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.
-
Sneak peek into MONOPOLY: Phuket Edition coming in March
A new version of MONOPOLY heads to shelves this March, this time it’s Phuket edition. The game will include sights like Sarasin Beach, Kata Beach, Central Phuket and Karon Viewpoint. All these sites are well know to both locals and tourist. Sarasin Bridge was the first bridge that linked Phuket to mainland Thailand (a mere 300 metres). Kata Beach is…
-
Pathum Thani man arrested selling child pornography via LINE
A 27 year-old man nicknamed Kij was arrested in the Bangkok suburb province of Pathum Thani, accused of selling child pornography online. The suspect was arrested yesterday and is being charged with profiting from the sale and distribution of child pornography. Police raided the man’s home in the Beung Kham Phroy sub-district of Lam Lukka district outside of Bangkok yesterday.…
-
Pattaya discusses “hotel isolation” for Test & Go, Sandbox travellers with Covid-19
After hundreds of horror stories of foreign tourists being required to stay in a quarantine hotels around Thailand after testing positive for Covid-19, officials in Pattaya discussed a so-called “hotel isolation” to allow travellers to continue staying at their hotel or resort if they test positive for the virus and have mild or no symptoms. The idea is not to…
-
10 year high: Real estate price spike in Singapore
Last year, Singapore home prices rose to their highest level in more than a decade, boosting the island state’s government’s decision to impose “cooling” policies that will hopefully help the Singaporean property market’s stability. According to estimates released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday, prices increased by 10.6% in 2021. This is the highest level since 2010, when they…
-
Top doctor asks tough questions on transitioning Covid-19 to endemic
After a meeting of the National Communicable Disease Committee was held yesterday, Thailand plans to declare Covid-19 as an endemic disease by the end of this year according to the Ministry of Public Health. While this declaration has raised hope and excitement among many who are sick of the seemingly never-ending pandemic, some have questioned some of the details involved…
-
Australia at the top of women’s world cup, defeats Thailand
Australia now leads Group B of the FIFA Women’s World Cup after players Emily van Egmond and Sam Kerr scored two goals against Thailand, beating Thailand 2-1. Thailand still made it to the quarter-finals as a third-place team, along with Vietnam. Up next, Thailand will play against Japan in the quarter-finals on Sunday. Thailand started the cup this Monday, losing…
-
Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon discusses Phuket pedestrian safety
Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon brought up pedestrian safety crossings yesterday at an online meeting with a road safety policy committee, and the interior minister. Phuket officials have now been told to paint warning lines ahead of pedestrian crossings, letting drivers know they will have to slow down soon. The group also talked about the new points system that started in…
-
WARNING: Thailand Pass spoof email with malicious links
It seems that government websites in Thailand are often the target of successful hacker attacks and now it appears the Thailand Pass site is no exception. Reports are surfacing of people receiving a spoof email regarding the Thailand Pass pointing them to malicious content. It is believed that the email database collected by the Thailand Pass website has been accessed…
-
Government allocates 851 million baht for organic farming and projects
Thailand’s government will give 851 million baht to organic farming projects. 552 million will go to projects on production and management. 176.8 million will go to projects on research and development, innovation, database development and knowledge transfer to farmers. 122.2 million will go to projects improving marketing and standards. An agriculture ministry spokesperson said in the past five years, around…
-
Thai youth orchestra Siam Sinfonietta to perform in Bangkok’s Sathon
Thai youth orchestra Siam Sinfonietta will perform at the Bayan Tree Hotel in Bangkok’s Sathon area this Sunday at 7pm. The orchestra will perform music from Russian ballets, including Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Tickets are 1,000 baht for people who go alone, and 800 baht for people who go in groups of two or more. People who go in groups of four…
-
TAT offices in India introduce online training course for Indian travel agents
Indian travel agents can now sign up for an online training course to brush up on their knowledge of all things Thai, thanks to the Tourism Authority of Thailand. According to a TTR Weekly report, the so-called Thailand Specialist Programme is designed to teach the travel agents about new attractions and tourist offerings in the Land of Smiles. Cholada Siddhivarn…
-
Spike in Covid clusters at Malaysia schools, many parents still concerned with vaccinating children
Covid-19 is on the rise at a number of schools in Malaysia following their reopenings and fingers are pointing at teachers and staff for not following and enforcing disease prevention rules like wearing a mask. The country’s health minister even says teachers with coronavirus symptoms are still coming to class. The cluster outbreaks at schools come just as the government is…
-
NHSO to give free condoms and birth control to anyone over 15
In a bold move for conservative Thailand, the National Health Security Office is providing free birth control pills and condoms to young people over the age of 15. A new programme by the NHSO is targeting teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in a bid to encourage safe sex, especially among Thai youth. The Deputy Secretary-General of…
-
Soldiers in Chiang Mai seize drugs after gunfire exchange, suspects still at large
Three armed men in Chiang Mai near the Myanmar border opened fire on Thai soldiers on Wednesday night. The soldiers shot back, and after five minutes of shooting between the two sides, the gunmen ran into the jungle. The soldiers then searched the area and found 200,000 methamphetamine pills and 750 grams of heroin. The methamphetamine pills were wrapped in…
-
Warning to Covid-19 test for Korean restaurant in Pattaya area
A new warning has gone out urging everyone who has recently been to a Korean restaurant in the Bang Lamung area of Pattaya to get tested for Covid-19. The Chon Buri Public Health Office put out an announcement yesterday telling everyone who had visited or eaten at Doriwon Restaurant, located in Nong Prue on Pattaya Second Road, to get an…
-
Officials tightening traffic rules, new penalties expected in July
A draft amendment to the Land Transport Act has received approval by the House Committee on Transport, according to an MP from the Chartthaipattana Party. Nikorn Chamnong, who chaired the panel, says the amendment seeks to increase fines for traffic offences and could be enacted by July. The amendment now goes before the Senate, which is expected to approve it…
-
Real estate consultancy says pandemic continues to affect foreign demand
A leading property consultancy says the ongoing pandemic and associated restrictions continues to hamper the real estate market. CBRE Thailand chief, Roongrat Veeraparkkaroon, says the low number of foreign arrivals means the sector continues to rely on local demand and must now adapt to these circumstances. “A decline in tourist numbers affected both residential and retail sectors. Given this challenge,…
-
Neil Young pulls music from Spotify over Joe Rogan’s misinformation
After slamming Spotify for giving Joe Rogan a platform for spreading life-threatening vaccine misinformation, classic rocker Neil Young demanded that the music streaming service remove his catalogue and they complied. The legendary musician has never shied away from expressing his opinion and wrote an open letter last week calling out Spotify for carrying Joe Rogan popular podcast which gets millions…
-
Agencies partner to start cleaning 2,400 km of cables February 15
Could an end be in sight for Thailand’s infamously snarled mass of electric and communication cables overhead? The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has set a goal this year of cleaning up 2,000 kilometres worth of cables in the provinces of Thailand, plus another 400 kilometres just in Bangkok alone. The Cabinet had previously set this ambitious cleanup goal last…
-
3 men arrested on prostitution charges involving a 16 year old girl
In the Northeastern province of Yasothon, police arrested 3 men on several charges relating to selling a 16 year old girl for sex. Police tracked the 3 men down as part of a larger investigation from a previous suspect they had arrested on similar charges for underage prostitution involving another girl also aged 16. 3 men, aged 27, 32, and…
-
AstraZeneca vaccines free for Bangkok walk-ins from Monday
Starting Monday, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will be offering AstraZeneca vaccinations for people over 18 of any nationality. They are broadening the scope of who can be vaccinated in an attempt to accelerate national inoculation, a criterion announced today in Thailand plan to declare Covid-19 endemic by the end of this year. The vaccinations will be open to anybody as…
-
Thailand will declare Covid endemic whether WHO agrees or not
Regardless of whether the World Health Organisation agrees or not, Thailand plans to declare Covid-19 as an endemic disease by the end of this year according to the Ministry of Public Health. A meeting of the National Communicable Disease Committee was held today where the decision was made. Thailand will create its own academically acceptable criteria for measuring whether Covid-19…
-
Phuket gov calls for investigation, charm offensive after report on hospitel parties
Following British journalist Jonathan Miller’s harsh and lengthy report of his stay at a Phuket quarantine hospitel, Governor Narong Woonciew called for an investigation into the reporter’s claims. The reporter documented the impromptu parties with Covid-infected travellers during his two-week stay at the “hospitel.” In the Sunday Times, Miller who was classified as high risk of contracting Covid-19, was ordered…
-
British journalist documents beer-fuelled parties with Covid patients at Phuket quarantine hotel
British journalist Jonathan Miller was declared to be at high risk of Covid-19 after entering Thailand and ended up in a quarantine hotel in Phuket… which he says was more like an “Asian Hotel California” with “late-night discos fuelled by local beer.” Miller, known in Thailand as the first foreign reporter to interview King Vajiralongkorn after his coronation, wrote a…
-
African Swine Fever spreads across Thailand, cases reported in 13 provinces
African Swine Fever is spreading across Thailand. The country’s agriculture minister said the disease has infected pig farms and one slaughterhouse in 13 Thai provinces in Central, Northeastern, and Southern Thailand. The infected farms and the five-kilometre radius around them are now declared epidemic zones. Instead of giving the ministry’s 2.9 billion baht emergency budget to pig farmers as he…
-
Thursday Covid Update: 8,078 new cases; provincial totals
22 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 22,098 with 400 of those fatalities since the start of this year. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 8,078 new Covid-19 cases and 6,595 recoveries. There are now 82,760 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19. Out of…
-
Another Bangkok pedestrian killed crossing the road
After last week’s tragic killing of a pedestrian by a motorbike at a Bangkok zebra crossing, a pickup truck killed a pedestrian crossing the road in Samut Prakan this morning. A pickup truck struck 33 year old Win Mar Soe, who is from Myanmar, and reportedly swung her 10 metres. First responders took her to Chularat 9 Airport Hospital in…
-
Mixed feelings on new Move Forward guburnatorial candidate
Thailand’s Move Forward Party has selected a candidate for Bangkok’s gubernatorial election, the party’s spokesperson Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn. Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat was proud to introduce Wiroj, saying no other candidate had “the party DNA” like him. Many of the party’s supporters agree with Pita, but some observers say Move Forward failed to find a more experienced, qualified candidate. One programme…
-
Krabi rescue volunteer catches giant king cobra with bare hands
A volunteer from the Ao Nang rescue team in southern Thai province of Krabi caught a giant king cobra with his bare hands. The 4.5 metre, 10 kilogram snake was reported by the residents after it slithered into a palm plantation. The giant cobra tried to hide in a septic tank near locals’ houses. It took 40 year old volunteer,…
-
Domestic vacationers, not international, will be majority of Phuket hotel guests
A report by one real estate consultancy says domestic vacationers, not international tourists, will probably make up the majority of Phuket hotel guests in 2022. After a peak of 5.3 million arrivals at Phuket hotels in 2019, the arrivals dropped by 80% in 2020 to only 1.1 million. Constantly changing Covid-19 policies and confusion over them hinder travellers from booking…
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.