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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Security captures fourth Songkhla insurgent after long siege
Security forces captured the fourth insurgent after three others tried to escape from their hiding spot in Chana, a district of Songkla. The insurgent hid in a house, even though local religious and community leaders begged him to surrender. After a pause, there were gunshots again in the evening. Security forces then moved in. The insurgent had an M16 rifle,…
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Betong Airport welcomes first charter flight, full opening February
The long-anticipated Betong Airport is finally ready to launch in Thailand’s southernmost province of Yala, is expected to be up and running by next month. The first charter flight to Betong landed yesterday with 78 passengers hailing the beginning of the new gateway to the destination. Businesspeople from the area were joined on the flight by an aide to PM…
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Insurance fraud ring uncovered after woman breaks her own finger
A woman busted for breaking her own finger led to the uncovering of a syndicate perpetrating insurance fraud around Thailand. The leader of the group and 16 members have now been arrested after at least 16 cases of buying insurance and then cashing in 1 to 2 months later. The group offered a service where they would find someone to…
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African Swine Fever reported at three pig farms in Prachuap Khiri Khan
Provincial livestock authorities in Prachuap Khiri Khan discovered three pig farms in Muang and Thap Sakae districts were infected with African Swine Fever. The reports come in the midst of a pork price crisis said to be driven by an outbreak of the highly contagious and deadly viral disease of pigs. 117 pigs from the three farms altogether had to…
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Food group denies hoarding pork after authorities raid warehouse
In a continued spat after Songkhla livestock authorities discovered over 200 tonnes of pork in a refrigerated warehouse, the company accused of hoarding the pork insisted it has not been doing so. The company, Betagro, which is one of Thailand’s leading agro-industry and food businesses, issued a letter of clarification yesterday, stating that the frozen meat belongs to its subsidiary…
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Thai authorities crack down on pork hoarders in the midst of pork shortage crisis
In the midst of Thailand’s pork shortage crisis, suspected of being driven by an outbreak of the African Swine Fever, Thai livestock authorities discovered over 200 tonnes of unverified pork in a refrigerated warehouse in Chana, a district of southern province Songkhla, yesterday. The authorities believe the pork has been stored there since November. They are now inspecting the warehouse…
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Burmese migrants trafficked through Thailand caught by Malaysian border
Last night, Thai soldiers caught 31 Burmese migrants on the Thailand-Malaysia border, illegally passing through Thailand and hoping to work in Malaysia. The migrants were found hiding in a ditch on a rubber plantation in Sadao, a district of Songkhla province. The group 25 men and six women had reportedly travelled from Myanmar’s Myawaddy township. After they crossed into Tak…
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Police arrest suspects who defrauded monk out of 140,000 baht
Police have been making progress in tracking down members of a call centre group that defrauded a monk in the south of Thailand out of 140,000 baht. Another arrest was made by cyber police, this time a 45 year old woman from Roi Et, whose bank account received payments from the monk. The group of scammers had tricked a monk…
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Peace talks held in Phuket with Islamist rebel group
Leaders of the Islamist rebel group Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani joined a peace dialogue panel in Phuket with the secretary-general of Thailand’s National Security Council, Wanlop Raksanoh, to discuss solutions to the religious separatist insurgency by the Malaysian border. The panel was held at Le Meridian Phuket Beach Resort and lasted from Saturday to Sunday. Also present at the…
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Thailand’s first Omicron variant Covid-19 death in Hat Yai
An official from the Ministry of Public Health announced that today Thailand had its first reported death from the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The death recorded in Songkhla province in the south of Thailand was an 86 year old woman from Hat Yai. She had Alzheimer’s and was bedridden. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health said the elderly…
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Fugitive arrested 7 years after trafficking Rohingya migrants
On May 18, 2015, the Nathawee Provincial Court in Songkhla issued an arrest warrant for Chamsudin Tordin for various charges relating to human trafficking. Today, after nearly 7 years as a fugitive, Chamsudin was taken into custody and will face charges regarding trafficking of Rohingya migrants. The man is now 38 years old and is a native of Muang District…
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Ununiformed checkpoint police face charges for shooting at truck
5 young men left a camping trip outside Ban Phikunthong village in Narathiwat to run to town to grab some food at a 24-hour convenience store. As they were driving through Muang district they approached 3 men dressed in street clothes signalling them to pull over. Unsure of what they wanted in the middle of the night, and with no…
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Rok Islands in Trang sees rare sighting of manta rays
It’s been about 18 years since they’ve been spotted in this area of the Andaman sea off the coast of Thailand, but snorkelers around the Rok Islands spotted a few manta rays. They are a vulnerable species that are rarely sighted in the area and are known to be the largest type of rays in the world. The area off…
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Omicron variant found in Nakhon Si Thammarat
As infections of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 surpass 1,100 cases in Thailand, the first confirmed case in Nakhon Si Thammarat was identified in a woman. She had already been fully vaccinated and received a booster shot. The 26 year old woman works at Kasemrad Hospital in Bangkok and travelled to the province to attend her grandfather’s funeral. The woman…
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Local mosque leader shot and killed in Pattani
Police are investigating the murder of a local mosque’s leader who was shot and killed while driving his motorcycle in Sai Buri in Southern Thailand’s Pattani province on Sunday night. The religious leader was shot twice, in the head and in the abdomen. The gunman is still at large. Police say a gunman shot Abdulloh Walor, a member of the mosque’s…
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Night of drinking with a woman on the beach gets monk defrocked
After a long day of work, there’s nothing wrong with sneaking off for a romantic night, perhaps some drinks on the beach with a date, right? Well, maybe not if you are a Buddhist monk. One monk from a famous Hat Yai temple learned the hard way that sneaking off for an alcoholic beverage in the company of a woman…
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Passenger train bombed in Thailand’s Deep South, 3 injured
A passenger train carrying around 300 people was bombed in Thailand’s Deep South, injuring two train officials and one passenger. The Defense Ministry says insurgents detonated the explosive along a railway in Pattani, a province by the Malaysian border with ongoing violence and attacks related to the religious separatist insurgency. The Defence Ministry of Thailand chastised the insurgents for attacking…
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Bomb in Narathiwat explodes, monks and soldiers unharmed
In the Deep South province of Narathiwat bordering on Malaysia, a bomb exploded this morning, with 2 monks and 2 soldiers narrowly escaping harm. The explosion took place early this morning on the side of the road in Rueso district of the province that often sees violence and bombings from local insurgents. As is common for Buddhist monks in Thailand,…
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CCSA meets today to decide on southern border re-opening
A deputy government spokesperson says the CCSA will meet today to decide if the border with Malaysia can be re-opened, despite the southern neighbour reporting a case of the Omicron variant. According to a Bangkok Post report, Rachada Dhnadirek says the CCSA has previously agreed in principle, but the emergence of Omicron means the situation needs careful monitoring. “The forward…
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All 23 districts declared as disaster zones in Nakhon Si Thammarat
Following downpours and runoff that began inundating the municipality last night, all 23 districts in Nakhon Si Thammarat province have been declared disaster zones. The statement by the provincial governor Kraisorn Wisitwong would assist rescuers and authorities to expedite rescue operations while also allowing the province administration to promptly distribute the emergency budget to affected households. Heavy rain, along with…
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Chumphon flood makes main North-South highway impassable
In Chumphon province, the highway connecting Bangkok to the South of Thailand has been hit with a flood so bad it has been impassable. After 300 millimetres of rain fell on the Chumphon districts of Lang Suan, Sawi, and Thung Tako on Tuesday, the main artery travelling the whole of southern Thailand was flooded in several areas. The battered province…
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Songkhla prepares for tourism across the Southern land border
Despite having the second most daily Covid-19 infections in the country today with 441 and becoming the 6th most infected province overall, the Deep South border province of Songkhla is preparing to reopen in December and bracing for a surge of overland international visitors. Local tourism operators are saying they expect around 10,000 tourists from Malaysia and Singapore per week…
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Glue sniffing man charged with murder for a temple beating
A man high from sniffing glue beat an older man to death with a piece of firewood in a temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat after the man refused to give him tobacco. The murder took place earlier today at Wat Khiriwong temple in Lan Saka district. The attacker was a 42 year old man from a village in tambon Kam…
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Thai woman’s bedtime routine rudely interrupted by giant King Cobra
A 3-metre long King Cobra recently slithered into a 55 year old Thai woman’s bed in southeastern Thailand, giving her a not-so-fun surprise. The woman, Janhom Bamrungchai, says she was in the bathroom, when the snake made its move to enter her home and hide in her bed. She was shocked upon finding it and called emergency services to remove…
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Southern Thailand to receive 500,000 vaccine doses to combat Covid-19 surge
The head of the Disease Control Department says half a million vaccine doses are being sent to 4 southern provinces. Opart Karnkawinpong says the allocation is to help the region battle a surge in Covid-19 infections. The southern provinces have already received an earlier allocation of 500,000 vaccines doses. According to a Thai PBS World report, the southern province of…
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Expelled monk returns to southern Thailand to celebrate birthday
A former monk who was expelled from monkhood has returned to southern Thailand to celebrate his birthday. Phra Yantra Amaro Bhikku, who is now known as Winai La-Ongsuwan, became disgraced from monkhood after alleged sexual misconduct. Although he has often returned to Thailand after his criminal defamation case against him in 2014, Covid-19 has kept him away for the past…
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Senior health official says South must move to Pfizer only to tackle Covid-19 outbreak
A senior health official in the southern province of Songkhla says the region must move to Pfizer vaccines only, in order to combat a surge in Covid-19 infections. According to a Nation Thailand report, Dr Papon Deechaisit is proposing a move from mixing Sinovac and AstraZeneca to using Pfizer for both doses. There has been a concerning spike in infections…
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Covid-19 surge in Nakhon Si Thammarat as province reports 618 new infections
The southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 infections, with 618 new cases logged yesterday. The provincial health office reported the record high alongside 8 Covid-related deaths, all of them elderly patients. The Bangkok Post reports that of yesterday’s new infections, 210 were in the Muang district, with the others spread across 23 districts. Hospitals,…
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Pattani Covid-19 spike fills nearly all field hospital beds
In the Deep South province of Pattani, health officials are reporting that field hospital beds are about full with 4,000 patients in care as Covid-19 numbers surge in the region. The Pattani Provincial Public Health Office is racing to create community isolation treatment centres to house up to 10,000 patients as Covid-19 infections continue to mount. The region is imposing…
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Covid-19 in Southern provinces prompts Songkhla checkpoints
As Thailand’s Deep South faces surges in Covid-19 infections, people crossing from the three southern border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala will face checkpoints when crossing into Songkhla. The checkpoints will stop travellers crossing the southern provincial border to do random Covid-19 screening. Pattani recorded 566 new Covid-19 infections yesterday, the most cases out of the southern provinces, and…
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