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.

  • 12 million meth pills, half tonne of ‘ice’ seized in Chiang Rai | Thaiger

    12 million meth pills, half tonne of ‘ice’ seized in Chiang Rai

    Been a busy day in northern Thailand as police grapple with the transporting of drugs across the borders. First, this morning there was a motorcyclist with a backpack full of meth pills. Now a much larger shipment has been intercepted. The Nation reports that Chiang Rai police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 12 million methamphetamine pills and 521 kilograms…

  • TAT plan to boost tourism to secondary locations, and Thai Airways’ bottomline | Thaiger

    TAT plan to boost tourism to secondary locations, and Thai Airways’ bottomline

    The TAT – Tourism Authority of Thailand – is coming to the rescue of the beleaguered national carrier, Thai Airways. They are going to promote 20 flight routes in 10 provinces for the rest of this year. This is in response to instructions from the Thai government for state-owned enterprises to work together to boost income for the airline which…

  • Australian expat and Thai wife go missing | Thaiger

    Australian expat and Thai wife go missing

    PHOTO: Sanook – Alan Hawk and his wife Nott Suddaen A man has been released on bail as police continue their investigation into the mysterious disappearance of an Australian man and his Thai wife in northern Thailand. Alan Hawk (name transliterated from Thai) and his wife Nott Suddaen, both 61, were reported missing on Thursday by a concerned friend. The friend…

  • Unsworth sues Musk over ‘pedo’ slur | Thaiger

    Unsworth sues Musk over ‘pedo’ slur

    The British cave expert who was part of the international rescue team helping to bring the 13 Mu Pa footballers out of the Tham Luang caves in July, has sued Tesla founder Elon Musk for calling him a “pedo guy” and a “child rapist”, amongst other insults in a series of Tweets.” The defamation suit has been filed in LA…

  • Order a 37K brand name bag online – a 100 baht plastic bottle arrives in the mail | Thaiger

    Order a 37K brand name bag online – a 100 baht plastic bottle arrives in the mail

    INN are reporting that a 25 year old Khon Kaen woman has made a complaint to police saying that she had ordered a 37,000 baht second-hand brand name bag online but all she received was a plastic bottle. The woman says that hen she opened the package all she found was a plastic bottle with a Kung Fu Panda logo…

  • Police in Phayao chase an ambulance loaded with illicit drugs | Thaiger

    Police in Phayao chase an ambulance loaded with illicit drugs

    A dramatic chase in Phayao’s Dok Khamtai district last night (Sunday) has resulted in police seizing half a million methamphetamine pills, a large amount of crystal methamphetamine and ketamine… from an ambulance. The twist is that the ambulance was being used by the drug-trafficking gang as a cover-up for their operation. The Nation reports that Phayao police were alerted at…

  • Cave film starts shooting in November | Thaiger

    Cave film starts shooting in November

    A Thai film telling the story of the Tham Luang cave rescue is due to begin rolling cameras in November. It’s working title is ‘Nang Non’ in Thai (The Cave in English) Tom Waller, an Irish/Thai filmmaker, gave a presentation about the project at the Toronto International Film Festival. ‘Nang Non’ is the working title of the film, also the…

  • Royal Gala Dinner ‘like a big family reunion’ | Thaiger

    Royal Gala Dinner ‘like a big family reunion’

    PHOTO/VIDEOS: Thai PBS Thai PBS spoke to a number of the attendees at last Thursday night’s Royal Gala Dinner to commemorate and thank international and Thai volunteers who contributed to the amazing rescue of the 13 young football players from the Tham Luang caves in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai early July. Nothing would overwhelm Maj Hodges from the United States…

  • 2 dead and 11 injured in Udon Thani road crash | Thaiger

    2 dead and 11 injured in Udon Thani road crash

    PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times Two people have been killed and 10 injured after their passenger van smashed into a trailer-truck in Udon Thani yesterday (Monday). The accident happened on Dong Rai-Ban Phue Road in Ban Khao around midday. A 38 year old truck driver, Aniroot Jadpong, from Udon Thani, fled the scene following the incident but later reported to police. He…

  • Truck carrying gas cylinders flips over in Udon Thani | Thaiger

    Truck carrying gas cylinders flips over in Udon Thani

    Cooking-gas cylinders have toppled out of an overturned six-wheel truck on the Mitraparp Highway in Udon Thani’s Mueang district. The incident happened yesterday prompting the police to seal off the scene as a safety precaution. The fully loaded truck lost control while heading towards the Muang Udon Thani Museum. The crash injured two people on board. The potential of a…

  • Van crash injures 14 pre-schoolers | Thaiger

    Van crash injures 14 pre-schoolers

    A passenger van carrying 25 children to a nursery in Chiang Rai’s Wiang Pa Pao district has crashed into the rear of a truck, injuring the van driver and 14 of the children. The accident on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai road in Moo 6 village in Tambon Wiang Ka Long happened at around 7:20am this morning. The van driver 59…

  • Mango Tree hosts educational tour to train global chefs in the art of Isan cuisine | Thaiger

    Mango Tree hosts educational tour to train global chefs in the art of Isan cuisine

    Leading Asian restaurant operator, Mango Tree Worldwide, recently conducted a major educational trip to Northeast Thailand to teach its international chefs about the exquisite art of Isan cuisine. Isan is the vast, largely rural region of Thailand bordering Laos, Cambodia and the Mekong River. Sometimes referred to as the “Rice Bowl of Thailand” and the heart of the country’s culinary…

  • How to get 300,000 Instagram followers – US ABC TV interviews Mu Pa team | Thaiger

    How to get 300,000 Instagram followers – US ABC TV interviews Mu Pa team

    PHOTO: Adul Samon – ABC News The 12 Mu Pa football players and their coach say they wanted to thank for the world for the outpouring of love and support that went into rescuing them from a harrowing subterranean ordeal. It was the first independent interview with the team sanctioned by the Thai government and the boys’ minders. 14 year old…

  • Flood watch on Phetchaburi, Nan, western provinces | Thaiger

    Flood watch on Phetchaburi, Nan, western provinces

    An update on the flood situation in many parts of the country. PHOTOS: The Nation Phetchaburi Water levels in the Phetchaburi River are rising dangerously from the overwhelmed Kaeng Krachan Dam. The dam is now 109 per cent full and 22.46 million cubic metres of water are being released every day into the river. “The river’s water level has already…

  • Heavy rains leave provinces on flood alert | Thaiger

    Heavy rains leave provinces on flood alert

    Tropical storm Bebinca has now moved westwards into Myanmar as it continues to weaken but it’s left a trail of floods behind as home and farmland across the the north and north-east as rivers and canals swelled with the heavy rains. Around Petchaburi the situation is still perilous for residents in the wake of the Kaeng Krachan Dam. In Chiang Rai, a large…

  • Nan, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai report damage from current floods | Thaiger

    Nan, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai report damage from current floods

    Weather warnings remain current for 38 Thai provinces affected by tropical storm Bebinka which is currently hovering over northern Vietnam, moving west. Meanwhile its affects are already being felt in the north. Moutain run-off has hit and washed away three sections of the main Chiang Rai-Chiang Mai road early today. The Doi Saket police station in Chiang Rai was alerted at…

  • Weather and dam authorities say they’re ready for the impact of Bebinca | Thaiger

    Weather and dam authorities say they’re ready for the impact of Bebinca

    Authorities say they’re well prepared for tropical storm Bebinca, with emergency response teams in full readiness and, importantly, with water levels being lowered in every dam in the storm’s path, leaving room for greater water inflows. The Meteorological Department issued warnings yesterday saying the storm will bring heavy downpours throughout the upper regions of Thailand and may trigger flash floods in…

  • New Ferrari slams into tree in Korat | Thaiger

    New Ferrari slams into tree in Korat

    Been a bad week if you’re a supercar owner in Thailand. Photos from Daily News show a red plate Ferrari that collided with the back of an 18 wheel truck on the Friendship Highway (Mitraphap) in the Si Khiw area of Nakhon Ratchasima. The accident also involved a Chevrolet car that ended up under the truck in the roadside ditch.…

  • Chiang Rai venue chosen to move the buildings for judges on Doi Suthep | Thaiger

    Chiang Rai venue chosen to move the buildings for judges on Doi Suthep

    PHOTO: Thai PBS Thai PBS is reporting that judicial administrators have agreed to ask the Agricultural Techniqe Department in Chiang Rai for the use of a 40-rai plot of their plants research centre to construct new offices and housing tor the Region 5 Appeals Court. The request follows a protracted protest from Chiang Mai residents about the special housing for…

  • Four of the Mu Pa 13 become Thai citizens | Thaiger

    Four of the Mu Pa 13 become Thai citizens

    PHOTO: Adul Samon, Mongkol Boonpium, Pornchai Khamluang and assistant coach Ekkapol Chantawongse. Good news for four of the stateless Mu Pa Academy footballers. During their time in the cave it was revealed that four of the team were officially stateless – unable to get a bank account, get legally married, start a business, etc. Tonight the four officially became Thai…

  • British cave rescuer honoured in his home town | Thaiger

    British cave rescuer honoured in his home town

    Another of the international rescue team, who flew into Chiang Rai last month to assist with the cave rescue, has been honoured. Richard Stanton, one of the British cave divers involved in the risky Tham Luang rescue operation, has been bestowed with the Coventry Award of Merit. The award was made in his home town of Coventry, where he lives.…

  • The miracle at Tham Luang Caves | Thaiger

    The miracle at Tham Luang Caves

    The Thaiger would like to thank the incredible dedication, skill and commitment of all the rescuers, from around the world. Thank you.

  • 11 of the Mu Pa team complete their ordination, coach Ekkapol stays on | Thaiger

    11 of the Mu Pa team complete their ordination, coach Ekkapol stays on

    A provincial committee is being set up to screen approaches made to the 12 Mu Pa football players and their coach to attend various events and activities. Chiang Rai’s new Governor Prajon Pratsakul was speaking to reporters after the team made a courtesy call on him. They were accompanied by Phra Khru Prayut Jetiyanukarn, acting abbot of Wat Phra That…

  • English retiree electrocuted while mowing his lawn in Khon Kaen | Thaiger

    English retiree electrocuted while mowing his lawn in Khon Kaen

    Chiang Rai Times report that Brit Anthony Stratton has died whilst mowing the lawn in his garden in Khon Kaen. The 76 year old retiree was electrocuted while he was mowing the lawn on Wednesday afternoon. His wife discovered the body. Pol Lt Col Gritided Supan of Chum Phae Provincial Police Station said, “We received a phone call from a woman…

  • Korat dog gets shot with an arrow | Thaiger

    Korat dog gets shot with an arrow

    A poor dog in Korat had a bad day earlier but it ended up a better day thanks to some good Samaritans. The stray dog in Nakhon Ratchasima underwent emergency treatment this morning (Thursday) after it was found crying in agony with a fish-hunting arrow embedded in its side. 51 year old Natthawut Chuckling heard the dog in distress and…

  • Floods hit five villages near the Tham Luang cave rescue site – Chiang Rai | Thaiger

    Floods hit five villages near the Tham Luang cave rescue site – Chiang Rai

    PHOTO: Local News2010A month ago the local villagers near the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai were volunteering with food and helping hands. Now they’re fighting to save their homes. Mountain run-off last night (Monday) has hit five villages in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, near where the young Moo Pa (Wild Boars) football team was recently rescued from the…

  • ‘The Heroes’ unveiled in Chiang Rai | Thaiger

    ‘The Heroes’ unveiled in Chiang Rai

    A 13 x 3 metre mural has become the latest step in immortalising the Tham Luang cave rescue for generations to come. The mural will shortly be moved to be part of an exhibit which will be constructed at the front of the mouth of the caves. “The Heroes” is a canvas painting which portrays the story and the many,…

  • Australian doctor reveals about the complicated sedation of Mu Pa 13 | Thaiger

    Australian doctor reveals about the complicated sedation of Mu Pa 13

    Dr Richard Harris, the Australian doctor involved in the Tham Luang cave rescue, has revealed new details about the sedation of the young football team, following a ceremony at Government House in his home city of Adelaide on Thursday where he received a standing ovation. Thai PBS reports that Dr Harris spoke about howhe taught the other divers how to…

  • The Mu Pa 13, minus one, attend blessing ceremony before becoming novice monks | Thaiger

    The Mu Pa 13, minus one, attend blessing ceremony before becoming novice monks

    PHOTOS: The Nation Eleven of the Mu Pa football team rescued from the Chiang Rai cave in Mai Sai, along with their assistant coach, participated in a Buddhist ritual this morning (Tuesday) in more carefully stage managed media appearances in the aftermath of the rescue. The ceremony honours the cave’s resident Phra That Doi Wao spirit. This afternoon they will have…

  • Thai and foreign media warned off Mu Pa 13 | Thaiger

    Thai and foreign media warned off Mu Pa 13

    “Stay away.” That’s the warning issued by the public relations office of Chiang Rai province after a correspondent of America’s ABC News conducted an interview with the youngest of the survivors from Tham Luang cave in defiance of advice of psychiatrists and child welfare officials. The film crew also visited the church for 14 year old Adul Sam-on where church…