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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.

  • “Only China can make decisions on Hong Kong constitution” – Beijing | Thaiger

    “Only China can make decisions on Hong Kong constitution” – Beijing

    Beijing has reacted angrily after a HK court overturned the ban on face masks, popularly used by protesters. Authorities in China have hit back at the decision by a Hong Kong court to overturn a ban on face masks, insisting that only China can rule on constitutional matters in the territory. AFP reports that such a reaction could fuel further unrest…

  • 10+ Blacktip reef sharks flock to Maya Bay for breeding season – VIDEO | Thaiger

    10+ Blacktip reef sharks flock to Maya Bay for breeding season – VIDEO

    PHOTO: The Nation Worapoj Lomlim, chief of Noppara Tara-Koh Phi Phi National Park in Krabi, says that more than 10 Blacktip reef sharks had been spotted hunting near Koh Phi Phi Ley’s famous Maya Bay, some of them more than 2 metres in length. The sightings were made yesterday at the closed beach. He noted that the presence of the…

  • Two-timing husband returns with winning lottery ticket. Everyone’s happy…hmmmm | Thaiger

    Two-timing husband returns with winning lottery ticket. Everyone’s happy…hmmmm

    PHOTO: Daily News Couple win lottery. Man flees with the winning ticket. Wife files report with police. Now the couple are back together again and smiling for the media. The original story HERE. After Saturday’s lottery draw 34 year old Wijak and his 23 year old wife Pornthida ended up with a 6 million baht prize. But an argument ensued…

  • Worker detains a man who was filming him in petrol station toilets | Thaiger

    Worker detains a man who was filming him in petrol station toilets

    PHOTO: thairath.co.th Laem Chabang police in Chon Buri were called to a petrol station in Sri Racha after an office worker caught a man trying to take photos of him in the stations’ public toilets. The victim took it upon himself to detain the 27 year old man from Nakhon Sawan, and then called police. Police arrived, took the suspect away, and…

  • Eat, Shop, Spend campaign – Phase 3 full, unless you’re over 60 | Thaiger

    Eat, Shop, Spend campaign – Phase 3 full, unless you’re over 60

    A Thai government spokesperson says Phase 3 of the hugely popular economic stimulus program “Eat, Shop, Spend” (Chim Shop Chai), is now fully subscribed, although spaces still remain open to allow those Thais over 60 to sign up. The Nation reports that 1.5 million people registered for the scheme between November 14 and 16. A special quota was made available…

  • DSI is demanding Court revoke Chaiwat’s bail | Thaiger

    DSI is demanding Court revoke Chaiwat’s bail

    PHOTO: Khaosod English The Department of Special Investigation will ask the court to revoke bail for former national park chief Chaiwat Limlikhit-akson along with three other suspects, or set a new bail. Chaiwat, director of the Conservation Office in northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province, along with three others, has been charged with multiple counts in the disappearance and murder of Karen…

  • Loose steel pipe spears car through the back window | Thaiger

    Loose steel pipe spears car through the back window

    A Thai driver has narrowly escaped injury, or death, as a steel girder came loose from a pick-up following him, piercing the vehicle from the rear window to the front of the passenger cabin. Yikes! A pick-up carrying steel girders had braked suddenly, flinging the 3-4 metre-long pipes forward, through the rear window, into the car in front, according to…

  • Thai government might buy private pot – Health Minister | Thaiger

    Thai government might buy private pot – Health Minister

    After years of speculation, some members of the coalition Thai government are pushing efforts to allow Thais to grow up to six cannabis plants for sale to the government for medical marijuana. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he is pushing for the Government to change laws to allow the medical use of marijuana freely. “We have confidence that marijuana will be…

  • Truck causes buses to collide at BKK construction site, 11 injured | Thaiger

    Truck causes buses to collide at BKK construction site, 11 injured

    PHOTO: khaosod.com Eleven people have been injured when a ten-wheeler truck cut in front of a bus, causing to swerve into another bus. Bus #195 crashed into Bus #205 on Rama 3 Road, Klong Toey in Bangkok. The injured passengers are recovering in hospital and assisting police with their enquiries. Tungmahamek Police headed to the location of the incident with emergency…

  • Thai Airways says it won’t get into a price-war with other airlines | Thaiger

    Thai Airways says it won’t get into a price-war with other airlines

    PHOTO: YouTube National carrier Thai Airways says it won’t head down the ‘price-cutting’ route to be competitive in 2020. The struggling airline says, instead, they will focus on building a solid customer base and tap specific route segments. Airline president Sumeth Damrongchaitham says the carrier will continue to recruit stronger marketing partners and estimated that the aviation industry would continue…

  • Wife chooses winning lottery ticket, husband flees WITH the winning ticket | Thaiger

    Wife chooses winning lottery ticket, husband flees WITH the winning ticket

    PHOTO: Pornthida Chamnanwet with her formal complaint about the missing winning lottery ticket, and her husband who stole it – Sutthiwit Chayutworakan A 34 year old husband has left his wife stranded at home. He disappeared with their winning lottery ticket from Saturday’s draw. The winning ticket is worth around 6 million baht. 23 year old Pornthida Chamnanwet has made a…

  • Northern Thailand drops 1-3 degrees, South to see little rain for the rest of the year | Thaiger

    Northern Thailand drops 1-3 degrees, South to see little rain for the rest of the year

    PHOTO: TakeMeTour A strong high-pressure system is looming over southern China and will also affect the upper Northeast of Thailand by tonight and early tomorrow. The Thailand Meteorological Department are forecasting another rather drop of 1.3 degrees C with mornings expected to be cool and foggy in the north and north-east. The high-pressure system affect the North and the Central…

  • More than 30 dolphins spotted off Phang Nga coast – VIDEO | Thaiger

    More than 30 dolphins spotted off Phang Nga coast – VIDEO

    More than 30 dolphins were spotted around Phang Nga yesterday. Yesterday morning (November 17), Dive Master Nattapong Ninsawit from Sea Bees Diving Khao Lak revealed that he and his customers spotted a number of dolphins on the way back from their diving trip to Similan Islands. The group were travelling back, and while the boat was passing Similan Islands and…

  • Karon residents receive financial assistance for last month’s floods in Phuket | Thaiger

    Karon residents receive financial assistance for last month’s floods in Phuket

    PHOTO: siangtai.com Following the unexpected localised floods around Phuket on October 31, particularly around the Karon area, affecting 400 houses, a group of government officials, local businesses and monks pooled their resources to help the victims. The organising group consisted of the village chief, sub-district chief, Karon business owners and hotel entrepreneurs, the Abbot of Suwan Kirikhet Temple (Karon Temple)…

  • The ‘flat-earth’ business is going global. Ummm, hang on… | Thaiger

    The ‘flat-earth’ business is going global. Ummm, hang on…

    PHOTO: ‘Earthrise’ taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders in December 1968 – NASA Last week saw the running of the third annual Flat Earth International Conference, held in suburban Dallas, Texas. The conference attracted around 600 die-hard flat-earthers – people that actually believe that the earth isn’t spherical, it’s a flat plate floating in space. Actually many of the…

  • Soldiers intercept meth delivery in Chiang Mai | Thaiger

    Soldiers intercept meth delivery in Chiang Mai

    PHOTO: Authorities find it almost impossible to patrol the thousands of kilometres of highland border in northern Thailand Soldiers in Chiang Mai, acting on a tip off, have seized about 380,000 methamphetamine pills at a border village, local media report. The drug haul was not big, considering many of the recent seizures amount to millions of methamphetamine tablets in a…

  • Pattaya man wins 12 million baht in lottery | Thaiger

    Pattaya man wins 12 million baht in lottery

    A Pattaya area man has scored a 12 million baht win in the national lottery drawn on November 16. When reporters travelled to Lamung District, Chonburi Province, they met 39 year old Niran Manaram, his mother and daughter, all celebrating. Niran won the lottery on Saturday, with winnings totalling around 12 million baht. Niran is the owner of an audio…

  • Child rape suspect caught after seven years on the run | Thaiger

    Child rape suspect caught after seven years on the run

    PHOTO: Daily News Police have arrested a man seven years after he evaded arrest for the alleged rape of a 12 year old girl in the western province of Kanchanaburi. 27 year old Kritsada Moraphad was finally caught at a shopping mall last Friday. Officers say the man literally “went pale” when Crime Suppression Division officers showed him the warrant,…

  • More rare and endangered species found in southern Thailand | Thaiger

    More rare and endangered species found in southern Thailand

    PHOTO: brucekekule.com More protected and rare animals have been found in the Khlong Saeng Wildlife Research Station in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, an area already famous for its virgin forests and rich natural diversity. The Chief of the station, Kriangsak Sribuarod, says a wildlife survey during September and October this year found new animals, never before seen around the sanctuary.…

  • Cyber police nail Facebook ‘fake job’ hackers | Thaiger

    Cyber police nail Facebook ‘fake job’ hackers

    PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times Thailand’s Cyber Police have arrested two hackers who stole personal data from Facebook and conned victims out of money. The scammers posted ads for jobs to entice victims into applying and divulging data from their ID cards, their phone numbers and other personal information. The scammers got close to 34 million baht. Complaints from Facebook users…

  • Bank clerk sacked for allegedly stealing millions, bank reimburses customer | Thaiger

    Bank clerk sacked for allegedly stealing millions, bank reimburses customer

    A 34 year old Bangkok Bank clerk has been sacked amid claims she stole millions of baht from a wealthy customer. The woman denies the charge and says she plans to fight the matter in court. Earlier in the week Hia Maa, the owner of a well known restaurant in Samut Prakan province, south east of Bangkok, went to the police…

  • French tourist dies taking selfie in Koh Samui – VIDEO | Thaiger

    French tourist dies taking selfie in Koh Samui – VIDEO

    A French tourist has died attempting a selfie, in the exact spot where a Spanish tourist died just months ago. Read that story HERE. Thirty three year old Bastien Parmier plunged to his death while trying to take a selfie at the Na Mueang 2 waterfall in Koh Samui. It was the same spot where Spaniard David Conesa died in…

  • American arrested for sexually assaulting Chiang Mai school girls | Thaiger

    American arrested for sexually assaulting Chiang Mai school girls

    FILE PHOTO Chiang Mai police confirm they have arrested a 75 year old American pensioner who allegedly groped and sexually assaulted a Thai girl on her way home from school. The man was already wanted on a warrant issued from September after an incident outside a school in August. The warrant was for the “forceful molestation of a child under…

  • Behold, the Papal Pick-up – Thai popemobile revealed | Thaiger

    Behold, the Papal Pick-up – Thai popemobile revealed

    In either a step down for the Pope or a coup for troubled car-maker Nissan, Pope Francis will take to the streets of Thailand in a locally-manufactured open-top Papal Pick-up. Pope Francis visits Thailand from November 20–23. The vehicle was unveiled yesterday at Assumption Cathedral in Bangkok. For shorter trips, the Papal Golf Cart was also revealed. The Thai “popemobile”…

  • Police confirm death of American ex-fugitive Bart Helmus | Thaiger

    Police confirm death of American ex-fugitive Bart Helmus

    Police have confirmed that the former American fugitive, Bart Allen Helmus, who broke out of court and shot himself when confronted by police, died on Thursday evening at 6 pm after falling into a coma at Sa Kaew Hospital. He was taken off life support on Thursday after doctors revealed that he had been ‘braindead’ since admission a week before.…

  • Sexually transmitted dengue case reported in Spain | Thaiger

    Sexually transmitted dengue case reported in Spain

    A senior Thai medical official is passing on information that it is possible to contract dengue fever through sexual contact after Spanish authorities reported a 41 year old patient was found to have contracted the disease from his homosexual partner. Deputy governor of the Department of Disease Control says that it was possible for dengue to be contracted through sexual…

  • Two Thai restaurants grab their second Michelin star – new guide 2019 | Thaiger

    Two Thai restaurants grab their second Michelin star – new guide 2019

    Traditional Thai restaurants ‘R-Haan’ and southern-style ‘Sorn’ have each scored two Michelin Stars for 2020, while ‘Le Normandie’, ‘Mezzaluna’, and ‘Sühring’ held onto their two stars. Another 24 restaurants in Thailand received their first Michelin gongs. The awards were announced at the launch of the 2020 Michelin Guide for Thailand, featuring award winning restaurants in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and…

  • Police investigating fire at hotel in Silom, Bangkok | Thaiger

    Police investigating fire at hotel in Silom, Bangkok

    A fire that broke out at the Montien Hotel in Silom, Bangkok, is being investigated by police and forensic experts. Thai Residents reports that the fire, which damaged several rooms on the sixth floor, started just before 1.00pm yesterday. It’s understood the sixth floor is currently being refurbished and had a lot of building materials on the floor. The Montien…

  • Deputy PM claims US tech giants eager to invest in Thailand | Thaiger

    Deputy PM claims US tech giants eager to invest in Thailand

    The Deputy Thai PM and government ‘Finance Tzar’ Somkid Jatusripitak claims that Amazon and an unnamed American digital company are both keen to invest in the Kingdom. Somkid says both organisations have enquired about meeting the relevant ministers and have been advised to hold talks with the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. The Deputy PM…

  • Bank of Thailand scammers arrested | Thaiger

    Bank of Thailand scammers arrested

    “If it appears too good to be true, it probably is.” Ten individuals are now in custody, after being arrested, accused of scamming investors by claiming to be from the Bank of Thailand and persuading them to invest in a fake foreign currency transfer business. The Nation reports that victims were each invited to invest 1,000 baht in the business…