- Bangkok News
Huge fire in Bangkok guts recycling plant
Residents from a next door four-storey apartment building have been evacuated as a result of a huge recycling factory fire in Bangkok. No one was injured in the major blaze which took fire-fighters more than three hours to get under control. Damage, including to several rooms in the apartment building, has been valued at more than 20 million baht. Pol…
- Health
Thailand urged to shun single-use plastic
by Pratch Rujuvanarom Thailand’s environmental experts are urging people to make small changes in their lifestyle to help tackle the huge plastic waste menace. They say it’s important for people to make small changes in their daily lives in order to cut down on the huge amount of plastic waste being generated. Thailand faces critical problems caused by plastic pollution.…
- Business News
Government poised to cast tax net over online transactions
As the world continues its relentless move online, and away from traditional retail, governments are having to find new ways to track and tax online transactions. The Thai Revenue Department is poised to cast a wider net over online vendors and other businesses that have been evading taxes. The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) is soon to approve amendments to the…
- Thailand News
Registration renewals will be denied to traffic fine non-payers
Maybe it belongs in the same category as the Patong Tunnel or the Phuket Light Rail – those stories that just drag on for, well, decades… Now the Land Transport Department is finally claiming they’re ready to link the data bases from the Police and Land Transport so they can better track traffic offenders who haven’t paid their fines. The…
- South Thailand News
Pregnant dugong killed by boat propellor
by Khanitta Sitong A heavily-pregnant dugong, found off Koh Libong in Trang a week ago, has had an autopsy to investigate the cause of death. It was the fifth dugong in the area killed by speedboats this year. The findings indicate that this dugong too came into contact with a local boat propellor. The dugong’s decomposing carcass was found on…
- Thai Life
Internet freebies rolled out for Christmas
The government is finalising plans to give more than 11 million low-income Thai citizens free internet SIM cards and other subsidies that will together cost taxpayers billions of baht. The roll out is part of a charm offensive from the ruling NCPO in the lead up to next year’s poll, scheduled for February 24. The Finance Ministry is proposing that…
- Krabi News
Koh Phi Phi has to address critical water problems
Special Report by Pratch Rujivanarom – PHOTOS: Sitang Pilailar “The groundwater is currently unsafe for consumption and a threat to health. Harmful pathogens and heavy metals originating from water pollution offshore have contaminated it.” The administrative authority of the Phi Phi Islands has once again called for help from the central government and state agencies to help address the chronic house…
- Thai Life
Measles outbreak closes Tak school
A school near the Myanmar border in Tak’s Mae Ramat district has been closed indefinitely after local public-health officials discovered 13 students were contagious with measles. Tak is on Thailand’s central west border with Myanmar. Six of the students from the New Road Learning Centre are currently in serious condition in hospital. Most of the school’s students are Burmese children…
- Thailand News
Five die in Sukhothai car smash
A man has died, along with his boyfriend, parents and aunt after his car crashed into a roadside tree in Sukhothai, central Thailand. Si Satchanalai police were alerted a few minutes after midnight on Saturday morning that the accident happened on the Si Satchanalai-Uttaradit road in Ban Huay Sak village in Tambon Pa Ngiew. 25 year old Saranyu Thanomjit was…
- Krabi News
Female tourist injured by speedboat propellor at Koh Phi Phi
A Chinese woman has been severely injured and rushed to hospital after being hit by a speedboat propeller while swimming at Koh Phi Phi in Krabi Province this morning. Police say the woman suffered cuts to her back and thighs before being rushed to the Koh Phi Phi Hospital and then later transferred to Phuket Vachira hospital by boat. Police…
- Bangkok News
School van driver accused of raping two schoolgirls
A 29 year old school van driver, accused of raping two schoolgirls aged 12 and 14, has appeared at Bangkok’s Thon Buri Court as police apply for a detention order. Suspect Natthawut Chamroen, who was arrested in Thung Kru district this week, is denying charges of “taking away” girls under 15 from their parents for a lewd act, molesting and…
- Thai Life
Thais need to have more babies to reverse declining population
A government advisory body is urging the Government to come up with measures to encourage Thais to have more babies. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has urged the government to implement additional measures to improve the birth rate in Thailand, following a recent study detailing the impact of a shrinking population. Thailand, with the fertility rate of…
- South Thailand News
Government to give cash handouts to oil palm planters
The National Oil Palm Committee, led by Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan, plans to give away 1,500 baht per rai cash handout to 150,000 oil palm planters in a massive subsidy for their production cost. The subsidies arrive with almost perfect timing for the ruling NCPO in the lead up to the national election in February and the rise of the…
- Thailand News
‘Recognise all citizen’s right to create a family’ – Rainbow Sky Association
by Pratch Rujivanarom. PHOTO: Prasert Thepsri “LGBT activists are calling on the Thai government to recognise all citizen’s right to create a family.” The Nation reports that both the Civil Code’s marriage law and the new Life Partnership Bill are in violation of the Constitution’s gender-equality principle, gender-diversity campaigners asserted as they pressed for full marriage equality rather than a two-tier…
- Bangkok News
DSI calls for dissolution of foundation funding Dhammakaya cult
“The foundation operates as a quasi-Buddhist cult and commands adherents to its teachings from around the world.” The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is calling on public prosecutors to request the courts to dissolve the Khun Yay Maha Ratana Upasika Chandra Khonnokyoong Foundation. The Foundation was implicated in the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC) embezzlement case. The DSI say they…
- South Thailand News
Mother killed by moving train, 2 year old daughter survives
A mother and her 2 year old daughter fell from a train at a station in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The mother died while the girl survived with minor injuries. The incident took place at the Klong Chandee railway station at 10am this morning. Police say 21 year old Benjawan Duangsuwan died at the scene. Her daughter was sent to Por Than…
- Thai Life
Dam levels low in some regions – Dry season
PHOTO: Srinagarind Dam, Kanchanaburi The Royal Irrigation Department says there be enough water for domestic consumption this dry season. But they acknowledge that water reserves in many dams around the country are running low. The RID director-general, Thongplew Kongjun, is assuring the public that the country will have enough water for domestic consumption and businesses during this dry season. But…
- Thailand News
Bangkok man killed when pickup hits wild elephant
A Bangkok driver has been killed after his pickup truck appears to have hit a wild elephant on an unlit road in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Pak Chong district. The driver has been identified as 58 year old Nakharin Boonchai. Officials believe the pickup hit a large elephant as the road was dark and the driver could not see the large mammal. His…
- Bangkok News
Minister raises ethical concerns of private schools listing on the SET
PHOTO: Singapore International School of Bangkok Trading in the shares of SISB Company Limited, the manager of the Singapore International School, begins today in the SET’s (Stock Exchange of Thailand) Market for Alternative Investment. The Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin says that although the move does not violate the Private School Act 2007, there was a question of ethics. The Minister has assigned…
- Northern Thailand News
Prawit hands back seized assets from illegal money-lenders
PHOTO: The Nation Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan has presented 2,012 debtors in the Loei province, in far north-east Thailand, assets valued around 3.4 billion baht. The hand-over includes 1,773 land-title deeds held as collateral in dodgy loan scams. Many people, holding documents to their chest, couldn’t hold back tears of joy over getting the assets they thought were lost due…
- Bangkok News
Growing support for Royal bicycle tour
by Prasert Thepsri His Majesty the King had his secretary, Air Chief Marshal Sathitpong Sukwimol, formally presented royally decorated shirts to be distributed among participants in the “Un Ai Rak: Bike for Love and Warmth” bicycle tour that the King will lead on December 9. The Supreme Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces and the governors of 76 provinces…
- Chiang Mai News
Frosty reception on Doi Inthanon this morning
Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s tallest and most revered mountain in Chiang Mai, awoke this morning covered in frost as the mercury dipped to minus 1 Celsius degrees. Kritsayam Kongsatree, chief of the Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai’s Jom Thong district, says it was the first time this winter/cold season the temperature had fallen below freezing. He added that the…
- Bangkok News
Wild elephants kill official in Chachoengsao
FILE PHOTO A wildlife official in Chachoengsao, east of Bangkok, has been found dead after being kicked and dragged by wild elephants. Officials at the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary in Sanam Chai Khet district revealed that one of their colleagues was found dead at 6am yesterday morning. The victim, 46 year old Manop Karasuk, was on the Monday…
- Thailand News
Buffalo smiles end up in tears
by Thanapol Saengthong and Kornkamon Aksorndech Surat Paewkate, the 34 year old Chai Nat farmer who famously made headlines for his unusual friendship with a five year old buffalo called Thong Kham, has been separated from his four-legged best mate yesterday when police took the animal away over allegations that Surat had used this “friendship” to get money from others. Chai…
- 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…
