Chiang Rai Times - CTN News

BANGKOK – The vibrant celebrations of the Songkran festival on Bangkok’s famous Khao San Road have been overshadowed by a disturbing criminal investigation of a Thai soldier. A 15-year-old girl was reportedly sexually assaulted in a restroom during the height of the water festivities, leading to the arrest of a 20-year-old private soldier. The incident has sparked public outcry and raised urgent questions about safety during major public events.

BANGKOK – Police report that on Friday evening, a 26-year-old man lost his life in a brutal altercation inside a barbershop. What began as an alleged dispute over a 20,000-baht debt ended in a tragedy that has left a community in shock and a group of grieving friends demanding transparency from the authorities. According to reports from Thairath Online, the incident occurred on April 17, 2026, in the Pak Kret district.

CHIANG RAI – The picturesque landscapes of Northern Thailand are currently hidden behind a thick, gray veil of toxic air. For over three weeks, residents in four major provinces have been breathing air that officials classify as “dark red”—the most hazardous level on the air quality scale. According to a recent report by Prachachat Business, the provinces of Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, and Lamphun have been submerged in extreme levels of PM2.5 pollution for 22 consecutive days.

Read the latest articles tagged “Chiang Mai smog” from Chiang Rai Times. We cover news, business, tech, and lifestyle from Thailand and the region.

CHIANG RAI — With the 2026 monsoon season looming, Chiang Rai Governor Chucheep Pongchai has officially moved the province into a “war room” footing. The mission is clear: prevent a repeat of the 2024 catastrophe that submerged 60,000 households and left this border town buried under layers of thick, suffocating mud. “We aren’t just planning for the season; we are racing against it,” Governor Pongchai remarked during a recent strategy summit at the Mae Sai District Office.

CHIANG RAI – Residents and tourists in Northern Thailand are being urged to exercise extreme caution when consuming aquatic life from local rivers. The Pollution Control Department (PCD) has issued a formal warning following the discovery of dangerous levels of arsenic in the sediment of several major rivers, including the Kok and Mekong. The alert comes after the 10th consecutive round of water and sediment quality testing conducted by environmental officials.

CHIANG RAI — The air in Northern Thailand has reached a breaking point. For weeks, residents across the region have been living under a thick, acrid veil of smog that has turned the picturesque mountains into ghostly silhouettes. According to the latest data from the Air Pollution Mitigation Center, Chiang Rai has emerged as one of the hardest-hit provinces, with dust levels soaring far beyond safety limits.

Read the latest articles tagged “Chiang Rai Model disaster resilience” from Chiang Rai Times. We cover news, business, tech, and lifestyle from Thailand and the region.

AI robots like this one from Boston Dynamics now handle real jobs in Hyundai plants, marking the 2026 shift from lab demos to daily operations. Labor shortages hit hard. Factories struggle to fill shifts, and costs climb as wages rise. That’s why companies turn to these bots now. Advances in agentic AI let robots set their own goals and adapt on the fly. Edge computing processes data right on board, so they react fast without cloud delays.

BEIJING – I’ve always loved that strange, slightly magical moment after a film ends. You step out of a cinema, the final scene still lingering in your mind. For a moment, the world outside feels altered: the café on the corner, the rhythm of passing strangers, the glow of streetlights. It’s as if the film hasn’t quite ended. At the 16th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), that feeling isn’t left to chance anymore. It’s something the city is actively trying to create.