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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1,500 year old human bones and pottery found in Isaan province
An Isaan woman found what experts say are 1,500 year old human bones and pottery. Fine Arts Department officials say they believe the bones and pottery were buried together during a funeral hundreds of years ago. A Surin local, 60 year old Muay Maichai, says she was walking through an area she frequents when she saw part of a jar sticking…
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British man killed in a hit and run incident in Korat
A 43 year old British man has been killed by a hit-and-run driver whilst driving his motorcycle at an intersection in the main city area of Nakhon Ratchasima last night. Emergency responders headed to the Phon Lan gate intersection on the Ratchasima-Chok Chai Road around 11.30pm. At this stage Police believe he was hit by a truck and the driver had fled…
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Young Buriram brothers steal over 30 motorbikes after parents split up
Two brothers, aged 12 and 14 have been nabbed after stealing over 30 motorbikes. The pair, seemingly unable to figure out where the petrol tank was, would look for a new motorbike to steal after the old one ran out of petrol. They told police that their crimes were for survival after their parents separated. They hadn’t been to school…
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Concerns over Covid surge in Myanmar prompt increased security at Tak border
The northern province of Tak has stepped up security along the Myanmar border amid concerns about Covid-19 numbers in the neighbouring country. The move comes as 2 schools in the western province of Prachuap Khiri Khan have had to temporarily close due to a number of students reporting a fever and the revelation that they had crossed the Thai-Myanmar border…
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Nakhon Phanom school director in hot water over alleged toilet spycam
The director of a school in the northeastern Nakhon Phanom province has been “moved to an inactive post” pending the results of an investigation into a video that shows him placing a camera in the toilet of a pub. The head of the primary school, in Ban Phaeng district, has been assigned to the District 2 provincial education office until…
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Isaan woman killed in landmine blast
Police in Isaan’s Surin province announced today that a woman there was killed when she stepped on a landmine while foraging for mushrooms in the forest close the Cambodian border. A duty officer at Buachet Police Station said 44 year old Sumilta Saleeme was killed by the blast yesterday morning. She was one of 9 people who went into the…
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Public concerned with costs of MRT’s Isaan project
Money is a main concern for businesses and investors involved in a project by the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand to construct an electric light rail train line in the Isaan province Nakhon Ratchasima. Some say MRT should reconsider the type of train planned for the project and go for a more cost efficient option. Province’s proposed MRT Green…
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Northern Thailand pigs on lockdown after virus outbreak
While humans are still trying to get a handle on the coronavirus, pigs in Northern Thailand are facing their own virus outbreak. The Department of Livestock Development have opened an investigation after the death of 5 pigs. Some pig farmers may need to kill off their pigs to prevent the virus from spreading. The pigs died from porcine reproductive and…
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Phayao gunmen kills 3, then himself
4 people including a 5 year old girl are dead, after a man went on a shooting spree last night in the Chiang Kham district of the upper northeastern province of Phayao. Another man was wounded before the gunman took his own life. Police say the fatal rampage began about 8:10pm at a house in Ban Nong Ha, in tambon…
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Isaan village chief finds human bones in rice field
An Isaan village chief found human bones in a rice field today as he was spreading fertiliser over his crops. A local 49 year old man was reported missing last month and police suspect the remains are his. The found bones scattered around the field in Buri Ram. Police along with a doctor from the district hospital investigated the scene.…
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Floods wash up the North, Northeast prepares as Mekong rises
Heavy rains and flooding in Northern Thailand damaged homes and killed 1 resident. 2 people are reported missing. The Nation Thailand did not report the details of the death, but says the “flood crisis” affected 10 provinces and more than 7,000 homes in the area. Flood victims are being rescued and brought to higher ground by the Department of Disaster…
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Teenager allegedly stole 2 million baht from high schoolers
A teenage girl allegedly stole a total of 2 million baht from her younger peers in the Isaan province Khon Kaen. Around 10 students, all 14 to 16 years old, filed police reports with help from their parents. Thai media reports the 17 year old girl’s name as Wawa. She allegedly ran a savings reward scheme at the local high…
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Khon Kaen sees second rally in 3 days
Khon Kaen, 1 of the “big 4” cities of Isaan in Thailand’s northeast, saw a brief anti-government demonstration in its central district last night, the second in 3 days. The rally at the democracy monument on Srichan road in the Khon Kaen municipal area started at around 9pm. A group of students and and supporters of the Free People group…
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1 injured as Udon Thani bus slips of wet road
A bus in Isaan’s Udon Thani province slipped off the road and onto is side in heavy rain last night, seriously injuring a passenger. All 19 passengers, some with minor injuries, and the driver were safely rescued, and no deaths were reported. The injured passenger was sent to hospital. Police and rescue staff were alerted to the incident, on Mittraphap…
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Udon Thani man charged with sexual assault of 7 year old daughter
A man in the northeastern province of Udon Thani has been arrested for alleged obscene acts with his underaged daughter. Police apprehended the man Friday at his rented home. He is also charged with using narcotics. A 38 year old woman, whose name is being withheld, brought her 7 year old daughter, to file a police report about an obscene…
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Official faces encroachment charge, American’s home seized in Petchabun
A senior official of the Office of the PM is facing encroachment charges after the seizure of a house built by an American man near Khao Kho national park in the northern Phetchabun province. Authorities filed a police report following an investigation by a team of forestry officials, soldiers and local authorities at the site on Thursday evening. They were…
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Teacher accused of sexually assaulting 11 year old in school toilet
A mother in the upper northeastern Kalasin province has filed a police report alleging that a 57 year old teacher sexually assaulted her 11 year old daughter, then offered 200,000 baht in exchange for not filing a complaint. The woman reportedly told police that on Thursday, her daughter behaved strangely after coming home from school. When she was questioned, the…
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White ribbons, black magic mark Isaan’s biggest protests yet – VIDEO
Thailand’s northeastern provinces, also known as Isaan, saw 2 large-scale student protests attended mainly by high school students yesterday, one of them involving “black magic.” The rallies which each drew about 1,000 people, were held in Korat city as well as at the Khon Kaen Democracy Monument. Most of the Khon Kaen attendees wore white ribbons and called for PM…
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Man with ax ravages Thai neighborhood, shot dead by police
A man was shot dead by police after he allegedly ravaged a Northeast Thailand neighborhood, swinging an ax at locals and damaging things around him. Police say 40 year old Detsak Khonhan allegedly charged at an officer when asked to put the ax down. Police say the man ignored warning shots. An officer then shot Khonhan in the leg, but Khonhan…
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Potential floods in the forecast, crocodile farmers prepare
Crocodile farms are advised to tighten security measures to prevent the crocodiles from escaping in case of a potential flood. With the Mekong River continuing to rise and monsoon rains in the forecast, the reptile farms in Northern Thailand are warned to take precautions and closely monitor the weather. The farms Nong Khai were recently inspected by an officer from…
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Immigration announce the arrest of 18 Chinese illegal migrants in Chiang Rai
Immigration officers yesterday announced the arrest of 18 undocumented Chinese immigrants Chiang Rai on August 2, who reportedly attempted to cross the Mekong River from Laos to enter the kingdom illegally. A team of investigating officers from the Chiang Saen Immigration Checkpoint was patrolled the Mekong River area after receiving a tip that a group of unlawful migrants would be…
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Suspect in brutal 2007 murder caught in Kanchanaburi
A suspect in the brutal 2007 murder of the mother and elder brother of a senior public prosecutor has been arrested. 56 year old Prawit “Tor” Ketsakun, was arrested in Pak Praek, in the western Kanchanaburi province. He denies involvement, claiming he was just sitting in a van. Police say that on August 21 2007 a group of men went…
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Lao man in Isaan died of tuberculosis, not Covid-19
A Lao man who died of unknown causes yesterday while visiting his daughter in the northeastern Udon Thani province, prompting panic among locals, has tested negative for Covid-19. The cause of death has been determined as tuberculosis. 61 year old Khampoun Phimphadee, and his wife, who was not named, arrived in tambon Nong Mek of Nong Han district about 2…
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6 nabbed in Northern drug bust
Authorities in northern Thailand have have arrested 6 members of a drug network with monthly sales of around 40 million baht, and seized property worth 5.7 million baht. The chief of Provincial Police Region 1 told reporters the 6 worked for the drug network operated by Boonmee “Jae” Phromma, who was caught last year. 4 of the 6 were women,…
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Suspect arrested in Korat murder of 29 year old mother
Police in Isaan’s Nakhon Ratchasima province yesterday arrested an air-conditioning repairman for the murder of a 29 year old mother, the Thai wife of a Singaporean businessman at her house in the central city district. Police found 26 year old Theeraphol Duangkrathok, of Chaiyaphum province, hiding in a rough shelter in a paddy field in the province’s Nong Bunmak district.…
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Police: No foul play in Vorayuth witness’s death
Police today ruled out the possibility of murder in the death of a key witness in Red Bull drinks heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya’s hit-and-run case. The regional police commander in Chiang Mai, where the witness died in a motorcycle incident last month, said new autopsy results found no trace of any suspicious substance apart from alcohol in Jaruchart Mardthong’s body.…
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DSI says enough evidence, testimony to pursue case of vanished Karen activist “Billy”
Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation has announced it will challenge prosecutors’ decision to drop charges against 4 men allegedly involved in the presumed murder of a Karen land rights activist. Department director Korawat Panprapakorn said there is sufficient evidence and eyewitness testimony to press murder charges against the 4, including the former chief of Kaeng Krachan National Park, for the…
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Korat man terrifies locals with “musical instrument”
Residents of Isaan’s Nakhon Ratchasima province were terrified when a man, dressed in a civil servant’s uniform, pulled out what looked like a heavy rifle to threaten someone who had jumped the queue at a local mechanic’s shop yesterday. Shop staff said the man argued with the person who had cut the queue for 10 minutes before heading to his…
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British embassy in Thailand issues advice over student demonstrations
The British Embassy has issued travel advice that applies to all foreigners living in Thailand. The ‘advice’ refers to the escalation of the student and activist anti-government protests. In the past, generally, these situations don’t end well once there is a critical mass and the government, via the Army, decide to step in.But at this stage the tone of both…
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Abbot arrested and defrocked after taking “up-skirt” videos of teenage girl
The abbot of a temple in northeastern Thailand has been arrested and defrocked after being accused of taking “up-skirt” videos of a teenage girl. The incident is understood to have taken place while the 16 year old girl was visiting the temple on a merit-making trip with her family. The abbot has been named as 48 year old Thanachai Srisuriyawong…
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