Month: July 2019
- Events
Strong winds greet sailors on Day One of Multihull Solutions Regatta in Phuket
One of the region’s most exciting sailing regattas kicked off yesterday (Saturday) off the coast of Chalong in southern Phuket. The Multihull Solutions Regatta beings together some of the fastest racing yachts in Asia. Day one of the 12th annual Multihull Solutions Regatta was delayed for an hour due to strong shifting winds gusting to 31 knots. PRO Simon James…
Read More » - Crime News
American and Thai wife arrested for selling ‘ice’ in Bang Lamung, Pattaya
An American and his Thai wife have been arrested in Pattaya for possessing nearly a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, plus a hand gun along with ammunition. The arrest follows a longer investigation as police became aware of the couple’s activities. Police have confirmed that the man is an American citizen. 39 year old Bart Helmus and 30 year old Sirinapha Wisetrit…
Read More » - Business News
Amari Pattaya has a dramatic makeover
“Dramatic changes have taken place to the entire property, which has transformed the legendary hotel into a new paradise along the northern end of Pattaya Bay.” Today’s Amari Hotel in Pattaya has its roots back in the early 1070s when it was constructed as the Orchid Lodge. But now there’s been a major make-over under the Amari brand. Amari Pattaya’s…
Read More » - Things To Do
Top 10 tips for marketing if you’re a small to medium business
The marketing and advertising world is evolving quickly. And you need to evolve with it. How you used to successfully market your business ten years ago… five years ago… even last year, needs to be different today so you can reach more customers for less. Things are moving REALLY fast and the terminology and science of advertising is moving along…
Read More » - Environment News
Fishermen find dead leatherback turtle on Saun Son beach, Rayong
PHOTO: Department of Marine and Coastal Resources A group of fishermen in Rayong, eastern Thailand, found a dead leatherback turtle on Saun Son beach in Rayong province on Friday. Department of Marine and Coastal Resources officials estimate the dead turtle was about 10 years old and 79 x123 centimetres in size. The remains were already in a bad condition with…
Read More » - Tourism News
Bangkok’s Anantara adds second luxury charter boat
Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort is launching its second luxury riverboat by the end of 2019. Manohra River Song is currently under construction in a shipyard, just north of Bangkok. The 50 million baht boat will join Manohra Dream offering luxury river cruises on Chao Phraya River. In addition to sailing to Ayutthaya, 70 kilometres north of Bangkok, the second vessel will…
Read More » - Phuket News
Entertainment venues in Phuket call for postponement in new excise tax
Entertainment venue operators in Patong, Phuket, are calling on the Excise Department to indefinitely postpone a proposed 11% levy on their businesses, saying the tourism business is bad enough already without any additional government tax grabs. Entertainment and other businesses on the island have been reporting anecdotal drops in their business between 20-50% this low-season, compared to last year. The…
Read More » - Environment News
Visiting time to see baby dugong Mariam is now restricted
Tourists and local well-wishers are flocking to get a glimpse of ‘Mariam’. She’s become an internet hit. But that’s also caused other problems. The high number of Thai and foreign tourists heading to Duyong Bay in Tambon Koh Libong in Kantang district, Trang, to watch officials looking after seven month old orphan dugong Mariam is prompting authorities to issue regulations to…
Read More » - Tourism News
European and Chinese tourists avoiding Pattaya, Indians on the rise
The strong baht is being accused as a major deterrent for Euro-tourists to Pattaya. “Over the past few months, European travellers have hardly come to Pattaya at all because of the baht’s appreciation,” said Damrongkiat Phinitkarn, secretary of the Entertainment & Tourism Association of Pattaya City. He told the Bangkok Post that tourists are opting to go to other countries…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
An 80 million year old carnivorous dinosaur from Thailand identified
PHOTO: Thai PBS A Thai PhD student, studying overseas, has identified some bones of a dinosaur wandering around the mountains of Khon Kaen 80 million years ago. Fossilised bones, unearthed on a mountain in Khon Kaen nearly 30 years ago, have been identified as belonging to a previously unknown carnivorous dinosaur. Thai PBS says the the bones were unearthed on…
Read More » - Business News
A major lawsuit has been filed by owners of JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa
A letter filed with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) yesterday. A major spat between the owners of the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa in Mai Khao and the parent management company Marriott International, Inc… Minor International Public Company Limited (“MINT”) announces that it has, through its 100% subsidiary MI Squared Limited, initiated legal action in Thailand against Marriott…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Return to Tham Luang Cave – a personal perspective
by guest writer Mikko Paasi Now that is has been a year since the successful rescue of the Thai football team and their coach from the Tham Luang cave, I think it would be appropriate to share some footage from inside the cave to show how it looks like after the operation and without the muddy water. As we know, the…
Read More » - Health
“Medical tourism is not making care for Thais more expensive”
The Health Service Support Department is dismissing claims that Thai patients are having to pay more for medical treatments due to the government’s Medical Tourism Policy. HSSD director general Dr Nattawuth Prasertsiripong insist measures have been put in place to control prices charged at private and government hospitals. “Medical tourism does not affect the price that Thais have to pay.”…
Read More » - Tourism News
Crackdown on Bangkok amusement parks without operating permits
The roller coaster ride is over. 15 amusement parks in Bangkok, out of a total of 48, don’t have construction or operating licenses. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and other agencies started field inspections of all permanent amusement parks in 26 of the city’s districts two months ago. In addition, eight amusement parks don’t meet the published standards for safety signs,…
Read More » - Crime News
Russian woman arrested for allegedly using Thai nominee in business
PHOTO: Bangkokbiznews A Russian businesswoman has been arrested for using a Thai nominee company to run a real estate firm in Pattaya. Immigration police arrested the woman who they claim had been in hiding for three years since a warrant was issued back in 2016. The acting commissioner of Pattaya Immigration reported that Natalia Nikiforova was arrested in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Burmese worker gets his arm stuck in a shredding machine in Pattaya
PHOTOS: Ruk Siam News Ruk Siam News report that a 29 year old Burmese worker a plastics recycling factory in Pattaya has been rushed to hospital after getting his right arm stuck in a shredding machine. Sawang Boriboon Foundation medics headed to the factory in Nong Pla Lai sub-district of Bang Lamung where they found a Burmese worker, Kinsan, with his…
Read More » - Chiang Mai News
Lampang public servant on the run after murdering wife and attempting suicide
A senior public servant from Lampang is on the run after allegedly strangling his wife then fleeing after failing to successfully hang himself from the stair handrails in his house. Lampang is a province south-east of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Sanook.com reports that a two page will was found on a desk in the house. Serm Ngam police responded to…
Read More » - Phuket News
Perth ‘pad thai’ couple “maybe it was the juice”
PHOTO: Facebook/Stacey Barnes Ryan Prigg, one of the Aussie couple from Perth, Australia, spoke exclusively to ThaiVisa over the much-hyped story that a pad thai they ate at an ‘upmarket Phuket food court’ gave them a disease that took them nearly two years to shake. Here’s part of they response to ThaiVisa… “We weren’t sick when we left Australia. On the…
Read More » - Business News
Thailand’s Central Bank start twiddling the currency knobs to curb baht speculators
The Thai Central Bank says it is taking steps to ease the impact of speculative currency trading which has contributed to strengthening the baht. They say they’re ready to use additional measures if speculative trading continues to persist. The Bangkok Post reports the Central Bank reduced the outstanding balance of non-resident baht accounts (NRBA) and non-resident baht accounts for securities…
Read More » - World News
Singapore economy slides closer to recession, figures worse than expected
Singapore’s economy has tanked in Q2, slowing again after hitting the lowest rate since the global financial crisis of 2008 in Q1 this year. The Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry pegged Singapore’s economic growth at a mere 0.1% in the second quarter of this year, well below analysts’ expectations of 1.1%, according to a Bloomberg forecast. It is also a far…
Read More » - Events
Black crabs, tuk tuks and plates of Pad Thai – Miss Grand Thailand costume competition
From Wild Boars, black crabs, tuk tuks, plates of Pad Thai and black panthers, the costume designers have not held back in the year’s Miss Grand Thailand competition. The 77 Thai provinces have been represented by the contestants in the 2019 Miss Grand Thailand costume competition. The national costume part of the competition was held on July 13 in Bangkok.…
Read More » - Phuket News
Thailand’s Health Ministry doubts Aussie couple’s claim about parasite in Pad Thai
Thai PBS reports that Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health says “there is a very slim chance that a person could contract Dientamoeba Fragilis”, a dangerous parasite, from eating a plate of Pad Thai, as claimed by an Australian Perth couple. Stacey Barnes and Ryan Prigg, along with their two children, visited Thailand in 2017. Read they stay HERE. Doctors in…
Read More » - Krabi News
Avani Hotels and Resorts re-brands two resorts in Krabi
PHOTO: Klong Dao Beach, Krabi, home for one of the new ‘Avani’ brand hotels Two new hotels are on the way for Krabi under the Avani Hotels & Resorts brand. Avani Hotels & Resorts have signed up two new resort hotels in Krabi, marking the brand’s continued growth in Thailand. The existing resorts will undergo renovations to bring the properties in…
Read More » - Tourism News
Phuket tourism down up to 30% – Thai Hotels Association
Translated from Manager Online | PHOTO: Surin Beach, Phuket Quoting a leading hotelier, Manager Online says it was obvious that tourism in Phuket was “going down the pan”. Manager Online has penned a doomsday article about Phuket’s tourism, saying… “it was obvious to anyone that tourism had been in decline for years with less tourists and less revenue. But why…
Read More » - World News
Malaysian airlines pilot was in control ‘until the end’ – French investigation into MH370
“Certain abnormal turns made by the 777 can only have been carried out manually. Someone was in control.” In the latest report into the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mystery, French investigators suspect the pilot was in control of the missing plane “until the end”. They’ve made their claims, over five years after the incident, after gaining access to “crucial” flight…
Read More » - Bangkok News
VIDEO: Bangkok police under investigation for beating up restrained drunk in back of truck
Seven officers from the Laksong Police Station are currently under investigation following an incident of police brutality in Lat Laksong district of Bangkok. The incident happened at 2pm on July 7. The man was beaten in public view out the front of the Laksong police station. The incident was captured by a mobile camera and posted on Facebook. An initial…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Nitrous oxide balloons in Khao San Road, no laughing matter
Nine Thais have been arrested for selling balloons filled with nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to foreign tourists on Khao San Road in Bangkok. Police and officials from the Office of the Food and Drug Administration arrested them late last night (Thursday). A media conference announcing the arrests was held this morning just after midnight. Police say the children and women’s…
Read More » - Chiang Mai News
UPDATE: Air Force pilot killed in Chiang Mai jet training crash
PHOTO: Squadron Leader Naruephol Lertkuson A Royal Thai Air Force jet trainer crashed in Chiang Mai province killing a pilot and injuring one other. Eyewitnesses say the pilot ejected safely from the aircraft but one crew member was found dead near the crash scene having ejected from the crashing plane too late. The incident happened in Tha Wang Tan of the…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Thailand’s Dengue Fever infections highest in five years
The Thai Bureau of Epidemiology, at the Department of Disease Control, reports that there have been 44,671 cases of dengue fever reported in the country, the highest number in five years, indicating that there have been 67.62 dengue patients in every 100,000 of the Thai population, which is 1.6 times higher than last year. The numbers take into account 2019 up…
Read More » - Business News
Somkid says new Thai Government will speed up stimulus spending as growth falters
PHOTO: The Nation Somkid Jatusripitak, a day after being officially announced as a Deputy PM and head of the finance ministry, says he will speed up investment in key infrastructure projects to boost the country’s growth rate to 3.5% for the rest of 2019. “I have confidence we can manage the country’s economy under the coalition government to boost its…
Read More » - Tourism News
Pattaya – 30% down this year, European tourist drop-off
PHOTO: afarangabroad.com The strength of the baht, rising tourist locations elsewhere around the region, fickle tourists has seen a demographic shift in Pattaya’s tourists and what they are doing during their visits. A leading tourism official has now confirmed what many Pattaya expats and locals have been saying for the past year… “The days of Europeans visiting Pattaya in large…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Old pub goes up in smoke this morning in Pattaya
PHOTOS: 77jowo.com The blaze that surprised everyone in Pattaya this morning has been brought under control and the scene identified. Plumes of dark grey smoke were billowing near a building this morning. The fire started at a site storing construction materials and quickly spread to an abandoned bar next door, called Sor Por Chor in the past. The property was…
Read More » - Phuket News
An anonymous ‘Farang’ body found off Karon Beach Yesterday
PHOTO: Newshawk Phuket An anonymous ‘Farang’ body found was found floating off Karon Beach yesterday (Wednesday). Karon police received a report about the dead body floating in the sea, about 500 metres from the Karon Beach just after 6pm. The body was a male, appeared to be a westerner but without any documentation or ID to indicate who he is…
Read More » - Environment News
Farmers resort to household waste water to save their crops in Suphan Buri
PHOTO: Thai PBS Some farmers in Don Jedi district of Suphan Buri, one of Thailand’s “rice bowl” provinces, are turning to using household waste water to irrigate their parched farmland. Suphan Buri is a province immediately north-west of Bangkok. Desperate to save his 3.2 hectares of rice paddy fields in Village 5, Tambon Don Jedi, rice farmer Narong Wongsuwan told…
Read More » - Business News
Talks resume in the ongoing China-US trade spat
By China Daily – Asia News Network There’s been a resumption of talks in the China-US trade.’war’ Analysts are hoping the restart in talks between top negotiators from both nations will deliver a win-win outcome. China’s Vice-Premier Liu He spoke by phone with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday. According to reports, officials exchanged views…
Read More » - Environment News
Phuket’s looming high season water crisis
PHOTOS: Siraphat Kanphonngam Water shortages are almost a certainty for Phuket in the next high season with the rainfall for this year’s wet season well below average. The island’s three main catchments – Bang Neow Dam off Srisoonthorn Road, Bang Wad dam in Kathu and Khlong Kratha dam in Chalong – have all increased in their water levels since the dams dropped to…
Read More » - World News
Thailand rice exports droop due to strong baht
Rice exports have fallen 12% for the first half of this year, mostly related to the strong Thai currency. An export group says that sales targets for Thai rice will fall short of the 2019 target of 9.5 million tonnes. The Thai Rice Exporters admit they will lucky to reach 9 tonnes in sales this year. Thailand shipped 4.2 million tonnes…
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