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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Digital nomading in Chiang Mai? What US$1,000 a month really gets you
Chiang Mai has become a popular destination for digital nomads due to its low living costs, rich culture, and active remote work community. The city offers affordable housing, tasty food, reliable internet, and many co-working spaces, making it a great...
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Drunk driver crashes into motorbike, killing woman and 9 month old
A 60 year old woman and her nine month old grandson died after their motorbike was slammed from behind by a pickup truck early Sunday night in Samut Prakan, southeast of Bangkok. The 35 year old mother survived. She told the police she was riding her motorbike home with her nine month old son and mother. Her motorbike was hit…
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First direct flight from Saudi Arabia to land in Thailand after mending diplomatic relations
The first direct flight from Saudi Arabia to Thailand will land at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, a significant step after bilateral ties between the two countries were patched up. Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV846 from Riyadh will arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 6:05pm today. The airline will operate three flights per week between Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Bangkok, with more flights…
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Southern Thailand flooding causes bridge collapse, 6 people reported dead
Six people have been reported dead and one missing after a bridge collapsed due to heavy rains and strong currents in the Deep South province Narathiwat. The bodies were found in a submerged pickup truck. Investigators are still searching for another body. Flooding from heavy rain over the past week has hit several provinces in Thailand’s southern-most region including Narathiwat,…
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15 dead after tourist boat capsizes in Vietnam
A tourist boat has capsized off the coastal city of Hoi An, central Vietnam, with 15 people dead, including a 12-year-old child. According to an AFP report, the boat sank in bad weather as it was transporting 39 domestic tourists and crew members back from a trip to Cu Lao Cham Island. The island, off the coast of the world-heritage…
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Philippines to lift most Covid restrictions in Manila from tomorrow
A spokesperson for Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, says most Covid-19 restrictions in the capital, Manila, will be lifted from tomorrow. According to an AFP report, it comes as government officials declare Manila’s vaccination rate to be 100%, although it’s much lower elsewhere in the country. Manila has also experienced a sharp decline in case numbers. The country just…
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Thailand expecting a million Middle Eastern tourists following restoration of Saudi ties
Thailand hopes to restore its battered tourism sector by welcoming around a million Middle Eastern tourists by the end of this year. Government spokesperson Traisulee Traisornkul says the restoration of ties with Saudi Arabia, after a 30-year freeze, will help revive the tourism industry in the kingdom. “Restoring relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia would play a crucial role in…
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Evacuation of Thai nationals from Ukraine gets underway
The evacuation of Thai citizens from Ukraine is now underway, with 47 Thais having arrived at a dedicated facility in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, according to a Bangkok Post report. The Thai embassy in Warsaw, Poland, is managing the evacuation, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The embassy has opened a help centre in Lviv, with a specially chartered bus…
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Ukraine and Russia to meet for talks at Belarus border
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says officials will meet for talks with a Russian delegation at the Belarus border. AFP reports that the move comes after a phone call between Zelensky and Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko. “The politicians agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet the Russian one without preconditions at the Ukraine-Belarus border, near the Pripyat River.”…
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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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In Phuket, phoney monk publicly strips, changes into normal clothes
A man in Phuket who pretended to be a monk to convince people to give him ‘alms’ money publicly stripped off his monk robe in a field to change into normal clothes. The Phuket Provincial Police chief told The Phuket News people complained and sent videos of the man publicly changing in a field across the road from the Phuket…
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Forensic experts uncover more about Tangmo’s death, two charged so far
Forensic experts have dismissed reports that Tangmo, the Thai actress who’s body was found yesterday, went to the back of the boat she fell off to urinate. The experts say she was wearing a body suit, which would have made this difficult. A preliminary autopsy showed Tangmo had sand in her lungs. Toxicology results are expected to take about seven…
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Bangkok student president dismissed for controversial video chat
The president of Chulalongkorn Univesity’s student council was dismissed from his position after he presented a controversial video at a student orientation in 2021. The video featured talks by two prominent protest leaders, nicknamed Penguin and Rung, who are known critics of Thailand’s monarchy. In his talk, Penguin raised his middle finger, and encouraged students to do the same. Thai…
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Covid-19 clinics for mild patients to open in March
Thailand’s Public Health Permanent Secretary announced yesterday that Covid-19 clinics for patients with mild symptoms or none at all will open in Thailand on March 1. The clinics, called Accute Resperatory Infection clinics, will offer mild patients Covid-19 tests, exams, medicines, and advice from doctors about home quarantining. The spokesman stressed that 90% of new infections are by the Omicron…
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The west weaponises SWIFT as it ramps up sanctions against Russia
The US, European Commission, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada have announced they will cut “certain Russian banks” off from the world’s SWIFT bank code system, the global security network that connects thousands of financial institutions. The group said they will “collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin”. “This will ensure that these banks are disconnected…
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Tangmo’s mum believes daughter’s death is suspicious
In the aftermath of the mysterious death of Thai actress Tangmo, and the recovery of her body, after falling into Bangkok’s Chao Phraya, her mother told the Bangkok Post she believes something is suspicious. Tangmo’s mother, Panida, said it was hard to believe Tangmo and her five friends, one of whom was her manager, were on the boat just to enjoy…
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ASEAN’s pathetic response to the people of Ukraine – OPINION
OPINION Issuing its first cautious statement over the invasion of Ukraine, ASEAN calls on… “all parties concerned to exercise maximum restraint, to pursue dialogue through all channels, including diplomatic means to contain the situation, to prevent it from further escalation and to see peaceful resolution in accordance with international law and the UN Charter.” No condemnation, no demands for an…
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Missing Thai actress’s body found in Chao Phraya river, Bangkok
The body of Tangmo, the Thai actress who fell in the Chao Phraya river on Thursday night, was found by a rescue team this afternoon. Rescuers from the Ruamkanyu Foundation reported finding Tangmo’s body flaoting in the river at around 1:10pm. Eakpan Bunluerit, a Thai actor who also happened to be volunteering in the search, confirmed the body was Tangmo’s.…
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Phuket officials pass out Covid-19 “survival bags”.
Phuket officials handed out Covid-19 “survival bags” to residents of the Kamala area yesterday. The bags contained food and medical supplies, and were given to high-risk people self isolating, many of whom have lost livelihood from not being able to work. So far there are no details available about how many bags were given out. The chief of the Phuket…
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French expat who went missing in forest turns up safe in Chiang Mai
A French man who went missing in a Chiang Mai forest made his way to a hilltop temple, and is now safe. The man, Jacques Moriceau, went missing in a forest in Doi Tao district between late Thursday night and early Friday morning. He had driven to submit documents to the French consulate, and got lost on his way home…
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Russian flights keep arriving in Thailand, for now
Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and S7 Airline planes are still arriving on schedule in Thailand today as nothing has changed, thus far, as flights into Thai airports from Russia are concerned. But Thailand’s tourism tzars continue to monitor Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the world looks to ways of pressuring and sanctioning Russia, including access to its airlines across the world.…
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60% Covid-19 hospital beds in Thailand are taken
Thailand’s director-general of the Department of the Department of Medical Services said yesterday that 60% of 180,000 Covid-19 hospital beds are occupied. This is a sudden increase from Wednesday, when 49.1% of beds were occupied. The Public Health Ministry reported that as of Thursday there were 42,044 beds beds for patients in “level 1”, with 89,141 beds occupied. There were…
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Driver of speedboat missing Thai actress fell from likely to be charged
After Thai actress Tangmo fell into the Chao Phraya river from a speedboat on Thursday night, Bangkok police will likely charge the boat driver for negligence. If Tangmo is found dead, the charge will be negligence causing death. The driver’s full name is unknown right now, and he is only identified as Mr. Por. An unnamed source told the Bangkok…
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LATEST: Russian troops heading to Kyiv, US congress asked to approve US$6.4 billion in funding
Tracking the latest with the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia… Russian forces are continuing to advance towards Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in what’s seen as a direct attack on the capital and seat of Ukrainian government. President Zelenskyy claimed in a recorded broadcast that Russian troops “would attempt to take” the capital city Kyiv during the night. “This night will…
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Thailand to evacuate citizens from Ukraine, supports diplomatic peace talks
Thailand’s permanent representative to the United Nations has voiced support for a diplomatic solution regarding the Russian-Ukraine conflict. Speaking during the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, Suriya Chindawongse says Thailand has been following developments in Ukraine closely, especially the escalation of tension that is threating international peace and security. Chindawongse says his delegation agrees with the Secretary-General’s method…
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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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Thailand’s vehicle exports affected by world chip shortage, Russia-Ukraine conflict
The Automotive Industry Club have reported a decline in Thailand car production for January, citing the Russia-Ukraine conflict and a global shortage of semiconductors (microchips). Last month’s car production reached around 151,700 vehicles nationwide, a 2.45% increase year-on-year, but a 1.7% decline since last December, according to AIC spokesperson Surapong Pisitpattanapong. About 74,700 of the vehicles were produced for the…
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Bangkok to open 9 community isolation centres with 970 beds for mild patients
Authorities from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration visited the new community isolation centre in the Thawee Wattana district of Bangkok. They were checking the centre before it officially opens. Nine more isolation centres will open, and are expected to offer 970 beds for Covid-19 patients in Thailand’s capital. The authorities also said the Bangkok Emergency Medical Centre improved its contact system to…
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Indonesia will manufacture mRNA vaccines
After being chosen by the World Health Organization to get a technology transfer to become Southeast Asia’s Covid-19 vaccine centre, Indonesia might begin producing its own messenger ribonucleic acid vaccines. PT Bio Farma will begin producing mRNA doses under an undisclosed brand. With a capacity of 3.2 billion doses per year, the company is one of the region’s largest vaccine…
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Asia News Today | Asia’s stocks fluctuate, gold and Bitcoin rally
In the Asia Pacific region, only Japan, South Korea and Australia have so far officially condemned the actions of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine yesterday. They’ve said they will join with the US in imposing international sanctions but have so far declined to add unilateral sanctions. Indonesia has taken a slightly different tack and is calling for negotiation and…
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Thai actress missing after falling off a Chao Phraya speedboat
A Thai actress, who goes by the name Tangmo (water melon), fell from a speedboat into the Chao Phraya River near Rama VII Bridge last night. Authorities are still searching for her body. The speedboat had five others who were travelling with her. She fell in at around 10 pm, in Nonthaburi’s Muang district, just north of Bangkok. She was…
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