News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Pattaya restaurant raided a fifth time for Covid-19 violations
Seemingly unfazed by an apparent complete lack of any punishment the first 4 times, a Pattaya restaurant has been raided a fifth time for violating Covid-19 restrictions. The restaurant, Sky Mountain, has been busted 4 times previously for operating as a bar, selling alcohol and opening without proper permitting, but has faced little repercussions for their disregard for the regulations…
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Artisanal bakeries in Niger fight for survival
Artisanal bakeries in Zinder, Niger, are threatened by industrial bakeries. This artisanal bakery has resisted the competition. Wheat flour and other products, such as oil, sugar and firewood, are becoming more and more expensive. Despite the difficult situation, the bakeries manage to retain their customers. Their street vendors sell the bread at crossroads, the bus station and markets. Modern bakeries…
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Decomposing headless body found along the beach in Songkhla
A man out for a morning stroll this morning along the beach in the Muang district of Songkhla happened upon a grizzly discovery: a decomposing dead body on the beach, minus its head. The 72 year old man who discovered the headless body, which had decomposed to the point of being mostly bones, promptly notified the police of the morbid…
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World in Progress: Kenya’s mysterious rising lakes
Antje Diekhans went to explore how people and wildlife are coping with the dangers of rising water levels. Her feature is narrated by Evelyn McClafferty. SOURCE: DW News
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Business and government leaders meet to reopen Pattaya bars
A high-level meeting is the latest in the non-stop attempts by businesses in Pattaya to reopen bars and entertainment venues, with business leaders and government officials meeting at Pattaya City Hall yesterday to discuss the issue. The conference was run by the president of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association, the Bang Lamung District Chief, the mayor of Pattaya, and…
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Cambodia, Phillippines report first cases of Omicron Covid-19 variant
Omicron appears to be quickly making its way into Southeast Asia, as the Philippines and Cambodia both reported the first cases of the new variant on the same day. The Philippine Department of Health said today that it has detected the country’s first two imported cases of the Omicron virus strain following the 48 samples sequenced yesterday. Those two patients…
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Cabinet approves 82.5 billion baht project plan to clean up Bangkok’s polluted canal
Bangkok’s Khlong Saen Saep is in for a major cleanup. Garbage litters the waterway and wastewater flows into the canal, which is a major water transit with an express boat service running through the capital. To tackle the problem, the Thai Cabinet approved an 82.5 billion baht, 11-year rehabilitation project. The waste from the canal, which connects with the Chao…
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Sakharov Prize: European Parliament to honor Alexei Navalny
Speaking to DW ahead of the ceremony Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov said, “the Sakharov prize is a very important recognition of our anti-corruption activities as a whole and the achievement of the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Alexei Navalny 10 years ago.” “He’s not a lonely man in an ocean of silence, he is a man who managed to…
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Two women arrested for allegedly running unauthorized Covid-19 laboratory
Two women were arrested for allegedly issuing unauthorised Covid-19 certifications when police raided the D Lab Inter Group clinic in Muang district of Pathum Thani province on Monday. According to the head of the Consumer Protection Police Division, Pol Maj Gen Anant Nanasombat, two women who identified themselves as Wasita and Pornnapa were reportedly charging 500 baht for each Covid-19…
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Wednesday Covid Update: 3,370 new cases; provincial totals
29 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 21,260 with 21,166 of those fatalities during the latest wave, which was first recorded on April 1. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 3,370 new Covid-19 cases and 4,557 recoveries. There are now 46,315 people in Thailand being…
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Candidate for Bangkok governor under fire after claim he studied under Einstein’s grandson
A candidate for Bangkok governor is under fire after he claimed to have studied engineering under Albert Einstein’s grandson, and even went as far to say he’s the only one in Thailand that has studied under an Einstein. But a Thai reporter decided to fact check the claims and found that the American professor has no connection to one of…
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Bangkok man calls for rescue after locking penis in padlock
In a story that we can’t believe has happened twice this year, a man has gotten his penis stuck in a padlock and required emergency medical rescue services. This time, the incident took place in the Phaya Thai district of Bangkok where Ruam Katanyu Foundation rescue workers were summoned to the scene. When they arrived at the street off of Rama…
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Thais poke fun at TAT’s “fly the kite” event, the phrase has another meaning in Thailand
Thais are having a laugh over the headline for a kite festival promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand in the Isaan province Buriram. In Thai, the phrase “flying a kite” can mean two different things… One is literally flying a kite, while the other means male masturbation. TAT Buriram is promoting the event with the headline “ชักว่าว เคาน์ดาวน์ ปีใหม่…
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Pfizer booster shots on offer in Rayong, 1,000 per day for 3 days
3,000 Pfizer vaccines are set to be administered as booster shots in Rayong from Wednesday to Friday, 1,000 each day at Memorial Hospital Sirindhorn Rayong. The vaccines will be given for free for qualifying people who meet the criteria laid out by the hospitals. The vaccines will be available for those who are already fully vaccinated with Sinovac, Sinopharm, Astrazeneca,…
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Red Cross Fair being held online again this year due to Covid-19
For the second year in a row, the national Red Cross Fair is being held online only due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. The fair takes place every year all over Thailand as a fundraiser to support the Red Cross and their programs, especially those to help the poor and people in need. The Red Cross often steps in…
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Japan donates used diesel trains, Thais criticise acquisition over transport costs
Japan has donated 17 second-hand diesel trains to Thailand which will be refurbished and ready to be in service in the Kingdom by 2023. The trains are the KiHa 183 series, which were constructed in the 1980s and late 1990s and were last used for UR Hokkaido limited express services. The State Railway of Thailand says the used trains can…
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Singapore Airlines launches vaccinated travel lane service to Bangkok
Singapore Airlines is joining Jetstar Asia in offering a vaccinated travel lane service between Singapore and Thailand, with 25 flights a week between Bangkok and the city-state. TTR Weekly reports that out of the 25, 14 will be VTL flights, meaning quarantine-free travel for vaccinated passengers arriving in Singapore The VTL flight numbers are SQ705 and SQ707, with the addition…
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Maya Bay re-opening to go ahead with strict conditions attached
The tourist hotspot of Maya Bay, in the southern province of Krabi, will re-open as scheduled on New Year’s Day. However, the re-opening comes with some strict conditions attached. There had been some doubt about whether the re-opening of the beauty spot would go ahead, but Thailand’s prominent marine ecologist, Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat from Kasetsart University, says it’s happening. According…
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Fisherman’s body found by Saphan Hin Beach in Phuket
Rescue teams and the Royal Thai Navy found the body of a 60 year old fisherman by Saphan Hin Beach in Phuket who had drowned after a fishing boat capsized over the weekend. The boat sank at around 8pm on Saturday. The captain and another fisherman were able to swim to safety after hours in the water and got to…
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Omicron surge warnings in Thailand & Going Green | GMT
In today’s episode Jay, natty and Forrest talk about warnings over omicron surge after new years in Thailand, Solar panels and a green future for Thailand, Phuket’s new road safety campaign ‘100% helmet’ and some light hearted stories regarding an all inclusive temple and lions on a plane!
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The controversy around Balkan hydroelectricity
Some 2,796 hydroelectric power plants are scheduled for construction in the Balkans over the next few years. According to the NGO RiverWatch, 740 are to be built in Albania, which boasts a total geographical area of just under 29,000 square kilometers. Fifteen years ago, former Albanian president, Sali Berisha, declared his ambition to transform the country into a Balkan “power”…
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COVID-19: South Africa develops own coronavirus vaccine
From the outside, the building in an industrial district of Cape Town looks like any other nondescript warehouse. In fact, it is a beacon of hope for the biotech industry and vaccine productionof the entire African continent. Inside, preparations are ongoing for future mRNA vaccine production. The Covax initiative for the development of COVID-19 vaccines called on manufacturers to apply…
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The 77 Percent — The retirement age impasse
How long do you want to work before retiring? In most African countries the retirement age is 60. But in Uganda, some civil servants want to change their age legally so that they can stay in the job market for longer. Unsurprisingly, young Ugandans who face crippling unemplyment are very much against the idea. On this week’s show we delve…
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Siarhei Tsikhanouski: From blogger to activist to political prisoner?
Belarusian video blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski was in pretrial detention for more than 18 months. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of organizing mass unrest and of inciting social hatred. Tsikhanouski’s emergence on the Belarusian political scene in the spring of 2020 came as a surprise to many in the country. In May 2020, media…
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Sudan: Military used heavy weapons against anti-coup protesters, NGOs say
The deaths of at least 41 unarmed protesters in Sudan have caught the attention and condemnation of international observers. Despite the internet outage ordered by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan following the military coup on October 25, activists were able to document the use of anti-aircraft weapons and armor-piercing bullets. The footage shows clearly that the Sudanese Security Forces and militias such…
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Staying young — and on the payroll: Why Ugandan public servants are changing their legal age
Some Ugandan public sector workers nearing retirement are trying to stay on the government payroll — by seeking to change their legal age to remain employed. Currently, Ugandan public service laws require all workers to retire at the age of 60. But an increasing number of employees — especially those with links to politicians — are doing all they can…
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Indonesia: Epidemiologists warn of high COVID risk at disaster shelters
As a sprawling archipelago on the ring of fire, Indonesia frequently experiences strong earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. A 7.3-magnitude earthquake in the Flores Sea on Tuesday sent people runningfrom the coast in panic, although a tsunami warning was called off, and damage was reported to be minor. However, disasters in Indonesia can often be more serious. The sudden eruption…
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UK’s nationality bill could strip millions of Britons of their citizenship
What is the Nationality and Borders Bill? The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act passed in 2002 enabled the government to strip someone of their British citizenship provided they had another nationality. Since 2006, the British home secretary has had the power to deprive dual nationals of their British citizenship if doing so is “conducive to the public good.” In 2014,…
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How to bring your pet into Thailand
Those who travel to Thailand with pets, may have a few questions about the legalities surrounding the importation of your 4-legged friends. But, all worries aside, as long as you follow the rules and regulations set forth by the Thai consulate in your home country, it should be a fairly smooth process. Here, we have the current rules and procedures…
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Two lions escaped at Singapore’s Changi Airport facility while being loaded aboard
Officers at Singapore’s Changi Airport may have encountered the real-life Jumanji prop on Sunday as two lions escaped from their container while being loaded aboard a Singapore Airlines flight. Authorities had to contact the vets right away, who used a tranquiliser gun on the two massive cats, one of which was found relaxing atop their cage. According to The Straits…
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