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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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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Thai family’s dream holiday turns into cockroach-infested nightmare
An extravagant vacation home infested with worms, rats and cockroaches, turned one family’s dream holiday in Pattaya into a nightmare. A Thai woman paid 47,000 baht for 2 nights’ accommodation at an 8-bedroom luxury villa in the Palm Spring Housing area of Pattaya but the stay turned into a disaster from the moment the family crossed the threshold. Primnapaphas Aite…
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Laotian tourists are flocking to Thailand
Crowds of eager Laotian tourists are flocking to Thailand now that Thailand and Laos have eased travel restrictions this month. Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said yesterday that the checkpoint in Nong Khai, which borders Laos in Northeastern Thailand, is now the fourth most popular entry point into Thailand. The top 3 most popular entry points are Suvarnabhumi and Phuket…
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UPDATE #3: Thai couple murdered in Taiwan
UPDATE #3: The man suspected of murdering a Thai couple in Taiwan last week – the woman pregnant with twins – handed himself in to the Royal Thai Police at 8am this morning. Police arrested 35 year old “Santi” at the Border Police Division 335 in Chiang Dao district in the northern province of Chiang Mai after he made contact…
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Retire to Thailand? Think again, unless you’ve got the dosh!
Retiring to Thailand is the dream of many foreigners. And why not? The Land of Smiles has it all: sun, sea, sand, sexy senoritas, and a cheap way of living so, let’s do it! But what about the red tape? Is there any? How does Johnny Foreigner retire to Thailand? Well, Thailand’s Board of Investment is set to make an…
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In midst of price inflation, Thailand to freeze prices on dozens of products
In the midst of the world’s overwhelming price inflation, Thailand plans to freeze the prices of 46 items. The items are grouped into 9 categories, which are: paper and paper products, transport-related products, farm-related products, petroleum products, medicines, construction materials, “important” farm products, consumer products and food. The items include bicycle and car tires, motorcycles and trucks, water pumps, fertiliser,…
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Free massages in Pattaya until end of June
Feeling stressed? A project training aspiring massage therapists is providing free massages at Pattaya City Hall from Monday to Friday from 9am-3pm, on the fourth floor. The project began this week, and will last until June 30. If you’re dying for relief from your hectic daily life, 20 massage trainees are happy to help. Massages are free for both Thais,…
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Thailand Pass, Bars, Masks: The Thaiger’s predictions for tomorrow’s CCSA meeting
Tomorrow, Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, or CCSA, will meet to discuss the fate of Thailand Pass, “zones,” closing times of entertainment venues, mask-wearing and temperature checks. Keep a close eye on the Thaiger tomorrow to see if our predictions are correct… Thailand Pass Currently, non-Thai travellers entering Thailand are required to obtain a Thailand Pass QR code prior…
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Police arrest suspects in illegal lending network across Thailand
Police across Thailand have arrested 29 alleged members of an online illegal lending network. Police from the Economic Crime Suppression Division said small-business operators filed a complaint that they had borrowed money from the website, and were charged unusually high interest rates. When the business operators couldn’t make the payments, the websites’ operators sent men to intimidate them, according to…
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Pakistani government tells people “drink less tea” amidst economic crisis
Pakistan is the latest of several countries hit by an economic crisis. In the midst of the crisis, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning and Development has some interesting instructions for citizens: drink less tea. Pakistan is the world’s largest importer of tea, buying more than US$640 million worth in 2020, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. The minister, Ahsan…
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Muslim groups discuss legislation contrary to their religious beliefs
Twenty-five Muslim organisations met yesterday to discuss the government’s new cannabis law and other legislation contrary to their religious beliefs. The religious groups met at Baan Nuer Mosque Hall in the southern province of Songkla, to set up an Unethical Laws and Regulations Opposition Association, in opposition to the new law to decriminalise cannabis on June 9, same-sex marriage proposals,…
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UPDATE #2: Thai couple murdered in Taiwan
UPDATE #2: The Thai man who went on the run after murdering a Thai couple in Taiwan last week asked a middleman to contact the Royal Thai Police on his behalf to inform them that he wants to hand himself in. Apparently, he feels guilty and wants to surrender to police. The police have not spoken to the suspect directly so…
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Sea turtle lays 60 eggs at Phang Nga beach
A national park in South Thailand’s Phang Nga province has reported yesterday that 60 sea turtle eggs were found on a beach near the park’s office. The eggs are believed to have come from a green sea turtle, and are expected to hatch in 60 days. The eggs have now been moved to a safe area nearby, in order to…
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Completion of Pattaya’s Walking Street postponed again
Pattaya City authorities are kicking the can down the road again. After Pattaya city officials announced last month that construction of the city’s famous Walking Street would finish in August, they now say it will be completed in September (presumably September 2022). The contractor, DD Infrastructure Company, informed Pattaya’s city council chairman that the postponing is due to the delay…
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Chinese man swindled out of a million baht climbs 20 metre tsunami tower in Pattaya
A Chinese man suffered a mental breakdown and climbed a 20 metre tsunami warning tower in Pattaya after being swindled out of a million baht. The 51 year old man, named Qin, climbed the warning tower, located on Jomtien Beach near Jomtien Night Market, because he was scared after being threatened by men with whom he’d conducted a business deal.…
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Democrat MP gives blessing for party-goers to get high
Democrat Party MP, Kanok Wongtrangarn believes the nation’s party zones should be allowed to throw “ganja parties” to draw in more tourists in a bid to boost the Thai economy. Kanok, who quit as deputy leader in April after the party failed to take stronger action over a sex-abuse case, says specific areas, like the Koh Pha Ngan Full Moon…
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Russian man allegedly murders trans woman in northeast Thailand
Yesterday, a mother in the northeastern province of Surin discovered the rotting body of her 31 year old daughter – a trans woman named Thiraphong – wrapped inside a blanket in a storage room behind their family home. The mother suspects her daughter’s Russian boyfriend, who disappeared a few weeks ago, murdered her daughter. Police say they estimate that the…
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Luxury house in US belongs to my son, says Bangkok governor
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt yesterday insisted he has nothing to hide after it became public knowledge his family owns a luxury house in the US worth 72 million baht. The 56 year old city chief says the 4-bedroomed house on South Jackson Street, Seattle, Washington, belongs to his son, Sanpiti Sittipunt. Chadchart added the property, with 2 floors covering 302…
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Former Bangkok police inspector gets 20 years for murdering girlfriend in 2020
A former inspector from Bangkok’s Wang Thoglang Police station has been sentenced yesterday to 20 years in jail for murdering his girlfriend in 2020. The man, 31 year old Songklod ‘Boy’ Boonsong, shot and killed his girlfriend, 30 year old Pimchadaporn ‘Nim’ Puyamsai at a townhouse in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi. Boy shot Nim in the head. Boy claims he accidently…
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Thailand’s lower house passes Marriage Equality Bill (first reading)
Yesterday, Thailand’s Parliament passed the Marriage Equality Bill in the first reading with 210 votes in favour, 180 votes in opposition and 4 abstentions. The bill – previously rejected by Cabinet in March – was pushed by Thailand’s Move Forward Party. A parliamentary committee has been set up to scrutinise the bill over the next 15 days before it is…
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New draft law will allow ex-cons to expunge criminal records
A new draft law will allow people who have been convicted of a crime and served their sentence to wipe the slate clean and start again. In the past ex-cons have found it difficult to find gainful employment after serving their sentence and as a consequence have gone on to reoffend. But if this new bill is passed it will…
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LGBTQ+ protesters in Thailand want marriage equality, not ‘civil partnerships’
Members of Thailand’s LGBTQ+ community gathered outside parliament today to submit a letter calling for the Cabinet to pass the Marriage Equality Bill. The bill would make Thailand’s marriage laws applicable to any couple, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. The Marriage Equality bill was previously rejected by the Cabinet, who said it was redundant because they were instead…
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Thai Public Health recommend a Covid booster every 4 months
The Ministry of Public Health recommended that vaccinated residents should get a booster every 4 months. The Director-General of the Disease Control Department, Opas Kankawinpong, today recommended that Thai people should get at least 3 Covid-19 vaccinations and then keep topping up. Opas says everyone has antibodies but they decrease every 3 to 4 months, no matter what vaccine people…
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Labour Minister confirms 300 jobs axed by Shopee Thailand
The Labour Minister, Suchart Chomklin, confirmed yesterday’s report on the Shopee redundancies was accurate. He says 300 jobs are being axed, but insisted the Labour Ministry would help ensure sacked workers are looked after in accordance to employment legislation. The Singaporean company Sea announced during a town hall meeting yesterday of the planned layoff for one of its core businesses,…
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Officials in eastern Thailand scramble to save tree from tourists
Officials in eastern Thailand are scrambling to save a lone tree on a tiny islet off Trat province from tourist destruction. The islet is only a few metres wide, with nothing on it except the tree and its roots. The director of maintenance at Koh Mak Tambon Administrative Organisation, Lertrob Saithongpu, said the wee little islet can only handle 5…
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Phuket vice governor announces 5 year goal to cut road deaths in half
Phuket’s Vice Governor Anupap announced a 5 year goal for reducing Phuket’s road deaths at a meeting yesterday. Anupap said the goal for 2027 is to have only 12 deaths per 100,000 people. This would mean 41 road deaths a year in Phuket. Last year, Phuket saw 70 road deaths. To meet the 2027 goal, Phuket would have to cut…
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Robot dogs spotted “playing” at Chiang Mai University
As if Thailand didn’t have enough dogs roaming the streets already, Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Engineering has manufactured a pack of robot dogs which have been spotted “playing” on a field at the university’s campus in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. An unsettling video of the robot dogs posted on Facebook has netizens divided on whether the dogs – which…
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Sri Lanka to start 4 day work week so people can grow food amidst crisis
Amidst Sri Lanka’s unrest, the country’s government announced yesterday that it will start a 4 day work week for public sector workers for the next 3 months. The Department of Government Information said the day off could be a day for people to grow food, since Sri Lanka is expecting a food shortage. The department said… “It seems appropriate to…
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Domestic violence victim allegedly confesses to conspiracy to murder
A victim of domestic violence allegedly confessed to a conspiracy to murder charge on her arrest yesterday. The woman, Charoensri Thongkham, allegedly admitted to hiring a hitman to kill her husband because she couldn’t take any more of his violent abuse and long string of affairs. The 41 year old woman told police she had lived with her husband for…
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Get your own car without buying or leasing with Carzuno
Sponsored Are you tired of squeezing your way in and out of public transport during rush hours? Do you waste a lot of time transiting between different modes of transportation? We can all agree that having your own car comes with unparalleled convenience, flexibility and freedom. However, there is a catch. Purchasing a vehicle can be a tedious process with…
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Full Moon Party in Koh Pha Ngan sees double the tourists
The third Full Moon Party of the year on Koh Pha Ngan has drawn double the number of tourists to South Thailand’s Koh Pha Ngan since the first party back in April. Last night, about 20,000 visitors arrived on the shores of Haad Rin. The tourists passed through 5 checkpoints to be screened for weapons and drugs before they could…
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