Year: 2019
- Thailand News
Happy National Elephant Day – March 13
The annual National Thai Elephant Day was held yesterday, March 13, to celebrate and draw public attention for more concerted efforts to save the species and protect its habitat including showcasing how important the species is to the country. Thailand has witnessed a severe decline in elephant numbers with less than 3,000 wild elephants now remaining in the kingdom. Here’s…
Read More » - World News
US grounds Boeing 737 MAX fleet after new evidence surfaces
After days of mounting pressure, and just about all national regulators around the world grounding the planes, the US has grounded Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft. This reverses an earlier decision where American regulators gave the planes approval to keep flying after the fatal crash in Ethiopia last Sunday. The decision, announced by President Trump, follows decisions by safety regulators in…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Police claim they ‘had to kill’ north-east murder suspect
PHOTO: Police bring suspects to re-enact the motorcycle and body disposal in the two provinces – The Nation by Khamdee Phrommakong, Suriya Patathayo, Teerapol Khumsuk Police claim they “had to kill” a wanted murder suspect, 29 year old Somsak “Au” Ledlod, in Yasothon’s Kham Khuan Kaeo district as he stole a pickup truck to flee and may have hurt the…
Read More » - Krabi News
Monk allegedly rapes 78 year old woman in Krabi
A 78 year old woman has filed a report to police saying that she was raped by a monk near Krabi temple. Police are searching for the suspect. Khlongtom Police in Krabi visited the temple which is 400 metres from the 78 year old woman’s home. The woman told police that the suspect was aged around 40 years old. She…
Read More » - World News
Facebook won’t build data centres in countries with bad human rights records, except Singapore
Mark Zuckerberg promised in a lengthy blog post that the company wouldn’t build data centres in countries with poor human rights. But he chose to ignore Singapore’s track record in human rights, declaring the city-state home to Facebook’s first data center in Asia to “serve everyone.” “As we build our infrastructure around the world, we’ve chosen not to build data centres in…
Read More » - Hot News
American tourist attacked by gang on Koh Phi Phi
An American photographer and blogger says he was injured after being attacked by a gang of men on Koh Phi Phi this week. Stephen Trimble revealed on his Instagram account that he was walking along the beach when he spotted a girl’s possessions being stolen while she was swimming. He says he yelled at the man to stop. The man…
Read More » - World News
UPDATE: Thailand grounds Thai Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX fleet
… and US pilots report their problems whilst flying the 737 Max 8 model aircraft. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand says it is suspending the use of the Boeing Co’s 737 MAX 9 due to safety concerns. The regulator said it will temporarily suspend the use of Thai Lion Air’s Boeing 737 MAX 9s for seven days, starting tomorrow…
Read More » - Phuket News
Almaty Governor from Kazakhstan visits Phuket
PHOTO: Almaty Governor Mr Batalov Amandyk Gabbasovich presents Phuket’s Governor with an ideal gift The Governor of Almaty city in Kazakhstan dropped in on Phuket’s Governor today for discussions on tourism, investment and culture exchange as a new Sister City. This morning Phuket’s Governor Phakkaphong Tavipatana welcomed Almaty Governor Mr Batalov Amandyk Gabbasovich from Kazakhstan at the Phuket Provincial City…
Read More » - Business News
Honda projects lower motorcycle sales for 2019
Honda Motor Company, the manufacturer of nearly 80% of Thailand’s motorcycles, is projecting another annual loss this year. New motorcycle sales this year are forecast to drop nearly 4% year on year to 1.72 million units. The forecast is unchanged from its January projection. The baht’s appreciation against the US dollar is leading to fluctuations in exports and lower prices…
Read More » - Krabi News
Krabi celebrates National Elephant Day
The Southern Elephant Hospital in Krabi is today celebrating Thailand’s National Elephant Day. And seven lucky elephants, all patients at the hospital, were joining in. A religious ceremony was held at the hospital this morning. Then food and fruit treats were offered to the elephants, all patients at the hospital. There are seven elephants being treated at the hospital at…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Big bike slams into the back of SUV at Pattaya traffic lights
PHOTO: Sanook The Sawang Boriboon rescue foundation were called after a Honda CBR 650 slammed into the back of a Toyota Fortuner at traffic lights near the Big C Extra in Central Pattaya. Sanook reports that 38 year old Manish Jalhotra, a Pattaya entertainment venue owner, was at the wheel of the Fortuner. The 25-30 year old motorbike rider ended up…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Thai arrested for allegedly scamming 3 women out of 212,000 baht 9 years ago
PHOTO: Pol Lt-General Surachate Hakparn, in his capacity as head of Thailand Action Taskforce for Information Technology Crime Suppression, at the press conference announcing the arrest A 60 year old Thai man is now in custody in Bangkok’s Khlong Sam Wa district after allegedly duping three women out of 212,000 baht with a false promise of jobs abroad nearly a decade…
Read More » - Thailand Election News
Alcohol ban this weekend and the following weekend of the election
There will be a 24 hour alcohol ban this weekend as well as on the weekend of the general election on March 24. Sunday, March 17 will feature a day of pre-voting where alcohol sales and distribution will be forbidden from 6pm on Saturday, March 16 until 6pm on Sunday, March 17. That will precede the ban on the following…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Pattaya tourist loses a leg in collision with pickup
PHOTO: Naewna News A 58 year old tourist from Kazakhstan has lost his leg in a collision with a pickup truck in Pattaya. The Thai driver of the pickup told police that the tourist on a PCX motorcycle suddenly cut in front of him attempting to make a turn into a soi, resulting in a collision. The Sawang Boriboon foundation…
Read More » - South Thailand News
Bryde’s whale family sighted off Chumphon coast – VIDEO
PHOTOS: กรีน นำเที่ยว ดำน้ำเกาะเวียง A family of three Bryde’s whales has been sighted off Chumphon in the Gulf of Thailand. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources is reporting that a family of three Bryde’s whales was sighted between Koh Weng and Koh Rang off the Chumphon coast. There were two mature Bryde’s whales and a baby Bryde’s whale calf.…
Read More » - Travel
Thai Smile opens new Bangkok-Kolkata route
Jumping on the tourism bandwagon between India and Thailand, Thai Smile Airways has announced a new route from Bangkok to Kolkata, starting from March 31. The airline will operate five flights a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok to Kolkata, East India. The airline says the new route is “in line with its business…
Read More » - South Thailand News
Monk run over during alms rounds outside Chumphon temple
by Thanongsak Supakan A monk has been hit and killed by a speeding pickup truck in Chumphon this morning. He was making his alms rounds at the time. Police and rescue workers were called to the scene on Pathiu-Chumphon Road in front of Wat Laem Yang (Luang Por Khien) in Pathiu district around 4.30am. The 42 year old pickup driver Apiwan…
Read More » - South Thailand News
Cabinet supports bid for southern ‘Nora’ dance to be included in UNESCO heritage list
“The Thai government will nominate Nora at UNESCO’s upcoming meeting. “Nora, a southern traditional dance, has been given the nod to seek a place on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage representatives list.The Culture Ministry has been striving to preserve the unique Thai dance after ‘Khon’, the masked dance drama, was registered on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list at a…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Police ignore motorbikes and trucks illegally using Pattaya underpass
By Jetsada Homklin When Pattaya’s Central Road bypass tunnel eventually opened, police were vigorous in their enforcement barring motorcycles and large trucks from using the new underpass. But that didn’t last long. Pattaya Mail is reporting that tourists and residents both have complained that large numbers of motorcyclists are speeding through the tunnel with little fear of being stung with…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Historical Rattanakosin Island “not an appropriate place for prostitution”
PHOTO: Daily News Thai officials say they are determined to stamp out ‘street walkers’ in the heart of Bangkok’s historical Rattanakosin Island district. Officials say that it is inappropriate to have prostitution in such an area and it is damaging for the image of Thailand. Bangkok Metropolitan Authority officials and other ‘experts’ in the field inspected the area known as…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Finnish man found dead on chopper in Pattaya
PHOTOS: Pattaya Law Enforcement A Finnish man has been found dead on a ‘chopper’ and sidecar in Pattaya yesterday. “A chopper is a type of custom motorcycle which emerged in California in the late 1950s. The chopper is perhaps the most extreme of all custom styles, often using radically modified steering angles and lengthened forks for a stretched-out appearance.” Pattaya…
Read More » - Hot News
Two Nigerians arrested, one still at large, over investment scam
PHOTO: INN News Immigration chief Lt-Gen Surachate Hakparn has announced the arrest of two Nigerian scammers who posed as officials at a financial institution to defraud investors. They were also found to have overstayed their visas. Arrested were 55 year old Emmanual Olichagew and 41 year old Friday Ochiaga at a rented room in Bangkapi, Bangkok. Surachate says that a…
Read More » - Phuket News
Truck crash in Rawai pulls down power lines causing six hour blackout
PHOTOS: PEA A truck accident in Rawai has caused a blackout in Rawai for over six hours. (Some residents from Rawai contacted The Thaiger explaining that the power was off for 12 hours, not six as claimed by the PEA.) The Phuket Provincial Electric Authority reports that at 9.30pm last night a truck accident pulled down two power poles. The…
Read More » - Opinion
Thailand’s future is dissolving right before our eyes
by Edward KitlertsirivatanaWhen an animal is cornered, with no other options, its survival instinct kicks in. It will fight tooth and nail for its life. With the dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart party, attempts to dissolve other rival parties are in the air. You can smell it. If they were to be dissolved, desperate measures may materialise. And it doesn’t…
Read More » - Hot News
Only the US and Canada left flying the Boeing 737 Max aircraft*
The US and Canada remain the only two country’s left flying the Boeing 737 Max 8 model aircraft in any substantial numbers (*there are a few smaller airlines and nations but very few remaining). Otherwise most of the world’s aviation authorities have either grounded the planes or closed access to their airspace for the operation of the popular new Boeing…
Read More » - Bangkok News
Bangkok Police announce two major drug busts
by Khanathit Srihirundaj The police keep seizing the drugs but the manufacturers keep pushing even more out the back doors of their factories hidden in the jungles of the Golden Triangle and north eastern Myanmar. But police in Bangkok today reported that a large haul of narcotics has been seized, including more than 200 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, or “ice”,…
Read More » - Thailand News
Who is grounding Boeing’s 737 Max 8 planes?
In the wake of Sunday’s crash of an Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max series aircraft, the second crash in a ‘similar’ situation to one six months earlier off Jakarta, several of the world’s airlines have now grounded the planes as a precautionary measure. At this stage both Thailand and India have not grounded the aircraft. China’s fleet of some 97…
Read More » - Pattaya News
Jordanian father confesses to throwing his son into sea, Pattaya
PHOTOS: The Nation / Rai Siam News A Jordanian tourist has told police he tied his son to a pram and threw him into the sea off the Bali Hai pier in Pattaya. The case has horrified Thai readers and drawn violent and emotional responses from social media. The body of the 18 month old boy was found floating in…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Chiang Mai has world’s worst air quality as fires rage in the north
This morning Chiang Mai had the world’s worst air quality.In the WHOLE world! Thailand’s northern city was ranked the #1 most air-polluted city on earth with a 209 air quality index score on airvisual.com. The air worsened to an AQI of 233 around noon. Meanwhile the Pollution Control Department reports the average 24 hour level of PM2.5 dust particulates had…
Read More » - Bangkok News
He’s an Aussie now. Hakeem al-Araibi becomes Australian citizen.
PHOTO: Hakeem al-Araibi says “I’m an Aussie now” and is happy to be safe Hakeem al-Araibi, the former Bahraini football player and refugee caught up in a diplomatic tug-of-war in Thailand between Australian and Bahraini officials for two and a half months, has become an Australian citizen. He became an Australian citizen along with 200 other people at a ceremony…
Read More » - Krabi News
Five foreigners spend their holidays cleaning up rubbish along Krabi Beach
Five foreign tourists have spent their holidays today collecting rubbish along Laem Pong Beach in Krabi. They say they say they are very sad to see rubbish strewn all over the beaches and felt compelled to clean it up. 38 year old Latvian man Uldis Baumais, one of the tourists, says, “We have stayed at a hotel near the beach…
Read More » - Phuket News
Phuket police gear up for pre-election safety
More than 200 Phuket police yesterday lined up in a showcase parade to ‘assure’ locals, tourists and expats that they’re set up and ready for safety before the March 24 election. 245 police and Phuket’s Vice Governor Thanyawat Chanpinit lined up in front the Phuket City Police Station last night at 6 pm. The Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen…
Read More » - Thailand News
New trend ‘Challenge for Change’ rubbish cleanup
PHOTO: We Don’t Deserve This Planet A Facebook page named ‘We Don’t Deserve This Planet’ is running a campaign ‘Challenge for Change’ for rubbish cleanups. The site is an international page. The Facebook page says “Let it be trending!” with the hash tag #ChallengeForChange. “Here is a new #Challenge for all. Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or…
Read More » - Hot News
UPDATE: Regulators ground the Boeing 737 Max 8, but not in Thailand
PHOTO: Thai Lion Air won’t be grounding their Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft The digital flight data recorder for Flight ET302 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya was located yesterday morning Citizens of 35 countries are among the 157 people killed, including 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians and eight passengers each from China, Italy and the US Multiple…
Read More » - Northern Thailand News
Northern provinces choking on toxic haze and air pollution again
by Kriangkrai Rattana, Panwich Yoodee, Nathawat Laping Northern provinces are again choking from dangerous levels of PM2.5 dust particles, air pollution and smog. The harmful haze is being worsened by smoke from forest fires on the other side of the Myanmar border, with a satellite images showing 1,035 hot spots in the neighbouring country, and another 516 in Thailand (123…
Read More » - Covid-19 News
Covid-19 Coronavirus UPDATE: Global pandemic, Italy cases soar, new Chinese cases plummet
As the World Health Organisation declares the Covid-19 coronavirus a global pandemic, there are now 126,380 cases, resulting in 4,634 deaths, with 68,310 people fully recovered. The focus of new outbreaks has moved away from China and to the European continent and the US. The current death rate is 3.7%. Here are snippets of the latest news from around the…
Read More » - Phuket News
Motorbike driver killed after SUV runs red light in Koh Kaew, Phuket
A motorbike driver has died after he collided with an SUV that ran a red light in Koh Kaew last night. The Phuket City Police report that they were notified of the incident at 8pm at a Koh Kaew intersection. Police and emergency responders arrived to find a motorbike stuck in front of an SUV. The motorbike driver was taken to…
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