- Thai Life
Fine tuning on same-sex Bill before it goes to Cabinet next week
by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun The Life Partnership Bill has been updated to recognise more rights for same-sex couples before it heads to the Cabinet for approval next week. The latest version of the bill now includes a phrase that says non-heterosexual couples will have the right to “make medical decisions” and “hold a funeral” for their incapacitated or deceased spouse, both…
- Bangkok News
The Chao Phraya lights up for new years eve
Heading to the capital for new years eve? Looking for some spectacular fireworks? The Tourism Authority of Thailand will host the longest fireworks display ever staged along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok as part of New Year celebrations at midnight on December 31. Called the “Amazing Thailand Countdown 2019”, the spectacular display will last five minutes and is expected to…
- Thailand News
Wealth inequality becomes a focus of the election campaign
GRAPHICS: Karnjana Lao – The Nation Thailand is among the countries with the largest gap between the rich and the poor, with a disproportionate slice of the national wealth and income going to the wealthiest 1 per cent of the population. Inequality has been on the rise across the globe. Economic gaps have continued to grow as the richest few…
- Bangkok News
Tourism Authority denies spending 9 million at political fundraiser
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is rejecting a report that it spent 9 million baht on banquet tables at a pro-Junta fundraising dinner on Wednesday night. TAT director Yuthasak Supakorn claims the agency had nothing to do with the dinner and TAT might take legal action against those reporting the false news for defaming the agency. “It was TAT’s…
- Pattaya News
Famous 52 year old hippo gets a new home
Mae Mali, the celebrated 52 year old hippo, has settled into a new home in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chon Buri. Atthaporn Sriheran, director of the Khao Kheow zoo, said the longest living hippo in Thailand was moved from the closed Dusit Zoo in Bangkok to Khao Kheow on December 18. He said Mae Mali has fully rehabilitated…
- South Thailand News
Co-ordinated triple attack at Yala security bases
Insurgents have initiated a triple attack at police and army targets. The attacks took place last night. In a near-simultaneous attack, insurgents in Yala province fired guns at a police station, a civilian defence post and an Army post. Luckily no one was injured in the planned attacks. The Lam Mai police station in Moo 6 in Muang district came…
- Bangkok News
Another Thai interest rate hike predicted for next year
by Phuwit Limviphuwat and Wichit Chaitrong We’ve just had one .25 basis point interest rise to the base rate. Now there’s already talk of another in 2019 which will start to affect consumer spending, especially mortgage holders. Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and Phatra Securities are predicting that the Bank of Thailand (BOT) is likely to implement a modest interest rate…
- Bangkok News
Leading policeman makes extraordinary claim
“It’s always foreigners who are responsible,” says a leading chief of provincial police . Region One chief Pol Gen Amphon Buarapporn made the outrageous statement claiming he had never seen a case Thais ripping off fellow Thais. Sanook quoted the commander as he was commenting about a case against a 53 year old Chonburi man who met wealthy Thai widows on…
- South Thailand News
Pickup truck crashes into canal in Phatthalung killing two
The driver of a pickup, along with his passenger friend, were killed and two women injured early today. The pickup careered off the road, hit a bridge, and dropped into a canal in Phatthalung’s Kong Ra district. Police say the accident happened in front of a mosque in Moo 6 village in Tambon Klong Chalerm. The pickup was stuck in…
- Thailand News
UPDATE: Second victim emerges in horrific Saraburi gang-rape
State agencies have become embroiled in a case in which an 11 year old schoolgirl (reported as 12 year old in yesterday’s news) is alleged to have been gang-raped by five teenagers last Sunday. The incident, that happened in Saraburi, has flared up after the girl’s father expressed concern that justice was not being served and that the accused had…
- Bangkok News
Thailand should prepare for global economic slowdown
The global economy is in disarray with no clear direction. This is the stark warning from Supachai Panitchpakdi, former director-general of the World Trade Organisation. He also says that the US-China trade war is having an adverse impact on investor confidence, Investors don’t know where to safely invest, because the trade war could easily disrupt global supply chains, he said. Supachai,…
- Bangkok News
Her Majesty the Queen visits hospital for checkup
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit has been admitted to the Chulalongkorn Hospital yesterday for a general physical checkup. The announcement from the Bureau of the Royal Household. The announcement says that the Queen will remain at the hospital until Friday.
- Thailand News
POP – Thailand’s first satellite-based rain algorithm
The daily forecast gives us an approximate idea of expected weather and rain. But now researchers have a new tool which will provide much more accurate predictions of precipitation around the Kingdom. The system will be an invaluable tool for water management and flood prevention. They’ve successfully developed Thailand’s first satellite-based algorithm to accurately estimate rainfall. “We call this algorithm…
- Chiang Mai News
Belgian hit-and-run victim urges driver to come forward
An elderly Belgian woman has been injured in a hit and run in Chiang Mai and now recovering in the Chiang Mai Hospital. The 78 year old is urging the motorist who injured her to come forward and apologise. Chiang Mai police deputy chief Pol Colonel Piyaphan Pattharapongsin on Tuesday said police were still trying to locate the driver of black…
- South Thailand News
If your motorbike is stolen, just wait a few days
Not only did he get his motorbike back, but he should go out and buy a lottery ticket. What are the chances…? The owner of a stolen motorcycle got his transport back three days later after a man ran out of petrol just in front of him in Songkhla’s Muang district on Tuesday. The owner of the motorcycle, identified only…
- Chiang Mai News
Man jumps to his death from condo rooftop in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai police are reporting that a man, allegedly experiencing depression following a business failure, has jumped to his death from a condo rooftop in front of his relatives. The incident happened this morning. 40 year old Apirak Chansawang died on impact outside a luxurious 32 floor condo in the Wat Ket area of Chiang Mai. His relatives told police…
- Thailand News
Civil groups urge political parties to strengthen national welfare net
Just last week a report was released claiming that Thailand is the most ‘un-equal’ country in the world, in the same company as Turkey, Russia and India. The Government swiftly dissed the report, deeming it as ‘unreliable’. You can read about that report HERE. Now the We Fair Network of 13 peak organisations has presented its proposals for reform of…
- Thailand News
Neighborhood quarrel suspected in brutal killing of family
by Somjit Rungjamrassamee Police are searching for three Burmese suspects in a brutal murder of four people, including a four year old boy and a four month old baby. The four family members, all from Myanmar, are believed to have been killed while they were sleeping on Saturday night. The gruesome killing took place in the border province of Tak…
- Thailand News
Driver killed and eight injured in passenger van crash
PHOTOS: js100.com Eight South Korean tourists have been injured in a fatal passenger van accident in Chachoengsao today. In this case it’s alleged that the speeding van they were travelling in hit the rear of a pickup truck whilst it was making a U-turn. It also hit a motorcycle, before colliding with a concrete barrier at noon today. The driver…
- Thailand News
Search on for person who tried to drown puppies
“Paitoon, accompanied by many, also made merit for the deceased pups.” by Saichon Srinuanjan Authorities suspect somebody may tried to drown seven puppies and succeeded in killing five of them in Ratchaburi’s city district, west of Bangkok. Two puppies from the litter were found wet, but alive, though five other likely siblings were found at the same spot but lifeless.…
- Thailand News
Sedan careers into family food shop in Tak
PHOTO: The Nation A couple running a roadside family food shop in Tak’s Mae Sot district have been injured following a car making an unexpected ‘drive thru’ attempt. Tak is on Thailand’s western border with Myanmar. The incident occurred last night when a car driven by a Burmese man slammed into it. Police were seeking to determine whether Aung So,…
- South Thailand News
Heavy December rain hits Nakhon Si Thammarat this morning
by Krissana Thiwatsirikul Several areas of Nakhon Si Thammarat province have experienced heavy flooding this morning following sudden downpours over Saturday night and into the early hours of the morning. Southern provinces facing the Gulf of Thailand have all experienced some rain the last 24 hours. Water drainage systems were overwhelmed, sending excess volumes across the surface of many of…
- Northern Thailand News
Narcotics officers arrest three with 370 kg of ‘ice’ and heroin in Chiang Rai
Three Hmong men from Tak province have been arrested in Chiang Rai while allegedly attempting to smuggle 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and 70 kilograms of heroin from Myanmar into Thailand. The arrest was made by Army troops from the Pha Muang Taskforce with cooperation from Chiang Rai’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) on Friday night. A…
- Bangkok News
Suspect arrested over grenade attacks during Bangkok protests in 2014
PHOTO MONTAGE: Thai PBS Back in early 2014 the street protests were in full swing on selected streets in the capital. In the midst of the sometimes violent protests a hand-grenade attack. Now, four and a half year’s later, a man suspected of throwing the hand-grenades into the anti-Yingluck government protests at the Victory Monument and on Banthadthong road has…
- Thailand News
Phichit collision kills three, injures four
A pick-up has flipped, throwing workers off the back tray, killing them when they crashed into another pick-up in Phichit this morning, in central Thailand. Three people were killed and four others injured when the pick-up smashed into another pick-up truck transporting construction workers. The accident happened at 8.30am on highway No 115 linking Sam Ngam and Muang district in…
- Bangkok News
Leonid meteor shower displays across the early morning skies
“…at some times, about three to four meteors per minute.” PHOTO: Nexter.org More than 500 stargazers, many from Bangkok, camped out at the Prachinburi Observatory last night and early this morning to witness the annual Leonid meteor shower. The Bangkok observatory set up 12 large telescopes for the stargazers to watch the meteor shower. By 5am, over 500 people were…
- Business News
Foreigners will be allowed to serve as arbitrators – NLA votes
The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has voted to pass the draft amended Arbitration Act in its first reading which will allow foreigners to serve as arbitrators in Thailand. The NLA yesterday voted 139-0 with 2 abstentions to pass the bill amending the 2002 Arbitration Act in its first reading. Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, who presented the draft bill, told legislators…
- Bangkok News
Diamond thief captured on Thai border
by Kittipong Maneerit He read about a gem-seller wanting to sell a diamond valued at 10 million baht. So he set up a fake gem shop in Bangkok for the sole purpose of preparing a sting to lure the seller into his ‘shop’. The man fell for it and was robbed of his precious stone. The 59 year old thief…
- Bangkok News
10 million baht gem heist getaway motorcycle belonged to dead Thai man
The getaway motorcycle used in the theft of a 10 million baht diamond from a fake jewelry store, set up for the heist, in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district on Tuesday belonged to a long-deceased Thai man. The motorcycle, which the two suspects abandoned at Soi Wat Doung Khae in Pathumwan district, was found yesterday. Police are now investigating how it…
- Thailand News
506 more people rounded up and arrested in latest immigration sting
PHOTO: The Nation Police have rounded up and arrested another 506 foreigners in their X-Ray Outlaw campaign, mostly for living illegally in the Kingdom. The results of the recent operations, checking foreigners nationwide, were announced at another late night media conference at the Grace Hotel on Soi Sukhumvit 3 at 1:30 am today by the deputy Immigration Bureau chief. He said…
