Thaiger
- Thailand News
Thaksin claims election delays in birthday comments – UK
Thaksin Shinawatra, the fugitive former Thai PM, is still firing missives in exile – this time in comments his 69th birthday in London. A spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) yesterday insisted that there was no change in the schedule for the next election. Maj-General Piyapong Klinphan debunked speculation by former PM Thaksin Shinawatra about a change…
- Thailand News
Local rains in Nan and Trat cause devastation – seven killed two missing
Heavy rains in northern Thailand and on the Cambodian border in Trat are causing local emergencies. At least seven villagers have been killed and two others missing after heavy rains triggered a mudslide from a mountain into their valley village in the Bo Klua district of Nan province this morning Saturday). The landslide occurred at the Ban Huay Kham in…
- Thailand News
Clawing back the tiger population
(10 minute read) The plight of the Indochinese Tiger is a particular passion for The Thaiger. As a leading sponsor of SaveWildTigers.org we applaud all the work being done in Thailand and around South East Asia in support of the survival of the species. By Piyaporn Wongruang Ahead of the Global Tiger Day on Sunday, July 29, lead tiger researchers and…
- Northern Thailand News
Sing Buri and Chiang Rai – major drug busts
Police in Sing Buri, central Thailand, say they’ve cracked open a major drug syndicate with the arrest of key members. A major drug-trafficking ring’s members were arrested along with 11,600,000 methamphetamine pills and some 700kg of crystal methamphetamine or “ice”. The announcement from the deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan yesterday. Following a tipoff by undercover police on…
- Koh Samui News
Two gibbon touts arrested on Samui – three gibbons rescued
Yesterday we posted the story about Samui beach touts hawking a baby gibbon for tourist photos – a lucrative little cash business at 100 baht per photo. But the practice is frowned upon my may westerners these days and remains illegal in Thailand. Facebook blogger Arkadiy Kulev was keen to see the touts arrested. Today (Thursday), Samui police have arrested two…
- World News
Thailand joins the relief effort as more than 6,000 people displaced in Laos flood
PHOTOS: The Nation Flooding in southern Laos is starting to subside as the search continues for missing people with more than 6,000 people displaced from their homes following the flash flood on Monday. The collapse of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy Dam in the southern Lao province of Attapeu has left at least 26 people dead and an estimated 100 missing as…
- World News
Marijuana across the Mekong – 350 kilograms seized
A routine naval patrol has foiled an attempt to smuggle 350 kilograms of marijuana across the Mekong into Nakhon Phanom from Laos last night (Tuesday). Rear Admiral Pisit Thongdeelert, commander of the Mekong Protection Unit for Nakhon Phanom, said a patrol vessel spotted a boat approaching the bank in Ban Na Nong Book in Tambon Chaiyaburi of Tha Uthen district.…
- Koh Samui News
Baby gibbon used for photo-ops in Samui
PHOTOS: Facebook/Arkadiy Kulev “Endangered gibbon used to entertain tourists on Chaweng Beach in Koh Samui, Thailand.” On Phuket it’s the slow loris which is the ‘cute-creature-for-100-baht-photos’. In Samui they’ve gone for a baby gibbon. A foreign resident on Koh Samui has exposed that a baby gibbon was used for selling photos at Chaweng Beach, resulting in an uproar among expats…
- World News
Hundreds dead, thousands displaced – Laos dam bust.
(5 minute read) The heavy rains in northern, north-eastern Thailand and southern Laos have caused a partially man-made disaster affecting hundreds of Loas homes with hundreds of people still missing. Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes in Laos’ southern Attapeu province following the collapse of part of a hydroelectric dam under construction. The disaster came hours after…
- World News
Hundreds of houses flood as Laos dam breached
PHOTOS: BCEL One Heart The Nation is reporting that hundreds of households in Laos were heavily flooded on Monday night after a large amount of water overflowed a saddle dam section of Xe Pian dam following heavy rainfall in the country’s southern province of Attapeu. The disaster has reportedly claimed several lives, left hundreds of people missing and more than…
- Bangkok News
Driver drops dead at petrol station in Nakhon Pathom
The driver of a 22-wheel trailer truck fell dead from his truck after he stopped to get petrol this morning (Tuesday) in Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok. Police were alerted at 7am of the incident at the NGV station on Malai Road. The Nation reports that 46 year old Picket Jailuen was transporting construction sand from Tambon Prong Madua in…
- World News
Australia awards highest honours to Tham Luang cave rescuers
PHOTOS: Tim Shaw, 2CC Australian members of the Tham Luang cave rescue team, including Dr Richard Harris and Craig Challen, have been congratulated by the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after receiving the Order of Australia and the Star of Courage at a function at Government House in the Australian capital Canberra today. Cave diving medical specialists, Richard Harris and…
- Northern Thailand News
The Mu Pa 13, minus one, attend blessing ceremony before becoming novice monks
PHOTOS: The Nation Eleven of the Mu Pa football team rescued from the Chiang Rai cave in Mai Sai, along with their assistant coach, participated in a Buddhist ritual this morning (Tuesday) in more carefully stage managed media appearances in the aftermath of the rescue. The ceremony honours the cave’s resident Phra That Doi Wao spirit. This afternoon they will have…
- Thailand News
Joint Thai/Chinese crime bust nets 34 suspects in call-centre and online gambling gangs
The arrest of 34 suspects in major call centre scams and online gambling were announced yesterday. With cooperation from Chinese police, Thai officers checked 14 locations in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Chon Buri and Phuket on July 19 to make the arrests. The stings netted 34 suspects, including 26 Chinese nationals. The arrests were announced yesterday at a press conference at the Royal Thai…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok father jumps to his death after acquittal of suspect in his son’s murder
A tragic story from the Bangkok Criminal Court today where it’s emerged that a man has jumped to his death after witnessing the acquittal of the suspect in his son’s murder. The man jumped from the sixth floor of the court building at 10am. Supachai Kanlahasunthorn came to the court at 9am to hear the verdict in the trial of…
- Thailand News
Thailand’s Rabies death toll up to 14 this year
The death of a 19 year old in Buri Ram, to the east of Bangkok on the Cambodian border, and a 55 year old in Rayong, east of Pattaya, has raised the death toll in Thailand as a result of Rabies this year to 14. Both deaths occurred over the past two weeks. Dr Suwannachai Watanayingcharoen, director general of the Disease…
- Bangkok News
Teacher hangs herself ‘to atone for sins of previous life’
A 40 year old has been found dead, hanged in an apparent suicide at her parents’ home in Suphan Buri province, north west of Bangkok, yesterday. The former contract teacher had claimed to have memories of her previous life as a soldier who had taken many lives. The suicide report of Somkid Ridkanto in Tambon Sa Kaew, Muang district said she had…
- World News
Rights groups call for laws to stop child marriages
“This isn’t just a marriage, but may be child abuse.” Defenders of Thailand’s children are calling for legal actions and amendments to laws to tackle the increasing number of “premature” marriages throughout the country. Activists say that such marriages harm the children. The comments follow the controversy of a 44 year old Malaysian man who ‘married’ an 11 year old…
- Thailand News
Same-sex civil union bill ready for Cabinet in two months
A same-sex civil partnership law should be drafted and discussed before next year’s elections. Pitikarn Sitthidech, the Rights and Liberties Protection Department chief, saystThe law, allowing same-sex couples to formally register as life partners, should be drafted by September. It would then be submitted to Deputy PM and Justice Minister ACM Prajin Juntong, who would decide whether it should go to…
- Thailand News
Floods continue to cause havoc in the north, west and central
Floods are causing havoc across swathes of provinces across Thailand. From the north in Chiang Mai, to the west in Kanchanaburi and as far south as Prachuap Khiri Khan and Ranong. The Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation chief says that the flooding has been triggered by tropical storm Son-Tinh which still sits over Laos, so far affecting 13 Thai…
- Bangkok News
Machete-wielding BKK motorist jailed for threatening woman
The South Bangkok district court has handed down a sentence today on a male driver. He’s been sentenced to 2 months and 15 days behind bars. The sentence follows the man’s indiscretion caught on a dash cam (video and story below), threatening a female driver with a knife on July 18, after he drove against the traffic to cut in…
- Thailand News
Sangkhla Buri floods declared a disaster zone
Kanchanaburi Governor Jirasak Phumsawat has declared Sangkhla Buri a flood disaster zone to speed up help to affected villagers. The governor took the action after seven villages in Tambon Nong Lu and three villages in Tambon Laivo were hit by floods on Friday morning following heavy rains that hit 70 per cent of the district.The disaster-zone declaration allowed the provincial…
- Chiang Mai News
Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep housing protests ramping up for August
The protests against the construction of the Thai judge’s residences on the slopes of Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai has gone quiet over the past month. That’s all about to change. Activists from leading non-governmental organisations from eight northern provinces will next month join a massive protest against the special housing for judges on Doi Suthep. The Nation reports that…
- Phuket News
Surat Thani croc-hunters to the rescue
(cue dramatic music and slow-motion shot of team walking down Nai Harn Beach, probably with their shirts off) The ‘Crocodile Hunters of the Tapi River Basin’ have arrived in Phuket to save the day as they help track down a 1, 2 or 3 metre reptile that’s been getting a lot of media and local authority attention but, so far,…
- Thailand News
Cambodian couple demand Thai police probe
A Cambodian couple, engaged in a legal battle with relatives, yesterday filed a complaint against two Thai police officers in Bangkok. Baby-clothing exporter 43 year old Sing Thea and his wife Chean Kallyan say their previous accusation – that their relatives had embezzled 18 million baht – had been handled by the Thai officers in question. This had resulted in…
- World News
“Myanmar must be held accountable” – Fortify Rights Report
The Fortify Rights report is out. It names names and specifies responsibilities for the ongoing persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya. The Nation’s Wasamon Audjarint and Sandy Leegumjorn compile this report about the document and its implications for Myanmar’s military. The international community must hold Myanmar accountable for the military-planned genocide of the Rohingya minority, a report unveiled yesterday said, describing the killings…
- Phuket News
Stray dog adoptions on the rise
Phuket is seeing a positive trend in the number of adoptions from locals and Thai citizens over the years; encouraging as Thai people used to be only interested in pure breeds, sometimes even choosing dogs that are not comfortable in the climate of Thailand (like Huskies). Meet Kittipong Tongwon, nicknamed K. Aof, who recently adopted an 8 week old puppy…
- Pattaya News
Swedish tourist dies in Pattaya motorcycle crash
PHOTO: Facebook A Swedish tourist was fatally injured when his motorcycle collided with another motorbike on a Pattaya road early yesterday (Wednesday), according to Pattaya police. The Pattaya police station was alerted of the accident on Jomtien 2 road in Tambon Nong Plue in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district at 12.30am. The tourist, 38 year old Tommi Nilson, died on his…
- Bangkok News
Five jailed up to 19 years for forcing Moroccan women into prostitution
PHOTOS: The Nation “Pearl was accused of being the gang leader as he owns the Dream Disco Pub on the fourth floor of the Zenith Hotel where the four victims were forced into prostitution from October 2016 to March 2017.” A 46 year old Australian has been sentenced to 19 years imprisonment by the Criminal Court, and a Syrian, two…
- Northern Thailand News
Thai citizenship likely for one of the Mu Pa team
PHOTOS: The Nation During the rescue of the Mu Pa 13 from the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai it emerged that three of the team members and their 25 year old coach Ekkapol, were ‘stateless’ – caught in a bureaucratic neverland between Thailand and the nearby border Myanmar area which isn’t recognised by the Myanmar government. Their status leaves…
