- Northern Thailand News
Drought declared in five Khon Kaen districts
Whilst parts of Thailand suffered floods and overflowing dams during August and September, other parts of the country are now facing drought conditions as we head into the dry season. Khon Kaen Governor Somsak Jungtrakul has declared five districts drought disaster zones. Somsak said on Friday there had been no rain for months in Pol, Nong Song Hong, Ban Had, Waeng…
- Bangkok News
Poll restrictions to be relaxed in December
The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has distanced himself from a claim by his deputy Somkid Jatusripitak that the next head of government would “look similar” to the current one. General Prawit Wongsuwan, another deputy premier, said Somkid had shared the same thoughts as “many of us” although he would not specify what he thought regarding the matter. General Prayut was…
- Bangkok News
730 more foreigners rounded up in nationwide crackdowns
Immigration police have carried out their latest nationwide raid, rounding up foreigners living illegally in Thailand. There were 730 more arrests yesterday. Pol Maj Gen Itthipol Itthisarnronnachai, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, told the media at 1am this morning (Friday) the results of the 38th “X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner” operation. Itthitpol said the operation focused on 238 areas around the…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya hotel ablaze, guests head for the exits
PHOTO: Channel 3 A fire at a well-known hotel in Pattaya’s Jomtien Beach caused panic in the early hours yesterday as guests were plunged into darkness and corridors began filling with smoke. The Pattaya police station was alerted that a blaze had broken out at 1.30am at the Grand Jomtien Palace Hotel in Tambon Nong Plue of Chon Buri’s Bang…
- Bangkok News
No hug, no kiss, no goodbye – speeding up school drop-offs
Police in Bangkok are urging parents to cut short their lengthy farewell when they drop their kids off at school to avoid adding to Bangkok’s traffic woes. Traffic police launched the “No kiss, no hug, no bye” campaign in front of St Gabriel School on Samsen Road this morning at 6.45am as students prepared to return for the second semester.…
- Chiang Mai News
Tourists grafitti Chiang Mai caves
Chiang Mai authorities are trying to find the people responsible for graffiti in a Chiang Mai cave. Police are threatening to prosecute the offenders and seek jail terms for anyone who is caught. Chiang Mai News is reporting that foreign names have been scratched in the walls of a cave at the Mok Fa waterfall in the Doi Suthep – Pui…
- World News
No plane, no flight data recorder – search & recovery continue off Jakarta
The plane involved in the Lion Air flight JT610 crash off Jakarta was Boeing’s newest and most advanced jets, loosely based on the original Boeing 737 but including the very latest technology and construction materials. It was just two months old and with a minuscule 800 hours under its belt (for a commercial jet). Aviation officials, Boeing engineers and investigators…
- South Thailand News
3 Vietnamese boats seized, 14 crew arrested
A Royal Thai Navy patrol boat has seized three Vietnamese fishing vessels and arrested 14 crew members for illegally ‘raking’ the seabed for sea cucumbers in the Gulf of Thailand. The three boats were spotted and ordered to surrender by HTMS Khamronsin on Monday. The Navy ship forced the vessels back to the port of the Songkhla-based Navy Area 2…
- South Thailand News
10 children have died from southern measles outbreak
The measles outbreak in Yala has worsened with 859 children now having been infected and the death toll standing at 10 cases, Betong district health official Wongwit Akarawarothai said on Tuesday. Wongwit joined other health officials in knocking on doors to have people in Ban Na Kor (Moo 9) in Tambon Ai Yer Weng vaccinated, resulting in 75 children under…
- Health
“Don’t rush to legalise marijuana”
by Chularat Saengpassa A medical lecturer is cautioning policy-makers against rushing to legalise marijuana, even if it’s just for medical use. “Beware of becoming stupid, poor and hurt” read the title of a social-media comment posted by Assistant Professor Dr Thira Woratanarat in response to calls to fast-track medical-marijuana legislation. The Nation reports that Thira, who works at Chulalongkorn University’s…
- Hua Hin News
Prachuap Khiri Khan’s 9.6 million baht blue car park
Bike lanes are being added in popular locations around the country, at great expense, for the pleasure and safety of the growing number of bicyclists in Thailand. But sometimes no one tells the car drivers who think the new bike lanes are just a colorful place to park their cars. A 9.6 million baht, 2.9 kilometre long bicycle lane along…
- South Thailand News
Man shot dead in a krathom brew party
A man has been shot dead in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Chulabhorn district after a dispute broke out during a ‘krathom brew drinking party’ early today. The victim, identified as 29 year old Sathit Changnam was shot 11 times all over is body. Several spent shells of 9mm pistol bullets were found at the scene – a shophouse in Moo 4…
- Bangkok News
Woman accused of animal cruelty dodges media in Bangkok
PHOTO: The Nation Thonburi Court has freed on bail a 30 year old woman who has been accused of animal cruelty. Wararat Krasae, nicknamed Sun, walked free after her lawyer posted 40,000 baht bail. The woman appeared in the public for the first time at the court on Ekkachai Road after some animal lovers’ group filed complaints with police last…
- Bangkok News
Thai Airways apologises for the Zurich-Bangkok stuff up
Thai Airways is promising disciplinary action after an investigation found both the flight captain and the station manager based in Zurich had acted ‘unethically’ in the delayed Zurich-Bangkok flight earlier this month. The Thai Airways president Sumeth Damrongchaitham has apologised for the incident stating the investigation showed that the problems happened due to lack of coordination between the flight captain…
- Thailand News
College student found dead in a bathroom in Nakhon Ratchasima
A third-year student of a technical college in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Mueang district has been found dead in a college bathroom today, according to police. The 20 year old male IT department student, was found lying face-down on the floor of the bathroom on the third floor of one of the college buildings. A doctor determined that he had died about…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok bus crashes into power pole – nine injured
FILE PHOTO Eight people have suffered minor injuries following a Bangkok city bus on route number 48 (Ramkhamhaeng 2-Wat Pho) crashing into a power pole near Sukhumvit Soi 48 in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei district this morning. The incident caused a long traffic jam. The incident reportedly happened when the driver slammed the brakes to avoid hitting a pickup truck that…
- Bangkok News
Huge gains in reduction of single-use plastics – 30 universities
A network of 30 universities across the country has succeeded in reducing the number of single-use plastic bags, utensils and cups by 41 million pieces so far this year, it was announced during the Sustainable University Network of Thailand Conference 2018 hosted by Thammasat University. And that’s just at 30 universities. The Nation reports that the 30 universities’ plastic-use reduction…
- South Thailand News
Southern border wild boar smuggling risks spread of African swine fever
Thailand’s southern provinces are facing new risks from a viral strain called “African swine fever”. Experts say this is due to the many wild boars that are being smuggled in to the region over the border with Malaysia. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, the disease is highly contagious and affects both wild and farm pigs. It has…
- Thailand News
Two killed and nine injured in van and wild elephant collision
FILE PHOTO A van driver and a passenger have been killed and nine other passengers injured when their chartered van hit a wild elephant on a road in Chachoengsao’s Sanam Chaikhet district, near the Cambodian border, early today (Saturday). The large injured wild elephant fled into to the forest following the accident in Ban Huay Some village in Tambon Lard…
- Thailand News
Anti-military rap song tops iTunes Thailand downloads
An anti-military dictatorship rap song has topped Thailand’s download list on iTunes after police and the government threatened legal action against the Rap Against Dictatorship (RAD) group. The Prathet Goo Mee (My F…king Country’s Got…) went to the top of Thailand’s iTunes download list this morning to the cheers of RAD who posted a message to thank its fans. The…
- World News
Superyacht going cheap – 1MDB investigators auction off seized boat
The bidding process for the billion-baht superyacht ‘Equanimity’ will begin on Monday and run until November 28. 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) counsel Ong Chee Kwan has confirmed the matter after meeting High Court (Admiralty Court) Judicial Commissioner Khadijah Idris in chambers yesterday. “Those who are interested to bid need to pay US$1 million as deposit,” he said. Also present were…
- Phuket News
Man found dead in his car at Ranong
A Ranong man has been found dead inside his car at a tourist spot today. Ranong is a five hour drive north of Phuket. Police were alerted this morning that a car had been parked overnight in the parking lot of Grass Mountain in the main central district. When police unlocked the car they found the body of a man,…
- Hua Hin News
13 land in jail over Cha-am 2017 student murder
Thirteen attackers aged 26 and younger have been jailed for terms of between a year and ‘life’ for the murder of 24 year old Silpakorn University student Theerapong Thitithan. Theerapong died after being stabbed in the head with a screwdriver during an attack at his friend’s dormitory in Phetchaburi’s Cha-Am district in February last year. Bangkok’s Ratchadapisek Criminal Court has…
- World News
Mahatir drops in on an old friend
During the 1980s both men were the Prime Ministers of their respective countries. Now, both in their 90s, the two re-united yesterday for a casual catch-up. The two met in Bangkok yesterday to recall their long-standing friendship. The visitor was 93 year old Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad and the host Privy Council President, 99 year old General Prem Tinsulanonda. Mahathir…
- Business News
Technicalbiomed helping to turn Thailand into beauty hub
PHOTO: Warut Suttinan, MD of Technicalbiomed – The Nation “Technicalbiomed” plans to expand its market share in cosmetic surgery as well as in obstetrics and gynaecology segments by turning Thailand into an Asian hub for aesthetics and beauty. Warut Suttinan, managing director of Technicalbiomed, an importer and distributor of aesthetic medical devices in Thailand, said: “Thailand is now recognised as…
- Property
“Don’t paint your temple gold” – Fine Art Department
After a report of historical temples being painted gold triggered an uproar on social media, the Culture Ministry’s Fine Art Department is warning people to stop unauthorised painting of national heritage monuments as it violates the law. Social media users expressed shock and dismay that ancient Thai temples were being given a make-over with a coat of gleaming gold paint,…
- Bangkok News
Former PM Abhisit calls for election of provincial governors
PHOTO: Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva – The Nation The Democrat Party leader and former PM, Abhisit Vejjajiva, is promising to push for elections of provincial governors as part of administrative reforms. He says the decentralisation of power to residents in the provinces was necessary to help reduce inequality between regions. “It is time for provinces all over the country…
- Bangkok News
Apple’s first Thailand store opens November 10
We’re ready for the screams of excitement or the howls of derision. But for the fans… Apple’s first store in Thailand is scheduled to open on November 10 at Iconsiam in Bangkok. Apple Thailand has confirmed the date in a statement today. The company said the riverside store could provide inspirations for a lot of people to learn about technology. Apart…
- World News
Thai, Malaysian PMs pledge push for southern peace
PHOTO: Benar News Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to expand the scope of bilateral cooperation to contain an insurgency along their shared border after changing peace negotiators. The two premiers have promised to help solve the conflict. Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has assured his visiting Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad that the peace dialogue in the deep South will continue and…
- Chiang Mai News
Another 15 million meth pills seized in Chiang Mai arrests
Police have arrested six men and seized 15 million methamphetamine pills they were allegedly trying to smuggle from Chiang Mai to Bangkok in four pickup trucks. The arrests were made between 8.30am and 3pm on Monday in four separate incidents at two checkpoints, on a road and at a resort in Mae Ai district in Chiang Mai, and further north…
