thailand continues to be renowned for its breathtaking beaches. Thailand has two of the “World’s 20 Most Beautiful Beaches” on a list published by UK’s Daily Star newspaper. Thailand’s Sunrise Beach was ranked in sixth place, and Maya Bay came in at 12th place on the list. Both beaches are located in South Thailand. Sunrise Beach is…
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Rescuers carry injured Dutch hiker down steep mountain in South Thailand
Rescuers have carried an injured Dutch hiker in a stretcher down a mountain on South Thailand’s island of Koh Pha Ngan yesterday. The man, 48 year old Jan Harm Kedde, broke his ankle after slipping and falling on a rock on Hat Khom mountain. He had been hiking with a friend. After trekking down the mountain for two and a…
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Malaysian man arrested in Thailand for laundering gambling money
Luck may have run out for a rich Malaysian businessman who allegedly laundered money from online gambling as police picked him up in Sadao in the Deep South Thai province of Songkhla. Teow Wooi Huat also known as Tedy or Jho Low 2, is accused of laundering money connected to online gambling in Thailand and is also wanted in Macau…
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Fake bomb detectors come back to haunt the Thai PM in parliament
What’s made of plastic, has a few pieces of wire and two plastic antenna probes? A bomb detector, of course. The Thai army was duped into purchasing the dodgy bomb detectors 13 years ago. Some 320 of them! With the ongoing insurgency in southern Thailand, the bomb detectors were a potential solution for ferreting out small ordinances in the three…
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Police arrest man wanted for South Thailand murder
Police arrested a man wanted for a murder in South Thailand in March. The suspect, 37 year old Somsak Plano, had allegedly shot at three brothers, killing one of them and injuring another. Somsak’s alleged crime was believed to be related to a personal conflict. The incident happened in the Phato district of Chumphon province on March 2. According to…
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Sleeping driver unharmed after seemingly deadly crash
Yesterday morning saw what looked to be a grizzly car crash in Nakhon Si Thammarat but, surprisingly, the driver walked away unharmed. A pickup truck brimming with durian fruit smashed into a power pole on the highway yesterday morning after the driver fell asleep at the wheel. A man from Phang Nga had been driving down Highway 41 in Thung…
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Train service resumed from Hat Yai to border town Padang Besar
With borders finally reopened, the train between Southern Thailand town of Hat Yai and the Malaysian border town of Padang Besar has resumed service. The train had ceased operation more than two years ago when international borders closed during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, passengers can once again take rail service to the border between Malaysia and Thailand…
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Full Moon Party in South Thailand Tonight, Bangkok Airways flights full
Another Full Moon Party in South Thailand’s island of Koh Pha Ngan is happening tonight (Friday) amidst the country’s five-day holiday. Thai news outlet Naewna reported that all Bangkok Airways flights to Koh Samui Airport were filled to capacity today. Many tourists fly there before making their way to Koh Pha Ngan in Surat Thani province. The tourists are mainly…
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Police search for 3 rogue cops & soldier involved in illegal gun trade
Arrest warrants have been issued for three rogue cops and a soldier for selling illegal firearms to the criminal underworld in the southern province of Phattalung. The Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, reported a huge police investigation is still ongoing to determine the sources of firearms used by the different offenders. In the first…
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Suspected insurgent shot dead by police in southern Thailand
Thai police shot dead a suspected insurgent at a house in Pattani province, southern Thailand, yesterday at 4:30am. The suspect tried to escape the house by climbing out of the window and allegedly fired shots at police who shot back in self-defence. The deceased allegedly had a role in the 2019 Bangkok bombings. Police received information that a wanted, suspected…
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Songkhla officials investigate migrant smuggling network
Officials and police in southern Thailand’s Songkhla province are investigating an illegal migrant smuggling network. On Monday, officials and immigration police set up an ambush in a forest in the Hat Yai district. Illegal Burmese migrants had been staying there. After the authorities waited through the night and into the next day, 2 pickup trucks showed up, and the migrants…
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Teen killed and 2 year old in critical condition after motorcycle tragedy
A teenage boy has died and a 2 year old child is in critical condition after an accident yesterday at a motorcycle racing charity event near Krapang Surin Public Park in the southern province of Trang. A motorcycle racer lost control and crashed into the watching crowd alongside the racing track causing 1 death and injuries to 7 people. Sixteen-year-old…
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Thailand tourism: 9.3 million arrivals predicted, south busy
In its latest estimates, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports predicts that the second half of 2022 will bring more than 7 million travellers to Thailand. The first 6 months nearly hit the 2 million tourist mark, with 1.987 million visitors arriving from abroad from the beginning of January until June 28. Tourism generated around 114 billion baht so far…
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Travel to Surat Thani, it’s where the fun begins | Jay and Natty’s Adventures
The Thaiger‘s Natty and Jay recently went on a long weekend trip to Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani, and they’re dying to show our viewers their adventures. People typically see Surat Thani as a passing point to somewhere exciting like Koh Samui, Koh Tao, and Koh Phangan. But The Thaiger’s top news presenters want people to know about Surat…
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Songklha welcomes more Malaysian tourists after Thailand pass scrapped
Thailand’s southern province of Songklha has welcomed about 5,000 Malaysian tourists who drove across the border today. Before Thailand Pass was scrapped today, the number of people crossing Sadao checkpoint each day had been averaging 1,000-1,500. Now, the president of Hat Yai Songkhla Hotels Association says hoteliers expect to see 150,000 tourists from Malaysia in July. The president, Sitthiphong Sitthiphatprapha,…
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Songhla food festival hopes to draw tourists with its Hat Yai fried chicken
A food festival in Songkhla province’s city of Hat Yai is promoting the city’s chicken fried chicken to tourists. The festival, called Street Food Festival @ Hatyai, kicked off in the southern city yesterday and will continue until July 3. Foodie bloggers and Youtubers have praised Hat Yai’s fried chicken in the past. Now, the chairman of Songkhla Chamber of…
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8 Burmese allegedly confess to murder of Thai man
Eight illegal Burmese immigrants have allegedly confessed to the murder of a Thai man in the Hat Yai district of Songkla province in the south of Thailand. The suspects allegedly admitted to the murder of Maddol Binson because he extorted money from them and tried to kidnap a woman from the group. The body of the 40 year old, a…
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German national falls to death from rooftop in Songkhla
An elderly German national fell to his death from an apartment rooftop in the southern province of Songkhla this morning. A security camera recorded the man’s body landing on the road below the 6-story building. Police were told that the man, 81 year old former marine Klaus-Dieter Buchholz, had lived alone in the apartment in the Hat Yai district for…
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Suspected insurgents hijack garbage truck, bomb police booth in southern Thailand
In a suspected insurgency attack in Thailand’s “Deep South,” men armed with guns hijacked a garbage truck, tied up four binmen on the roadside, and placed a 50 kilogram explosive inside the vehicle. The assailants drove to a police checkpoint where they detonated the bomb, blowing up the garbage truck and injuring one police officer. The incident happened yesterday evening…
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Muslim students in southern Thailand protest against decriminalisation of cannabis
Students, teachers, and the board of Santiwit Songkla Technological College, in the southern province of Songkla, have condemned the government’s decision to decriminalise cannabis in Thailand. The college yesterday called upon all MPs, especially Muslims, and relevant agencies, who supported the bill to decriminalise cannabis on June 9, to reconsider their decision and think about the future effects the drug…
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Underwater utopia being created out of decommissioned oil rigs
An Aquaman-type underwater utopia is being developed near Koh Pha Ngan island in Surat Thani province, out of redundant oil and gas rigs. Thailand’s Natural Resources and Environment department revealed plans are well underway to utilise decommissioned oil rigs to develop a new diving destination for tourists located around 7.5 nautical miles north east of Koh Pha Ngan island. The…
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Pub fight in South Thailand leaves 3 dead
Three men were killed in a pub fight in South Thailand’s Nakhon Si Thammarat province in the early hours of the morning yesterday. Another man was seriously injured in the fight, which occurred in the main city district. City police said 2 rival groups were gathered at the pub’s car park after visiting the pub, when the deadly exchange began.…
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Police investigate whether killing in South Thailand was insurgency related
Police in southern Thailand are investigating whether a recent killing was related to a personal conflict, or the ongoing ‘South Thailand Insurgency’. Officers in Bannang Sata district Yala province found a man’s body in a fruit orchard yesterday. The body, identified as 43 year old Buraheng Roya, was lying near a motorcycle among the fruit trees. The police said Buraheng…
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Southern Thai man sentenced to almost 5 decades for terrorism and other charges
Southern Thailand doesn’t look like it’s headed towards peace any time soon. In the latest report on violence in the region, a man in Yala province has been sentenced to 46 years in prison yesterday after he was charged with terrorism, criminal association, and violating the firearms and explosives law. The man, along with 8 other people, was found guilty…
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Train hits car, killing young girl in South Thailand
A train hit a car at a railway crossing with no barriers in South Thailand’s Chumphon province yesterday. The crash killed 16 year old Piyamat Nilsuk, and injured her brother, 19 year old Payungsak Nilsuk. Police arrived on the scene to find Piyamat and Payungsak’s car badly wrecked, after the crash had made it turn over several times until it…
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Student hit by motorbike on zebra crossing in front of school in Trang
A female student has been hit by a motorbike while crossing the road at a zebra crossing with a group of friends and teachers in front of a school in the southern province of Trang. The motorbike rider stopped only a minute to check that the young girl was OK then immediately drove away. The dashcam video of the student…
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