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.
-
Monkey sneaks into Lop Buri home and steals food from the refrigerator – VIDEO
A monkey was caught sneaking into a home in Thailand’s Lop Buri province and stealing food from the refrigerator. Earlier this week, 59 year old Phimonthip Rungphant walked into her kitchen and found the monkey walking around the room eating her food. She says she had been wondering why her food seemed to be disappearing. Lop Buri is known for…
-
Woman with high blood pressure died after mixing vaccines
A woman with high blood pressure was found dead by her family in her home after the controversial practice of mixing vaccines, receiving one Sinovac vaccine and one AstraZeneca vaccine Monday. The woman from Prachuap Khiri Khan was a 39 year old private tutor before her untimely death. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.…
-
4 small earthquakes rattle Kanchanaburi, no injuries reported
4 small earthquakes rattled residents of western Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province, last night and into this morning. The strongest earthquake was reportedly measured at a 3.7 magnitude. Earthquakes between magnitudes of 2.5 to 5.4 are often felt, but only minor damages occur. The Meteorological Department says the tremors were focused on tambon Khao Jode and that the epicentre was 1-2 kilometres…
-
Thursday Covid Update: 13,655 new cases and 87 deaths; provincial totals
Another record high of 13,655 new Covid-19 cases and 87 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. In the latest and most severe wave of Covid-19, first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 424,269 infections. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported 453,132 Covid-19 infections…
-
315 inmates at Khon Kaen prison test positive for Covid-19
In a recent Covid-19 outbreak among prison inmates, 315 people detained at Khon Kaen Provincial Prison in the Isaan region tested positive for the virus. The latest and most severe wave spread to many of Thailand’s overcrowded prisons, infecting more than 40,000 inmates over the past several months. Local disease control officials tested inmates at the Khon Kaen prison after…
-
2 people infected with Covid-19 rally in Bangkok to demand medical care
A small group of people, including 2 who claimed they were infected with Covid-19, held a rally outside the Government House in Bangkok yesterday evening, calling for the Thai government to provide proper medical treatment for coronavirus patients. 25 police officers dressed in personal protective equipment, or PPE suits, were called to monitor the rally. Just 7 people attended the…
-
Samut Sakhon man allegedly sold police badges on Facebook
Recently, police arrested a man for allegedly using Facebook to sell a police badge and a certificate for being a member of the commando police. Reportedly, both the badge and certificate were being sold for 7,000 baht. 35 year old Natchathorn Dechakunaporn was arrested in the central Thai province of Samut Sakhon after he allegedly posted on Facebook through the…
-
Study finds 2 doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca effective against Delta strain
A study published yesterday shows that 2 doses of the Pfizer vaccine or 2 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are almost as effective against the rapid-spreading Delta variant as they are against the Alpha variant. In Thailand, the AstraZeneca vaccine is being produced locally and is the primary vaccine being used in the nationwide Covid-19 immunisation campaign. Thailand recently approved…
-
UPDATE: Details from woman who escaped Phuket Sandbox
In an update to a story that broke yesterday, more details have emerged about the still-unnamed person who escaped from the Phuket Sandbox on Tuesday. Reports now state that it was an 18 year old woman who disappeared from the mandatory 14-day stay upon arrival in Phuket and was picked up Tuesday night in Chonburi after authorities were about to…
-
Firefighter in this month’s factory fire dies suddenly of Covid-19
One of the brave firefighters who battled the recent factory fire in Samut Prakan July 5 was diagnosed today with Covid-19, just hours before he died from the virus. Naruphon Wongyaem was among the teams that responded to the explosion at the Ming Dih Chemical Co factory just south of Bangkok in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district. After putting out…
-
Kenya: Elephant herds seen from a unique angle
The sunrise at Amboseli National Park is breathtaking. A hot air balloon is prepared for a fascinating experience. Tourists will view animals from a different angle. The balloon can fly up to 20 meters. And the elephants remain undisturbed. The unique view delights everyone. Amboseli National Park has over 3,000 elephants. There has been no single case of elephant poaching…
-
New Phuket checkpoint rules see 392 people denied yesterday
New restrictions for entering Phuket announced Sunday went into effect yesterday, causing a rash of nearly 400 people to be turned away at the entrance checkpoint. While previous rules allowed unvaccinated people meeting certain criteria to enter, now everyone who enters Phuket needs to be fully vaccinated in addition to testing negative for Covid-19. This new strict requirement applies to…
-
Nigeria cracks down on separatists as security issues mount in the north
Activist Sunday Adeyemo, known popularly in Nigeria as Sunday Igboho, was arrested in neighboring Benin on Monday evening, according to media reports. He was about to take a flight to Germany at the time. A senior Benin police official confirmed the arrest, saying Igboho “will be extradited to Nigeria as soon as the two countries have agreed on conditions.” It…
-
Tokyo Olympics unable to heal Japan-South Korea rift
Hopes that Japan and South Korea might finally be able to build new bridges through a summit of their leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo Olympic Games have been dashed after Seoul announced that President Moon Jae-in would not be going to the opening ceremony on Friday. The northeast Asian neighbors have long been at loggerheads over differing interpretations…
-
Russian arms trader working closely supplying Burmese military
The head of a Russian state arms trader was attributed as saying that Russia is working closely with the Burmese military junta to supply military equipment. According to the Interfax news agency, the head of Rosoboronexport, the arms trader in question, spoke of the partnership between the military coup that overthrew the government in Myanmar on February 1 and the…
-
Bangkok’s Bang Sue vaccination centre open to expats 60 and above
Expats ages 60 and above in Bangkok and surrounding provinces can now register from an AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine appointment at the Bang Sue Grand Station Central Vaccination Centre. Walk-in services are offered to foreign residents who are 75 years old and older from 9am to 4pm. Foreign residents who are at least 60 years old must fill out a registration…
-
Na Jomtien man electrocuted mining bitcoin
The volatility of bitcoin trading can be shocking, but so too can actually mining it, as a Na Jomtien resident unfortunately found after being electrocuted by his mining machine. The body of a 26 year old man named Danai was found this morning after apparently being electrocuted to death by the computer equipment he was using to mine bitcoin. The…
-
Lifeguard rescues Polish man in Phuket
A lifeguard at Phuket’s Nai Harn beach saved a Polish man who got caught in the rough current while he was swimming this afternoon. The lifeguard swam out and pulled the man to the beach where he administered first aid and provided oxygen to help the man’s breathing. With the quick reaction provided by the lifeguard, the man made a…
-
Interprovincial transport suspended in “dark red” zones; bus services stop nationwide
All interprovincial public transport services have been suspended in the 13 “dark red” provinces under maximum control to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Department of Land Transport announced today. Domestic flights in and out of those provinces have also been suspended. The suspensions are in place at least until August 2. The public transportation company, known as BorKorSor,…
-
Pattaya restaurants suffering, closing over dark red restrictions
New severe Covid-19 restrictions go into effect as Chon Buri province and Pattaya inside it were classified as dark red zones, causing already hard-hit restaurants to suffer and some to close completely. Being pushed to take-away only after their customer base is already severely reduced by international borders being all but closed to tourism for over a year has left…
-
CCSA recommends closure of 10 more places and venues in “dark red” zones
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is recommending the closure of 10 more places and venues in “dark red” zones as additional measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. Provincial authorities in each of the 13 “dark red” zones, including Bangkok, can decide whether to follow the CCSA’s recommendation. The measures in “dark red” zones currently in place include a…
-
Sandbox traveller escaped to Chon Buri, faces prosecution
A person who came into Thailand under the Phuket Sandbox plan left the island before completing the 14-day stay and now faces prosecution. A Thai national stayed just 9 days in their SHA Plus hotel before disappearing without checking out, according to Phuket Provincial Public Health Office Chief Dr Kusak Kukiattikoon. The person’s gender was not revealed, but it was…
-
Wednesday Covid Update: Record high of 13,002 new cases; provincial totals
A record high of 13,002 new Covid-19 cases was reported today by the Centre of Covid-19 Situation Administration. Thailand now has 131,411 active Covid-19 cases. Another 108 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 3,610. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported a total of 439,477 Covid-19 infections. The latest…
-
Locked in a construction worker camp in Bangkok – Thailand’s hidden Covid tragedy | VIDEO
Friso Poldervaart and Greg Lange, founders of the Bangkok Community Help Foundation, spoke to The Thaiger this week about the critical problems emerging in some of the worker and construction camps. Some 80,000 people – mostly Burmese, Cambodian and Thai workers – have been isolated in these shanty towns, basically imprisoned. They are guarded by Thai police and army. Some…
-
Bus services in and out of Phuket suspended for the next 2 weeks
For the next 2 weeks, all interprovincial bus services entering and leaving Phuket will be suspended. The move is intended to prevent the spread of Covid-19 on the island province as it reopens to travellers from overseas under the “Phuket Sandbox.” The president of the national bus service company, known in Thai as “BorKorSor,” Sanlak Panyawatthanalikit, ordered for the “temporary…
-
Muay Thai recognised by International Olympic Committee
Muay Thai might soon be an Olympic sport. The International Olympic Committee has fully recognised the traditional martial art and its governing body, the International Federation of Muay Thai Associations, or IFMA, a committee member announced yesterday during the 138th IOC session in Tokyo. “This is the beginning of the possibility of Muay Thai to become an Olympic sport.” Thailand’s…
-
Teenager arrested after student allegedly killed with an axe at Singapore school
High school students in Singapore have been left reeling after the murder of a 13 year old boy on campus. A 16 year student is in custody, charged with murder, after the horrifying event at River Valley High School. Coconuts reports that the unnamed student, who appeared in court via video link, has been sent for a psychiatric assessment. Singapore’s…
-
Private sector says lockdowns won’t work without vaccines, mass testing
Industry representatives in Thailand say Covid-19 lockdowns won’t work unless accompanied by mass screening and vaccination. Supant Mongkolsuthree from the Federation of Thai Industries has expressed scepticism that the proposed tightening of restrictions in 13 high-risk provinces will bring the virus under control. Instead, he says the proposal could cost the economy around 100 billion baht and will be ineffective…
-
Phang Nga and Krabi hope to re-open to foreign tourists under “Andaman Sandbox”
On August 1, the Tourism Authority of Thailand hopes to launch the “Andaman Sandbox”, allowing the southern provinces of Phang Nga and Krabi to re-open to foreign tourism. The model is similar to the Phuket Sandbox and the Samui Plus model launched earlier this month. Yuthasak Supasorn from the TAT says the Andaman Sandbox proposal goes before the Centre for…
-
Ethiopia: Fear Tigray conflict could trigger all-out war
Special forces and militias from a number of Ethiopia’s regions are mobilizing to back the federal government’s military operations in Tigray, signaling a widening of the conflict. Regular forces from Amhara — a large region abutting the south of Tigray — have been fighting alongside federal troops ever since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched the military offensive in Tigray…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.