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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    Why is Bangkok's air quality so bad?

    Imagine waking up early in Bangkok and you see all the beautiful morning fog from your balcony, but as you sip your coffee you realise it's just Bangkok's air pollution that's making the sun rise aesthetic. Ranked as the 36th...

  • Songkhla lifeguard dies in search for missing girl

    Songkhla lifeguard dies in search for missing girl

    A Songkhla lifeguard died on the way to hospital after losing consciousness while taking part in the search for a 10-year-old girl who went missing off Songkhla beach yesterday. A team of Songkhla lifeguards were dispatched to Chalathat beach, a popular tourist spot, after being alerted at about 2pm that a 10-year-old girl had gone missing. They were joined in…

  • Wedding turned into a bloodbath after groomsman shoots his friend

    Wedding turned into a bloodbath after groomsman shoots his friend

    A wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life but for one couple it will be memorable for another reason after a groomsman turned the ceremony into a bloodbath by shooting another groomsman after their girlfriends started fighting. The gunman and his girlfriend are now on the run in Trang, southern Thailand An officer from…

  • Police arrest boyfriend of murdered girlfriend dumped in a garbage bin

    Police arrest boyfriend of murdered girlfriend dumped in a garbage bin

    The man accused of murdering and dumping his girlfriend’s body in a garbage bin at the Khao Sok National Park at the border of Phang Nga and Surat Thani, surrendered to police yesterday. He allegedly admitted that jealousy drove him to lose his temper and commit murder. The murderer, Sukhon Kaewprapas, surrendered at Kapong Police Station in Phang Nga three…

  • Police track down suspect in murder of woman dumped in garbage bin

    Police track down suspect in murder of woman dumped in garbage bin

    Police believe the person responsible for the death of the woman dumped in a garbage bin in the Khao Sok National Park at the border of Phang Nga and Surat Thani is her boyfriend. Police reported they found evidence in the boyfriend’s home related to the murder of the woman, Suphattra Yodkaew, and is now on the run. Police identified…

  • Destitute man walks 1,000 kilometres over 11 days with 2 daughters to find job

    Destitute man walks 1,000 kilometres over 11 days with 2 daughters to find job

    The heart-wrenching story of a destitute man who walked 1,000 kilometres over 11 days to find work to feed his two starving children has a happy ending. The jobless man, Norraphat, and his two daughters, aged 10 and 12 years old, began their long arduous journey from a relative’s house in the Tung Wa district of Satun on December 11.…

  • Body of dead woman dumped in garbage bin in southern Thailand

    Body of dead woman dumped in garbage bin in southern Thailand

    Kura Buri Highway Department officers in the southern province of Phang Nga found a dead woman’s body dumped in a garbage bin on the roadside near the Khao Sok National Park at the border of Phang Nga and Surat Thani yesterday. The murderer is still on the run. Highway department officer Makesuwan Suphannamok told the media that he and his…

  • Petrol pump blown up in Yala terrorist attack

    Petrol pump blown up in Yala terrorist attack

    A petrol pump was blown up by suspected insurgents at a PTT petrol station in the southern province of Yala on Saturday night. There were no casualties. Shortly before midnight on Saturday, an explosion was heard at the PTT petrol station by Highway 410 in tambon Thanto, according to Pol Capt Palakorn Srichai. Police were dispatched to the scene to…

  • Backpack found on Koh Tao from sailor on HTMS Sukhothai

    Backpack found on Koh Tao from sailor on HTMS Sukhothai

    As search and rescue efforts enter their seventh day after the wreck of the HTMS Sukhothai, a tourist on Koh Tao found a grim relic of the tragedy. A Norwegian tourist on holiday on the tiny island in the Gulf of Thailand stumbled upon a backpack on the beach belonging to one of the missing sailors from the shipwreck. The…

  • 7 killed and 2 injured in floods in southern Thailand

    7 killed and 2 injured in floods in southern Thailand

    Seven people died and two more are injured as a result of floods in the southern provinces of Thailand. The water level has gradually decreased today. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) reported today that heavy rain and strong winds from December 18 to 21 caused flash floods and landslides in nine provinces including Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat,…

  • Hard rain stops train services in Thailand’s south

    Hard rain stops train services in Thailand’s south

    Heavy rain and high tides are bringing widespread flooding to Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Narathiwat. Red flags in Songkhla’s Chalatat Beach advise people not to venture into the 4-metre waves that are pounding the coast. In Narathiwat province, those living close to the Kolok River are ready to move themselves and their valuables to higher ground as the water…

  • UPDATE: Irish kayaker Odhran O’Neill’s body found

    UPDATE: Irish kayaker Odhran O’Neill’s body found

    Though not a lot of information has been confirmed or released yet, the body of a 22 year old Irish traveller has been recovered from the waters in Khao Sok National Park. He had been kayaking, a popular activity in the region, though the weather has been windy and rainy in the south of Thailand recently, making the waters more…

  • Heavy rains close Gulf ferries, Surin Islands for 2 days

    Heavy rains close Gulf ferries, Surin Islands for 2 days

    Heavy rains, high winds and thunderstorms have ferries cancelled and areas closing down for the next few days in the south of Thailand. In the Gulf of Thailand, all ferry services between the mainland and Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao have been suspended for two days. On the Andaman Sea, the national park on the Surin Islands has…

  • Battle lines drawn in Koh Lipe turf war

    Battle lines drawn in Koh Lipe turf war

    Thailand’s human rights commission (NHRC) is calling for the government to take urgent action in the Koh Lipe turf war to help sea gypsies living on the island in Satun province. The Moken are a semi-nomadic tribe that lives in Thai coastal provinces and inhabits over 800 islands in the Andaman Sea. They number less than 3,000 people. The Moken have…

  • Bangkok runs Hidden Temples tour while Deep South restores temples

    Bangkok runs Hidden Temples tour while Deep South restores temples

    With so much talk during the pandemic about closing nightlife and the effect on tourism, one might forget that millions of people flock to Thailand to enjoy other facets of the kingdom aside from beaches and parties, booze, and women. Now, various government agencies are coming together to highlight the beautiful architecture and culture of the temples of Thailand. In…

  • Whale washes up on beach in South Thailand

    Whale washes up on beach in South Thailand

    A whale washed up on a beach in South Thailand’s Narathiwat province on Monday. Locals, rescuers, and police helped to push the whale back into the sea at Naratat Beach. However, the whale washed up again two hours later about 500 metres away. Officials from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources believed that the whale might have been sick,…

  • Patani Colonial Territory designer summoned for game of truth or dare

    Patani Colonial Territory designer summoned for game of truth or dare

    The designer of Patani Colonial Territory, a game based on the recent history of Thailand’s southern regions, is believed to have been summoned by police after the game was confiscated from a café in Yala. Chachiluk Games said that the game designer was not involved in the conceptualisation and production process. Reporting on Thailand involves at least one truly absurd story…

  • Railway bomb kills three in southern Thailand

    Railway bomb kills three in southern Thailand

    Three maintenance workers were killed and four were injured by a bomb blast this morning on a railway in Songkhla province, southern Thailand. The workers were repairing the tracks after they were damaged by an explosion on Saturday which derailed and damaged a freight train but caused no injuries. At 12.50pm on Saturday, freight train 707 from Hat Yai in…

  • Flood warning for 11 southern provinces

    Flood warning for 11 southern provinces

    Southern Thailand has been soaked with rain over the past week. Now, the National Water Command Centre is warning 11 provinces of possible floods this coming weekend. They are expecting heavy rains from Thursday, December 8 through Sunday, December 11. Strong storms have been flickering power in some provinces in the south of Thailand, with high winds blowing debris and…

  • Insurgent bomb derails train in Songkhla

    Insurgent bomb derails train in Songkhla

    A train was derailed in the deep south of Thailand, and security officials believe it was a result of a bomb set off by southern insurgents. Train number 707 was making a short run from Hat Yai to the border town of Padang Besar in the Sadao district in the southern province of Songkhla. The train was a freight train,…

  • Unexploded MK-82 bomb found in Songkhla forest

    Unexploded MK-82 bomb found in Songkhla forest

    Rangers found an unexploded MK-82 bomb in the forest of Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern province of Songkhla. The authorities believe the bomb was left over from the Communist insurgency in Thailand over 40 years ago. The Communist insurgency in Thailand was a guerilla war lasting from 1965 until 1983, fought mainly between the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) and…

  • Police put brakes on car rental thief in Bangkok

    Police put brakes on car rental thief in Bangkok

    A car rental thief was arrested in Bangkok today after twocking more than 100 motors from car rental shops throughout several provinces of southern Thailand. Members of the Haad Yai Airport Car Rental Business Association in the southern province of Songkhla, and car rental shops in Pattalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krabi, Phuket, Yala, and Narathiwat filed complaints with police that…

  • Police seize board game after claims it could cause insurrection in Thailand

    Police seize board game after claims it could cause insurrection in Thailand

    Police officers in Yala yesterday seized a fun board game called Patani Colonial Territory from a coffee shop after a government official claimed that it could cause insurgency throughout the kingdom. For conspiracy theorists, this is up there with Elvis still lives. Officers in the southern Thailand province confiscated the offending game at the Life Coffee Slow Bar in the…

  • Buddhists and Muslims rally for peace together in South Thailand

    Buddhists and Muslims rally for peace together in South Thailand

    In one South Thailand province plagued by violence, Buddhists and Muslims are overcoming religious differences to fight for peace. Buddhist and Muslim leaders conducted demonstrators in a rally for peace in Narathiwat province’s city district this morning. Islamic leaders led prayers for peace. Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the Federation of Buddhist Thais in Narathiwat led the demonstrators in shouting demands…

  • Russian crewman’s hand cut off in Songkhla ship accident

    Russian crewman’s hand cut off in Songkhla ship accident

    A Russian crewman’s hand was cut off in a brutal cargo ship accident off Songkhla. A team of doctors and emergency nurses rushed to help the man on Saturday, according to a Facebook post by the Maritime National Interest Administration Center- Sor Chon. The Russian man, 47 year old Evgenii Kriukov, was transferred to the Songkhla Naval Base Hospital. He…

  • 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…

  • Car bomb explodes at police apartments in southern Thailand, 1 dead, 20 injured

    Car bomb explodes at police apartments in southern Thailand, 1 dead, 20 injured

    At least one police officer was killed in a car bomb explosion at a housing compound for police in Narathiwat province in southern Thailand at midday today. At least 20 more people were injured in the blast. A man dressed as a police officer was seen driving a pickup truck into the compound before the car bomb exploded at around…

  • 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…