Northern Thailand News
Northern Thailand news, Chiang Mai news, business, tourism, and culture—stay updated with breaking stories, local events, and travel insights from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pai, and beyond. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Northern Thailand news source.
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2 drunk monks arrested in north east
A case of Bud Enlightenment? 2 Buddhist monks were arrested in their pickup truck in the early hours yesterday morning in the lower northeastern province of Sisaket. They have been charged with breaking the national curfew and drunk driving. The two were detained in their pickup truck shortly after midnight in the province’s Muang, or city district. Police say both…
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Summer storms forecast around the Kingdom today
The Thai Meteorological Department has issued a warning about possible tropical storms that will affect four regions around Thailand. The country is currently in the shoulder season between the hot season and the coming wet season. “The rather strong high-pressure system covers the Northeast, the East, the Central, the North and the South China Sea while hot conditions are likely…
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Buriram police officer injured as knife-wielding man has meltdown
A former convict went into meltdown yesterday, screaming and brandishing a knife as he made his way around an apartment building Buriram, north-eastern Thailand. Thai Residents reports that the building’s residents alerted police when they spotted a clearly deranged man screaming and swinging a knife like a samurai sword. Police officers arrived and discovered the man wandering around on the second…
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Tropical storms on the menu today for northeastern, northern and central provinces
Thailand’s northeastern, central and eastern provinces are threatened with tropical storm today. The country is currently in the shoulder season transitioning from the dry season to the wet season. Traditionally, Songkran, on April 13 each year, is the celebration of the coming wet season, coinciding with the Thai New Year. “According to the Thai Meteorological Department, a high-pressure wedge will…
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11 soldiers being investigated after allegedly torturing and killing one brother, injuring the other
Police officers in Nakhon Phanom (northeastern Thailand bordering Laos) are investigation a parent’s complaint filed on Sunday that two of her sons were taken away by soldiers leading to the death of one and the other being seriously injured. 11 soldiers are now under investigation over the incident. The complaint was made by 59 year old Niwat Saisa and his…
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Plans to renew northern forests destroyed in recent fires
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, along with The Royal Forest Department says they have conducted plans to revive the northern forests which have been destroyed by this year’s burning season and other forest fires. But some good news, the Royal Forest Department says the number of hotspots detected in the North has fallen to 28. The fewer hotspots,…
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Biggest fire in 40 years at Mae Hong Son provincial city centre – VIDEO
At around 2.30am today a fire broke out leading to the destruction of an iconic building at the centre of Mae Hong Son province (northern Thailand), including the house of a Phalang Pracharat Party member of Parliament (MP). The blaze started at the Crossroad bar, a 70 year old building made of wood and located in the city centre near…
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Chiang Mai farmer trampled by elephant, dies
In the second such incident in a week, a farmer has been trampled to death by an elephant yesterday in Thailand’s northern Chiang Mai Province. Police say the body of 68 year old Sa-ard Khamsrijai was found in the garden of his vegetable farm in San Sai district. Officers say the body had wounds consistent with trampling, and a female…
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Mobile blood driver deployed in Khon Kaen
“Families that have 3 or more people who are willing to donate blood, authorities will be sending mobile units that will visit homes in the main city area of Khon Kaen province today.” This from Dr Sujira Kwasaen, director of The Khon Kaen Regional Health Promotion Centre 7. The Khon Kaen Regional Health Promotion Centre 7 is working with The…
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4 teenagers violate the order not to celebrate Songkran outside
Under the emergency decree that has been announced by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, it has been confirmed that Songkran (the traditional Thai new year festival) is officially postponed this year to lessen the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, 4 teenagers defying the emergency decree was arrested in Roi Et province, far north-eastern Thailand, after live broadcasting their water wars. The…
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Chiang Mai hiking spots go up in flames
Wildfires in Thailand’s north have made plenty of news in recent months, and now, Chiang Mai’s Doi Mon Jong mountain, one of northern Thailand’s most popular hiking spots has become the latest victim. Doi Mon Jong, in the province’s Om Koi District, is considered a legendary “unseen” destination for its breathtaking views, beauty and nature. Nearly 20 rai (3.2 hectares)…
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Stricken horse farm owners consider suing government over AHS virus outbreak
An outbreak of African Horse Sickness has already killed more than 200 horses in 4 provinces, including Nakhon Ratchasima, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chon Buri and Phetchaburi since it was first reported on March 26. Now, at least 1 owner of a horse farm is considering suing the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, along with other agencies, for approving imports…
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Burmese pair arrested at border for smuggling 16.5 million baht
Police in the Tak province, northern Thailand, yesterday arrested two Burmese nationals for trying to smuggle 16.5 million baht in cash into Thailand. Authorities say the two, identified as 29 year old Ded Paioou, and a 24 year old woman called “Namitu” were arrested in tambon Tha Sai Luad, following a tip-off. Officers say the pair were driving a pickup…
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Grand opening of Nakhon Ratchasima war room
In a joint effort with locals, government, the private sector and Former Deputy prime minister Suwat Liptapanlop, Nakhon Ratchasima has officially announced the opening of a “War Room”. The purpose of the situation room is to combat the deadly disease and to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus locally in the province. The centre is also producing free cloth…
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Village headman fires 8 bullets into an officer at a check point in northern Thailand
A ‘Phu Yai Barn’ or village headman in Phayao province, just south of Chiang Rai, got into a row with other local officials last night, allegedly ending in a shootout, seriously injuring a local official at a checkpoint. Last night at 8pm local police were informed of the shooting incident at Ban Na Nun Community Checkpoint Village No 2. They…
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146 horses dead in Korat of African Horse Sickness
African Horse Sickness, a viral disease which affects only animals, has now killed 146 horses in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, or Korat. The chief of the provincial livestock development office says 13 other horses also had severe symptoms. The deaths have so far been limited to the province’s Pak Chong district. Previously, tests confirmed that more than 100…
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More than 100 horses dead as African Horse Sickness strikes Thailand
“This disease has just occurred in Thailand. We’ve never had it in the past” The director-general of the Department of Livestock Development, Sorawit Thanito, says more than 100 horses in Thailand have died from African Horse Sickness (AHS). It’s the country’s first instance of the illness, which only affects animals. Latest government data show at least 131 horses have died…
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Tiger kills, eats man in Nakhon Ratchasima
A tiger has killed and partially eaten a man in Thap Lan National Park in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. Local villagers have been warned not to enter the park after a man was mauled to death. 46 year old Jamras Phumwaengkuang was in the forest with two friends searching for plants and herbs when he reportedly split from…
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Northern Thailand’s air pollution reaches hazardous levels
Air quality in the north of Thailand is actually ‘hazardous’ today, as bushfires in Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep-Pui National Park have caused air quality to become nearly 20 times higher than Thailand’s already lax “safe” limit of ’50’. PM2.5, (dust particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 microns or lower), rose to 925 micrograms per cubic metre in some locations yesterday.…
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African horse virus believed responsible for dozens of horse deaths in Northeast
The sudden deaths of dozens of racehorses in Thailand’s Northeast are now believed to be tied to an African horse virus. All of the dead animals, whose count now stands at 42, were found during an inspection of barns in Pak Chong district in Nakhon Ratchasima, north eastern Thailand. Doctors from Thailand’s Department of Livestock Development suspect the deaths are…
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1000 kilograms of marijuana seized in northeastern Thailand
More than a tonne of marijuana has been been recovered in Thailand’s Bung Kan province, in the far north east on the Laos border. The stash was discovered in fertiliser sacks by a security patrol boat along the Mekong river. Authorities say a longtail boat with 4 to 5 men on board was spotted pulling up to the river bank,…
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Riot fears reopen ‘closed’ Thai border checkpoints as migrant workers flee
“We must go home, or we will starve to death in Bangkok.” Some of Thailand’s recently closed border checkpoints were forced to reopen today as thousands of migrant workers, now unemployed due to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, flee Thailand for their homes in Myanmar and Cambodia. Their numbers and their desperation sparked fears of rioting. In Chiang Rai, the border…
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196 kilos of ganja found at north eastern Thai boarder
Local officials have seized 196 kilograms of compressed marijuana from the Mekong riverbank in Wan Yai district, Mukdahan, north east Thailand. Residents in tambon Pong Kham reported to the local authorities and Wan Yai district chief Pitinat Nithisthani, after seeing seven mysterious black plastic bags on the bank of the Mekong River near Ban Song Khon. The district chief, accompanied…
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Summer storms batter Korat, Buri Ram
Sudden summer storms caused extensive damage in two provinces in Thailand’s northeast yesterday: many villages in tambon Nong Ma Nao in Khong district of Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat, were struck by a summer storm late last night. Numerous houses were severely damaged by the storm, which started at about 11pm. Some structures were entirely demolished. The roofing sheets…
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Soldiers sent to fight forest fires in the North
With Chiang Mai again declared the world’s most polluted city today, and with air quality worsening across northern Thailand, soldiers from Royal Thai Army 3rd Army Region have been deployed to detect and fight forest fires. Forest fires and agricultural burning, both in Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia, have created extremely poor air quality levels. Rangers from the 35th Scout Regiment…
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Body in oil drum discovered in Chiang Rai reservoir
Police in Chiang Rai discovered a dead body stuffed into an oil drum floating in a reservoir. The 200 litre drum has allegedly been floating in the reservoir for over a week. Investigators learned from local villagers that the oil drum had been floating in the middle of the reservoir since last about March 3. Only when the drum brought…
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Police intercept huge meth shipment and a tonne of marijuana
The Narcotics Suppression Bureau have reported a number of cases in the Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand. Both dugs cases involve a truck and an attempt to hide the illicit drugs in large sacks which were packed with dog food. In the first case, 38 year old Jiradech Isipriya from Chiang Mai as well as 3 other members of a…
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Hotting up in northern Thailand
Hot, damn hot! The Thailand Meteorological Department says that a “thermal low” currently covers upper Thailand, while westerly winds prevail over the region, making the weather hot to very hot in some parts of the North, the Northeast, the Central and the East regions. Unpredictable weather and hotter days are normal for this time of the year leading up to…
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Drunken woman, legally dead, uses calling card to make 50 emergency calls in a day
Police in northern Thailand’s Loei province were notified that someone using a calling card had been calling 191 all day. The police went to inspect a location whre they found a drunk woman, identified as 51 year old “Mrs. Waruni.” She had no home address and was using her calling card to call 191, the emergency hotline of the Royal…
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Chinese murderers arrested in Burmese border town
Burmese authorities in Tachileik, bordering Chiang Rai, have arrested two Chinese men wanted for murder in Thailand. Chinese nationals Xiao Xiang Yu and Hu Zheng Xiong are two of four men wanted for the murder of Chinese businessman Wang Jun. Police retrieved a suitcase containing Wang’s bounds body from the Ping River on February 25. The two were captured in…
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