Politics News
Thailand politics news, government updates, policy changes, and election coverage—stay informed on key political events, leaders, and decisions shaping the nation. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for political news in Thailand.
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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Pro-monarchy ‘dictator’ must be stopped from retiring in Australia, say Thai asylum activists
Exiled Thai activists are living in fear that a self-proclaimed “Van Helsing” “dictator” and pro-monarchy vigilante could be pursuing them in retirement. Rienthong Nanna, a doctor and former army general, announced on Facebook that he plans to retire in Perth, Australia causing fear among those who now live there after fleeing the country after his vicious campaign. Rienthong set up a…
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6 months in, Bangkok Governor Chadchart rated highly
A new poll shows that after six months in office, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt remains popular with a high approval rating. An impressive 81.55% of people polled said that they were satisfied with Chadchart’s performance as governor so far. Only 18.47% of those who answered the poll said they were not satisfied. Chadchart was elected as governor in May in…
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Man armed with a pen gun arrested at seminar visited by PM Prayut
The Thai Air Force bomb squad quickly dealt with a potential threat to the life of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha when an abusive man with a pen gun turned up at a seminar the PM was addressing. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOC) arrested the armed man yesterday at the seminar in the northern province of Chiang Rai. PM Prayut joined…
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Europe wakes up to US profiteering from Russia-Ukraine conflict
It appears Europe has finally woken up to Sleepy Joe’s foreign policy and US profiteering from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The war in Ukraine has been blamed for higher fuel costs, the rise in inflation, austerity, and an economic meltdown throughout the world. Yet everything in the US garden appears to be rosy, profits are blooming and life goes on as…
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Police seize board game after claims it could cause insurrection in Thailand
Police officers in Yala yesterday seized a fun board game called Patani Colonial Territory from a coffee shop after a government official claimed that it could cause insurgency throughout the kingdom. For conspiracy theorists, this is up there with Elvis still lives. Officers in the southern Thailand province confiscated the offending game at the Life Coffee Slow Bar in the…
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People of China protest on streets over mainland’s zero-Covid policy
The people of China appear to have had enough of the mainland’s zero-Covid policy. Incredibly, the usually deferential Chinese people were on the streets calling for their nation’s leader, President Xi Jinping, to stand down. It wasn’t anarchy on the mainland streets over the weekend but it wasn’t far off as hundreds of people in several major cities clashed with…
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Iranian Kurdish football player arrested after speaking out
Iranian authorities arrested a former member of the country’s national football team on November 24. Voria Ghafouri was arrested for “insulting the national soccer team and propagandising against the government,” Iranian media reported. Ghafouri, who was not chosen to go to the World Cup, is a member of Iran’s Kurdish ethnic minority. He recently called for an end to the…
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Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘terror and murder’ after missile strike kills newborn baby
Ukraine’s president is accusing his Russian counterpart of bringing “terror and murder” to his country after an alleged Russian missile strike killed a newborn baby. The missile hit a maternity unit in the Ukrainian town of Vilnyansk in the country’s southern Zaporizhzhia region. The only woman in the facility was the baby’s mother who was rescued from the building along…
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Brazil’s far-right president challenges election results
Brazil’s far-right president is challenging the country’s election results, which saw him lose in October. President Jair Bolsonaro’s party, the Liberal Party, has argued that ballots from some machines were compromised during the second round and that the electoral court should reject them. Several news outlets reported today that Brazil’s supreme court justice has now given the party 24 hours…
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BTS Skytrain demands 40 billion baht debt is paid
The BTS Skytrain, under the BTS Group Holdings Public Company, launched a video yesterday to demand their money back! BTS says the government owes them 40 billion baht and they want the debt paid. The BTS revealed it intends to shame the government by airing the debt-collection message on every screen inside BTS trains and station platforms along Sukhumvit, or…
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RTP contravened UN ruling using rubber bullets on protestors
A non-governmental organisation slammed the illegal use of rubber bullets by the Royal Thai Police (RTP) after skirmishes outside of the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre left a man blind in one eye and dozens of others injured. International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network (iLaw Network) made known that the RTP contravened a United Nations ruling by using rubber bullets to…
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North Korea leader brings 9 year old daughter to missile launch
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un brought an unexpected guest to a missile launch – his nine year old daughter. Kim took his daughter Ju Ae to the launch of a “new type” of intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday. Before the rather unusual daddy-daughter day out, Ju Ae’s existence had not previously been confirmed. Kim said the test was meant…
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APEC leaders attend a royal meeting with the King, Queen, Princess
With Bangkok full of top-level officials from around the world at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this week, a special royal appearance was made. His Royal Majesty King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana treated leaders from the APEC meeting to an audience with them last night. The meeting took place on the grounds of the Grand Palace in…
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Thailand must drop charges against child protesters – Amnesty
Thailand must drop charges against child protesters. Thai authorities should drop charges against child protesters who took part in demonstrations between 2020 and 2022, Amnesty International said today, in the lead-up to tomorrow’s World Children’s Day Persecution of child protestors in Thailand – intimidation, surveillance, and criminalisation – has been going on for years. Amnesty has recorded instances of police…
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North Korea warns US of a “fiercer” military response, launches another missile
North Korea has warned the US of a “fiercer military response” to the US’s defence ties with South Korea and Japan. North Korea also launched yet another ballistic missile yesterday. The missile was fired towards North Korea’s eastern waters, according to officials in Seoul. North Korea said in its statement that the warning was in response to trilateral talks between…
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20,000+ CCTV cameras in Bangkok are here to stay
More than 20,000 CCTV spy cameras have been installed in Bangkok and its environs in the guise of security for the APEC summit, according to national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas. Damrongsak chaired a meeting on security and traffic on Thursday to follow up on “APEC security” operations with more than 30 agencies. The summit takes place today and…
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VIDEO: Chinese President Xi berates Canadian PM Trudeau ahead of APEC
Things could get a bit feisty ahead of tomorrow’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exchanged a few choice words at the G20 Summit in Indonesia. President Xi yesterday confronted Canadian PM Trudeau at the summit in Bali and accused him of lacking “sincerity” after he leaked details of a…
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Former US President Donald Trump announces 2024 White House bid
Former US President Donald Trump has officially announced his bid for the 2024 White House after teasing fans for months. Trump is defying calls from GOP key party leaders and donors after a huge loss in last week’s midterm elections. According to The Straits Times, Trump ploughed forward filing federal paperwork to declare his 2024 run, just 23 minutes before…
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South Thailand province welcomes first female Muslim governor
One South Thailand province welcomed its first female Muslim governor yesterday. The new governor of Pattani, 57 year old Pateemoh Sadeeyamu, is the former deputy governor of Narathiwat, and Yala provinces. Several prominent people in the community hailed the appointment of Pateemoh as the governor of Pattani. One former lecturer at Prince of Songkhla University said that Pateemoh has extensive…
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Russian missile allegedly kills two in Poland, sparks possible NATO involvement
Fears mount over NATO involvement after a Russian missile allegedly landed in a Poland village, killing two citizens. According to CNN, it is unclear why the missile fell in Poland, and where the missile was fired from. It landed outside the rural Polish village of Przewodow, at around the same time Russia launched its biggest wave of missile attacks on…
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Gen Z, Trump, and the US midterm election
With the US midterm election results, Democrats celebrated a narrow victory over Republicans. This was after a Democratic senator won in the state of Nevada, ensuring that Democrats would at least keep a 50-50 majority in the Senate, with VP Kamala Harris holding the deciding tie-breaking vote. The win for Democrats came after the Republicans had hoped for a ‘red-wave’…
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Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects invitation to APEC Summit in Thailand
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Bangkok next week, despite Thailand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs confirming the Russian leader’s attendance last month. Yesterday, the Russian Embassy informed Thailand’s foreign ministry that Putin would no longer be attending the meeting on November 18-19. Instead, he is sending First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei…
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MPs accused of corruption after report reveals 100 million baht a year spent on subsidised meals
Members of the Committee for the Selection of Catering Operators for MPs and Senators have been accused of corruption after a report revealed over 100 million baht a year is spent on subsidised meals. Former Democrat Party MP, Watchara Phetthong, revealed that there is corruption between the catering company and some MPs and Senators. Watchara claims that because the committee chose…
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Putin gets G20 Summit cold feet
Russian President Vladimir Putin may have cold feet as news comes that he may attend the G20 Summit virtually. According to Thai PBS World, Western countries have put pressure on the Summit’s host country of Indonesia to withdraw Putin’s invitation, but it has resisted. The host country says it does not have the authority to withdraw such an invitation without…
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Thai PM Prayut happy with increased employment rate
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hailed the government’s successful employment policy after learning there are more people at work than ever before this year. The Prime Minister’s Office spokesperson, Trisuree Trisaranakun, revealed on Saturday, November 5, that PM Prayut was happy with the employment statistics from July to September this year. The spokesperson made known that the unemployment rate decreased, more…
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UN highlights toxic foreign policy of the US in Cuba
The cruel, repressive foreign policy of the United States was brutally highlighted last week when the UN General Assembly demanded the US to end a 60 year economic embargo on Cuba. The near-unanimous vote by the UN Assembly, for a 30th consecutive year, sent a strong message to the US to end their toxic foreign policy toward Cuba. The vote…
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French MP causes uproar in parliament after shouting racial slur at colleague
A rightwing French MP caused an uproar in the country’s parliament after shouting a racial slur at a lawmaker. The representative, Grégoire de Fournas, interrupted Carlos Martens Bilongo, a far-left representative for the party France Unbowed, shouting “Go back to Africa.” Bilongo was reportedly calling on the French government to cooperate with EU countries to assist hundreds of African migrants…
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Shelter warnings in Japan after North Korea conducts presumed failed IBCM test
UPDATE Tensions are continuing in the latest episode between North Korea and South Korea. North Korea today conducted what was believed to be a failed launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). A South Korean government source said the presumed Hwasong-17 ICBM successfully separated at the second stage, but is believed to have failed after that, and fell into the…
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Intruder who attacked US House Speaker’s husband says it was a suicide misison
The intruder who broke into US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and severely injured her husband, says it was a suicide mission. David DePape hit Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer, leaving him unconscious in a pool of blood leaving him to be hospitalised with a skull fracture. DePape was captured and arrested, telling police that he was…
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North Korean missile lands near South’s waters for first time, South retaliates
A missile from North Korea today landed close to South Korean waters for the first time since the countries split in 1945, according to South Korean officials. Since then, South Korea retaliated by launching missiles in return. This latest tit-for-tat conflict began after North Korea fired at least 10 missiles to the east and west of the Korean Peninsula. The…
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