News
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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Boat carrying a Bangkok school group sinks at Chumpon pier
A boat carrying up to 40 schoolchildren has sunk after hitting underwater rocks next to a pier in Chumpon province last Monday. The vessel “Mattha” was carrying around 50 people, including the group from a school in Bangkok on a snorkelling day trip around the nearby islands. But when the boat returned later in the day, the tide was out…
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Man found dead in pickup with charcoal burner in Rassada, Phuket
A man has been found dead inside a pickup truck with a coal burner also inside the vehicle in Rassada this morning. Police were notified of the situation in Soi Muen Sri in Rassada. Police and emergency responders arrived to find the man’s body in the parked pickup truck. The man was identified as 28 year old Weerawat Pakdeewirot from…
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Injured Brahminy Kite (bird) rescued in Karon
An injured Brahminy Kite has been rescued by locals in Karon, Phuket. The mature Brahminy Kite was found in Karon this week. Locals who found the bird contacted the head of Khao Phra Thaeo Non-Hunting Area, Pongchart Chueahom. The Brahminy Kite had a wound similar to a bite wound under its wing. It was unable tp fly. It is now…
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Army commander visits Phuket residents to discuss water shortage
Lt Gen Pornsak Poonsawat, the Commander of the Fourth Army Region (Southern) in Nakhon Si Thammarat, came to Phuket to visit residents over water shortage issues in Rassada. Lt Gen Pornsak says “we were contacted from the Phuket Governor that Phuket is facing serious water shortages. We have come here with water trucks to help residents to join with other…
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Sri Lankan death toll revised down
The Sri Lankan Health Ministry has revised down the death toll from last Sunday’s deadly terror attacks on churches and upscale hotels. The latest official toll is now 253, down from the previous death toll, which stood at 359. In a statement, the health ministry claimed the previous death toll released by the ministry was 290, and not 359 as…
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Freak storm batters Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok
A random summer storm has struck Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport this afternoon. The freak storm affected more than 18 flights and stranded 3,000 passengers whilst the storm battered the area north of the main city. At least one flight was re-directed to the nearby Suvarnabhumi Airport and another to U-Tapao Airport. Strong winds caused a Lion Air mobile airstair to…
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3.6 million coronation souvenir coins ordered
The Treasury has reported that orders have been placed for more than 3.6 million souvenir coins of different models that are being especially minted to mark the May 4 coronation of His Majesty the King. The orders include 200 for the highest value platinum coins worth 1 million baht apiece, and 10,000 for gold coins, department chief Amnuay Preemonwong said.…
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Power outage hits parts of Thalang
Electricity was shut off in Thalang today. The The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) announced the outage. Residents of Thalang have had to endure blackouts from 9am to 4.30pm today as the PEA continues its work on high power voltage systems in the area. Areas being affected are from Makprok PTT Gas Station to Baan Mueang Mai Intersection and from Baan…
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Driver killed and 10 Burmese workers injured in Tak crash
by Pipat Jongmeekwamsook A van driver has been killed and 10 migrant workers injured after the passenger van careered into a roadside ditch and hit a tree in Khamphaeng Phet in Thailand’s central west today. The 27 year old van driver was killed and 10 Burmese workers were injured when their vehicle crashed in Khamphaeng Phet’s Kosamphee Nakhon district early…
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Chinese tourist caught stealing GoPro from couple – VIDEO
A Chinese man has been caught stealing a camera from a Spanish couple in Chiang Mai. The incident happened on Tuesday and was captured on CCTV. The Spanish tourists had been visiting Wat Phra That Doi Suthep when they put a GoPro camera on the bench they had been sitting on. After realising they’d left the camera there, they returned but…
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UPDATE: Armed Mercedes snake man to be charged
No previous mental medical health problems have been identified for the man who released snakes on the road outside Central World in Bangkok yesterday. The incident caused bedlam and stopped traffic outside Central World. A man, armed with a large knife, stopped his new black Mercedes right in the middle of the road. He then got out, posted some signs…
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Three million baht Central Pattaya stormwater roadworks – FAIL
PHOTO: A representative of the City Engineering Department inspects two side streets in the Soi Arunothai Community. Central Pattaya residents are complaining that 3 million baht in roadworks has been a waste of money – Pattaya Mail Three million baht spent but not a lot to show for the considerable investment. Central Pattaya residents say that nearly 3 million baht…
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World Bank downgrades Thailand’s 2019 GDP growth to 3.8%
The World Bank is downgrading Thailand’s growth projections to 3.8% from 3.9% for 2019. This compares to last year’s 4.1% GDP. The Bank says that export growth has shrunk to 5.7% from last year’s 5.9%. The World Bank’s senior economist for Thailand, Mr. Kiatpong Ariyapratya, says that the Word Bank also projects that Thailand’s growth rate for next year would…
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Police defend theft charges on British backpacker Chris Dodd
PHOTOS: Chris Dodd, BBC Police are defending their actions when they charged a British backpacker with theft after he picked up a mobile phone at Chiang Mai airport last February. 29 year old Chris Dodd spent 10 days in jail in February after he was charged with stealing the phone belonging to a German tourist and remanded in custody by…
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Armed Mercedes owner releases snakes onto road outside Central World
PHOTOS: JS100 Radio An incident has caused bedlam and stopped traffic outside Central World in Bangkok. A man armed with a knife stopped his new black Mercedes in the middle of the road. He then started releasing snakes out of a blue bag onto the road in front of the bewildered passersby. Footage from the incident shared on Twitter shows the…
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Residents protest the Phuket Governor over water shortages
Local residents in Rassada have picketed the Phuket Provincial City hall to demand answers from the Phuket Governor over the current water shortages. Phuket Governor Pakkaphong Tavipattana told the media yesterday they are managing to solve water shortage problems in Phuket throughout this dry season. Whilst claiming that there was no ‘drought crisis’ in Phuket the Governor said… “All local…
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Raid on 18 foreign-owned Koh Samui hotels, owners arrested
FILE PHOTO Army, police and municipal officials have raided 18 hotels on Koh Samui claiming that they are illegally owned by foreigners. The hotels in questions are on a mountainside on the Gulf island, the second largest island in Thailand. Officials carried out the search and raids on Chaweng Noi Mountain in Moo 6 village in Tambon Bophut and found…
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American arrested at airport after stealing speedboat in Krabi
PHOTOS: Pudam News An American tourist has been arrested after stealing a speedboat on Koh Phi Phi to drive to Krabi. Koh Phi Phi Police Chief Col Kritsapas Detinthasorn says, “We received a report from Ms Apissamai Sangjan that her speedboat, which was moored at Ao Nang Beach, was stolen on April 19. An allegedly drunken tourist jumped in, started…
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Father tramples man after he touched his daughter’s bottom in Bangkok
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Khanitnicha Chatnantakul The father of a female student has hit and trampled a man after finding out he touched his daughter’s bottom while she was waiting for the father to pick her up in Ladprao, Bangkok last night. A witness said that the girl waits for her father at a Soi not far from her house to pick her…
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Phuket’s seastead couple remain elusive
The Seastead may be under 24 hour guard at the Port of Phuket but the couple who were staying in the structure offshore from Phuket, and have become the international face of the seastead experiment, remain elusive. According to Phuket’s deputy police chief Pol Colonel Witoon Kongsudjai, their mobile phone signal identified the couple’s last known location as Tarutao Island…
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Sri Lanka attacks ‘retaliation for Christchurch’ – Government minister
The Islamist suicide bombings that killed 321 people, and injured many others in Sri Lanka at the weekend, are believed to have been carried out in revenge for last month’s attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Fifty people were shot dead on March 15 at two mosques in the South Island, New Zealand city by an avowed white…
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Thanathorn faces more charges from EC over media shares
Future Forward’s Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the 40 year old leader of the new party, has cut short his trip to Europe over an ‘unexpected incident’ The Thai Election Commission yesterday unanimously resolved to press charges against Thanathorn over an alleged violation of Thai media shareholding rules. Citing investigations by two EC panels, Sawang Boonmee, the EC deputy secretary-general, told a press…
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Phuket faces critical water shortages if the monsoon doesn’t arrive soon
Phuket is now, officially, experiencing water shortages, with water in the province’s three catchments just enough for the supply of tap water until the end of May, and the condition is expected to get worse if the annual monsoon doesn’t kick in soon. The annual south-west monsoon usually starts dragging in moist air and the ‘wet season’ begins sometime around…
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Questions arise over specs of collapsed wall at school in Khon Kaen that killed 4 year old girl
by Kritmet Loho Khon Kaen’s governor Somsak Jangtrakul today led police and related officials to inspect a private school building in Tambon Ban Ped in the main city area. The building had partially collapsed during Monday’s hail and rain storm that hit the are, killing a four year old girl.Somsak revealed that an initial investigation shows the building construction hadn’t…
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Mother says customer paying for sex with 5 year old daughter was girl’s father
PHOTOS: tnews.co.th A 28 year old woman, arrested in Chachoengsao, east of Bangkok, for allegedly selling her five year old daughter for sex, has revealed to police that the 52 year old customer who was allegedly caught in the act, and arrested at the time, was the young girl’s biological father. The woman – whose name is being withheld to…
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Coral in Trang extensively damaged after tourist influx over Songkran
PHOTOS: Prueg Ubonkerd Tourists during Songkran have caused extensive damage to coral in the national park area of Trang, south of Thailand. Matichon Online reports that the damage was caused by the tourist numbers overwhelming the area during the week-long Songkran break. Many boats have dropped their anchors onto the fragile underwater area or tied ropes around corals as there…
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Thon Buri pub raid, 38 patrons test positive for drugs
Sur-PRIIISE! Troops and police have raided a nightclub in Bangkok’s Thon Buri district at 3am this morning and found that 38 of its patrons tested positive to illicit drug use. The Bangkok office of the Internal Security Operations Command conducted the early morning raid against the Wave Pub (formerly known as the Poseidon Pub) on Ratchadapisek Road in Talad Plu…
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Phuket’s water supply in a critical situation
Phuket’s water lords are now admitting the island’s water situation is in a critical situation – a situation they have had the power to avert but have chosen instead to ‘hope’ for monsoonal rains and go in search of alternative water sources to top up the dwindling catchment resources. Phuket is now in the throws of a water shortage. The…
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Massive fire at Koh Samui incinerator – VIDEO
PHOTOS/VIDEO: The Government Public Relation Department Region 5 An incinerator caught fire on Koh Samui, off the coast of Surat Thani last night. “That’s what incinerators are meant to do,” we hear you cry. But this one was totally out of control destroying the entire structure. The Government Public Relation Department Region 5 reports that the fire started at the…
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Phuket’s ‘seastead’ is now a sad ‘homestead’ back on shore – VIDEO
The Phuket seastead removal operation was a success yesterday, according to the Royal Thai Navy. The controversial seastead structure is now under guard at the Port of Thailand. The Royal Thai Navy says they are confident with the evidence they have for any litigation that may follow the removal of the structure from its offshore home, some 22 kilometres off…
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