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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 Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Another 81 foreigners arrested in the latest ‘X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner’ sting
FILE PHOTO: X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner raid in Bangkok Tourist police joined forces with other police agencies nationwide to search 123 spots around the country and arrested 81 foreigners on several charges in the latest in its X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner operations. This was the seventh operation targeting illegal foreigners in the Kingdom, many working illegally for schools and language courses. The…
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Net idol DJ Katoy nabbed in Pattaya drug raid
Internet idol Kannikar “DJ Katoy” Namwicha was among six patrons who tested positive for illegal drug use after a raid on a Pattaya nightclub yesterday (Wednesday). Bang Lamung district police and municipal officials descended on the Burn Club on Soi Bua Khao at 4am checking for underage patrons and evidence of drug use. The event was called “Drink, Don’t get arrested”.…
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Nearly one million meth tablets seized in police sting in Songkhla
Police have intercepted an enormous shipment of almost one million methamphetamine tablets with a street value of 48 million baht from a pick-up truck in Songkhla. Police say they were acting on a tipoff. They headed to Tambon Jataen to wait for a pickup truck they were told would be delivering the illicit cargo to southern provinces. A pickup up…
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Songkran storms on the way for the Northern and Central regions
Songkran is the time to farewell the hot season and welcome in the forthcoming wet season but the actual weather is wasting no time getting in on the celebrations. The Thai Meteorological Department is warning people in the Central and Northern parts of the country to brace for another round of summer storms from April 15-18. In an announcement yesterday…
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Phuket’s Tom Howard RIP
One of the great characters of the Phuket boating community, Tom Howard, sadly passed away on Monday, April 9 just after midday, following a short illness. Tom’s partner Pang (Suppawan Buth-sen) and his brother John were at his bedside in Had Yai hospital when he slipped away peacefully. Tom had been a full time resident in Phuket since 2002, following his…
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Black water flowing freely onto Kamala beach
PHOTOS: The Phuket Sun “This is taken from the bridge by the Tsunami monument. It’s the main klong that flows through town. It starts out from the Kamala waterfall as crystal clear and by the time it makes it through town to the sea, it looks like this…black from sewage. “ The editor of online blog The Phuket Sun has…
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Wastewater flowing into the sea at Krabi
A waste water drain pipe has been found at Klong Muang Beach in Krabi. The local OrBorTor has already ordered its immediate removal. Following a complaint about alleged waste waters being released into the sea at Klong Muang Beach, the Chief of Environmental Hygiene Unit of Krabi Provincial Public Health, Boonrit Karunmethee, and President of Nong Talay Administration Organization (OrBorTor),…
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Speedboats ablaze at Khao Lak pier
Two speedboats caught fire at the Tub Lamu Pier in Tai Muang District, Khao Lak, Phang Nga, injuring 4 people. Lamkaen Sub-District’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Unit received a report about the fire early today (April 11). The fire trucks were sent from the unit to the pier to extinguish the fire on the 2 boats along with the Khao…
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The spirit of Songkran – Ajarn Pranee
By Pranee Sakulpipatana, AKA Ajarn Pranee Songkran is one of the happiest festivals celebrated by Thais. When I was young and lived in Phuket, I always found the Songkran celebrations in other provinces such as Chiang Mai to be very unique and beautiful. Over the years Phuket has grown into a hub filled with Thais from all corners of the…
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Songkran activities around the country
Songkran is celebrated across Thailand. It’s the annual celebration of the Thai New Year – a farewell to the hot season and a welcoming of the coming wet season. But it is celebrated in many different ways, from the insane water-fights in Patong, with elephants in Ayutthaya or the Sand Pagoda Ceremony in Chonburi. The word “Songkran” has its origins in…
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PM Prayut, the prolific song-writer
When he’s not putting down members of the press with witty retorts or summoning detractors to the NCPO HQ for ‘attitude adjustment’, dear leader Prayut is putting pen to paper to write patriotic uplifting songs. His first song, “Khuen Kwam Suk Hai Pra Thed Thai” or “Returning Happiness to Thailand”, is considered the biggest hit so far and has been…
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Two fatal accidents in the same spot within 12 hours – Tak
Two fatal bus accidents have taken place at exactly the same spot in Tak province within a 12 hour period topping off a horror two weeks for buses and passenger vans on Thai roads. And Songkran starts tomorrow, the most dangerous time on Thailand’s roads each year. Victims of the second tragedy were actually officials inspecting the scene of the…
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Phuket’s Governor urges care over Songkran
Phuket’s Governor, Norapat Plodthong, is urging special attention to road safety during the peak period of Songkran from today, April 11 – April 17 during his regular morning meeting. He is ordering the departments involved to install lights at road curves and known risky spots. Also, he is emphasising to officials working at checkpoints to enforce the law strictly and…
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Husband stabbed with pair of scissors in Kathu
A 42 year old man, Somporn Iadchang, was stabbed by his wife during a fight last night. He was stabbed on his neck and shoulder. The incident occurred in Kathu late last evening (April 9). Police found the husband lying on the floor after being stabbed several times in a house located in Soi Nakrob. He was sent to Vachira…
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MontAzure helps fund the Muslim Foundation’s Tonkla-Kamala Camp
The developers of Phuket’s MontAzure in Kamala, is helping fund the Kamala Muslim Foundation’s Tonkla-Kamala Camp 2018 as part of the company’s ongoing support for the local community in Kamala. The annual educational camp takes place from April 5-20 and is designed to help local children learn important skills that will be useful to them in their personal and professional…
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Manhunt on for six suspects in the Sungai Golok attacks
Army offices and local police are now hunting down six men for suspected involvement in last night’s attacks in Narathiwat. The six men are suspected of being involved in bomb explosions at three residential areas in Sungai Golok district, injuring 13 people. (Sungai Golok is the last town in Thailand before you cross over the Malaysian border) Police also note…
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Phuket International Airport prepares for Songkran
Phuket International Airport held a ceremony yesterday to announce its readiness for security and necessary services during the Songkran Festival which starts officially on Friday but already sees increased traffic at the airport. The event took place in the parking lot near exit number 6 of the international terminal. Phuket’s Vice Governor, Thavorn Kongkaew, hosted the ceremony yesterday (April 9).…
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6 killed, 44 injured in another bus crash in Tak
Another crash, again involving a bus carrying Burmese workers back home for Songkran. Six Burmese migrants have killed and 44 others were injured when a bus taking them from Tak to Chachoengsao lost control and crashed down a roadside hill last night (Monday). Pol Capt Kiarttisak Boonplong, deputy inspector of Mae Thor police station, said 28 of the injured workers…
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‘Death Island’ in the news again after alleged rape of British woman
Koh Tao, off Koh Samui in the Surat Thani province, is in the spotlight again after a British woman claimed a 26 year old French man had raped her in a hotel on the island. The woman, whose name has been withheld, first alerted her mother in the UK to the alleged attack. The British Embassy in Bangkok stepped in…
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EU set to change its tune on Thai fishing
Yesterday southern fishermen in Songkhla, Pattani and Trang were threatening to go on strike if the Thai government didn’t lift restrictions imposed on them to help satisfy demands by the EU over illegal fishing practices. Today a representative from the EU is pouring praise on the Thai government for its actions to clean up the industry. Smells fishy!? The Nation…
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Southern violence injures four – attacks in Sungai Golok and Pattani
Violence continues in two deep southern provinces last night (Monday), injuring at least four people. Initial reports said that at least four people were injured when bomb attacks hit Narathiwat’s Sungai Golok district and Pattani provinces. In Sungai Kolok, the bomb attacks took place in two areas, injuring at least three. In Pattani, the explosion seriously injured a volunteer, identified…
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Thailand’s zoo horrors captured by British photographer
PHOTO: Aaron Gekoski A British photographer has had a sickening series of photos published in thesun.co.uk after witnessing what he described as “a wildlife house of horrors”. 37 year old environmental photojournalist Aaron Gekoski says he witnessed the shows on a tour of Thailand’s zoos and will now campaign for more restrictions over the industry. In the article he claims……
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“100% interest in 15 days.” Fraudster rips off students.
22 year old Bangkok student ‘Tanya’, along with a Phuket friend who’s still at high school, have made a complaint with crime suppression police to complain about a Thai woman who has ripped them off in a fake loan scheme. They claim that they’ve been conned out of 24,500 baht but say they believe there are 200 victims involved in…
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Krabi’s Emerald Pond defaced by tourist graffiti
The famous Emerald Pond in Krabi has been defaced with hand writings and scratches by visitors while the Chief of Khao Pra Bangkram Non-Hunting Area is preparing to prosecute anyone who is caught writing or scratching their names in the stones there. An approximately 1 metre long area of the Emerald Pond is covered in hastily-scratched handwriting, names and pictures.…
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Thai soap opera inspires traditional dress for ID cards
The Thai soap opera ‘Buppae Sanniwas’ (Love Destiny) is the hot ticket at the moment inspiring Thais to get back to their historical roots and ‘Thainess’, even for official documents. Some Thai ladies have even gone so far as to dress in traditional outfits to take pictures for their ID cards in Phuket. At Phuket Municipality Office a local woman,…
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Burmese workers lucky to escape burning van after crash in Tak
PHOTO: Facebook Fourteen Myanmar migrant workers and a Thai van driver where lucky to escape after their van caught fire after a tyre burst. The burst caused the van to lose control. The van ran off the road into a ditch along side this morning. The van didn’t flip over but the inhabitants were shaken. Luckily they all got out quickly…
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Insurgents fire on police checkpoints in Narathiwat
Southern insurgents have fired at roadside checkpoints in two locations and a marine post in Narathiwat’s Bacho district last night (Sunday). No one was injured in the three attacks. Police and a unit of marines went to inspect the location of the attacks this morning (Monday). Police say that insurgents fired at the road checkpoint in Ban Batu village in…
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What’s open and what’s closed during Songkran?
The Songkran Silly Season’ is almost upon us and along with the break comes official public holidays. This year’s Songkran runs, officially, from April 13 – 16 (this Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday). But many will be taking this Thursday off as well as the following Tuesday to make the Thai New Year long weekend even longer. You should expect…
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Take an air-conditioned rest on Songkran roads this year
Police have prepared air-conditioned accommodation for motorists who might feel tired after a long drive during the Songkran holidays, a police chief said on Monday. Highway police commander Pol Maj Gen Chut Sukkaewnarong says toilet facilities would also be made available for motorists but added that since the number of temporary accommodation spots was limited, motorists were advised to check…
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