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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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Returning soldiers’ quarantine site changed to Bangkok
Soldiers of the Royal Thai Army, heading back next week from a joint military exercise with US troops in Hawaii, will be placed in state quarantine at a hotel in Bangkok, not in Nakhon Ratchasima as earlier planned. The northeastern province’s governor made the announcement today. He had previously approved a request from the 3rd Infantry Division to place 151…
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Air Asia announces 2 new cross-country domestic routes into Hua Hin
Two new air routes announced by local Thai AirAsia will be a boon to coastal town of Hua Hin… Chiang Mai – Hua Hin and Udon Thani – Hua Hin. The newly announced routes will allow getaways to the popular resort town on the new twice-weekly flights. The flights will be every Friday and Sunday. CEO of Thai AirAsia , Santisuk…
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Buriram policeman charged over shooting of neighbour
A policeman, working in the east of Buriram province in Thailand’s north east, has been charged with attempted murder of his neighbour. The victim was shot in a dispute over the man’s son and the playing of loud music in the Krasang district. 53 year old local policeman, Snr Sgt Maj Chaiyong Jaemrungroj, surrendered to the station’s senior officer yesterday. He…
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Dengue on the rise in the northeast, wet season worries
As if you haven’t got enough to worry about. For now, Covid-19 is largely under control here in the Land of Smiles, but the annual worries around the wet season and Dengue Fever are an ongoing nuisance. Whilst Covid-19 is getting all the headlines, Dengue is a clear and present danger for anyone living in Thailand, especially at this time…
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Rare big cats spotted in Thai national park
The Facebook page of Khlong Lan National Park in Thailand’s northwestern Kamphaeng Phet province, report that camera traps, set up to track the population of tigers, instead managed to capture a sighting of a black panther and leopard. “The appearance of the panther and leopard prove that the forest has become more abundant and attracted the return of these animals…
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Education ministry bans forced haircuts for students
Just days after a teacher who forced a pupil to submit to a haircut was reprimanded and made to apologise, Thailand’s Ministry of Education has issued a letter instructing all schools under its jurisdiction to repeal the 1975 regulations regarding students’ hairstyle and length, and forbidding the arbitrary cutting of students’ hair at school. The practice has long been used…
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Posters of missing persons removed by Ubon University security
Prompted by the abduction of Thai activist Wanchalearm Satisakit in Cambodia, a student group called “Kob Plerng” (คบแพลิง) at Isaan’s Ubon Ratchatani University put up a string of posters of people assumed to be abducted by the Thai state. They were removed by university security this week. Ubon Ratchatani is one of the four major city centres in Isaan, north…
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Over 1,400 arrested, fined for illegal motorbike races in Udon Thani
In a move reminiscent of last week’s public shaming in Chon Buri, police in the northern province of Udon Thani have hired a local steamroller to destroy hundreds of illegally modified motorcycle mufflers. More than 1,400 alleged street racers were arrested and almost 370 motorcycles seized in a week long crackdown on illegal racing in the province. Udon Thani’s police…
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Millions of meth pills, tonnes of marijuana seized in 3 major drug hauls
In what is becoming an increasingly common story, police have announced the seizure of millions of methamphetamine pills (ya ba) and more than 2 tonnes of marijuana, among other types of illicit drugs, in 3 major anti-drug operations last week. The head of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau told a press briefing that drug agencies confiscated nearly 1.5 million methamphetamine pills,…
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Lucky escape for rafting group after dam floodgate opens – VIDEO
A group of tourists is lucky to be alive after a worker accidentally opened a dam floodgate nearby. The tourists had just seconds to get out of the way, as a tour guide who realised what was happening, yelled a warning at them. Thai Residents reports that the incident happened at the Sirindhorn Dam in Ubon Ratchathani, in the north-east…
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Man fatally shot in hunting expedition
Authorities in Lamphun province, south of Chiang Mai, have arrested 29 year old Weerachai Rorwongtawan for allegedly shooting dead his friend, Phitsunu Tanupetchpan, while hunting with 2 other friends. The suspect told police he had invited his friends to go hunting with him, and that he and Phitsunu were in different areas of the forest. When he saw something moving…
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Millions headed home for holiday long weekend
The Transport Ministry says more than 2 million people used public transport on Friday, leading up to the Asahna Bucha Day and Buddhist Lent holiday weekend, to travel to their provincial homes. Some headed for a short domestic holiday. Asahna Bucha Day is today, while tomorrow marks the beginning Buddhist Lent. Because both fall on the weekend, Monday is a…
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Thousands arrested nationwide for illegal motorbike racing
Since the lifting of the national curfew on June 14, gangs of illegal street racers, known as “dek waen” or “vanz boys” have quickly returned to Thailand’s roads. From June 20-30, police arrested more than 5,600 racers and seized more than 17,700 bikes nationwide. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has warned against gatherings and street racing, and says that regardless of the…
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Report alleges man exposing genitals in viral clip is local government official
A video of a man exposing his genitals while alone in an office setting has gone viral on Thai social media as rumours abound that the man in question is a local administration official in north-east Thailand. A report in Nation Thailand today says the man is thought to be a permanent secretary in a local administration office in Ubon…
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2 arrested in Isaan for methamphetamines, assets seized
Police in Isaan’s Nakhon Phanom province say they’ve arrested 2 men with 42,000 methamphetamine pills (“yaba”) and 100 grams of crystal methamphetamine (“ice”) in their possession, and seized their assets. The deputy provincial governor identified the pair as 29 year old Vichai Niwongsa and 45 year old Veerapong Ngaonoi, both from the Tha Uthen district. He says authorities followed the…
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1 dead, another injured in Nakhon Ratchasima shootings
One man is dead and another seriously wounded in separate shooting incidents this morning in the Khong district of the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, aka Korat. A suspect was detained for questioning who police believe committed both shootings in a drug deal gone bad. At about 4am police at Khong station learned a man had been shot and wounded…
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Family’s home seized over unpaid 17,000 baht student loan
A family’s home was seized for failing to pay back a 17,000 baht student debt. Not only were they kicked out of their home, but it was sold swiftly with little or no consultation with the family. The Phrae home in Northern Thailand was seized over the unpaid student loans. The family was later notified in a letter by the…
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Baby elephants abused to “break” them for tourism- VIDEO
The plight of Thailand’s many elephants has made plenty of headlines since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in January, especially in the North, where the many elephant camps and “sanctuaries” were the a major draw for tourist revenue until the Emergency Decree and travel ban forced many to close. To avoid starvation, thousands made the long journey back to…
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Buriram father and son reunited after 16 year separation
An 83 year old man in the north-eastern province of Buriram has been reunited with the son he has not seen for 16 years, thanks to the local police force who were able to help tracking him down. The man, named in a Thai Residents report as Rit Bunpetch, is understood to be bedridden with gallstones and gout, and had…
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Garbage collectors find a bag full of meth
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. A black rubbish bag thrown into rubbish bins wasn’t your typical garbage. Police say the bag, picked up by a garbage truck in Northeast Thailand, was full of methamphetamine pills. Along with 78,000 methamphetamine pills, police say the bag contained 2 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, or ice. Police say the bag may have…
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Thai teenager dreams of being an architect, sells his artwork to earn tuition fees
A talented teenager in the north-eastern province of Kalasin has taken to painting landscapes of his local area and selling them to earn his university fees. 18 year old Krittamet Saisaen, known as “Earth”, dreams of being an architect, but the prohibitively expensive fees put that beyond his reach. Earth’s mother died 2 years ago, at which point his father…
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Khon Kaen police investigate tyre puncture epidemic
10 vehicles have been damaged after hundreds of nails were dumped on a road in Khon Kaen, north east Thailand. Police don’t know whether the nails were maliciously dumped on the road or if it was an accident. The nails were found in front of the Nong Go school in Khon Kaen. At least 10 motorbikes and cars have been…
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31 illegal Cambodian migrant workers apprehended in border town
Thai immigration authorities arrested 3 Thais and 31 illegal Cambodian migrants travelling in 3 pickup trucks in Sa Kaeo, about 200 kilometres east of Bangkok, near the Cambodian border yesterday morning. 4 other vehicles managed to evade officials. The Thais stand charged with assisting illegal migrant workers. They have been identified as 39 year old driver Yotha Nadkhiew, 42 year old…
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Korat restauranteur will change your perception of airline food
An entrepreneur in Isaan’s Nakhon Ratchasima province is transforming an old Airbus A330 jetliner (formerly flying with Thai Airways) into a restaurant, hoping his new business will take off after months of being ‘grounded’ by lockdown restrictions enforced by the Thai government. 33 year old Sirikorn Phimparat, manager of Airways Land, says the aircraft is now being refurbished as a…
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British expat petitions government to help desperate elephants, handlers
The closure of elephant camps and sanctuary-style tourist attraction throughout the northeastern provinces has left thousands of elephants facing starvation. Some have made the long march back to their home villages, where their arrival is creating more problems than it solves. Susan Field, a British citizen living in Koh Samui, yesterday presented a petition with nearly 65,000 signatures to the Thai…
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Minister promises fair investigation into transfer of hospital director amid corruption allegations
Following the transfer of the director of Khon Kaen hospital in north-east Thailand amid corruption allegations, Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says an investigation into the matter will be “fair and just”. Dr. Charnchai Chanvorachaikul was transferred to Prapokklao Hospital in the eastern province of Chanthaburi, following allegations, strongly denied, of misappropriation of hospital funds. He was initially replaced…
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6 Pakistani nationals arrested for convenience store scam
Police in Chiang Rai have arrested 6 Pakistani nationals charged with scamming convenience stores around northern Thailand. Thai Residents reports that the men would hand over a 1,000 baht note to pay for an item in a convenience store and receive change. They would then claim they didn’t want the item after all and ask for their money back. The…
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Locals support young tourist stuck at Phrae forest retreat
A lot has happened in the past 4 months. Imagine being away from it all and staying in a forest in northern Thailand, picking mulberries. That’s what happened to an 18 year old Polish woman. She’s been stuck at a Phrae forest retreat since February. She’s secluded at the Mulberry Farm Denchai. The retreat’s Facebook page says the it’s for…
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Staff at Khon Kaen hospital call for transferred director to be reinstated
Following the transfer of Dr. Charnchai Chanvorachaikul, a former director at Khon Kaen hospital, in north-east Thailand, staff at the hospital are demanding their boss be reinstated in his role. Dr. Charnchai was transferred to the eastern province of Chanthaburi province amid, so far, unsubstantiated allegations of corruption. He has consistently denied the allegation that he accepted bribes from a…
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Woman demands monk apologise for killing her pregnant sister in Buriram
A Buddhist monk who stabbed a pregnant woman to death has been ordered to apologise by the woman’s sister. The monk, named as 57 year old Phra Um Deeruenrom, was the abbot of Wat Ban Nong Bua, in the northeastern province of Buriram, until his arrest and defrocking. He has confessed to murdering the woman, who it’s understood he was…
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