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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Sponsored Thailand vs. the West: What expats save on healthcare each year
Healthcare in Thailand is much cheaper than in Western countries, making it a great choice for expatriates looking for affordable medical care. Both public and private healthcare options offer high-quality services, with savings of up to 80% on procedures like...
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Two men, 14 buffaloes killed in Phayao truck crash
Two men and 14 water buffaloes have been killed when a truck transporting 20 buffaloes lost control and overturned in Phayao’s Muang district, east of Chiang Mai.Police say the incident happened at 4.48am on the Ban San Khajao-Huay Nam Khao road in Tambon Tha Wang Thong, Phayao. The truck driver, Kitisak Phanphon and his passenger Kamphol Srikham, both 30 years…
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Police claim they ‘had to kill’ north-east murder suspect
PHOTO: Police bring suspects to re-enact the motorcycle and body disposal in the two provinces – The Nation by Khamdee Phrommakong, Suriya Patathayo, Teerapol Khumsuk Police claim they “had to kill” a wanted murder suspect, 29 year old Somsak “Au” Ledlod, in Yasothon’s Kham Khuan Kaeo district as he stole a pickup truck to flee and may have hurt the…
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Chiang Mai has world’s worst air quality as fires rage in the north
This morning Chiang Mai had the world’s worst air quality.In the WHOLE world! Thailand’s northern city was ranked the #1 most air-polluted city on earth with a 209 air quality index score on airvisual.com. The air worsened to an AQI of 233 around noon. Meanwhile the Pollution Control Department reports the average 24 hour level of PM2.5 dust particulates had…
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Northern provinces choking on toxic haze and air pollution again
by Kriangkrai Rattana, Panwich Yoodee, Nathawat Laping Northern provinces are again choking from dangerous levels of PM2.5 dust particles, air pollution and smog. The harmful haze is being worsened by smoke from forest fires on the other side of the Myanmar border, with a satellite images showing 1,035 hot spots in the neighbouring country, and another 516 in Thailand (123…
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Chiang Rai motorcyclist flees police leaving behind a bag with 200,000 meth pills
FILE PHOTO 200,000 methamphetamine pills have been seized following a road chase in Chiang Rai’s Thoeng district but, again, the suspect managed to flee. A unit of rangers from the 31st Ranger Taskforce staked out at a bypass road along the Thai-Lao border in Ban Khun Huay Krai village. They say they spotted a speeding motorcycle at 9.30pm last night…
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Netflix scores production coup with major documentary about cave rescue
The world’s leading TV streaming service ‘Netflix’ is bringing the drama of the Tham Luang cave rescue to the small screen. The 13 young football players will net around 3 million baht each, with other monies going to other volunteer services and foundations. The international rescue of the 13 young footballers, who were trapped for nearly two weeks in a…
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Where there’s fire, there’s smoke – Lampang mountains
Adding to the air pollution woes of the north, bushfires have been keeping state firefighters and volunteers busy trying to control the outbreaks in the mountains east of Chiang Mai and north of Lampang. The efforts yesterday were to battle a front of multiple fires in Doi Phra Baht forest in Lampang’s Muang district. Fires have been erupting in multiple…
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250,000 northerners seek help for smog-related conditions
Up to 250,000 northerners are seeking medical treatment for four different illnesses that have flared up amid the intense air pollution between February 17 and 23. The Office of Disease Prevention and Control 1 in Chiang Mai has put the figure of affected residents at 248,618, including a high numbers of respiratory complaints among children under four and cardiovascular concerns…
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74 year old German arrested for alleged murder of teenage Thai wife in 2010
A 74 year old German, accused of stabbing his much younger wife to death, has been arrested after nine years on the run. Siam Rath reports that Heinz Jurgen Theil has been arrested in Chiang Rai province and is now in custody, charged with murder. Police say Theil is accused of stabbing his 17 year old wife, Janjira Jantapool, in…
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National Geographic tries to secure rights to produce Tham Luang rescue doco
National Geographic has made top level contact with the government-appointed Creative Media Committee to negotiate shooting a documentary about last July’s dramatic rescue operation at the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai. British diver Rick Stanton, who was actively involved in the complicated rescue operation to save the 13 young Mu Pa footballers, says that the British cave diving team wrote a letter to the…
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Air quality in 9 northern provinces worse in March-April
Smog problems in nine of Thailand’s northern provinces is forecast to get worse during the next two months due to forest fires. This is despite a complete ban on the open burning of vegetation or trash. Chongklai Worapongsathorn, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation spoke to local fire fighters before they are sent to…
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Lemon-sized hailstones hit 700 homes around Udon Thani
by Seksanti Kalayanawisut “Some of the hailstones were as big as a lemon.” Udon Thani provincial authorities have inspected around 700 homes in Mueang, Phen, Ban Phue, Si That and Kumphawapi districts that were damaged in a freak hailstorm last night. At Tambon Nikhom Songkhro in Mueang district, Udon Thani deputy governor Pramote Thanyapheud led officials to check out damage…
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19 year old mother slashes three year old son’s throat in Yasothon
WARNING: This story may be shocking to some readers PHOTO: Sanook A 19 year old mother has used a kitchen knife to slash the throat of her three year old son in Yasothon in Thailand’s north-east. Thairath reports that Yasothon Police were notified of the incident at the woman’s lodgings last night at 7 pm. Police and rescue workers arrived…
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Thailand will swelter through searing temperatures this summer
Temperatures in Thailand this summer is forecast to be 1-2 degrees Celsius warmer than last year. The announcement comes from the Thai Meteorological Department director-general Phuwiang Prakammin. And it’s predicted to hit 42-43C in seven provinces in northern Thailand. In Thailand summer, as a regional season, is listed as running between February 21 to mid-May. Phuwiang says daytime temperatures in…
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Usable water level in Khon Kaen’s main dam dangerously low
One of the north-east’s largest dams is running dry. And the dry season has just begun. About a year ago, Khon Kaen irrigation officials were discharging excess water through Ubol Ratana Dam (pronounced Ubonrat) to increase reservoir capacity to ease flood problems in Thailand’s northeastern province of Khon Kaen. Now, the same officials are urging people in the province to…
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Snakes! 2,000+ snakes seized in Thai-Laos border sting
182 baskets containing 2,730 rat snakes and cobras – worth 1 million baht in total – have been intercepted as they were about to be smuggled out of Thailand and into Laos. Mukdahan Wild Animals Checkpoint officials were joined by personnel from other agencies in confiscating the reptilian cache. Mukdahan is located on the far north-eastern Thai-Laos border Following a tip-off…
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Tham Luang caves closing for retrieval of all rescue equipment
Chiang Rai’s Tham Luang caves, the scene of the international cave rescue last July, will close to all visitors from February 19 to allow Thai Navy SEALs to enter and recover equipment left in the cave after the rescue mission. The mission, which captured the attention of media around the world and changed the young men’s lives forever, extracted 13…
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Uighur escapees captured and back in Mukdahan jail
Seven undocumented Uighurs, who escaped from an immigration facility in northeast Mukdahan, on the Laos border in far north-east Thailand last week, have been recaptured. Pol Colonel Sith Sirikangwalkul, the acting Immigration chief for the region, says that one was recaptured on Tuesday (February 12), the same night everyone escaped, and two more were found in a forest two kilometres away…
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UPDATE: Kalasin shooting. Husband dies after shooting.
A Kalasin private school executive, shot in the head after a Valentine’s Day fight with his wife, has died in hospital as a result of his injuries. The death of 45 year old Ratthasart Panichpongsapak has prompted police to file a murder charge against the man’s 44 year old wife Mayura Panichpongsapak. Mayura was initially charged with attempted murder and…
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Husband shot after wife questions “mystery” phone call
A man in Kalasin was seriously wounded with a gunshot to the head early this morning. Kalisan is in the north-east of Thailand. Daily News reports that the man’s wife says she was ‘furious’ after her husband refused to explain a mystery phone call during a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. Somdej police arrived at the two storey house after the local Asoke…
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Motorbike driver dies after his head crushed in Udon Thani, truck driver flees
A motorbike driver has died after his head was crushed by a truck and trailer yesterday. The trailer diver fled the scene in Udon Thani. The accident occurred in Kudjab Road in Mueang Udon Thani, North East of Thailand. Police and emergency responders arrived to find the body of Thai man, later identified as 39 years old Sutin Ngonchalee. Nearby…
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Up up and away – getting married aloft in Chiang Rai
PHOTOS: The Nation Twenty couples, Thais and foreign, have taken their vows and married aloft hot-air balloons over Chiang Rai today. Among the lovebirds were actor Danai Jarujinda and his fiance Phraewwanich Kijthawornsawat, who decided to tie the knot after 11 years together. “Balloon Love” is held at Singha Park Chiang Rai Balloon Fiesta, which runs from February 13-17. The…
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Khon Kaen faces its second week of crippling air pollution
The north-eastern hub of Khon Kaen heads into a new week still struggling with heavy air pollution that has persisted over the past week. The Air Quality Index peaked at 206 yesterday. All the readings in the region were well beyond safe limits. Smoke haze has also enveloped the main city, Chum Phae, Mancha Khiri, Kranuan, Ubol Rattana and Phra…
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North-east wallows in heavy air pollution, Bangkok improves
Bangkok has had a respite in the past week from almost two months of heavy air pollution. Whilst the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority, government and pollution control department dithered around with spurious explanations, the pollution persisted. Water cannons, fire departments spraying water from atop city towers, amateur drones flying tiny ‘clearing’ missions and asking factories to shut down, kept the media…
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Air pollution problems move to Khon Kaen
Pollution continues to choke the north-east province of Khon Kaen with the Air Quality Index reaching 187 yesterday, well beyond the “moderate” safety limit of 100. This morning it’s reading at 174. Associate Professor Dr Kittichai Triratanasirichai, a former president of Khon Kaen University, says the pollution in Khon Kaen had worsened mainly due to the burning of sugarcane and…
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Thai and Burmese authorities detain 81 in search for drug gang
by Natthawat Laping “Is wanted Thai drug trafficker 30 year old Pannawit Pathum among the group?” Burmese authorities have conducted raids at entertainment venues, hotels, resorts and residential communities near the Thai-Myannar border opposite Chiang Rai’s Mae Fah Luang district and rounded up 81 Thai nationals who had illegally entered the country. Chiang Rai Immigration superintendent Pol Colonel Ekkorn Busababodin…
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Nan blossoms in pink splendour
Tourists are flocking to the far northern province of Nan, on the Laos border, this weekend to witness the beauty of wild Himalayan cherry tree blossoms, widely known as “Thai sakura”, at a research station in Nanoi district. Kanyarat Natebutr, chief of Tonnam Kunsatan research station said that the areas around the station, where cherry trees, green maple and macadamia…
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Narcotics Control Board say they’ve prevented 300 million meth pills coming into Thailand
PHOTO: Niyom Termsrisuk, ONCB secretary-general – The Nation “During the period, the ONCB led officials to search 84,000 villages and arrested 90,000 suspects in some 80,000 cases.” The Office of Narcotics Control Board says that it’s managed to prevent 300 million methamphetamine pills from flowing into the country in Q4, 2018. The ONCB secretary-general Niyom Termsrisuk says the agency also…
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Troops intercept pickup with 2.85 million meth pills – one smuggler killed
A shootout with Army troops has resulted in the death of a drug suspect while attempting to smuggle 2.8 million methamphetamine pills into Thailand from neighbouring Myanmar. Troops from the Pha Muang Taskforce were patrolling a border road in Chiang Rai’s Chiang Saen district, in the far north of Thailand, when they spotted the pickup truck at about 10.40pm. Ttroops…
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Aussie cave divers given top honours for their role in last year’s Tham Luang rescue
PHOTO: Richard Harris and Craig Challen along with Australian PM Scott Morrison Cave rescue divers Dr. Richard Harris and Craig Challen have been jointly named Australian of the Year for their heroic efforts helping to save 13 young footballers from a flooded cave in Chiang Rai. In July 2018, Adelaide anaesthetist Dr Harris and retired vet Dr Challen, from Perth, made…
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