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.
-
Sponsored Thailand health insurance that covers chronic conditions: What expats need to know
The Thaiger key takeaways Managing chronic conditions in Thailand requires health insurance that covers specialist visits, medications, tests, and hospital stays. Cigna offers high-coverage plans with access to top hospitals, direct billing, and telemedicine support for convenient long-term care. Expats...
-
Meteorological Department head, corruption, blamed for navy ship sinking
In the wake of the devastating navy ship sinking last month, someone needs to take the blame. Yesterday, the Pheu Thai Party declared that the person accountable for the tragedy of the HTMS 442 Sukhothai is the weatherman. The director-general of the Meteorological Department of Thailand is being blamed for not providing a more accurate report of the dangerous weather.…
-
Body of tattooed man wearing Royal Thai Navy shirt washes up in southern Thailand
The body of an unidentified man wearing a Royal Thai Navy shirt washed up on a beach in Songkhla province in southern Thailand early this morning, reports KhaoSod. It is not yet confirmed whether the man is one of 11 sailors still missing from the HTMS Sukhothai, which sank off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan province just over one…
-
Death toll of sunken Thai navy ship rises to 18, 11 sailors missing
The Royal Thai Navy recovered the bodies of three more missing HTMS Sukhothai sailors from the Gulf of Thailand yesterday, December 25, bringing the total death toll from the tragedy to 18, according to a navy spokesperson. Of the 105 crew members aboard the warship when it sank over a week ago, 76 have been rescued, 18 died and 11…
-
HRH Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand treated for irregular heartbeat
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand is resting after receiving hospital treatment for heart arrhythmia (abnormal heartbeat), according to a statement issued by the Bureau of the Royal Household yesterday. The 67 year old princess was admitted to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital on November 22, 2022, where she received radiofrequency ablation treatment to treat her abnormal heartbeat.…
-
Police ordered not to name nationalities, arrest Swedish man with gun and meth
The Royal Thai police have given foreign troublemakers a bit of a Christmas gift. In an order put out late on Christmas Eve, the RTP told all provincial police bureaus to no longer release to the media the nationality of any foreigner arrested in Thailand. A spokesperson for the Royal Thai Police said that people accused of a crime in…
-
Tasteless Thai food humbled by American culinary excellence
Thai food was humbled by American when TasteAtlas announced their top 50 best cuisines from around the world, and almost everyone was offended. While some obvious countries made it into the top spots, not everyone agreed with the breakdown. Taking the top three spots were Italy, Greece and Spain, who were joined by the likes of Japan, India, Mexico and…
-
Road accidents involving motor bikes on the rise in Phuket
As we head into what has become known in Thailand as the “Seven Days of Danger” – the holiday period from December 24 to January 4 that always sees an increase in road deaths – a new report initiative is shedding light on an increase in motorbike accidents in Phuket. The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation has begun releasing a report…
-
Knifed in the neck for disrespecting mum
A cantankerous Rayong grandmother has worn out her welcome in her village and now her fed-up family and friends are conspiring to ship her off to a home. Ban Khai police were called to an address last week where they found Laemthong, aged 52, bleeding from a wound in his neck. According to the Bangkok Post, Kai Sawanmongkol, better known…
-
Dern Rim Lay Festival on Kata Beach today
Phuket is celebrating the holiday with the launch of a number of Christmas and New Year’s events, starting with the Dern Rim Lay @ Kata Festival. The festival began yesterday and continues now in Karon on Kata Beach. Street stalls line the beach and around 150 vendors are offering food and shopping to the thousands of locals, residents, expats, and…
-
Grease is the Word: Brighton College Student Musical Extravaganza!
Brighton College is proud to present a spectacular musical performance based on the iconic Grease movie! attended by students from Year 7 to Year 13, performing classic songs and iconic dance moves from the movie, plenty of energy and enthusiasm, so make sure you don’t miss out on this amazing show!
-
Taiwan to ration paracetamol after bulk-buying for China
Authorities are debating whether Taiwan will ration paracetamol, as the Covid situation across the strait deteriorates and concern grows following Taiwan’s reopening for travel. Taiwan may impose buying limits on all kinds of painkillers as people buy up local supplies to ship them to China where the pandemic has put a strain on supplies. Hsueh Jui-yuan, Taiwan’s minister of health…
-
Record number of Thai people travelling abroad
Most tourism discussions in Thailand centre around incoming international travellers to the kingdom. But Thai people are also travelling abroad in record numbers, the highest in three years. In the last quarter of 2022, an average of 28,000 Thai people are travelling outbound each day to other countries. That average has already climbed a bit in the first 20 days…
-
Air pollution at unsafe levels in Bangkok
Bangkok residents should pay close attention to the air-quality in their vicinity and protect themselves, according to Bangkok Environment Department. The capital’s air quality is invariably appalling at this time of year, due to still air and is expected to remain unsafe over the weekend. The deteriorating air quality is attributed to a cold front from China and only weak breezes.…
-
No official plans to cancel countdown parties
The government of Thailand has not officially cancelled any New Year celebrations, the Tourism Authority of Thailand informed. The TAT said all New Year’s countdown events can operate as planned, though some provinces and areas have chosen to scale back their parties. Perhaps most notably, the chief of the Khao San Road Business Association has announced a cancellation of the…
-
Codeshare deal between Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways
A strategic partnership expansion was just signed between Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways. The two airlines have had a partnership for years, as both are members of the Star Alliance network, but the new deal will allow them to codeshare more flights to offer each of their customers more variety when travelling in Southeast Asia and the world. Codesharing is…
-
Prayut to run for new party as PM
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is to run as the PM candidate for a new party in the next election. Prayut will be after another term under the banner of the Ruam Thai Sang Chart (RTSC) party, a move that could divide the pro-military and conservative bases in the next election. Prayut insisted that he has a close bond with the…
-
International tourism 2022: 11.5 million foreign arrivals
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says that, now that they’ve blown past their 2022 target of 10 million international travellers, they are now predicting 11.5 million by the end of the year. This is 15% above their projections which seemed overly hopeful earlier in the year. From the beginning of the year through December 20, 10.9 million foreign tourists have…
-
Defying Thai beauty standards ft. Anchilee Scott-Kemmis | Thaiger Podcast Ep. 17
Meet Anchilee Scott-Kemmis, a Thai-Australian model and Miss Universe Thailand 2021 who defied Thai beauty standards and campaigned for what she believed in. By being a strong advocate for body positivity and diversity with her #RealSizeBeauty social movement, Anchilee became a big source of hope for many Thai women and young girls who have felt pressured by the existing beauty…
-
St. Andrews International School, Green Valley, proud to achieve globally recognised Green Flag award
Sponsored St. Andrews International School, Green Valley in Rayong, is a proud recipient of the globally-recognised environmental award, the Green Flag Eco-Schools Award. The Green Flag, awarded by the WWF and part of the world’s largest sustainable schools’ programme, is the highest possible Eco-Schools award, recognising and celebrating the ecological achievements of young people within schools. It acknowledges St Andrews…
-
Fireworks cancelled at Pattaya’s New Year event
Pattaya’s three-day New Year event from December 29-31 at Bali Hai Pier is still going ahead but there will be no fireworks at all this year, even on the countdown into the New Year. Concerts and street food stalls will be available to enjoy as normal. Facebook page Pattaya City Mayor Hotline (สายตรงนายกเมืองพัทยา) posted about the cancellation of the annual fire…
-
Monkey steals bag containing 50,000 Thai baht and throws it off a cliff
A trouble-making monkey in Srisaket province, northeast Thailand, stole a tourist’s tote bag and launched it off the side of a cliff yesterday after finding nothing edible inside it. A team of park rangers scaled down the cliffside to retrieve the bag, which contained 50,000 baht (US$1,438) in cash. Park rangers at Khao Phra Wihan National Park received a call from…
-
Huge truck crushes young motorcyclist to death in Chon Buri
A huge truck tragically crushed a young motorcyclist to death in Chon Buri’s main city district yesterday. The incident happened on a road under a motorway in the Don Hua Lor sub-district. The victim, 20 year old Phatthames Sriraksa, who is originally from Sisaket province, had been driving home from work. Rescuers arrived on the scene to find Phattames’s body…
-
Southern Thai woman caught with 70 bizarre animal carcasses
Police arrested a woman from Songkhla province in southern Thailand for selling protected wildlife carcasses as ingredients for “exotic dishes.” Officers seized nearly 70 animal carcasses including monitor lizards, pangolins, langur monkeys, squirrels, mouse-deers, and civets. Yesterday, the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division was tipped off that a passenger was carrying protected wildlife on a train from Sukirin district in…
-
Bangkok tops list of trending Airbnb destinations this year
Thailand’s capital topped a list of trending Airbnb destinations in 2022. Based on searches made in the first to third quarters of the year for check-ins, Bangkok was the #1 most trending destination for Airbnb guests across the globe. The entire list is as follows: Bangkok, Thailand Sydney, Australia Málaga, Spain Seoul, South Korea Melbourne, Australia Itapema, Brazil Angra dos…
-
Village chief survives accidentally shooting himself while driving in central Thailand
Somehow, a village chief accidentally shot himself in the leg and hand while driving through Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province in central Thailand yesterday. He tried to drive himself to the hospital but ended up crashing into a temple. At 12.22am, officers from Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Police Station received a report of a car accident at Phra Si Sanphet…
-
Thailand welcomes nearly 11 million tourists this year
Tourist arrivals in Thailand could hit the 11 million mark before the year is through, according to the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Yuthasak Supaporn. Between January 1 and December 20, Thailand welcomed 10.9 million tourists from around the world, the governor said this morning. With High Season in full swing, Yuthasak said he expects tourist arrivals…
-
Accused Bangkok fraudster attempts to flee justice
A defendant in a fraud case attempted to escape justice yesterday when he fled from Bangkok’s Criminal Court. Prasit Jiewkok’s comedy attempt to flee was foiled by police and corrections officials who captured him after he left the building.With the help of accomplices, Prasit changed out of his prison clothes in a courtroom toilet. Prasit is on trial with eight…
-
Charities and leaders treat Pattaya kids to Christmas party
Generous people in Pattaya are in the holiday spirit of giving. Local leaders and charities treated kids in Pattaya’s Khopai community to a Christmas party on Tuesday. Soi Khopai is located in the Bang Lamung district. The children got to eat yummy food, play games, and win prizes. Santa Clause made an appearance at the party, gifting children candy, toys,…
-
Jealous Thai husband strangles wife and sleeps next to her body all night
A drunk Thai man strangled his wife and slept next to her dead body on Tuesday night in Udon Thani province in northeast Thailand. He said he didn’t know she was dead. At 10am on Wednesday, officers from Mueang Udon Thani Police Station were notified that a husband killed his wife at a construction workers’ residence in Kak Khaeng district.…
-
Commerce experts predict Thailand’s consumer spending will hit 17 year high during New Year
Commerce experts predict that Thailand’s consumer spending will hit a 17 year high during the New Year period coming soon. The president of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) discussed the UTCC’s predictions at a conference on “Consumer behaviour and spending during the 2023 New Year Festival.” The president, Thanavath Phonvichai, said the period is expected to…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.