- Thailand News
Government tackles electronic waste at local level
Electronic waste has become a major environmental problem in Thailand, such that the Government is now getting Tambon chiefs and kanmans to help educate locals and tackle the problem at the community level. At a deserted factory outside Bangkok, skyscrapers made from vast blocks of crushed printers, Xbox components and TVs tower over black rivers of smashed-up computer screens. This is a…
- Bangkok News
BKK Taxi driver fined 2,000 baht for watching porn whilst driving
PHOTOS: The Nation Yesterday a passenger filed an official complaint with the land office saying that a taxi driver was acting inappropriately by watching ‘porn’ whilst he was driving and taking his shirt off (which was a football shirt and not a proper uniform). Today, the taxi driver was fined 2,000 baht for watching a video disc and dressing improperly…
- Chiang Mai News
Gang violence flares up at a pub, ends up at hospital – Chiang Mai
PHOTOS: Sanook Two gangs of young people went at it late into last night in Chiang Mai. When all the dust had settled one victim was recovering at the Chiang Mai Medical Centre. Sanook is reporting that the trouble started outside a pub in the Nimmanhaemin area of the city. A 21 year old was taken to Chiang Mai Medical Centre…
- Bangkok News
Tourists give a thumbs-down to the ‘new’ Khao San Road
PHOTO: The Nation “You are destroying the life and soul of the city – and we are not coming back!” Take that BMA! as tourists give a big thumbs down and slap in the face to authorities who have tried to sanitise the trashy tourist magnet. For decades Khao San Road has been a mecca for back-packers and tourists looking for…
- World News
World’s most liveable cities 2018 – Two Asian cities in the Top 10
PHOTO: Vienna pips Melbourne for the top spot this year The popular, and often-quoted ‘World’s Most Liveable Cities’ have been announced for 2018 and there’s only two Asian cities in the list, both in the same country. After seven years at the top of the list, Australia’s southern capital, Melbourne, has lost its crown as the world’s most liveable city. The…
- Thailand News
Renewed demands to ban paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos in Thailand
Despite years of completely conflicting evidence, on both sides, and even the World Health Organisation coming up with its wobbly ‘probably carcinogenic’ finding, glysophate (RoundUp), and two other herbicides and pesticides used in Thailand, are coming under renewed fire. Thai activists are planning to launch lawsuits against local policymakers for their failure to ban three key agri-chemicals in Thailand, following…
- Phuket News
The battle of Phuket’s boat shows
Phuket’s next boat show season has hit stormy seas with the proposed new Thailand Yacht Show Rendezvous being ambushed by a revitalised ‘PIMEX’, now called the Phuket Yacht Show.
- Thailand News
Teen drowns at privately run tourist attraction in Nakhon Nayok
PHOTOS: The Nation A senior Nakhon Nayok provincial official visited a privately run tourist attraction in the district’s Tambon Hin Tang today (Monday) to inspect the scene where a female Thai tourist drowned yesterday after being swept away when playing in a river. Nakhon Nayok is an hour’s drive north east of Bangkok. The official, Khomthat Tantiyamas, said that he would…
- Chiang Mai News
Protesters demand removal of the court-owned properties on Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai
The fight over the Doi Suthep houses, deemed illegal several months ago, has taken a new tack over the weekend with an approach to the Department of Agriculture in Chiang Rai to build new offices and housing for judges there. But Doi Suthep protesters that’s not good enough. They say that the resolution to build new offices and residences for the…
- Thailand News
Broken promises – Mong Thongdee still waits, nine years later
by Thai PBS It was nine years ago when this young stateless boy was the media poster boy for a week with his story and dreams to represent his country in an international paper plane contest. In the wake of the granting of citizenship for four of the Mu Pa team, Mong Thongdee’s story didn’t end the same way and deserves…
- Thailand News
More rain and flood warnings for the north and north-east
The north-east regions have just been mopping up over the last week and now the TMD (Thai Meteorological Department) are warning that there’s more on the way. Residents in the North and North-east are bracing for more rain with isolated torrential downpours on Wednesday and Thursday (August 15-16) that could trigger flash floods in the region. TMD chief Wanchai Sakudomchai,…
- Health
Young Muay Thai fighters exposed to irrepairable brain damage
A swirling kick to the head, followed by some more leaps, direct head punches and dodges. The very Thai sport of Muay Thai is coming under increased examination, especially for younger fighters where evidence is emerging of irrepairable brain damage and developmental issues. Critics say that greedy parents and money is driving many youngsters into a dangerous sporting environment. “The…
- Business News
Goodbye e-commerce, hello ‘new retail’
PHOTOS: Alibaba Group Our lifestyles are quickly evolving as the digital age kills off the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ inexorably creeps in to our daily life. Goodby Kodak and Polaroid – hello smartphone cameras and Facebook. Goodbye newspapers – hello instant news websites, blogs and live-streaming. The same is happening to retail as the shopfront moves to websites and screens…
- Bangkok News
BMA backs down to allow Khaosan traders, sort of…
by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun “From around 9pm to 3am, backpackers use Khaosan as “party central”, rather than a shopping fair. Electronic dance beats can be heard blaring from clubs and bars.” There’s been a back down in the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration yesterday after vendors from Khaosan Road convinced a committee that their stalls, whilst illegal in the past, were a huge…
- Thailand News
More rain = more Dengue fever
The wet season has provided a spike in new Dengue cases around the Kingdom. The Disease Control Department chief says a total of 3,301 new cases of dengue fever have been reported nationwide during the past week. Dr Suwannachai Watanayingcharoenchai says the number of people infected with dengue was an average of 10,000 patients a month during the rainy season…
- World News
Boracay closure dents Philippine’s economic numbers
PHOTO: Wikipedia The Philippine’s economy has slowed in Q2 2018, this year’s second quarter, and fell well short of predictions. Some are blaming policy decisions including the shutdown of tourist magnet Boracay Island. The quarter’s 6% expansion was the weakest in three years and ends a run of 10 consecutive quarters where growth was at least 6.5%. AFP reports that…
- Thailand News
Thaksin slams Thai ‘democracy’ on the celebration of his birthday
Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra is vowing to keep on his “battle for Thailand’s democracy”, despite living in self-exile overseas for around a decade. This announcement from red-shirt media yesterday (August 9). The Peace News Facebook page reports that the ex-premier, overthrown by a military coup in 2006, made a speech during his belated birthday party with his sister, another…
- Thailand News
Storms raise flood threats in 37 provinces
Whilst the flood situation in the far north of the country, bordering the Mekong River, has abated over the past week, the situation is still dire for many other communities around the Kingdom today. Disaster warnings have now been issued as heavy downpours threaten to bring flash floods and landslides to 37 provinces across Thailand. A monsoon storm is predicted…
- Chiang Mai News
Flash mobs staged to protest the buildings on Doi Suthep
By Nisanart Kangwanwong The Doi Suthep protesters in Chiang Mai had their campaign to remove the Thai judges housing development interrupted by the rescue mission at the Tham Luang Caves in nearby Chiang Rai. Now the “Rak Chiang Mai” community network has organised four flash mobs at four key locations of Chiang Mai’s Muang district to highlight what they says…
- South Thailand News
Songkhla hospital saves 78 year old British man
The Prince of Songkhla University Hospital has performed special surgery valued around 1 million baht to save the life of a retired Briitish naval officer for humanitarian reasons and is organising donations to send him back to the UK. 78 year old Kenneth George Smith told reporters from his hospital bed that he appreciated the help from the Songklanagarind Hospital,…
- Chiang Mai News
Now everyone can fly – from CNX to Hanoi
It’s getting easier and easier to get around the region with new start-ups opening up the skies and current operators always introducing new routes. Now, the people that brought us the slogan “now Everyone Can Fly”, Air Asia, is launched four direct flights a week between Chiang Mai and Hanoi, Vietnam’s northern capital. The Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday flights start…
- Hua Hin News
Phetchaburi town prepares for a soggy weekend
Phetchaburi town residents have their mops, buckets and sandbags ready for a wet weekend as they fend off the run-off from upstream dams. The Royal Irrigation Department say they’ve done their best to stem the flow from the overflowing dams but expect the remaining floodwaters to hit the Muang district over the coming weekend. The department expects the volume of…
- Northern Thailand News
Four of the Mu Pa 13 become Thai citizens
PHOTO: Adul Samon, Mongkol Boonpium, Pornchai Khamluang and assistant coach Ekkapol Chantawongse. Good news for four of the stateless Mu Pa Academy footballers. During their time in the cave it was revealed that four of the team were officially stateless – unable to get a bank account, get legally married, start a business, etc. Tonight the four officially became Thai…
- Thailand News
Two drug gangs busted
Two big drug hauls today in different parts of the country. Firstly, police arrested six suspects including the alleged drug-trafficking gang leader Phusinthorn Jomtharak, along with over 68,000 methamphetamine pills in Chaiyaphum province. 24 year old Phusinthorn, a Nong Bua Dang district native, was nabbed yesterday (Tuesday) while visiting a drug inmate friend at Chaiyaphum Prison. Police say that Phusinthorn…
- Thailand News
PM says mandatory conscription still required in Thailand
PHOTOS: The Nation Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has reaffirmed the importance of retaining mandatory conscription for Thai men “as soldiers form an indispensable force in time of crisis or emergency”. Thai PBS is reporting that the PM was speaking at a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting in response to criticism that mandatory conscription should be scrapped as there…
- Hua Hin News
Update: Phetchaburi dam overflows reach town
Downstream communities in Phetchaburi’s main business and residential districts are expected to be flooded for about two weeks after run-off from the overflowing Kaeng Krachan Dam hit the area last night “Although we must discharge water from the dam, we are trying to reduce the volume that will go into the river by diverting some 55 cubic metres of runoff…
- Northern Thailand News
Good news from dams in the north-east
Whilst provinces bordering the Mekong River, and areas in Phetchaburi downstream of the hillside dams, are all under threat from flooding at the moment, the situation is a lot better in the lower north-east provinces. The Irrigation department has issued assurances today about the water situation covering some 77 dams in the region. The Nation reports that 77 reservoirs in…
- Bangkok News
Online romance scam gang busted
Nigerian nationals are again being rounded up in a concerted effort to get rid of some of the Nigerian-based scams operating inside Thailand. In the latest sting, 8 Nigerians and 6 Thai suspects have been arrested for alleged collusion in an online romance scam, swindling nearly 2 million baht from Thai women in Ratchaburi, Samut Sakhon, Phitsanulok, Chon Buri and…
- World News
Earthquake toll rises to 91, state of emergency announced
PHOTO: Jakarta Post The death toll from the powerful earthquake to hit Lombok and Bali on Sunday evening has climbed to 91. The latest figures announced this afternoon by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in Jakarta. North Lombok island suffered the largest number of fatalities with 72 people killed, while Bali has so far recorded two fatalities. Most victims…
- Phuket News
Phuket hotels group aims to step up environmental education
By Sirivish Toomgum All members of the Phuket Hotels Association have jointly committed to eliminate plastic water bottles and drinking straws from rooms by 2019 as part of an effort to ensure a sustainable future for Phuket, said association president Anthony Lark. The association has also provided information to its hotel members about companies that provide alternatives to plastics for…
