By Southeast Asian standards, Thailand's media sector is considered widely independent. Except for times of political crises, Thailand's English-language newspapers - in opposition to broadcast media or the internet - are relatively free of political censorship. Reliable sources of information, they are always worth having a look at if you want to keep up-to-date with what is currently happening in Thailand.
The Kingdom's two main English-language daily newspapers, Bangkok Post and The Nation, cover national, political, business, cultural and sports news as well as features and articles on regional and international subjects. Both their online editions provide users with frequently updated "Breaking News". Printed editions are for sale at 25 Baht each.
Other valuable online news resources include MCOT English News (by Thai
News Agency) and the National News Bureau, Thailand's official information centre from the Government Public Relations Department. 2Bangkok offers daily Thai news you cannot find anywhere else and summaries of the Thai-
language press in English translations.
English-language publications which focus mainly on local news and such of interest for tourists and expats, include the Phuket Gazette (including a very popular online edition), the weekly published Chiang Mai Mail in the North of Thailand and half a dozen foreign-language newspapers published in Pattaya.
Google News Thailand offers visitors a comprehensive summary of Thailand-
related press releases published on the WorldWideWeb.
News resources listed on this page are those I personally find most useful. If I should have missed a relevant link or
to add your favourite Thai news site, please contact us.
Pattaya Newspapers, Online News Links & Media
Nearly a dozen foreign-language news publications are available in Pattaya, some of which are sponsored by advertisers and are free for readers; others can be purchased at 25 Baht in local supermarkets and book shops.
Pattaya's two weekly English-language newspapers, Pattaya Mail (published every Friday, 25 Baht) and Pattaya People (published on Saturdays, 25 THB) cover basically local political, crime and community news plus information on various subjects of interest for tourists and expats alike (travel features, visa information, reader's letters, local events & sports scene, classified sections and more.) Other than Pattaya Mail, serving the Eastern seaboard's English-
speaking community since 1993, Pattaya People features a few Thai pages as well as a Scandinavian section, too, and has rather the "feel" of a tabloid than its counterpart. Whereas the online edition of Pattaya Mail is updated once a week only (Friday), Pattaya People's website is being updated daily but - on the downside - only features shortened versions of news articles. Pattaya Today - published bi-weekly and for sale at 20 Baht - features news updates on crime, local politics, society and "expat life" and is also available online.
Pattaya's two most valuable online news resources are Pattaya One News
- formerly Pattaya City News - and Pattaya Daily News. Both their sites are updated daily and feature interesting news reports about what is going on in Pattaya: crime, society, politics, events & more. Whereas articles on PDN are rather extensive, Pattaya One News stories are kept short and "to the point".
Pattaya One News, Pattaya People and Pattaya Mail (PMTV) all have their own TV news programs on local cable TV. Pattaya People (Yes2Day) and Pattaya One News (PCN FM 105) also run their own radio stations.
For broadcasting schedules and programs please visit their websites: Pattaya Mail TV (PMTV) Pattaya People TV, Pattaya People Radio Yes2Day Pattaya One News
Pattaya Blatt is the German-language edition of Pattaya Mail and is available both online and in a printed version, published every Friday.
Some other German-language news publications, most notably Der Farang, which covers Pattaya and Thailand-related news of interest both for tourists and expats, are available for free at German restaurants, supermarkets and venues catering predominantly to German-language visitors.