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.
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Thai car manufacturers upbeat about sales
PHOTO: Chevrolet’s proposed SUV ‘Blazer’ to replace the Captiva Car sales for the first five months of this year stood at 437,722 equating to a year-on-year rise of just over 9%. Sales for May alone were 88,097 units, up 3.7%. But May’s growth slowed from the double-digit rise that the sector experienced between January and April, 2019. • By brand sales…
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Thai government announces hotel license amnesty
by Bill Barnett, c9hotelworks.com In a significant move by Thailand’s government, a hotel licensing amnesty program has been announced on a nationwide basis. Clearly pressure by hotel owners amidst an large-scale influx of non-licensed accommodation has spurred the action. Leading international legal advisors Baker McKenzie Thailand have issued an information alert on the program which we are publishing in full,…
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SURVEY – Do the Tourism Authority of Thailand invent their statistics?
The internet has spoken, well The Thaiger’s Facebook page anyway, and there is a strong distrust in the statistics about tourist arrivals issued by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. 83% of people that voted said they didn’t believe the numbers quoted by the TAT. 17% believed the numbers were accurate. The reasons for people’s disbelief aren’t fully understood as their…
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Progress on Phang Nga’s new international airport
by Bill Barnett, c9hotelworks The AoT (Airports of Thailand) planned international airport in Phang Nga, set to be part of a triangle of international airports serving the Phuket, Phang Nga, Khao Lak and Krabi tourist zones, is poised to move past another development milestone. The mooted private airport has now been binned and the AoT-operated airport project is now forging…
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Seven injured in Khon Kaen minivan and trailer crashed
PHOTOS: Chumphae Rescue Seven passengers have been rescued after a minivan collided with a trailer in Khon Kaen, northeast of Thailand. Chumphae rescue workers were notified of the incident on Maliwan Road in Chumphae, Khon Kaen yesterday. They arrived to find the minivan slammed into the rear end of the trailer truck. The minivan’s left hand side was crushed up to…
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New Malaysian political sex video appears on Pornhub
PHOTO: Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz, sacked and A new video clip showing Malaysia’s former deputy minister’s aide, Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz, and a man resembling the Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, has appeared on YouTube, while a nine-minute-plus full version has been uploaded to porn site Pornhub. As with earlier clips, the YouTube video (which may be removed…
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Surachate scores appointment to Police committee, as a civilian
Promoted, sacked, possibly re-instated, ditched and now appointed – the topsy turvy career of former policeman Surachate Hakparn. Thailand’s Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon has confirmed that the former immigration chief Surachate Hakparn was appointed to a Police Commission sub-committee responsible for laws and regulations. He will be the only civilian appointed to the panel. The panel will be under the…
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Three arrested with over 12,000 meth pills and crystal meth in Thalang, Phuket
Three drug suspects have been arrested with a total of 12,277 methamphetamine pills and 1.8 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice) in Thalang. Thalang Police raided a house in Thalang where they arrested Yuttapong Kenson. Police seized 1.8 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 10,746 methamphetamine pills. Police then raided a warehouse in Srisoonthorn where they have arrested a 17 year old male…
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17 year old dies while fishing in Krabi pond
PHOTO: View from the Khao Ngon Nak viewpoint, Krabi A teenager has drowned while fishing with a friend at a pond in a Krabi national park. The Haad Nopparat Thara-Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park rangers recovered the body of Jessada Ngafah, a 16 year old male, at 2.30am this morning. Rangers were working at an office near the Khao…
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Retribution: Pattaya police chief transferred, foreign bar owners deported
Pattaya’s police chief has been transferred, the foreign bar owners are being deported and will be blacklisted. This has been the swift retribution for local senior police and the owners of ‘Coming Bar’ for allowing prostitution and under-age sex on their premises. In addition, the Bang Lamung district police chief says the offending bar will be shut for five years…
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83 year old goes missing during Phang Nga mangrove expedition
FILE PHOTO A man disappeared after rowing his boat to a mangrove area along the coast of Phang Nga’s Takua Thung district yesterday. Surat Sumalee, head of Ban Sam Chong Nua village in Tambon Kalai, sent out a search party of two dozen villagers after being informed at 6.40pm that 83 year old Wanmad Tonklung didn’t return from his trip.…
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Cloud looms over 41 Thai MPs in media-shares fiasco
PHOTO: Future Forward’s Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit The Constitutional Court is sitting today to consider whether they’ll accept petitions against 41 newly elected MPs accused by the Future Forward party of breaching media shareholding rules. There are 41 Members of Parliament accused of breaching the rules – 26 from the Palang Pracharath Party, 11 from Democrats, and one from Bhumjaithai Party, Action…
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Facial recognition security push in Thailand’s South
Concerns are being raised over the move to force all mobile phone users in Thailand’s South to submit their photos for facial-recognition identification. The edict says those who fail to do so by October 31 will have their mobile phone service blocked. The Cross Cultural Foundation says the order given to Thailand’s telecom operators was ‘racial profiling’. “The use of facial-recognition…
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SURVEY: Do you tip in Thailand?
Yesterday we asked readers to tell us what they do when it comes to tipping in Thailand. We noted that a lot of people’s feelings about tipping was related to where they come from and the customs they had on tipping in their home country. The question was… To tip or not to tip? Whilst the custom of tipping is…
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Chinese man arrested over theft and detention of another Chinese citizen in Phuket
A Chinese man has been arrested in Phuket over theft and holding a person against their will. Details were revealed to Phuket’s media this morning. Police arrested a Chinese man named Ming Xiang following an arrest warrant from the Phuket Provincial Court over theft and detention of a Chinese woman Li Peilin. The incident happened last Sunday. Two Chinese tourists…
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Four arrested as police intercept 572 kilograms of marijuana heading south
Four suspects have been arrested after police intercepted an attempt to smuggle 572 kilograms of marijuana from Mukdahan to Songkhla. The deputy Phatthalung police chief says that two suspects were arrested in Phatthalung in a pick-up truck carrying the drugs, along with a couple who were arrested in a car that was driving ahead to advise of any checkpoints ahead.…
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Teenager dies after motorbike collision in Chonburi – VIDEO
VIDEO: Padung Klahran / Pattaya Message PHOTOS: Pattaya Message A teenager has died after a motorbike accident in Chonburi. Pattaya Message reports that a Facebook user, Padung Klahran, yesterday posted a video clip from a dash cam which shows the motorbike driver losing control of his bike before colliding with barriers. The accident happened in Banglamung, Chonburi on Sunday. The…
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Thailand Post’s no-go list
Twenty years ago postal services were thought to he going out of fashion as email and social media began to replace people sending letters in the post. But that’s all changed now as online retail services are making the world’s postal services busier than ever. Including Thailand Post. If you’re wishing to avoid problems with Thailand Post and would like…
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Counterfeit clothing seized in Pattaya raid
PHOTOS: Pattaya Message Officers have seized counterfeit goods at shops along Pattaya Beach yesterday. Pattaya officers raided a department store near the city’s beach area. Officers have seized counterfeit goods such as hats, shirts and pants from three shops in a department store with a value around 500,000 baht. The shop owners had already fled the shop by the time officers…
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49 year old Israeli, deported after dismembering wife in Bangkok, arrested in eastern Thailand
PHOTO: INN News The immigration chief told media yesterday that an Israeli man convicted for dismembering his wife and dumping her body parts back in 2004, has been caught in Sa Kaew’s Aranyaprathet district, near the Cambodian border, at the Rong Kleua market. 49 year old Eli Cohen was sentenced to life in prison in December 2004 for murdering his wife,…
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Banned. Thai airports cracking down what you can take on board
Thailand’s CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) is urging airports to more strictly enforce security regulations that would prohibit a longer list of things being taken aboard. The upgraded ban covers foods, liquids and cosmetics that are now limited to containers that have a capacity of no more than 100 millilitres (a tenth of a litre). These items will be restricted and…
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Pedestrian and motorbike driver injured in Pattaya collision
PHOTOS: Pattaya Law Enforcement A pedestrian and a motorbike driver both have sustained injuries after an incident near Central Festival Pattaya yesterday. Pattaya Law Enforcement reports that the male foreign pedestrian sustained injuries after being hit by a motorbike in front of Central Festival Pattaya. The motorbike driver also sustained injuries as a result of the collision. They were both…
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Poll – Will the Thai Baht rise or fall (compared to other currencies)?
Yesterday The Thaiger polled our Facebook readers asking them… “Will the Thai baht continue to rise in value against many of the western currencies? Or has it peaked?” Your responses were very mixed but the result was a slight leaning towards the baht dropping, but only by 52% to 48%, from 585 votes. Thanks for participating! Here are few of…
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Truck spraying stepped up to prevent swine fever from entering Thailand
Officials at the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge border checkpoint are stepping spraying and checking trucks in an attempt to prevent African Swine Fever from spreading into Thailand from bordering countries.Officials are targeting the trucks as they return from delivering live and slaughtered pigs to neighbouring nations. Chief of the Nong Khai animal quarantine office, Jongcharoen Maksuwan, says officials ramped up the…
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Tougher laws and bigger fines for taxi drivers who reject passengers
Mai dai! Taxi drivers who say ‘no’ to passengers will soon be liable to a fine of 5,000 baht. That’s up from 2,000 baht. Taxi drivers, especially in Bangkok, are notorious for rejecting fares when the passenger’s travel plans doesn’t suit the driver’s, especially at times near the change of shifts. The owner of the taxi will now face a…
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Suvarnabhumi’s ‘fast track’ scam exposed – AoT crackdown on Thailand’s biggest airport
After allegations of massive fraud in the use of Thailand’s largest airport’s Premium Lanes at immigration, Airports of Thailand (AoT) are cracking down on the use of the so-called ‘fast lanes’ and the hawkers profiting from the reselling of the service. Only first and business class passengers, plus passengers with special needs, will be permitted to use the Premium Lane…
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Three suspects arrested with over 500 kilograms of kratom in Kathu, Phuket
Police have arrested three suspects with a total of 502 kilograms of kratom in Kathu, central Phuket. Border Patrol police have arrested three suspects – 34 year old Nattee Sukan, 20 year old Nattawut Lakhin and 18 year old Nantawan Kuna – at a rented room in Kathu. Police seized 502 kilograms of kratom leaves. They were taken to the…
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Chiang Mai’s red bus drivers plan mass protest against Grab
The war to dominate Chiang Mai’s local public transport sector is hotting up with the drivers of the city’s Rot Daeng vans (red song taews) planning a mass protest against the growing popularity of the Grab Taxis. Sanook reports that Bunniam Buntha, representing Chiang Mai’s Rot Daeng drivers, says they plan to assemble the 2,465 members in a mass protest. Sanook…
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Phang Nga governor declares flood disaster zones in Thailand’s south
PHOTOS: ศูนย์ปฏิบัติการข้อมูล The Phang Nga provincial administration has declared five flooded districts in the province as disaster zones to speed up assistance to affected residents. Phang Nga’s governor Siripat Pattanakul said the districts of Kapong, Thay Muang, Takua Pa, Muang and Takua Thung are now declared disaster zones following weekend flooding that’s affected 1,700 people from 442 families. Localised heavy…
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Boeing sued by more than 400 pilots in class action over 737 MAX ‘cover-up’
More than 400 pilots are involved in a class action against the US manufacturer of the 737 MAX seeking damages over what they allege was Boeing’s “unprecedented cover-up” of the “known design flaws” of the latest incarnation of its top-selling jet. • A plaintiff lodged claims against Boeing on behalf of hundreds of pilot peers alleging the company “knowingly” covered…
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