- Thailand News
Airlines snubbing Thai graduate pilots
Thai pilots are having a hard time finding work after graduation despite high global demand. This from Thai Civil Aviation Training Centre’s president Piya Atmungkun. Between 600 to 700 newly graduated Thai airline pilots are now struggling to find work in the local airline industry. “International airlines are competing to offer jobs to pilots, but “our pilots find no jobs. Aviation…
- Events
Swiss score two firsts at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHOTO: Ruedi Wild crossing the finish line in yesterday’s men’s triathlon event Strong performances by Swiss’ athletes Ruedi Wild and Imogen Simmonds game them firsts at the 26th Laguna Phuket Triathlon yesterday (November 24). Finishing first to claim his third Phuket Triathlon championship, Wild crossed the finish line at 02:21:07, just two minutes before his toughest contender, Michael Raelert of…
- Environment News
Thai air pollution crisis spiralling out of control
Leading academics say the Thai government is simply not equipped to prevent the air pollution crisis “spinning out of control”. Despite ambitious proclamations, like the publicly announced goal to solve the problem by 2022, lawmakers continue to downplay threats to human health and allow conflicts of interest to prevent real advances toward solutions. During a smog crisis in Bangkok earlier…
- South Thailand News
Man found dead after falling from train in Surat Thani
PHOTO: Supapong Chaolan A man has been found dead under a railway bridge in the southern province of Surat Thani. Police say he is believed to have fallen to his death from a train. A train ticket was found with the man’s belongings when the body was discovered. The man’s body, wearing shorts and a green T-shirt, was found by…
- World News
Malaysia’s last Sumatran rhino dies
The last Sumatran rhino in Malaysia has died after a battle with cancer. The rhino, named Iman, died at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Sabah on Saturday afternoon Malaysia’s cultural and tourism minister announced that it was “…with great sadness that the Sabah Wildlife Department announces the death of Iman, the last Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia.” “The death was natural and…
- Economy News
Thais are tightening their belts and spending less – survey
“Nearly 70% said they’ve reduced spending on things like travel, shopping, parties and luxury goods.” Thais are tightening their belts and reducing their spending to weather the country’s growing stumbling economy, according to a Dusit Poll survey. The poll was conducted November 19-23 and surveyed 1,174 people from across Thailand. When asked how they’ve cut back, nearly 70% said they’ve…
- Crime News
British fugitive extradited to the UK after being nabbed in Thailand last month
A British fugitive, who caused 140,000 pounds (GBP) of damage in a ram-raid in Devon, UK , has been extradited back to Britain after 18 months on the run in Thailand, following an arrest late last month. 43 year old Dylan Taylor or Torquay was found guilty of burglary in June 2018. After he absconded to Thailand, he was sentenced…
- Crime News
Child porn website based in Chiang Mai busted
Chiang Mai police have arrested the operator of a child pornography website in a raid on his condominium in the northern city. Police and the Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children unit apprehended 24 year old Thai national Korakot Chulthong on Saturday. They also seized seized three mobile phones, a laptop computer, two portable disk drives, bank passbooks and ATM cards.…
- South Thailand News
Two suspects in Yala’s November 5 deadly attacks, shot and killed
Authorities have shot and killed two men suspected in deadly attacks in southern Thailand earlier this month. Fifteen people, mostly volunteers, staffing a security checkpoint in Yala province were shot and killed when it was ambushed by gunmen. A day after the attacks, PM Prayuth Chan-o-cha authorised curfews in nine districts of Southern Thailand. The two suspected leaders of local insurgent cells…
- World News
Nium partners with Visa for new instant money transfers in SE Asia
‘Nium’, a new digital cross-border payments platform, will now enable users to make real-time money transfers to Visa debit cardholders across Southeast Asia including Viet Nam. It is based on Visa’s real-time push payments solution called Visa Direct. Nium is the first fintech-based money transfer service provider in Southeast Asia to offer instant money transfer through recipients’ 16-digit Visa debit…
- Phuket News
German tourist dies after being hit by parasail speedboat off Phuket
PHOTO: Achadtaya Chuenniran Police are investigating the circumstances of an incident on Kamala Beach on Friday afternoon where a swimmer was killed after being struck by a speedboat used to tow paying parasail passengers into the sky. A German tourist has died after being seriously injured by a speedboat propellor while swimming off Phuket’s Kamala beach. The victim was a 63…
- Thailand News
Paralyzed Canadian hockey player moves legs after experimental Thai surgery
A Canadian hockey player paralyzed in a tragic bus crash has begun moving his legs after receiving experimental spinal surgery in Thailand. Ryan Straschnitzki was one of 13 injured when a truck ran a stop sign and collided with the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team’s bus in Saskatchewan in 2018. Sixteen others died in the incident. Straschnitzki was paralyzed from…
- Environment News
It was THAT big! Pattaya fisherman snares a REALLY big sea mammal.
PHOTO: The Nation A large dolphin species, called a “false killer whale”, was beached in Pattaya yesterday. The beaching happened after after local Jirayu Wanphusit was shore-fishing when he noticed a small tug on his line. The tug became a full on drag as the fishing rod, and Jirayu, were pulled into the water. His pursuit of the ‘best bar…
- Northern Thailand News
Cave rescue movie opens today around Thailand
PHOTO: Director Tom Waller directing scenes from ‘The Cave’ – The Nation A movie about last year’s dramatic rescue at the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province opens today around Thailand. “The Cave – Nang Non” is based on “the untold true stories of some of the rescuers involved in the mega-international rescue mission that captivated the world’s attention…
- South Thailand News
Roadside bomb injures 3 police in Narathiwat
PHOTO: A similar roadside bomb attack in Narathiwat on July 16 this year. – Bangkok Post Three policemen have been injured, one of them seriously, by a bomb believed to have been planted by insurgents in the southern border province of Narathiwat. The three officers were part of a team of six traffic police deployed at a checkpoint. The bomb was…
- Northern Thailand News
Meth kingpin busted in Kanchanburi
A 29 year old man has been charged with running a drug trafficking ring after more than 3 million methamphetamine pills were seized in Chiang Rai last month. The man, known only as “Prasarn,” was arrested at a resort in Kanchanaburi, western Thailand. Police linked him to the 3 million meth pills seized at a roadside checkpoint in Chiang Rai…
- World News
Indonesian suicide bomber wounds six, dozens arrested in Sumatra
Dozens of suspected militants have been rounded up after a suicide bomber killed himself and wounded six others in a police station attack in Indonesia. Around 45 suspects have been arrested since Wednesday’s bombing in Medan, Sumatra, while two bomb-makers were shot dead during a raid. A National Police spokesman told reporters in Jakarta that the pair resisted arrest and tried…
- Northern Thailand News
13 year old Chiang Rai girl saved from forced marriage
PHOTO: Workshop in progress at the Chiang Rai-based Center for Girls – center4girls.org A non government organisation in Chiang Rai reports that it has helped a 13 year old girl escape a forced marriage to a 50 year old man. The Centre for Girls posted on their Facebook page that the organisation received a note from the girl, “Nu Na,”…
- Economy News
No Chim-Shop-Chai deadline for over 60s
The third phase of the government’s “Chim-Shop-Chai” (Eat-Shop-Spend) program has a special quota of 500,000 reserved for the Thai elderly, in addition to the already fully subscribed 1.5 million. A spokesman says the Finance Ministry has not set a time frame for elderly people to subscribe so they won’t feel pressured to meet a deadline. More than 90,000 seniors subscribed…
- Economy News
Deputy Thai PM: “Don’t mention the economy”
“If we keep talking about it, it’ll make good things look bad, and this will have wide repercussions.” Thailand’s Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak is urging the public not to discuss Thai economic problems too much, saying it could affect investor confidence. Somkid says he’ll explain the economic slowdown if the opposition raises it at the censure debate against the government, which…
- Chiang Mai News
Yala’s “Suicide judge” moved to Chiang Mai
PHOTO: prachatai.com The Southern judge who made headlines for shooting himself in court over alleged ‘interferences’ in a case, has been transferred. Following his recovery, Judge Khanakorn Pianchana was transferred to the Research Justice Division in Chiang Mai, according to the Court of Justice. A probe has also been ordered to see if he broke any disciplinary codes. The transfer comes…
- Environment News
10+ Blacktip reef sharks flock to Maya Bay for breeding season – VIDEO
PHOTO: The Nation Worapoj Lomlim, chief of Noppara Tara-Koh Phi Phi National Park in Krabi, says that more than 10 Blacktip reef sharks had been spotted hunting near Koh Phi Phi Ley’s famous Maya Bay, some of them more than 2 metres in length. The sightings were made yesterday at the closed beach. He noted that the presence of the…
- Environment News
Bangkok 12th worst city for air quality in the world today
It’s a list you don’t want to be on the top of. The Air Visual website is reporting that Bangkok’s air pollution level stands at 136, with PM 2.5 level at 57.8 micrograms per cubic metre, making the Thai capital the 12th on the list of cities today with the worst air pollution in the world. Chinese and Turkish cities…
- Northern Thailand News
DSI is demanding Court revoke Chaiwat’s bail
PHOTO: Khaosod English The Department of Special Investigation will ask the court to revoke bail for former national park chief Chaiwat Limlikhit-akson along with three other suspects, or set a new bail. Chaiwat, director of the Conservation Office in northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province, along with three others, has been charged with multiple counts in the disappearance and murder of Karen…
- Bangkok News
Loose steel pipe spears car through the back window
A Thai driver has narrowly escaped injury, or death, as a steel girder came loose from a pick-up following him, piercing the vehicle from the rear window to the front of the passenger cabin. Yikes! A pick-up carrying steel girders had braked suddenly, flinging the 3-4 metre-long pipes forward, through the rear window, into the car in front, according to…
- Politics News
Thai government might buy private pot – Health Minister
After years of speculation, some members of the coalition Thai government are pushing efforts to allow Thais to grow up to six cannabis plants for sale to the government for medical marijuana. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he is pushing for the Government to change laws to allow the medical use of marijuana freely. “We have confidence that marijuana will be…
- Transport News
Wedding bus burns, passengers unharmed in Chai Nat
A chartered bus from a wedding was gutted by fire on Sunday in central Chai Nat Province. All 46 bus passengers escaped unharmed, according to police. The bus caught fire on the highway in Chai Nat, forcing all the passengers and the driver to urgently evacuate. One passenger told Thai media the bus had taken the groom and guests to the…
- Business News
Thai Airways says it won’t get into a price-war with other airlines
PHOTO: YouTube National carrier Thai Airways says it won’t head down the ‘price-cutting’ route to be competitive in 2020. The struggling airline says, instead, they will focus on building a solid customer base and tap specific route segments. Airline president Sumeth Damrongchaitham says the carrier will continue to recruit stronger marketing partners and estimated that the aviation industry would continue…
- Crime News
Soldiers intercept meth delivery in Chiang Mai
PHOTO: Authorities find it almost impossible to patrol the thousands of kilometres of highland border in northern Thailand Soldiers in Chiang Mai, acting on a tip off, have seized about 380,000 methamphetamine pills at a border village, local media report. The drug haul was not big, considering many of the recent seizures amount to millions of methamphetamine tablets in a…
- Thailand News
Thailand and the US sign new defence treaty
PHOTO: Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper with the newly-signed defence alliance treaty yesterday in Bangkok – The Nation The US-Thailand Joint Vision Statement 2020 advances the 2018 US National Defence Strategy and Thailand’s 20 Year National Strategy objectives “by reaffirming our shared commitment to the long-standing defence alliance.” This statement was issued by the…
