Year: 2019

  • Phuket News“Phuket needs a world class exhibition and convention centre”

    “Phuket needs a world class exhibition and convention centre”

    “Two key developments we are tracking is Central Festivals next phase of expansion and Proud Groups Andamanda project that both have significant concerence, meeting and incentive space.” Plans to promote Phuket as a world-class MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) location are being obstructed by many impediments – inefficient town planning, poor transport systems and poor availability of land in tourist…

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  • World NewsSaudi plant attacks: Oil prices soar more than 10% in early trading

    Saudi plant attacks: Oil prices soar more than 10% in early trading

    Oil prices have surged more than 10% after attacks on two Saudi Arabian plants that slashed output in the world’s top producer by half. West Texas Intermediate jumped 10.68% to $60.71 and Brent climbed 11.77% to $67.31 in early Asia trading following the blasts at facilities run by state-owned giant Aramco. Meanwhile the US President Donald Trump is blaming Iran…

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  • Crime NewsBiometrics identify 8 fake passports in 3 days

    Biometrics identify 8 fake passports in 3 days

    PHOTO: Workpoint News Thai Immigration Police have been lauding the success using their new Biometrics System at the airports. In 3 days, 8 foreigners have been nabbed using fake passports. In the case of these 8 cases, all the passports were purchased from an Iranian Agent. Immigration Police reported the arrest of the foreigners on September 13 who were using…

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  • Business NewsLaguna Angsana Resort opens conference and exhibition venue

    Laguna Angsana Resort opens conference and exhibition venue

    by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com Laguna Phuket’s Angsana resort is set to debut it’s new 1,500 square metre conference and exhibition space. It’s actually a renovation and rebranding of the successful Laguna marquee space and relocated to a more permanent location within the Angsana Laguna Phuket complex. Tagged as ACES, the venue will open at the end of September. For…

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  • Chiang Mai News30,000 uni students take the long and winding road up Doi Suthep

    30,000 uni students take the long and winding road up Doi Suthep

    PHOTOS: The Nation Some 30,000 students, past and present, and staff from the Chiang Mai University headed up Thailand’s holiest mountain yesterday on the university’s annual trek to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. It’s the university’s 55th anniversary of the annual climb. Freshmen from 20 faculties from two of the CMU campuses trekked up the winding 14 kilometre road from…

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  • Environment NewsAnother dead dugong found off the coast of Trang

    Another dead dugong found off the coast of Trang

    PHOTO: The baby dugong Mariam, who brought a lot of publicity to the plight of the local dugong population, died in August Another dead dugong has been discovered floating in the Andaman Sea, between Koh Ya in Trang and Koh Ngai Island in Krabi. The corpse was discovered yesterday by a local tour boat. It’s been a bad year for…

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  • World NewsUS Fed poised to cut rates this week

    US Fed poised to cut rates this week

    “Hiring, while strong, has slowed. Business investment is moribund. Exports are weakening. And manufacturing – always a vital economic weather vane – is in recession.” by Douglas Gillison Facing a dauntingly uncertain economic horizon and constant criticism, including insults and demands for stimulus from the US president, the US Federal Reserve is set to cut interest rates this week. In speeches…

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  • Thailand Weather UpdatesWarnings out for bad weather in central and southern provinces

    Warnings out for bad weather in central and southern provinces

    PHOTO: The Nation The Thai Meteorological Department says people in the lower Northeast, the Central region, including Bangkok and its vicinity, the East and the South (Andaman coast) should brace for more heavy rains and dangers from accumulated rainfalls today. The warning comes as five northeastern provinces remain submerged and 42 rural roads remain impassable due to floods. The department…

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  • Politics News“The fake university degree is irrelevant if Thammanat has a genuine BA degree” – Wissanu

    “The fake university degree is irrelevant if Thammanat has a genuine BA degree” – Wissanu

    PHOTO: Thai PBS World “Wissanu refused to give a direct answer to a reporter’s question about whether Thammanat would still be considered qualified if the higher-level degrees were proven to be fake.” Key leaders of the coalition continue to back the embattled deputy agriculture minister Thammanat Prompao despite a week were his drug past has been revealed in a Sydney…

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  • Environment NewsMore than half of the tigers moved from the Tiger Temple have died

    More than half of the tigers moved from the Tiger Temple have died

    “The tigers became weak from stress from living in captivity and their conditions steadily deteriorated until they succumbed to their death.” 86 out of a total of 147 tigers kept at two wildlife breeding stations in Ratchaburi province, after they were confiscated from the infamous Tiger Temple in Thailand’s western province of Kanchanaburi about three years ago, have died from…

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  • World NewsWorld’s largest trading bloc to be concluded by the end of the year

    World’s largest trading bloc to be concluded by the end of the year

    The next negotiating round for the formation of RCEP will be held in Da Nang, Viet Nam on September 19-28 . RCEP is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and when negotiated and signed, will become the world’s largest and most powerful trading bloc. RCEP includes all ASEAN economies, plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Economic ministers…

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  • Business NewsLarge Thai business feeling the effects of US-China trade war, rise of the baht

    Large Thai business feeling the effects of US-China trade war, rise of the baht

    So what do Thailand’s big banks say? The ongoing US-China trade war and the appreciation of the Thai baht against other currencies is now starting to impact larger corporates in Thailand. Wasin Saiyawan, senior executive vice president and chief of wholesale banking at Siam Commercial Bank says, that although large businesses are resilient to any impact and their ability to…

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  • Environment NewsPhuket’s Surin Beach’s anti-erosion walls fails causing another environmental disaster

    Phuket’s Surin Beach’s anti-erosion walls fails causing another environmental disaster

    PHOTOS: ขยะมรสุม ขยะมรสุม has posted on their Facebook page about the ugly and failed attempt at an erosion wall at Phuket’s Surin Beach (photos below). He said in his post… “Found this big pile of trouble at Surin Beach. What are these sacks for? Are they becoming trash? You won’t conquer nature with sand sacks. If you want to make…

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  • World News‘Tank Man’ photographer dies – defining photo of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests

    ‘Tank Man’ photographer dies – defining photo of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests

    PHOTO: Charlie Cole “Tank Man” has become one of the defining images of the 20th century, but the image remains largely unrecognised in China due to censorship of the image and the wider crackdown.” The photographer who photographed the defining image of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown – a solitary man defiantly blocking the path of a column of tanks –…

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  • Pattaya NewsPattaya Cricket Club match report – Indoor cricket league

    Pattaya Cricket Club match report – Indoor cricket league

    September 12 was the inaugural round of the recently created Pattaya Indoor Cricket league. PCC was due to play Asian Stars B whilst Rugby School Thailand (RST) were due to play Asian Stars A. Unfortunately, both Asian Stars teams failed to materialise, so PCC played RST. This hotly contested match also saw the appearance of new members to PCC –…

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  • OpinionWhy the Chinese are more important than Western tourists to Thailand

    Why the Chinese are more important than Western tourists to Thailand

    OPINION by Dan Cheeseman – Dan About Thailand We need to wake up and smell the roses, us Westerners are no longer an important group for the Thailand tourism industry – in fact, we are what you would call ‘niche’ – and with good reason. The Chinese are here in numbers and not only will this continue to grow but…

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  • EntertainmentHistoric discovery of earliest sound films shot in Thailand

    Historic discovery of earliest sound films shot in Thailand

    PHOTO: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation / University of South Carolina “Film historian Dome Sukhawong discovered the films in 2018, in the University of South Carolina archives.” Four films made nearly 100 years ago are believed to be the first sound films recorded in Thailand. The films were screened at the Thai Film Archive for the first time on Monday. Film…

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  • Transport NewsPublic transport vehicles failing safety checks

    Public transport vehicles failing safety checks

    PHOTO: National News Bureau of Thailand In the first week of new safety checks introduced by the Department of Land Transport (DLT), 1 in 7 public transport vehicles have failed. Drivers fared slightly better, with only 3 out of 10,236 failing their exam. DLT Director General Peerapol Thavornsubhajaroen says that as part of the test brought in to improve public…

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  • Politics NewsEmbattled Thammanat Prompao considers 100 defamation lawsuits against accusers

    Embattled Thammanat Prompao considers 100 defamation lawsuits against accusers

    PHOTO: Reuters The high-profile deputy Agriculture Minister, and government ‘fixer’, Thammanat Prompao says he will file about 100 defamation lawsuits against individuals and organisations who have dug up his criminal past, including his reported heroin-trafficking past in Australia, including a four year jail term, and people questioning his educational credentials. He claims they are all a plot to discredit him.…

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  • Northern Thailand NewsUbon Ratchathani flooding worst in 17 years

    Ubon Ratchathani flooding worst in 17 years

    PHOTO: The Pattaya News Flooding in Ubon Ratchathani, north-east Thailand, has been declared the worst in 17 years, with water levels in the Moon river beating the previous record set in 2002, and an additional 60 water pumps now installed. Thai PBS World reports that widespread flooding has seriously affected many areas, with communities in low-lying areas cut off and…

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  • Pattaya NewsFamily of Thai woman seriously injured in Pattaya balcony fall blames French husband

    Family of Thai woman seriously injured in Pattaya balcony fall blames French husband

    The family of a 28 year old Thai woman who was seriously injured when she fell five floors from a condo balcony in Pattaya are blaming her French husband for the accident. Sunisa suffered life-changing spinal injuries and is no longer able to walk, with her sister Natchaya having given up her job to care for her. It’s understood Sunisa’s…

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  • Northern Thailand NewsThai woman arrested after 13 year old Burmese girl forced into prostitution

    Thai woman arrested after 13 year old Burmese girl forced into prostitution

    by Tossapol Boonpat Police have arrested a local Mae Hong Son woman for allegedly procuring a 13 year old girl as a prostitute for sex with a string of local men. Mae Hong Son is west of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, on the Myanmar border. Mae Hong Son police say the woman, whose name had not been names at this…

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  • Tourism NewsThailand Finance Minister confident of success with “cash for tourists” incentive

    Thailand Finance Minister confident of success with “cash for tourists” incentive

    PHOTO: ThaiVisa.com With 32,000 businesses having already signed up to the government’s “Eat, Shop, Use” tourism-stimulus campaign, the Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana says he’s confident it will be a success, and that thousands more will sign up before the deadline of September 20. Retailers, restaurateurs and service agencies can sign up to the campaign through the Thung Ngern Pracharat mobile…

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  • Phuket NewsPhuket police to embrace technology in dealing with traffic violations

    Phuket police to embrace technology in dealing with traffic violations

    PHOTO: Trafficpolice.go.th From next Friday, traffic police in Phuket will no longer confiscate licences when drivers are stopped for traffic violations. Police will now record the details of a driving licence but return it to the driver as soon as they’ve done so. They will still issue fines on paper, with drivers unable to pay their road tax until any…

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  • Pattaya NewsPattaya tourist racks up 50,000 tab after ringing bar bell 20 times

    Pattaya tourist racks up 50,000 tab after ringing bar bell 20 times

    PHOTO: Channel 7 A 33 year old tourist from Oman, visiting a Pattaya bar with his Thai girlfriend, has ended up with a bill of 53,300 baht for his night out. But “it was all a misunderstanding”. In a bar along Na Klua Road he rang the bell about twenty times. This traditionally means the staff and all customers can…

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  • World NewsOfficials hand out face masks whilst southern Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore choke

    Officials hand out face masks whilst southern Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore choke

    The annual haze from intentionally lit forest fires in Indonesia is making life unpleasant in parts of Thailand’s South, with fine-dust readings (PM2.5 microns) in Songkhla and Satun at hazardous levels, over 50 microgrammes per cubic metre of air. The problem is also choking sections of Malaysia and Singapore. In Hat Yai, Songkhla, officials are handing out face masks to…

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  • Technology News‘Body farm’ scientists find corpses move

    ‘Body farm’ scientists find corpses move

    Rest in peace. Apparently the ‘rest’ isn’t quite as ‘peaceful’ as we first thought. Not quite as much as zombies, but anyway… An Australian scientist has proven human bodies move around significantly for more than a year after death, in findings that could have implications for detectives and pathologists around the world. After studying and photographing the movements of a corpse…

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  • Politics NewsProposal: New law that will allow six cannabis plants per Thai household

    Proposal: New law that will allow six cannabis plants per Thai household

    PHOTO: Campaign posters before the last election for the Bhumjaithai Party who continue to push further legalisation of cannabis The Bhumjaithai Party, a party in Thailand’s coalition government, is now proposing a law that would allow Thais to grow a limited amount of cannabis at home. This takes laws, passed less than a year ago that legalised the drug for…

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  • Thailand NewsPope Francis confirms his ‘pilgrim of peace’ visit to Thailand in November

    Pope Francis confirms his ‘pilgrim of peace’ visit to Thailand in November

    PHOTO: Father Joseph Anucha Chaiyadej, director of the Catholic Social Communications of Thailand, along with deputy secretary-general Monsignor Dr Vissanu Thanya-anan and Dr Chainarong Monthienvichienchai, counsellor for the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, speak to the media yesterday – The Nation It’s official, the Pope is coming to Thailand. Rumoured earlier but now officially announced. His Excellency Paul Tschang In-Nam,…

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  • World NewsAlgorithm update: Google will now promote “original reporting”

    Algorithm update: Google will now promote “original reporting”

    “It remains to be seen how such changes will affect news outlets, especially smaller online sites and local newspapers, who have borne the brunt of the changing media landscape.” “Original reporting will be highlighted in Google’s search results.” That’s the claim from the company in the latest changes to its algorithm. The world’s largest search engine is under increasing criticism…

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  • Transport NewsFAIL! One in seven public transport vehicles didn’t pass safety tests

    FAIL! One in seven public transport vehicles didn’t pass safety tests

    One in seven public transport vehicles failed safety checks in the first week of a new program Vehicles failed the tests mostly because of a low-quality brake systems and excessive black smoke emissions In better news, only three of 10,236 drivers failed the exam About one in seven public Thai transport vehicles have failed safety checks in the first week…

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  • World NewsImmigration police in the Philippines arrest 270 Chinese in fraud raid

    Immigration police in the Philippines arrest 270 Chinese in fraud raid

    “A total of 277 people were taken into custody in the operation that Philippine officials carried out in conjunction with Chinese authorities.” Police in the Philippines have arrested more than 270 Chinese nationals following a raid on a gang wanted over a vast investment fraud that has cost victims in China millions of dollars. Agents swooped on an office building…

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  • Thai LifeMuay Thai gains momentum in Nepal

    Muay Thai gains momentum in Nepal

    “Muay Thai fighters are so strong, they can knock down a tree with a single kick.” Gymkhana, with the help of Nepal National Muay Thai Association, organised the first semi-professional competition and plans more in the future. While still a child Rahul Moktan heard his father talking about the Thai sport of Muay Thai, which has since paved his way…

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  • World NewsNew Zealand announces tougher gun laws after mosque massacre

    New Zealand announces tougher gun laws after mosque massacre

    PHOTO: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern – TVNZ “Under the new legislation, a registry will be set up that is designed to track ownership of every legally owned firearm in the country.” New Zealand legislators have unveiled new laws aimed at ensuring only “fit and proper” people can own guns in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed…

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  • Phuket NewsWan Yubamrung’s subordinate arrested for attempted murder in Patong

    Wan Yubamrung’s subordinate arrested for attempted murder in Patong

    PHOTO: Manager Online Last night (September 12), 32 year old Thanpawat Supchotiwanich, a subordinate of Thai Pheu Thai party politician Wan Yubamrung, was arrested in front of his house in Soi Ekkachai 135, in Patong, acting on a warrant issued back in 2010 after he shot a business peer over an undisclosed conflict. Thanpawat is also known as ‘Tong Deksuegaeng’…

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  • Bangkok NewsNew Central outlet by Suvarnabhumi poses no danger, say aviation experts

    New Central outlet by Suvarnabhumi poses no danger, say aviation experts

    PHOTO: Skyscrapercity.com The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) says the recently opened Central Village mall near Suvarnabhumi airport is safe and does not pose a threat to aviation safety. CAAT hopes to alleviate the concerns expressed by Airports of Thailand (AOT) who tried unsuccessfully to block the opening of the luxury outlet, citing safety and security concerns. CAAT director…

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  • Crime NewsPhone shop worker busted for credit card fraud

    Phone shop worker busted for credit card fraud

    A man working in a Bangkok phone shop is under arrest after stealing customers’ credit card information and going on a shopping spree that amounted to almost 10 million baht. Incredibly, it turns out he’s been doing this for over 3 years and in that time, has accumulated a house, a condominium, and 3 cars. 29 year old Satit Junchok…

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