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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    How one hospital visit in Thailand could cost more than your whole trip

    Thailand is a favourite spot for travellers who want to enjoy more while spending less. From cheap street food to low-cost hotels and fun attractions, it’s easy to stretch your budget here. But there’s one thing many people don’t think...

  • Man arrested in South Thailand for attempted murder in Phuket

    Man arrested in South Thailand for attempted murder in Phuket

    A man has been arrested in South Thailand’s Phatthalung province for attempted murder in Phuket four years ago. The man, 23 year old Thanakorn Phontha, was wanted on arrest warrants issued in January and August 2018. Officers found Thanakorn in his house on Moo 7 in the Srinakarin district, after finding through an investigation that he had been hiding in…

  • A burglar, in a hole, in the roof, in the night

    A burglar, in a hole, in the roof, in the night

    A Nakhon Si Thammarat burglar, well-known to authorities, who dropped in from the ceiling rather than breaking in through a window or door was taken to the police by his long-suffering mother following his latest exploits. At about 2am the morning before, a thief had dropped in from the roof of a teacher’s home in the district and demanded 500…

  • Deep South emergency decree extended 3 months

    Deep South emergency decree extended 3 months

    After a recent car bombing of police apartments in the Deep South province of Narathiwat, the Emergency Situation Administration Committee decided to extend the state of emergency decree in the troubled Southern provinces. The extension means that the current state of emergency will not end on December 20 as scheduled, but will instead continue until March 19 at the earliest.…

  • 3 children aged 8 escape a school kidnapping plot in Thailand

    3 children aged 8 escape a school kidnapping plot in Thailand

    Three children in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat escaped a school kidnapping plot. Two suspects, a man and a woman, entered a schoolyard in the Thung Song district of Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand and tried to snatch three eight year old children. The children, one girl and two boys, told the police and their parents that…

  • Two petrol stations bombed in southern Thailand

    Two petrol stations bombed in southern Thailand

    Two petrol stations in Pattani province in southern Thailand were bombed yesterday evening. No one was killed or seriously injured. Police believe the attacks were carried out by insurgents and possibly in retaliation to an incident on November 7 when the police killed an insurgent who bombed a petrol station in Pattani. There were seven warrants out for his arrest…

  • South Thailand province welcomes first female Muslim governor

    South Thailand province welcomes first female Muslim governor

    One South Thailand province welcomed its first female Muslim governor yesterday. The new governor of Pattani, 57 year old Pateemoh Sadeeyamu, is the former deputy governor of Narathiwat, and Yala provinces. Several prominent people in the community hailed the appointment of Pateemoh as the governor of Pattani. One former lecturer at Prince of Songkhla University said that Pateemoh has extensive…

  • Frenchman missing after hiking in Khao Sok National Park

    Frenchman missing after hiking in Khao Sok National Park

    The search is on for a French tourist that has been missing for five days since going on a hike around Khao Sok National Park. The man said on Saturday morning that he was going for a walk in the jungle and has not been seen since. The man was officially reported as missing yesterday. The 30 year old Gollio…

  • Residents furious 20 million baht rest area on Thailand Riviera Road abandoned

    Residents furious 20 million baht rest area on Thailand Riviera Road abandoned

    Residents are up in arms about a motorway services station and rest area that has been abandoned on the Thailand Riviera Road in the southern province of Chumphon. The Riviera Road was part of a government project in 2009 which tried to level up the coast of the southern provinces of Thailand and make it a must-visit destination for tourists…

  • Army officer killed and another injured in southern Narathiwat province roadside bombing

    Army officer killed and another injured in southern Narathiwat province roadside bombing

    A blast in Thailand’s southern border province of Narathiwat killed an army officer and injured another officer. The roadside bomb went off on the vehicle they were driving in the Chanae district. According to Thai PBS World, military sources say the two officers were on their way to investigate another incident. The earlier incident concerned villagers being attacked by insurgents upon…

  • Wife’s ex-husband shoots new husband in the penis

    Wife’s ex-husband shoots new husband in the penis

    A man was arrested yesterday after he shot his ex-wife’s husband in the penis. The man claims that the shooting was an accident. Officers from Mueng Chumporn Police Station investigated a shophouse on Klomma Luang Road in the Mueng district of Chumporn province in southern Thailand after being notified of a shooting. A shophouse can be used as a shop…

  • Failed 14 million baht temple lighting system may quash UNESCO nomination

    Failed 14 million baht temple lighting system may quash UNESCO nomination

    A failed 14 million baht lighting system isn’t helping southern Thailand’s temple of Phra Mahathat Woramahavihan’s bid to become a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. The lighting system was installed around the main stupa of Phra Borommathat Chedi in 2014, but those responsible for the project have largely left it in disarray. The lighting is now in need of repairs due…

  • No fury like a ladyboy scorned – toyboy pulls gun

    No fury like a ladyboy scorned – toyboy pulls gun

    Fury gripped a middle-aged ladyboy in Phatthalung when she caught up with her toyboy lover at a hotel with a woman until he pulled his gun on her. On November 1, Phatthalung police arrested 18 year old Apichart Thongdeepeng on suspicion of threatening to shoot Amnuay Sukkaew, 28 years his senior. The pair say they have been together a year.…

  • Man arrested for selling homemade guns

    Man arrested for selling homemade guns

    A Thai man was arrested yesterday for making homemade guns and selling them via e-commerce platforms. The man revealed that he learned how to produce the barrels from social media. Police raided the home of Phuwadon Rakthinderm in the Kung district of the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat and arrested the 34 year old for producing and selling firearms…

  • Too big to fail: Full Moon Party revives Koh Pha Ngan

    Too big to fail: Full Moon Party revives Koh Pha Ngan

    In the US, the phrase “too big to fail” is applied to financial institutions whose defaulting would cause the national or even global economy to collapse. So these institutions receive bailouts to keep them afloat in times of economic crisis. In Thailand, our too-big-to-fail institution might be the Full Moon Party. The legendary party, running for nearly 40 years on…

  • A man in South Thailand causes floods by stealing drainage equipment worth 2 million baht

    A man in South Thailand causes floods by stealing drainage equipment worth 2 million baht

    A man in the Trang province of South Thailand has caused floods by stealing public drainage equipment worth 2 million baht, Thai media reported yesterday. The man, 30 year old Permpol, allegedly stole the equipment in Trang’s main city district. He reportedly stole parts including gears, gate valves, water drainage screws, and panelboards. Residents complained to Trang police, who gathered evidence…

  • Thai military denies torturing and killing Deep South rebel

    Thai military denies torturing and killing Deep South rebel

    The Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) said peace talks with the Thai government will be harmed if they are responsible for the torture and murder of a Deep South rebel whose body was found in the Golok river, on the border of Thailand and Malaysia, last month. The tortured body of 42 year old Zahri Bin Abdullah – also known as…

  • Southern Thais prefer PM Prayut over other candidates in recent poll

    Southern Thais prefer PM Prayut over other candidates in recent poll

    A new poll is revealing that southern Thais prefer Prayut Chan-o-cha for the post of prime minister over other politicians. The National Institute of Development Administration polled on October 17-20, on 2,001 eligible voters. The voters were from all levels of education, occupations and incomes, and were aged 18 and over. According to Bangkok Post, the poll was summarised as…

  • Soldier arrested for stabbing 15 year old at a nightclub

    Soldier arrested for stabbing 15 year old at a nightclub

    A soldier has been charged with attempted murder after he stabbed a 15 year old boy at a nightclub in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat last weekend. The teenager was stabbed in the back with a chisel in front of a nightclub in the Tung Song district of Nakhon Si Thammarat at about 2.45am last Sunday, October 16.…

  • This South Thailand province’s unexpected beauty will wow you

    This South Thailand province’s unexpected beauty will wow you

    “We hope to put Pattani on the world tourist map,” tour operator Fareeda Abdullah told Bernama. South Thailand’s Pattani province is not the first place people usually imagine for a holiday getaway. The province often makes headlines for sectarian tensions. But Pattani has an up-and-coming tourism industry. The province boasts breathtaking nature, including a beautiful mangrove forest in the Yarang…

  • Thai Cabinet approves 6.6 billion baht for bridges in South Thailand

    Thai Cabinet approves 6.6 billion baht for bridges in South Thailand

    Two upcoming bridge projects in South Thailand have had a budget approved for them. Thailand’s transport minister announced yesterday that the Thai Cabinet has given the green light on the plans, which will cost about 6.6 billion baht. One bridge will cross Songkhla Lake in the Koh Yai sub-district of Songkhla’s Krasaesin district, to the Jong Tanon sub-district in Phatthalung’s…

  • Man used dating app to murder one woman, torture another

    Man used dating app to murder one woman, torture another

    A man was arrested for murdering a woman he met on a dating app while police found another severely beaten woman in his room. The 27 year old man had been wanted for the torture of a woman that resulted in her death on July 21 in Bangkok Noi but had gone on the run. Police got a tip-off about…

  • Armed, drunk father tried to snatch his child from school

    Armed, drunk father tried to snatch his child from school

    One day after a former police officer killed his wife and child and slaughtered 24 children and 13 others at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu, another man was stopped and arrested before he could commit a similar act. In the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, an inebriated armed man was arrested near a school trying to grab…

  • Angry American man smashes up a Thai man’s car

    Angry American man smashes up a Thai man’s car

    An American man was arrested yesterday after smashing up a Thai man’s car and threatening his family in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The Thai man, Sunthorn, notified officers from Kanom Police Station that an American man, 45 year old Andigo, threatened his mother and daughter and threw rocks at his pickup truck. The video of the incident…

  • Tangmo defendant repays vow with 5-metre Ultraman figure

    Tangmo defendant repays vow with 5-metre Ultraman figure

    A defendant from the Tangmo case, Tanupat “Por’’ Lerttaweewit, repaid a vow he made at a famous temple in the southern part of Thailand by offering a 5-metre Ultraman figure. Thai netizens believe he made a wish related to the Tangmo case after Tangmo’s mother agreed to accept compensation and dropped murder charges. The Kom Chad Luek platform reported that…

  • English teacher’s body found in South Thailand

    English teacher’s body found in South Thailand

    An English teacher’s body has been found last night in South Thailand’s Nakhon Si Thammarat province. The Danish man, 66 year old Devyd Haier, was found lying on his bed wearing only a pair of yellow shorts. He was found at his residence in a commercial building in the main city district. Devyd’s close friend said that when the two…

  • Roadside bomb blast kills police officer and injures four more in southern Thailand

    Roadside bomb blast kills police officer and injures four more in southern Thailand

    A roadside bomb blast killed one police officer and injured four more officers in Pattani province in southern Thailand yesterday. The officers were patrolling Mai Kaen district in a pickup truck when suspected insurgents hiding nearby detonated a roadside bomb in front of Mai Kaen Hospital at around 7.40pm. In the blast, the pickup truck was launched into a power…

  • Navy rescues foreign passengers in Krabi after yacht trip goes wrong

    Navy rescues foreign passengers in Krabi after yacht trip goes wrong

    A yacht trip has gone wrong for a group of foreign passengers in the southern Krabi province on Thursday. The yacht broke down in the middle of the sea, although it is still unclear what caused the yacht to break down. The passengers were left waiting for help from the Royal Thai Navy. Fortunately, the navy arrived on the scene…

  • Thai immigration authorities arrested over alleged bribes in illegal fishing case

    Thai immigration authorities arrested over alleged bribes in illegal fishing case

    A group of Thai immigration authorities has been arrested in an alleged bribery case involving illegal fishing that happened last year. The 11 individuals include six immigration police, and five other immigration officials working at marine border and disease control checkpoints. The Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, announced their arrests yesterday. The group has…

  • 3 Thai police suspended for soliciting bribes in e-cigarettes case

    3 Thai police suspended for soliciting bribes in e-cigarettes case

    Three police officers in the Hat Yai district of Songkla, a southern province of Thailand, are under investigation for soliciting bribes from three men caught crossing into Thailand with e-cigarettes. The three victims revealed that the police asked for 10,000 baht from each of them to waive penalties. Pachara Sirithorn revealed on Facebook that he and two of his friends…

  • 27 people arrested for 1.5 billion baht Police Credit Union fraud

    27 people arrested for 1.5 billion baht Police Credit Union fraud

    Twenty-seven credit union officials, police officers, and former police officers have been arrested for defrauding the Pattalung Police Credit Union out of 1.5 billion baht. On March 24, members of the Pattalung Police Credit Union filed a complaint to the Assistant Commissioner-General, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, that some police and credit union officials were working together to steal money from…