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.
-
Sponsored Moving with family? Here’s how to cut health costs in Thailand
Relocating to Thailand with your family brings exciting new opportunities, but it also comes with the challenge of managing healthcare costs in a new system. Thailand has both public and private healthcare options, each offering different prices and quality of...
-
5,000 Buriram citizens register for medical marijuana possession
by Tanakorn Sangiam The 90 day registration period for persons in possession of marijuana, without facing prosecution, end this Tuesday, May 21. 5,000+ persons in Buriram, north-east Thailand, have already registered their possession during this period. A community seminar on marijuana planting and management also took place yesterday to prepare Buriram province as a key manufacturer of medical marijuana. About…
-
59 year old man shot dead in convenience store
A man was killed inside a convenience store at sunrise today in Saraburi province, north of Bangkok, after shouting out loud, “If you have a gun, shoot me”. The victim is identified as 59 year old Preecha Khunthong. He was shot several times between the eyes. “I don’t know what happened between him and the gunman. At first, they spoke…
-
Registration and traffic fine databases linked after July 1
Car owners, and presumably motorbike owners, will be unable to renew their vehicle registration or licenses if they fail to pay traffic fines after July 1. Much discussed over the past year and now on the horizon, the Land Transport Department and Royal Thai Police intend to clamp down on people avoiding or disregarding their traffic fines. Starting from May…
-
Thai Airways’ profits dive 83% year-on-year
Thai Airways has had an 83% dive in profits for the first quarter of 2019. The Q1 balance sheet came out yesterday. The airline’s management is blaming the high baht, the ongoing US-China trade wars and the closure of Pakastani airspace (forcing rerouting of its Eurpean flights), for the drop. • Net profit of 456 million baht, down from a…
-
Thailand’s wet season officially starts tomorrow
The rainy season in Thailand officially starts tomorrow. The Thai Meteorological Department deputy director-general Kornravee Sitthichivaphak says Thailand will see continued rains in most parts of the country from Monday. “The wind over Thailand from 100-3,500 metres will be replaced by a southwest monsoon that would carry humidity from the Andaman Sea to cover most parts of Thailand. All of these…
-
Conservative Liberal coalition wins Australian election
(For US readers, ‘Liberal’ is the name of the main conservative party in Australian, not to be confused with the way the term ‘liberal’ is used in American politics) Australia’s ruling Liberal conservative party coalition has defied polls to hold onto power in the Australian national election yesterday. While it remains unclear if PM ScottMorrison’s Liberal party and their country-based…
-
Four southern islands to be closed to tourists during monsoon
PHOTO: Koh Kradan Four islands in the Haad Chao Mai National Park in Trang, southern Thailand, will be closed to tourists for four months starting June 1. The chief of the Haad Chao Mai national park, Narong Kong-iad, says that access to the park will be denied to tourist from June 1 to September 30 for “the nature to rehabilitate…
-
Central’s new Suvarnabhumi lifestyle centre set to open late August
PHOTO: Central Pattana Central Village, a new luxury retail outlet situated near Suvarnabhumi International Airport, is 70% finished. Wallaya Chirathivat, deputy chief executive of Central Pattana, says the new lifestyle shopping precinct is scheduled to open on August 31. Central says that retail space in Phase 2 have now opened after Phase 1 of the retail development was totally booked. They report…
-
German tourist dies after ghost-riding on his high power bike
A German tourist has been killed after ghost-riding (riding in the opposite direction to the traffic) on his high-power motorcycle. He crashed head-on with a pickup truck in Chiang Mai road early this morning. The tourist has been identified as Jan Single. Police also found a quantity of marijuana in a zip-lock plastic bag he was carrying at the time…
-
Buddha with a beat – Wat Suthi Wararam transformed
It’s Visakha Bucha Day like you’ve never seen it before. Bangkok’s Wat Suthi Wararam has unveiled a bold and modern makeover to entice young people and a new audience to Buddhism. Wat Suthi Wararam is coming alive with Monks chanting to electronic music, projection mapping and a digital art exhibition. “Bodhi Theatre: Buddhist Prayer Retold” combines vivid animation and Buddhist chants set…
-
Thai and farang friend catch king cobra with bare hands in Krabi – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Robrouw Krabi A foreign man has helped his Thai friend to catch a king cobra with their bare hands in Krabi today. The three metre king cobra was found near a refrigerator in a house in Mueang Krabi district. A foreign man and his Thai friend, who lives near the house, came to help where he helped to catch the…
-
Old Phuket Town underground cable works to be completed by August
The project to hide the unsightly over-head cables around Old Phuket Town is due to be completed in August this year. The Phuket City Mayor says there will be inconvenience to traffic in Old Phuket Town while the works are underway installing underground cabling in the remaining streets. Read more about the progress of the works HERE. The Phuket Provincial Public…
-
Thailand cuts rubber exports in a four month moratorium
Thailand is cutting rubber exports by 126,000 tonnes next week for a four month moratorium. This is a delay in implementing the supply cut agreement with two other regional producers, according to the Rubber Authority of Thailand. Originally it was agreed that Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia would cut exports back on April 1, a date agreed by the International Tripartite…
-
BioThai Foundation says companies growing hemp commercially will create monopoly:
“…as of now, only official agencies are allowed to grow hemp in the tribe-development zones in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan, Tak, Mae Hong Son and Phetchabun provinces.” The Thai government’s plan to let privately-owned companies grow hemp commercially is progressing as part of a three year trial. But, BioThai Foundation says that giving specific companies the right to plant hemp…
-
Rubbish on Chon Buri beaches cleared after social media complaints
PHOTO: DMCR First there was a beach on Koh Phi Phi, then a dirty canal in Bang Tao, Phuket. Now, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has cleared up rubbish on an island beach off Pattaya beaches in Chon Buri. Photos were posted in the ‘Pattaya Watchdog’ Facebook page on May 14 with a message reading, “Some business…
-
Bangkok’s Klong Lord gets a make over
The new Klong Lord now boasts clear water, not the black grimy mess as in the past. The klong has now had a complete make-over and been rehabilitated and re-landscaped. The Bangkok Metropolitan and Administration (BMA) is upgrading the canal and says it will develop it into one of Bangkok’s important tourist attractions, recalling its identity during the reign of…
-
Three dead, two injured as truck collides with motorbike in Krabi
PHOTOS: อาสากู้ภัย 3482 กู้ชีพปลายพระยา / คนข่าว กระบี่ Three people have died while another two people have been injured after a pickup truck collided with a motorbike in Krabi yesterday. Krabi emergency responders headed to the scene of an accident on Southern Seaboard Road (No 44) southbound in Krabi yesterday afternoon. They found two injured males – 32 year old Nattanai…
-
Nationwide police crackdown on student gang violence
The Royal Thai Police say they are cracking down on student gangs. They say they will be enforcing existing laws and focussing on problem cells. They will also prosecute parents for the behaviour of their children. Thai Rath reports that Pol Lt-Gen Phromthorn Phak-at from Royal Thai Police says that the police will be taking a “no nonsense” approach to student…
-
Chiang Mai songthaews and tuk-tuk drivers complain about Grab
Drivers of red public songthaews and tuk-tuks have submitted a petition to Chiang Mai’s provincial governor complaining about the Grab ride-hailing App. The Grab service is offered on a very intuitive smartphone app and provided by normal drivers. The petition said the Grab App had caused their income to drop by more than 50%. They say the service is illegal and…
-
Black water flows into the sea at Koh Phi Phi
Wastewater was flowing into the sea at Koh Phi Phi in Krabi as business operators have been caught releasing untreated water and waste into the sea. The issue has gone viral in social media with local officials scrambling to respond. Black water was photographed lapping the shores of Loh Dalam beach on Koh Phi Phi five days ago. One of…
-
15 year old girl arrested for trying to bury her baby alive
A 15 year old girl is now in protective custody in Nakhon Ratchasima, north-east of Bangkok, just one day after her newly-born baby boy survived being buried alive in a local field. A villager found the baby in a cassava plantation about one kilometre from Ban Nong Kham village in Tambon Thalad on Wednesday. The infant was taken to the…
-
Register your hotel within 30 days – Hua Hin unlicensed premises warned
FILE PHOTO 170 illegal hotel and resort operators in Hua Hin have been warned to register and obtain Hotel licences within a month or they will face jail or a fine. The Hua Hin district chief, Thanon Phanpipas, says the operators of unlicensed hotels and resorts must register within a month from May 16 or they would face a maximum…
-
Police and passenger die in Phitsanulok collision
PHOTOS: Khaosod A policeman travelling in a highway police sedan, and a passenger in a pickup truck, have died at the scene after a crash in Phitsanulok this morning. The incident happened on Kokmaidang – Noean Maprang Road in Wangthong. Phitsanulok Provincial Police Deputy Commander, driving the highway police car, died at the scene after he sustained critical injuries. The…
-
Compromise could save expressway authority from paying exorbitant compensation
PHOTO: YouTube Thailand’s Expressway Authority (EXAT) board has agreed to extend the concession period of NECL, a subsidiary of Bangkok Expressway and Metro Public Company (BEM), to operate two expressways for an additional thirty years. The hope is they can avert a legal battle which could eventually result in the government authority being ordered to pay as much as 130 billion…
-
Weather warnings out for parts of the country
The annual monsoon is here. Bangkok, along with 55 other provinces in Thailand, have thunderstorms forecast over the next 24 hours. The Thai Meteorological Department have issued the warnings this morning. Storms are predicted in the central and northern regions and waves in the Andaman Sea forecast up to two metres, according to the TMD. Seree Supratid of Rangsit University’s…
-
Doctors’ son arrested over break-ins around Bangkok and Pattaya
PHOTO: TNA A Thai man has been arrested for breaking into and stealing from a car in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi. The crime Suppression Division say the incident happened last December. 37 year old Phop Euanjit denies the charges saying he was just the motorcycle rider after the theft when 7,000 baht of valuables were taken. The incriminating motorcycle was found at…
-
Co-ordinated pipe bomb attacks in Yala injure five
FILE PHOTO Five Army troops and rangers have been injured after southern insurgents threw pipe bombs. Security officials say the incidents happened at three locations in Yala in what appears to be a co-ordinated incident. The commander of Muang Yala police station, Pol Col Narawee Binwaearong, says two insurgents on a motorcycle rode to a security checkpoint on the Siroros…
-
Compulsory health insurance for foreigners – will it affect you?
PHOTO: Over 50 and reading about compulsory health insurance? Not sure which way to turn? Foreigners aged over 50 applying for a particular visa type now need mandatory health insurance. The new requirements, which were approved by Cabinet in April and announced by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), says that people applying or renewing (or rather re-applying for) a…
-
Air Asia resumes flights from Phuket to Jakarta
AirAsia Indonesia says they will resume direct flights between Phuket and Jakarta on the second of July this year. Flights will be available three times a week. For AirAsia, the move marks a return of the route which had been flown for a number of years in the past. “Currently the traveling trend continues to increase especially in the youth market, hence…
-
Officials investigate complaints of elephants on Phuket beach
Officials have investigated social media complaints about elephants in the water and the taking of photos with tourists on Tri Trang beach. Officials haven’t arrested anyone at this stage. The issue about elephants playing in the shallows with tourist went viral in local social media as netizens made comments ranging from the “elephants are damaging the coral” and the “elephants…
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.