- Thailand News
Uttaradit: Waitress found murdered in boarding house
Police in Uttaradit, north of Bangkok near the Laos border, are still searching for a man after his estranged wife was found dead in a boarding house yesterday morning (Tuesday) with her throat slit. Police say 29 year old Kamolrat Ruangrit had been killed inside the bathroom of her unit in the province’s Mueang district. Investigators say that, besides having…
- Northern Thailand News
American film crew already in Chiang Rai plotting movie
As the rescue mission around the cave swings into a huge clean up operation, a US film crew has already arrived in Chiang Rai. Two American producers have been sniffing around plotting a movie project about the 12 young Mu Pa Academy footballers and their assistant coach who were trapped in the cave for more than two weeks. The final…
- South Thailand News
Army sergeant shot dead in Narathiwat
More trouble in Thailand’s deep south today after an Army sergeant was shot dead while riding to work on his motorbike in Narathiwat this morning (Tuesday). Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen, deputy spokesman of the Royal Thai Police, reports that 26 year old Sergeant Patanachai Suree was shot twice in the back while riding his motorcycle on a road in Moo…
- Northern Thailand News
Chiang Rai: Solid food but no TV – Doctors report on the first eight out of the cave
The eight members of the Mu Pa Academy football club, already rescued from the Tham Luang Cave in the past two days, are in good health mentally and physically. But attending doctors say all had high white blood cell counts and two initially showed indications of pneumonia. Senior health officials briefed reporters at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital this morning, saying…
- Northern Thailand News
Chiang Rai: Team member 5 out of the caves
A young Mu Pa Academy footballer has emerged from Tham Luang cave at about 5pm, becoming the fifth teenager extracted from the cave in Chiang Rai province. The team member, whose name has not been revealed, was taken by ambulance from the cave in Mae Sai district before boarding a chopper to Chiang Rai Prachanukraw in Muang district. …
- Phuket News
Phuket boat sinking ‘unlikely to hamper tourism’
In the wake of last Thursday afternoon’s tragedy, where more than 50 people have perished, mostly Chinese tourists, tourism officials, economist and tour boat operators are scrambling to keep the Great Chinese Tourism Money Machine on track in Phuket. The Nation is reporting that the tour boat ‘catastrophe’ in Phuket was unlikely to harm the Thai tourism industry, but the…
- Phuket News
Chinese join search for 14 missing. PM visits Phuket today.
PHOTO: A centre has been established at Phuket International Airport to ensure smooth flow of information and help for tourist victims and their relatives. by Salinee Parp Thai and Chinese authorities are continuing the search for the remaining 14 Chinese tourists still on the missing list after the “Phoenix” diving yacht sank into 47 metres of rough seas on the…
- Northern Thailand News
One boy emerged in a serious condition, now recovering
The condition of one of the Mu Pa footballers who were rescued from the Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai last evening, and initially was initially causing concerns with his health, is improving. He had been listed as red, signifying a ‘serious case’ after being trapped in Tham Luang cave since June 23. However officials now say he is recovering…
- Northern Thailand News
Chiang Rai: They will start coming out tonight at 9pm
PHOTO: Thai PBS “Today is D-Day,” says the Chiang Rai Governor, adding that 13 international cave divers and 5 Navy SEAL members have gone into the cave to bring out the Mu Pa Football Academy members. “Each of the survivors will be escorted by two rescue divers. He told a media briefing that the first survivor should be brought out,…
- Northern Thailand News
220 rescuers looking for crevices and tunnels into the cave
Whilst a plan has firmed to get the trapped footballers out of Tham Luang cave using a ‘buddy’ system and staged triage along the exit route, many others are still trying to find entry points from above the cave. More than 220 rescue operation officials will camp on top of the mountain above the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai…
- World News
41 year old Malaysian man might be charged with polygamy
“Zaini said the groom could be charged under Section 23 and 19 of the Syariah enactment.” Religious authorities say the bridegroom in the child marriage controversy is “not off the hook” although elements of force, violence and criminal intimidation have been ruled out. Read original story HERE. They also ruled out sex, lust and elements of coercion in a report…
- Phuket News
Coral planted in Maya Bay
By Sitthichai Sikhawat “Officials said they would use a drone to follow up the coral growth on a monthly basis.” As the famous Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi in Krabi’s Muang district is now until September 30 to allow nature to recover, officials on Thursday brought 400 coral pieces to be planted onto the degraded reef at the bay.…
- Chiang Mai News
Drilling down into the cave – 100 tunnels drilled so far
As the frantic effort continues around the Tham Luang caves to find alternative ways to get to the cave chamber where the 13 footballers have been waiting since two weeks ago, ‘chimneys’ or tunnels from the top or side of the mountain, down into the cave, are being established. AFP are reporting that there have been more than 100 of…
- Northern Thailand News
“Urgent need to extract the survivors”, Chiang Rai Governor
A breakdown of rescue efforts at Chiang Rai in an excellent graphic from The Nation. Last night the former Governor of Chiang Rai at a midnight media conference said that there was an urgent need to extract the 13 with the threat of more rain and the health deterioration of some of the 13 survivors. The authorities and personnel involved…
- Phuket News
Search continues today for survivors. 23 remain missing.
With the body count numbers still in flux, as the recovery mission continues, the Phuket PR Office says the official death toll is 33 tourists that have died with dozens still missing. Strong winds and high waves sunk the dive yacht Phoenix, packed with mainly Chinese visitors, late on Thursday afternoon when a weather front came in from the Andaman…
- Northern Thailand News
- Phuket News
Deputy PM foreshadows legal action against captain and owner of ‘Phoenix’
PHOTO: ‘Phoenix’ from Siraphop Srakaew Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan is threatening legal action against the captain and the owner of the ‘Phoenix’, the ill-fated tourist boat that sank yesterday evening off the south-west coast of Phuket. General Prawit says the captain and owner of the Phoenix boat will be held responsible for the accident. ‘Phoenix’ sank with 105 people on…
- Phuket News
Phuket: UPDATE. What we know 2.15pm
Friday, 2.15pm • 21 dead bodies have now been recovered from near Koh Maiton and just off the coast of Koh Keaw (east Phuket) • Up to 35 remain missing (figure is continually being revised) • A Chinese female tourist has been pulled out of the Andaman Sea, alive. She has been taken to Vachira Hospital in Phuket Town in…
- Phuket News
Phuket: Seventeen more bodies recovered. 39 remain missing
Navy sailors have located 17 more bodies from the sea off Phuket, raising the number of confirmed deaths in boat accidents to 18, while 39 Chinese tourists remain missing. Officials aboard HTMS Long Lom recovered 12 bodies at 10.50am near the location where the tour boat Phoenix sank after being slammed by huge waves on its way back to Phuket…
- Thailand News
Warm farewell for British cave-diver
By Suthinan Kongsin The Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat presented a certificate of honour to Briton Robert Charles Harper at Suvarnabhumi International Airport last night (Wednesday) as the cave expert, who played a crucial role in finding the 13 footballers, departed for home. In a spontaneous 11pm ceremony, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith also gave him a painting of Harper…
- Northern Thailand News
“Unrealistic and very risky.” Academic warns about cave rescue.
By Pratch Rujianrom Associate Professor Ariya Aruninta from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok is warning that the focus on evacuating the trapped 13 by drying the cave was unrealistic and very risky. Draining water out of the Tham Luang cave is an impossible mission, she claims, even as the rescue operation makes headway and pumping water from the flooded cave has…
- Travel
Thais travel more, but not too long – Visa
Thais travel more on average than any other nationality, according to Visa’s Global Travel Intentions Study. Suripong Tantiyanon of Visa Thailand says the study also reveals that people are travelling more, but their trips are getting shorter. Thais are expected to leapfrog ahead of other nationalities in the number of vacation trips they take each year – with 3.9 trips…
- Thailand News
Murder suspect arrested 24 hours before statute of limitations expired
A Trang murder suspect has been arrested in Satun yesterday, just 24 hours before the statute of limitations on the 20 year old murder case was due to expire. 41 year old Kredis Sombatthong, a resident of Trang’s Yan Ta Khao district, was arrested by Crime Suppression Division police in Satun’s Khun Ka Long district this morning (Thursday) under a…
- Travel
Trang airport terminal expansion on track for 2019 completion
The Trang International Airport passenger terminal expansion will be completed mid next year. The announcement comes from the director general of the Airports Department. Darun Saengchai says 116 million baht had been allocated to add another 3,000 square metres to the 6,000sqm facility, which was proving inadequate in high tourist season. The expansion would enable the terminal to accommodate 600…
- Northern Thailand News
Can’t swim, can’t dive. But it’s the only option.
PHOTO: Army doctor Colonel Pak Loharachun on Wednesday prepares inside the cave to treat minor wounds sustained by the football team members – Thai Navy SEALS “The fittest of the survivors will be the first to come out, others will follow,” Narongsak Osotanakorn, Chiang Rai governor and head of the rescue operations, said yesterday. Rescuers do not want to delay…
- Phuket News
Phuket hosts Miss Grand Thailand Carnival
A ‘carnival-themed’ fashion show, featuring 77 contestants of the Miss Grand Thailand 2018 beauty contest, in beautiful and exotic costumes, was held at Phuket’s Patong Beach this evening. The fashion show was held to promote the Phuket’s tourism and was a part of the contest’s ‘beauty camp’ activities being held in Phuket until July 8. The contest for provincial traditional…
- South Thailand News
Fourth Buddhist Yala rubber tapper injured in a week
PHOTOS: The Nation Police in Yala are reporting that another Yala rubber tapper has been killed by suspected Muslim militants in the southern border province. The incident happened this morning (Wednesday). The victim becomes the fourth Buddhist rubber tapper in a week to be attacked by suspected Malay-Muslim insurgents. Police said 46 year old Sukho Khamkaew was injured when a…
- Thailand News
His Majesty sends a special message to cave rescue teams
“When the mission is over, they should receive good hospitality as the Royal guests until they depart from Thailand.” – His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn His Majesty has sent a message, passed on to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, to those working to ring the footballers out of the cave. “Initial praises are good but please remain focused on the operation, which will…
- Northern Thailand News
Options and opportunities – getting the football team out of the caves
PHOTOS: The Nation/Thai Navy Seals Facebook Page “…all of them are in the good hands of seven Navy SEALs, who will be with them and take care of them all the time.” Authorities are mulling whether they should wait for water levels to subside, which could take a long time, or use divers to bring the footballers out in a…
- Northern Thailand News
Chiang Rai: A long and winding rescue ahead
“…experts are saying it could take weeks or even months.” Rescuers are bracing for a long and difficult evacuation for the 13 Thai kids found alive in the Tham Luang cave after they went missing on June 23. All this chatter outside the cave whilst food and medicine was being shuttled to the young football players through muddy waters today.…
