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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‘The Cave’ due out mid year – First cave rescue film to reach cinemas
PHOTO: Thai-born director Tom Waller on location during the filming of “The Cave” in central Thailand – AFP A Thai-born director, Tom Waller, who reportedly took only a few weeks to shoot the first film about the dramatic Tham Luang cave rescue of the Mu Pa football team in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, says his focus was on authenticity…
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Cave divers reunite to retrieve equipment at Tham Luang caves
Divers involved in last July’s rescue of the 13 young Mu Pa footballers from the flooded Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai, are to reunite to retrieve around 100 tonnes of equipment left behind from the rescue. The Thai navy SEALs and Finnish diver Mikko Paasi re-united this week for the first time since July 2018 when the last members…
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Swiss man accused of overstaying visa and theft charges
by Kamthon Kongsombat PHOTO: Security footage from the Phuket jewelry store in December 2018 – Facebook The Immigration Bureau says they’re going to blacklist and deport a Swiss man who overstayed his visa and is also accused of series of thefts in Nongkhai and Phuket. The Nongkhai deputy immigration police chief Colonel Prasit Somjaiprasong says that Julien Andre Junior Cotting,…
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19 year old caught transporting drugs to Korat in a hired taxi
PHOTOS: The Nation A young man has been arrested after being allegedly found with methamphetamine pills, marijuana and a gun in a taxi at a checkpoint in Nakhon Ratchasima. Police say he had hired a Bangkok taxi to take him, along with the drugs, to a client in Buri Ram. Pol Lt Col Ronnarong Surathot, deputy commander of Chokchai police…
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Air quality for Thailand – January 16
Northern Thailand Central Thailand Southern Thailand
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Chiang Rai Tourist Police hunting another foreign graffiti sprayer – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Chiang Rai Tourist Police The Chiang Rai Tourist Police are hunting for a foreign man who was caught on CCTV footage spraying on a wall near the old bus terminal in Chiang Rai. The northern Tourist Police office yesterday were trying to find the man who is clearly identified on CCTV footage spraying the wall of a restaurant. Anyone who…
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Burmese man arrested with 300 kilogram of ‘ice’ in Chiang Rai
A Burmese man from the Shan State has been arrested after troops intercepted his pickup and found a large shipment of 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine last night. The Pha Muang Taskforce had officers set up a checkpoint on the bypass near Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district between the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge and Ban Nam Jam village in Tambon Pong…
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VIDEO: Thai firefighters and rescuers cross border to help Cambodian firefighters
PHOTO: The Mirror A fire which broke out in an building in Poipet, Cambodia on Monday night, saw Thai fire trucks and rescue workers from the bordering town of Aranyaprathet, cross the border to help put out the fire. Poipet is a Cambodian town well known for its various casinos, which caters to Chinese and Thai gamblers. Poipet is located…
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Thailand has a special support team in the stands today – Asian Cup opener against India
by Debayan Sen in Abu Dhabi for ESPN Ahead of their Asian Cup opening game against India today, Thailand will have four champion footballers supporting them from the stands. Well, champions in their Chiang Rai district games anyway. The Mu Pa (Wild Boar) football team, whose rescue from the Tham Luang caves last year captured the imagination of the world, will…
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The unforgettable heroes of Tham Luang – 2018 in retrospect
The 18 day operation in July to rescue 12 young footballers and their coach trapped in a Chiang Rai cave was 2018’s most memorable event in Thailand. Most notable for the help that poured in from all around the world and the inventive means devised to extract the 13 young men. It was the assistance from the international community that…
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The Top 10 news stories for Thailand in 2018
There are two Top Ten lists for the most popular stories of 2018. This list is voted by The Thaiger as Thailand’s most influential or important stories. We will also have the list of the stories YOU clicked on the most – coming next week. For now let’s see, in no particular order, which stories grabbed The Thaiger’s attention in…
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Thai AirAsia launches new direct flights out of Chiang Rai
AirAsia has confirmed it will launch direct international flights, from Chiang Rai to KL, Macau and Singapore at the end of January, 2019. Operated by AirAsia Thailand, the Chiang Rai-Kuala Lumpur direct service will operate four times weekly from January 31. At the same time Thai AirAsia will launch a direct service from Chiang Rai to Phuket competing head-on with…
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PTT Thailand Grand Prix in Buriram voted best of 2018
“The race weekend at Buriram was the most attended and has been voted the best of the season on its debut.” There was a lot of expectation but the Thai GP was an incredible success and has now been named the best of the season by the MotoGP Paddock and the decision communicated to the Grand Prix Commission. The event…
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Narcotics officers arrest three with 370 kg of ‘ice’ and heroin in Chiang Rai
Three Hmong men from Tak province have been arrested in Chiang Rai while allegedly attempting to smuggle 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and 70 kilograms of heroin from Myanmar into Thailand. The arrest was made by Army troops from the Pha Muang Taskforce with cooperation from Chiang Rai’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) on Friday night. A…
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Saman Kunan’s bronze statue arrives in Chiang Rai
The bronze statue made in commemoration of Lieutenant-Commander Saman Kunan, aka. Ja Sam, a former Navy SEAL member who died in the dramatic rescue operation at Tham Luang caves, has arrived at Wat Rongkhun. The wat is a famous temple of the Chiang Rai province. The statue arrived on a truck from a foundry in Ayutthaya province where it was…
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Cave-rescue mural now moved to official Tham Luang memorial
by Natthawat Laping The large mural depicting “The Heroes” from the dramatic cave rescue in Chiang Rai in June/July this year has now been installed at the new memorial pavilion at the mouth of the Tham Luang cave. The 14×3 metre canvas was moved from Wat Rong Khun this morning, along with another two paintings of the smaller size (each…
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Second major shootout and drug haul in Chiang Rai this week
A drug suspect has been killed in shootout with soldiers. A drug suspect has been shot dead during a shootout with soldiers in Chiang Rai province. An estimated 15 million methamphetamine pills were found in the back of the man’s pickup. Soldiers came under fire late on Thursday night from the pickup truck in an apparent bid by the driver…
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VIDEO: Seven injured – Surin Fair fireworks goes wrong
A 47 year old Thai man sustained serious burns and six others suffered minor injuries when fireworks, being lit near a pond in Wat Jumphon in Surin’s Muang district as part of a local festival, exploded into the audience last night. The Nation reports that the seven victims were watching stage performances at an outdoor cinema at the fair when…
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Alleged drug mule shot dead in clash with troops in Chiang Rai
PHOTO: Chiang Rai and Myanmar border at Mae Sai A drug mule has been shot dead on the border between Chiang Rai and Myanmar, and 350,000 methamphetamine pills were seized following a clash between an Army task force and a group of drug smugglers. The commander of the Pha Muang Taskforce says the incident happened at 12.30am along the Myanmar…
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Prawit hands back seized assets from illegal money-lenders
PHOTO: The Nation Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan has presented 2,012 debtors in the Loei province, in far north-east Thailand, assets valued around 3.4 billion baht. The hand-over includes 1,773 land-title deeds held as collateral in dodgy loan scams. Many people, holding documents to their chest, couldn’t hold back tears of joy over getting the assets they thought were lost due…
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Five armed men guarding a Myanmar drug caravan shot dead by troops in Chiang Rai
FILE PHOTO Army troops shot dead five allegedly armed drug smugglers who were guarding a drug caravan near the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai. They seized about one million methamphetamine pills from the scene. Thai PBS reports that the clash took place on Saturday night, about 700 metres from the Myanmar border between troops of the…
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Shooting begins on “The Cave, Nang Non” film
Tom Waller, a Thai filmmaker with Irish heritage, begun filming a movie which showcases the international operation to rescue the “Mu Pa” football team from the flooded Tham Luang cave in July. The film, called “The Cave, Nang Non”, captures the tense efforts to rescue the 13 members of the team, that gripped the world’s attention for weeks. The youngsters…
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Man thought he could now sell marijuana legally. Aah, no!
“He thought he could sell it legally.” A man has been arrested for advertising marijuana for sale on YouTube. With all the news about legalising medical marijuana in Thailand, he says he believed it was now legal to sell cannabis in Thailand. The Nation reports that, after police were alerted that a man was cashing in on cannabis on the…
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Half a tonne of marijuana seized…
.. and no one has come to claim it yet. Khon Kaen police have seized 500 kilograms of marijuana after a pickup truck overturned in Khon Kaen’s Ban Phai district early today. But no arrests have been made as yet. The Nation reports that Pol Lt Gen Surachai Khuantejakup, commissioner of the Provincial Police Bureau 4, told a press conference…
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The new visa-fee waiver working in the north
According to the National News Bureau of Thailand, the new visa-fee waiver is working. Well, in the northern provinces anyway. The northern provinces are reporting an increase in the number of foreign visitors, thanks to the government’s free visa on arrival campaign. Wiwat Piyawiroj , Executive Vice President of Commercial at Thai Airways, says the free visa on arrival scheme for…
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Chiang Rai shaken but not stirred
Three minor earthquakes hit the Chiang Rai area this morning according to the Meteorological Department’s Seismological Bureau. The first quake was just before 9am with a magnitude of 3.3 with an epicentre 3.3 kilometres underground at latitude 19.70 and longitude 99.72. People say they felt the tremor but there were no injuries or damage to be reported. A 2.0-magnitude tremor followed…
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Ex-soldier on the run after shooting girlfriend in Prachin Buri
A former Saraburi-based cavalry soldier, Corporal Panuwat Pancheun, who was reportedly fired from service three months ago for assaulting his superior, has allegedly shot and injured his 28 year old girlfriend at her family’s home/grocery shop in Prachin Buri province this morning as he tried to drag her out to his car. Prachin Buri is two hour’s drive north-east of Bangkok.…
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Buri Ram teacher probed after boy’s beating
A Buri Ram school has set up a committee to investigate a parent’s allegation that one of its teachers made a Prathom 6 pupil do 50 jumping jacks in the hot sun and then whipped him 10 times with a wooden stick wrapped in duct tape. The 12 year old’s mother revealed Friday’s incident and says her son had merely…
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900,000 meth pills and 3 kilos of ‘ice’ seized after brief shoot-out
Two suspected drug smugglers have been arrested at a Chiang Rai hotel following a short shootout with police. Police also seized 900,000 methamphetamine pills and three kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. Acting on a tip-off, a team of narcotics suppression police staked out at a border point in Ban Tham Phatong in Tambon Tha Sud in Chiang Rai’s Muang district. They…
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Drought declared in five Khon Kaen districts
Whilst parts of Thailand suffered floods and overflowing dams during August and September, other parts of the country are now facing drought conditions as we head into the dry season. Khon Kaen Governor Somsak Jungtrakul has declared five districts drought disaster zones. Somsak said on Friday there had been no rain for months in Pol, Nong Song Hong, Ban Had, Waeng…
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