- South Thailand News
School director ambushed in Pattani
The director of a school in Pattani’s Panareh district escaped an ambush by four suspected insurgents this morning, police said. The director, Thawil Sae-ham, was driving to Ban Nam Bor School when he was attacked by four men on two motorcycles on the main road of Moo 3 village in Tambon Phor Ming. Thawil said both pillion riders fired AK-47…
- Thailand News
Junta goes for lighter touch on lese majeste laws
with Kai Chanwanpen – The Nation iLaw experts say they see changes for the better and courts given more leeway in Thailand’s lese majeste cases. Thailand saw the most aggressive enforcement of the lese majeste law after the junta came to power in 2014, but current trends point to an unprecedented relaxation, according to iLaw. “There was a time, after…
- South Thailand News
Baby elephant rescued from muddy pit in Chumpon
by Prasit Leehakhunakorn A two year old male elephant, ‘Chao Duan’, has been rescued after it fell into a 70 centimetre deep and four metre wide muddy pit where it was stuck for two days in Chumphon province. The elephant is now recovering under the loving care of veterinarians, although its hind legs remain immobile for now. Nam Tok Ngao…
- Health
Medicinal marijuana by next year in Thailand
Thailand’s Governmental Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) is starting researching to develop medicines from marijuana in acknowledgement of evidence that the outlawed substance has health-enhancing properties. It is also seeking to initiate a legal amendment that would permit cannabis for medicinal use, possibly by May next year. Recreational use will remain illegal. GPO chairman Dr Sopon Mekthon yesterday says that with the…
- Thailand News
Fireworks factory explodes in Chachoengsao
PHOTOS: The Nation Extremely hot weather is suspected of causing an explosion at a fireworks factory in Muang Chachoengsao on Saturday afternoon that left one person injured. The roof of the factory owned by 47 year old Karun Raksanont was blown off in the explosion, with the debris raining down on the neighbourhood. The explosion, which could be heard a kilometre…
- World News
Death toll approaches 400 in Sulawesi earthquake aftermath
Rescuers are still struggling to reach remote communities on the island of Sulawesi hit by an earthquake and tsunami just before 6pm, local time, on Friday. A spokesperson of the local disaster agency has confirmed that the official death toll is now up to 384, almost all from the coastal township of Palu as a result of a tsunami. A…
- Northern Thailand News
Pit stops laid on for race fans at MotoGP in Buriram
It’s on next weekend and Buriram is gearing up for the arrival of 100,000+ visitors. Thailand Immigration officials are also setting up home this week to handle the influx of international visitors and the teams as they arrive. But if you’re driving, take your Honda. AP Honda has agreed to provide special hospitality services and activities for visitors to the…
- Thailand News
Wet wet wet at the Phetchabun’s ‘Um Phra Dam Nam Festival’
The ‘Um Phra Dam Nam Festival’, one of the world’s most unique Buddhist festivals held annually in Phetchabun in Central Thailand. It’s scheduled from October 7 to 12 at Trai Phum temple and at the pier of Bot Chanaman temple. Translated from Thai, Um Phra Dam Nam literally means ‘diving while holding Buddha’s image’. According to local legend, the festival began when…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok and Phuket on the list of the World’s ‘Top City For Visitor Spending’
According to Mastercard’s annual Destination Cities Index, Bangkok has earned the position as the world’s most visited tourist destination once again in 2017. Phuket also got into the Top 10 list of tourist money magnets. The Thai capital attracted over 20 million visitors over the past year, more than both London (19.83 million) and Paris (17.44 million). But despite scoring…
- Northern Thailand News
Chiang Rai hit with mild earthquake
A minor 3.4-magnitude earthquake hit Chiang Rai’s Phan district this morning. The confirmation from the Seismological Bureau of the Meteorological Department. The bureau said the earthquake had an epicentre situated about 15 kilometres underground at latitude 19.45 degrees and longitude 99.60 degrees. The epicentre was in the Doi Luang National Park. The quake was felt by residents of Phan and nearby…
- Phuket News
Thai mothers caving to superstition or private hospital wishes when having babies
by Kornwaree Panyasuppakun and Tim Newton “Many babies in Thailand are born to suit ‘auspicious days’ or the Obstetrician’s golf plans.” The expectant mother reported to the private hospital in Phuket where she and her husband had decided to have their first baby. When she walked in for her appointment with the Obstetrician the first question was when she wanted to…
- South Thailand News
Chinese woman’s death at a Hat Yai waterfall is now a murder investigation
An investigation into the mysterious death of a Chinese woman at a waterfall in near Hat Yai has now become an official murder investigation. A Chinese man has emerged as a prime suspect and Thai police also seeking evidence in China and working with Chinese police. Tourist Police Division’s deputy commander Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakparn says that he was soon…
- Pattaya News
Chonburi road rager gets 10 years for killing a 17 year old
PHOTO: Suthep Poshsomboon reporting to police following last year’s road rage incident “Following several punches by the 17 year old boy, a gunshot was heard” The Chonburi Provincial Court has handed down a 10 year jail term to an engineer who shot dead a teenage schoolboy in a high-profile road rage incident last year. Suthep Poshsomboon was also fined 2,000 baht…
- Thailand News
388 suspected tuberculosis cases found at Phitsanulok prisons
Up to 388 inmates at two prisons in Phitsanulok have been found to have signs of tuberculosis. This revelation from public health officials after they performed lung x-rays on the inmates. Doctor Rattaphum Champhunot, assistant chief public health officer for Phitsanulok, says the latest x-ray examinations were performed earlier this month. At Phitsanulok Prison, 2,959 inmates received the x-ray and…
- World News
Former Mae Hong Son border police chief gets suspended jail term for pimping out underage girl
The former commander of a border patrol police company in Mae Hong Son, north-west Thailand, has been given a suspended jail term and a small fine for forcing a girl under 18 into prostitution, according to the victim’s mother. The girl’s mother, Namphet Koeyputsa, says the Mae Hong Son Court convicted Pol Lt Col Pongnarin Pongnam, former commander of the…
- Northern Thailand News
Four others rescued in Tham Luang before the Mu Pa 13
PHOTO: British cavers, Rick Stanton and John Volanthe Dramatic new stories out of a “Hidden Earth” cave-community event where it’s been revealed that the, now famous, Mu Pa 13 weren’t the only people trapped inside the caves in Chiang Rai. Two of the British divers who were part of the Tham Luang rescue effort, extracting the Mu Pa football team from…
- Chiang Mai News
A backpack full of meth pills headed for Chiang Mai
A Chiang Mai man has been arrested las night after allegedly trying to smuggle 100,000 methamphetamine pills into the city from the Myanmar border, 100 kilometres away. Police at a checkpoint in Mae Ai district had signalled for a motorcyclist to stop but he sped off. With officers in pursuit, he lost control of his motorbike and came to grief…
- Koh Samui News
4,000 pills and a 25 year old nabbed at Samui Post
A man has been arrested on Koh Samui after collecting a parcel containing 4,000 methamphetamine pills and 500 grams of crystal methamphetamine from a private post office. Acting on tips-off, troops, police and provincial officials staked out at the post office in Tambon Mae Nam and nabbed 25 year old Nattapong Nakwetcharin after he arrived to pick up the parcel.…
- Chiang Mai News
Police find bodies of Briton, Thai wife buried behind their house in Phrae
The bodies of a Briton and his Thai wife were found buried over 2 metres deep in the garden of their property in Phrae Muang district today after they went missing on September 19. The Nation is reporting that the bodies of 64 year old Alan Scott Hogg and 61 year old Nott Sudaen were found buried beside a creek on…
- Bangkok News
Road racing motorbikes collide in Bangkok – one dead, one injured
A motorcyclist has been killed and another injured when their bikes, which a witness said were racing on a Bangkok road, grazed each other early this morning. The incident happened on Sukhaphibal 5 road in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district. Police said 26 year old Yospol Aksorn died of serious head injuries after he was thrown from his black Honda CBR…
- South Thailand News
Fishing worker reported hanged on returning boat
FILE PHOTO The skipper of a fishing boat has reported to police that one of his workers allegedly hanged himself on the boat as it returned to Songkhla fishing pier last night (Monday). But the wife of the dead man, 37 year old Anucha Kahapanna, doubts whether her husband committed suicide and is asking police to investigate whether it was…
- Krabi News
‘Thailand Biennale 2018’ international art festival in Krabi
The Culture Ministry’s first international art festival, the upcoming “Thailand Biennale 2018” in Krabi, will represent the biggest collaboration between the public and private sectors under the government’s “Pracharat” policy. “The Bt100-million art festival is funded and engaged in by over 50 governmental and private agencies. It’s the biggest ‘Pracharat’ project concerning art so far that the ministry has organised,…
- Thailand News
Thai PM at the crossroads
PHOTO: The Nation With the election looming (5 months away) the Thai PM is being forced to declare his cards and his intentions to run as a political party member, or not. According to The Nation, Prayut Chan-o-cha appears to have made up his mind to take a risky political journey after publicly admitting for the first time yesterday that…
- Chiang Mai News
Ambulance slams into tree in Lampang killing three
An ambulance returning to Phayao, after delivering a patient to Phitsanulok, has hit a tree in Lampang this morning, killing two nurses and the driver. Police say the accident happened at 7am on the Ngao-Phayao road in Ban Huay Oon village of Lampang’s Ngao district. The two nurses were identified as 42 year old Angsumalin Rakchat and 21 year old…
- Thailand News
Safer Thai roads will provide an economic boost
Thailand could gain significant long-term economic benefit by making the roads safer and saving its mainly young and capable population from premature death in accidents, according to a World Bank report. The report entitled “The High Toll of Traffic Injuries: Unacceptable and Preventable”, concludes that, if road traffic injuries could be reduced in Thailand by 50 per cent and satisfactory…
- Krabi News
700,000 year old fossils found in Krabi cave
A physician is urging state agencies to conduct a scientific survey of a Krabi cave where he found fossils of suspected prehistoric Java rhinos and hyenas. He believes the cave in Tambon Ao Luek Nuea could have potential to become a new archaeological site. Dr Samart Srikarn had been informally surveying Yai Ruak Cave when he came across the ancient specimens…
- Bangkok News
A man who really likes his coffee – Amazon thief surrenders to police
A former construction contractor has surrendered to police today to face charges of burglary after he allegedly broke into 30 Amazon coffee shops in petrol stations since April. 37 year old Kiartkarisorn Srikrailod from Buri Ram surrendered at Taling Chan police station at 10am this morning after police summoned him to face theft charges. Taling Chan is just west of…
- South Thailand News
Eating your way around Songkhla
by Pattarawadee Saengmanee – The Nation Weekend As we come in for landing at Hat Yai International Airport, I see clear sky reflected in the azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Despite the weather App warnings, the sun was out. Sightseeing is first on the agenda though and after a pleasant 40-minute drive from the airport to Songkhla Old…
- Bangkok News
Thailand’s air quality measurement standards raise concerns
by Chularat Saengpassa From next month, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) will set PM2.5 particles as an indicator of Thailand’s air quality, but the move does not ease the concerns of people in the know. “I must tell you that the PCD intend to use the ‘24-hour mean’ as the indicator and that may be misleading,” said Tara Buakamsri, the…
- Thailand News
Four men arrested over sex act broadcast on mobile app
Four men have been arrested for broadcasting a sex act live via a China-based application. This was discussed at a media briefing today by deputy tourist police chief Pol Maj Gen Surachete Hakparn. Surachete did not identify the men or the app used. He says the four men, who are from Thailand and Myanmar, were charged with violating the Computer…
