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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    What do you need before moving from the US to Thailand?

    The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...

  • Influenza outbreak in Thailand prison infects over 3,000 inmates | Thaiger

    Influenza outbreak in Thailand prison infects over 3,000 inmates

    A devastating influenza outbreak at Nakhon Si Thammarat prison in Thailand has infected almost 3,500 inmates, leading to two fatalities, as reported by public health officials. The prison in Phra Phom district was inspected by a team led by Dr Kittisak Aksornwong, the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Public Health, who confirmed the outbreak. From April 19 to April 28, 3,442…

  • Yala deputy governor accused of adultery with adopted son (video) | Thaiger

    Yala deputy governor accused of adultery with adopted son (video)

    The deputy governor of Yala province in southern Thailand allegedly committed adultery with his adopted son who reportedly physically assaulted his adopted mother, the governor’s legal wife. Local Facebook page Esor News reported on April 28 that a deputy governor in southern Thailand had been transferred from his post due to allegations of adultery, as he was still living with…

  • Phuket pickup truck road mishap kills three, injures seven | Thaiger

    Phuket pickup truck road mishap kills three, injures seven

    A tragic road accident occurred on Southern Road when a pickup truck travelling from Phuket to Nakhon Si Thammarat for a religious ceremony veered off the road and overturned, resulting in seven injuries and three fatalities. Early this morning, an unfortunate incident unfolded on Southern Road, Highway 44, near the entrance to the village of Ban Marueat, in the district…

  • Homeless man arrested for brutal assault on Cha-am Beach | Thaiger

    Homeless man arrested for brutal assault on Cha-am Beach

    Police arrested a homeless man for a brutal assault on a sub-district chief while the victim was resting on Cha-am Beach in the southern province of Phetchaburi. The victim remains in critical condition at a hospital. A 23 year old Thai woman, Wissuta Wannathippakorn, sought justice for her father, 58 year old Sommart Wannathippakorn, by sharing the story with news…

  • Thai man armed with ammunition terrorises Chumphon | Thaiger

    Thai man armed with ammunition terrorises Chumphon

    A 56 year old Thai man has been terrorising his community in Chumphon, threatening to kill residents and local officials. This wave of fear escalated after the authorities attempted to arrest Somchai at his home in Chumphon province yesterday, only to find he had already escaped, leaving behind a cache of ammunition. Somchai, a resident of Visai Tai subdistrict in…

  • Koh Phi Phi water shortage, locals call for sustainable solutions | Thaiger

    Koh Phi Phi water shortage, locals call for sustainable solutions

    Locals and business operators on Koh Phi Phi island in the southern province of Krabi called on the government to find a long-term solution to annual water shortages. A private water supply company on the island stopped distributing water on Tuesday, April 23. Channel 3 reported the private water supply company announced to the residents of Koh Phi Phi that…

  • Buddhism Office probes monks over ‘Mind Connection’ cult claims | Thaiger

    Buddhism Office probes monks over ‘Mind Connection’ cult claims

    A controversial spiritual practice in Thailand, dubbed the “Mind Connection” technique, has prompted an investigation by the National Office of Buddhism (NOB). The director of the NOB, Intaporn Jantaeiam, recently announced a legal pathway to take action and initiated a probe into two monks whose images appeared at an event related to this practice. The case came into the spotlight…

  • Koh Pha Ngan: French tourist nabbed for drug dealing | Thaiger

    Koh Pha Ngan: French tourist nabbed for drug dealing

    Surat Thani police officers, alongside the Pa Cha Da Special Operation Unit, apprehended a 41 year old French national at a hotel bar on Koh Pha Ngan yesterday. Authorities unveiled a stash of narcotics and incriminating evidence. Among the damning items seized were 19.7 grammes of cocaine, 23 ecstasy pills, a digital scale, and 6,000 baht in cash, along with…

  • Narathiwat raid nets three bomb suspects, hunting for a fourth | Thaiger

    Narathiwat raid nets three bomb suspects, hunting for a fourth

    A joint operation between police, military, and administrative officials in Narathiwat province has led to the arrest of three individuals suspected of orchestrating a bomb attack in front of a convenience store in the district of Chanae, southern Thailand. The suspects confessed to the crime, paving the way for a manhunt for a fourth accomplice. In the early hours of…

  • Fake time, real warning: Thai couple’s scam alert (video) | Thaiger

    Fake time, real warning: Thai couple’s scam alert (video)

    A Thai couple took to social media to issue a warning, alleging that a foreign man attempted to scam them by selling a fake luxury watch. The couple claim that the man allegedly bought the watch for 59,000 baht but offered it to them for just 6,000 baht. A Thai man, Supakorn Piriyesyangkoon, shared a video and pictures of the…

  • Polish man falls to his death from 62-metre cell tower in Surat Thani | Thaiger

    Polish man falls to his death from 62-metre cell tower in Surat Thani

    A Polish man jumped to his death from a 62-metre cell tower in the southern province of Surat Thani on Friday. Chaiya Police Station officers were notified that a foreign man climbed to the top of a mobile phone tower in the Chaiya district of Surat Thani on Friday, April 19. When they arrived, they found a crowd of people…

  • Woman arrested in Trang for filming assault over love triangle | Thaiger

    Woman arrested in Trang for filming assault over love triangle

    Police apprehended a 21 year old Thai woman outside a popular shopping mall in Trang Province for her involvement in a violent assault over a love dispute. The arrest took place today after an extensive manhunt following an incident in May last year, where the woman, Wiphawadee (surname withheld) and her group forcibly entered a woman’s residence in Phuket and…

  • Yala police officer critically wounded in midnight ambush | Thaiger

    Yala police officer critically wounded in midnight ambush

    A police officer was critically injured in a late-night ambush while on patrol in Banang Sata, Yala province. The incident occurred around midnight close to a 7-Eleven store adjacent to Krung Thai Bank in Banang Sata sub-district. The officer, identified as Wacharaphong Chaiyaphan from the Banang Sata Police Station, was shot by an unidentified gunman and suffered a gunshot wound…

  • 10 year old girl shot dead over land concession conflict in Krabi | Thaiger

    10 year old girl shot dead over land concession conflict in Krabi

    Police are searching for the gunman who shot dead a 10 year old girl on a palm plantation in the southern province of Krabi. The girl’s family believes the shooting was motivated by a dispute over land concessions. The fatal shooting took place in a palm plantation in the Khao Panom district of Krabi at about 8pm on Wednesday, April…

  • British man arrested for begging to buy drugs in Koh Pha Ngan | Thaiger

    British man arrested for begging to buy drugs in Koh Pha Ngan

    Thai police arrested a British man after he allegedly begged for money to buy drugs outside a convenience store in Koh Pha Ngan, an island in the southern province of Surat Thani. Locals on Koh Pha Ngan reported to authorities after seeing a foreign man begging outside a 7-Eleven convenience store and using drugs in the area. Officers from the…

  • Phuket tourism market edging towards recovery in 2024 | Thaiger

    Phuket tourism market edging towards recovery in 2024

    Phuket’s tourism industry is undergoing an ongoing rebound, with last year’s airport passenger arrivals edging towards pre-pandemic figures according to a new report from consulting group C9 Hotelworks. While hitting 7 million, it was still short of the 9 million mark set in 2019. This year the trend is continuing with 1.62 million arrivals to date in February, compared to…

  • Security volunteer shot dead at father’s grave in Yala | Thaiger

    Security volunteer shot dead at father’s grave in Yala

    A fatal shooting incident took a grim turn in Yala when a security volunteer was brutally assassinated while he was reading the Quran at his father’s grave. The 43 year old victim, Ruslee Daleng, was a ranger volunteer who received a fatal headshot at a Muslim graveyard situated in Tambon Than To of Yala’s Than To district. The Than To…

  • Thai man suspected of beheading his father at home in Songkhla | Thaiger

    Thai man suspected of beheading his father at home in Songkhla

    Police suspected a Thai man of beheading his father at their home in a rubber plantation in the southern province of Songkhla. Sadao Police Station officers in Sadao district of Songkhla investigated a one-story house in the rubber plantation, yesterday, April 16, after being notified of the discovery of a dead body. The deceased was identified as 56 year old…

  • Songkran festival anticipates 100,000 Malaysian tourists in Hat Yai | Thaiger

    Songkran festival anticipates 100,000 Malaysian tourists in Hat Yai

    Hat Yai district of Songkhla anticipates the arrival of approximately 100,000 Malaysian tourists this weekend during the Songkran Festival. The influx of Malaysian visitors has seen an increase this year due to the festivities aligning with the end of Ramadan, according to Sitthipong Sittipatprapha, the president of the Hat Yai-Songkhla Hotel Association. A special train service named My Sawasdee arrived…

  • British man fined 5,000 baht for naked stroll on Krabi beach | Thaiger

    British man fined 5,000 baht for naked stroll on Krabi beach

    A British man faces a fine of 5,000 baht after a viral video, filmed by a Thai local, showed him walking naked with his friends along Ao Nang Beach in the southern province of Krabi. A resident of Krabi province witnessed the naked British man, later identified as 23 year old Joseph William Kershaw, and filmed him. The video was…

  • 2 foreign women caught stealing from souvenir shop in Krabi | Thaiger

    2 foreign women caught stealing from souvenir shop in Krabi

    A Thai vendor issued a warning to others after two foreign women stole souvenirs from his shop on Railay Beach in the southern province of Krabi on April 7. The owner of the souvenir shop, 45 year old Paithun shared CCTV footage of the theft on TikTok to alert other vendors in the area about the two foreign thieves. In…

  • Kazakh woman nabbed for illegal online sex services on Koh Samui | Thaiger

    Kazakh woman nabbed for illegal online sex services on Koh Samui

    Surat Thani immigration authorities recently apprehended a 35 year old woman from Kazakhstan for illegally selling sexual services online. The arrest occurred in a hotel room on the island of Koh Samui as part of a crackdown on foreign criminal activities in Thailand. The investigation, led by Police Captain Psathorn Saenyindee, was informed by a tip-off from a concerned foreign…

  • Trang hospital sees revival in Thai traditional eye therapy | Thaiger

    Trang hospital sees revival in Thai traditional eye therapy

    Patients seeking traditional Thai eye treatments are flocking to the health-promoting hospital in Ban Pru Jood, Trang, creating a buzz for the ancient practice known as Bong Tor Duay Namwai or needle splinting with rattan spines. This surge in demand reflects an increasing interest in the efficacy of traditional medicine, highlighting a blend of heritage and healing that is drawing…

  • Immigration officials gear up for Songkran rush at Thai border | Thaiger

    Immigration officials gear up for Songkran rush at Thai border

    The head of the Immigration Police and the chief of Immigration Division 6 recently inspected the Sadao and Padang Besar border checkpoints in Songkhla province. The inspection took place yesterday at 10.30am as part of a drive to ensure the readiness of the immigration facilities in anticipation of the increased flow of tourists during the Songkran festival, which marks the…

  • Thai ferry fire: Authorities blaze into action saving all aboard (video) | Thaiger

    Thai ferry fire: Authorities blaze into action saving all aboard (video)

    The Thai authorities successfully rescued 97 passengers and 11 crew members after a fire broke out on an overnight ferry travelling from the mainland in the southern province of Surat Thani to Koh Tao. ThaiRath reported that the fire started in the engine room of the Koh Charoen 2 ferry at around 6.30 am today, April 4, when the boat…

  • Foreign diver faces fine for touching whale shark in Thailand (video) | Thaiger

    Foreign diver faces fine for touching whale shark in Thailand (video)

    The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) fined a foreign tourist for touching a whale shark while diving at Mu Koh Surin National Park in the southern province of Phang Nga. Drama erupted among local travel agencies in the southern provinces of Thailand after a video and pictures of a diver touching the tip of a whale…

  • Banyan Group and Urasaya Property launch Nakhon Si Thammarat’s first luxury residence | Thaiger

    Banyan Group and Urasaya Property launch Nakhon Si Thammarat’s first luxury residence

    Nestled directly on Thailand’s Gulf Coast, Banyan Tree Residences Sichon represents a pioneering project by Banyan Group, the independent global hospitality company, in partnership with Urasaya Property Co., Ltd, a pioneering real estate developer. This venture not only promises a unique living experience but also marks a significant step in the expansion and diversification of luxury living options in Thailand.…

  • German and Canadian charged for illegal kung fu course (video) | Thaiger

    German and Canadian charged for illegal kung fu course (video)

    Police arrested a German and a Canadian man for illegally conducting a Shaolin kung fu training course on Koh Pha Ngan, an island in the southern province of Surat Thani. Pha Ngan Tourist Police and Immigration Police arrested 37 year old German man Somphet Daoheuang and a 34 year old Canadian man Arbely Natalie Rubalcava Rojo at a yoga training…

  • Female off-duty ranger shot dead in Narathiwat province | Thaiger

    Female off-duty ranger shot dead in Narathiwat province

    Amidst the hustle and bustle of the Dusongyor market in Chanae district, Narathiwat province, southern Thailand, tragedy struck when a lone gunman fatally shot a female para-military ranger. Without warning, the assailant drew a 9mm handgun and fired a fatal shot into the 30 year old off-duty ranger’s head, killing Nurisan Phromsri instantly. The sudden gunfire sent shockwaves throughout the…

  • Worker fatally crushed by garbage truck in Nakhon Si Thammarat | Thaiger

    Worker fatally crushed by garbage truck in Nakhon Si Thammarat

    A tragic incident unfolded yesterday when a refuse collection worker, was fatally crushed by a garbage truck operated by the subdistrict administrative organisation (SAO) of Kamlon in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The accident occurred in the area of Moo 1, Kamlon subdistrict, Lansaka district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Despite desperate shouts for the driver to stop, visibility issues led to the…