Month: February 2020

  • Thai Life

    Interior ministry bans “crane claw” game machines as gambling tools

    Gambling, other than betting on horse races or the government-sponsored lottery, has been prohibited in Thailand since the Gambling Act 1935. Now the government has banned the familiar “claw crane” machines found at many shopping malls and supermarkets, calling them “gambling tools.” The order was signed by the acting permanent secretary of the interior on Wednesday. The order was issued…

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  • Việt Nam

    Hồ Bắc cảnh báo virus corona có thời gian ủ bệnh đến 27 ngày

    Một người đàn ông 70 tuổi tại tỉnh Hồ Bắc đã nhiễm virus corona nhưng không có triệu chứng cho tới 27 ngày sau. Theo thông tin được đăng tải trên trang web của chính quyền Hồ Bắc hôm nay cho hay một người đàn ông họ Jiang lái xe từ đông Ngạc Châu đến Thần Nông Giá ở tây…

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  • Tourism News

    Phuket calls for immediate government help over coronavirus impact

    Phuket’s Chamber of Commerce has asked the Thai govenment for swift action to help cope with the economic impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus, particularly on tourism. According to Chamber president Thanusak Phungdet: “I explained to Tourism Committee President Surasak Phanchalernworakul about the situation and how coronavirus is affecting tourism and business in Phuket. I requested them to share this information with…

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  • Northern Thailand News

    Udon Thani thief arrested after “invisibility spell” fails to work

    Police in the northeastern province of Udon Thani yesterday arrested a thief claiming to have magical powers, after his “invisibility spell” failed to work. Thirty-two year old Anurak Promwang claims to have used the spell successfully many times in the past, and blames the removal of his trousers for his arrest. Security footage captured the thief in action, including the…

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  • Tourism News

    Top 10 things to see and do in Phu Quoc, Vietnam

    Phú Quốc is a Vietnamese island off the coast of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand (aka. Vịnh Thái Lan in Vietnamese). The island is actually closer to Cambodia than Vietnam. Phu Quoc is a rising star in the island destinations of south east asia. It has big ambitions and will catch up quickly with some key infrastructure already in…

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  • South Thailand News

    Man comes face to face with 5-metre king cobra while in bed

    A man in the southern province of Trang got a shock when he lay down for a nap and found he was being watched by a 5-metre king cobra staring at him from the ceiling. The man’s home is on a rubber farm, where cobras and other venomous snakes are often found. The local rescue team, who reportedly specialise in…

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  • Politics News

    US embassy, Amnesty International oppose Future Forward dissolution decision

    In a statement today, the US embassy in Bangkok said the Constitutional Court’s decision to dissolve the Future Forward party risks disenfranchising more than six million Thai voters who voted for the party in last March’s general election. “The United States strongly supports democratic governance around the world, and appreciates Thailand’s recent seating of a democratically elected government. While the…

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  • Phuket News

    American man arrested for theft at Phuket mall

    An American man has been arrested for theft after allegedly stealing three designer wallets from a shop at Phuket’s Central Floresta shopping mall. Twenty-one year old Christopher Braman was arrested at the shopping centre in tambon Ratsada on charges of theft and overstaying his visa, police said yesterday. After the arrest, police took Braman him to his rented room in…

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  • Việt Nam

    Hàn Quốc thêm 142 ca nhiễm virus corona, thủ tướng thừa nhận thất bại

    Trong cuộc họp cấp cao mới đây, thủ tướng Hàn Quốc Chung Sye-kyun khẳng định ưu tiên số 1 là “tìm kiếm những người đã tiếp xúc với người bệnh và tập trung điều trị”. Trong cuộc họp cấp cao khẩn cấp, Hàn Quốc thừa nhận việc ngăn chặn virus corona chủng mới (Covid-19) lây lan ở đây đã thất…

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  • Northern Thailand News

    Used-car dealer, entire family dead in mass suicide

    A used car dealer and his entire family in the northern province of Phitsanulok have been found dead, in an apparent mass suicide. Even the family dogs were not spared. The family were found asphyxiated, with a lit charcoal stove in the room. Police were called yesterday after relatives found the bodies. There were five dead people and six dogs…

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  • Covid-19 News

    China reports further reduction in new coronavirus cases, down to 397; Korea has a second death

    China’s National Health Commission announced today that the country had 397 new confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus infections as of yesterday, down from 889 cases a day earlier. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 76,288. The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 2,345. Hubei province, the epicentre…

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  • World News

    Busted! Cambodia cracks down on suggestive Facebook sellers

    Cambodian women’s rights groups are slamming a crackdown on well endowed women who wear “provocative clothing” while selling goods live on Facebook, calling the crackdown dangerous and baseless. Seven groups point out that the women are breaching no law. “There is no evidence-based research that affirms that women’s clothing choice is the root cause of degradation of social morality.” Cambodian…

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  • Politics News

    Disbanded Future Forward Party vows to fight on

    Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party (FFP), disbanded yesterday by the Constitutional Court, has vowed to continue fighting and announced the formation of “the Group of Future Forward,” which he says will continue the campaign to get Thailand back on the road to democracy. He said leaders of the Future Forward Party have no intention of giving up…

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  • Crime News

    Police chief denies officers killed suspect

    “We didn’t kill him, he killed himself” The police chief in Nonthaburi, just northwest of Bangkok, denies claims that one of his men kicked a motorcyclist off his bike. The 28 year old man, identified only as “Pisanu,” died after he fell off his Honda Wave motorbike. He was fleeing a police checkpoint at the time. He suffered head injuries…

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  • Crime News

    Lop Buri gold shop gunman pleads guilty to all nine charges

    The school principal, who gunned down three people, including a 2 year old boy, and injured four others during a robbery in Lop Buri province on January 9, has pleaded guilty to all charges. 38 year old Prasitthichai Khaokaew, stormed into the Robinsons shopping centre and strode up to the Aurora Gold Shop brandishing a pistol and silencer and calmly…

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  • Việt Nam

    Cả trăm ca nhiễm mới Covid-19 ở Daegu Hàn Quốc liên quan đến một nhà thờ

    Daegu là thành phố lớn thứ 4 ở Hàn Quốc nhưng đang chịu cảnh đìu hiu vì lo ngại về bùng phát dịch từ virus corona chủng mới (COVID-19). Dongseong-ro, con phố lớn nhất Daegu, chỉ có vài người qua lại – Ảnh: Yonhap News Ngày 19-2, hãng tin Yonhap cho biết sau khi bùng phát ca “siêu lây nhiễm”…

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  • Việt Nam

    Chuyên gia Trung Quốc cảnh báo bệnh nhân khỏi bệnh vẫn có khả năng truyền virus corona

    Mới đây, chuyên gia hàng đầu tại Trung Quốc về các bệnh hô hấp cảnh báo rằng bệnh nhân đã bình phục vẫn có thể làm lây truyền virus corona. Bưu điện Hoa nam Buổi sáng đã đưa tin, ông Zhao Jianping – chuyên gia hàng đầu về bệnh hô hấp và đứng đầu một nhóm chuyên gia hỗ trợ…

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  • Phuket News

    Unemployment rises 34% in Phuket due to virus’s impact

    Unemployment on the resort island of Phuket is up 34% year on year due the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, according to the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO). “After Chinese government banned their citizens from travel abroad because of COVID-19, the number of people coming to register as unemployed has been rising quickly. About 80 people come to register…

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  • World News

    Consumer groups warn of risks in buying a new Chevrolet

    General Motors’ decision to pull production of its Chevrolet line out of Thailand has prompted consumer advocacy groups to remind prospective buyers of risks. The Foundation for Consumers and the Office of the Independent Committee for Consumer Protection said yesterday that buyers “should be wary of uncertainty as General Motors will pull its operation out of the country” by the…

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  • Events

    Thai MotoGP will go ahead after coronavirus check

    Race organisers yesterday announced that The Thailand MotoGP race in March will go ahead as planned, saying the government has decided theere is “no major risk” from the COVID-19 coronavirus. A statement from organisers of the race in Buri Ram on March 22 said: “With the outbreak of coronavirus affecting a number of locations and events worldwide, the decision required…

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  • Politics News

    Police end investigation into brutal attack on activist “Ja New”

    Bangkok police have abruptly suspended their investigation into the brutal attack on a political activist and pro-democracy leader in June of last year. Four men beat Sirawith “Ja New” with baseball bats on a main road in Bangkok’s Min Buri area on June 28. Despite having security camera footage of the attack, Bangkok police say they are unable to identify…

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  • Politics News

    UPDATE: Future Future dissolved, MPs stripped of parliamentary status

    UPDATE: The Constitutional Court has dissolved Thailand’s Future Forward political Party after finding it guilty of breaking the laws pertaining to loans, specifically from its leader Thanathorn Jungroongruangkit. The court has also ordered MPs of the party’s executive stripped of their parliamentary status and banned from politics for 10 years. Party leader Thanathorn and party supporters gathered at the headquarters in…

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  • Covid-19 News

    No virus cover-up, PM tweets

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha went on Twitter yesterday, in an apparent bid to counter “fake news,” and announced there is no COVID-19 coronavirus cover-up happening in Thailand. He insisted the government is neither hiding nor distorting the number of infections in the country and said citizens should “gain confidence” in its remarkable success managing the disease. Earlier in the day, Prayut…

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  • Thailand News

    Thailand’s abortion laws to be amended

    Thailand’s Constitutional Court has ruled that a section of the Criminal Code is unconstitutional as it fails to hold men responsible for illegal abortions. The ruling will take effect on Febuary 13, 2021, twelve months after it was made. The court handed down the ruling after pro-abortion activist Srisamai Chueachart petitioned the court to rule whether Sections 301 and 305…

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  • Thailand News

    Pro-vaping group to request public hearing to legalise vaping in Thailand

    The below is the contents of a press release sent to The Thaiger by the consumer group End Cigarette Smoke Thailand. The opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect those of The Thaiger or its subsidiaries. The Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Center (TRC) revealed results from the meeting of the Ministry of Commerce’s review panel on e-cigarette import…

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  • Bangkok News

    Schoolboy survives 3rd floor fall from escalator in Bangkok mall

    A 12 year old student was seriously injured when he fell from a third floor escalator at CentralWorld shopping complex in Bangkok yesterday afternoon. Police say the student dropped his mobile phone while descending from the third floor, reached out to grab it, over-stretched and fell. The incident occurred about 2:40pm, according to police. The boy, from a school in…

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  • World News

    Coronavirus cases more than double in South Korea to surpass 150

    South Korea has reported its first death from the COVID-19 corona virus. The government reports that a 63 year old man, who died Wednesday, tested positive for the virus in a post mortem examination. The exact cause of his death has yet to be determined. He died in North Gyeongsang province, where he had been hospitalized for over 20 years,…

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  • Covid-19 News

    Coronavirus UPDATE: S Korea tops 156 cases, Ukrainians attack evacuee bus

    The total number of infected worldwide cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) stands at over 76,735. At least 2,247 people are now dead from the virus, with all but 11 of those deaths in mainland China. 18,561 people are now registered as ‘recovered’ from the virus. The fatality rate still sits around 2%. • There has been a sharp spike in new cases…

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  • Crime News

    Drink-driving professor crashes, injures 2 police and elderly woman

    A university professor has been arrested for drink driving in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok, after he crashed into a police motorcycle. Two police officers and an elderly woman were injured in the incident. Police and a rescue team were called to the scene and discovered a police motorbike lying on the road and 2 injured officers. The injured…

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  • Crime News

    Death penalty sought for Lop Buri gold shop shooter

    Thai Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a school director who killed three people, including a two year old boy, in a gold shop robbery in Lop Buri last month. Prasittichai Khaokaew will face execution for his “horrific actions,” prosecutors say. The Thai Criminal Court was asked yesterday to try the 38 year old for premeditated murder over the…

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  • Expats

    UPDATE: Thai immigration scraps TM28 reporting requirements

    Well, for most foreigners anyway (full list of exemptions below)… Thai immigration have scrapped the TM28 form’s change-of-address reporting requirements for all but a few foreigners. The changes came into effect, with little fanfare, on January 28. The TM28 is still listed on the Immigration website but there’s now a long list of exceptions added which means that almost no…

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  • Business News

    Chevy’s having a “garage sale” and prices are halved

    General Motors’ recent announcement that it’s ending production and sales of Chevrolets in Thailand means prices for new Chevrolets have been cut by half. The starting price for the latest SUV, the Captiva, is now just under half a million baht. General Motors announced Sunday that it’s pulling out of “markets that don’t produce adequate returns on investments,” namely Thailand,…

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  • Covid-19 News

    Israel travel ban rankles Thailand

    Thailand wants Israel to reconsider its decision, announced Tuesday, to ban Thais from entering the country in a bid to control the spread of deadly coronavirus (Covid-19). Israel banned all non-Israelis who have been in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau in the previous 14 days. Previously, Israel’s health ministry had imposed only a 14-day house quarantine on visitors from…

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  • Property

    Major condo developers in Bangkok are looking for rental clients

    As sales have taken a nosedive since last year, major condominium developers in Bangkok are looking for rental clients. As an example, L.P.N. Development, which developed condominiums and houses under the Lumpini brand, is offering newly-launched condos for rent. The company plans to attract tenants by offering lower or slightly lower rents than the market price for a 3 year…

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  • Việt Nam

    Hai người tử vong trong ‘ổ dịch’ corona trên du thuyền ở Nhật Bản

    Theo Kyodo ghi nhận, hai hành khách nhiễm virus corona trên du thuyền Diamond Princess cách li tại Nhật đã tử vong. Theo Kyodo, hai hành khách là một cụ ông 87 tuổi và cụ bà 84 tuổi đều là công dân Nhật Bản, có bệnh lý nền và nhập viện sau khi rời tàu vào tuần trước. Du thuyền…

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  • Northern Thailand News

    Principal beats 10 year old, threatens to kill him and “eat his liver with whisky”

    A grandpa in the northeastern province of Surin couldn’t take it anymore and decided to file a police report after a school principal gave his 10 year old grandson a head injury. The statement alleges that the principal threatened to beat the boy to death and to “eat the child’s liver with whisky.” 83 year old “Supon” filed the report…

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  • Covid-19 News

    Three Thais on Yokohama virus ship have COVID-19 coronavirus

    Officials today announced that three Thai nationals aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, moored off Yokohama, are infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus, the same day two elderly Japanese passengers are reported to have died from the disease. Foreign affairs spokesman Cherdkiat Atthakor said three Thais, one passenger and two crew members, are now being treated in hospital in Japan.…

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