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    Why health insurance costs more each year and how expats in Thailand can save more money

    Each year, many expats living in Thailand see their health insurance premiums go up and often without a clear reason. This can be frustrating, especially when you're trying to plan your budget. But by understanding why prices rise and learning...

  • Nan, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai report damage from current floods | Thaiger

    Nan, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai report damage from current floods

    Weather warnings remain current for 38 Thai provinces affected by tropical storm Bebinka which is currently hovering over northern Vietnam, moving west. Meanwhile its affects are already being felt in the north. Moutain run-off has hit and washed away three sections of the main Chiang Rai-Chiang Mai road early today. The Doi Saket police station in Chiang Rai was alerted at…

  • Tourist numbers tumble as Chinese media expose entrenched safety problems | Thaiger

    Tourist numbers tumble as Chinese media expose entrenched safety problems

    The fallout from July’s tragic boat accident are just now starting to bite as tourists, who would have been about to make a booking around the time the accident happened, decided to book an alternate holiday destination instead. Despite the bravado and PR exercises, many Thai business people are secretly worried about the big drop-off in numbers. The drop in…

  • 68 illegal migrant workers arrested at Krabi hotel construction site | Thaiger

    68 illegal migrant workers arrested at Krabi hotel construction site

    Officers have arrested 68 illegal migrant workers at a five star hotel construction site near a beach in the main centre of Krabi yesterday (August 17). Officers checked the hotel construction site on Tab Kheak Beach. Officers found 89 workers including 21 Thai and 68 Burmese. All 68 Burmese workers were registered with a previous construction company not the current…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Saturday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Saturday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Hilton Phuket helping with English lessons for Kamala students | Thaiger

    Hilton Phuket helping with English lessons for Kamala students

    Markus Kosch, general manager of Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, together with hotel management teams, recently visited a local school in Kamala to assist with English lessons for the day whilst providing sponsorship for the school valued at 100,000 baht. The donation was made to the Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation in May 2018 in order to…

  • Institute closed for seven days as police break up student gang brawls in BKK | Thaiger

    Institute closed for seven days as police break up student gang brawls in BKK

    By Khanathit Srihirundaj Bangkok police have held a meeting between representatives of Pathumwan and Uthenthawai colleges today. Yesterday students from their colleges fought on the skywalk near the National Stadium BTS station. Education Ministry officials attended the meeting to help find solutions to the issue of student brawls. The meeting at Pathumwan Police Station was brokered by the deputy chief of…

  • Five suspects arrested with illicit drugs | Thaiger

    Five suspects arrested with illicit drugs

    Five drug suspects have been arrested with methamphetamine pills, crystal methamphetamine and kratom. A team of officers led by Capt Teerasak Narasri from the Phuket City Police Station have arrested four suspects including 46 year old Tanet ‘Pok’ Saeton from Phuket at a house in Rassada. Police seized 534.8 grams and a parcel box. He has been charged with illegal…

  • Smoking ban enforced on Pattaya beaches | Thaiger

    Smoking ban enforced on Pattaya beaches

    The crackdown on smoking on some of Thailand’s main beaches continues. In Patong Beach, Phuket, for example, there are stations every 100 metres along the beach set up especially for smokers. In Pattaya officials have again begun warning tourists they can only light up in designated areas on Pattaya and Dongtan beaches. Pattaya Mail reports that the municipal enforcement chief,…

  • Signs posted warning land encroachers in Rassada | Thaiger

    Signs posted warning land encroachers in Rassada

    Officers have set up official warning signs in front of a 50 rai plot of land on national reserve forest at Klong Bang Chela – Klong Tajeen in Rassada . The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had given approval for the Phuket Provincial government to use 50 rai plot of land in the area of the national reserve forest as a…

  • DSI crackdown on foreigners using Thai nominees: Law firm raided in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui | Thaiger

    DSI crackdown on foreigners using Thai nominees: Law firm raided in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui

    Four offices of the same investment advisory firm have been raided in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui. Coordinated raids on the offices of what appears to be a single advisory firm were conducted by the DSI (Department of Special Investigations), police and Board of Investment representatives. Pictures showed that the company is DFDL Thailand Legal and Tax. This company offers “investment advisory…

  • Police ‘good nature’ is actually a really bad idea | Thaiger

    Police ‘good nature’ is actually a really bad idea

    In a bizarre piece of policing and an even more bizarre reaction on social media, Thai Rath has posted some video of traffic police tying a band of cloth around a father and daughter who were stopped at a checkpoint – neither with motorbike helmets. The video was posted on the Facebook page of police in the north-east with a policeman tying…

  • Wet, wet, wet – warnings out for 36 provinces | Thaiger

    Wet, wet, wet – warnings out for 36 provinces

    As tropical storm Bebinca makes landfall in Vietnam today, 36 provinces in the North, North-east, East and South are bring warned to brace for intensive rain and isolated torrential downpours until Sunday – this from the Meteorological Department’s latest weather forecast this morning. “At 4 am this morning, tropical storm Bebinca was 400 kilometres northeast of Hanoi, Vietnam, with a …

  • Thaiger Radio News – Friday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Friday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Government goes retro with new ‘moral code’ for students | Thaiger

    Government goes retro with new ‘moral code’ for students

    “…kissing the cheeks of a member of the opposite sex or embracing them is “inappropriate.” The Cabinet has approved the Education Ministry’s new regulations banning students from holding public gatherings, “inappropriate” displays of affection and causing public nuisance. The attempt to control students’ moral and social behaviour is a major step for the Junta, away from building roads and taming…

  • Warning for boats going to sea until August 19 | Thaiger

    Warning for boats going to sea until August 19

    The Phuket Marine Office has made an official announcement for boats to be careful when going to sea from today, August 17-19, due to poor weather. The announcement was issued yesterday stating that “The Meteorological Department of Thailand (TMD) has forecast that during August 17-19 the monsoon will cause waves up to four metres in the open sea.” “For navigation…

  • Weather and dam authorities say they’re ready for the impact of Bebinca | Thaiger

    Weather and dam authorities say they’re ready for the impact of Bebinca

    Authorities say they’re well prepared for tropical storm Bebinca, with emergency response teams in full readiness and, importantly, with water levels being lowered in every dam in the storm’s path, leaving room for greater water inflows. The Meteorological Department issued warnings yesterday saying the storm will bring heavy downpours throughout the upper regions of Thailand and may trigger flash floods in…

  • Phuket 13 beaches get ‘star’ treatment from environment office | Thaiger

    Phuket 13 beaches get ‘star’ treatment from environment office

    13 Phuket beaches have received certificates after passing environmental tests and qualification. 34 business operators in the Andaman provinces also received wastewater management certification. Phuket Vice Governor Thawornwat Kongkaew yesterday (August 15) presented the certificates at Pearl Hotel in Phuket Town to local administrative organisations for ‘star’ beaches and business operators for good wastewater management. “There are 13 famous Phuket…

  • New Ferrari slams into tree in Korat | Thaiger

    New Ferrari slams into tree in Korat

    Been a bad week if you’re a supercar owner in Thailand. Photos from Daily News show a red plate Ferrari that collided with the back of an 18 wheel truck on the Friendship Highway (Mitraphap) in the Si Khiw area of Nakhon Ratchasima. The accident also involved a Chevrolet car that ended up under the truck in the roadside ditch.…

  • Rawai Cultural Street Festival to be held at Phromthep Cape | Thaiger

    Rawai Cultural Street Festival to be held at Phromthep Cape

    Make it a date: August 29 & 30. The Rawai Municipality will hold a Rawai Cultural Street Festival at the end of this month. Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos has announced that the Rawai Cultural Street Fair will be held from August 29-30 at Promthep Cape at the southern end of the island. Mayor Aroon says, “This festival is to encourage…

  • Australian police detain five Thai nationals involved in human trafficking | Thaiger

    Australian police detain five Thai nationals involved in human trafficking

    Human trafficking from Thailand to Australia’s capital city, Canberra, is under investigation after raids on Fyshwick brothels (massage parlours) this week. An Thai-Australian woman has been charged and five Thai nationals detained over immigration offences as a result of simultaneous raids on ‘escort agencies’ in Fyshwick, Canberra, this week. The Canberra Times has reported that a Canberra court has heard one…

  • Fire destroys bedding warehouse in Rassada | Thaiger

    Fire destroys bedding warehouse in Rassada

    A fire has destroyed a bedding warehouse in Rassada this morning (August 16). Two dogs were reported to have died in the blaze. The Phuket City Police were notified of the incident at 4am this morning in the in Soi Pruyai, 500 metres from the main SuperCheap store in Rassada. Firefighters arrived with five fire engines to find the fire…

  • 28 year old Norwegian found dead in car on Koh Samui | Thaiger

    28 year old Norwegian found dead in car on Koh Samui

    Police are investigating a Norwegian tourist found dead inside his car on Samui last Monday. 28 year old Aspen Anray Solian was found dead in the driver’s seat on Thaweerat Phakdee Road in Tambon Maret. A doctor says he had died about one or two hours before he was found. Police say the body showed no signs of violence. A…

  • Fix Bangkok’s traffic within 3 months – Thai PM | Thaiger

    Fix Bangkok’s traffic within 3 months – Thai PM

    Thai PM Prayut has instructed police stations to help with efforts to ease Bangkok’s severe road congestion problems within three months. The PM says that relevant technology must be adopted to help control and manage traffic flow, especially during peak hours. “The government can’t deny the responsibility of easing traffic problems.” He was speaking during a visit to the Traffic Police…

  • Body found floating off Kata Beach identified as Surat Thani man | Thaiger

    Body found floating off Kata Beach identified as Surat Thani man

    The body of a man who is believed to be from Surat Thani was found floating just off Kata beach yesterday (August 15). Back on Monday evening, Karon Police were alerted about a tourist who was missing. A search was launched and kept going until midnight. Read more HERE. Karon Police were then notified yesterday from locals that a body…

  • Will he or won’t he? Thai PM will announce his intentions soon. | Thaiger

    Will he or won’t he? Thai PM will announce his intentions soon.

    PHOTO: The Nation The election looms but, at this stage, there is no confirmed date and the elephant in the room – will General Prayut turn politician and run for a seat in the new Government – is yet to be addressed. Pressed yesterday he repeated his past ambiguous remarks. The PM yesterday reiterated his promise to clarify his political…

  • Police suspect ‘insider’ in attempted rape and assault in Pattaya | Thaiger

    Police suspect ‘insider’ in attempted rape and assault in Pattaya

    PHOTO: Manager Online An eighteen year old woman has been tied up with a phone charger chord as a man tried to rape her. After she resisted super glue was put in her eye and her phone stolen. An uncle of the girl is helping police with their inquiries. Police arrived at the house to find 46 year old Nongyao Theppithak…

  • The moral police want to ban students being together, anytime, anywhere. | Thaiger

    The moral police want to ban students being together, anytime, anywhere.

    Thailand’s ‘fun police’, under directions from the Thai government, are attempting to stop students doing… well, what students and young people do, anytime! Manager Online reports that, not just content with forbidding Thai teenagers enjoying the company of the opposite sex in public and banning wandering about at night, new measures have been proposed by the Ministry of Education (now endorsed…

  • Black-out in parts of Patong tomorrow | Thaiger

    Black-out in parts of Patong tomorrow

    Some residents in Patong are being warned that the Patong Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has a scheduled blackout in parts of Patong from 9am to 5pm tomorrow (August 16). They say the interruption to electricity services is necessary to work on high-voltage power lines. The affected area include Sirirat Road from Phuket Simon Cabaret to the Front Village Hotel. The…

  • Government tackles electronic waste at local level | Thaiger

    Government tackles electronic waste at local level

    Electronic waste has become a major environmental problem in Thailand, such that the Government is now getting Tambon chiefs and kanmans to help educate locals and tackle the problem at the community level. At a deserted factory outside Bangkok, skyscrapers made from vast blocks of crushed printers, Xbox components and TVs tower over black rivers of smashed-up computer screens. This is a…

  • Water to be shut off in Chalong tomorrow | Thaiger

    Water to be shut off in Chalong tomorrow

    The Phuket Water Authority (PWA) has announced that water supply in some areas of Chalong will be shut off from 9am tomorrow (August 16) until repair works can be completed. Water will be shut off while work is being carried out on main pipes at the entrance of Soi Tanuthep on Chao Fa West Road in Chalong. Areas to be affected…