- Northern Thailand News
Floods hit five villages near the Tham Luang cave rescue site – Chiang Rai
PHOTO: Local News2010A month ago the local villagers near the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai were volunteering with food and helping hands. Now they’re fighting to save their homes. Mountain run-off last night (Monday) has hit five villages in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, near where the young Moo Pa (Wild Boars) football team was recently rescued from the…
- World News
Chinese outbound tourism contributed US$ 115 billion in 2017
PHOTO: EPA-EFE “I prefer customised trips to group tours because I’ll have a more flexible schedule and can change it as I like. I’d also have more time to go shopping and find good local restaurants.” – 29 year old Chinese traveller Du Ni China Daily reports on the rise and rise of Chinese outbound tourism, a growing regional phenomenon…
- World News
Rising Mekong threatens provinces in Thailand and Laos
PHOTOS: The Nation Authorities in Thailand’s northern and northeastern provinces are watching the rising water levels in the Mekong after torrential rains have hit large stretches of the country causing flooding in both residential and agricultural areas. The Mekong river flows through parts of China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department has instructed its…
- Entertainment
Toon’s back on the road, this time with his band
By Mr Badboy Remember Artiwara “Toon” Kongmalai and his epic run – south to north of Thailand to raise money for the country’s public hospitals? Well he’s had a well deserved rest and now getting back on the road, this time with his band ‘Bodyslam’ for a tour of 15 University campuses. The band, one of Thailand’s most popular, is…
- Phuket News
Croc breeders, you have until August 10 to register your crocodile – Phuket Governor
By Salinee Prab The latest crocodile-on-the-loose has been snared but Phuket’s Governor is now threatening to take legal action against crocodile owners who fail to register their animals by August 10. Norapat Plodthong says that only five owners had registered their reptiles since the order went out. Norapat says legal action would be taken against those failing to report by…
- World News
Thais and foreigners stranded on Lombok volcano following earthquake
In the wake of this morning’s Lombok earthquake, some 500 Thais and foreigners have been stranded on an active volcano on the Indonesian island. Lombok is situated about 100 kilometres from Bali. The shallow 6.4 magnitude quake that jolted the island triggered land and rockslides, preventing the tourists from heading back down the mountain. The Thai embassy in Indonesia was…
- World News
Lao aid truck plunges off bridge – one dead, two injured
Aid continues to rush into southern Laos as international relief tries to grasp the full extent of the damage from the floods that occured last Monday night after a privately owned hydroelectric dam breached its walls. But as relief teams pour in, a man has been killed and two others injured when their truck loaded with provisions and donated items…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya street racers busted
Pattaya youth have been foiled in their attempts to organise a late night street race. Pattaya police say they’ve detained 20 young motorcyclists early this morning (Sunday) and seized their bikes on suspicion they were planning illegal street races. Muang Pattaya Police led by deputy superintendent Pol Lt Colonel Korn Somkanay began a sweep of Jomtien 2 Road at about 1.30am…
- 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…
- World News
Aid and rescuers pour into southern Laos to help flood victims
PHOTO: The Nation Rescuers from Thailand and China are arriving at Laos’ flooded southern district of Attapeu to assist local soldiers in search and rescue efforts following the collapse of a saddle dam belonging to a major dam construction project that caused massive downstream flooding. The dam broke its banks on Monday night. Scores of Laotians remained on the missing…
- 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…
- Bangkok News
Mother threatens suicide over acquittal
(4 minute read) The suicide of a father, who jumped out of the eighth floor of Bangkok’s Criminal Court after a verdict was read acquitting the suspect in his son’s murder back in 2016, has taken a sad turn of events. Now the wife of the man who killed himself, and the murdered son’s mother, is threatening to kill herself…
- 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…
- News
- 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…
- Northern Thailand News
Seven arrested over a 300 kilogram ‘ice’ shipment in Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai is in the news for a different reason this morning after six adults and a 15 year old have been arrested over a drug bust in Chiang Rai early today (Monday). The Nation reports that most of the group were riding in a suspected “spotter” car ahead of a a truck full of crystal methamphetamine, aka ‘ice’. Fourteen…
- 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…
- Travel
Great southern comforts – Narathiwat
by Pattarawadee Saengmanee The southern province of Narathiwat is a great place to chill, unspoilt by mass tourism and full of southern surprises. Narathiwat shares a border with Malaysia. A stone’s throw from the Narathiwat airport are the white sands of Ban Ton Beach where I stretch out while my media friends tuck into a Southern-style lunch in Chulabhorn marine camp’s…
- 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…
