Thailand News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, and lifestyle—get breaking updates from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. Stay informed on Thai society, economy, tourism, and expat life with The Thaiger.
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Sponsored What do you need before moving from the US to Thailand?
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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We’re in for a bumper Songkran this year
Economists are predicting a bumper Songkran festival this year due to a number of factors. he University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting says surveys indicate that Thai new year revellers are showing greater willingness to spend more this year. They estimate there will be 3-5% growth in spending which they predict will bring…
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Natnicha killed in car crash in Ayutthaya
An actress was killed when her BMW car crashed into a tree on a roadside in Ayutthaya province on Saturday morning. 21 year old Natnicha Cherdchubupphakaree died when her car plunged into the roadside on highway No 9 on the Saraburi-bound side in Tambon Chiang Rak Noi, Bang Pa-in district. Police suspect the car was speeding and lost control as…
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Merging Thailand’s emergency phone numbers to 191
Gen. Chakthip Chaijindra, chief of Thai Police, says they are setting up a new emergency service centre to bring together all the nation’s mergence hotlines into just one. The whole of Thailand will have just a single emergency hotline – 191. The call centre and emergency response system will co-ordinate responses to all distress calls for crimes, emergencies, fires or traffic…
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Customs scraps order requiring Thai travellers to declare valuables
The Thai Customs Department says it will scrap an order that requires Thais leaving the country to declare their personal belongings they take out of the country so that they won’t be taxed when they return. The requirement was heavily criticised when it was announced because the procedure of declaration at the international airports would be complicated and time consuming adding…
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Pattaya’s Belarusian sex coach charged with prostitution
FILE PHOTO Anastasia Vashukevich, (AKA Nastya Rybka) the Belarusian ‘sex expert’ who claims to have insider dirt on Russian attempts to meddle in the US election, has been charged with prostitution. Last month she went public asking the US to help her out from her predicament, detained in a Thai prison in Bangkok, in exchanged for information on alleged ties between…
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41 year old Singaporean arrested following Scoot bomb hoax
PHOTO: Kevin Lim A 41 year old man has been arrested for making a false bomb threat on board a Scoot flight from Singapore to Hat Yai, Songkhla, which resulted in the plane returning to Changi Airport. Flight TR634, which left Changi Airport at 1.20pm on Thursday (April 5), was escorted back by two Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF)…
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Police getting ready for Songkran – national initiatives to increase safety over the holiday
The Royal Thai Police are launching various safety and security measures, including a vacation home-watch scheme, for the upcoming Songkran holidays. Among the measures are preparedness of the Bangkok-based 191 Emergency Call Centre (Phanfa), which is in the process of being upgraded to a national-level centre linking related agencies to ensure help arrives within 10 minutes of a call. Tourist…
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French citizen arrested in Pattaya allegedly seeking to profit from child porn
A 64 year old French man, wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was arrested yesterday (Thursday) on charges related to child pornography in Chon Buri province. The arrest of suspect Rachid Abdel Kader, and the search of his house in Soi Rung Land in Southern Pattaya, involved a collaboration between the FBI, Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation…
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20% of Yala men reporting for the conscription lottery test positive for drugs
It’s conscription season where Thai men over 21 have to submit for the annual lottery. Military personnel were shocked to find a hidden problem with Yala’s young men who fronted up for the military conscription lottery yesterday. More than 100 young men appearing for the first day of military conscription in Muang Yala on Tuesday tested positive for illicit drugs,…
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Narathiwat policeman shot whilst PM heads to Pattani in the south
A police captain has been shot dead in Narathiwat’s Sungai Padi district this morning in what is believed to be another insurgent attack. Pol Capt Wutthisak Poonsawat was killed behind the house of his mother-in-law in Tambon Sakor in Sungai Padi at 8am. Wutthisak, a deputy inspector of Sakor police, went to the house to take care of his fighting…
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Arms smuggler or getting ready for a crime? Songkhla resident nabbed in Satun.
PHOTO: Thai PBS A 35 year old resident old has been arrested for being found in possession of a submachine gun and 4,500 rounds of ammunition. He was nabbed at a checkpoint in Satun. Police thought he was behaving suspiciously so checked the back of his pick-up and discovered the cache of ammunition hidden in the spare tyre compartment. Along…
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Thai Meteorology warns about bad weather from tomorrow
The TMD are warning residents in the North, Northeast, and Central regions of Thailand, including Bangkok, as well as the East of summer thunderstorms with gusty winds, possible hail and isolated heavy rain tomorrow and Friday. In yesterday’s weather warning the Thai Meteorological Department says a high-pressure system from China would cover upper Thailand and a westerly trough would prevail…
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Won’t lift the ban. Might amend it – PM Prayut
PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha has dismissed a concerted call by major political parties to lift a controversial junta order that prevents political activities. He said the directive “may be amended on certain issues” in order to help get rid of “administrative problems” raised by the various existing and new parties. Prayut, in his capacity as head of the National Council…
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Three die, three injured, in Bangkok apartment blaze
Three people have died and three others injured after a fire broke out in a Bangkok apartment early today (Tuesday), trapping 24 tenants. The fire started at the 15-storey Ratchathewi Apartment building on Soi Phetchaburi 18 off Phetchaburi Road in Ratchathewi district at about 2am. Ten fire engines responded to the emergency call. However, as the soi is…
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Trucks and buses caught speeding more than 17 million times last year
Cargo trucks and public transport buses in Thailand were found to have been speeding beyond the legal limit on more than 17 million occasions last year, according to a GPS-based study by a Bangkok-based university. The study puts definitive proof at the feet of the Thai government and transport officials in the wake of several appalling weeks on Thai roads,…
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Nothing to see here… move on. Prawit opens up about wristwatches.
Up to now Deputy PM and Thai Defence Minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, has remained largely silent over ongoing allegations into the many luxury watches adorning his right arm over a series of months. And a flashy diamond ring. But today he says that the wristwatches were lent to him by Patthavart Suksriwong, a wealthy businessman who was his close former classmate at…
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‘Daeng’ on the mend after being shot with arrow in Udon Thani
A stray dog living in a public park in Udon Thani’s Muang district, which was seen with an arrow piercing its left eyebrow on Friday morning, was captured, sent for treatment at Bamrungraks Animal Hospital and now recovering from its adventures. The whole sad story of Daeng, the stray dog, was captured by Facebook user Napassorn JowYing Hodges. Napassorn, who…
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Border-bound train shot at by suspected militants
Gunman are reported to have opened fire at a train in Narathiwat last evening (March 31). No passengers have been reported as injured. At about 5.30 pm, the Surat Thani/Sungai Kolok train had just left Cho Airong district railway station. After approximately 500 metres from the station gunfire was heard by the driver and some passengers. The train driver didn’t…
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Abandoning the cap – Campaign to get rid of bottle cap seals starts today
By Pratch Rujivanarom Thai bottled water producers have responded well to a plan to stop using cap seals, which will not only decrease plastic waste but also reduce unnecessary production costs. In a campaign kicking off today, the Pollution Control Department plans to totally abandon the use of cap seals on bottled water by the end of 2019. Five giant…
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90 bikes and 90 motorcyclists bailed up in Bangkok
Bangkok police arrested 90 motorcyclists and a pillion rider and seized 90 bikes in an operation to prevent racing on the capital’s streets. The arrests were made by police from 10 Bangkok police stations who manned road checkpoints late on Friday night and early on Saturday. At the end of the operation, Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal held a press conference…
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82-year-old assault victim dies – Assailant faces new charges
A 21 year old motorcyclist, alleged to have assaulted an 82 year old tricycle-riding scavenger over a minor collision in Bangkok’s Huai Kwang district on March 13, has been hit with an additional charge of causing death to another person by inflicting injury without intent to cause death. The new charge was filed against Narathorn Sodetiyung, son of a Pratunam-based…
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THAIGER TODAY Friday, March 30
NACC non-commital on Prawit’s watches | Maya Bay closes down over monsoon season | Songkran back-flip over water throwing from pick-ups | Calls to end the duty free monopoly at Thai airports | Yingluck & Thaksin show up together in Japan | More crackdown on illegal foreign teachers at international schools. As this is the final Thaiger Today episode for…
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UPDATE: Tak bus disaster – 20 Burmese workers burned to death
PHOTO: Thai PBS The badly-burned bodies of 20 Burmese workers killed in a bus fire in Tak’s Muang district early on Friday will be sent about 150 kilometres to two hospitals in Phitsanulok for identification. The bodies were initially sent to the Tak provincial hospital. Due to a lack of equipment required for the disaster victim identification process, that hospital…
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20 Burmese migrants die in Tak bus blaze
A chartered double-decker bus taking 47 registered Myanmar workers to Pathum Thani caught fire in Tak early today (Friday), killing 20 of them trapped inside. Tak shares a border with Myanmar, north west of Bangkok. Police report that three other people were injured when they jumped down from the bus while 24 others were able to run out in…
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Police junior officers revolting over AC contributions
A junior policeman is crying foul over his supervisors’ demand that he contribute money for the purchase of a new air-conditioner at their police station. Pol Sgt-Major 3rd Class Lersak Nonkhuntod, who works at the Phaholyothin Police Station in Bangkok, lodged a complaint with both the Metropolitan Police Bureau and the Office of Public-Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC). Due to the…
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, March 29
NACC hands down decision on Prawit case today | Patong and Kamala are #1 in international affordable 5 star hotel survey | Snake under a taxi | French tourist dies after visit to Emerald Cave | Woman push back on calls for females to ‘dress appropriately’ during Songkran | Police juniors complain about their wages being docked for boss’s air…
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Sexual harassment isn’t our fault, it’s mens’ – Sirinya “Cindy” Bishop
A well-known model has launched a social-media campaign to tackle the widespread and erroneous belief that sexual harassment stems from a woman’s choice of clothes. Sirinya “Cindy” Bishop, who is also an actress, has used social media to counter recent messages propagated by authorities that sexual harassment can be stopped by urging women not to dress in a revealing way.…
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French tourist dies after visit to Emerald Cave in Trang
A French tourist has died during a visit to the Emerald Cave on Koh Muk in the Trang province. 62 year old Jose Michel Rusebeker was reported by Daily News to be on a trip with his wife when he fainted whilst in the cave. Despite efforts of another person in the tour, tour crew and park rangers, he was…
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Thai disability sailing gets a boost
In exciting news for the disabled sailing community worldwide, the S\V14 organisation are proud to announce that FarEast Yachts will produce the S\V14 at their production base in China and in a remarkable offer, will supply the first one thousand S\V14’s at a subsidized price of US$ 3,000 for the base boat ex works Shanghai. FarEast Yachts have also agreed…
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Torching hornets nest causes 20 rai forest fire in Mae Hong Son
Two men from Myanmar have been arrested for inadvertently causing a forest fire that damaged some 20 rai of forest in the Khun Yuam district of Mae Hong Son province. Firefighters, district officials and rangers of the Ranger Company 3605 rushed to the forest in Moo 1 village in Tambon Khun Yuam, Khun Yuam district at 4.30pm after they saw…
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