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.
-
Foreign minister welcomes first group of Thai evacuees from Iran
Thailand’s foreign minister met the first group of Thai nationals evacuated from Iran at Suvarnabhumi International Airport yesterday, March 9, as the government continued assisting citizens affected by the situation in the Middle East and prepared further evacuations. Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow welcomed the group on arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport, where 29 Thai nationals landed at 3.02pm on Turkish Airlines…
-
Two arrested after luxury watches stolen in Pattaya home break-in
Two Thai men were arrested today, March 9, over a burglary at a home in Pattaya’s Phra Tamnak area after a break-in reported on March 2, with luxury watches worth more than 6.4 million baht reported stolen. The suspects, identified as 26 year old Kritsaphong and 28 year old Nakarin, were taken into custody by Pattaya City Police. The pair…
-
Motorcycle crash victim dies after taken to police station instead of hospital
A family is seeking accountability after a rescue team took a Thai woman to a police station instead of a hospital following a motorcycle crash in Bangkok, leaving her to die at the station in February last year. The case resurfaced after the family of Warissara approached the non-profit organisation Saimai Survive for assistance. The family said the motorcycle accident…
-
First group of 62 Thai nationals arrives safely in Turkey from Iran
A group of 62 Thai nationals has crossed from Iran into Turkey as part of a Royal Thai Government evacuation effort linked to an ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with onward travel to Thailand planned over March 8 and today, March 9. Officials at the Kapıköy border checkpoint received the first group on the evening of March 7 at…
-
CIB finds 124,200 gecko carcasses at Pathum Thani warehouse
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) yesterday, March 8, searched a warehouse in Lam Luk Ka district, Pathum Thani, leading to the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of dried gecko carcasses and restricted wood. The CIB’s Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division said investigators had developed information that the site was being used to hide wildlife carcasses and…
-
Pattaya bar worker reports foreign man steals mobile from cashier counter
A foreign man was seen in a CCTV footage, stealing a mobile phone of a Thai worker at a bar in Pattaya at about 8pm yesterday, March 8. The victim feared that the images and personal information on the phone would be leaked and misused. The worker of Utopia bar in Soi Pattaya 6 filed a complaint with Mueang Pattaya…
-
British man attacks Thai police in convenience store before being restrained
A video circulating online showed a British man attacked a Thai police officer inside a convenience store, before the officer and store staff restrained him. The footage was posted by an X user, @JamesPGoddard90, yesterday, March 8, with the caption, “British tourist attacks a Thai police officer in 7-Eleven and instantly regrets it. It’s behaviour like this that gives all Brits…
-
Power bank suspected after fire rips through home in Buri Ram
Fire tore through a two-storey home in Hin Khon subdistrict, Lam Plai Mat district, Buri Ram, yesterday, March 8, before firefighters could bring the blaze under control, with the suspected cause later linked to a power bank explosion. Fire engines from the local area were dispatched after the report of a house fire in the subdistrict. By the time firefighters…
-
Hungry monkeys swarm Hat Yai park, snatching food from visitors
A group of tourists in Hat Yai complained today, March 9, that hungry monkeys are coming down from a nearby mountain to snatch food and, in some cases, try to bite people at Hat Yai Municipality Public Park in Songkhla province. The complaint was raised after visitors said a large troop of monkeys was targeting people carrying meals inside the…
-
Pattaya transwomen claim self-defence after stabbing Japanese man
Two Thai transwomen allegedly stabbed a Japanese man with scissors at a hotel in Pattaya in the early hours of today, March 9, with both sides giving conflicting accounts of what happened. Sawang Borriboon Dhammastan Rescue Foundation and officers from Mueang Pattaya Police Station were called to a hotel in central Pattaya after a reported fight in a second-floor room.…
-
Thailand News | Thailand expands fuel buffer as regional risks rise, Phuket moves to untangle work permit backlog
Today we’ll be talking about Thailand’s plans to create a fuel buffer as the fallout continues from Israel and America’s conflict with Iran, the government is simultaneously tightening visa scrutiny at the border while trying to expedite more than 100,000 work permits, and a little later cocaine, heroin, and scams oh my! As police crackdown on illegal activities that cross…
-
Three foreigners arrested on Koh Pha Ngan in drug crackdown
Three foreign nationals were arrested on Koh Pha Ngan, Surat Thani province, yesterday, March 8, after immigration officers expanded an investigation into suspected drug distribution to tourists on the island. The arrests followed an investigation that began after a Brazilian drug delivery suspect identified as Pedro was detained on Koh Pha Ngan on March 5 in a drug trafficking case.…
-
Teen saved from drowning after wrestling underwater in Pattaya
A birthday gathering on Pattaya Beach ended with a boy being rushed to the hospital yesterday, March 8, after friends pulled him from the sea and saved him from drowning following play-fighting in the water. The Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation received a call at 12.30am about a person in trouble in the water in Nong Prue, Bang Lamung, Chon Buri.…
-
Foreign transwoman sought over 500,000 baht haul from Thai family
Police in Sing Buri are searching for a foreign transwoman accused of stealing about 500,000 baht worth of assets from a Thai family after they allowed her to stay at their home out of sympathy. The homeowner, 32 year old Wachiraporn, filed a complaint with Mueang Sing Buri Police Station after discovering that several belongings and valuables had gone missing…
-
Seven earthquakes shake Surat Thani, no damage reported
A series of small earthquakes was recorded in Khao Phang subdistrict, Ban Ta Khun district, Surat Thani province, yesterday, March 8, and into early today, March 9, with residents reporting the tremors were clearly felt near Rajjaprabha Dam. The tremors were recorded seven times in one day, with epicentres about one kilometre underground near Rajjaprabha Dam. Five of the earthquakes…
-
Thai man kills sister-in-law in Chiang Mai following attempted rape
Police arrested a Thai man for killing his sister-in-law after she resisted an attempted rape at a rented house in Hang Dong district, Chiang Mai. He initially presented himself as a witness in the case. The victim, a 22 year old waitress, U-sa, also known as Praew, failed to turn up for work. Her employer and a colleague went to…
-
Supreme Court reviews 18 election and referendum cases
Thailand’s Supreme Administrative Court is currently reviewing 18 election and referendum-related cases, with one dismissed, two rejected, and another withdrawn, a court official said. Prawit Boonthiem, the court’s vice president, explained that the 2018 organic law on elections divides authority over election disputes across several courts, including the Constitutional Court, the Administrative Court system, and the courts of justice. The…
-
Outrage as Pattaya video shows tourists attacked by locals
A violent assault on foreign tourists on Pattaya’s Walking Street in the early hours of March 7, 2026, has drawn heavy criticism online after video footage of the incident spread across social media. A Facebook user posted a three-minute-12-second clip of the altercation, which occurred around 5am in South Pattaya. The user, identified as “stang stang,” wrote in Thai that…
-
Students discard cash outside Bangkok school over strict entrance exam item ban
Strict rules at a prestigious Bangkok school’s entrance exam have drawn controversy after students were seen throwing away cash and other belongings, raising concerns about how they would get home afterwards. The admissions exam for Triam Udom Suksa School for the 2026 academic year took place at Impact Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi, with 13,895 students competing for 1,520 places. A…
-
British man arrested in Bangkok for cocaine sales to tourists
A 64 year old British national was arrested in Bangkok on Friday for allegedly selling cocaine to tourists in the Sukhumvit area, police say. Phillip Thomas Lingwood, identified as a key distributor, was apprehended around 10.30pm on March 6 on Sukhumvit 13 road, Watthana district, after a tip-off led officers to conduct a surveillance operation in the area. Police had…
-
Phuket tackles work permit delays for 130,000 foreign workers
Phuket‘s provincial officials are moving to address significant delays in renewing and issuing work permits for more than 130,000 foreign workers, following mounting complaints from employers about the backlog’s impact on businesses across the island. The issue was raised during a monthly meeting of labour agencies at the Phuket Provincial Labour Office on March 4, prompting Phuket Vice Governor Teeraphong…
-
Thailand boosts oil reserves to last 95 days amid Middle East tensions
Thailand’s oil reserves have risen to a 95-day supply, up from 60 days, following additional procurement efforts by domestic traders, the Ministry of Energy confirmed on Thursday, March 6. Oil traders have been directed to expedite deliveries to regions experiencing shortages, while a directive from the prime minister requires traders to gradually raise the legal reserve proportion from 1% to…
-
Thai nationals in Iran to begin return journey amid Middle East tensions
Thailand’s government has confirmed that 125 Thai nationals in Iran have requested repatriation, with the first group of 69 set to depart on March 7 by land to Van, Turkey, before flying home. The update came following a meeting of the Centre for Administration and Monitoring of Situations in the Middle East (CAMSME), with details shared at a briefing at…
-
DSI uncovers billion-baht online gambling network linked to politician
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has stated it has not issued an arrest warrant for a Member of Parliament (MP), even as investigators uncovered significant evidence linking him to a network of ten online gambling websites with funds circulating in the billions of baht. On March 5, police seized an additional 12 million baht in assets at 2pm. This…
-
2 Thai women jailed in Taiwan for heroin smuggling
A Taiwanese court sentenced two Thai women to prison for smuggling heroin into Taiwan in September last year by swallowing drug packages and concealing them in their genital area. The two women were arrested on September 7 at an airport in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan after Taiwanese officials said they had received a tip-off about a heroin smuggling operation in…
-
Brazilian drug delivery suspect arrested on Koh Pha Ngan
Yesterday, March 5, immigration police in Surat Thani arrested a Brazilian man accused of running a drug delivery service on Koh Pha Ngan. A controlled buy led to the seizure of multiple drugs and more than 106,000 baht in cash. The arrest was made after investigators received information that a foreign suspect, later identified as Brazilian national Pedro, was allegedly…
-
MEA suspends communications system after remote key motorbike failures
The Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) issued a statement yesterday, March 5, saying it had temporarily shut down its network communications system after reports that remote key motorbikes in Wang Thonglang, Bangkok, were failing to start due to suspected signal interference. On its official Facebook account, the MEA said that it had been made aware that residents in Intharaphon Road, Soi…
-
Foreigners sought after dodging fuel bill in Koh Lanta, Krabi
A fuel dispenser owner on Koh Lanta in Krabi is seeking two foreign men who refuelled a motorcycle and left without paying yesterday, March 5. The owner, Sirilak Kasikun, posted CCTV footage of the incident in the Koh Lanta Jobs Facebook group and asked members to help identify the two men. She said the pair served themselves at the dispenser…
-
Israeli man allegedly assaults old foreigner over Middle East conflict argument
An Israeli man allegedly assaulted an old foreigner on Bangla Road in Phuket after an argument over the escalating conflict in the Middle Eastern countries. He also displayed aggressive behaviour toward a Thai police officer who intervened in the incident. The Phuket Times Facebook page reported the incident today, March 6. The page suggested it happened last night, March 5, but…
-
Two Brits injured after fight with muscular foreign man in Pattaya
Police were called to a brawl in Pattaya early this morning, March 5, after reports that foreign tourists had been involved in a physical altercation, leaving two British men injured. Pattaya City Police received the report at 6.30am today about a fight in an alley off Pattaya Walking Street in Nong Prue, Bang Lamung, Chonburi. Patrol officers and rescuers from…
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.