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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Ceremony held in Chiang Rai marking 100 days since the death of Saman Kunan
PHOTO: Thai PBS A religious ceremony has been held at a temple and near the entrance to the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai to mark the 100th day of the death of Saman Kunan, a former Thai Navy SEAL member, who died trying to help save the trapped Mu Pa football team. The religious ceremony was organised by the Mae…
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Mu Pa – The Movie. The frenzy for rights.
“The Wall Street Journal reported that Universal had offered $1.5 million (49 million baht) to be split among the boys and Ekkaphol.” Stampede for the cave drama scoopnational October 20, 2018 01:00 By The Nation Weekend Producers of movies, games, and books are queuing to see who gets a share in the Tham Luang story After Hollywood studio Universal Pictures…
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Mu Pa 13 have 22 film offers awaiting appro
Looks like we’re going to see many screen adaptions of the ‘Miracle at Tham Luang’ (and whatever other titles they come up with). 22 movie, documentary and book project and ideas, about the Tham Luang cave rescue and life of the 13 young men, have been proposed by both local and foreign studios to the Creative Media Committee. This was…
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Mu Pa make their American TV debut and get a surprise visitor
In their first in-studio interview since their harrowing time in the Tham Luang caves in June/July, the coach and 12 members of the Mu Pa soccer team sat down with American chat show queen, Ellen Degeneres to talk about their experience and how they stayed hopeful for 10 days trapped in the cave. Plus, the boys’ soccer idol, Zlatan Ibrahimovic,…
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‘Ailing’ monk hangs himself from a tree in Uttradit
by Boonpim Baiya A monk appears to have committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree behind his temple in Uttaradit, a northern province. Police were contacted at 7am this morning by a fellow monk in the compound of Wat Wang Kapee. Police, a medical examiner and rescue workers headed to the temple to find the body of 58 year old…
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Mu Pa – from Mae Sai to Ellen Degeneres Show in LA
by The Nation/Asian News Network US daytime talk-show queen, Ellen Degeneres, posted on her Facebook page that the Mu Pa soccer team will be appearing on her program tomorrow (US time). “There was no story more captivating this summer than the Thai soccer team trapped in a cave.” She also posted a picture of herself with all the 13 Mu…
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An inspiration for the world – Mu Pa mission chief in New York
“The recent multinational rescue operation to free the Mu Pa football team members from Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province should be an inspiration for people around the globe to help one another.” – Mission’s chief, Narongsak Ostanakorn “I hope this experience inspires people to start living for others,” Narongsak said. “That would be a game changer for the…
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First Thai MotoGP earns profits and widespread praise
by Lerpong Amsa-ngiam “The attendance is the highest for any of the 15 MotoGP races so far this year.” The Minister of Tourism and Sports Weerasak Kowsurat has claimed the inaugural Thailand MotoGP “successful beyond expectations” after it was attended by an estimated 220,000 fans and generated revenue of 3 billion baht. The three day event, another victory for four-time…
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MotoGP Day Two – Marc Marquez grabs pole position
Johann Zarco (5) of France and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 in Turn 3 during FP3 at the MotoGP PTT Thailand Grand Prix 2018, Chang International Circuit, Thailand on October 06, 2018. PHOTO: Naratip Golf Srisupab/SEALs Sports Images MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez grabbed pole position in the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix Saturday, just ahead of Italian great Valentino Rossi. The…
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Thailand MotoGP starts today in Buri Ram
PHOTO: Jorge Lorenzo (99) of Spain and Ducati Team in Turn 7 during FP2 at the MotoGP PTT Thailand Grand Prix 2018, Chang International Circuit, Thailand on October 05, 2018. Naratip Golf, Srisupab/SEALs Sports Images The ‘PTT Thailand Grand Prix 2018’ MotoGP is being held from today until Sunday, October 7, at the Chang International Circuit in Buri Ram, north-east Thailand.…
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Pit stops laid on for race fans at MotoGP in Buriram
It’s on next weekend and Buriram is gearing up for the arrival of 100,000+ visitors. Thailand Immigration officials are also setting up home this week to handle the influx of international visitors and the teams as they arrive. But if you’re driving, take your Honda. AP Honda has agreed to provide special hospitality services and activities for visitors to the…
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Chiang Rai hit with mild earthquake
A minor 3.4-magnitude earthquake hit Chiang Rai’s Phan district this morning. The confirmation from the Seismological Bureau of the Meteorological Department. The bureau said the earthquake had an epicentre situated about 15 kilometres underground at latitude 19.45 degrees and longitude 99.60 degrees. The epicentre was in the Doi Luang National Park. The quake was felt by residents of Phan and nearby…
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Four others rescued in Tham Luang before the Mu Pa 13
PHOTO: British cavers, Rick Stanton and John Volanthe Dramatic new stories out of a “Hidden Earth” cave-community event where it’s been revealed that the, now famous, Mu Pa 13 weren’t the only people trapped inside the caves in Chiang Rai. Two of the British divers who were part of the Tham Luang rescue effort, extracting the Mu Pa football team from…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Chiang Rai Governor Prajon hosts seminar to develop SEZs in northern Thailand
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times Chiang Rai Governor Prajon Prachsakul presided over the opening of the Special Economic Zone Policy Committee seminar held at the Teak Garden Resort. The seminar was designed to mobilise the development of special economic zones and promote public participation in the northern province project. According to the Chiang Rai Times, Governor Prajon told attendees that the…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Elon Musk accuses cave rescuer of being a ‘child rapist’
Elon Musk, the man behind the Tesla electric car and a billion dollar tech empire, has again attacked the British Chiang Rai resident who was part of the large international effort to rescue the Mu Pa 13 from the Tham Luang Caves in July. In an email to BuzzFeed News, the Tesla CEO launched into his third verbal assault on…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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US Ambassador thanks Chiang Rai locals for looking after US rescue team members
PHOTO: Ten northern artists led by Master Saravuth Kammoonchai, took turns working on the statue – The Nation Glyn Davies, the US Ambassador to Thailand, toured Chiang Rai province yesterday to thank those who welcomed the US team during the multinational rescue operations to help rescue the young Mu Pa Academy football club members in June. He visited Wat Rong Khun,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Police ‘good nature’ is actually a really bad idea
In a bizarre piece of policing and an even more bizarre reaction on social media, Thai Rath has posted some video of traffic police tying a band of cloth around a father and daughter who were stopped at a checkpoint – neither with motorbike helmets. The video was posted on the Facebook page of police in the north-east with a policeman tying…
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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…
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