South Thailand News
Stay updated with the latest Southern Thailand news at The Thaiger, your ultimate source for regional information. Keep informed on local events, business developments, and lifestyle stories in popular locations beyond Phuket, Koh Samui, and Krabi. We’ve got reports of the latest goings on in Trang, Songkhla, Yala, and more.
Whether you’re a resident or a visitor, The Thaiger’s Southern Thailand news page is your essential guide to exploring this stunning tropical region. Dive into the vibrant community and rich culture with our expertly curated content, designed to keep you connected and well-informed.
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Sponsored Launching the Accessible Thailand Wellness Tourism initiative
The Thai government proudly announces the launch of the Accessible Thailand Wellness Tourism (ATWT) initiative. The program will kick off with a media event at the SIRIRAJ H SOLUTIONS wellness center on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, hosted on the 5th...
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Former Thai police officer arrested in murders of 2 men 9 years ago
Special Service Division (SSD) officers yesterday arrested a former police officer at his home in the southern province of Narathiwat in connection with the murders of two Thai men nine years ago in 2015. The SSD officers, also known as Commando Police, apprehended the 39 year old former Police Sergeant Komkrit at his home in the Cho-airong district of Narathiwat…
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Thai soldier and 12 friends accused of assaulting teenage boy
A Thai woman accused a soldier and 12 of his friends in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat of severely assaulting her 15 year old son, causing severe injuries to the teenage boy. The victim, identified as A, told Channel 3 that the soldier, Raphephat, repeatedly accused him of stealing a shirt despite his denials. Raphephat allegedly continued to…
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Community leaders killed in Pattani shooting at local football field
A brazen shooting at a football field in the Pattani Province has resulted in the tragic loss of two community leaders. At around 6.30pm yesterday, gunmen opened fire, killing a subdistrict administrative organisation clerk and a village headman. Two bystanders, including a government official and a meatball vendor, were also injured in the incident. The attack occurred at a football…
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Police deputy inspector found dead with gunshot wound in Krabi
In a tragic turn of events, a 55 year old police deputy inspector was found dead with a gunshot wound inside his car outside a police flat in Krabi province. The case, initially suspected to be driven by personal stress, has shocked the local community. At 4.30pm, a distressing scene unfolded at a police residential complex in Khao Phanom, Krabi.…
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Summer storm wreaks havoc in Hat Yai, southern Thailand
The city of Hat Yai in Songkhla was hit by a severe summer storm yesterday, resulting in significant damage to public infrastructure. Billboards and electricity poles were toppled by the powerful gale. The incident occurred at 3pm, yesterday, May 5, and was covered by local media. Remarkably, despite the storm’s intensity, no injuries or fatalities were reported. The destructive storm…
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Tourist boat capsizes in Trang Sea, one dead and several injured
A tragic incident unfolded yesterday at 4.30pm when a longtail tourist boat capsized near the Pak Meng Bridge in the Trang Sea, leaving 14 individuals adrift, including a 68 year old woman who sadly drowned. The accident took place approximately 2 kilometres from the pier at Pom Jatukham area, Mai Fat Subdistrict, Sikao District, Trang Province. The boat, carrying 11…
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Pattani shootout ends with two suspects dead, one officer injured
A deadly confrontation unfolded in Thung Yang Daeng district, Pattani, southern Thailand, where a four-hour gunfight resulted in the deaths of two suspects and left one officer injured. This violent exchange occurred yesterday, May 1, at a rented house under surveillance for harbouring individuals wanted by the law. The incident concluded with the discovery of two deceased, identified as Masobree…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Songkhla power plant hit by armed assault and explosions
Armed individuals dressed in camouflage stormed a power plant in Songkhla province early morning today, setting off three explosions and burning tyres in a coordinated incident that caused significant disruption. The event unfolded around 12.10am, today, April 26, when surveillance footage captured clear images of four individuals armed with what appeared to be military-grade weapons. The most severe incident occurred…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Thai Cabinet approves UNESCO Heritage Status for Songkhla
Thailand has set its sights on securing UNESCO World Heritage status for four ancient towns nestled within the southern province of Songkhla. The Cabinet’s resounding approval on April 9, marks a pivotal step towards immortalising the rich cultural tapestry of this southern gem. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has been tasked with crafting a proposal that was scheduled…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Man turns himself in after fatal family feud shooting in Phatthalung
A 43 year old Thai man fatally shot his brother in law at his home in Phatthalung province yesterday. The perpetrator turned himself in to the authorities, while his wife attempted to delete CCTV footage of the crime. Phatthalung Police were alerted to a fatal shooting at a residence in the 11th precinct of Khok Sai district at 9.40pm yesterday.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Thai AirAsia to resume Bangkok-Hat Yai flights
Thai AirAsia officially announced that it will restart its route between Suvarnabhumi Airport and Hat Yai. Departing at 10.45am from the Thai capital and touching down in the southern Thai province at 12.10pm with flight FD4304, and returning from Hat Yai at 1.40pm, landing back in Suvarnabhumi Airport at 2.15pm with flight FD4305. Scheduled to kick off on July 1,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Wildlife trafficker nabbed with protected macaques in Narathiwat
The Thai authorities recently apprehended a wildlife trafficker in a sting operation today, seizing two protected macaque monkeys confined in fertiliser bags. The suspect, 32 year old Haisu Salaere, was caught red-handed in Narathiwat province while attempting to sell the animals, which he admitted to capturing and training for obedience and tasks. Narathiwat police, in collaboration with the Provincial Police…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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