South Thailand News
Southern Thailand news, Phuket news, Koh Samui news, and Krabi updates—stay informed on business, tourism, and local events from Trang, Songkhla, Yala, and beyond. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Southern Thailand news source.
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Songkhla woman charged with trafficking young girl
A woman in Thailand’s southern province of Songkhla has been charged with trafficking a young girl, forcing the girl into prostitution at her karaoke shop. The woman was arrested last week, but police announced the arrest yesterday. The woman arrested is 48 year old Nattha Meenche. The 13 year old girl says she was forced to provide sex services to…
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14 year old student takes her own life after teacher expels her from school
A 14 year old female student in the southern province of Songkhla has committed suicide after a teacher expelled her from school because of her financial and family problems. Thai media reported that a 14 year old female student decided to hang herself at a house in Songkhla province on May 13. Her friends told police that she had problems…
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Another Full Moon Party in southern Thailand coming up this LONG weekend
Mark your calendars for another Full Moon Party in Thailand’s south, coming up this Monday, May 16. The Full Moon Party has historically been held on Koh Pha Ngan in Surat Thani on the night of, before, or after every full moon, although it was cancelled for 2 years during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the party is coming up on…
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Man stabbed to death at wedding in southern Thailand
A man stabbed another man to death at a wedding party in Thailand’s southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat last night, according to police in Nopphitam district. Witnesses told police that the victim, 58 year old Diam Yangkaew, had been drinking with other guests at a table, when another man showed up on a motorcycle. They say the man walked…
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Burmese man killed in Surat Thani flash flood, more wet weather to come
A Burmese man has died after being washed away in a flash flood in Surat Thani over the weekend. According to a Bangkok Post report, heavy rainfall has damaged 3 districts in the southern province. The body of 30-year-old Sai Chan, from Myanmar, was recovered on Saturday. The man had been reported missing after he drove his motorbike through a…
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Several officials in Thailand wanted over child trafficking involvement in south
After several raids this week, police are investigating several officials over a sex trafficking case in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani. The director-general of Thailand’s Department of Children and Youth has been charged for hampering an investigation into a trafficking ring. Several other officials found to be involved in the ring include the chairman of a local savings…
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Dog owners prosecuted for bathing dogs at waterfall inside Thai national park
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has prosecuted dog owners who brought dogs and bathed them at a waterfall inside the Khao Luang National Park in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The authorities said pets were banned from entering the national parks in Thailand to prevent the spread of diseases from the urban area. One…
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Songkhla Muslims against plan for Chinese goddess statue on mountain
In Thailand’s tense Deep South, Muslim communities are speaking out against a plan to build a statue of a Chinese goddess on a mountain in Thepa district. The company planning to build it is TPI Polene Power Plc, a power plant operator. Many in the community around the mountain are Muslims, and an imam, who asked to remain anonymous, said…
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Southern Thailand province gets a wave of income from Full Moon Party, Songkran
Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani saw a wave of tourism income generated during the Songkran holiday. Many tourists came to the province for the famous Full Moon Party on Kho Pha Ngan, among other tourist attractions. Tourism officials said the province gathered up a total of 895.7 million baht from 83,000 visitors between April 13-17. The income is up…
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Armed man robs gold shop in Pattani, southern Thailand – VIDEO
An armed man has robbed a gold shop in a Big C supermarket in Pattani province, southern Thailand. Police say the thief stole a total of nine necklaces worth 15 baht weight in gold (a ‘baht’ in gold is about 15 grams). According to CTV footage, the robber walked by the Yang Hub Teng gold and jewellery shop in the…
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Rebel group PULO won’t engage in peace talks if independence is off the table
The leader of a rebel group in Thailand’s Deep South said the rebels will not engage in peace talks with the Thai government if the possibility of independence in Thailand’s southern border region is off the table. Under the framework of Thailand’s current constitution, the kingdom remains indivisible. The group’s leader Kasturi Makhota made the announcement days after his rebel…
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100 year old banyan tree falls down, kills 10 year old boy
A 10 year old boy was crushed to death by a 100 year old banyan tree which fell down this morning at a temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, southern Thailand. The boy was sitting near the tree studying online when the incident happened. The boy sadly died instantly when the tree fell on him, crushing him underneath. The boy’s…
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Southern Thailand ceasefire shattered with another fatal bombing
The leader of one of Thailand’s southern rebel groups claimed yesterday that the group was behind a double bombing that killed a villager that day. Chalermchai Petchkart, the police chief of Sai Buri district in Pattani province, where the bombing happened, told Benar News that the bomb that exploded and killed the villager had been left in a paper bag.…
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80 year old woman dies after falling from the seventh floor of a hospital
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, an 80 year old woman has died after falling from her room on the seventh floor of a hospital where she was being treated for Covid-19. She was taken to the emergency room but it was too late. The incident happened at the Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat last Monday.…
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Floods cause mass buffalo starvation at Thale Noi park in southern Thailand
More than 200 dead water buffaloes have been found floating today at the Thale Noi Waterfowl Park in the southern Thai province of Pattalung. Prolonged flooding in the region had destroyed the grasses that the buffalo rely on for food. Without it, they starved to death. Local authorities quickly rescued another 300 buffaloes, giving them dry grass and supplementary food…
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Both sides in Thailand’s Southern Insurgency agree to 40 day ceasefire
The Thai government and the most influential rebel group in Southern Thailand have agreed to stop violence for 40 days, from April 3 – May 14, for the holy month of Ramadan and the Songkran holidays. For the first time in the decades-long conflict, unarmed rebels will be allowed to visit their families during Ramadan. The agreement was made at…
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Businesses in Betong offer to guarantee seats on flights if Nok Air drops price
Tourism firms in Betong are trying to strike a deal with Nok Air in order to get commercial flights operating again at the southern town’s airport. According to a Bangkok Post report, businesses have offered to guarantee 60 seats on every Nok Air flight to Betong if the airline drops the cost of a round-trip ticket. Nok Air’s round-trip fare…
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Officers find suspected hideout of alleged hitman on Thailand’s most wanted list
The alleged hitman who evaded arrest after shot an M16 rifle, killing an officer during a highspeed chase, has reportedly fled from police again. The man, who is on Thailand’s most wanted list for multiple charges involving murder, is believed to be hiding out in a forest on Khao Cao Mountain in southern province Songkhla. A team of more than…
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Director of Betong Airport transferred to inactive post
Oh dear, it all looked so promising… Following on from Nok Air’s declaration that it was suspending services to the newly-opened Betong Airport due to low uptake, the airport’s acting director has now been sacked. According to a Nation Thailand report, Duangporn Suwanmanee was removed from her position just 4 days after Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha arrived on the airport’s…
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No flights to new Betong airport, Yala tourism officials talk promotions to boost travel
After the highly-publicised launch of the new airport in Southern Thailand’s Yala went sour, with Nok Air suspending flights to the airport due to a lack of passengers, tourism officials in the Betong area plan to offer discounts on hotel rooms and food for travellers to help the flights takeoff. Nation Thailand says the Betong Airport was “built to boost…
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Foreign affairs ministry reminds tourists Thailand’s land borders mostly still closed
After the CCSA announced yesterday that Thailand will scrap requirements for pre-travel PCR tests for foreign flyers, the foreign affairs ministry reminds wannabe international travellers that most land border crossing points remain closed to them. The CCSA also says that only four land border posts are open to tourists and expats: Nongkhai and Udon Thani (near the Laos border) and…
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Four military rangers injured in another Southern Thailand bomb
A bomb exploded in Mayo district of Pattani province in Southern Thailand this morning. Four paramilitary rangers were injured from the bomb on their way to fix a broken water pump near their base. One ranger was severely injured. One ranger’s left arm was injured. One ranger’s leg was wounded, and another ranger suffered chest pain. All the rangers were…
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Tourism officials in South encouraged by opening of Yala’s Betong Airport
The newly opened Betong Airport, in the southern province of Yala, has inspired hope of a tourism revival in the town. The Bangkok Post reports that the airport received its operating licence from the Aviation Authority of Thailand on January 28. The 920-rai facility can handle up to 300 passengers an hour, or 80,000 a year. The airport is seen…
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Prayut orders tight security amidst new Southern bomb attack
In the aftermath of a bombing in Yala province in Southern Thailand, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered investigators to hunt down the perpetrators. The attack injured four patrolling rangers and two civilians in front of a school in Bannang Sata district. This news comes after a government negotiator announced last month that the Thai government would have peace talks with…
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Songkhla archeological site threatened with destruction
A movement launched yesterday to stop an unnamed party allegedly illegally building a road on a historic mountain in Songkhla province. The mountain is Khao Daeng. It has historic archeological structures. The civic groups that gathered yesterday at the local fine arts office to support authorities told the Bangkok Post many trees were cut down, and soil had been dug…
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National park officers rescue 5 German tourists lost in Koh Phang Ngan forest
Officers from the Than Sadet National Park on Koh Phang Ngan have rescued a group of 5 German tourists after they got lost yesterday while on a forest hike. The 4 women and 1 man had been doing the Khao Ra hike, which takes in the highest peak on the island, when heavy rainfall caused them to get lost. A…
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Southern houses damaged by rainstorms and sea waves
Rainstorms and big sea waves damaged about 200 homes in the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat between Thursday and this morning. The storms hit the Gulf of Thailand, and drastically eroded about 500 metres of the beach at Na Saton village. The deputy provincial governor inspected the damage this morning, and the Na Satorn Municipality gave people tiles and…
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Ethnic group in Southern province complains losing residence due to tourism
Representatives of the Mani ethnic group in the Southern province of Satun in Thailand have handed a letter to the authorities complaining that they would lose their residence and couldn’t access a better quality of life due to the local tourism industry. The representatives told the authorities they didn’t even have a right to replace a thatched roof with a…
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Man left with shrapnel wounds after another bomb attack in Thailand’s Deep South
A man was rushed to a hospital with shrapnel wounds on his torso after an attacker threw a bomb next to a security booth last in Yala in Thailand’s Deep South, a region with ongoing violence related to the religious separatist insurgency. Earlier that night, gunmen shot another man on a motorcycle in Bannang Sata, the same district of Yala…
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Pumice from volcanic eruption found on southern beaches off Gulf of Thailand
Locals who live near the beaches of Songkhla and other southern districts along the Gulf of Thailand have found numerous small pumice stones that are believed to be from a volcanic eruption. No one knows where these spongy greyish-green stones came from. They were discovered along the shoreline in various locations, including Chalathat and Samila beaches, and other major tourist…
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