- Phuket News
Phang Nga governor declares flood disaster zones in Thailand’s south
PHOTOS: ศูนย์ปฏิบัติการข้อมูล The Phang Nga provincial administration has declared five flooded districts in the province as disaster zones to speed up assistance to affected residents. Phang Nga’s governor Siripat Pattanakul said the districts of Kapong, Thay Muang, Takua Pa, Muang and Takua Thung are now declared disaster zones following weekend flooding that’s affected 1,700 people from 442 families. Localised heavy…
- Politics News
Polls show Thai voters sick of endless bickering over Cabinet posts
Exactly three months now since the national election for a new parliament and still no announcement of a parliamentary majority, government or ministries. But two surveys are a strong indication of Thai voter weariness over the drawn-out process of establishing a ministerial Cabinet. A NIDA (National Institute of Development Administration) poll shows most people (46.4%) complain that their elected representatives…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok driver killed waiting for help at roadside
PHOTOS: The Nation The 35 year old driver of a Honda car, broken down at the side of a Bangkok expressway, has been killed after his car was rear-ended by a Mercedes Benz early this morning. Police arriving at the scene on the Chalongrat Expressway in Wang Thong Lang district, in Bangkok’s north-eastern suburbs, determined that Somkid Yenjai had pulled…
- World News
ASEAN agrees on common ground for world’s largest trade bloc, RCEP
ASEAN members reached common ground on the mega economic trade bloc, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) during their meeting in Bangkok yesterday. RCEP will cover nearly half of the global economy. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of ASEAN – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam –…
- Pattaya News
Australian goes off the rails after being arrested by Pattaya Police – VIDEO
PHOTO: 77JOWO An abusive Australian has been filmed resisting arrest after being stopped by police in Pattaya. Police intervened and arrested Constantine Anagnostou for his ‘chaotic behaviour’ at an intersection on Pratumnak Hill. A 5 minute video shared by Pattaya News showed Mr. Anagnostou swearing at police officers after claiming that one of the officers had assaulted him. It starts off…
- Tourism News
Thailand’s Ayutthaya Elephant Palace says they will fight eviction orders
The Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal, an elephant ride business at the Ayutthaya Historic Park north of Bangkok, says it will fight an order to leave the park. The business manager for the company, Ittiphan Khaolamai says the attraction is ‘nationally recognised’. “We will petition the Central Administrative Court next week. We can’t accept the order requiring us to…
- Business News
Thai Baht hits six year high – 31.05 to the US dollar
The Thai baht has hit a six-year high, reaching 31.05 to the US dollar yesterday after the US Federal Reserve signalled possible interest rates cuts. The US Fed says their monetary easing would be in response to increased economic uncertainty and a drop in inflation expectations. The Thai currency is forecast to keep trading in a range of 31.15 to 31.25…
- Northern Thailand News
26 year old Thai gored to death by wild elephants in Buri Ram
FILE PHOTO: Expert Vagabond A Buri Ram man has been gored to death by a wild elephant in his tapioca plantation. The incident happened late yesterday (Wednesday). His wife told police she “played dead” to escape harm from the marauding elephants. None Din Daeng police were informed that 26 year old Surasak Phijaranakhonburi had been fatally gored on his left side…
- World News
34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok – preview
South-east Asian leaders will assemble for the 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok this weekend to discuss a range of hot topics. Bangkok’s busy Wireless Road will be closed during the Summit. The event is being held at The Athenée Hotel. Intersections on Wireless, Phloen Chit and Sarasin roads will be closed over the weekend to facilitate the movements and security…
- Bangkok News
Thai woman’s body found in home six months after her death
The body of a woman has been found in her house in Pathum Thani just north of Bangkok. Police estimate she has been dead for at least six months. Khukot police were alerted last evening (Wednesday) that the body of 46 year old Thiphaphat Phaksuk, who lived alone in the Lam Luk Ka district, had been found at the door…
- Politics News
41 Thai MPs facing investigation over alleged media shares
… and 27 of them are from the pro-Junta Palang Pracharat Party. Latest rumblings out of Bangkok as rival parties ramp up the rhetoric in the lead up to an announcement of the new Cabinet. Meanwhile the current PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is trying to keep the situation calm during this weekend’s ASEAN Summit being held in the capital. A Future…
- World News
Thai Army assists with removal of Cambodian border mines
The Royal Thai Army has helped its Cambodian counterparts clear landmines along the Sa Kaew border in Thailand’s east. Together they’ve cleared around 1.72 million square metres in the past financial year. Lt Gen Sitthipol Nimnual, director of the Thailand Mine Action Centre visited the border at Sa Kaew’s Ta Phraya district where the TMAC-Cambodian Mine Action Centre project has…
- Crime News
Owner of boarding school arrested for allegedly killing 15 year old student
PHOTO: Tapakorn “Chaidaen” Sapsin, who died on June 13 by Wasukit Lao-in Police have arrested the 27 year old owner of a boarding school in Nakhon Sawan, his wife and his mother-in-law, for their alleged role in the assault of a 15 year old schoolboy earlier this month which led to his death five days later. The school owner has…
- Transport News
Bus conductor fired, company fined for molesting ladyboy passenger
An inter-provincial Thai bus conductor has been fired and the bus company fined 5,000 baht after he allegedly molested a transgender passenger on-board. The bus was travelling to Nong Bua Lamphu, near Udon Thani, north-east Thailand, from Bangkok. The bus company, which Land Transport officials have declined to name, was fined 5,000 baht by his office for providing substandard bus…
- Northern Thailand News
‘Magic cards’ contain dangerous radioactive materials
The Thai Office of Atoms for Peace is warning of excessively high levels of radiation from the so-called “energy cards” or ‘magic cards’ that distributors claim can cure illnesses and help relieve aches and pains. The Office of Atoms for Peace of Thailand in Chatuchak district, Bangkok, Thailand, was established in 1961 as the Office of Atomic Energy for Peace.…
- Opinion
Deputy Thai PM rattled by students’ Wai Khru anti-junta protests
“It takes a child to see the junta has no clothes” – Opinion by The Nation At a north-east school, and another in Phitsanulok last week, secondary students used the Wai Khru tradition to design the floral offerings given to teachers with an anti-junta theme. The soft protest from students drew criticism from conservatives, including the deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan. The…
- Crime News
Seven arrested over trafficking of Burmese migrants into Thailand
by Suriye Patathayo Police have arrested seven Thai and Burmese suspects for allegedly luring at least nine Burmese nationals into forced labour in Thailand. The suspects ages ranged from 27 to 61. The first five face several charges including human trafficking, while a Thai couple have been charged with sheltering and helping illegal migrants evade arrest. Pol Lt-General Sanchai Sunthornburana,…
- Environment News
Homeopathy ‘doctor’ forced to back down on Dengue-cure claims
The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine has been forced to backtrack from its un-researched claims that its homeopathic formula is highly effective for dengue-fever protection. “It’s just a supplementary measure that needs further research,” Dr Sunpong Ritthiruksa admitted in his capacity as the chair of the department’s centre for herbal medicine, Thai traditional medicine, folk medicine and alternative…
- South Thailand News
Unidentified body found floating in Ranong lake
The body of an unidentified Thai man has been found floating in a small Ranong lake this morning. The body, without any obvious signs of identification, was found on the lake in Moo 2 village in Tambon Bang Bon in Muang district at 8.50am. Police say the man appeared to be around 40 to 50 years old without any identification…
- Crime News
Arrests over weekend’s taxi gang violence in Bangkok, two dead – VIDEO
Two people are dead following the weekend’s violence between rival motorcycle taxi thugs. More video has emerged showing a man on the ground with others beating him with metal bars and other weapons. Police say the violent battle was between the “Udomsuk 1” and “Udomsuk Rungruang” taxi ranks, one aggrieved that the rival gang had started up close to their…
- Expats
New Zealand expat found dead in Chiang Mai condo
PHOTO: Galare Thong Condominium – Google An elderly New Zealand expat has been found dead in a condo in Chiang Mai last night (Sunday). Police from the Muang Chiang Mai police station said the body of 79 year old Warwick Ernest Purser was found in a pool of blood beside his bed in a room on the 12th floor of…
- Crime News
Two Chinese and two Thais arrested over huge ‘ice’ haul
PHOTO: The Nation Authorities have intercepted a container carrying a tonne 11,000 kilograms) of crystal methamphetamine (ice) with a street value estimated around 2 billion baht, before it could leave the country. Police also announced the arrest of suspects involved in the drug haul as Chinese nationals 24 year old Huang Guoxion and 44 year old Zhou Qingchu, along with…
- Crime News
Two arrested on human trafficking charges in Koh Samui
Two suspects have been arrested on human-trafficking charges for allegedly prostituting girls under the age of 18 on Koh Samui, under the guise of operating a karaoke bar. 18 year old ‘ladyboy’ Chaiyasit Nijkham and 28 year old Sukanya Phadaeng were arrested in a raid when undercover officers visited the bar as customers. While at the bar, the officers were…
- Crime News
Bystander killed by stray bullet as taxi motorcycle gangs clash – VIDEO
VIDEO: บ้านเราบางนา ลาซาล แบริ่ง A bystander was killed by a stray bullet yesterday when two taxi motorcyclists gangs clashed in a fight in Bangkok’s Bang Na district. Rival motorbike taxi gangs were caught on video viciously attacking each other with knives and other weapons. Police say 20 year old Weerawat Pheungkrut, a courier with Kerry Express, was killed when a…
- Northern Thailand News
2.2 million meth pills seized in Chiang Rai cross-border interception
In the game of ‘catch me if you can’ between drug smugglers and Thai police, this was another successful interception of a large drug cache making its way into Thailand. Authorities intercepted 2.2 million methamphetamine pills and 11 kilograms of crystal meth (ice) in the hills north of Chiang Rai. The Nation reports that Narcotics Suppression Bureau report that the…
- Business News
Administrative Court rejects private hospitals’ plea to remove caps on pricing
Thailand’s private hospital sector has failed to win respite from an order controlling their medical prices, after the Supreme Administrative Court turned down their request. The court made the decision saying that the order will not cause irreversible damages to the hospitals even though an injunction has not been issued yet. The Private Hospital Association, together with 42 private hospitals,…
- South Thailand News
Thai PM orders probe into Rohingya boat incident off the coast of Satun
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered an investigation after a boat carrying 65 ethnic Rohingya and five Burmese men was swept into the shore at Koh Rawi off the coast of Satun in southern Thailand. The PM has asked officials to find out who was behind the incident. The PM has also urged public health agencies to provide the immigrants with…
- Bangkok News
Multi-billion baht budget for Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
Bangkok Council has approved a multi-billion baht budget for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) for 2020. The budget was approved during a meeting in the second extraordinary session of the council for 2019 after BMA Governor Aswin Kwanmuang proposed the budget bill to the chamber. The bill requests 83 billion baht for fixed expenditures for the Fiscal Year 2020 and 398.92…
- World News
Thai boat captain says he was paid 100,000 baht to ferry Rohingya to Malaysia
by The Nation Authorities are speculating that a group of 65 Rohingya and five other Burmese men may have been trafficked from Bangladesh where an estimated million people are sheltering as refugees. The Thai captain, of the boat that washed up on a southern Thai island on tuesday, has already admitted that he was paid to take them across the…
- Crime News
Police seeking two men over Bang Na gang shooting
by Kornkamon Aksorndech – The Nation Police are seeking the arrest of two men over last Monday’s shooting of a rival gang in Soi Lasalle 19 in Bangkok’s Bang Na district. Officers say the long-haired suspect, caught on video, is 30 year old Prasertsak Singsopa, and 19 year old Peerapol Poungburi. Their alleged accomplice, 30 year old Jaturong Eiumtuam, turned himself…
