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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Experience Bangkok from a new perspective with Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel
Bangkok surely knows how to dazzle. Down by the Chao Phraya River, the pace slows as boats drift past temples and heritage buildings. High above the skyline, the city spreads out in a glittering patchwork of lights and towers. The...
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Two killed when motorbike rider and passenger ploughed into a house
A motorbike driver and passenger have died after a collision in Thalang this morning. The Thalang Police were notified of the accident on Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang at 3.10am. Police and emergency responders arrived to find a motorbike after it had collided head-on with a wall at the front of a house. Nearby they found two bodies, later identified as…
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Tourists head to Nan for stunning yellow blossoms
PHOTOS: Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Nan branch office Tourists are enjoying the stunning blossoms of the Golden Trumpet Tree around Nan province. The yellow flowers of the Tabebuia Chrysantha are now in full bloom in Nan’s Thung Chang district. Nan is east of Chiang Mai on the Laos border. A local group this week invited people to take photos of…
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“Measles vaccine doesn’t cause autism” – conclusive Danish study
Even as measles outbreaks continue to mount among clusters of unvaccinated children around the world, in developed countries as well as a concentration in Thailand’s southern provinces, yet another large study finds NO association between the measles vaccine and autism – a reason often parroted by parents for refusing vaccination for their children. Measles infected 2,280 people and killed 18…
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Weather for March 6
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 35ºC. Winds S at 15 to 25 km/h. Phuket Partly cloudy. High 31ºC. NE winds shifting to WNW at 15 to 25 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 36ºC. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Pattaya Generally clear. High 31ºC. Winds S at 15 to 30 km/h. Hua Hin Partly cloudy. High 32ºC. Winds SSE…
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Bangkok Airways spending 3 billion on new planes, airports
PHOTO: A Bangkok Airways ATR 72-600 dwarfed by a Thai Airways ‘jumbo’ Bangkok Airways is putting aside 3 billion baht to finance two new aircraft to support their growing passenger numbers. The local airline is forecasting a 3% growth in bums-on-seats this year to over 6 million passengers. The airline’s CEO says they hope to purchase two new ATR 72-600…
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Singapore Covid-19 patients to have their meals, medicine delivered by robot.
Patients at a Singapore hospital suspected or confirmed to be infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus will soon get their meals and medicines from a robot. What’s more, a second robot is being deployed to clean, and will chat with patients in four languages, as well as “Singlish.” Details of the use of the robot technology were outlined in Singapore’s Ministry…
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Wheelchair-bound man shot dead under a flyover in Chiang Mai
A man has been found dead with two gunshot wounds under a flyover in Chiang Mai’s Meuang district. He was an amputee and still seated in his wheelchair when police attended the scene. Police were alerted at 7.30am this morning that a body had been discovered in a wheelchair beneath a flyover on the Chiang Mai-Lampong road in Tambon Tha…
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Chinese man arrested for using Thai ID card to lure foreign investors
PHOTOS: Tourist Police Bureau A Chinese man has been arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport after using a Thai ID card to operate fraudulent businesses. The Tourist Police have arrested Chinese man ‘Zhang Qing Po’ who used a Thai identification card with the name ‘Tawatchai Laoyeepao’ The arrest follows an investigation where officers discovered that Tawatchai was advertising on a Chinese website…
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12 year old strangles himself in home accident
PHOTOS: Daily News A twelve year old boy has died in a tragic accident after putting his head in fish netting holding up a motorcycle tire used as a child’s swing. Daily News reports that his name was ‘Boy’ and that he died on the way to Krabi hospital. A 59 year old neighbour, Niphon Sapsungnern, says that his son…
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Thanathorn’s “unfinished 1932 mission” questioned
PHOTO: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit appears on Channel 3 “May I ask what is the 1932 unfinished mission that Thanathorn, the party leader, announced he will complete?” The Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s controversial remarks, that one of the party’s policies is to complete the ‘unfinished mission of the 1932 coup makers’, has provoked a strong reaction among Thai royalists. The…
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72 year old grandmother raped and killed in Chumphon
PHOTOS: Daily News A Chumphon man returned from a short fishing trip to find that his wife was missing from the house. 72 year old Pornwichai looked everywhere but was unable to locate her. Eventually the family dog Bunnam came running to the house. Pornwichai said to his pet: “Have you seen your mum then?” The dog became agitated and…
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Foreigner found hanged from tree in Pattaya
PHOTO: Facebook/Pattaya Update News A local Pattaya resident has found an unidentified foreigner hanged from a tree in a vacant lot on upscale Pratumnak Hill. The man told police that he went into the area to relieve himself and noticed the foul stench. Forensics officers and members of the Sawang Boriboon rescue foundation worked with police at the waste ground…
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Russian woman dies after falling from fourth floor in Patong
PHOTOS: Patong Police A Russian woman has died after falling from the fourth floor at a hotel in Patong earlier today. Patong Police were notified of the incident at the hotel on Ratchapatanusorn Road at 2.15am. The foreign woman was identified by police as 27 year old Elena Kusovnikova, a Russian national. Her body was on the ground in front…
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250,000 northerners seek help for smog-related conditions
Up to 250,000 northerners are seeking medical treatment for four different illnesses that have flared up amid the intense air pollution between February 17 and 23. The Office of Disease Prevention and Control 1 in Chiang Mai has put the figure of affected residents at 248,618, including a high numbers of respiratory complaints among children under four and cardiovascular concerns…
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Future Forward deputy leader admits sharing fake news
The Future Forward party deputy leader Lt-Gen Pongsakorn Rodchompoo has told the Technology Crime Suppression Division police that he shared a fake news story about Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan. But he claims he had no way of knowing that it was fake. Thai PBS reports that Pol Lt-Gen Surachet Hakparn, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, posted in Facebook today saying…
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Upstart Chinese start-up shades Samsung and Huawei
A Shenzhen-based manufacturer of flexible displays has launched, and is selling, the first workable flexible screen smartphone, beating Samsung and Huawei into the foldable market. At this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Samsung and Huawei made all the noise with their new $2,000 foldable phones. But they very secret with specs and not available for review with people clamoring…
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Motorbike driver dies after collision with minivan in Thalang – VIDEO
A motorbike driver died soon after colliding with a minivan at a U-turn in Thalang yesterday. The Tha Chatchai Police were notified of the incident at 1.08pm yesterday on Thepkrasattri Road in Mai Khao. Police and emergency responders arrived to find the silver minivan waiting for police. Nearby they found a man, later identified as 55 year old Kreangsak Sanaewit,…
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A family of three grooms Vietnam’s most edible golf course
One of Vietnam’s leading golf layouts, Laguna Golf Lang Company, is staying at the top of its maintenance game with the talents of a very special group of greenkeepers. A family of water buffalo. As every superintendent worth their salt will tell you, prime conditioning is key to the success of every leading golf course. Dedicated greenkeeping staff at top…
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Statistics don’t lie, agents do
OPINION Anyone currently involved in the Thailand property market will be happy to note that Thailand’s global ranking for transparency within its real estate market (Jones Lang LaSalle, 2014) has improved from 39th in 2012 to 34th in 2019. What does this actually mean for the majority of us? Unfortunately, the answer is very little indeed! With almost no…
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Royal Coronation schedule takes shape
His Majesty King Maha Vachiralongkorn has asked that his coronation ceremony should be ‘economical’ and ‘in line with Royal tradition’. The instructions have been forwarded to Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, head of the coronation organising committee. The Coronation ceremonies will be held between May 4-6. Describing the ceremony as second only in importance to the Royal cremation of the late…
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Event Round-Up – March 2019
The month kicks off with one of Thailand’s most unique and bizarre festivals and celebrations, that of the Tattoo Festival in Nakhon Chaisi in the province of Nakhon Pathom, around 50 kilometres west of Bangkok. Held at the Wat Bang Phra temple on 2 March, the festival also goes by the name Wai Kru Sak Yant after the spiritual tattoos…
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Parents urged to monitor children on ‘Momo Challenge’
PHOTOS: NBT / NNT The Mental Health Department is urging parents to closely monitor children’s online activities due to the ‘Momo Challenge’ reports. The Nation reports that ‘Momo Challenge’, associated with a grotesque bird, has sneaked into YouTube and its YouTube Kids platform and coerced young watchers to take up risky, potentially deadly challenges. The Momo Challenge, dismissed by many…
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Three fined for fishing illegally in the Mu Koh Similan National Park
PHOTO: DNP Three men have been fined after they were found catching fish in Mu Koh Similan National Park area in Phang Nga yesterday. Private fishing is illegal inside the marine national park area. The head of the Mu Koh Similan National Park Ruamsin Manajongjaroen says that yesterday three men were fined after being discovered catching fish in the national…
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“Pattaya: Sex Capital of the World” – but tourism chief is determined to change image
Pattaya’s tourism office says that changing the seaside resort’s seedy image won’t happen overnight. But office chief Sinchai Watanasartsathorn says he is determined to work with both public and private to change Pattaya’s image. Sinchai, also a member of the chamber of commerce, was speaking to the Pattaya News following a story that appeared in the UK’s Mirror online website. The Mirror story…
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Vaping network urges Thai authorities to rethink e-cigarette laws
“Thai authorities had demanded a 40,000 baht bribe from a Frenchwoman to free her after she was arrested for possessing an e-cigarette.” E-cigarette users are calling on the Thai government to quickly come up with appropriate solutions to regulate e-cigarettes, and clarify the current laws, in order to protect the country’s image among foreign tourists. The network say it also…
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Same same but not very different – Election 2019
By Jintana Panyaarvudh Campaigning ahead of the March 24 election is getting a little too heated in the view of some observers. The old habit of slinging mud between rival politicians has revived prompting critics to raise concerns. “The world has evolved but Thai politicians have failed to develop or employ new, creative methods in their campaigns to attract voters,”…
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44 baby leatherback sea turtles headed to sea in Phang Nga – VIDEO
PHOTO: DMCR A third group of baby leatherback sea turtles have now hatched on Kuekkak Beach and headed out to sea for their new life off the Takua Pa district in Phang Nga. A first batch of 48 baby leatherback sea turtles survived and headed straight for the Andaman Sea once they got their bearings on Kuek Kak Beach in…
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Weather for March 4
Bangkok Partly cloudy. High 33ºC. Winds S at 15 to 30 km/h. Phuket Partly cloudy. High 31ºC. E winds shifting to W at 15 to 25 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 37ºC. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. Pattaya Morning thunderstorms. High 31ºC. Winds S at 15 to 30 km/h. Chance of rain 80%. Hua Hin Partly cloudy,…
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Two week+ wait for visa appointments at Thai Embassy in Vientiane, Laos
PHOTO: Waiting to get into the Thai Embassy in Vientiane Expect to wait up to two weeks if you want to visit the Royal Thai Embassy in Vientiane, Laos to apply for a tourist or non-immigrant visa. ThaiVisa reports that, since February 1, foreigners applying for tourist, non-immigrant or transit visas, will need to make an online appointment before submitting…
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Maya Bay – no plans to re-open The Beach
That was before. This is now. The future remains uncertain for any re-opening of the southern Thailand tourist magnet, Maya Bay at Koh Phi Phi Ley. Thai authorities say they have no plans to re-open Maya Bay at this stage but that they continue to monitor the situation on Koh Phi Phi Ley and the island’s famous beach. Blacktip reef…
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