News
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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Phoenix owner fails to meet deadline to salvage the boat
PHOTO: Director General of the Marine Department Jirut Wisanjit The owner of Phoenix has failed to recover their boat, after it sank on July 5 killing 47 Chinese tourists. The boat company will now be sued for salvage expenses estimated to be around 10 million baht. Director General of the Marine Department Jirut Wisanjit flew down to Phuket from Bangkok…
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Thaiger Radio News – Monday
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Lombok earthquake kills 82 and injured hundreds
An earthquake has struck the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok killing 82 people (the toll is expected to rise) and wounded hundreds. The tremor was measured at a magnitude of 6.9, triggering panic among locals and tourists. The quake hit last night (Sunday) and shook up the neighbouring island of Bali. An initial tsunami warning, which was later cancelled, had…
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New VIP lane at Suvarnabhumi, as long as you’re Chinese
PHOTOS: Thai Tourist Police Arriving on an international flight at Suvarnabhumi airport? Long lines at Immigration? No problem – please use the new special VIP lane, as long as you’re Chinese. As the Ministry of Touristm and Sport and the Tourist Police go on a charm offensive to restore confidence in the Thai travel market, a new special Chinese Immigration…
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670,000 fewer Chinese tourists – Thailand counts its losses after the Phoenix boat disaster
Some of the fallout from the Phuket boat disaster is now starting to hit home, with more to come as cancellations bite into tourist arrivals, principally Chinese tourists. Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has officially revised down its forecast for July to December by nearly 670,000, to 5.1 million Chinese tourists. The South China Morning Post reports that Thailand…
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Laos Energy Ministry joins the investigation – Attapeu dam failure
The Vientiane Times is reporting that the Laos Ministry of Energy and Mines will join all private stakeholders in a government investigation to oversee the cause of the damage to saddle dam D at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project. The breach of the dam resulted in serious flooding and destruction in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province in the south of Laos.…
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Will Bamboo Air grow as fast as the real bamboo?
A new player is about to enter the regional airline market. Based out of Vietnam, Bamboo Airlines is a fresh start-up under the patronage of Trinh Van Quyet who currently presides over a Vietnamese property empire and is betting billions on his new airline. The 43 year old property tycoon says his company has a market capitalisation of around US$200 million. He…
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4 million baht of ‘Fakes’ seized at the Thep Prasit Night Market in Pattaya
The deputy Tourist Police Bureau chief, Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakpan, has led a raid with the Technology Crime Suppression Division and seized over 10,000 items of pirated merchandise at Pattaya’s Thep Prasit Pattaya Market – a popular tourist magnet for fake goods. The raids started around 11pm last night (Saturday). Goods confiscated included fakes of various ‘name’ brands –…
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Latest ‘Operation X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner’ nets UK and Nigerian overstayers, both over 1,000 days
File Photo The crackdown on serial overstayers continues across the country, including a British national arrested in Phuket. 53 year old Chris Michel was bundled up on Friday morning after it was revealed that he had overstayed his visa by 1077 days, nearly 3 years. 62 foreign nationals were detained in the latest ‘Operation X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner’, targeting 75 locations…
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Heavy rains threaten Phetchaburi dams – weather warnings issued
Heavy rains have battered Thailand’s west, north and north-east over past weeks, causing dams to fill early in the annual wet season, threatening overflows and floods to downstream areas. The Thai Meteorological Department says that from today until August 9… “a monsoonal trough will lie across the upper North and the upper Northeast while the southwest monsoon will strengthen across…
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British cave rescuer honoured in his home town
Another of the international rescue team, who flew into Chiang Rai last month to assist with the cave rescue, has been honoured. Richard Stanton, one of the British cave divers involved in the risky Tham Luang rescue operation, has been bestowed with the Coventry Award of Merit. The award was made in his home town of Coventry, where he lives.…
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Thaiger Radio News – Sunday
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Nigerian drug suspect arrested after police chase
PHOTO: Matichon Thai-language daily Matichon has reported that a Nigerian drug suspect did a runner after being tracked down by Samui police today. In a scene straight out of an action thriller, Koh Samui policemen and soldiers had to chase down a Nigerian drug suspect who jumped out of a window of his rented house, climbed over the fence and…
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Stay 5 metres away and bow before and after a photo of the PM – new media guidelines
The Thai PM has issued new guidelines as how and when to photograph him. At the same time the PM’s spokesperson has set new ‘ethical’ guidelines for media pressers with the PM. New formalities issued by the 3rd division of the Special Branch police were distributed to members of the press at yesterday’s Impact Exhibition Centre event where the PM…
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Phuket boat show rumbles – a new show announced
There used to be one Phuket boat show, then there was two, then there was the two coming together as one… and now there is a new event. Royal Phuket Marina are putting together their own show with Andy Dowden, of PIMEX fame, the principle organiser of the new Phuket Yacht Show. The new show is being planned for January…
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11 of the Mu Pa team complete their ordination, coach Ekkapol stays on
A provincial committee is being set up to screen approaches made to the 12 Mu Pa football players and their coach to attend various events and activities. Chiang Rai’s new Governor Prajon Pratsakul was speaking to reporters after the team made a courtesy call on him. They were accompanied by Phra Khru Prayut Jetiyanukarn, acting abbot of Wat Phra That…
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4.8 million meth pills and nearly a tonne of ‘ice’ seized in Chiang Rai
The Nation is reporting that a suspected drug mule has been arrested along with a huge haul of 4.8 million methamphetamine pills and 978 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice). The drugs were seized after two pickup trucks sped through a checkpoint in Chiang Rai early this morning. Army rangers made the arrest after giving chase from the checkpoint in Ban Sai…
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Man charged over posting soft porn photos in Old Phuket Town
A man who appeared in ‘obscene’ photos, shot in Old Phuket Town and posted on Facebook, has been charged with offences to the Computer Crime Act. The couple, engaging in ‘intimate’ photos taken around Old Phuket Town, met with police after their photos went viral in social media on Thursday (August 2). Read more about the photos HERE. Yesterday afternoon (Aug…
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Thavorn Hotels & Resorts receives Thailand MICE Venue Standard Award
Thavorn Hotels & Resorts is proud to announce its certification of Thailand MICE Venue Standard (TMVS) by Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB). The certification assesses venues in three key areas – physical, technological, and service requirements. Certified venues appear on an Approved List and are publicised worldwide as venues that meet international standards. MICE – Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and…
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Peaceful Pattani – the other side of the southern province
By Pattarawadee Saengmanee, The Nation Weekend The former capital of the ancient Langkasuka Kingdom, Pattani province in Thailand’s far south has traditionally been feted for its multiculturalism, though sadly the ongoing violence has kept it well off the tourist map for more than a decade. But his southern province bordered by Narathiwat, Yala, and Songkhla has plenty to offer the…
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Jobs for the boys – Women’s groups attack rampant gender bias
“Out of over 10,000 police officers in Thailand, only 400 are women.” Despite the country’s ‘sabai sabai’ attitude towards many issues, rampant sexism and gender-bias still exists across the board, especially in the higher levels of Thai army and police ranks. Three women’s rights groups are urging the Office of the Ombudsman to rule on the validity of a move…
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Bomb suspects arrested in Pattani following two investigations
PHOTO: Thai PBS Thai PBS reports that military and police officers have arrested two men suspected of involvement in the bombing of ATM machines in Pattani’s in May this year. Soldiers were sent to search two targets in Tambon Khlong Mai of Yarang district this morning. The first target was a house at Ban Chalong where 28 year old Malawi…
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Krabi millipede invasion
Thousands of millipedes have invaded more than 30 houses in a Krabi community. Some locals are fearful of the plague as they say they’re allergic to millipedes. Locals in Klongtom, Krabi say that thousands of millipedes are being found around and inside their houses. The more rains, the more millipedes. Locals are trying to get rid of them with chemical…
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‘Big Joke’ stops to help Phuket hit and run victim
PHOTOS: Deputy Commander of the Tourist Police Bureau Maj Gen Surachete Hakparn Deputy Commander of the Tourist Police Bureau based in Bangkok, Maj Gen Surachete Hakparn, ordered his team to stop they convey of official vehicles to help a student who had been hit in Phuket Town this afternoon (Aug 3). Maj Gen Surachete reported that he saw the accident while he and…
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Indian man assaulted and killed in Krabi
An Indian man was killed by another Indian citizen after he was assaulted by his co-worker’s wife while she was taking a bath yesterday (Aug 2) in Krabi. The reenactment held this morning was led by Khao Panom Police Chief Col Kajit Kongprab. The attacker was 25 year old Indian, Prakart Natarang, who is a staff member of a biomass…
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The dog’s got to go! Mammoth vs Jao Bo.
PHOTO: Manager Online “Get the hell out of here! You accursed mutt!” A Chiang Mai estate resident has ramped up neighbourhood disputes to the next level. They’ve erected a huge vinyl sign to demand that the neighbour remove his dog that he says attacked his pet poodle. The dispute, besides the one between the neighbours, is between a poodle named…
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Banyan Tree Samui hailed as eco-friendly leader in Thailand
The Banyan Tree Samui has become the first and only hotel in Thailand to be awarded “Gold Certification” at a single-property level by Earthcheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking, certification and advisory group for travel and tourism. Although other hotel chains have received similar accolades from EarthCheck at a group level, Banyan Tree Samui stands alone as the sole property…
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Russia set to establish Consulate-General in Phuket
The Russian Federation is poised to open a Consulate-General in Phuket in response to the growing Russian expat community and consistent stream in Russian tourists coming to the island. Russian PM Dmitriy Medvedev signed the order last Saturday ratifying the new diplomatic mission on the island. There are no details in the letter about when the Consulate-General will open its doors…
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Yingluck flies to Dubai – “Dubai flight was pre-planned”
“Yingluck reportedly flew from London on Wednesday, just a day after the media reported the Thai government’s extradition request to the UK government.” Former PM minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s flight from London to Dubai on Wednesday had nothing to do with the Thai government’s extradition request to the UK. This explanation from a Pheu Thai Party member yesterday. The flight was…
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Couples posting obscene photos in Old Phuket Town to meet with police
Pictures of a couple in allegedly obscene photos taken in Old Phuket Town are to meet with police after their photos went viral in social media yesterday (Aug 2). A Thai facebook page which is translated as ‘Want to be famous; here we go’ yesterday shared photos of a Facebook user with message read ‘here we come, school cosplay. what…
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