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
A massive pine tree that’s stood at the base of the naga staircase leading up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep since 1965 came crashing down around 9:30am today (September 14), scattering branches across a wide stretch of the walkway and missing a roadside shop by what looked like inches. Nobody was hurt. Video from the scene (see VDO at https://youtube.com/shorts/RHRsFaA2lEk) caught the moment the tre … Continued
Retail shops and markets around Chiang Mai are busy again, packed with shoppers making sure they use up their “Thai Chuay Thai Plus” benefits before the scheme closes out at the end of September. People have been steadily filing in all day, most of them grabbing the everyday household basics the program is meant to help cover. The rush has been enough to snarl traffic near shopping areas at variou … Continued
Prince Royal’s College signed two international education agreements on Monday 31st August at the 120th Anniversary Cornelia McGilvary Harris Hall, formalising new ties with education bodies in New Zealand. The first is an Education Cooperation Arrangement with Education New Zealand (ENZ), the New Zealand government’s education agency. The second is a memorandum of understanding with Avondale Coll … Continued