Here is a look at the top NATIONAL Thailand stories, chosen by our Pattaya News/TPN National team, from last week, Monday, October 5th to Sunday, October11th.
On the afternoon of the 9th of October 2026, His Royal Majesty the King and Her Royal Majesty the Queen granted an audience to “Nene Royal”, the AGT winner, at Amphorn Sathan Throne Hall in Dusit Palace.
2. Thailand’s Finance Ministry is considering a new departure tax that would initially charge 1,000 baht each time a traveller leaves the country by air, regardless of nationality, under draft legislation now open for public consultation.
Thailand Considering New 1000 Baht Departure Tax Every Time a Traveler Leaves By Air
3. A Finance Ministry proposal to charge 1,000 baht every time someone flies out of Thailand drew a sharp response on October 7th from travel agents, citizens, and from foreign tourists and expats, who treated the idea as one more cost stacked onto a trip that is already getting more expensive.
4. Bangkok police raided multiple addresses at four luxury housing estates on Saturday in the eighth phase of a national campaign against foreign nominee companies, arresting 11 foreign nationals from America and China, issuing 86 warrants for foreign nationals, and placing more than 6 billion baht in 94 homes and land under investigation. One Chinese suspect arrested today is a fugitive accused of a triple homicide in China and multiple others were wanted for other crimes.
5. The Thai Hotels Association or THA, has formally opposed the proposed 1,000-baht tax on air departures, warning that the charge, stacked on other fees, would raise the cost of a trip to Thailand and weaken the country’s position against regional rivals, joining a rising number of prominent voices against the proposal.
6. Airport security in Thailand will be allowed to open checked baggage without the passenger present from the 16th of October if X-ray screening flags something suspicious, under a new rule the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) says is limited to cases with reasonable grounds and is already a common practice elsewhere.
7. Three armed men, possibly Chinese, broke into a luxury home near Pattaya early on October 6th, 2026, threatened a foreign expat resident at gunpoint, and made off with cash, Rolex watches, and a forced cryptocurrency transfer that police put at about $820,000.
8. Pattaya police broke up an illegal Tiger-Dragon card game on the second floor of a seafood restaurant late on Tuesday, arresting 18 gamblers before lookouts could raise the alarm.
Pattaya Police Raid Seafood Restaurant, Arrest 18 People in Upstairs Gambling Den
9. Chonburi immigration officers arrested two Nigerian men, one who had entered Thailand illegally, in a city-centre condominium in Pattaya on Thursday after finding about 6 grams of cocaine hidden in a kitchen range hood.
10. Pattaya and Region 2 police have named five Chinese men as suspects in the 37 million Baht armed robbery of crypto, watches, and other valuables of a Turkish businessman in a Nongprue housing estate, and say all five fled out of Thailand within about six hours.
11. Phuket Governor Chotinarin Koedsom on Saturday led a formal deployment ceremony for 150 officers drawn from police, military, administrative and local government units to strengthen security and traffic management ahead of a large influx of U.S. Navy personnel.
Phuket Deploys 150 Personnel to Boost Security and Traffic for U.S. Navy Visit
Senior officers from Thailand’s Police Region 8 paid an official visit to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on October 5th, 2026, as part of ongoing support for the U.S. Navy’s port call in Phuket.
Senior Thai Police Officials Tour USS George H.W. Bush During Phuket Port Call