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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Anwar’s maiden visit to Thailand raises hopes for peace
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar’s maiden visit to Thailand this week has raised hopes for peace in the troubled south. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia last year. The visit is expected to add momentum to the peace dialogue. Malaysia is the facilitator for the dialogue to end decades of conflict in Narathiwat,…
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South Thailand’s hotel industry booming with increased tourist arrivals
South Thailand is seeing a resurgence in tourism, with room bookings in hotels reaching 85%, according to Sueksit Suwandissakun, the president of the Southern Hotel Association. This is a positive sign for the industry, which has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past year. Many hotels in popular tourist areas are already fully booked, with the majority of…
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Woman accuses police of seizing her car for personal use
A Thai woman accused officers from Sathon Police Station in the southern province of Songkhla of confiscating her car for personal use. The unnamed woman said her car was seized by the police two years ago despite not being involved in a crime. The woman reported that the police arrested her boyfriend in 2021 for possessing Kratom and two tablets…
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Thailand boosts protection of dolphins in Songkhla Lake
There are as few as 14 Irrawaddy dolphins in Songkhla Lake. The situation is so serious that the World Bank has become involved. Global dolphin experts recently met with local agencies at the World Bank office in Bangkok to come up with better ways to make sure the dolphins survive, and even flourish. The largest-ever convention of dolphin experts included…
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American man dies after crashing Ducati into trailer truck
Tragedy struck in the southern province of Phang Nga yesterday when an American man died after crashing his Ducati motorcycle into a trailer truck at 5.30pm on Phetchakasem Road. Officers from Mueng Phan Nga Police Station investigated the scene of the accident and found the body of the foreign man on the road at the back of the trailer truck.…
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Army ranger shot dead in Thailand’s Deep South
A volunteer army ranger was shot dead at a grocery store in southern Thailand’s insurgency zone on Sunday. Two assailants arrived at the store on a motorbike. One of them entered the shop and fatally shot 38 year old Ilfun Yuso while he was helping out at his wife’s grocery store in Pattani province before fleeing on the same bike.…
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British woman who fell from KPN balcony goes home
The British woman who fell from a hotel balcony while on holiday on Koh Pha Ngan returned home to the UK after a successful fundraiser brought in £75,000 (3 million baht, US$100,000) in donations. Maddi Neale-Shankster, 21, was on a three-week trip to Thailand with her partner when she fell from the second floor of her accommodation on New Year’s Eve.…
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Freerunning Frenchmen warned by police after thrillseeking exploits in Thailand
Police warned five thrill-seeking Frenchmen that they face fines and time in prison if they are caught freerunning on residential buildings in Thailand. Trang Provincial Police received complaints from locals yesterday of the Frenchmen, aged between 25 and 30, filming their freerunning (also known as parkour) exploits over eight residential buildings in the southern province of Trang. Residents told police…
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Shootout involving police ends with 1 dead, 2 injured
A fatal incident involving police officers occurred at a night restaurant in Songkhla. A shootout at the restaurant between a group of police officers and another group of customers left one dead and two injured. The incident took place in the early hours of the morning of Sunday, January 15 at a late-night diner next to the fire station of the…
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Insurgents kill defence volunteer in southern Thailand, 2 injured
Suspected insurgents launched a targeted attack on eight territorial defence volunteers in Narathiwat province in southernmost Thailand this morning. One volunteer was killed and two more are injured. At 8am, officers at Si Sakhon Police Station were informed that insurgents detonated a roadside bomb and fired shots with automatic rifles at Si Sakhon defence volunteers, killing one and injuring two,…
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Marine department warns boats after trawler sinks in South Thailand
Large waves are continuing to wreak havoc on boats in Thailand’s waters. The country’s Marine Department warned boat operators to be extra cautious after a fishing trawler sank in South Thailand on Saturday night. The trawler sank in the Gulf of Thailand about 18.2 nautical miles off the coast of Pak Phanang district in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Fortunately, marine…
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Man bites dog: Dog-eating Thai man gets three months
A dog-eating Thai man has been sent to prison for three months for killing, cooking and eating his pet dogs, according to the Soi Dog Foundation. The charity said on Facebook yesterday that concern was raised by Soi Dog mobile clinic staff who encountered a puppy in the Chalerm Prakiat district of Nakhon Si Thammarat with a deep laceration to…
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Heavy rain, flash flooding forecasted for six of Thailand’s southern provinces
Heavy rain to very heavy rain and flash flooding is expected to hit six of Thailand’s southern provinces from today until Sunday. According to Thai PBS World, the Meteorological Department says that the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat are expected to see heavy rain over the next three days. Three other southern provinces of Songkhla, Phatthalung, and Nakhon…
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Southern Thailand’s Hat Yai railway targeted again
Train services between Hat Yai and Khlong Ngae in southern Thailand‘s Songkhla province were temporarily suspended again yesterday when officials discovered that several parts of the railway track had been removed by suspected insurgents. Services on the railway, which connects Hat Yai in southern Thailand to Padang Besar in Malaysia, resumed on New Year’s Day after the track was repaired…
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Tragic hero – lifeguard, 10 year old, drowned in new year beach tragedy
The body of a 10 year old girl who had been swept away by strong waves from a Songkhla beach, was found washed ashore this morning, near the scene of the new year beach tragedy. Rescue teams searched the area throughout last night and this morning for the lost child who was washed away as she was playing with two…
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Local vets unable to save Koh Pha Ngan green sea turtle
The injured green sea turtle washed ashore on Koh Pha Ngan on Friday night died of its injuries, according to the local vets who were unable to save the injured chelonian. Quickly on the scene, a group of conservation volunteers, Phangan Sea Guardians, was alerted by villagers who came across the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) on Chaloklum Beach and rushed…
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Songkhla lifeguard dies in search for missing girl
A Songkhla lifeguard died on the way to hospital after losing consciousness while taking part in the search for a 10-year-old girl who went missing off Songkhla beach yesterday. A team of Songkhla lifeguards were dispatched to Chalathat beach, a popular tourist spot, after being alerted at about 2pm that a 10-year-old girl had gone missing. They were joined in…
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Wedding turned into a bloodbath after groomsman shoots his friend
A wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life but for one couple it will be memorable for another reason after a groomsman turned the ceremony into a bloodbath by shooting another groomsman after their girlfriends started fighting. The gunman and his girlfriend are now on the run in Trang, southern Thailand An officer from…
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Police arrest boyfriend of murdered girlfriend dumped in a garbage bin
The man accused of murdering and dumping his girlfriend’s body in a garbage bin at the Khao Sok National Park at the border of Phang Nga and Surat Thani, surrendered to police yesterday. He allegedly admitted that jealousy drove him to lose his temper and commit murder. The murderer, Sukhon Kaewprapas, surrendered at Kapong Police Station in Phang Nga three…
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Police track down suspect in murder of woman dumped in garbage bin
Police believe the person responsible for the death of the woman dumped in a garbage bin in the Khao Sok National Park at the border of Phang Nga and Surat Thani is her boyfriend. Police reported they found evidence in the boyfriend’s home related to the murder of the woman, Suphattra Yodkaew, and is now on the run. Police identified…
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Destitute man walks 1,000 kilometres over 11 days with 2 daughters to find job
The heart-wrenching story of a destitute man who walked 1,000 kilometres over 11 days to find work to feed his two starving children has a happy ending. The jobless man, Norraphat, and his two daughters, aged 10 and 12 years old, began their long arduous journey from a relative’s house in the Tung Wa district of Satun on December 11.…
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Body of dead woman dumped in garbage bin in southern Thailand
Kura Buri Highway Department officers in the southern province of Phang Nga found a dead woman’s body dumped in a garbage bin on the roadside near the Khao Sok National Park at the border of Phang Nga and Surat Thani yesterday. The murderer is still on the run. Highway department officer Makesuwan Suphannamok told the media that he and his…
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Petrol pump blown up in Yala terrorist attack
A petrol pump was blown up by suspected insurgents at a PTT petrol station in the southern province of Yala on Saturday night. There were no casualties. Shortly before midnight on Saturday, an explosion was heard at the PTT petrol station by Highway 410 in tambon Thanto, according to Pol Capt Palakorn Srichai. Police were dispatched to the scene to…
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Backpack found on Koh Tao from sailor on HTMS Sukhothai
As search and rescue efforts enter their seventh day after the wreck of the HTMS Sukhothai, a tourist on Koh Tao found a grim relic of the tragedy. A Norwegian tourist on holiday on the tiny island in the Gulf of Thailand stumbled upon a backpack on the beach belonging to one of the missing sailors from the shipwreck. The…
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7 killed and 2 injured in floods in southern Thailand
Seven people died and two more are injured as a result of floods in the southern provinces of Thailand. The water level has gradually decreased today. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) reported today that heavy rain and strong winds from December 18 to 21 caused flash floods and landslides in nine provinces including Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat,…
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Hard rain stops train services in Thailand’s south
Heavy rain and high tides are bringing widespread flooding to Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Narathiwat. Red flags in Songkhla’s Chalatat Beach advise people not to venture into the 4-metre waves that are pounding the coast. In Narathiwat province, those living close to the Kolok River are ready to move themselves and their valuables to higher ground as the water…
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UPDATE: Irish kayaker Odhran O’Neill’s body found
Though not a lot of information has been confirmed or released yet, the body of a 22 year old Irish traveller has been recovered from the waters in Khao Sok National Park. He had been kayaking, a popular activity in the region, though the weather has been windy and rainy in the south of Thailand recently, making the waters more…
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Heavy rains close Gulf ferries, Surin Islands for 2 days
Heavy rains, high winds and thunderstorms have ferries cancelled and areas closing down for the next few days in the south of Thailand. In the Gulf of Thailand, all ferry services between the mainland and Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao have been suspended for two days. On the Andaman Sea, the national park on the Surin Islands has…
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Battle lines drawn in Koh Lipe turf war
Thailand’s human rights commission (NHRC) is calling for the government to take urgent action in the Koh Lipe turf war to help sea gypsies living on the island in Satun province. The Moken are a semi-nomadic tribe that lives in Thai coastal provinces and inhabits over 800 islands in the Andaman Sea. They number less than 3,000 people. The Moken have…
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Bangkok runs Hidden Temples tour while Deep South restores temples
With so much talk during the pandemic about closing nightlife and the effect on tourism, one might forget that millions of people flock to Thailand to enjoy other facets of the kingdom aside from beaches and parties, booze, and women. Now, various government agencies are coming together to highlight the beautiful architecture and culture of the temples of Thailand. In…
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