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.

  • Rare pink dragon millipede amazes tourists in Uthai Thani

    Rare pink dragon millipede amazes tourists in Uthai Thani

    Tourists flocked to Hup Pa Tat in Uthai Thani to witness the annual appearance of one of the world’s top three newly discovered species, the rare pink dragon millipede. Large crowds gathered on December 1 at Tham Prathun Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Lan Sak district’s Mueang subdistrict, as visitors explored the forest landscape, often compared to a real-life Jurassic Park.…

  • Phrae school seizes student’s jacket in 9°C weather

    Phrae school seizes student’s jacket in 9°C weather

    A school in Phrae province is under fire after a teacher seized a student’s winter jacket for violating the school’s dress code during cold weather. A concerned relative brought the incident to public attention, sharing the incident on Facebook yesterday, December 1. The student, from Wiang Ta Subdistrict in Long district, borrowed and wore a grey jacket because her school-issued…

  • Google Maps location leads police to online gambling network suspect

    Google Maps location leads police to online gambling network suspect

    Police in Chiang Rai arrested a 30 year old Thai man on Sunday, November 24, after tracing a suspicious Google Maps pin labelled “the office of the leading gambling website in Thailand.” Officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau conducted a thorough investigation into an online gambling network known as gsa9game, which reportedly had more than 20,000 members. Most users…

  • SRT seeks to revoke 83 land deeds in Buriram court case

    SRT seeks to revoke 83 land deeds in Buriram court case

    A high-stakes legal battle has begun in Buriram, northeast Thailand, as the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) seeks to reclaim over 700 rai of land allegedly covered by overlapping private title deeds. At 9am yesterday, November 24, Pattarapong Suphakorn, known locally as Lawyer Aun Buriram, appeared with local representatives at the Buriram Provincial Court to support the SRT legal team…

  • Libyan woman in Chiang Rai arrested for visa overstay and disturbance report

    Libyan woman in Chiang Rai arrested for visa overstay and disturbance report

    A Libyan woman was arrested for overstaying her visa after repeatedly causing a disturbance to her neighbours at a dormitory in Chiang Rai province. Officers from Tourist Police Division 2 detained the woman on Friday, November 21, for overstaying her visa by 897 days, or more than two and a half years. She was arrested at a dormitory in Rob…

  • Singaporean scam suspect caught hiding in Isaan village

    Singaporean scam suspect caught hiding in Isaan village

    A Singaporean man wanted for his role in a Cambodia-based scam was arrested in northeastern Thailand, where he was found hiding at his Thai wife’s home. The suspect, 32 year old Eng Sie, also known as Brian, was apprehended in Dong Lan subdistrict, Si Chompu district, Khon Kaen province. Officers from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) tracked him down…

  • Lampang man filmed abusing dog with compressed air denies wrongdoing

    Lampang man filmed abusing dog with compressed air denies wrongdoing

    A Thai man, caught on a viral video abusing a dog by inserting compressed air through its mouth or anus, defended himself, claiming he was merely drying its fur and that the footage is from several years ago. The video, shared on Facebook, sparked widespread criticism and calls for harsher legal punishment for animal abusers. The man in the footage…

  • Ex-con shot with crossbow in Northeast Thailand phone row

    Ex-con shot with crossbow in Northeast Thailand phone row

    A former inmate was seriously injured in northeast Thailand after being shot with a crossbow during a drunken row over a borrowed phone request. Police in Buriram province are investigating an altercation that left a man with a fishing arrow lodged in his neck after he allegedly tried to attack a high-school student who refused to lend him her phone.…

  • Revered foreign monk hospitalised after fall in Udon Thani temple

    Revered foreign monk hospitalised after fall in Udon Thani temple

    A respected foreign monk was hospitalised after suffering a fall at his temple, prompting surgery and a request for followers to delay visits while he recovers. The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, November 16, when the elderly monk reportedly slipped and fell inside his kuti (monk’s hut) at Wat Kaset Silakhun, also known as Wat Pa Ban…

  • Foreign man fined for strolling naked while visiting Thai wife in Kamphaeng Phet

    Foreign man fined for strolling naked while visiting Thai wife in Kamphaeng Phet

    Yesterday, A foreign man captured the attention of locals after strolling naked through a local market and a convenience store in the northern province of Kamphaeng Phet. Residents buying groceries at Khlong Lan Market recorded the man calmly walking around without clothes. In the clips shared on social media, bystanders stare in disbelief as the man casually makes a payment at…

  • Police find lion-dancing kids sleeping in Udon Thani temple

    Police find lion-dancing kids sleeping in Udon Thani temple

    Three young boys were found sleeping at a temple in Udon Thani province, Northeast Thailand, after leaving home to practise lion dancing, prompting police to urge better child supervision. Yesterday, November 13, a temple officer at Wat Photiwararam alerted the police after discovering the children, aged 10 to 12, sleeping in the crematorium area. Police Lieutenant Pongpol Phiwphong from Udon…

  • Footballers arrested in Northeast Thailand for online lottery scam

    Footballers arrested in Northeast Thailand for online lottery scam

    Four amateur footballers were arrested in Maha Sarakham province, Northeast Thailand, for running an illegal online lottery operation, following a police raid on their rented house. The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), under the direction of Police Lieutenant General Surapol Prembut, carried out a raid on a rented house in Tha Khon Yang subdistrict, Kantharawichai district, yesterday, November 13. The…

  • Chiang Rai’s White Temple to double tourist fee in 2026

    Chiang Rai’s White Temple to double tourist fee in 2026

    Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai will double its entry fee for foreign tourists to support maintenance and upgrades at the popular temple attraction. Starting January 1, 2026, Wat Rong Khun, also known as the White Temple, will increase its entry fee for foreign tourists from 100 baht to 200 baht. The new ticket price includes access to the popular…

  • Lamphun shaken by small quake as tremors stir northern Thailand

    Lamphun shaken by small quake as tremors stir northern Thailand

    A mild earthquake struck a district in Lamphun province this morning, prompting monitoring by officials, though no damage or injuries were reported. The Earthquake Watch Division of the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) reported a minor 2.0-magnitude earthquake struck Tha Sop Sao in Mae Tha district, Lamphun province today, November 11. The tremor occurred at 7.51am local time, with an epicentre at…

  • School bus overturns in northern Thailand, students injured

    School bus overturns in northern Thailand, students injured

    A double-decker bus carrying students on a school trip in northern Thailand overturned on a highway, injuring several and prompting a police investigation. The bus, carrying dozens of secondary school students from Uttaradit, flipped onto its side on the Phitsanulok–Nakhon Sawan Road around 10am yesterday, November 7. The crash occurred in Banphot Phisai district, Phitsanulok province, and left multiple students…

  • Trans trio glams up with lipstick for mercy after meth raid in Isaan

    Trans trio glams up with lipstick for mercy after meth raid in Isaan

    Three transgender women apprehended for drugs in Northeast Thailand asked to put on lipstick before arrest, hoping a touch of glam might win police sympathy. The flamboyant request came after a sting operation led to the arrest of five suspects today, November 7, including an alleged drug dealer and a group of methamphetamine users, in the Ban Noi Tai community,…

  • Thai cop charged after hit-and-run with teacher in Udon Thani

    Thai cop charged after hit-and-run with teacher in Udon Thani

    A police officer in Udon Thani, northeastern Thailand, faces charges after allegedly sideswiping a teacher’s car and fleeing the scene, prompting a chase and investigation. The drama unfolded yesterday, November 4, when kindergarten teacher Prapaporn, nicknamed Joom, was driving her white Honda City in Nong Han district. At a local intersection, her vehicle was reportedly struck by a pickup truck. Instead…

  • Police suspect foul play after woman found hanging at Nakhon Ratchasima home

    Police suspect foul play after woman found hanging at Nakhon Ratchasima home

    Police suspect foul play after a Thai woman was found dead, hanging from a bedroom window at her home in the Isaan province of Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday. Officers from Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima Police Station were called to investigate the death of the 68 year old woman, Pawanphat, at a house in the Nong Bua Sala sub-district. Police attended the scene…

  • Maha Sarakham gran hits 12 million baht lottery jackpot

    Maha Sarakham gran hits 12 million baht lottery jackpot

    A grandmother from Maha Sarakham, northeast Thailand, won 12 million baht after matching two first-prize lottery tickets, sparking celebration among her delighted family. The lucky winner, from Borabue district in Maha Sarakham province, hit the jackpot on November 1 after matching two first prize tickets in the latest government lottery draw. The winning number was 345898, netting her 6 million…

  • Tak teacher caught stealing groceries and posing cooking photos online

    Tak teacher caught stealing groceries and posing cooking photos online

    Police arrested a male teacher in the northern province of Tak for stealing food ingredients from a local grocery shop and then boasting about his cooking skills on social media. The owner of the grocery store filed a complaint with the Tha Song Yang Police Station on October 25 after discovering several items missing from his store in Mae Tan…

  • Phayao temple sparks lotto frenzy after 7 jackpot wins

    Phayao temple sparks lotto frenzy after 7 jackpot wins

    Locals and tourists in a northern Thai province flocked to a revered temple after reports emerged that multiple lottery winners had prayed there for luck. Today, October 30, crowds packed Wat Pa Phutthachinwongsaram in Phu Kam Yao district, Phayao province, after locals claimed to have struck the first-prize lottery jackpot seven times following visits to a revered temple statue. Now,…

  • Thai man with rape history arrested for slashing Burmese woman’s throat

    Thai man with rape history arrested for slashing Burmese woman’s throat

    Police last night, October 27, arrested a Thai man for slashing the throat of a Burmese woman in a vacant bathroom within the Mae Sot District Office in Tak province. Officers from Mae Sot Police Station received a report of a knife attack on a woman at around 11am yesterday, October 27. The attack took place inside an old bathroom…

  • Four dead, including 3 year old, after car crashes into canal in Phayao

    Four dead, including 3 year old, after car crashes into canal in Phayao

    A tragic Phayao accident claimed the lives of four family members, including a 3 year old child, after their car plunged into a canal. The incident took place yesterday, on October 25 at 6.57pm. Police are investigating the cause of this unfortunate event. The accident was reported to the Dok Kham Tai Police Station by the emergency room of Dok…

  • Chinese man with 2,000 ATM cards arrested in Chiang Rai scam

    Chinese man with 2,000 ATM cards arrested in Chiang Rai scam

    Police in Chiang Rai arrested a Chinese national found with thousands of ATM cards and cash during a patrol, uncovering a suspected transnational scam ring. The arrest was announced by Police Major General Manop Senakul, Commander of Chiang Rai Provincial Police, during a press conference yesterday, October 24. The 35 year old Chinese suspect, originally from Hubei province, was caught…

  • Man killed by exploding e-cigarette in shocking first for Thailand

    Man killed by exploding e-cigarette in shocking first for Thailand

    A man in Thailand died in Northeast Thailand after his e-cigarette exploded while he was fishing, marking the country’s first confirmed fatality linked to a vape device. The 47 year old man was found lifeless near a spillway in Ban Kut Chim, Mueang district, Nong Bua Lamphu province on October 18, after going fishing. At first, police suspected foul play.…

  • Northeast Thailand loan sharks steal rabbit in debt dispute

    Northeast Thailand loan sharks steal rabbit in debt dispute

    Two men were arrested in Northeast Thailand after allegedly damaging a woman’s home and stealing her pet rabbit over an unpaid loan of just 4,000 baht. Police say 24 year old Sitthikorn Kerdsiri and 22 year old Charoensak Piawwong were detained last night, October 20, in Mueang district after weeks on the run. Both were wanted on arrest warrants for…

  • MV actress and friend killed in Udon Thani motorbike crash

    MV actress and friend killed in Udon Thani motorbike crash

    A young music video actress and her friend were killed when their motorbike crashed into a pole in Udon Thani, leaving one man seriously injured. The fatal accident occurred at around 5.20am yesterday, October 20, in Soi Kamnan, Mueang Udon Thani district. Emergency responders from the Udon Sawang Methadharm Foundation were alerted to a motorcycle crash involving a collision with…

  • Thai woman puts Huskies up for adoption over border clash fears

    Thai woman puts Huskies up for adoption over border clash fears

    A tearful pet owner in Sisaket is urgently seeking a loving new home for her two Siberian Huskies as fears of renewed conflict along the Thai-Cambodian border grow. Today, October 17, a reporter visited Ban Non Sawang, a village in Kantharalak district, just 7 kilometres from the tense border zone, where 39 year old Pairin Yodkhammee made a heartbreaking decision.…

  • SRT sues to reclaim Khao Kradong land from political clan

    SRT sues to reclaim Khao Kradong land from political clan

    Thailand’s railway authority has filed a court case to reclaim land in Buriram, alleging it was unlawfully occupied by a company and a political figure. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has launched legal action to reclaim two plots of land in the Khao Kradong area of Buriram, allegedly occupied unlawfully by Karuna Chidchob and Silachai Buriram Co. Ltd. The…

  • Over 120 year old stupa in Nakhon Phanom collapses after heavy rainfall

    Over 120 year old stupa in Nakhon Phanom collapses after heavy rainfall

    A 120 year old stupa, Phra That Non Tan, in the northern province of Nakhon Phanom, has collapsed shortly before its scheduled restoration work due to heavy and continuous rainfall. Residents of Tha Uthen district were seen crying in footage shared by Channel 7 after the collapse of Phra That Non Tan, located within Wat Phra That Phanom, on Sunday,…