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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Two 10 year old schoolchildren killed after reckless sedan crashes into school bus
Two 10 year old schoolchildren were killed and another 19 were injured after a reckless sedan driver crashed into a school bus. The smash caused a collision between a school bus and a minibus on a road in the northern province of Phichit. The incident happened on the Phichit-Saklek Road in the Mueang district of Phichit at 5.30pm yesterday, January…
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Violent monk flees scene after leaving teenage girl for dead
A violent monk is on the run after attacking his 17 year old granddaughter with a hammer and leaving her for dead at a temple in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani last Saturday. Police believe that a letter found at the scene suggests the monk had a crush on the girl and was jealous of a friendship she’d recently…
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Man lives in a tree for 3 years due to financial embarrassment
A Thai man in the Isaan province of Udon Thani has been living in a tree for three years due to financial embarrassment. A provincial official offered him a new house on the ground and food, but he refused. He insisted on staying in the tree until officials find him a job. The 38 year old man, Charlie, constructed a…
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Man in NE Thailand allegedly raped his young relatives and lured them into sex trade
A man in northeast Thailand allegedly raped and exploited young boys who were his relatives and lured them into the sex trade. The boys are six and 10 years old. Police arrested the suspect, 21 year old Saifa, in the Si Bun Ruang district of Nong Bua Lamphu province today. The officers caught Saifa as he was allegedly taking one…
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Thai police criticised over Tesco forced labour inquiry
Thai police are being criticised over their inquiry into Tesco’s alleged forced labour claims after completing their investigation in only one day. According to The Guardian, Burmese workers who produced F&F jeans at VK Garment factory in Thailand’s western province of Mae Sot, between 2017 and 2020, were allegedly working under forced labour. Such labour allegedly included working 99-hour weeks…
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Man lying on a roadside for 6 days survives accident
A man who was injured in a motorcycle accident survived for six days while lying on the roadside before being rescued in Udon Thani’s Isaan province. The injured man, Withawat Nanthapetch, went missing on December 29 of last year after he went to a bar to drink with friends. A bar security camera captured the 22 year old walking out…
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Famous dance teacher arrested for sexual assault allegation
Police arrested a well-known Thai dance instructor, Chutidate Thongyoo after sexual assault allegations were made by an underage teenage boy. The teacher denied the allegations. The teenager filed a complaint with the police alleging that he had been sexually harassed by the 60 year old teacher, also known as Thiam, on September 16 last year. The boy revealed he was…
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Tesco slavery case – police interview 100s of Mae Sot workers
Police and labour officials in Mae Sot are interviewing more than 100 workers from the former supermarket supplier in the Tesco slavery case. Authorities are gathering information as they follow up on last week’s raid led by deputy national police chief Gen Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn at the VK Garment (VKG) factory in the border town of Tak province. The…
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Golden gunmen set to repel crime wave in Thailand’s Wild West
In the lawless shopping malls of Mae Sot – Thailand’s Dodge City – golden gunmen are set to a repel crime wave. Gold shop owners in the western border province are being given firearms training, as an epidemic of armed robberies grips the Thai side of the frontier with Myanmar. Three gold shops in the province have been held up…
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Monkey steals bag containing 50,000 Thai baht and throws it off a cliff
A trouble-making monkey in Srisaket province, northeast Thailand, stole a tourist’s tote bag and launched it off the side of a cliff yesterday after finding nothing edible inside it. A team of park rangers scaled down the cliffside to retrieve the bag, which contained 50,000 baht (US$1,438) in cash. Park rangers at Khao Phra Wihan National Park received a call from…
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Pink lilies pull hundreds of thousands of tourists to northeast Thailand lake
Flowers are still springing up across Thailand, drawing tourists to admire them. The latest flower hotspot in Thailand to have tourists come flocking is Nong Han Kumphawapi, known as Thailand’s ‘Pink Water Lilies Lake.’ The lake is located in the northeast province of Udon Thani. The chairman of the lake’s tourism boat enterprise, Paisit Sukrome, told Thai media the lilies…
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Kindergarten students save up to buy blankets for the needy in northern Thailand
Kindergarten students in Chiang Rai province in northernmost Thailand saved up one baht every day for a year to buy blankets for people suffering in the cold weather this winter, especially those living at high altitudes in the province’s mountainous regions. Teachers at Chiang Rai Kindergarten invited students to join a charitable project entitled “Doing 89 Million Good Deeds for…
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Forest ranger and 4 locals arrested for illegal logging in northeast Thailand
Yesterday, police arrested a forest ranger – whose duty is to protect the forest – and four of his friends for illegal logging in Khon Kaen province in northeast Thailand. The gang cut down protected and valuable species such as Siamese rosewood and Burmese padauk. The police’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD) recently travelled to Khon Kaen’s Nong Ruea district…
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Thailand’s rescued tiger cubs fattening up, but not for the pot
Thailand’s rescued tiger cubs are fattening up nicely in Udon Ratchathani, but these guys have already been saved from the pot. Laos’ wildlife authorities are finally assisting Thailand’s search for 30 tiger cubs trafficked across the border to be fattened up and fed to sexually-challenged Chinese customers in underground Bangkok eateries. Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, director of the Ubon Ratchathani’s National Parks,…
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Man savaged to death by three pit bulls
A man was savaged to death by three pit bulls in the Isaan province of Udon Thani. The owner of the dogs is distraught and revealed he will find a new home for the dogs to avoid the same fate in the future. Pornchai Ritmaha was attacked by three pit bulls last night at about 8pm. The 47 year old…
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Emotional man holds daughter hostage in bid to win back his estranged wife
An emotional man tried to hold his eight year old daughter hostage at school in the Nang Rong district in the Isaan province of Buriram in a bid to win back his estranged wife after she asked for a divorce. A teacher notified the police when the 35 year old father broke down crying in the classroom. Police managed to apprehend…
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Man faked death to break up with his wife
A Thai man hated his wife so much that he faked his death to escape her unhappy clutches. A 35 year old married man named Bird, from Udon Thani in northeast Thailand, left a suicide note for his wife on Tuesday, December 13 saying he was going to end it all because he could not take any more of her…
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13 online gambling houses raided, 1 billion baht assets seized
Cyber police raided 13 online gambling houses in Bangkok and Chiang Rai and seized money and assets worth over 1 billion baht including cash, luxury cars, watches, designer bags, and plots of land. Police reported details of the arrests at a press conference yesterday, December 13. The ball started rolling on smashing the illegal operation when the officers spotted a…
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Thai actress to be questioned over illegal hotel
Thai actress Pimchanok “Baifern” Luevisadpaibul has been called for questioning by police in connection with an illegal hotel in northern Thailand. Police ordered the closure of a luxury resort hotel in Sapan village in the Bo Kluea district of Nan on Thursday, December 8 after they discovered it illegally encroached on Phu Kha and Pha Daeng forest reserves in Nan…
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Temple in Pichit wows with rainbow-coloured crematorium
A temple in the northern province of Phichit is turning some heads with some colourful new decorations. Instead of painting their crematorium in the modest traditional tones of white or cream, they have instead painted it with eye-catching bright rainbow colours. Wat Nong Plong in the Wang Sai Phun district of Phichit decided to brighten up an area overwhelmingly associated…
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Two of four robbers still missing after gold shop shooting
Two out of four suspects remain at large after an attempted gold shop robbery that ended in a hail of bullets. Four people tried to break into a gold shop in the Muang district of the northern province of Tak on Thursday. But they did not expect to be faced with a shop owner who is a champion marksman. He…
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In northeast Thailand, a pretty camping site is being offered for free
In Thailand’s northeast Nakhon Ratchasima province, the Department of Rural Roads is letting tourists stay at a pretty camping site for free. The site is located between markers Km18 and Km19 on Rural Road 3052 of Wang Nam Khiao district. It overlooks the Baan San Kamphaeng Reservoir. There is a lane along the reservoir where people can walk, jog, and…
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Border patrol sergeant in northeast Thailand kills colleague
A border patrol sergeant in Thailand’s northeast province of Khon Kaen killed his colleague on Monday by shooting him five times. The incident happened at the Border Patrol Police Division Region 2 compound. The culprit, 49 year old Sergeant Major Chuchart Pluakkhiao, shot and killed 44 year old Sergeant Major Pichit Saenkan, according to the Khon Kaen provincial police commander.…
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Bloody end to innocent celebratory nap
An Udon Thani woman who was attacked by her husband last week is now looking around for someone new. Husband Somchai returned home early, and threw her lover out of her bed, before stabbing him. Chanoknat says she is unhappy with her husband Somchai Sonangam. According to Bangkok Post, the 44 years old says her rude husband barged in on her…
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Bus flipped in Tak injuring 44 Burmese workers, killing 3
A bus full of Burmese workers overturned in the Tak provinces, killing three and injuring 44 more. The bus was transporting Burmese migrant workers from the northern province across the country to work in the southern province of Songkhla. The accident took place yesterday evening in the Mueang district of Tak. Mae Toh Police were notified about the bus that…
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Cowardly rapist arrested for a fifth time in Isaan
A serial rapist was arrested for the fifth time on Friday for attacking and sexually assaulting two women in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani. The 41 year old man, named Pathanin Jen, an ex-convict, is also guilty of several thefts in the Isaan province. Footage emerged of Pathanin conducting a cowardly attack on a teenage girl on Sunday, November…
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Four members of drug gang arrested in Nakhon Si Thammarat
Four members of a drug gang were arrested in Nakhon Si Thammarat Friday carrying 1.2 million meth pills. The four had brought the pills from the north of the country, according to Pol Maj Gen Somchai Suetortrakul. Police arrested members of the drug gang Somyos Jaidee, 57 years old, and Supiwa Ratsupha, 20 years old, in Khuan. The pair had…
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Military mum calls for justice over slain son
A military mum called for justice over the death of her son, an army private from Uthai Thani province. She called for a full investigation, accusing 11 other soldiers of beating her son to death in a punishment cell. The funeral of Pvt Kajornsak, 24, of the Fourth Infantry Division, took place at Thung Luang temple in the Nong Chang…
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Druggie arrested after inviting netizens to take crystal meth
A man off his head on crystal meth was arrested six hours after he posted a video of himself using the crazy drug, also known as Yaba, on social media and invited others to try it. The confused druggie said he wanted to promote crystal meth on social media just once in his life even if it is illegal to…
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Officials expand northeast Thailand’s Naga tourism with new travel route
Officials are expanding northeast Thailand’s Naga tourism with an exciting new travel route. The route stops at places in the region where people can worship the mythical serpent. The route is organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)’s Udon Thani office. Tourists on the route visit places of worship in the Udon Thani, Nong Khai, and Bueng Kan provinces.…
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