- Crime News
Taiwanese husband arrested over death of Sri Racha woman in a suitcase
Just days after the body of a foreign woman washed up in a travel bag on Sri Racha Beach near Pattaya, police say they’ve arrested a Taiwanese man for the murder of the woman, his Chinese wife. The gruesome discovery was made by an officer from the nearby naval base. Police yesterday arrested 38 year old Lu Ji Yang of …
- Transport News
New rules for Royal road motorcades around Thailand
His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn has expressed concern about the motorcades of Royal Family members inconveniencing public road users. Around Thailand, when a member of the Royal Family travels by road, the roads are routinely closed off and hundreds of police stationed along the well-planned route to hold off traffic until the motorcade has passed through. Now HM The King…
- Crime News
Killer in Lop Buri gold shop attack may be ex-military
Police now believe the attack at a Lop Buri gold shop in central Thailand last Thursday that killed three, including a two year old boy, may have been carried out by a former military officer. Four others were wounded in what appeared to be a botched robbery. A high ranking police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that…
- South Thailand News
One dead, two wounded in Narathiwat insurgent attack
An insurgent is dead and two defence volunteers wounded after a clash in the the southern border province of Narathiwat on Sunday. Police reports indicate a group of insurgents attacked a defence volunteer outpost in the Sukhirin district just before noon, injuring two. Reinforcements rushed to the scene and fired on the fleeing gunmen who headed for the nearby woods.…
- Crime News
Police doubt gold robbery was the motive for deadly Lopburi attack
Police and authorities now suspect that the motive for Thursday’s brutal and deadly attack, which killed three, including a toddler, may not have been robbery. The lone gunman stormed into a gold shop at a Robinson’s Shopping Centre in Lopburi, Central Thailand, and systematically shot and killed customers and shop staff. The Crime Suppression Division is running background checks on…
- Crime News
Murdered foreign woman’s body found in travel bag on a Sri Racha beach
Chon Buri police are seeking a suspect after the body of a foreign woman washed up in a travel bag at Bang Phra Beach in the province’s Sri Racha district, north of Pattaya. The victim was stuffed inside a black travel bag with red patterns. Her nationality remains unknown. The woman was dressed in a camouflage shirt, black shorts, and white running…
- Environment News
Drought prompts Tesco Lotus to increase bottled water production
Tesco Lotus, the Thai division of Britain’s biggest retailer, is boosting bottled water production to help customers cope with drought. The chain says it will increase production of its own branded bottled water and also increase orders of other brands to sell at its branches nationwide, in response to this year’s drought and water shortages, which is predicted to be the…
- Northern Thailand News
Mother and daughter busted for selling meth pills in Thailand’s north east
A mother and daughter are currently in custody after their arrest for selling ‘yaba’, or methamphetamine pills in Kalasin, north east Thailand. The 54 year old woman, named only as Sang, and her 25 year old daughter Tarnthip, were arrested at their home in the northeastern city of Kalasin with 13 yaba pills and the 280 baht cash used in…
- Events
Guns, tanks and political speeches. Just another Children’s Day in Thailand.
Children’s Day has come and gone for another year. As usual, the media like to follow the Thai PM in the hope of a perfect photo of him and an unsuspecting Thai child. The prime minister certainly enjoys the annual interaction and appears more comfortable surrounded by children than performing in Parliament. It’s also a day that the Thai armed…
- South Thailand News
4 out of 19 missing Rohingya captured after Wednesday’s detention centre escape
4 Rohingya migrants who escaped with 15 others from a Songkhla detention centre earlier this week have now been captured. The superintendent of Songkhla Province’s Immigration Bureau reported yesterday that four more of the detained Rohingya had been captured. Rohingya migrants entering Thailand, often as boat passengers or smuggled on their way to Malaysia, are treated as illegal immigrants and…
- World News
Thailand is the leading ASEAN nation in annual suicide rates
“Thailand, which ranks in 32nd place with 14.4 of suicides per 100.000 population – or nearly 10,000 suicide deaths last year.” Every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide and nearly 800,000 people die due to suicide every year, according to the World Health Organisation. In Thailand, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds, after…
- Environment News
Bangkok haze and smog continues over the weekend
There is unlikely to be much respite of the air pollution shrouding Greater Bangkok this weekend. And the PM is urging people to inform a hotline of any vehicles belching smoke and fumes into the Bangkok sky. The Pollution Control Department says the smog, which saw just about all of the 50 air quality stations hitting levels of PM2.5 over…
- Crime News
Three killed, others injured in Lopburi gold shop robbery – VIDEO
Three people are now dead and another four injured after a lone gunman entered a Lopburi gold shop, shooting customers and then robbing the store (video below). Lopburi is about 150 kilometres north of Bangkok. The armed robbery took place at a gold shop in Robinson Department Store in the main city district of Lopburi province Speaking to the media…
- Politics News
Former immigration supremo says gunshots linked to airport biometrics project
“There’s only one motive” – Surachat Hakparn The former Thai immigration police chief Surachat Hakparn, aka.”Big Joke”, denies that the incident, where gunshots were fired into his car on Monday, was a staged stunt. But he has addressed a media scrum speculating the incident is linked to the Immigration Bureau’s controversial procurement procedures for its biometrics and smart car projects.…
- Economy News
Cabinet threatens to open up fishing labour to migrant workers
Fisherman from 22 of Thailand’s 76 provinces are demanding the government solve the labour problem in the fisheries’ industry. The government, in turn, is threatening to invoke Article 83 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries, which would essentially allow immigrant labour in the sector. The relevant committee in the House proposes opening two registration periods for migrant workers, the first from…
- Central Thailand News
Justice minister orders probe in prison deaths
An investigation is now proceeding into the deaths of four inmates at the Phitsanulok Provincial Prison who died with “extremely low potassium and high levels of thyroid hormone in their blood”, more commonly thought to be food poisoning. The Thai Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, who ordered the probe, says he suspects prison administrators were inadvertently, or possibly even deliberately, negligent.…
- Tourism News
“Chinese pneumonia” detected at Chiang Mai airport
Three Thai passengers are in hospital after being routinely screened at Chiang Mai International Airport with suspected cases of the suspected “viral pneumonia” that is affected the Chinese city of Wuhan. A fourth person, this time a Chinese national, has been found to be infected with influenza A (H3N2), and repatriated to China for treatment. The virus, which many initially…
- Phuket News
Young men busted selling drugs online in Phuket, Phang Nga from their Twitter account
Two young Thai men are being held by police after their arrests on Monday for selling drugs online in the southern provinces of Phuket and Phang Nga, according to the Thai news blog Khaosod. The online drug trade is becoming an enormous business operating using common, everyday social media and delivery platforms. The suspects, 16 and 20 years old, opened…
- Northern Thailand News
“Run Against Dictatorship” events blocked in two Thai provinces
This Sunday’s planned “Run Against Dictatorship” anti-government protest event in Bangkok has spawned copycat campaigns across Thailand, which have now been prohibited in at least two provinces. Organisers of the Bangkok event have tried to clarify that they are not involved with the planning for any runs planned elsewhere in the country. The campaign’s Thai name, “Wing Lai Lung” (วิ่งไล่ลุง) literally…
- Bangkok News
71 year old ‘Robin Hood’ pensioner arrested over three year overstay
An American retiree has been arrested for overstaying his visa by nearly three years, according to the anti-farang Thai publication Naew Na. Immigration police in Bangkok arrested the 71 year old man, who they identified only as ‘Mark L’, in Sukhumvit’s Soi Mee Suwan 3 on Monday. The US pensioner had overstayed his visa by nearly 3 years. The enthusiastically smug…
- Environment News
PM tells Thais to take shorter showers
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is asking the public to turn off their taps, shower less and conserve water to cope with the drought affecting Thailand’s northern and central areas. Thais LOVE their multiple showers every day. “Please all help save water. Turn off all the taps. Use less water. Reduce tooth-brushing and shower time by one minute.” With river levels…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok taxi driver dies after flipping his car on toll road
A taxi driver has died after passing out on Bangkok’s Din Daeng tollway, crashing his taxi into concrete barriers and flipping the car over. Police and rescue workers arrived to find the driver, 59 year old Manas Mapradit, already deceased in the car, with his female passenger trapped inside. They managed to rescue the woman and take her to hospital. The…
- Crime News
Police ramp up investigation into shots fired into Surachat’s car in Bangkok
Investigators yesterday combed the scene of a shooting where seven shots (below) were fired into a vacant car belonging to former Immigration supremo Pol Lt-General Surachat Hakparn. Deputy Police Commissioner-General Pol General Virachai Songmetta visited the crime scene where the white Lexus was shot at by two suspects on Monday evening. According to The Nation, the location was a massage spa…
- Environment News
Bangkok authorities roll out the water trucks for free drinking water
As water authorities around Bangkok start rolling out a long-term solution to the increasing salinity of the water further up the Chao Phraya river, locals are being treated to free drinking water. The Metropolitan Waterworks Authority has is transporting tap water from the Mahasawat water factory, in a small district west of the main city unaffected by the saltwater problem,…
- Environment News
Anti-Prayut running event organiser hopes to avoid confrontation
A key organiser of the proposed anti-government running event, the “Run Against Dictatorship”, is urging its pro-government ‘spoiler event’ to ensure there’s no confrontation when the rival events are held on Sunday. “Run Against Dictatorship” is “Wing Lai Lung” (วิ่งไล่ลุง) in Thai, which literally means “Run to Oust the Uncle,” a reference to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s nickname, “Uncle Tu.” Tanawat…
- Politics News
Thai PM Prayut’s father has died
It is with great sadness that The Thaiger announces the death of Colonel Prapat Chan-o-cha, the father of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Col. Prapat was being treated at Sriraj Hospital after a stroke. He was 97. A source close to the family said Prapat had shown symptoms of dementia for some time. He was pronounced dead shortly after 11:20. There…
- Politics News
PM empowers embassy to evacuate Thais from Iran
The Thai PM, who also acts as the defence minister, has given Royal Thai Embassy officials in Iran the authority to evacuate Thai citizens if it becomes necessary due to rising tensions in the region. This follows the US airstrike that killed a revered Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani last week. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs…
- Central Thailand News
Prison sends 24 inmates for treatment after “mystery deaths”
PHOTO: Longdo Map Following the deaths of four prisoners over the New Year break, the Phitsanulok Provincial Prison has sent another 24 inmates for treatment. All 24 were found to have high levels of “thyroid hormones and rapid heart rates”. Officials originally reported that the four dead prisoners had shown “symptoms related to food poisoning, such as numbness in the…
- Thailand News
Viral pneumonia outbreak in China prompts airport checkpoints for Thai-bound passengers
A viral pneumonia outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan is causing concern across the region. At least 59 patients there have been placed under observation so far. As a precaution, Airports of Thailand has set up checkpoints at four of Thailand’s airports to measure body temperature as passengers deplane and filter out suspected carriers before they reach immigration.…
- World News
South East Asian stocks fall as Mideast tensions soar
Renewed tensions in the Middle East continued to roil stock markets worldwide today. Thai stocks had their biggest fall since December 16 this morning as with Kasikornbank and Airports of Thailand losing 3.6% and 1.7% respectively. At 11.40 this morning the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s index was down 0.87%. • Oil prices shot 2% higher and Brent Crude rose to…
