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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.
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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Chiang Mai farmers ordered not to move pigs to prevent African Swine Fever spread
Livestock officials ordered farmers in a district of Chiang Mai to not move their pigs off farms. This measure in the Doi Saket district is meant to prevent the possible spread of African Swine Fever (ASF). The order comes after a pig in the district died on November 21. Livestock officials visited the farm to test another pig that was…
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Truck overturns carrying 2,560 crates of beer in central Thailand
A beer delivery truck overturned on the Rangsit – Pathum Thani Road in central Thailand last night, strewing 30 tonnes of booze across the busy road. A forklift was needed to clear up the mounds of bottles and broken glass. Around 61,440 small bottles of a leopard-themed beer, which shall not be named due to Thailand’s archaic and strictly enforced…
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Bangkok’s most famous gruesome museum
Bangkok’s most famous gruesome museum is one attraction tourists may not have considered. The Siriraj Medical Museum features every kind of ominous display one can imagine. So, if you like to view deformed humans, deaths from accidents, and skeletons, this may be one place you will want to stop by on your visit to the Big Mango. As Siriraj is…
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Driver surrenders to police after hit-and-run in Pattaya
The reckless pickup driver who knocked down a British man on a pedestrian crossing in a hit-and-run incident surrendered to police and visited the victim to apologise. The driver, 61 year old Maethanat Leeliang, gave himself up to the police after the hit-and-run incident in Pattaya. Maethanat told police he was unaware he had hit the foreigner and only found…
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Qatar officials insist camel beauty contestants are cosmetic surgery free
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar is not the only prestigious competition taking place in the Arab state. Camels from several Gulf states are strutting their stuff on the catwalk at the Qatar Camel Mzayen Club beauty contest in Ash-Shahaniyah. But tournament officials in Ash-Shahaniyah, Qatar, are on the alert over alleged cheating after a similar competition in Saudi Arabia last…
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Iranian Kurdish footballer released from jail
UPDATE The Iranian Kurdish footballer jailed last week has been released on bail, along with another former member of the country’s national team. Iranian authorities announced the release of Voria Ghafouri and Parviz Boroumand yesterday. The Iranian Kurdish player, Voria Ghafouri, was arrested on November 24 for “insulting the national soccer team and propagandising against the government,” Iranian media reported.…
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Stock market share trades to be taxed in Thailand after being exempt for past 30 years
After being exempt for the past 30 years, the Thai cabinet has decided to make stock market share trades taxable. According to Thai PBS World, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith says that now all stocks that are traded on the market, whether at a profit or loss, will be subject to a financial transaction tax of .1%. He furthered that the…
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CBD nutraceuticals market emerging in Thailand and globally
Press Release Thailand’s legalization of cannabis makes it the region’s leader and a pioneer for cannabis liberalization. According to the latest figures from Prohibition Partners’ recently released Asian Cannabis Report: 2nd Edition, medical and non-medical cannabis sales in Asia could skyrocket to more than 10 times their current size by 2026 to an estimated $140 million. Thailand is well-poised to strengthen its cannabis…
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Singapore decriminalises sex between men while halting legalisation of same-sex marriage
Singapore has decriminalised sex between men while simultaneously halting the legislation of same-sex marriage. The country’s parliament gave homosexual men a legal way to mingle in what seems to be a step forward for the country. But, the LGBTQ+ community was dealt a shocking blow as the country also amended the constitution to prevent court challenges that could lead to…
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Unhinged gunman fires 18 shots into school because kids were too noisy
Another unhinged madman with a gun was arrested by police and charged with attempted murder after he fired shots into a Thai primary school because the kids were too noisy. The 44 year old gunman, Wuttipong Chaloemwuttanon, was arrested last night after he fired 18 shots into Ming Sin School in the southern province of Ranong on Sunday, November 27.…
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Iran threatens footballers’ families with prison and torture, security source says
There’s been a new development in the situation of Iran’s national football team and the recent events at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Iranian authorities have threatened the families of its national football players with imprisonment and torture, according to a source involved in the security of the games. This news comes after the players refused to sing their…
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Angry Thai man condemns foreigner for not wearing a mask on BTS
An angry Thai man, claiming to be a police officer, gave a foreign man a mouthful of abuse for not wearing a mask on the BTS Skytrain in Bangkok. The irate man blamed the unflustered foreigner for bringing Covid-19 into the country. The angry exchange was recorded and uploaded to the Twitter account @kinnifers. The video was recorded by a…
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Pattaya loan sharks allegedly abduct and assault young woman
Loan sharks in Pattaya allegedly abducted and physically assaulted a young woman. The woman, 21 year old Tasneeporn Youngram, reported the incident to Pattaya Police yesterday. Tasneeporn said that four loan sharks forced her to get in a car after she failed to repay 35,000 baht that she borrowed from them. She said this happened on Soi Paniad Chang in Bang…
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Phuket sees over 50,000 Russian tourists in past month
Russian tourists seem to be arriving in Phuket in droves with over 50,000 of them landing on its shores in November. This month, 55,097 Russians made their way to the island province, making up its largest tourist group. The second largest tourist group in Phuket this month came from India, with 26,525 travellers, according to Phuket Immigration. The third largest…
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Hapless Bangkok gold thief gets caught at a bus stop
The award for this year’s worst gold neckless thief goes to the hapless opportunist who grabbed jewellery from a Bangkok store and tried to make a quick getaway on a slow-moving public bus. The hopeless thief was apprehended about ten minutes after the robbery at a bus stop as he waited for the bus. The thief’s relatives defended the luckless…
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Stop and smell the tulips at Floral Fair 2022 in Bangkok
Thailand’s winter season is highlighting the kingdom’s many beautiful, fragrant flowers, including in Bangkok. The fragrant Floral Fair 2022 wafts into the capital tomorrow and will last until December 10. The festival will be held at the Suan Luang Rama IX park. The Floral Fair will feature 600,000 plants. The theme will be “continuing works of art in a brilliant…
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Mauna Loa, world’s largest volcano, erupts for the first time in 40 years
After sitting dormant for nearly 40 years, the largest active volcano in the world erupted in Hawaii. Emergency crews were put on high alert yesterday as the Hawaiian volcano Mauna Loa corrupted late Sunday night. The lava flow was minor and contained, but a further eruption for any changes to the situation could easily threaten nearby inhabitants. The United States…
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Thailand tourism may see a decline next year
Despite conflicting optimistic predictions, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is warning that Thai tourism may take a sharp downturn next year. While international travellers are flocking to Thailand now, industry experts fear that it may be a flood of pent-up demand and, by next year, all those who waited through the whole pandemic to get to Thailand will have…
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Thai govt to crackdown on cybercrime & handout free laptops to poor kids
The Thai government yesterday pledged to crackdown on cybercrime and to hand out 13 million free laptops to students from poor or low-income families. The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry announced plans to administer free laptops to children from underprivileged families over the next four years starting next year under the Smart Thailand scheme. The Smart Thailand scheme is…
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Thai officials plan to nominate historic park for World Heritage status
Thai officials are continuing to seek recognition for the kingdom’s rich heritage. The country’s World Heritage Convention Committee is collecting information for an application for the Phu Phra Bat Historical Park to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is located in Thailand’s northeast province of Udon Thani. The site demonstrates Thailand’s prehistoric beliefs, according to Lieutenant…
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Airports of Thailand streamlining procedures, adding staff
With the first real High Season since the Covid-19 pandemic getting underway, Airports of Thailand is streamlining procedures and adding staff. Minister of Transport Saksayam Chidchob inspected Thailand’s main hub, Suvarnabhumi Airport, to evaluate how prepared the airport is for a sharp increase in tourists. One major focus for airport readiness for an influx of tourists is crowd bottlenecking at…
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The WHO rename monkeypox to avoid racist stereotypes
In a bid to avoid racism and stigmatisation, the World Health Organization (WHO) is renaming monkeypox, mpox. The WHO will use mpox as a synonym for monkeypox. Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while monkeypox is phased out altogether. The move comes after the United Nations voiced concerns over the way the virus was being reported by…
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Man claims he thought illegal whale bones were wood
After being arrested for possessing parts of a whale skeleton last week, a French man in Rawai countered the charges. He claims that the person who sold him the bones told him they were made out of wood and were not real whale bones. The man, identified as Mr Alain, told police that he had no idea he had illegal…
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Pattaya’s Walk and Eat food festival coming up
Foodies in Pattaya have something to look forward to. The city’s Walk and Eat food festival is coming up, after being cancelled or restricted for years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The long festival will run from December 10 to January 29 at the Naklua fish market in Old Town Naklua. Attendees can sample tasty local dishes, and enjoy concerts…
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Buddhists and Muslims rally for peace together in South Thailand
In one South Thailand province plagued by violence, Buddhists and Muslims are overcoming religious differences to fight for peace. Buddhist and Muslim leaders conducted demonstrators in a rally for peace in Narathiwat province’s city district this morning. Islamic leaders led prayers for peace. Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the Federation of Buddhist Thais in Narathiwat led the demonstrators in shouting demands…
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Cowardly rapist arrested for a fifth time in Isaan
A serial rapist was arrested for the fifth time on Friday for attacking and sexually assaulting two women in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani. The 41 year old man, named Pathanin Jen, an ex-convict, is also guilty of several thefts in the Isaan province. Footage emerged of Pathanin conducting a cowardly attack on a teenage girl on Sunday, November…
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Russian crewman’s hand cut off in Songkhla ship accident
A Russian crewman’s hand was cut off in a brutal cargo ship accident off Songkhla. A team of doctors and emergency nurses rushed to help the man on Saturday, according to a Facebook post by the Maritime National Interest Administration Center- Sor Chon. The Russian man, 47 year old Evgenii Kriukov, was transferred to the Songkhla Naval Base Hospital. He…
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Murderer offers 100,000 baht to netizens to cut off his EM ankle bracelet
A man found guilty of murder and tagged with an electronic monitoring (EM) ankle bracelet appealed on social media for someone to remove the EM tag and he would reward them with 100,000 baht in cash. He also alleges he bribed the police and his attorney. The murderer’s Facebook post briefly circulated on Thai social media before he took it…
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Gus, 7, youngest Thai person to reach Everest Base Camp
At the same time as two Thai women died trekking in the Himalayas, a 7 and a half year old boy from Phuket became what is believed to be the youngest Thai person ever to reach Mount Everest Base Camp. Young Gus made the trek along with his parents earlier this month. The team reached Mount Everest Base Camp 5,340…
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New direct flight between Muscat and Bangkok
The Sultanate of Oman today announced the introduction of a direct flight between Muscat and Bangkok. From Sunday, December 18, Oman’s budget airline SalamAir will fly directly between Muscat and Bangkok three times per week. Flights from Muscat depart on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, while return flights from Bangkok are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Bangkok is SalamAir’s second…
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