South Thailand News

Stay updated with the latest Southern Thailand news at The Thaiger, your ultimate source for regional information. Keep informed on local events, business developments, and lifestyle stories in popular locations beyond Phuket, Koh Samui, and Krabi. We’ve got reports of the latest goings on in Trang, Songkhla, Yala, and more.

Whether you’re a resident or a visitor, The Thaiger’s Southern Thailand news page is your essential guide to exploring this stunning tropical region. Dive into the vibrant community and rich culture with our expertly curated content, designed to keep you connected and well-informed.

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    Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?

    Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...

  • South Thailand shootout ends with 2 dead, 2 injured after wedding party

    South Thailand shootout ends with 2 dead, 2 injured after wedding party

    A shootout at a hotel car park in Surat Thani‘s main city district in South Thailand ended with two dead and two injured. The shootout occurred after those involved attended a wedding party last night. The tragic incident occurred at the Bunjongburi Hotel’s car park on Liang Muang Road in the Makham Tia sub-district. Authorities were alerted to the situation…

  • Trang governor reveals plans to develop Koh Kradan, the ‘best beach on earth’

    Trang governor reveals plans to develop Koh Kradan, the ‘best beach on earth’

    Plans are in the pipeline to develop Thailand’s Koh Kradan. Trang province’s governor, Kajornsak Charoensopha, on Wednesday, revealed plans to develop Koh Kradan into a major tourist spot. The move comes after the island was named the best beach on earth in the Top 100 Beaches on Earth by the UK’s World Beach Guide. The governor announced plans aimed at…

  • Thai man accuses RTA general of drug abuse, sexual sadism, and physical abuse

    Thai man accuses RTA general of drug abuse, sexual sadism, and physical abuse

    A Thai man accused a lieutenant general of the Royal Thai Army (RTA) of using drugs, engaging in sexual sadism, and physically abusing him during their sexual encounter in the southern province of Songkhla. The accuser, a Thai man named Nut, spoke to the media today about his relationship with the aforementioned RTA soldier named Wor. Nut disclosed that he…

  • Bomb attack in southern Thailand injures 8 police officers

    Bomb attack in southern Thailand injures 8 police officers

    Eight police officers from Sai Buri Police Station in Pattani province, southern Thailand, were injured in a bomb attack while on patrol last night. Two police vehicles were damaged. Before the incident, 11 officers went out on patrol in two pick-up trucks in the Sai Buri district. Assailants detonated a hidden bomb as the officers drove along the Ban Pa…

  • 100 police deployed to reservoir in the hunt for killer cop in South Thailand

    100 police deployed to reservoir in the hunt for killer cop in South Thailand

    There’s been a new development in the case around the cop in South Thailand who killed several of his family members, including his wife and son. The killer cop, 46 year old Pol. Snr. Sgt. Maj. Atthaporn Wichian, killed six people in Surat Thani province last week, including his wife, son, and father-in-law. Police have been on the prowl for…

  • Two separate shootings rock South Thailand, claiming 5 victims

    Two separate shootings rock South Thailand, claiming 5 victims

    Two separate shootings rocked South Thailand yesterday, claiming a total of five victims. In Surat Thani province, an unidentified gunman shot four people dead at a house, including two former village heads and his wife. The gunman attacked the victims at a house in Khiri Rat Dikhom district. Police identified three of the victims as former village headman Thammarong Nilniyom,…

  • Police find remains in South Thailand believed to be missing official

    Police find remains in South Thailand believed to be missing official

    Police and paramilitary rangers found human remains in South Thailand yesterday morning, which are believed to be those of a missing local official. The authorities found the bones on a cliff in Moo 6 village of Sri Sakhorn district in Pattani province. Along with the bones, they found the ID card of the chief of the Tambon Don Administrative Organisation,…

  • 18 year old man dies after two hooligans threw stones at him in southern Thailand

    18 year old man dies after two hooligans threw stones at him in southern Thailand

    An 18 year old man died in hospital yesterday after two hooligans threw stones at him while he was riding a motorcycle on a road in the southern province of Satun. The teenage victim, Kullatat “Folk” Tohem, was rushed to hospital on Sunday, April 2 with a serious head injury after two hooligans threw stones at him. The young man…

  • UNESCO recognises performance style from South Thailand

    UNESCO recognises performance style from South Thailand

    UNESCO has recognised a unique performance style from South Thailand. The organisation’s Facebook page posted a cover photo of a Nora performer, with the caption, “We are #LivingHeritage.” Nora has deep cultural and social significance for southern Thais. It is known for its unique style of singing and dancing. Nora performers are known for their signature long, curled metal fingernail…

  • Koh Chang Karp emerges as southern Thailand’s stunning new diving spot

    Koh Chang Karp emerges as southern Thailand’s stunning new diving spot

    Koh Chang Karp has recently emerged as the most stunning scuba diving destination in Trang, in the southern part of Thailand. Local tour boats hailed the island as the most beautiful scuba diving site in the province. Koh Chang Karp, also known as Koh Reur Rop (battleship island), is a hidden gem located between two popular attractions in Trang: Koh…

  • Pervy man caught on CCTV sniffing woman’s underwear and licking her shoes

    Pervy man caught on CCTV sniffing woman’s underwear and licking her shoes

    A Thai woman in the southern province of Songkhla filed a complaint with the police after a CCTV camera captured footage of a perverted man climbing over a wall into her house, sniffing her underwear and licking her shoes before leaving. The 28 year old victim, Raenu, posted videos of the incident on a Facebook group named HATYAIZ to warn residents…

  • South Thailand island to be developed as world-class tourism spot

    South Thailand island to be developed as world-class tourism spot

    An island in South Thailand is set to be developed as a world-class tourism spot. Koh Adang, located in the southern border province of Satun, is set to become a world-class tourism destination like Langkawi in Malaysia, according to the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC). Satun province is renowned for its picturesque natural scenery, with jungles, mountains, and beaches.…

  • Tourism Ministry sets its sights on developing Songkhla

    Tourism Ministry sets its sights on developing Songkhla

    Songkhla has caught the attention of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, which has set a 100 billion baht tourism revenue goal over the next decade. The ministry dubbed the Songkhla Lake Basin a Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) project. As always, the Tourism Ministry came up with a catchy, exciting name: “Amazing Songkhla Lagoon: Moving forward as…

  • Sex worker prosecuted after 70 year old man found dead in southern Thailand love hotel

    Sex worker prosecuted after 70 year old man found dead in southern Thailand love hotel

    Police prosecuted a Thai sex worker after a 70 year old Thai man was found dead at a love hotel in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in the southern part of Thailand. Officers from Tung Yai Police Station were alerted to the man’s death at around 10pm last night and immediately rushed to investigate the scene along with volunteers from the…

  • Man murders cousin after being bullied about his disability

    Man murders cousin after being bullied about his disability

    A disabled man murdered his able-bodied cousin after he repeatedly bullied him about his disability. The accused stated that he did not intend to kill his cousin but only wanted him to experience the same pain and suffering that he had been enduring due to his disability. The 62 year old victim, Somjit Wimonmueng, was shot dead in the early hours…

  • Swedish and Brazilian overstayers busted in South Thailand this week

    Swedish and Brazilian overstayers busted in South Thailand this week

    A Swedish man and a Brazilian man were busted in South Thailand’s Surat Thani province for overstaying their visas in Thailand this week. Surat Thani Immigration officers arrested the Swedish man in Koh Samui, on Chaweng Beach Road in front of Central Samui, in the Pho Phut sub-district. The man, 34 year old Christopher Tony Setfors, overstayed his visa by…

  • Missing woman found buried in southern Thailand forest

    Missing woman found buried in southern Thailand forest

    Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Police Office discovered the dead body of a woman who went missing last month buried in the forest behind Khao Lom Monastery in southern Thailand. Police believe her murder was motivated by a conflict within a drug gang. Officers from the Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Police Office discovered the corpse of an unidentified woman buried in…

  • Drug addict arrested for murdering employer with chainsaw

    Drug addict arrested for murdering employer with chainsaw

    A Thai man was arrested at the weekend after he used a chainsaw to murder his employer while they worked together in a rubber plantation in the southern province of Surat Thani. The murderer tested positive for drugs, and police found a chainsaw and a knife covered in blood at the scene. A resident who lived near the murder scene…

  • Bomb discovered under resident’s car in southern Thailand

    Bomb discovered under resident’s car in southern Thailand

    A potentially deadly attack was narrowly averted in southern Thailand on Saturday night after a young woman discovered a bomb attached to her aunt’s car while searching for a missing pet. The improvised explosive device was later safely disposed of by experts, but authorities are still investigating the motive behind the plot. Enaz Haji Taye, the owner of the Bangkok-registered…

  • Burmese man stabs 4 Thais after being rejected by woman in Koh Pha Ngan

    Burmese man stabs 4 Thais after being rejected by woman in Koh Pha Ngan

    A Burmese man in Koh Pha Ngan was arrested yesterday evening after he used scissors to stab a Thai woman who rejected him and three of her friends. The Burmese man, 31 year old Aung Htwe Naing, stabbed 29 year old Sukanya in a laundry shop in Koh Pha Ngan, where they worked at 2.30pm on Saturday, March 11. Aung…

  • Pervert robs and sexually assaults owner of kratom shop

    Pervert robs and sexually assaults owner of kratom shop

    Police officers in the Tung Song district in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat are on the hunt for a pervert who robbed a local kratom shop and sexually assaulted its female owner by groping her private part before fleeing the scene. The CCTV footage of the incident circulating on Thai social media shows a man wearing a jacket…

  • American teacher charged with reckless homicide over 8 year old’s drowning in Chumphon

    American teacher charged with reckless homicide over 8 year old’s drowning in Chumphon

    An American teacher has been charged with reckless homicide after the drowning of an eight year old boy in Chumphon province. The boy’s family, however, says they don’t blame the teacher for his death. According to Khaosod English, the 45 year old teacher was an employee of a local church in Map Ammarit Sub-District, Pathio District. He was on holiday…

  • Old woman severely injured after drunk official crashes car into her house

    Old woman severely injured after drunk official crashes car into her house

    A Pattalung Provincial Council official has been accused of being drunk and disorderly while driving after he crashed his car into a house in the Si Banphot district of Pattalung in the southern province of Thailand, seriously injuring an 83 year old woman. The victim’s family are understandably furious as the suspect is still at large. The Pattalung Provincial Council…

  • Koh Lipe tourism industry loses 10 million baht after local fisherfolk protest

    Koh Lipe tourism industry loses 10 million baht after local fisherfolk protest

    Local fisherfolk in the southern province of Satun have blocked the Pak Bara Pier to stop people from using it in protest after being banned from fishing for a month due to overlapping rules from two government departments. The result of the closure has affected the tourism industry, especially on Lipe Island, which lost revenue of over 10 million baht. The…

  • Thailand extends emergency decree in Deep South

    Thailand extends emergency decree in Deep South

    Thailand is extending the emergency decree in the Deep South for another three months. The decree applies to the border provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat and will run from March 20 to June 19. According to the Bangkok Post, the newest extension of the decree marks the 71st time it has been issued. The Deputy Prime Minister, Prawit Wongsuwon…

  • Four suspects arrested over murder of 4 men in southern Thailand

    Four suspects arrested over murder of 4 men in southern Thailand

    Police arrested four suspects in connection with the murder of four men whose bodies were found in Juerae Lake and the Kolok River in the southern province of Narathiwat two days ago. Residents found three dead bodies with gunshot wounds in a sedan truck submerged in Juerae Lake. Then another lifeless body who was also shot dead was found in…

  • Restoration of Maya Bay balances tourism, sustainability

    Restoration of Maya Bay balances tourism, sustainability

    The restoration of Maya Bay, Thailand, balances tourism with sustainability. Phi Phi Islands’ tropical paradise, made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie The Beach, has drastically reduced visitor numbers, and sea life is flourishing. The beach was closed in 2018 and before the pandemic hit, and in many respects, the past two years without pressure from great numbers of visitors have…

  • New species of orchid found in S.Thailand

    New species of orchid found in S.Thailand

    A team of botanists from Prince of Songkla University have described a new species of orchid, Aphyllorchis periactinantha, at the Paribatra waterfall in Ton Nga Chang wildlife sanctuary in the southern province of Songkhla. A team of scientists led by Sahut Chantanaorrapint, a professor from Prince of Songkla University biology department first identified the new species. Sahut said the Paribatra…

  • Man runs race in South Thailand wearing Forrest Gump costume

    Man runs race in South Thailand wearing Forrest Gump costume

    Run Forrest run! One participant in a 160 kilometre race in South Thailand made a splash with his unique attire. The man donned a Forrest Gump costume, complete with a plaid shirt, khaki pants, and a red cap, to the Amazean Jungle Thailand by UTMB 2023. The photo of the runner taken at the starting line in Betong district of…

  • Woman accused of being a witch and sacrificing neighbourhood cats

    Woman accused of being a witch and sacrificing neighbourhood cats

    A woman is in police custody after residents in the southern province of Songkhla accused her of being a witch and sacrificing neighbourhood cats. Yaowaluck Boonchum was accused by a cat owner of being into the occult after killing her five-month-old Persian cat as a sacrifice. The 44 year old woman denied the allegations, saying she is a cat lover,…