Deputy Interior Minister Phonphir Suwannachawee led a special operations team from the Department of Provincial Administration into two large-scale gambling dens in Mueang Chiang Mai on the evening of September 18, after residents complained about the trouble the operations were causing in their neighbourhoods. The first raid hit “Phatarawan,” tucked into the ground floor of Phatarawan Place on So … Continued
Doi Inthanon National Park has temporarily closed the Pha Dok Sieo nature trail and Mae Ya waterfall, after days of continuous rain triggered flash flooding and left the trails potentially unsafe for visitors. Park officials say the closures will stay in effect until conditions return to normal and the routes are safe to reopen. They’ve apologized for the inconvenience and are asking tourists to f … Continued
Officers from the Wildlife Conservation Division of Protected Area Regional Office 16 (Chiang Mai), led by division director Pornarin Khumthong, searched a house on Charoensuk Road in Chang Phueak subdistrict on the afternoon of September 18. They didn’t go alone. Police from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division, a Region 5 special operations unit, the Northern Specia … Continued
Tourist police and airport security staff spent Tuesday evening trying to sort out one of the stranger cases they’ve had in a while: a 66-year-old woman from Lampang who’d travelled alone to Chiang Mai International Airport to meet a man she believed was a pilot named “Chai.” He doesn’t exist. Or rather, he exists only as an AI character she’d been chatting with on Facebook. The call came in aroun … Continued
Doi Inthanon National Park has filed a police complaint against a group of around ten tourists who wandered off the Ang Ka nature trail to get their photos with “khao tok reusi,” sphagnum moss known locally as “hermit’s popped rice” for its texture, and in the process trampled it flat. Park staff said another visitor tipped them off on September 13, describing tourists who’d walked past the marked … Continued
According to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) — an international conservation organisation founded in 1895 and dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places through science and conservation — the number of wild tigers in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM) increased by 250% between 2007 and 2023. That means the estimated population rose from around 40 tigers to more than 140 in 15 … Continued
Nam Phrae Subdistrict Municipality in Hang Dong has teamed up with Hang Dong Police, Forest Protection Unit Chiang Mai 13 (San Pa Tong), Ob Khan National Park, and the subdistrict’s administrative office to set up checkpoints blocking off-road motorbikes from the forest at Mon Hin Khao, in Village No. 7, Ban Tha Mai Lung. The joint operation follows complaints about groups of riders carving new tr … Continued
The drug shortage at Sansai Hospital in Chiang Mai is finally starting to loosen its grip, with the hospital handing out its first batch of backlogged medication today after weeks of patients showing up short on what their doctors had actually prescribed. Patients and relatives lined up for queue tickets this morning (September 15) as the hospital began distributing the medicine it owed people, th … Continued
137 Pillars House Chiang Mai is hosting a curated photography exhibition at its museum, showcasing rare vintage images from the two-volume book Heritage Hotels of Asia, published by World Scientific Publishing Singapore. The property is the only one in Chiang Mai included in the book, giving the exhibition a fittingly historic setting: the teak homestead was built in the late 19th century as the n … Continued
Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is opening a new elephant hospital next door in Mae Taeng district later this month, part of an ongoing push to upgrade care for the province’s elephant population. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chatchote Thitaram, director of the Elephant and Wildlife Health Centre, announced the opening at the province’s 24th media briefing of the year. The new building, … Continued