Chiang Mai

  • Northern Thailand News

    Thai Met Office reports dropping temperatures from tomorrow until Friday in North and North East

    Temperatures in the north and north-east of Thailand are set to drop 2-4°C from Tuesday to Friday this week due to a cold front moving eastward and south through southern China, according to the Thai Meteorological Department. The Meteorological Department reports that the intense high-pressure cell from China is moving south to cover the northern parts of Thailand as well…

  • Tourism News

    Chiang Mai hotel has big plans for Loy Kratong

    137 Pillars House in Chiang Mai has made elaborate arrangements for next month’s Loy Krathong festival, better known as Yi Peng in the North. The full moon on November 11 will see celebrants floating lotus-shaped krathong with flowers, candles and incense on rivers and canals to pay respect to the water spirits and carry away the sadness and setbacks of…

  • Crime News

    Police foil attempt to smuggle one million yaba pills from north to south of Thailand

    Thai Residents reports that acting on intelligence reports, Border Patrol Police (BPP) in Chiang Mai have busted a drug smuggling operation that was attempting to transport a million yaba pills from the north of the country to the south. The operation began on October 22, with the gang planning to transport the pills from Chiang Dao district through the forest…

  • News

    Hotel guest in Chiang Mai runs up bill of nearly 50,000 baht before fleeing

    A man who claims to be a doctor stayed in a Chiang Mai hotel for 21 nights, running up a bill of nearly 50,000 baht, before instructing the hotel to invoice the Ministry for the Interior and then fleeing the premises. Employees of the hotel say they didn’t expect the man to abscond as he has stayed there on three…

  • Thai Life

    Helsinki to Singapore, by bike

    PHOTO: Aurelie and Marco, now heading south through Thailand Aurelie and Marco are 36 years old, married, and passionate about cycling. She’s French and he’s half English/half İtalian. Together they have decided to live their lifelong dream; to cycle across the globe. Their chosen path is taking them from Helsinki to Singapore. The pair arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday and…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Dental assistant turns ‘pro’ selling fake retainers and braces

    PHOTO: WorkPoint News The Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office has arrested an unqualified or registered dental retainer seller that used to work as a dentist assistant. She has been selling the fake retainers to customers online via Facebook. Nattawut Prasertsiripong, from the Department of Health Service Support was contacted to take legal action against the woman making fake retainers…

  • Pattaya News

    Pattaya leopard is legal, media go and check it out

    PHOTOS: 77khaosod There’s a family who own a leopard in their home? We’ll have to go and check that out. So reporters from 77kaoded headed to the house in Na Jomtien in Pattaya where a Thai woman and her foreign husband have been keeping a leopard. Yes, a leopard. A very large cat with spots. This week the couple have…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai police release Singaporean accused of attacking Thai wife with a scythe

    PHOTO: Chiangmaione.com Police have released a Singaporean man accused of using a scythe to attack his Thai wife in a Chiang Mai street. Following the attack, it’s understood that the man called an ambulance to take his wife to hospital, and then surrendered to police. The Singaporean says the couple, who have two young children together, frequently argued about his…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Canadian man found dead, with throat cut, in northern Thailand

    A 60 year old Canadian man has been found with his throat slashed at a Chiang Mai guesthouse. The man’s body was discovered by the housekeeper, who alerted the police. The man, who has been named as Kevin Thomas, had been staying at the property in Suthep district for several months. It’s not yet known if the cut to his…

  • Tourism News

    Thai tourist numbers recover mid-year after a shaky few months in Q2

    After a few dips in April and May, tourists to Thailand flocked back, up 4.72% for July compared to a year earlier. Tourist arrivals in June were up a much more modest .89%. 3.33 million tourists visited the country during July and spent 167.3 billion baht (USD5.47 billion), up 3.11% from a year earlier. Visitors from China, where there’s been…

  • Expats

    55 year old New Zealand expat arrested on drug charges and working without work permit

    PHOTOS: Chiang Mai News Chiang Mai Police raided a restaurant on Sam Lan Road last night at 10pm arresting a 55 year old New Zealand citizen. The man has been arrested on alleged charges of drug dealing and working without a proper work permit. According to the Chiang Mai News, police raided the restaurant after receiving reports that the New…

  • Crime News

    American admits to smashing windshields after being shown CCTV in Chiang Mai

    An American tourist has been arrested after damaging three cars while drunk in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. 34 year old Jesse Edward Lee was arrested after a local resident posted about a foreign vandal on Facebook. The post warned about the man damaging three cars in the Tha Pae area of Chiang Mai. Lee allegedly told police that he did…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai’s Wat Suan Dok closed off after tourists take ‘inappropriate’ pics

    PHOTOS: Workpoint News Tourists are being warned about taking photos at a “Royal Family Burial Site” in Chiang Mai province. Locals say tourist have been taking “inappropriate” photos at the Old Lanna Royal Family Burial Site located in Wat Suan Dok. The pictures were posted on Instagram. The photos, according to Worpoint News, have “caused great concern to living relatives…

  • Northern Thailand News

    More rain on the way for the north and north-east

    The Thai Meteorological Department has issued a weather warning that on July 29 and 30 a monsoonal trough will lie across Myanmar, Laos and upper Vietnam, while the moderate southwest monsoon prevails over the Andaman Sea, Thailand and the Gulf. In other words, more rain on the way. They forecast that this will lead to more rain in the North and…

  • Transport News

    Thailand’s taxi and tuk tuk scams and annoyances

    “Where are you going?”, they shout from across the road. A Tuk Tuk driver wants to help you get to your next destination but the willing smile and lure of a ride in a local jalopy may have switched off your trusty scam-detector. Tuk Tuks and taxis, and the motorbike taxis too, are a convenient, safe and reasonably cheap way…

  • Thai Life

    Top 10 Thai foods you must try

    Thailand is known around the world not only for it’s breath taking scenery, beautiful hosts but also for their food. Fresh and vibrant, the local food in Thailand is cheap and it is amazing. On the street or in a fancy restaurant, it’s all good. Be brave. Buy from the side of the road like the locals do, it will…

  • Business News

    Airports of Thailand open bidding for new duty free contracts at three airports

    Airports of Thailand (AoT) says they will finalise the bidding process to announce who will manage the commercial areas at three provincial airports – Phuket, Had Yai and Chiang Mai – on June 10. King Power Duty Free has had a stranglehold on the duty free concession areas of the country’s four main airports but are having to bid for…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Weather warnings issued for Thailand’s north, central, east and upper south

    Residents from the upper south to the north of the country are being warned to brace themselves for heavy monsoonal rains over the next couple of days. The Thai Meteorological Department announced in an alert this morning that there is a monsoon trough across the North and the upper Northeast for Thursday and Friday. “The confluence of the southeasterly wind…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Police and drug courier injured in shootout at Chiang Mai checkpoint

    FIL PHOTO: A police checkpoint set-up in the Chiang Mai city area – Chiang Mai Citylife Three alleged drug couriers have been arrested this morning following a gunfight that injured a suspect and a police officer. The incident happened in the Mae Rim district of Chiang Mai. Police say they monitored road checkpoints last night until officers at a traffic booth in…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai songthaews and tuk-tuk drivers complain about Grab

    Drivers of red public songthaews and tuk-tuks have submitted a petition to Chiang Mai’s provincial governor complaining about the Grab ride-hailing App. The Grab service is offered on a very intuitive smartphone app and provided by normal drivers. The petition said the Grab App had caused their income to drop by more than 50%. They say the service is illegal and…

  • Phuket News

    Thailand’s Michelin Guide adds Chiang Mai

    Michelin say they’re extending The Michelin Guide in Thailand to cover the northern city of Chiang Mai with the new edition The Michelin Guide Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket & Phang Nga 2020. The extended foodie guide will be released at the end of 2019. This third edition of The Michelin Guide in Thailand will continue to showcase the country’s three unique and…

  • Environment News

    Mae Hong Son continues to be plagued with fires

    Mae Hong Son province continues to be plagued by forest fires despite the ban and the raging haze and smoke problems. In recent months, Mae Hong Son has been struggling with haze most of the time with flights to its airport limited at the height of the crisis. Exposure to the serious air pollution has become a threat to the…

  • Thailand Weather Updates

    Central and north swelter with threats of summer storms

    The mercury shot up to 40C in Bangkok yesterday and 35 other provinces in north and north-east Thailand also experienced hot to very hot weather amid brewing summer tropical storms. The Thai Meteorological Department pointed to the hot low pressure cell covering upper Thailand and the southerly and southeasterly winds prevailing over the North, the Northeast, the Central, the East,…

  • Environment News

    Developer pulls the plug on 500 million baht retirement project in Chiang Mai

    PHOTO: Sunshine International Retirement Residence & Serviced Apartment, Hua Hin Sunshine International, Thailand’s leading brand of retirement residences says that their project which was due to be constructed near Chiang Mai’s city centre has now been cancelled. Sunshine International, a retirement property that included around the clock medical facilities, on site doctors and nurses, and state of the art facilities,…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Northern smoke haze easing slowly

    Either by hard work, serendipity or pure luck, the smog and haze in the North has eased considerably within the seven-day timeframe set last Tuesday by the Thai PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha. The PM flew into the smoke-stricken Chiang Mai last Tuesday to meet with northern provincial governors to work out active solutions. During the visit, the premier made clear that…

  • Chiang Mai News

    German tourist beaten over Chiang Mai karaoke bar bill

    by Thanakorn Wongnang A German tourist in Chiang Mai has filed an official complaint with police, claiming he was assaulted by staff at an allegedly over-priced karaoke bar. The trouble started when he refused to pay the extortionate 10,000 baht bill. 35 year old Arthur Wojciechowski, who ended up with facial bruises from the assault, told Muang Chiang Mai deputy…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Specialist clinics for pollution-related symptoms to be set up around the country

    The Public Health Ministry says they are now preparing to set up specialised clinics to treat patients suffering from pollution-related symptoms in the northern parts of the country. “At present, we have just one such clinic in the country. So, we have decided to introduce many more,” according to permanent secretary Dr Sukhum Karnchanapimai. He made the pledge in response…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Where there’s fire, there’s smoke – Lampang mountains

    Adding to the air pollution woes of the north, bushfires have been keeping state firefighters and volunteers busy trying to control the outbreaks in the mountains east of Chiang Mai and north of Lampang. The efforts yesterday were to battle a front of multiple fires in Doi Phra Baht forest in Lampang’s Muang district. Fires have been erupting in multiple…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai’s sword-wielding song thaew driver charged over intimidating tactics – VIDEO

    Story from Sanook. Video from Thai Rath The red song thaew driver, who followed a white sedan around the moat road waving a sword in Chiang Mai, has now been charged by the police. Sanook reports that 69 year old ‘Son’ has now been charged with having a knife in public and behaving in an intimidating manner that could scare…

  • Chiang Mai News

    Chiang Mai sting lands family of smugglers in custody

    PHOTOS: The Nation A family that smuggles together, stays together. In jail. A family of six is under arrest in Chiang Mai after allegedly handing over 15 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 170,000 methamphetamine pills to undercover police in the province. Police arrested all the members of the ethnic Lahu family. All were aged between 32 and 51 years. Police say…