Chiang Mai

  • Crime News

    50 dogs rescued from alleged Chiang Mai puppy farm

    A raid on an alleged puppy farm owned by an American man in Chiang Mai has resulted in the rescue of some 50 Thai Ridgeback dogs. Non-profit organisation Watchdog Thailand says most of the dogs were found in terrible condition and many more had died from illness and starvation. The owner claimed the dogs were kept as pets and he…

  • Thailand News

    Thailand growing more expensive for expats

    According to Employment Conditions Abroad, Bangkok and Chiang Mai are among the 30 most expensive cities for expats in Asia. The capital of Turkmenistan might not spring to mind when with considering the priciest cities, but according to ECA International it ranks first on both the global and Asian tables, a 5 point rise up the rankings due to an…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai International Airport sees more traffic

    Northern Thailand’s gateway airport is recovering some of its flight and passenger traffic. With the easing of travel restrictions enforced to fight the spread of Covid-19, the director of Chiang Mai’s international airport says traffic is picking up, and more flights and passengers are expected this month. On average, the airport received 40 flights and about 4,000-5,000 passengers per day…

  • Crime News

    Citylife magazine employee hacks editor’s bank account, steals 4 million baht

    Police arrested a Chiang Mai-based English magazine employee yesterday for allegedly hacking and stealing nearly 4 million baht from her editor’s account. On Friday, Citylife Media Group editor-in-chief Pim Kemasingki noticed that her bank account only had 24 baht left, millions short of what she should’ve had. After requesting a bank statement from the Siam Commercial Bank, Kemasingki received a call…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Massive elephant migration causes problems in the North

    The Covid-19 crisis has shuttered elephant camps across Thailand’s North and Northeast, most of which relied primarily on tourist revenue. Now around 1,000 elephants, threatened by starvation, have journeyed through the hills of northern Thailand, making a slow migration to their homes. For many of the animals, home is the village of Huay Pakoot in Chiang Mai province, where generations…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Property slump in Thailand’s North

    Real estate developers in Thailand’s North are a bracing for a slump in the residential property market, as the number of home buyers is dwindling and banks are imposing stricter rules on home buyers and reportedly denying mortgages. The president of the Chiang Mai Real Estate Association says the economic slowdown and lower confidence among buyers will lead to a…

  • Environment News

    Unemployed elephants: Some return to the wild, others sent to work in logging business

    The drop in tourism has had a huge impact on the elephants in Northern Thailand, leaving many elephants, you could say, unemployed. While some elephants are out of business and been taken back to their natural habitat, others are struggling in captivity and might be sent off to work in animal labour which some people may deem as unethical. A reporter…

  • Crime News

    Animal activists claim police officer killed beloved campus dog

    A Thai animal rights group is accusing a Chiang Mai police officer of abusing and killing a beloved dog, Tia, a stray adopted by students at Chiang Mai University. Watchdog Thailand, based in Chiang Mai, investigated the incident after the dog’s body was found last week and recently reported their findings to police, according to Nation Thailand. The autopsy of…

  • Covid-19 News

    Ban on international travel into Thailand extended until June 30

    The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has today announced an extension of their current ban on international travel another month, until at least the end of June, 2020. The current ban on scheduled international flights was extended last month to cover May, up to May 31. But now the CAAT have announced the extension for at least another month. There…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai expat finds newborn girl on roadside

    Thai Rath reported that an American man found a newborn baby girl by the side of the road in Chiang Mai on Tuesday. The man, who gave his name as “Eric R.” was on his way home to his nearby condo when he saw a child’s arm sticking out from a cloth in the shade of a tree by some…

  • Covid-19 News

    Thailand’s latest Covid-19 case was a tattoo artist travelling from Phuket to Chiang Mai

    Thailand’s latest Covid-19 case revealed yesterday was a tattoo artist who had travelled from Phuket Province to Chiang Mai Province last Tuesday. Reports suggest that his main goal was to take his wife and son away from Phuket, being a high-risk province, but things didn’t go as planned when he ended up as the one who got infected. The tattoo…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Workers claim Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi resort owes 10 million baht in unpaid wages

    A group of 70 workers, representing over 200 employees at a luxury resort in northern Thailand, have filed an official complaint with Chiang Mai’s Department of Labour and Welfare, claiming they have not been paid for 4 months. Thai Residents reports that the workers are all from the 5 star Dhara Dhevi resort in Chiang Mai, which closed its doors…

  • Environment News

    The end of the annual crop-burning season – Chiang Mai gets some fresh air

    As the annual crop season in north Thailand comes to an end the only good side-effect of the whole Covid-19 outbreak is a drop in the number of fires and plantation burning activity in the past few months. As a result, Chiang Mai’s Air Quality has experienced significant improvements, according to aqicn.org. The website data shows that Chiang Mai air…

  • Chiang Mai News

    South Korean man found dead in Chiang Mai, cause of death unknown

    Chiang Mai police report that a South Korean man was found dead in his condominium yesterday. The man was identified as 37 year old Jeon Hee-seok, and was found by his wife at around 5am. Chiang Mai police report that there were no signs of of struggle or physical altercation and Jeon had no known medical conditions. His wife told…

  • Covid-19 News

    Update on Chiang Mai’s Covid-19 situation

    A report of the situation in the Chiang Mai states that at this time there are still no reports of any additional Covid-19 infections being found in the northern city. The total still remains at 40 infected, 38 discharged from hospital, 1 death of a patient who died in the hospital, and 1 patient remaining in hospital receiving medical attention.…

  • Covid-19 News

    Chiang Mai governor meets related sectors at Chaloem Phrakiat meeting room

    Today at the Chaloem Phrakiat Meeting Room, in Chiang Mai, Charoenrit Sanguansat the governor of Chiang Mai, along with 3 deputy governors, 25 sheriffs (from all districts), heads of government, prosecutors, military officials, police and related sectors, came for a briefing on how Chiang Mai will move towards opening up the province in the upcoming weeks. Charonenrit says that even…

  • Covid-19 News

    Irrigation Department of Chiang Mai urges citizens to use water sparingly

    “The current drought situation is the worst it has been in a decade, with only 1.4 square liters of water running per second. The municipality’s request for water for the moat has had to be delayed as water for households is the main priority at this time.” The Director of Chiang Mai’s Irrigation Department said yesterday the department had added…

  • Environment News

    Plans to renew northern forests destroyed in recent fires

    The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, along with The Royal Forest Department says they have conducted plans to revive the northern forests which have been destroyed by this year’s burning season and other forest fires. But some good news, the Royal Forest Department says the number of hotspots detected in the North has fallen to 28. The fewer hotspots,…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai farmer trampled by elephant, dies

    In the second such incident in a week, a farmer has been trampled to death by an elephant yesterday in Thailand’s northern Chiang Mai Province. Police say the body of 68 year old Sa-ard Khamsrijai was found in the garden of his vegetable farm in San Sai district. Officers say the body had wounds consistent with trampling, and a female…

  • Thailand News

    Thailand News Today – Tuesday, April 16

    Singapore’s new cases surge Singapore health officials have reported 447 new infections yesterday, a record daily increase, with the majority of new cases linked to dormitory housing for low-paid migrant workers. The city-state, which has registered 3,699 infections and 10 deaths, initially managed to keep its outbreak in check but is now battling a fast-rising second wave of cases. Singapore…

  • Covid-19 News

    Chiang Mai man caught licking handrail

    Chiang Mai police have arrested a 40 year old man after footage of him licking a fence handrail went viral on Facebook. After reviewing the video of the shirtless man in Sarahpi licking a handrail, local police along with healthcare workers were able to identify the man and took him into custody. He has been transported to the Suan Prung Psychiatric…

  • Environment News

    Chiang Mai hiking spots go up in flames

    Wildfires in Thailand’s north have made plenty of news in recent months, and now, Chiang Mai’s Doi Mon Jong mountain, one of northern Thailand’s most popular hiking spots has become the latest victim. Doi Mon Jong, in the province’s Om Koi District, is considered a legendary “unseen” destination for its breathtaking views, beauty and nature. Nearly 20 rai (3.2 hectares)…

  • Northern Thailand News

    North still choked with dangerous smog

    Chiang Mai takes the number one spot for air pollution yet again today, as a thick shroud of smog blankets huge areas of the province. Thailand’s Pollution Control Department reported today that dangerously thick smog covered the upper northern provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son. A red alert signifying severe air pollution was posted for the…

  • Covid-19 News

    Police say most Chiang Mai curfew violators drunk

    More than 250 people have been arrested in Chiang Mai province since the national state of emergency was enacted on April 3 to fight the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, after breaking its subsequent curfew. Police say most were drunk. Another 43 people were arrested overnight on Tuesday for violating curfew. Police report that amongst those arrested, 2 were in…

  • Covid-19 News

    Chiang Mai vigilantes set up roadblocks and checkpoints

    A subdistrict of the northern Chiang Mai province is taking matters into its own hands by locking down residents and setting up checkpoints to screen people entering the area in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus. The village headman in Khilek in Mae Taeng district Anan Siriphakphokhin says residents are worried about the worsening outbreak. “In Khilek subdistrict alone, about…

  • Environment News

    Chiang Mai firefighters chased up a tree by wild elephants

    Firefighters in Thailand’s North were chased up a tree by a herd of elephants yesterday. The group were on patrol searching for fires in Chiang Mai province’s Omkoi district. The men told reporters they were patrolling for fires when they ran across a small herd of wild elephants. Fearing for their safety, the fled up a nearby tree and stayed…

  • Covid-19 News

    Bangkok Airways cancels all domestic flights from April 7

    Bangkok Airways has announced today that they will cancel all it domestic flights from April 7 – 30. The company’s vice president, Tresarum Sitakalin says the flights that are being cancelled are… Bangkok – Chiang Mai Bangkok – Phuket Bangkok – Trat Bangkok – Sukhothai Bangkok – Samui Samui – Phuket “The company had previously decreased flight frequencies on these…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Abandoned newborn girl discovered in Chiang Mai

    An infant girl was found abandoned outside a grilled pork stand in Chiang Mai Province in Thailand’s north early yesterday. The baby was found by a “drunken man” at 6:30am. Abandoned children are a common problem in Thailand. Unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy out of wedlock, family problems and other issues can cause young mothers to cast aside their babies. The infant was…

  • World News

    Chiang Mai chokes as fires rage in the north of Thailand

    Northern Thailand is choking under a toxic shroud and it’s not getting any better. Air pollution across the upper North remains “at critical levels,” in many areas, including some of the main population centres. Authorities are monitoring almost 400 active hotspots in Chiang Mai alone yesterday. The air quality didn’t improve this morning, with IQAir recording “very unhealthy” air quality…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Northern Thailand’s air pollution reaches hazardous levels

    Air quality in the north of Thailand is actually ‘hazardous’ today, as bushfires in Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep-Pui National Park have caused air quality to become nearly 20 times higher than Thailand’s already lax “safe” limit of ’50’. PM2.5, (dust particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 microns or lower), rose to 925 micrograms per cubic metre in some locations yesterday.…