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    Why health insurance costs more each year and how expats in Thailand can save more money

    Each year, many expats living in Thailand see their health insurance premiums go up and often without a clear reason. This can be frustrating, especially when you're trying to plan your budget. But by understanding why prices rise and learning...

  • Landslides close the Ranong-Chumpon road | Thaiger

    Landslides close the Ranong-Chumpon road

    If you’ve ever travelled north or south from Phuket to locations to the north, via Ranong, you’ll know about the ‘long and winding road’ from Ranong to Chumpon. A lot of effort is being put into improving the road to make the route a viable alternative route for buses, van and cars and a new tourist drive which can take…

  • Chinese tourists love going local and doing their own bookings – Hotels.com | Thaiger

    Chinese tourists love going local and doing their own bookings – Hotels.com

    PHOTO: Jing Daily How much have Chinese millennials (that’s the people born after 1990) increased their spending in the last year? 80%! Research by accommodation booking portal, Hotels.com, reveals that younger Chinese spenders are pushing the boundaries of international travel, increasing their expenditure over the past year by a staggering 80%. Part of the increased expenditure goes to fund social…

  • 77 reportedly shot in Asian Games crackdown – Amnesty International | Thaiger

    77 reportedly shot in Asian Games crackdown – Amnesty International

    From Jakarta Post, via Asia News Network The Asian Games have barely opened in Jakarta. The last thing they need is this explosive claim from Amnesty International. Dozens of people have been shot by the police as part of an escalating crackdown against petty crime in the months leading up to the Asian Games, a human rights organisation alleged on…

  • Central Phuket opens on September 10 | Thaiger

    Central Phuket opens on September 10

    The new Central Phuket is set to open its doors on September 10. The announcement was made at Centara Grand Beach Resort, also owned by the Central Pattana Group. The concept of the new shopping centre, twice as big as the current Central Festival, is ‘The World Comes To Play’. The new complex will feature 20 of the world’s biggest…

  • Students to PM “Cancel the student conduct regulations” | Thaiger

    Students to PM “Cancel the student conduct regulations”

    PHOTO: Sa-nguan Khumrungroj/Facebook The Student Union of Thailand is calling on junta leader PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha to cancel the controversial regulations controlling student conduct. Read the report about the ‘moral’ crackdown HERE. Citing a serious infringement on privacy and their rights to political expression, the union, led by activist Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, submitted a letter asking the Education Ministry…

  • Nan, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai report damage from current floods | Thaiger

    Nan, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai report damage from current floods

    Weather warnings remain current for 38 Thai provinces affected by tropical storm Bebinka which is currently hovering over northern Vietnam, moving west. Meanwhile its affects are already being felt in the north. Moutain run-off has hit and washed away three sections of the main Chiang Rai-Chiang Mai road early today. The Doi Saket police station in Chiang Rai was alerted at…

  • Tourist numbers tumble as Chinese media expose entrenched safety problems | Thaiger

    Tourist numbers tumble as Chinese media expose entrenched safety problems

    The fallout from July’s tragic boat accident are just now starting to bite as tourists, who would have been about to make a booking around the time the accident happened, decided to book an alternate holiday destination instead. Despite the bravado and PR exercises, many Thai business people are secretly worried about the big drop-off in numbers. The drop in…

  • 68 illegal migrant workers arrested at Krabi hotel construction site | Thaiger

    68 illegal migrant workers arrested at Krabi hotel construction site

    Officers have arrested 68 illegal migrant workers at a five star hotel construction site near a beach in the main centre of Krabi yesterday (August 17). Officers checked the hotel construction site on Tab Kheak Beach. Officers found 89 workers including 21 Thai and 68 Burmese. All 68 Burmese workers were registered with a previous construction company not the current…

  • Coconut trees provide evidence for land ownership case | Thaiger

    Coconut trees provide evidence for land ownership case

    Coconut trees have saved a 71 rai (11 hectare) patch of park forestland on beautiful Poda Island (8km from Ao Nang) from falling into the hands of the private sector. Evidence was solid enough for the Appeal Court to overturn a ruling that awarded the land ownership to a man. If the plot became privately owned it could possibly fetch…

  • Hilton Phuket helping with English lessons for Kamala students | Thaiger

    Hilton Phuket helping with English lessons for Kamala students

    Markus Kosch, general manager of Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, together with hotel management teams, recently visited a local school in Kamala to assist with English lessons for the day whilst providing sponsorship for the school valued at 100,000 baht. The donation was made to the Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation in May 2018 in order to…

  • Institute closed for seven days as police break up student gang brawls in BKK | Thaiger

    Institute closed for seven days as police break up student gang brawls in BKK

    By Khanathit Srihirundaj Bangkok police have held a meeting between representatives of Pathumwan and Uthenthawai colleges today. Yesterday students from their colleges fought on the skywalk near the National Stadium BTS station. Education Ministry officials attended the meeting to help find solutions to the issue of student brawls. The meeting at Pathumwan Police Station was brokered by the deputy chief of…

  • Five suspects arrested with illicit drugs | Thaiger

    Five suspects arrested with illicit drugs

    Five drug suspects have been arrested with methamphetamine pills, crystal methamphetamine and kratom. A team of officers led by Capt Teerasak Narasri from the Phuket City Police Station have arrested four suspects including 46 year old Tanet ‘Pok’ Saeton from Phuket at a house in Rassada. Police seized 534.8 grams and a parcel box. He has been charged with illegal…

  • Malaysian tourist caught lying to Chiang Mai police | Thaiger

    Malaysian tourist caught lying to Chiang Mai police

    PHOTO: Chiangmai News A Malaysian tourist is in hot water after telling Chiang Mai police that he’d been robbed by a foreigner in the city centre this morning. He’s now been charged with filing a false police complaint. 20 year old Pravin Krishnan was charged early this morning (Friday) less than two hours after lodging the complaint. Police say that he…

  • Signs posted warning land encroachers in Rassada | Thaiger

    Signs posted warning land encroachers in Rassada

    Officers have set up official warning signs in front of a 50 rai plot of land on national reserve forest at Klong Bang Chela – Klong Tajeen in Rassada . The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had given approval for the Phuket Provincial government to use 50 rai plot of land in the area of the national reserve forest as a…

  • DSI crackdown on foreigners using Thai nominees: Law firm raided in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui | Thaiger

    DSI crackdown on foreigners using Thai nominees: Law firm raided in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui

    Four offices of the same investment advisory firm have been raided in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui. Coordinated raids on the offices of what appears to be a single advisory firm were conducted by the DSI (Department of Special Investigations), police and Board of Investment representatives. Pictures showed that the company is DFDL Thailand Legal and Tax. This company offers “investment advisory…

  • Police ‘good nature’ is actually a really bad idea | Thaiger

    Police ‘good nature’ is actually a really bad idea

    In a bizarre piece of policing and an even more bizarre reaction on social media, Thai Rath has posted some video of traffic police tying a band of cloth around a father and daughter who were stopped at a checkpoint – neither with motorbike helmets. The video was posted on the Facebook page of police in the north-east with a policeman tying…

  • Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep houses to be immediately vacated | Thaiger

    Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep houses to be immediately vacated

    PHOTO: The Nation It’s time to go. The Chiang Mai OrBorJor and protest groups opposing the Doi Suthep housing project for judges and officials have agreed that the 45 housing units for judges must be immediately vacated. As those who still stay at a nine-unit condominium building, the meeting agreed that they must be moved too, to a smaller condo building within…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Friday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Friday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Government goes retro with new ‘moral code’ for students | Thaiger

    Government goes retro with new ‘moral code’ for students

    “…kissing the cheeks of a member of the opposite sex or embracing them is “inappropriate.” The Cabinet has approved the Education Ministry’s new regulations banning students from holding public gatherings, “inappropriate” displays of affection and causing public nuisance. The attempt to control students’ moral and social behaviour is a major step for the Junta, away from building roads and taming…

  • Warning for boats going to sea until August 19 | Thaiger

    Warning for boats going to sea until August 19

    The Phuket Marine Office has made an official announcement for boats to be careful when going to sea from today, August 17-19, due to poor weather. The announcement was issued yesterday stating that “The Meteorological Department of Thailand (TMD) has forecast that during August 17-19 the monsoon will cause waves up to four metres in the open sea.” “For navigation…

  • Three year old suffocates in Pattani school van | Thaiger

    Three year old suffocates in Pattani school van

    WARNING: This story may be distressing to some readers Pattani police have charged a school van driver after a three year old girl was forgotten and locked in a vehicle at a school and subsequently died of suffocation. 23 year old Ahama Saro-Eng was summoned by police on this morning (Thursday) to face a charge of negligence causing death after…

  • Phuket 13 beaches get ‘star’ treatment from environment office | Thaiger

    Phuket 13 beaches get ‘star’ treatment from environment office

    13 Phuket beaches have received certificates after passing environmental tests and qualification. 34 business operators in the Andaman provinces also received wastewater management certification. Phuket Vice Governor Thawornwat Kongkaew yesterday (August 15) presented the certificates at Pearl Hotel in Phuket Town to local administrative organisations for ‘star’ beaches and business operators for good wastewater management. “There are 13 famous Phuket…

  • New Ferrari slams into tree in Korat | Thaiger

    New Ferrari slams into tree in Korat

    Been a bad week if you’re a supercar owner in Thailand. Photos from Daily News show a red plate Ferrari that collided with the back of an 18 wheel truck on the Friendship Highway (Mitraphap) in the Si Khiw area of Nakhon Ratchasima. The accident also involved a Chevrolet car that ended up under the truck in the roadside ditch.…

  • Rawai Cultural Street Festival to be held at Phromthep Cape | Thaiger

    Rawai Cultural Street Festival to be held at Phromthep Cape

    Make it a date: August 29 & 30. The Rawai Municipality will hold a Rawai Cultural Street Festival at the end of this month. Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos has announced that the Rawai Cultural Street Fair will be held from August 29-30 at Promthep Cape at the southern end of the island. Mayor Aroon says, “This festival is to encourage…

  • HM The King thanks Lao people for their assistance in the Tham Luang rescue | Thaiger

    HM The King thanks Lao people for their assistance in the Tham Luang rescue

    FILE PHOTO His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun has sent a letter to the Lao President, Bounnhang Vorachit, to thank the Lao people for their participation in the rescue to retrieve 13 young footballers from the Tham Luang caves in Mae Sai district. In the letter, His Majesty referred to the incident, in which the boys and their coach from…

  • Fire destroys bedding warehouse in Rassada | Thaiger

    Fire destroys bedding warehouse in Rassada

    A fire has destroyed a bedding warehouse in Rassada this morning (August 16). Two dogs were reported to have died in the blaze. The Phuket City Police were notified of the incident at 4am this morning in the in Soi Pruyai, 500 metres from the main SuperCheap store in Rassada. Firefighters arrived with five fire engines to find the fire…

  • 28 year old Norwegian found dead in car on Koh Samui | Thaiger

    28 year old Norwegian found dead in car on Koh Samui

    Police are investigating a Norwegian tourist found dead inside his car on Samui last Monday. 28 year old Aspen Anray Solian was found dead in the driver’s seat on Thaweerat Phakdee Road in Tambon Maret. A doctor says he had died about one or two hours before he was found. Police say the body showed no signs of violence. A…

  • Fix Bangkok’s traffic within 3 months – Thai PM | Thaiger

    Fix Bangkok’s traffic within 3 months – Thai PM

    Thai PM Prayut has instructed police stations to help with efforts to ease Bangkok’s severe road congestion problems within three months. The PM says that relevant technology must be adopted to help control and manage traffic flow, especially during peak hours. “The government can’t deny the responsibility of easing traffic problems.” He was speaking during a visit to the Traffic Police…

  • Thaiger Radio News – Thursday | Thaiger

    Thaiger Radio News – Thursday

    Listen to the daily news from The Thaiger, anytime, anywhere.

  • Will he or won’t he? Thai PM will announce his intentions soon. | Thaiger

    Will he or won’t he? Thai PM will announce his intentions soon.

    PHOTO: The Nation The election looms but, at this stage, there is no confirmed date and the elephant in the room – will General Prayut turn politician and run for a seat in the new Government – is yet to be addressed. Pressed yesterday he repeated his past ambiguous remarks. The PM yesterday reiterated his promise to clarify his political…