Month: May 2019
- Health
The Nation goes online-only from July 1
PHOTO: Somchai Meesen, CEO of Nation Multimedia Media Group, speaks to Nation TV yesterday about The Nation’s future. “Over the past five years, The Nation has lost 30 million baht a year on average.” The Nation newspaper will stop its print editions and go fully online from July 1, when the independent English-language daily turns 48, to focus more on…
Read More » - Chiang Mai News
Chiang Mai songthaews and tuk-tuk drivers complain about Grab
Drivers of red public songthaews and tuk-tuks have submitted a petition to Chiang Mai’s provincial governor complaining about the Grab ride-hailing App. The Grab service is offered on a very intuitive smartphone app and provided by normal drivers. The petition said the Grab App had caused their income to drop by more than 50%. They say the service is illegal and…
Read More » - Krabi News
Black water flows into the sea at Koh Phi Phi
Wastewater was flowing into the sea at Koh Phi Phi in Krabi as business operators have been caught releasing untreated water and waste into the sea. The issue has gone viral in social media with local officials scrambling to respond. Black water was photographed lapping the shores of Loh Dalam beach on Koh Phi Phi five days ago. One of…
Read More » - Bangkok News
As readers abandon print, The Nation announces closure of daily printed paper
Another big national newspaper bites the dust, following an inevitable worldwide trend. A sad day for The Nation as they announce the closure of the Bangkok-based English daily after 48 years. It leaves the Bangkok Post as the only English language national daily. The Nation will end its print edition with its last issue scheduled for June 28. In making the…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
15 year old girl arrested for trying to bury her baby alive
A 15 year old girl is now in protective custody in Nakhon Ratchasima, north-east of Bangkok, just one day after her newly-born baby boy survived being buried alive in a local field. A villager found the baby in a cassava plantation about one kilometre from Ban Nong Kham village in Tambon Thalad on Wednesday. The infant was taken to the…
Read More » - Hua Hin News
Register your hotel within 30 days – Hua Hin unlicensed premises warned
FILE PHOTO 170 illegal hotel and resort operators in Hua Hin have been warned to register and obtain Hotel licences within a month or they will face jail or a fine. The Hua Hin district chief, Thanon Phanpipas, says the operators of unlicensed hotels and resorts must register within a month from May 16 or they would face a maximum…
Read More » - Health
Expat life in Thailand – a balancing act
We all come to live in Thailand for vastly different reasons. Sometimes love, sometimes an adventure, sometimes escaping something at home and sometimes for business. Our journey to the Land of Smiles, and then our settling in, can be fraught with shocks, cultural and financial. Here is one man’s story as told in ExpatLifeInThailand… by Shane Irvine I didn’t come…
Read More » - Thailand News
Police and passenger die in Phitsanulok collision
PHOTOS: Khaosod A policeman travelling in a highway police sedan, and a passenger in a pickup truck, have died at the scene after a crash in Phitsanulok this morning. The incident happened on Kokmaidang – Noean Maprang Road in Wangthong. Phitsanulok Provincial Police Deputy Commander, driving the highway police car, died at the scene after he sustained critical injuries. The…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Compromise could save expressway authority from paying exorbitant compensation
PHOTO: YouTube Thailand’s Expressway Authority (EXAT) board has agreed to extend the concession period of NECL, a subsidiary of Bangkok Expressway and Metro Public Company (BEM), to operate two expressways for an additional thirty years. The hope is they can avert a legal battle which could eventually result in the government authority being ordered to pay as much as 130 billion…
Read More » - Krabi News
Two people seriously injured after guns fired in Krabi
Police are now hunting for suspects who fired more than 10 shots at two men in Krabi. Klongtom Police were notified of the incident at a house yesterday afternoon. Police and emergency responders arrived to find two people injured – 40 year old Yannatee Aramchim and 30 year old Nakin Rueangchoo. They were rushed to hospital and are expected to recover.…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Weather warnings out for parts of the country
The annual monsoon is here. Bangkok, along with 55 other provinces in Thailand, have thunderstorms forecast over the next 24 hours. The Thai Meteorological Department have issued the warnings this morning. Storms are predicted in the central and northern regions and waves in the Andaman Sea forecast up to two metres, according to the TMD. Seree Supratid of Rangsit University’s…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Doctors’ son arrested over break-ins around Bangkok and Pattaya
PHOTO: TNA A Thai man has been arrested for breaking into and stealing from a car in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi. The crime Suppression Division say the incident happened last December. 37 year old Phop Euanjit denies the charges saying he was just the motorcycle rider after the theft when 7,000 baht of valuables were taken. The incriminating motorcycle was found at…
Read More » - Hot News
Co-ordinated pipe bomb attacks in Yala injure five
FILE PHOTO Five Army troops and rangers have been injured after southern insurgents threw pipe bombs. Security officials say the incidents happened at three locations in Yala in what appears to be a co-ordinated incident. The commander of Muang Yala police station, Pol Col Narawee Binwaearong, says two insurgents on a motorcycle rode to a security checkpoint on the Siroros…
Read More » - Thai Life
Compulsory health insurance for foreigners – will it affect you?
PHOTO: Over 50 and reading about compulsory health insurance? Not sure which way to turn? Foreigners aged over 50 applying for a particular visa type now need mandatory health insurance. The new requirements, which were approved by Cabinet in April and announced by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), says that people applying or renewing (or rather re-applying for) a…
Read More » - Thailand Election News
New Democrat leader may lean party away from pro-Army coalition
PHOTO: The Nation With a new leadership team heading up the Democrats, the focus is now on which way they will tip their MP seats in the formation of the new lower house in the Thai parliament. Whilst most pundits have thought they’d be leaning towards supporting the Palang Pracharath party (PPRP), who have current PM Prayut Chan-o-cha as their…
Read More » - Phuket News
Air Asia resumes flights from Phuket to Jakarta
AirAsia Indonesia says they will resume direct flights between Phuket and Jakarta on the second of July this year. Flights will be available three times a week. For AirAsia, the move marks a return of the route which had been flown for a number of years in the past. “Currently the traveling trend continues to increase especially in the youth market, hence…
Read More » - Phuket News
Officials investigate complaints of elephants on Phuket beach
Officials have investigated social media complaints about elephants in the water and the taking of photos with tourists on Tri Trang beach. Officials haven’t arrested anyone at this stage. The issue about elephants playing in the shallows with tourist went viral in local social media as netizens made comments ranging from the “elephants are damaging the coral” and the “elephants…
Read More » - Hot News
Boeing knew about problems with 737 Max 8 jets before second crash
PHOTO: American Airlines They knew because plenty of pilots told them, on tape. In the months between the two Boeing 737 Max airplane crashes, pilots from American Airlines confronted a Boeing official about the controversial MCAS computerised anti-stall system that preliminary reports have now implicated in both deadly wrecks. The audio of the meeting has been obtained by the US’…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Petition to restore dignity of Thailand’s only convicted cannibal
In a dark corner of the Siriraj hospital, in the rather bizarre medical museum (nicknamed the Museum of Death) is the mummified body of Si Quey sae Oeng, Thailand’s only convicted cannibal. Now more than 10,000 people have signed a change.org petition for the removal of the gruesome display in order to restore his human dignity. The petition follows up a…
Read More » - Thai Life
Mandatory health insurance for retirement visa holders starts July
Expats aged 50+ living in Thailand on a long-stay visa will have to buy health insurance from July onwards. Authorities are now preparing the new guidelines to enforce the rules approved by Cabinet last month. But the July start date isn’t yet ‘set in stone’. The new regulation requires expats on the long-stay non-immigrant O-A visa to have health insurance…
Read More » - Thailand Election News
PM in full battle mode defending the appointment of Senators
PHOTO: The Nation The Thai PM is showing his glass jaw again by asking critics and the media to stop criticising the manner in which the new Senate was selected, or the actual senators. PM Prayut claims that they had been screened and now have been royally endorsed. Critics were claiming that many of the senators are “old faces”, relatives of…
Read More » - Thailand News
One dead, one injured after trailer truck runs red light in Chachoengsao – VIDEO
PHOTOS: ศูนย์วิทยุกู้ภัยฉะเชิงเทรา One person has died while another has sustained an injury after a trailer truck ran through a red light and wiped out some motorbikes in Chachengsao. Chachengsao Police were notified of the incident at an intersection in Bang Phra, Chachoengsao yesterday afternoon. Emergency responders arrived to find the body of a woman who died at the scene. An…
Read More » - Business News
Export growth expected to be the lowest in four years
Export growth for Thailand this year is is now being pegged at less that 1%, the lowest growth in four years. Mr. Ath Pisarnwanich, director of the International Trade Study Centre at the University of Thai Chambers of Commerce is saying the low growth is a result of both the escalating US-China trade war and the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement. The…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Head-on collision kills five, injures three in Khon Kaen
Five football fans, travelling to watch the Thai Port Football Club, have been killed when their rented van crashed head-on with a water tanker in Khon Kaen this morning. Police said the incident occurred on the Chumphae Si Chomphu road in Moo 6 village in Tambon Wang Hin Lad. Three others people were injured in the collision. Four men died…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Suspects arrested after breaking into Irish man’s house in Chon Buri
PHOTOS: Pattaya Message Police have arrested three suspects after they broke into an Irish man’s house in Chon Buri and stealing a number of items. Police have arrested 28 year old Wasan Panprem, 37 year old Rachata Kumsart and 27 year old Napaphon Pradap. They have been charged with theft. Police seized 56,760 baht cash, two gold necklaces, three gold…
Read More » - Chiang Mai News
Family of Canadian man who died ziplining in Chiang Mai calls for changes
PHOTO: Spencer Donaldson at the Flight of the Gibbon zipline in Chiang Mai, moments before he jumped to his death – Supplied by Spencer’s family. “Flight of the Gibbon isn’t listed on the website of Association for Challenge Course Technology as a member and the Association have denied that the Chiang Mai ride is a member.” The family of a Canadian…
Read More » - World News
Dozens of Rohingya saved from being trafficked to Malaysia
PHOTO: Desperate Rohingyas try to flee Bangladesh on flimsy rafts – UNHCR Bangladeshi police say that they’ve stopped dozens of Rohingya Muslims from being trafficked to Malaysia by boat. Most of the ‘boat people’ were women according to the Reuters report. Human traffickers had convinced at least 69 Rohingya to leave the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. The camps had…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Motorbike driver dies after smashing into trailer truck in Samut Prakan
PHOTOS: นคร75/อาสาฯมูลนิธิร่วมกตัญญู เขตบางปู A motorbike driver has died after colliding with the rear of a trailer in Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok, last night. Bangpu Police were notified of the incident on Sukhumwit Road in Bangpu Mai at 10pm. Police and rescue workers arrived to find a body of the motorbike driver, 33 year old Amnart chockbandit, at the scene.…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Pattaya prison releases 243 inmates on royal pardons
PHOTO: Pattaya Mail 243 inmates have been released from the Pattaya Remind Prison on royal pardons granted by HM the King as part of his coronation celebrations. Warden of the prison, Watcharaw Wachiralerphan oversaw the release of 181 men and 62 women prisoners on Monday. Each convict wore yellow shirts with “Long Live the King” logos on the front. The…
Read More » - Koh Samui News
Koh Pha Ngan rapist participates in reenactment of rape of Norwegian tourist
PHOTOS: ThaiRath Police have held a bizarre reenactment of the rape of a 26 year old Norwegian tourist after a 33 year old Thai man was arrested for the crime soon after it was reported on Sunday night on Koh Pha Ngan. Rewat “Moss” Hansuwan says had offered the victim to help her find her lost wallet but ended up…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Condo residents want action as foreigners flaunt rules on daily rentals
PHOTO: Manager Online The ongoing issue of condos and rooms being rented out as daily and weekly rentals, illegally, is making headlines again. A group of tenants went to the media complaining that they discovered owners of apartment rooms in their ‘luxury condo’ on Rama IV were contravening condominium rules and sub-letting their rooms. A sting was set up and…
Read More » - Thailand Election News
HM the King will preside over opening of Parliament on May 24
Some political water is yet to pass under the bridge with no clear coalition coming together at this stage to form Thailand’s next parliament. Meanwhile it’s been announced that HM the King will preside over the opening of the new parliament on May 24, exactly two months after the general election. A Royal Decree was issued for parliament to convene starting…
Read More » - Koh Samui News
Search continues for missing British tourist after falling overboard off Samui
Royal Thai Navy officers, divers and local volunteer organisations are continuing their search for a 40 year old British man who went missing on Monday off Koh Samui. Officials on the Gulf island say that the search for a missing British tourist who fell from a speedboat while out on an island-hopping trip is continuing. The tourist was not named but…
Read More » - Thailand News
Thailand puts in order for 37 new armoured vehicles from the US
The Royal Thai Army has placed an order for 37 new 1126 Stryker armoured vehicles from the US, valued around US$80 million. The US-manufactured armoured vehicles are are expected to be delivered later this year to the 11th Light Infantry Division based in Chachoengsao, in Thailand’s east. The deal signifies a warming of relations between the Thai army and US…
Read More » - Thailand News
June 3 to be annual holiday for new Queen’s birthday
The Cabinet has announced that June 3, Her Majesty Queen Suthida’s birthday, will now be a national holiday, starting from this year onward. The announcement was made by Nattaporn Jatusripitak, spokesperson for the deputy PM in charge of economic affairs. The proposal from the Secretariat of the Cabinet was made in response to a royal command from HM the King. The…
Read More » - South Thailand News
Mother blames rescuers for damage to her car after trying to get her daughter out of the locked SUV
PHOTOS: Gimyong News Locals who tried to help a one year old baby who has was locked inside an SUV are being blamed as the mother claims they have caused scratches and damage to her car. Gimyong News is reporting that the incident happened at 7.30am today in Hat Yai Songkhla. A one year old girl was stuck inside a SUV…
Read More » - World News
Now you can ‘Grab’ a hotel as well
If you’ve used Grab you’ll realise what a big announcement this is. It immerses yet another service within their intuitive App. Grab, already a leading App in Southeast Asia, has announced the launch of its ‘Hotels’ booking service. The company says customers will now be able to book hotels and other accommodation from Agoda and soon, Booking.com directly from their Grab…
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