- Chiang Mai News
Police and drug courier injured in shootout at Chiang Mai checkpoint
FIL PHOTO: A police checkpoint set-up in the Chiang Mai city area – Chiang Mai Citylife Three alleged drug couriers have been arrested this morning following a gunfight that injured a suspect and a police officer. The incident happened in the Mae Rim district of Chiang Mai. Police say they monitored road checkpoints last night until officers at a traffic booth in…
- Tourism News
Skål International heads to Phuket, June 2020
by Paul Poole Tourism industry professionals from all over the world are expected to descend on Phuket between June 25-27, 2020, for the 49th edition of Skål Asia Congress. With more than 15,000 members in almost 90 different countries, Skål International is the world’s largest organisation of tourism professionals. Through countless local, national and international events, Skål International promotes global tourism…
- Health
30,000 baht bill for diarrhoea treatment at private hospital
FILE PHOTO It’s enough to give you the s**ts! An unnamed private hospital is being asked to explain how it charged a patient 30,000 baht for the treatment of a simple stomach infection. A source at the Internal Trade Department says that a review of the medical bill indicates the hospital bill was “unreasonable”. “The hospital will be asked to…
- Health
New date for Coronation Day holiday announced
Thailand, the land of a thousand temples. And, it seems, the land of a thousand public holidays. Now, the Cabinet has announced May 4 as the official new Coronation Day official holiday. So it’s not actually a new holiday, but it replaces the date of the previous Coronation Day in Thailand. The new holiday date marks the day that His…
- Phuket News
Phoenix goes up for auction, starting price 900,000 baht
The notorious and ill-fated tour boat Phoenix, which sank off Phuket last July killing 47 Chinese tourists, is among 48 items that the Anti-Money Laundering Office will auction off this Wednesday at its head office. At the time, many of the dead were retrieved from the boat, though its crew and captain escaped unharmed via life rafts, leaving many passengers…
- South Thailand News
Woman killed, nine injured in seven-vehicle pileup in Nakhon Si Thammarat
A woman has died and nine others injured in a pileup involving four pick-up trucks, a sedan and two motorcycles on a road in Nakhon Si Thammarat this morning. Police say the accident happened at 9am on the Nakhon Si Thammarat-Pak Phanang road in front of the 17th regional office of the Government Saving Bank in Tambon Pak Nakhon, Muang…
- Bangkok News
Police searching for building owner after two die in Bangkok shophouse fire
PHOTO: The Nation A 67 year old woman and a 60 year old man have been killed after a fire engulfed a five-storey shophouse modified to provide rented rooms in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district early today. The Samrarnraj police station was alerted at 1.15am of the fire at the shophouse near Chao Phor Sua shrine on Boon Siri road. Five…
- Thailand Election News
Bhumjaithai and Democrats holding off decision for key roles
PHOTO: The horse-trading continues Nearly two months after the March 24 election and still no government formalised. The horse-trading has been fast and furious with rumours and speculation running rife over recent days. It is thought that some announcements will be made today or tomorrow in the lead up to the opening of parliament on Friday. But it’s certainly coming…
- Thai Life
Thailand’s US Embassy issues advisory about medical insurance
PHOTO: US Embassy in Bangkok Thailand’s United States Embassy has issued an advisory warning to American expats recommending they have adequate medical coverage for a long-term stay in the country. The advisory reads… “Thailand remains one of the most popular retirement destinations in the world. Great culture; great food; great people. And as US citizens age, Thailand also offers access…
- Health
Update on Chikungunya cases in Thailand
“Chikungunya Virus is an arbovirus of the alphavirus genus, transmitted by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, same way Dengue is spread.” The Bureau of Epidemiology, along with the Thailand Health Ministry, are reporting 3,379 chikungunya cases in 23 provinces up to May 13 this year. Phuket, Songkla and Ranong have been the most affected by the mosquito borne viral…
- Environment News
Thailand to ban three kinds of plastic by end of this year
By the end of 2019 Thailand will be free from three types of plastic – microbeads, cap seals and oxo-degradable plastics. Then by 2022 four other types of single-use plastics will also be banned – lightweight plastic bags less than 36 microns thick; styrofoam food containers for takeaways; plastic cups and plastic straws – according to a road map approved by…
- Thailand Election News
Pro-junta bloc says they have a ‘deal’ with Democrats and Bhumjaithai
PHOTO: Bhumjaithai party leader Anutin Charnvirakul slated to be the new Health Minister The week kicks off with rumours swirling about deals done over the weekend. Meanwhile HM The King will open Parliament on May 24. ‘Who’ will set ‘where’ will be interesting. The Pro-Junta proxy party, Phalang Pracharat Party, is taking the upper PR hand and claims to have successfully cobbled…
- Northern Thailand News
5,000 Buriram citizens register for medical marijuana possession
by Tanakorn Sangiam The 90 day registration period for persons in possession of marijuana, without facing prosecution, end this Tuesday, May 21. 5,000+ persons in Buriram, north-east Thailand, have already registered their possession during this period. A community seminar on marijuana planting and management also took place yesterday to prepare Buriram province as a key manufacturer of medical marijuana. About…
- Bangkok News
59 year old man shot dead in convenience store
A man was killed inside a convenience store at sunrise today in Saraburi province, north of Bangkok, after shouting out loud, “If you have a gun, shoot me”. The victim is identified as 59 year old Preecha Khunthong. He was shot several times between the eyes. “I don’t know what happened between him and the gunman. At first, they spoke…
- Technology News
Registration and traffic fine databases linked after July 1
Car owners, and presumably motorbike owners, will be unable to renew their vehicle registration or licenses if they fail to pay traffic fines after July 1. Much discussed over the past year and now on the horizon, the Land Transport Department and Royal Thai Police intend to clamp down on people avoiding or disregarding their traffic fines. Starting from May…
- Hot News
Thailand’s wet season officially starts tomorrow
The rainy season in Thailand officially starts tomorrow. The Thai Meteorological Department deputy director-general Kornravee Sitthichivaphak says Thailand will see continued rains in most parts of the country from Monday. “The wind over Thailand from 100-3,500 metres will be replaced by a southwest monsoon that would carry humidity from the Andaman Sea to cover most parts of Thailand. All of these…
- Tourism News
Four southern islands to be closed to tourists during monsoon
PHOTO: Koh Kradan Four islands in the Haad Chao Mai National Park in Trang, southern Thailand, will be closed to tourists for four months starting June 1. The chief of the Haad Chao Mai national park, Narong Kong-iad, says that access to the park will be denied to tourist from June 1 to September 30 for “the nature to rehabilitate…
- Health
10 million Thais to learn CPR and other life-saving techniques
The King’s Volunteer 904 Central Coordination Centre has assigned the Public Health Ministry to provide training to 10 million Thais in basic life-saving skills, principally learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) machines. The ministry will formulate a curriculum for training the public in CPR and AED and publish the materials online. The project…
- Chiang Mai News
German tourist dies after ghost-riding on his high power bike
A German tourist has been killed after ghost-riding (riding in the opposite direction to the traffic) on his high-power motorcycle. He crashed head-on with a pickup truck in Chiang Mai road early this morning. The tourist has been identified as Jan Single. Police also found a quantity of marijuana in a zip-lock plastic bag he was carrying at the time…
- Health
Ban on alcohol sales and consumption for Visakha Bucha Day
The Royal Thai police remind us that today is a sacred Buddhist holiday and there will be no alcohol sales throughout the country. The ban for Visakha Bucha Day is in place for 24 hours from midnight last night (Friday) to midnight tonight (Saturday). People caught selling alcohol are liable to a 10,000 baht fine and six months in jail. The holiday…
- Thailand News
BioThai Foundation says companies growing hemp commercially will create monopoly:
“…as of now, only official agencies are allowed to grow hemp in the tribe-development zones in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan, Tak, Mae Hong Son and Phetchabun provinces.” The Thai government’s plan to let privately-owned companies grow hemp commercially is progressing as part of a three year trial. But, BioThai Foundation says that giving specific companies the right to plant hemp…
- Health
The Nation goes online-only from July 1
PHOTO: Somchai Meesen, CEO of Nation Multimedia Media Group, speaks to Nation TV yesterday about The Nation’s future. “Over the past five years, The Nation has lost 30 million baht a year on average.” The Nation newspaper will stop its print editions and go fully online from July 1, when the independent English-language daily turns 48, to focus more on…
- Chiang Mai News
Chiang Mai songthaews and tuk-tuk drivers complain about Grab
Drivers of red public songthaews and tuk-tuks have submitted a petition to Chiang Mai’s provincial governor complaining about the Grab ride-hailing App. The Grab service is offered on a very intuitive smartphone app and provided by normal drivers. The petition said the Grab App had caused their income to drop by more than 50%. They say the service is illegal and…
- Northern Thailand News
15 year old girl arrested for trying to bury her baby alive
A 15 year old girl is now in protective custody in Nakhon Ratchasima, north-east of Bangkok, just one day after her newly-born baby boy survived being buried alive in a local field. A villager found the baby in a cassava plantation about one kilometre from Ban Nong Kham village in Tambon Thalad on Wednesday. The infant was taken to the…
- Northern Thailand News
Weather warnings out for parts of the country
The annual monsoon is here. Bangkok, along with 55 other provinces in Thailand, have thunderstorms forecast over the next 24 hours. The Thai Meteorological Department have issued the warnings this morning. Storms are predicted in the central and northern regions and waves in the Andaman Sea forecast up to two metres, according to the TMD. Seree Supratid of Rangsit University’s…
- Hot News
Co-ordinated pipe bomb attacks in Yala injure five
FILE PHOTO Five Army troops and rangers have been injured after southern insurgents threw pipe bombs. Security officials say the incidents happened at three locations in Yala in what appears to be a co-ordinated incident. The commander of Muang Yala police station, Pol Col Narawee Binwaearong, says two insurgents on a motorcycle rode to a security checkpoint on the Siroros…
- Hot News
Boeing knew about problems with 737 Max 8 jets before second crash
PHOTO: American Airlines They knew because plenty of pilots told them, on tape. In the months between the two Boeing 737 Max airplane crashes, pilots from American Airlines confronted a Boeing official about the controversial MCAS computerised anti-stall system that preliminary reports have now implicated in both deadly wrecks. The audio of the meeting has been obtained by the US’…
- Thai Life
Mandatory health insurance for retirement visa holders starts July
Expats aged 50+ living in Thailand on a long-stay visa will have to buy health insurance from July onwards. Authorities are now preparing the new guidelines to enforce the rules approved by Cabinet last month. But the July start date isn’t yet ‘set in stone’. The new regulation requires expats on the long-stay non-immigrant O-A visa to have health insurance…
- Northern Thailand News
Head-on collision kills five, injures three in Khon Kaen
Five football fans, travelling to watch the Thai Port Football Club, have been killed when their rented van crashed head-on with a water tanker in Khon Kaen this morning. Police said the incident occurred on the Chumphae Si Chomphu road in Moo 6 village in Tambon Wang Hin Lad. Three others people were injured in the collision. Four men died…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya prison releases 243 inmates on royal pardons
PHOTO: Pattaya Mail 243 inmates have been released from the Pattaya Remind Prison on royal pardons granted by HM the King as part of his coronation celebrations. Warden of the prison, Watcharaw Wachiralerphan oversaw the release of 181 men and 62 women prisoners on Monday. Each convict wore yellow shirts with “Long Live the King” logos on the front. The…
