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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Event Round-Up – January 2019
Into a new year and a month packed with activities around the country. The highly anticipated Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous 2019 kicks off at Phuket Royal Marina on January 10-13. A collaboration between some of the most respected and experienced figures in the Southeast Asian yachting industry, Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous is the country’s new and improved yacht…
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Thai cabinet extends visa-fee-waiver until after Songkran
Tourists from over 21 countries will continue to benefit from an extension to the visa fee waiver introduced in November last year. In a move to boost tourism, the cabinet has extended the 2,000 baht visa-on-arrival fee waiver, according to Tourism and Sport Minister, Veerasak Kowsurat this morning (Tuesday). The waiver was set to end on Sunday, January 6, 2019,…
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Social media the key in the run up to the 2019 election
“Newspapers, once the beneficiary of political advertising, will now be side-lined in favor of targeted social media in the lead up to this year’s election.” by Asina Pownwasin Your social media platforms are about to be filled with banter, arguments and lots of advertising. The topic? The forthcoming Thai election (when a date is eventually announced). For the first time…
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Medical cannabis crops to be tightly controlled
The Thai narcotic control board head says that only Thai citizens who join hands with the government will be allowed to cultivate medical cannabis. The board yesterday stressed that growers of the potentially lucrative crop must be cooperatives, community enterprises or social enterprises made up of citizens – and not private companies. Their business will be under the scrutiny of…
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Saudi refugee: Friday milestones and developments
Confusion reigned today over where the 18 year old Saudi woman, who fled from Kuwait to Thailand to escape her allegedly abusive family, would be resettled. Here are some of the key developments in the story today… • Surachate Hakparn, Thailand’s Immigration Police Chief, initially spoke to CNN saying that Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun had been offered asylum by Australia as…
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No sign of elections, but election officials want 22 million baht of new cars
Voters were disappointed to see yesterday’s deadline for publication of the royal decree slip away, which means the intended February 24 election date is unlikely. To add salt to the wound, the election commission has now announced that its directors will be needing new cars, and the lucky tax payers will be providing them. The budget for the new fleet…
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Pabuk: Tax refunds for home and car repairs
The Thai Cabinet has approved a tax refund for people who need to repair damage to their home or car following tropical storm Pabuk hitting the southern Gulf coastline a week ago. Pinsai Surasawadi, principal adviser on strategic tax administration for Finance and Banking, who is also a spokesman for the Revenue Department, said that home repairs costing less than…
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Thai preparedness limits Pabuk damage
Just a week ago the tropical storm Pabuk was poised to make landfall on the southern Thailand Gulf coast after days of predictions, warnings and anticipation. Now the entire event can be assessed in hindsight and lessons learned for next time. Reliefweb.int has issued a compiled report on Pabuk. “Early warning and early action helped ensure that tropical storm Pabuk,…
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Thailand back on track in the Asian Cup after win over Bahrain
Chanathip “Messi Jay” Songkrasin helped to drag Thailand football back on track at this year’s Asian Cup. The revitalised team won a 1-0 win over Bahrain in their Group A match at the Al-Maktoum Stadium in Dubai last night. The victory over Bahrain was the first positive sign after switching coaches, as the War Elephants won only their second match…
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Saudi teen seeks asylum as Australian foreign minister visits Thailand – Thaiger Bites
Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne is in Bangkok today after the Australian Government says it would consider giving asylum to the 18 year old Saudi woman who fled to Thailand from Kuwait, saying she feared her family, which she accused of abuse. Reuters reports that Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun refused to meet her father and brother, who arrived in Bangkok yesterday…
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Thailand opens doors to cryptocurrencies – Thaiger Bites
Divisions are forming across Asia with regards to cryptocurrencies. Some nations such as China are constantly stomping on anything to do with crypto assets but others, Thailand being the latest, are opening their digital doors to the fledgling industry. Over the past year Thailand has warmed to crypto and this latest raft of official licenses is a big boost to…
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Thai Interior Affairs ministry confirms memo ‘halting election preparations’ is genuine
PHOTO: South China Morning Post A leaked memo on social media, addressed to election officials in every province, to halt election preparations has now been confirmed to be genuine by the interior affairs Minister. The internal memo called for “all preparations for election are hereby halted” in absence of the Royal Decree, which was expected around New Year’s Day, but…
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Man shot dead by colleague in front of daughter
PHOTO: Amarin TV A man has been killed by his colleague in front his young daughter after he refused to conspire with him to cheat their boss out of money in Kanchanaburi, in western Thailand. Amarin TV reports that on Sunday 25 year old salesman Pongsin Pinkate, was shot dead by 35 year old colleague Pakkapon Kaewprink. Pongsin was killed…
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Backgrounds checks incoming for novice monks
PHOTO: The Japan Times The National Office of Buddhism (NOB) is going to get the Royal Thai Police (RTP) run background checks on applicants seeking to join the monkhood. The NOB has requested police to run the checks in a move to create a stronger screening system for all those joining the monkhood. The NOB has been advised to send…
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Civil Partnership Bill open for comment before heading to NLA
Members of the public are now being invited to comment on the Civil Partnership Bill on the Council of State’s website until January 23. The comments will be reviewed for consideration before the Council submits the bill to the National Legislative Assembly. If passed by the legislators, the law will make Thailand the first country in Asia to recognise same-sex…
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Serbian coach sacked after Thai thrashing in Asian Cup
The Football Association of Thailand has unceremoniously dumped the national coach Milovan Rajevac, just seven hours after Thailand was thrashed by India 1-4 in the Asian Cup group A game in Abu Dhabi. Thailand were far from impressive against the more powerful Indian team who beat the Kingdom’s side for the first time in 32 years. Thai Football Association reacted…
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NLA President urges critics not to blame Coronation for election delays
The country’s NLA President Pornpetch Wichitworachai is warning critics to refrain from blaming the forthcoming King’s coronation ceremony for causing potential delays in the national election. He says that authorities concerned with planning the election must choose appropriate timing for the election and ensure that it doesn’t affect the auspicious ceremony. “The ceremony would bring joy and happiness to the…
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Halving Thailand’s road toll by 2020 – The impossible dream
“The WHO report points out that progress has been made in certain areas, such as legislation. But it has not been fast enough to meet the UN goal of halving road traffic deaths between 2016 and 2020.” Thailand draws world attention for its amazing scenery, vibrant foodie scene, raunchy nightlife and local festivals. It also draws attention for all the…
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Taxis are leading concern for tourists visiting Thailand
Tourist police say that Taxi’s continue to be one of the most pressing issues for tourists visiting Thailand. In 2018, 12,679 taxi drivers were arrested by police, of which 5,668 drivers refused to pick up passengers, compared to 1,681 last year. 3,408 drivers refused to use their fare meter, compared to 255 last year and 1,659 who were overcharging, where…
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Election Commission throws onus for election date back on Government
The Election Commission is throwing the ball back into government’s court, saying it can only set an election date after the government formally issues the Royal Decree announcing an election date. Over the past year the date of February has firmed, been confirmed by numerous Government officials, including the PM and his Deputies. The Election Commision president Ittiporn Boonpracong made…
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40 more people died during Seven Days of Danger
463 people died due to traffic collisions and chaos over the past week – the seven days of danger – with drink diving and speeding, again, the major cause of traffic incidents. The death toll was up by 40 from last year’s count of 423 and close to the 2017 record of 478. Drink-driving was listed as the cause of…
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Deputy PM throws doubt on election date
by Chanwanpen and Somroutai Sapsomboon The NCPO has throw a curved ball at the Election Commission, placing the onus on the Commission’s committee to decide the date of the general election whilst taking into account the preparations for the royal coronation ceremony. There’s also been suggestions of a month’s delay from the election’s tentative date of February 24. Deputy PM…
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Pabuk: Regular updates throughout today following the storm up the coast
Storm Watch – 8.30am Rough seas off the coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat yesterday afternoon as tropical storm Pabuk approached land. Tens of thousands of tourists have been evacuated from local coastal communities and some tourists have evacuated the popular islands of Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan which are in the path of the storm today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h86FqX2CzBc Storm Watch…
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Pabuk: A very rare event – Remembering ‘Harriet’ in 1962.
The last major tropical storm to hit the southern coastal Gulf region in January was back in 1962. It started, just like Pabuk, as a weather system off the western coast of the Philippines. In this case on October 19, 1962. After making its way across the South China Sea and scooting across the bottom of southern Vietnam, the system…
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Two key tests for the Land of Smiles in 2019
Thailand faces two major challenges in 2019 – conducting a general election and chairing the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). Mishandling either task would invite serious damage to both the country and the wider region, according to a New Year editorial in The Nation. “Junta chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha has made a bad start in tackling the first challenge,…
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Election Commission denies election date delays
PHOTO: EC Secretary General Jarungwit Pumm The Election Commission has been forced to again reiterate that there is no postponement to the February 24 election day. EC Secretary General Jarungwit Pumma said: “There is currently no royal decree for the election but this does not mean the election date will be postponed.” He was responding to widespread rumours that the…
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Lampang serial masturbator caught red-handed
PHOTO: Sanook A Lampang man was reported to police for masturbating at public toilets at a local petrol station. 28 year old Theerasak was taken to the scene at the PPT station with police, hopefully not to re-enact the crime. According to police, the maid at the PTT petrol station in the city district had earlier “shrieked in horror” when she…
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Poll shows favour towards Prayut as next PM
• 39 percent of the respondents were satisfied with the efforts in solving ‘dark influence’ problems • 31.9 percent said they were satisfied with the achievement in tackling human trafficking problems Thirty-nine percent of more than 2,000 respondents in the latest Super Poll opinion poll are satisfied with the performance of the Prayut government and the NCPO in peace restoration and…
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National road toll – Day Five “Seven Days of Danger”
“Chiang Mai has reported the highest cumulative crashes with 91 cases yesterday.” 314 lives have been lost in 2,761 road incidents over the first five days of the New Year seven day safety campaign. 2,848 people have been injured during the same period around Thailand’s roads. The most cited causes for Monday’s road incidents were drunk driving (44.9 per cent)…
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Coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn announced
A three day long coronation ceremony for His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn is to be held from May 4-6. The announcement was made by Palace staff today, nearly two years and three months after the death of his father, the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX. The announcement was made in a televised special from the Royal Household Bureau. It…
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