Central Thailand News
Central Thailand news, Ayutthaya news, Kanchanaburi updates, and business developments—stay informed on local events, tourism, and culture, including landmarks like the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Central Thailand news source.
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The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...
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Overhead traffic sign strikes car, passengers escape unscathed
As if Thailand’s roads weren’t dangerous enough, now drivers have another hazard to watch out for: falling objects from aging highway infrastructure. In recent weeks, there have been numerous reports of signs and concrete striking vehicles. The latest incident happened on Thursday, when a massive overhead traffic sign fell and struck an SUV on Phahonyothin Highway in the central province…
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UPDATE: Missing family from central Thailand flew to Istanbul, Turkey
THE LATEST After checking their database, Thai police have discovered that the family from central Thailand who went missing on April 10 flew to Istanbul, Turkey on that day. The family, who lived in Sukhothai, flew from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. It is unclear whether they are still in Istanbul, or have moved to another spot. Police also found the couple’s…
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Thai street food seller comes up with Mango Pad Kra Pao to follow Mango Sticky Rice fever
WARNING: This looks spicy!! To keep up with the current mango fever in Thailand, a food seller has offered a fusion dish, Mango Pad Kra Pao, and invited his customers to try it. The dish went viral on Thai social media, and many tried cooking it at home. The young Thai rapper, Danupa “Milli” Kanateerakul, created the mango fever in…
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Police allegedly selling dodgy ‘special tickets’ allowing Burmese to stay in Thailand
Four police officers from the main city Samut Sakhon Police Station, south west of central Bangkok, were dismissed from their positions after being reported for allegedly selling “special tickets” to trafficked Burmese migrants. The tickets required Burmese migrant workers to pay a monthly fee of 500 baht and carry the tickets everywhere to avoid arrest. On April 19, Thai media…
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Python in central Thailand feasts on 10 chickens
It wasn’t very difficult for rescue workers to catch a greedy python yesterday in Ang Thong province, central Thailand, after it ate ten chickens and couldn’t move. Staff from Ang Thong Provincial Rescue Association received a request yesterday to remove a large python which was asleep inside a chicken cage at a house in Pho Thong District. Police Lt. Col.…
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Thai MP permanently banned from politics for using forest reserve land for farm
A former MP of Thailand’s Palang Pracharath is now permanently banned from Thai politics for using forest reserve land in Ratchaburi province for her farm. The issues around the MP, Pareena Kraikupt, using land began to surface in 2019. The Royal Forest Department then investigated the land, and concluded that Pareena’s poultry farm encroached on it. The department asked the…
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Huge fire in Prachinburi Market, Central Thailand, 100 million baht worth of damage
A huge fire destroyed more than 30 shops at the Prachinburi Town Municipality Market yesterday. The fire reportedly destroyed properties worth more than 100 million baht. No injuries and deaths were reported, and volunteers rescued seven bedridden local residents who lived in the area where the fire broke out. Officials were first alerted about the incident at 5pm, and arrived…
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Investigation launched in central Thailand after 2 oil tanker explosions in a month
An investigation is being launched into why there have been 2 oil tankers explosions in Bangkok in the space of a month. The Transport Ministry has instructed the Marine Department to launch a probe into the explosions, the latest of which occurred on Sunday. The Ampar 8 was carrying over 3 million litres of crude oil from the island of…
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Too much monkey business in Petchaburi, now they’re getting sterilised
In Petchaburi, a central province, monkeys are breeding like rabbits. They might look cute at first, but the booming number of monkeys might threaten tourism since the monkeys often steal peoples’ belongings. Right now there are 1,000-1,500 per district, and this number is rising to 3,000 in Muang district. An adviser to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said…
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Officers seize monitor lizards, monkeys from farm suspected of exporting to restaurants
A farm owner was arrested for allegedly raising and exporting water monitor lizards and macaque monkeys in the northern province of Phichit. Officers say they suspect the farm was exporting the animals to Cambodia, and then to Vietnam and China to be sold to restaurants, according to the commander of the National Resources and Environmental Crime Division. When officials arrived…
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Missing man emerges from forest after 3 weeks dodging elephants
Like a scene out of an adventure movie, a 43 year old man stumbled out of a clearing in eucalyptus and rubber plantations to recount an incredible 21-day journey he spent lost in the wilderness and fleeing from wild elephants. The tale took place in Prachin Buri, the central province to the east of Bangkok after the man, Thongsa Wanthumma,…
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Monks caught drinking alcohol on New Year’s Day say they were honouring ancestors
Three Buddhist monks are facing expulsion from monkhood after they were caught drinking alcohol on New Year’s Day, which is a violation of their rules. Apparently, locals gave rice whiskey to the temple as an offering to their ancestors, but a monk says they drank the alcohol as a way to “deliver the alcohol to the dead people.” Residents called…
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9 prison escapees back behind bars, lotion the key to escape
The case of 9 prisoners who managed to escape a temporary detention centre has now been officially closed, with all inmates now back behind bars. The group had used a saw to hack through the bars of their room, then used their clothes to soften the barbwire atop the prison walls and climbed to freedom, albeit briefly. The governor of…
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Two women arrested for allegedly running unauthorized Covid-19 laboratory
Two women were arrested for allegedly issuing unauthorised Covid-19 certifications when police raided the D Lab Inter Group clinic in Muang district of Pathum Thani province on Monday. According to the head of the Consumer Protection Police Division, Pol Maj Gen Anant Nanasombat, two women who identified themselves as Wasita and Pornnapa were reportedly charging 500 baht for each Covid-19…
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Two killed in a military helicopter crash in Nakhon Sawan
A flight instructor and an aviation student were killed in helicopter crash during a training session for Thai military. The helicopter from Army Aviation Centre in Lop Buri caught fire and crashed in the neighbouring province Nakhon Sawan. According to a military source, the helicopter, which was made in the United States by Enstrom Helicopter Corporation and was worth 74 million…
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9 inmates escape temporary prison facility, 4 captured
After a group of 9 prison inmates made a daring escape from a detention facility in Nakhon Pathom, 4 have now been rounded up while a manhunt is on for the remaining 5. The group of men – 6 drug offenders, 2 charged with theft, and 1 charged with physical abuse – broke free from a temporary prison in the…
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Cha-am permitted to sell alcohol in restaurants from December 1
While tourist areas all across Thailand are fighting to be allowed to sell alcohol, Cha-am will be the next tourist pilot area to get to sell drinks. The Phetchaburi Provincial Communicable Disease Committee is preparing to test allowing restaurants and shops to sell alcohol in the tourist city until 10 pm. The trial run of the new permission will be…
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Thai man dies by flurry of bullets while going to get 2nd Covid shot
A 27 year-old Thai man has died after receiving a flurry of bullets from a gunman who had stopped the vehicle in which he was travelling. The man, Ampol Bunthong, a native of Phetchabun, was shot 10 times, according to police. The attack occured at about 8:20am this morning, at the Saraphi junction in Muang district. Ampol was riding with…
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‘Joe Ferrari’ and 6 other police, face death penalty
Thitisan Utthanaphon, aka. Joe Ferrari, along with 6 other police, will be indicted this week over 4 charges relating to the alleged torture and subsequent murder of a 24 year old drug suspect. The 7 police now facing official charges are… Pol Col Thitisan Utthanaphon (head of the station) Pol Maj Rawirot Ditthong Pol Capt Songyot Khlainak Pol Lt Thoranin…
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Thailand’s oldest reclining Buddha partially submerged in flood waters
Thailand’s oldest reclining Buddha at Wat Dhammachakra Sema Ram is the latest casualty from the country’s central flooding. Authorities say the statue was partially submerged as a result of flooding by mountain runoff yesterday. The 1,300 year old Buddha is located inside the Muang Sema Historical Park in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Sung Noen district. The Dvaravati-style, sandstone image, which measures 13.3…
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Nonthaburi protesters threw fermented fish at PM Prayut’s van
Yesterday’s visit to Nonthaburi may not have gone exactly as planned for PM Prayut Chan-o-cha as he was met by a horde of disapproving local residents including some protesters that threw smelly fermented fish at his van. The Prime Minister was greeted by both supporters and opponents as he came to inspect the flood wall along the Chao Phraya River.…
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Thailand’s largest field hospital closes as last Covid-19 patient discharged
Thailand’s largest Covid-19 field hospital has closed its doors as the number of seriously ill patients and new infections continues to fall. The Public Health Ministry closed Busarakham field hospital yesterday. The facility was located at the Impact exhibition and convention centre in the central province of Nonthaburi. According to a Bangkok Post report, the hospital opened on May 14…
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Paramotor pilot flies supplies to flooded Sukhothai residents
A paramotor – similar to a paraglider with a fan-like propellor on the back – has been soaring above Sukhothai delivering essentials to flood victims in need. Like Santa in his sleigh, 38 year old Vichai Tiyasan glides above the rain drench flood plains swooping down to drop gift care packages to the stranded people below. The adventurous paramotor pilot…
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Flood warnings below Chao Phraya Dam, and across Thailand
Authorities are warning of possible overflows and floods downstream from the Chao Phraya Dam. The rate of flow that is allowed to pass through the dam will increase in anticipation of a surge in water from the North and Northeast of Thailand where the weather systems are expected to dump heavy rains. The Royal Irrigation Department of Thailand put out the…
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Pathum Thani man allegedly lights building on fire, sticks around to laugh and smile
Over the weekend, a man in the central Thai province of Pathum Thani allegedly lit a residential building on fire but rather than fleeing the scene after his criminal act, the man allegedly stuck around to laugh and smile at the destruction. The man allegedly started the fire in the early morning hours, around 2am in the Lam Luk Ka…
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Bovine attack kills forest ranger in Khao Yai National Park
Over the weekend, a forest ranger was killed and another ranger sustained injuries after they were attacked by a gaur, an indigenous bovine also known as an Indian bison. The 2 rangers had been on patrol in the Khao Yai National Park at the time of the attack. There were 4 other rangers who had been conducting patrols with them…
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Man allegedly poses as famous DJ on Facebook to get donations for Covid, keeps the money
A man who posed as a famous disc jockey, DJ Poom, on Facebook is being investigated by Thailand’s Immigration Bureau after 2 banks lodged complaints against him for allegedly soliciting donations for Covid and then allegedly pocketing the money. He is also accused of stealing data and cash after making a site that sells products. The 2 banks are the…
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Samut Prakan man allegedly extorts residents for their registration plates
A man has allegedly been extorting people in the central Thai province of Samut Prakan to get their car registration plates back. The alleged criminal entrepreneur was exposed when a young woman posted on Facebook to say that a man had forced her boyfriend to hand over 100 baht to get his plate back after it came loose in floodwaters.…
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Auto repair shop allegedly pawns cars instead of fixing them in Saraburi
An auto repair shop owner stationed out the central Thai province Saraburi, allegedly pawned cars that he was supposed to be fixing. Police say they have recovered 11 cars so far. The police were alerted to the alleged thefts after multiple victims filed police reports. Saraburi City Police say the owner, identified only as Bunnam, has pawned cars in 3…
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Pathum Thani shopping centre apologises after overcrowded vaccination event goes viral
A shopping centre in Pathum Thani, a central Thai province, has apologised for a vaccination event that went awry after large crowds packed into the shopping centre in anticipation of receiving a vaccine. The large crowds resulted in people standing right next to each other with no social distancing being observed. The vaccination event happened over the weekend at Future…
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