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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31 illegal Cambodian migrant workers apprehended in border town
Thai immigration authorities arrested 3 Thais and 31 illegal Cambodian migrants travelling in 3 pickup trucks in Sa Kaeo, about 200 kilometres east of Bangkok, near the Cambodian border yesterday morning. 4 other vehicles managed to evade officials. The Thais stand charged with assisting illegal migrant workers. They have been identified as 39 year old driver Yotha Nadkhiew, 42 year old…
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Korat restauranteur will change your perception of airline food
An entrepreneur in Isaan’s Nakhon Ratchasima province is transforming an old Airbus A330 jetliner (formerly flying with Thai Airways) into a restaurant, hoping his new business will take off after months of being ‘grounded’ by lockdown restrictions enforced by the Thai government. 33 year old Sirikorn Phimparat, manager of Airways Land, says the aircraft is now being refurbished as a…
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224 arrested in another Mae Sot gambling raid
Police raided a large and sophisticated online gambling operation, arresting more than 200 people at a hotel in the Mae Sot district in Northern Thailand, close to the Burmese border, as part of an on-going investigation into Chinese-related online gambling. Apparently, there was a crackdown on the illegal gambling in the Myanmar town Myawaddy, causing those involved to flee to…
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British expat petitions government to help desperate elephants, handlers
The closure of elephant camps and sanctuary-style tourist attraction throughout the northeastern provinces has left thousands of elephants facing starvation. Some have made the long march back to their home villages, where their arrival is creating more problems than it solves. Susan Field, a British citizen living in Koh Samui, yesterday presented a petition with nearly 65,000 signatures to the Thai…
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6 Pakistani nationals arrested for convenience store scam
Police in Chiang Rai have arrested 6 Pakistani nationals charged with scamming convenience stores around northern Thailand. Thai Residents reports that the men would hand over a 1,000 baht note to pay for an item in a convenience store and receive change. They would then claim they didn’t want the item after all and ask for their money back. The…
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Locals support young tourist stuck at Phrae forest retreat
A lot has happened in the past 4 months. Imagine being away from it all and staying in a forest in northern Thailand, picking mulberries. That’s what happened to an 18 year old Polish woman. She’s been stuck at a Phrae forest retreat since February. She’s secluded at the Mulberry Farm Denchai. The retreat’s Facebook page says the it’s for…
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Teacher sends questionnaire to students asking for their phone passwords and social media accounts
…and the school has since been forced to apologise. A teacher in Chiang Rai asked students to hand over passwords to their social media accounts and phones. But many have criticised the teacher saying it overstepped privacy boundaries. The school has since apologised and imposed stricter rules. The teacher gave students a questionnaire, asking them to fill out information about…
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Staff at Khon Kaen hospital call for transferred director to be reinstated
Following the transfer of Dr. Charnchai Chanvorachaikul, a former director at Khon Kaen hospital, in north-east Thailand, staff at the hospital are demanding their boss be reinstated in his role. Dr. Charnchai was transferred to the eastern province of Chanthaburi province amid, so far, unsubstantiated allegations of corruption. He has consistently denied the allegation that he accepted bribes from a…
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Monk chases pregnant woman and kills her in Buriram
Investigating a fatal stabbing in Buriram yesterday, police now believe the woman who was stabbed by an Abbot, had been blackmailing him after having an affair. The fatal stabbing happened on a road near Ban Mai Charoensuk in Tum Yai, in northern Buriram yesterday afternoon, following a road incident. The victim, 36 year old “Lampai”, was 8 months pregnant Eyewitnesses…
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Dengue fever outbreak sickens nearly 6,000 Thai kids
While the Covid-19 outbreak is easing in Thailand, there is growing alarm over a nationwide outbreak of dengue fever, which has sickened nearly 6,000 children already this year. On June 2, Thailand had recorded 15,385 cases of dengue fever, which killed 11 people, according to the director-general of the Department of Disease Control. More than a third of those cases,…
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Young girls raped in 2 separate cases
A Northern Thailand man was arrested for allegedly raping his stepdaughter after a complaint was filed by the biological father. In another case, an Isaan man was arrested for allegedly raping his niece’s 5 year old daughter. In Lampang, Northern Thailand, a 46 year old man was arrested yesterday. The 9 year old girl’s biological father says his daughter called…
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Massive elephant migration causes problems in the North
The Covid-19 crisis has shuttered elephant camps across Thailand’s North and Northeast, most of which relied primarily on tourist revenue. Now around 1,000 elephants, threatened by starvation, have journeyed through the hills of northern Thailand, making a slow migration to their homes. For many of the animals, home is the village of Huay Pakoot in Chiang Mai province, where generations…
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Woman arrested for boyfriend’s stabbing death
Police in Bangkok have arrested a woman for allegedly stabbing her longtime boyfriend to death in Issan’s Khon Kaen province. Officers of the Crime Suppression Division and Khon Kaen’s Muang police station arrested Thanphicha Rodnongkheng at a rented house near Victory Monument last night. 28 year old Thanphicha, aka. “Mind”, was wanted on a warrant issued by the Khon Kaen…
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Property slump in Thailand’s North
Real estate developers in Thailand’s North are a bracing for a slump in the residential property market, as the number of home buyers is dwindling and banks are imposing stricter rules on home buyers and reportedly denying mortgages. The president of the Chiang Mai Real Estate Association says the economic slowdown and lower confidence among buyers will lead to a…
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500 volunteer teachers to help students in remote areas
Students in rural areas will get a little extra help when it comes to online “distance learning” before schools are able to open again on July 1. 500 volunteers are assisting around 80,000 students across the country, many who are in remote areas such as villages in the mountains and on islands. The national “distance learning” experiment, to keep school going…
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Former local politician allegedly shoots woman over land argument
A woman was shot and killed last night after an argument with a former local politician over land she had purchased from him in Lampang, Northern Thailand. Former deputy chairman of the local tambon administration organisation, Sawat Khammuangchai, is charged with premeditated murder, according to Bangkok Post. The 62 year old former politician had sold land to 56 year old…
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Thai woman doesn’t fall for romance scam
A man posing as a wealthy English pilot tried to flirt his way into getting 24,000 baht transferred into his account. Luckily the Thai woman he was trying to romance wasn’t buying it. Police say the “English pilot” is a common romance scam, stealing hearts and money from plenty of gullible Thai women. The romancer (aka. scammer) and the woman met…
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Policeman survives fall from roof in northern Thailand
A policeman in the northern province of Phitsanulok has had a lucky escape after he slipped and fell while re-arranging flags on the roof of the police station. Following a bout of heavy rain and high winds, Wichayut Srikrajang noticed the flags were in disarray and took it upon himself to fix them. However, the rain had also made the…
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Khon Kaen Hospital director faces ‘kickback’ probe
A disciplinary inquiry has been ordered against the director of a hospital in northeastern Thailand, who stands accused of demanding kickbacks. Dr Charnchai Chanvorachaikul of Khon Kaen Hospital is accused of demanding a 5% commissions from pharmaceutical firms. The inquiry was launched after an anonymous letter sent to the public health department’s permanent secretary. On Friday Charnchai strongly denied the…
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Buriram teen claims “God made her pregnant”
The mother of a 14 year old girl in the northeastern Buriram province was shocked, to say the least, when hospital staff told her that her daughter had told them “God made me pregnant.” The mother was even more shocked when further investigation revealed the girl’s stepfather had allegedly sexually abused her in their home. The girl is now in the…
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Police investigating a double murder and suicide in Lampang
Police in the northern province of Lampang were called to the scene of a double murder, where a man killed two relatives and stabbed another before killing himself. His motive remains unknown. Police say they learned of the attack at about 7:45am yesterday. The victims were identified as 52 year old Amphon Saikon and 70 year old Inkaew Promdam. Police…
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Nakhon Phanom teacher suspended for alleged sexual abuse
In yet another of a growing string of sex abuse cases involving teachers in Thailand in recent months, education authorities claim a science teacher sexually molested a 17 year old female student in the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom, and have suspended him pending an investigation. The acting chief of the Nakhon Phanom education office says the suspension came after…
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Hospital director denies corruption, threatens to sue government health official
The director of Khon Kaen Provincial Hospital in north-east Thailand is threatening Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Sukhum Kanchanapimai with a lawsuit following allegations of corruption. Dr. Charnchai Chanvorachaikul was transferred to Chanthaburi province in the east of the country following unconfirmed reports of corruption relating to donations to the Hospital Development Fund. Dr. Charnchai completely denies the allegations, which…
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Thailand’s health volunteers are ‘unsung heroes’ WHO rep says
Thailand’s village health volunteers have been deemed “unsung heroes” in the coronavirus pandemic by a World Health Organisation representative for Thailand. “The volunteers have helped keep the number of cases low by educating villagers about the virus and prevention measures as well as collecting temperatures.” While Thailand had the first coronavirus case outside of China, the country has not been…
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Phone hackers empty out woman’s bank account
A pharmacist’s phone was hacked. That was bad enough, but then 430,000 baht was taken from her bank account last Friday, only leaving behind 70 baht. It was the woman’s life savings. The 49 year old woman, ‘Aree’ from Nakhon Ratchasima in the Isan region, got a call from someone posing to be the phone’s service provider, even stating Aree’s…
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25 arrested after police raid online gambling base in Mae Sot
Police arrested 25 people involved in online gambling after a raid Saturday night at a house in Mae Sot, Northern Thailand, right on the Burmese border. Police also confiscated equipment used for the online gaming. Out of the 25 people arrested, 5 of them were Thai and the rest were foreigners, mostly from China. Since people have been staying at…
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14 million methamphetamine pills seized in massive Chiang Rai drug haul
Police in Chiang Mai have arrested 2 men and a woman in the province’s Fang district when they found 14 million methamphetamine pills, aka. “yaba”, in one of their 2 vehicles. Officers got a tip on Friday that drugs would be smuggled into the district and set up road checkpoints, according to the deputy national police spokesman. At around 12:30am,…
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Nakhon Phanom teacher arrested for sexually abusing niece
Police in Issan’s Nakhon Phanom province yesterday announced the arrest of a teacher for the alleged sexual abuse of his 13 year old niece, who lived with him and his wife. The 52 year old man was taken into custody at his house in the downtown district after a provincial court approved an arrest warrant on Thursday. His name and…
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Haunted hospital wheelchair. Ghost? Or the wind?
An empty wheelchair at an Udon Thani Thailand hospital moving back and forth has some locals claiming it’s a “phee sing,” meaning mischievous ghost. The Ban Kham Doung hospital is even planning an event to pray and honour the wheelchair’s deceased owner to put the spirit at peace. Footage of the supposedly haunted wheelchair has floated through the internet for…
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Radio station gunman confesses, faces murder charges, death penalty
The gunman who allegedly shot 3 of his coworkers at a public radio station is facing murder charges and the death penalty if convicted. The 59 year old Wim Sonsuk was an electrician at the station. He lashed out after problems with his coworkers at the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand in the northern Phitsanulok province. On Wednesday, he allegedly…
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