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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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Petrol prices in Bangkok reduced tomorrow
Good news for Bangkok motorists as the PTT Oil and Retail Business today announced the cost of petrol will be reduced from tomorrow (Friday) morning. The retail prices of petrol and all types of gasohol except E85 will drop by 3 baht per litre, E85 by 1.8 baht per litre, at 5am tomorrow. It’s not all good news for motorists…
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Thai student slashed in high-speed car chase after school row
A schoolgirl was slashed by a knife after the mother of a schoolboy pursued a group of teenage students down a highway following a row at her son’s sports day. The Facebook page, Let Me Know If You Want to Be Famous Return Part 3, อยากดังเดี๋ยวจัดให้ รีเทิร์น พาร์ท 3, posted a video of the high-speed car chase, which was recorded…
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Thai leg of the high speed rail to Laos and China will be completed by 2028
The government has stated that by 2028, it will have finished its part of a long-delayed high-speed rail system connecting Thailand with China and Laos. The 434 billion baht project’s first of two phases will be completed by 2026, according to officials. According to the director-general of the Department of Rail Transport, Pichet Kunadhamraks, 12% of the first stage is…
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UPDATE: Boris Johnson has agreed to resign as UK prime minister
UPDATE: Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says there will be “a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end” as and when Boris Johnson resigns as Conservative leader. But the SNP leader questions the sustainability of Johnson staying on until the autumn, and says he was always “manifestly unfit…
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British man beaten up and robbed in Pattaya, Thailand
A British tourist who woke up in his underwear on the floor on a Pattaya path says he got beaten up and robbed by 4 Thai men after a night of heavy drinking. Police found 29 year old Farnie (surname reserved) of British nationality covered in bruises on the floor of North Pattaya Road yesterday at noon. Farnie was missing…
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‘A poll is just a poll,’ Thai PM Prayut unfazed by opposition’s popularity
Thailand will hold a general election at some point before March 2023, but polls reveal that current PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is not the favourite to win. PM Prayut says he’s not worried about the poll results, because “a poll is just a poll.” Paetongtarn Shinawatra – daughter of ousted ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra and central figure of the Pheu Thai Party…
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2 Brits honoured for heroic efforts in Thai cave rescue
The University of Bristol has awarded 2 British cave divers with honourary degrees after recognising their heroic efforts in rescuing 12 boys and a man from a flooded cave in Thailand. Linda Wilson, Vice-President of the University of Bristol’s Spelaeological Society, nominated John Volanthen, from Bristol, and Rick Stanton, from Coventry, for their honorary degrees. Wilson hailed the 2 British…
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Grandmother stabbed more than 20 times in brutal murder in central Thailand
Police have launched a murder investigation after a man stabbed a 75 year old woman to death at her home in Phetchaburi province, central Thailand, on Tuesday. The woman’s daughter, 39 year old Yok, said she had been unwell and had been taking sleeping pills. Yok woke up at noon to find her mother – 75 year old Suthasinee Phansawat…
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Thai MP and brother get 2 years jail for election fraud
Former Democrat Party MP Theptai Seanpong and his younger brother, Manoch Seanpong, were sentenced to a prison term of 2 years and political disqualification for 10 years after being found guilty of election fraud during the provincial administrative organization election in 2013 in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The Seanpong family is well-known among residents of Nakhon Si…
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2 Chinese charged with attempted murder after making a f-arse of extortion attempt
A botched 3 million baht extortion attempt by 2 Chinese nationals turned into a f-arse when one of them shot a fellow countryman in the buttock. A married Chinese couple Yu Wang and Li Min met with mainland compatriot Wang Xiaoye at a house in Muang district of Chiang Mai under the pretence of selling some antique porcelain at around…
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Thaksin predicts the opposition parties will win election in a landslide
Talking on a social media chat program this week, fugitive and former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra says the opposition parties, or as he described them, the “pro-democracy” parties, will win. And win with an absolute majority. The interview was conducted on ‘Care Talk’ on the Clubhouse app on Tuesday this week. Thaksin was speaking online from his house in Dubai.…
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Thai officer caught on camera riding carelessly won’t be fined
A Thai police officer caught on camera riding a motorcycle as if he was drunk in the Isaan province of Chaiyaphum, won’t be prosecuted. The Chaiyaphum News Hunter Facebook page, คนล่าข่าวชัยภูมิ, posted a video of the police with a caption saying, “Locals sent this to me. Is it too dangerous, boss? This happened on the Bypass Road Mueng Chaiyaphum at…
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Bangkok authorities remove transformers belonging to lot that caused fire
Bangkok’s Metropolitan Electrical Authority yesterday removed 2 network transformers belonging to the same lot that caused a fire in Chinatown last month. The fire in the historic Sampeng market killed 2 people. The blaze was caused by a transformer exploding at a 3 storey shophouse, according to a preliminary inspection. Now, MEA officials plan to inspect the transformers to make…
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Sri Lanka PM tells bankrupt nation to prepare for ‘difficult journey’
The Sri Lanka prime minister told the nation to prepare for “a difficult and bitter journey” as he declared the country bankrupt and prepared to approach the International Monetary Fund for a loan. PM Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday declared Sri Lanka “bankrupt” before making public that he had approached the IMF to figure a way out of the nation’s worst financial…
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Suspected insurgent shot dead by police in southern Thailand
Thai police shot dead a suspected insurgent at a house in Pattani province, southern Thailand, yesterday at 4:30am. The suspect tried to escape the house by climbing out of the window and allegedly fired shots at police who shot back in self-defence. The deceased allegedly had a role in the 2019 Bangkok bombings. Police received information that a wanted, suspected…
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Phuket will have a tsunami drill on July 20 following multiple small tremors offshore
There will be a tsunami evacuation drill in Phuket’s Thalang district on July 20 after a number of underwater earthquakes off the Nicobar Islands, some 500 kilometres away, increased residents’ fears of a possible tsunami. Phuket tsunami 506 kilometres away from Thailand’s Andaman coast, the Andaman and Nicobar islands were continuously hit by 4.0 to 4.9 magnitude underwater earthquakes for three…
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Thailand to receive new LAAB Covid vaccine by end of the month
Thailand today signed an agreement to receive its first batch of Long-Acting Antibody doses at the end of this month. The Thai Deputy PM, and Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, signed an agreement with AstraZeneca Country President, James Teague, to receive 257,500 doses of LAAB for people who suffer from immunodeficiency, to reduce of risk of becoming gravely ill if infected…
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Attempt to bring an ancient Khmer sculpture home from NYC
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is displaying a sculpture that is believed to be an ancient Khmer king. Now an archaeologist in Buriram is fighting to bring it home to Thailand where he claims it belongs. The bronze sculpture was smuggled out of the country by antique traders, but a 67 year old local woman in…
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Pattaya’s prisoners clean the city’s sewers to prevent flooding
Monsoon season brings floods to every region of Thailand year in and year out. This year, Pattaya’s prisoners are taking action to mitigate the flood risk. On Monday, inmates from Pattaya Remand Prison began the mammoth task of cleaning out the city’s clogged up sewers for the first time since before the pandemic began. Well-behaved inmates, alongside city hall sanitation…
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Mayor delivers election promise to rid Pattaya of its ugly cables
The Pattaya Mayor yesterday took a big step in delivering one of his election promises “to make the city more beautiful to tourists from all over the world” by ridding the resort of its ugly communication cables. Tons of dead communication wires, on the road along Jom Tien Beach in Pattaya that had been left dormant for years, were removed…
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Army helps repair houses of elderly and disabled in Phuket
The Royal Thai Army has helped repair and renovate the homes of elderly and disabled people in Phuket’s Thalang district. Many elderly and disabled residents in the Mai Khao subdistrict have been hit hard after 2 years of Covid-19 restrictions, and can’t afford to renovate their houses. The subdistrict had received about 20,000 baht per house to support repairs for…
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Thailand’s tourism sector is asking for an additional 1 billion baht budget
The Thai tourism sector has asked for an additional budget of about 1 billion baht to boost the Thai economy in hopes of making 265 billion baht (from inbound tourists). The tourism sector says they should be able to secure at least 80 million domestic trips, gaining 215 billion baht, alone. Then, they predict, the international market will see 1…
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Thailand agrees to build economic community with China
The doom and gloom of the nation’s economy were put to one side momentarily as Thailand and China agreed to build an “economic community with a shared future”, providing a much-needed boost to the kingdom’s prosperity. Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met at Government House yesterday to discuss greater trade, economic cooperation, investment, and connectivity…
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Burmese migrants reportedly stab Chon Buri man in revenge for deportation
A group of Burmese migrants has reportedly stabbed a man in Chon Buri province who they believed helped get them deported in the past. Yesterday the 3 attackers crashed into the victim on 2 motorbikes, knocking him to the ground, and then stabbed him multiple times, according to the victim’s son, Phuwadol. Phuwadol says the attackers then dashed away on…
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Thailand or Cambodia? Comparing 10 year visa programmes
Cambodia has launched a “My 2nd Home” programme to encourage foreign investment in the country. The programme features a 10 year long “Golden Visa” with unlimited entry and exit and other benefits. But how does it compare with Thailand’s 10 year Long Term Resident visa? Applicants for the “My 2nd Home” Golden Visa must be a foreign investor with an…
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Pattaya karaoke bar closed after social media exposes sex services
Widespread prostitution may well be Thailand’s worst kept secret, with sex services being covertly offered in a variety of venues across the country such as bars, clubs, and massage shops. But a karaoke shop in Pattaya has temporarily shut down after social media post outed the well-known sex for sale secret. Though the official name of the venue was not…
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UPDATE: High-profile officer not corrupt says Bangkok residents
Thirty community leaders from the Lat Krabang district met with Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittupunt yesterday to demand justice for a high-profile district officer. The community leaders, led by a former Bangkok Metropolitan Council candidate, Ronnachai Sangkamitkun, visited Chadchart’s office at BMA City Hall near the Giant Swing, and asked him to provide more information about the city’s corruption investigation into…
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Major floods hit Australia
Heavy rains have caused major floods in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Authorities have warned that the crisis could last until early next week. Already over 85,000 people in New South Wales, most in Sydney’s western suburbs, have been asked to either evacuate or warned they might receive evacuation orders. Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese announced today that flood victims will…
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Series of earthquakes strike 500km away from Thailand’s Andaman coast
A series of continuous 4.0 – 4.9 magnitude earthquakes struck the Andaman and Nicobar islands for a period of 3 days, 506 kilometres away from Thailand’s Andaman coast. More than 40 tremors occurred, beginning July 4 at 6:00am and continuing until this morning, July 6. The epicentre of the tremors was only 10 kilometres deep, making the chance of a…
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200 new electric buses will be in service in the Thai capital
The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority will partner with private companies to run over 200 electric buses to increase capacity so it can transport up to a million people each day. The new electric buses are also part of the city’s efforts to upgrade its old bus services and reduce Bangkok’s overall carbon footprint. The new electric bus system will rapidly…
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