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 Thailand vs. the West: What expats save on healthcare each year
Healthcare in Thailand is much cheaper than in Western countries, making it a great choice for expatriates looking for affordable medical care. Both public and private healthcare options offer high-quality services, with savings of up to 80% on procedures like...
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Thai cave rescuers announced as the Australians of the Year 2019
Craig Challen and Richard Harris have been awarded as the 2019 Australian of the Year for their contribution the Thailand cave rescue mission. They were part of the international contingent of skilled divers that brought expertise to the team that were able to figure out a way to safely extract the 13 members of the Mu Pa football team in…
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Drug dealers involved with teenager’s killing in Khon Kaen
PHOTOS: Immigration Bureau A Thai drug dealer has found to be involved with the death of a boy who was attacked and killed in a school football field in Khon Kaen last week. The Immigration Bureau is reporting that the 17 year old boy was attacked at a school football field in. Police have arrested some suspects they believe to…
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‘The Cave’ due out mid year – First cave rescue film to reach cinemas
PHOTO: Thai-born director Tom Waller on location during the filming of “The Cave” in central Thailand – AFP A Thai-born director, Tom Waller, who reportedly took only a few weeks to shoot the first film about the dramatic Tham Luang cave rescue of the Mu Pa football team in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, says his focus was on authenticity…
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Cave divers reunite to retrieve equipment at Tham Luang caves
Divers involved in last July’s rescue of the 13 young Mu Pa footballers from the flooded Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai, are to reunite to retrieve around 100 tonnes of equipment left behind from the rescue. The Thai navy SEALs and Finnish diver Mikko Paasi re-united this week for the first time since July 2018 when the last members…
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19 year old caught transporting drugs to Korat in a hired taxi
PHOTOS: The Nation A young man has been arrested after being allegedly found with methamphetamine pills, marijuana and a gun in a taxi at a checkpoint in Nakhon Ratchasima. Police say he had hired a Bangkok taxi to take him, along with the drugs, to a client in Buri Ram. Pol Lt Col Ronnarong Surathot, deputy commander of Chokchai police…
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Baby elephant dies from horrific wounds after being caught in hunter’s trap
A baby elephant has died after a hunter abandoned her, tied up to a fence in a forest in Rayong. The little elephant died after suffering from horrific wounds. The elephant, only one month old, was found by villagers in Rayong tied up to a fence with a rope cutting deep into her ankle. Read the story of her discovery…
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Air quality for Thailand – January 16
Northern Thailand Central Thailand Southern Thailand
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Chiang Rai Tourist Police hunting another foreign graffiti sprayer – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Chiang Rai Tourist Police The Chiang Rai Tourist Police are hunting for a foreign man who was caught on CCTV footage spraying on a wall near the old bus terminal in Chiang Rai. The northern Tourist Police office yesterday were trying to find the man who is clearly identified on CCTV footage spraying the wall of a restaurant. Anyone who…
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VIDEO: Thai firefighters and rescuers cross border to help Cambodian firefighters
PHOTO: The Mirror A fire which broke out in an building in Poipet, Cambodia on Monday night, saw Thai fire trucks and rescue workers from the bordering town of Aranyaprathet, cross the border to help put out the fire. Poipet is a Cambodian town well known for its various casinos, which caters to Chinese and Thai gamblers. Poipet is located…
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Chee River claims lives of three children, one girl rescued
PHOTO: Nila Singkhiree Three children drowned last night (Sunday) and a fourth was rescued from the Chee River, Ubon Ratchathani, in the northeast of Thailand. The four had been playing on the bank of the river when one of them slipped and fell into the water. The other three jumped in to help their friend. They were then followed by a…
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Thailand has a special support team in the stands today – Asian Cup opener against India
by Debayan Sen in Abu Dhabi for ESPN Ahead of their Asian Cup opening game against India today, Thailand will have four champion footballers supporting them from the stands. Well, champions in their Chiang Rai district games anyway. The Mu Pa (Wild Boar) football team, whose rescue from the Tham Luang caves last year captured the imagination of the world, will…
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The unforgettable heroes of Tham Luang – 2018 in retrospect
The 18 day operation in July to rescue 12 young footballers and their coach trapped in a Chiang Rai cave was 2018’s most memorable event in Thailand. Most notable for the help that poured in from all around the world and the inventive means devised to extract the 13 young men. It was the assistance from the international community that…
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Thai AirAsia launches new direct flights out of Chiang Rai
AirAsia has confirmed it will launch direct international flights, from Chiang Rai to KL, Macau and Singapore at the end of January, 2019. Operated by AirAsia Thailand, the Chiang Rai-Kuala Lumpur direct service will operate four times weekly from January 31. At the same time Thai AirAsia will launch a direct service from Chiang Rai to Phuket competing head-on with…
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Elon Musk asks court to throw out cave rescue diver’s lawsuit
Elon Musk is asking a California judge to throw out a lawsuit filed against him by a British diver who accused the tech entrepreneur of falsely calling him a paedophile. tvnz.co.nz is reporting that yesterday’s court filing argues that “the public knew from the outset that Musk’s insults were not intended to be statements of fact.” Musk called diver Vernon…
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PTT Thailand Grand Prix in Buriram voted best of 2018
“The race weekend at Buriram was the most attended and has been voted the best of the season on its debut.” There was a lot of expectation but the Thai GP was an incredible success and has now been named the best of the season by the MotoGP Paddock and the decision communicated to the Grand Prix Commission. The event…
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Narcotics officers arrest three with 370 kg of ‘ice’ and heroin in Chiang Rai
Three Hmong men from Tak province have been arrested in Chiang Rai while allegedly attempting to smuggle 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and 70 kilograms of heroin from Myanmar into Thailand. The arrest was made by Army troops from the Pha Muang Taskforce with cooperation from Chiang Rai’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) on Friday night. A…
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Cave-rescue mural now moved to official Tham Luang memorial
by Natthawat Laping The large mural depicting “The Heroes” from the dramatic cave rescue in Chiang Rai in June/July this year has now been installed at the new memorial pavilion at the mouth of the Tham Luang cave. The 14×3 metre canvas was moved from Wat Rong Khun this morning, along with another two paintings of the smaller size (each…
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New book recounts Thai cave rescue of Wild Boars
PHOTOS: CNN.com, The National, Amazon.com On June 23 2018, the world first heard about the disappearance of 12 Thai boys, the young Mu Pa football team and their assistant coach, in a cave system in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand. “When the cave was unexpectedly flooded, the boys, aged between 11 and 16, and 24 year old Ekapol “Coach Ek” Jantawong,…
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Second major shootout and drug haul in Chiang Rai this week
A drug suspect has been killed in shootout with soldiers. A drug suspect has been shot dead during a shootout with soldiers in Chiang Rai province. An estimated 15 million methamphetamine pills were found in the back of the man’s pickup. Soldiers came under fire late on Thursday night from the pickup truck in an apparent bid by the driver…
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VIDEO: Seven injured – Surin Fair fireworks goes wrong
A 47 year old Thai man sustained serious burns and six others suffered minor injuries when fireworks, being lit near a pond in Wat Jumphon in Surin’s Muang district as part of a local festival, exploded into the audience last night. The Nation reports that the seven victims were watching stage performances at an outdoor cinema at the fair when…
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Prawit hands back seized assets from illegal money-lenders
PHOTO: The Nation Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan has presented 2,012 debtors in the Loei province, in far north-east Thailand, assets valued around 3.4 billion baht. The hand-over includes 1,773 land-title deeds held as collateral in dodgy loan scams. Many people, holding documents to their chest, couldn’t hold back tears of joy over getting the assets they thought were lost due…
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96 year old perishes in Udon Thani house fire
A 96 year old, bedridden woman has died in a locked room at her house in Udon Thani’s Phen district on this morning. Fire swiftly and completely engulfed the building according to neighbours. The fire spread from the home of Phan Manee and also damaged a neighbour’s house. Fire-fighters spent about an hour extinguishing the blaze before Phan’s body could…
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Five armed men guarding a Myanmar drug caravan shot dead by troops in Chiang Rai
FILE PHOTO Army troops shot dead five allegedly armed drug smugglers who were guarding a drug caravan near the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai. They seized about one million methamphetamine pills from the scene. Thai PBS reports that the clash took place on Saturday night, about 700 metres from the Myanmar border between troops of the…
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Shooting begins on “The Cave, Nang Non” film
Tom Waller, a Thai filmmaker with Irish heritage, begun filming a movie which showcases the international operation to rescue the “Mu Pa” football team from the flooded Tham Luang cave in July. The film, called “The Cave, Nang Non”, captures the tense efforts to rescue the 13 members of the team, that gripped the world’s attention for weeks. The youngsters…
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Half a tonne of marijuana seized…
.. and no one has come to claim it yet. Khon Kaen police have seized 500 kilograms of marijuana after a pickup truck overturned in Khon Kaen’s Ban Phai district early today. But no arrests have been made as yet. The Nation reports that Pol Lt Gen Surachai Khuantejakup, commissioner of the Provincial Police Bureau 4, told a press conference…
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Police intercept 5 million methamphetamine pills in Chiang Rai
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times “An estimated 5 million meth pills were found in 13 boxes.” Two suspected drug mules have been arrested in Chiang Rai while allegedly trying to smuggle 5 million methamphetamine pills from a border village. The arrests were made last night (Wednesday) at 9.30pm in the border Mae Saruay district. The arrest were made after police and…
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The new visa-fee waiver working in the north
According to the National News Bureau of Thailand, the new visa-fee waiver is working. Well, in the northern provinces anyway. The northern provinces are reporting an increase in the number of foreign visitors, thanks to the government’s free visa on arrival campaign. Wiwat Piyawiroj , Executive Vice President of Commercial at Thai Airways, says the free visa on arrival scheme for…
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Chiang Rai shaken but not stirred
Three minor earthquakes hit the Chiang Rai area this morning according to the Meteorological Department’s Seismological Bureau. The first quake was just before 9am with a magnitude of 3.3 with an epicentre 3.3 kilometres underground at latitude 19.70 and longitude 99.72. People say they felt the tremor but there were no injuries or damage to be reported. A 2.0-magnitude tremor followed…
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Buri Ram teacher probed after boy’s beating
A Buri Ram school has set up a committee to investigate a parent’s allegation that one of its teachers made a Prathom 6 pupil do 50 jumping jacks in the hot sun and then whipped him 10 times with a wooden stick wrapped in duct tape. The 12 year old’s mother revealed Friday’s incident and says her son had merely…
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Thai soldier accused of raping 75 boys
A 43 year old former Thai soldier has been arrested for raping 75 boys, many of whom were aged under 15 at the time of the alleged crimes. It is claimed he lured his victims by using the photo of a handsome younger man as his own profile picture in a gay chat application and then Facebook. Authorities are now…
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