- World News
Gene-edited babies ‘immune to HIV’
PHOTO: He Jiankui is reflected in a glass panel as he works at a computer at a laboratory in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong province – China Daily by China Daily A Chinese scientist’s attempt to produce babies immune to HIV is sparking heated debate among the public and academics. He Jiankui, a biological researcher, has announced on social media, that…
- World News
Some Chinese tourists are ‘illegal workers’ – Filipino Senator claims
by Philippine Daily Inquirer – Asia News Network Tens of thousands of Chinese from mainland China are entering The Philippines as tourists and obtaining short-term special permits to work in online gambling operations. At a hearing of the Senate labor committee, Sen. Joel Villanueva expressed alarm and indignation after immigration and labor authorities admitted that more than 119,000 “tourists,” most of…
- Thailand News
Prosecutor confident of Premchai poaching case conviction
by Pratch Rujivanarom The prosecutors are confident that alleged wildlife poacher, Premchai Karnasuta and his alleged accomplices, will be found guilty in the black panther poaching case. The Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court begins examining the evidence and witnesses today after weeks of delays. The attorney for the Office of the Public Prosecution Region 7 says that the Thong Pha…
- Koh Samui News
Burmese man arrested for selling ‘ice’ on Samui
FILE PHOTO A Burmese man has been arrested last night while allegedly delivering crystal meth to fellow Myanmar citizens on Koh Samui where he has been illegally living for the past 10 years. Police say 35 year old ‘Chaw’ was arrested while driving to allegedly deliver the drug to his buyers, believed to be other Myanmar nationals working in the…
- Thailand News
Police searching for owner of weapons hidden in bushes
Police are investigating three M4A Carbine assault rifles along with 964 bullets that were discovered over the weekend inside large PVC pipes hidden in thick bushes. Police found the weapons in a tapioca plantation in Chacheongsao province on Saturday. Police suspect that the weapons found in Panom Sarakham district had been hidden recently, as the guns with serial numbers M320461,…
- Northern Thailand News
Shooting begins on “The Cave, Nang Non” film
Tom Waller, a Thai filmmaker with Irish heritage, begun filming a movie which showcases the international operation to rescue the “Mu Pa” football team from the flooded Tham Luang cave in July. The film, called “The Cave, Nang Non”, captures the tense efforts to rescue the 13 members of the team, that gripped the world’s attention for weeks. The youngsters…
- Bangkok News
Monks behaving badly, ending up in hospital
Two monks have become embroiled in a drunken brawl north of Bangkok last night. The two were injured in a skuffle and knife fight after they drank together at their temple in Ang Thong’s Pa Mok district. Local police were called to Wat Amphawan at 11pm. When police arrived they found 52 year old Phra Wannop Roengjai soaked in blood.…
- Northern Thailand News
Man thought he could now sell marijuana legally. Aah, no!
“He thought he could sell it legally.” A man has been arrested for advertising marijuana for sale on YouTube. With all the news about legalising medical marijuana in Thailand, he says he believed it was now legal to sell cannabis in Thailand. The Nation reports that, after police were alerted that a man was cashing in on cannabis on the…
- Pattaya News
Car crashes into back of truck in Chon Buri, four killed
A driver and three passengers have all been killed after their car collided with the rear of a truck in Chonburi’s Bang Lamung district early today. Police say the accident happened around 2.30am on the Sukhumvit road in Tambon Bang Lamung of Bang Lamung district, heading towards Sattahip. Emergency responders spent more than half an hour using hydraulic iron cutters…
- Cannabis News
Government ready to develop medications, rejects seized marijuana
by Khanittha Thepphajorn and Kornrawee Panyasuppakun The move to getting medical marijuana legalised is edging closer. The bill on the issue has already made headway through the National Legislative Assembly (NLA). Yesterday, a bill was passed with 145 votes, allowing marijuana to be used for medical and research purposes. Only one legislator abstained. The NLA’s Somchai Swangkarn said a vetting committee…
- Bangkok News
The Great Krathong Clean-up
PHOTO: The Nation A total of 841,327 krathong floats, most made with degradable materials, were collected in Bangkok after last night’s celebrations Bangkok Metropolitan Administration governor Aswin Kwanmuang said on Friday. Aswin said BMA workers finished sorting the collected floats at 5am. The floats were collected from the Chao Phraya River and canals and 30 public parks where Loy Krathong…
- Phuket News
Former honorary consul arrested in Phuket for selling counterfeit visa stamps
FILE PHOTO Police have arrested a former honorary consul for allegedly producing counterfeit entry visa stamps and immigration documents and selling them to Russians wishing to come to Thailand. The Nation reports that Pol Maj-General Surachete Hakparn, acting immigration department chief, said the arrest of Kuliushin Vitalii in Phuket province was in response to a court-ordered arrest warrant against him.…
- Pattaya News
Dead Canadian found on yacht at Ocean Marina Yacht Club
A Canadian tourist has been found dead on his yacht at a marina in Chon Buri’s Sattahip, south of Pattaya, early today. The Na Jomtien police were informed at 2.30am that 61 year old Tourville Gilbert had died on his yacht that was docked at the Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Tambon Na Jomtien. A doctor has determined that he…
- South Thailand News
Southern Muslim leaders disapprove of LGBT partner bill
“Only in the South has our public forum on the Life Partnership Bill heard opposition.” Muslim leaders in Thailand’s South have rejected the proposed Life Partnership Bill, which would allow LGBT couples to marry. The Nation reports that, if the bill becomes law, the religious leaders say they will not perform marriage rituals for LGBT couples. No religious leader is…
- Bangkok News
Three paper factory warehouses catch fire in Samut Prakan
Firefighters continued to tackle a huge fire at a recycled paper factory in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok, into the early hours of this morning after flames destroyed three warehouses. Initially, some 100 fire engines were dispatched to the Thai Development Industrial Paper Company in Tambon Thay Ban in Muang district at 8pm last night (Wednesday). At first, firefighters…
- Northern Thailand News
Half a tonne of marijuana seized…
.. and no one has come to claim it yet. Khon Kaen police have seized 500 kilograms of marijuana after a pickup truck overturned in Khon Kaen’s Ban Phai district early today. But no arrests have been made as yet. The Nation reports that Pol Lt Gen Surachai Khuantejakup, commissioner of the Provincial Police Bureau 4, told a press conference…
- Northern Thailand News
Police intercept 5 million methamphetamine pills in Chiang Rai
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times “An estimated 5 million meth pills were found in 13 boxes.” Two suspected drug mules have been arrested in Chiang Rai while allegedly trying to smuggle 5 million methamphetamine pills from a border village. The arrests were made last night (Wednesday) at 9.30pm in the border Mae Saruay district. The arrest were made after police and…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok all ready for tonight’s Loy Krathong
Yesterday, Governor Aswin Kwanmuang checked nine piers along the Chao Phraya river, from Tha Chang to Rama VIII Bridge in Bangkok’s Bang Plat district. to ensure the safety of revellers for today’s Loy Krathong festivities. People traditionally release flower-decorated floats in the country’s waterways on the day to pay homage to the River Goddess. “All piers have been checked for…
- South Thailand News
18 children dead as officials try to fight vaccine denial – Measles outbreak
“Young kids should avoid known infected areas, and patients should be quarantined.” Measles has now infected 2,280 people in the South and killed 18 in the mainly Muslim border provinces already this year. The largest group affected were young children up to the age of four. “Measles vaccination is free and is in line with Islamic principles,” Songkhla’s public-health chief…
- Thailand News
Fast-lane online visa system launched at Thai airports
The Immigration Bureau acting commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakparn has officially launched the e-Visa on Arrival system today that is expected to cut visa processing times to as little as one minute and reverse the downward trend of Chinese tourist visitation. Surachate launched the new system which been trialled at Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports since November 15. The launch…
- Bangkok News
Three arrested over copycat killings over school rivalry
“The three suspects were arrested on Monday for premeditated murder.” A technical-school student, accused of shooting dead a young man from a rival school on October 12, says they were retaliating for the killing of a former student from their school. Police say one of the three arrested suspects told them his gang from Pathumwan Institute of Technology was avenging…
- Phuket News
Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort and Laguna Phuket win at 2018 Asia Sports Industry Awards
More than 400 attended the Oscars for Asia’s sports industry. Sports industry professionals from around the world walked the 2018 SPIA Asia – Asia’s Sports Industry Awards & Conference red carpet yesterday (November 20) and at a lavish Awards Gala attended by more than 400 VIPs, federations, rights holders, agencies and brands, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in 20 award…
- Food
Time for a street food makeover – Tourism Ministry
The Thai Tourism Minister says it’s time for an upgrade of Thai street food. The Nation reports that Weerasak Kowsurat says he would hold talks with the Public Health Ministry and the BMA on how to upgrade the quality of dishes sold by street vendors in the capital. He has revealed plans to bring together stakeholders to discuss how to…
- Chiang Mai News
Indonesian woman arrested over Chiang Mai August drug/robberies
Police have arrested an Indonesian woman for the alleged drugging of two tourists in Chiang Mai back in August, one of whom was found later dead in his hotel room. The suspect fled to Chantaburi, where she was apprehended, and has been transferred back to Chiang Mai police. Read the original report about the suspect HERE. Acting Chiang Mai police…
- World News
‘Remove dual-language road signs’ – Malaysian sultan
by The Star – Asia News Network The Sultan of Selangor in Malaysia has decreed that all dual language road signage in Shah Alam (to the west of KL) must be removed and replaced with the national language (Malay) only. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s private secretary Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani highlighted the matter in a letter dated Nov 19 to the…
- South Thailand News
Muslim leader rules measles vaccine ‘not prohibited’ by Islam
The Chularajamontri in Yala, Thailand’s Islamic spiritual leader, has made an unofficial ruling that Muslims can receive measles vaccine. Ahmad Abdull Hazima, the Islamic leader in Yala, said the Chularajamontri and 39 provincial Islamic committees have made unofficial rulings that vaccines are not prohibited by Islam. The rulings were sought after an ongoing outbreak of measles in four southern border…
- Thai Life
Netherlands to Thailand, the long way
by Wattanapol Matcha Want to catch up with your father? Usually a short drive, phone call or quick email will solve that. But it wan’t quite so easy for this Dutchman. 28 year old William Coniris has completed a 17,900 kilometre cross-continent bicycle ride from the Netherlands to visit his 58 year old father, who lives in Thailand. The 10…
- Thai Life
ALERT: Amoxicillin use in Thai orange orchards
The Thai Public Health Ministry is checking on pharmacies and antibiotics manufacturers that may have distributed amoxicillin (an antibiotic) for farms – reportedly used widely in northern and central orange orchards – as it could lead to drug resistance or even fatal allergies in humans as well as contaminating the environment. Amoxicillin is an antibiotic often used for the treatment…
- Food
New additions to the Thailand Michelin foodie guide
by Khetsirin Pholdhampalit Thai street food eatery Jay Fai has retained its one Michelin star for the second consecutive year and the legendary Thai restaurant Methavalai Sorndaeng is among the new 10 additions to have been awarded one star, according to the announcement of eateries making it the second edition of Michelin Guide Bangkok. No restaurant has achieved the coveted…
- Bangkok News
Don’t complain about the oranges. Market customer shot after complaint.
A Pathum Thani fruit vendor has been arrested today shortly after she allegedly shot and killed a customer who complained of “rotten oranges” at her market store, just north of Bangkok. Klong Luang police were alerted to the shooting at 8am inside the Iyara Market in Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang district. Police say 30 year old Saranya Saksaeng was shot…
