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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Hospital allegedly offers a meager 5,000 baht initially to dead patient’s family after neglecting him for hours
A northeastern Thai hospital is allegedly offering a meager 5,000 baht to a patient’s family after he died while waiting to be treated. The Bua Yai Hospital director, Charnchai Boonyusays, says he feels “regret” over the 46 year old’s death after hospital staff allegedly neglected to treat him for hours. Sompong Sammor, was admitted to the hospital with a swollen…
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Chiang Mai hotels slash prices amid ongoing slump in tourism
Hotels in the northern province of Chiang Mai have been forced to cut their rates by up to 90%, in a desperate bid to attract more domestic tourists. According to a Bangkok Post report, La-Iad Bungsrithong, from the northern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association, says with tourists mainly favouring the southern beach destinations this month, hotel operators in the…
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Hospital in northern Thailand closes to visitors after 2 patients test positive for Covid-19
A hospital in the northern province of Tak has had to shut its doors to visitors after 2 patients treated at the facility subsequently tested positive for Covid-19. Nation Thailand reports that Mae Sot Hospital is now closed to visitors until Monday. It’s understood that 19 staff members have had contact with 2 patients who tested positive for the virus.…
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Head of army band shot dead at military base in north-east Thailand – VIDEO
An army band leader has been shot dead at a military camp in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Phanom, with police launching a murder investigation. 34 year old Rungchalerm Pansawasdi was shot 3 times in the head and neck, at the Phra Yod Muang Kwang army base on Wednesday evening. He had just returned from having dinner with his wife,…
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Man arrested in northeast Thailand, accused of producing fake bank notes
Police in the north-eastern province of Si Sa Ket have arrested a 37 old man accused of producing counterfeit currency. Phichaphob Phankham was detained at a property in the Nong Phai district as part of an investigation into a trail of fake 100 baht notes in circulation in Si Sa Ket and neighbouring provinces. Police say his arrest follows the…
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Mae Sot schools close after just 1 hour reopening when 5 students were found infected
All 15 schools in Mae Sot district of Tak province have been ordered to close again just 1 hour after the first day of school reopenings in the province, as 5 children tested positive for Covid-19. Mae Sot City Municipality Office issued an urgent order to close all schools in the district after a vendor tested positive for Covid-19. At…
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North East aviation college faces funding shortfall and allegations of corruption
Almost 200 million baht has “disappeared” from the bank account of the International Aviation College, part of the Nakhon Phanom University. They’ve now approached the Thai government for support to help tackle its liquidity problems. Without an injection of cash the aviation college may have to close down. The IAC has trained thousands of Thailand’s commercial pilots in one of the…
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Monk arrested on drug charges, allegedly told police methamphetamine was a merit gift
Police arrested a 45 year old Buddhist monk for allegedly getting high on methamphetamine at a temple in the Isaan province Buriram. The monk allegedly told police that a follower gave him the drugs as a merit gift and convinced him to take it. Satuek district police say they received a complaint from the Baan Kok Mueng temple’s abbot claiming…
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Ring road collapses leaving at least 10 injured in Nakhon Ratchasima
An elevated section of a ring road in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima has collapsed, leaving at least 10 workers injured. The incident occurred on Sura Narai Road in tambon Khok Sung in Muang district at around 2pm today. The injured included 1 Thai and the others Cambodian and Burmese nationals. Most had cuts on their bodies while some…
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Son lights himself on fire after asking mom for lottery money
A woman’s 32 year old son, in northern Thailand’s Phrae Province, is in critical condition from lighting himself on fire after falsely believing that his mother had won the lottery and would not share her winnings with him. Police at Denchai Police Station were alerted of a man who burned himself in Ban Mai Jua, Denchai District and notified a…
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800+ people found in close contact with an infected food vendor in Nakhon Phanom
Local disease control workers are continuing to track and trace Covid-19 infections at several villages in the That Phanom district of Nakhon Phanom, north eastern Thailand. The areas were locked down after a 51 year old local food vendor tested positive for Covid-19 and more than 800 people were reported to have had contact with the infected person. According to…
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Chiang Mai night markets reopening tomorrow
Night markets in Chiang Mai will be reopened tomorrow after the province went 6 consecutive days with no new Covid-19 cases. According to Chiang Mai Governor, Charoenrit Sanguansat, the province and the provincial disease control committee agreed to ease up restrictions on social and business activities after the number of infections continually dropped and no new infections were reported during…
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A wild elephant kills 80 year old camper in Khao Yai
A wild elephant killed an 80 year old man camping in Khao Yai National Park early this morning. Park officials believe the bull elephant was in musth, which is when the elephant has rise in reproductive hormones and becomes aggressive. 80 year old Prayot Jitbun was sleeping in his tent when the elephant attacked. Other nearby campers alerted park officials…
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Wildfires hit Mae Hong Son’s Pai district
Several wildfires have broken out in Mae Hong Son’s Pai district in Northern Thailand. The governor says he believes that several blazes happening in the area are a result of the dry season arriving earlier than usual. Using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer system, the local forest fire control centre detected 155 so-called “heat points” in the Pai district from…
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Thai brothers charged with trafficking Thai women to Brunei for prostitution
3 people, including 2 brothers, have been arrested on charges of sex trafficking, accused of sending women to Brunei for prostitution purposes. Brothers Somchai Sukson, 55 years of age, and 49 year old Rachen Suksorn, were detained under an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court, charged with a sex trafficking operation involving over 3 people. Following the arrest of…
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Roi Et records first case of Covid-19 in employee from Chon Buri karaoke bar
The north-eastern province of Roi Et has confirmed its first Covid-19 case since last month’s resurgence of the virus. Governor Chayan Sirimas says the patient is a female employee from a karaoke joint in the Sri Racha district of Chon Buri province, in the east of the country. “She had close contact with another patient from Chon Buri province (her…
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500 kilograms of methamphetamine found hidden in phone booth call boxes
Police found 500 kilograms of methamphetamine and other illegal drugs hidden in 154 phone booth call boxes at a home in the Isaan province Khon Kaen. Officers from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau raided the home yesterday and arrested 6 people who are suspected of being members of a major drug trafficking operation in the Northeast. Along with half a tonne…
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3 people summonsed after allegedly attacking world-renowned Buri Ram dancer
3 young men are being summonsed in connection with the assault of Nopparat Boonrat, a world-renowned dancer and Buri Ram native. Buri Ram is a north eastern province. The men, aged 20-23, whose names have been withheld at this stage, are accused of severely injuring Nopparat last Wednesday night at a restaurant in Lahan Sai district in this northeastern province.…
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Thailand non-profit offers Zoom calls with Santa and his elephant friends
Santa Claus isn’t at the North Pole this year. He’s in Northern Thailand. And he’s not with elves. He’s mixing in with some of Thailand’s beloved elephants. Don’t believe it? Give him a Zoom call. Zoom calls on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with “Santa & his Elves” are offered by the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort and the…
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Khon Kaen mandates Covid testing for travellers to and from Samut Sakhon
The Khon Kaen governor is taking action after the recent Covid surge in Samut Sakhon by mandating that people returning to the province must undergo a Covid-19 screening. Somsak Jangtrakul says the new measures include those returning as of December 1 after he called a meeting of the provincial disease control today. At the meeting, it was decided that those…
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Returnees from Myanmar account for 9 of 17 new Covid infections today
Today, Thailand has reported 17 new cases of the novel coronavirus found in people entering Thailand from other countries, with 9 infected returnees coming from Myanmar through the Mae Sai district in northern Chiang Rai. All 9 were women who had worked at nightspots in Tachilek, the Burmese border town, featuring the now infamous 1G1-7 Hotel, which was the site…
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Man dies searching for shells while another dies in marathon
A man has died while searching for shells off Jomtien Beach, just south of Pattaya, after running out of oxygen. The man reportedly ran out of oxygen 9 metres underwater, when using scuba diving gear in deep waters. Rescue divers arrived at the scene and found 10 fishing boats about 1 kilometre away from the beach where local fishermen were…
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Authorities say “no quarantine” for tourists returning from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai
Despite a recent spike in Covid-19 local infections in northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, authorities are axing the requirement for a 14 day quarantine for tourists who have returned from those areas back to other parts of Thailand. Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, the spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, scotched the rumours of some businesses claiming that such…
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Public health officers investigate mussel seller after alleged food poisoning death
Public health officers are investigating a mussel seller in the Isaan province Mukdahan, which borders Laos, after a man developed food poisoning symptoms sometime after eating the mussels and died. 35 year old Watchara Mada and his father ate the mussels last week. Although his father ate the mussels, Watchara “feasted” on the shellfish, according to his mother, 52 year old…
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Go looking for mushrooms, find 10 grenades – NE Thailand
You’re just walking along, casually foraging for mushrooms when, behold, you come across 10 grenades! 10 LIVE grenades. That was the surprise awaiting a local mushroom picker in Si Sa Ket, North East Thailand, at the Huai Sala Wildlife Sanctuary. 58 year old Supin Thammaporn, was gathering mushrooms around the park when he found the unlikely cache of grenades. Military officials…
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Isaan woman saves her husband from elephant attack
A woman saved her husband from a wild elephant attack by screaming and banging objects together, driving the elephant away with the loud noises. 33 year old Supat Klonsalab, a rubber tapper in the Isaan province Bueng Kan, is being treated at a local hospital. Luckily, his injuries from being stomped by the elephant are not severe. 37 year old…
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Tigers and tiger body parts seized from Thai zoo investigated for alleged wildlife smuggling
In a crackdown on suspected wildlife trafficking, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation seized 5 tigers from a private zoo in the Isaan province Mukdahan. DNA tests confirmed that at least 3 of the 5 tiger cubs are not related to the tigers in the Mudka Tiger Park & Farm, leading officials to believe the wildcats were…
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12 people arrested for allegedly illegally crossing Thai-Myanmar border
12 Thais were arrested by Chaing Rai Immigration Police for allegedly illegally crossing the Myanmar border back into Thailand. The arrests follow a small coronavirus outbreak in Northern Thailand while Myanmar reports hundreds of new Covid-19 cases each day. Over the weekend, a 29 year old Thai woman tested positive for Covid-19 in Chiang Mai after visiting the hospital with…
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Police officer allegedly shoots and kills married couple, injures ex-wife at Isaan restaurant
A police officer was arrested for allegedly firing shots in an Isaan restaurant, killing a married couple and severely injuring his ex-wife. 44 year old Aram Sangchai is facing charges of premeditated murder. Aram had just returned home to the Isaan province Buri Ram from Bangkok after working with a police unit at the November 27 pro-democracy protest. The Bangkok…
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5 family members killed in early morning collision in Nakhon Ratchasima
An early morning collision today has taken the lives of 5 family members in Thailand’s lower northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. One boy, aged 5, and two girls, aged 3 and 11, along with other family members, were killed when a pickup and sport utility vehicle collided in the Non Daeng district at around 6:40 am on the Mitrapap highway…
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