- World News
UN decries “enforced disappearance”, calls for an end
The United Nations is calling on all countries in Southeast Asia to criminalise state abductions and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The organisation’s Human Rights Office says it’s “profoundly concerned” over continuing reports of enforced disappearances, after Wanchalearm Satsaksit, an activist living in exile, was abducted in Phnom Penh on June 4,…
- World News
AirAsia revenue nosedives 98%
As Asia’s budget airlines struggle for survival, AirAsia Group Wednesday reported its revenue plummeted 98% year-on-year. The unaudited consolidated second quarter results of AirAsia Group, identified as the Consolidated Group (Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia) 1 reported revenue of 119 million ringgit, (around 888 million baht) down 96% from 2.9 billion ringgit (21.6 billion baht) in the second quarter of 2019.…
- Tourism News
Spokesperson says “Phuket Model” won’t be enacted nationally anytime soon
The deputy government spokesperson Traisulee Traisoranakul said yesterday that the so-called “Phuket Model”, the island’s proposed “safe and sealed” program to reintroduce tourism from October, will not be implemented in the near future and rolled out to the rest of the country. She also encouraged Thai people ti “go on vacation to help the local economy”. She made no mention…
- Crime News
Bangkok police say they’ll charge “rioters”
Bangkok police say they’ll press charges against pro-democracy activists who caused chaotic scenes in support of their colleagues yesterday, even throwing paint on some officers. Supporters of the pro-democracy activists who arrived at Samran Rat police station to acknowledge charges stemming from a rally on July 18, broke police barriers and 1 of them threw a container of paint at…
- Northern Thailand News
Isaan woman killed in landmine blast
Police in Isaan’s Surin province announced today that a woman there was killed when she stepped on a landmine while foraging for mushrooms in the forest close the Cambodian border. A duty officer at Buachet Police Station said 44 year old Sumilta Saleeme was killed by the blast yesterday morning. She was one of 9 people who went into the…
- World News
35 illegal migrants arrested near Burmese border
Authorities in Kanchanaburi arrested 35 illegal Myanmar migrants and their 2 drivers in the Sai Yok district of the large western province early this morning. 2 pickup trucks travelling on a local road in tambon Sri Mongkhol were stopped for a search around 3:40am at a checkpoint manned by soldiers, police and immigration officers. 15 illegal Burmese migrants were found…
- Politics News
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe to step down over health
Japan’s media today reported that PM Shinzo Abe will resign over health issues, in a shock development that will end a record-setting tenure with no clear successor decided. There was no immediate confirmation, and the reports came just hours before Abe was to hold a press conference about his health. The news sent Tokyo stocks tumbling more than 2%, the…
- Covid-19 News
Debate rages behind closed doors on allowing return of foreign tourists
The debate over allowing foreign tourists back into Thailand is heating up, even as plans are being made for the “Phuket model” and airlines cautiously begin announcing charter flights for long-stay foreign tourists later in the year. Thailand has gone nearly 100 days without a confirmed locally spread case of Covid-19, putting it in a tough spot compared to countries…
- Crime News
Police do nothing as alleged gangster threatens Phuket family
A Phuket woman has posted a video on Facebook showing a local man harassing her family. The incident happened in the southern province’s Kathu District. The man, who she claims is a gangster named “Dam”, says the woman’s father owes him money. Thai Residents reports that police have been notified but have done nothing. The gangster, carrying a gun and…
- Bangkok News
65 year old Bangkok man in apparent suicide at Chao Phraya bridge
A man reportedly jumped to his death from Bangkok’s Krung Thep Bridge into Chao Phraya River yesterday. Around 2pm officers at Bang Kho Laem Police Station learned of a body spotted in the river near the bridge that that connects Bang Kho Laem district in Bangkok with Thonburi district. The 65 year old Thai man was about 165 centimetres tall,…
- Bangkok News
Collision results in fire in front of Bangkok’s Anti-Corruption Museum
A collision yesterday between a taxi and a BMW on Bangkok’s Phitsanulok Road yesterday directly in front of the Anti-Corruption Museum resulted in a fire in the taxi’s engine compartment. Both drivers denied responsibilty. Security from the nearby museum rushed out with a fire extinguisher, and firemen later arrived to finish the job. The taxi driver, “Weerasak”, said he was…
- World News
Border securty tightened as Myanmar virus cases surge
A significant surge in Covid-19 infections in neighbouring Myanmar has prompted authorities in the northern border province of Tak to tighten border security. More than 200 new cases have been confirmed since early last week, compelling Myanmar to shutter schools nationwide. Authorities say all border passes in the Mae Sot district and roads to the central city districts will be…
- Tourism News
Pattaya beach vendors pay parking fees to attract visitors
In a bid to attract beachgoers and day trippers, Pattaya’s beach bed, umbrella vendors and boat operators are paying visitors’ parking fees. They say fewer tourists visit Pattaya beach as there are no free parking spaces and traffic enforcement officers are strict compared with nearby Jomtien Beach. 63 year old Nikom Apidet, a boat operator seen placing a sign that…
- Technology News
TikTok CEO quits amid pressure to sell
Kevin Mayer, the high flying CEO of TikTok, quit today under US pressure for the platform’s Chinese owner Bytedance to sell popular video app, which Washington says is a national security threat. In a letter to employees, Mayer said his decision to leave comes because the “political environment has sharply changed.” Mayer, a former Disney executive, joined TikTok as CEO…
- Crime News
Bangkok officer under investigation for gambling after video emerges
A Metropolitan Police officer is under investigation for gambling in an illegal casino in Bangkok. A video clip of the casino has been shared online, with mounting pressure on the officer. Royal Thai Police deputy spokesman Krisana Pattanacharoen said the Metropolitan Police chief has ordered the Pathumwan Station to investigate whether a man caught on video gambling at a den…
- Politics News
Progressive MP raises “3 finger salute” in Parliament
An opposition MP from the eastern province of Chantaburi, along the Cambodian border, raised eyebrows today when she flashed the pro-democracy “3 finger salute” immediately after after speaking about state repression of student protestors. The salute has become the student movement’s trademark gesture of solidarity. Yanathicha Buapuean, an MP for the Move Forward Party said: “These actions are intended to…
- Bangkok News
Toddler, playing with hand gel, set alight by brother
A 3 year old boy in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok, was severely burned when he was set alight by his elder brother while playing with sanitiser gel. It happened last week as Pacharaphon “Captain” Nong was playing on the front porch of his home before going to school. The elder boy innocently picked up picked up a cigarette…
- Covid-19 News
Human trials of Thai-made vaccine delayed by months
Thailand’s hopes of having a locally made coronavirus vaccine early next year appear to have been dashed; the head of Thai team developing the vaccine said in a press briefing yesterday that Thailand will delay human trials due to limited production capacity at overseas facilities. Kiat Ruxrungtham, director of the Chulalongkorn University’s vaccine development program, said health authorities had planned…
- Pattaya News
Thai returnee from Israel dies after allegedly jumping from Pattaya quarantine hotel
Yesterday a Thai man, a recent returnee from abroad, appears to have jumped to his death from a quarantine hotel in Pattaya. Authorities are investigating why 39 year old Pol Prom-ngam, jumped from his balcony at the Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel and Resort at about 4pm, just a day after returning from Tel Aviv, Israel. He was pronounced dead at…
- Politics News
PM issues ominous warning as students submit manifesto
Yesterday, leaders of the student movement Free Youth submitted their now-infamous 10 point manifesto on reforming the Monarchy to a House committee for consideration. Panasaya Sitthijirawattanakul, a leader of a group calling itself the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, forwarded the 10-point manifesto, which was compiled at a demonstration on August 10 at Thammasat University, to Move Forward Party…
- Politics News
No legal action from Facebook: minister
Thailand’s Minister of Digital Economy and Society said yesterday he doesn’t believe Facebook will take any legal action against the government and the ministry in relation to legal requests to take down or restrict access to some of its content, since the platform has cooperated well with previous requests. Buddhipongse Punnakanta was speaking at a press conference at the DES…
- Crime News
6 Chon Buri men fall victim to dating app scam
At least 6 men in the eastern province of Chon Buri have fallen prey to a romance scam and police there are now warning men over the use of dating apps. The men bought cars via financing for a woman they met through an unnamed app. The deputy chief of the Samet police told the Pattaya News that 23 year…
- Crime News
Nakhon Phanom couple “rob” bank
A man and wife in Nakhon Pathom, just west of Bangkok, were arrested yesterday for allegedly robbing a bank there. Police in the downtown district were informed in the morning that the local Government Savings Bank branch had been robbed, and arrived to find shattered windows and glass on the floor. Witnesses told police they’d seen the couple walk into…
- Bangkok News
Panicked passengers flee Bangkok bus – VIDEO
Panicked passengers of a Bangkok bus could be seen fleeing yesterday after the bus driver careened across the road in a race with a rival driver on the same route to get more fares. A video on social media showed a privately run bus on Route 1 dangerously tailgating and trying to pass another bus serving the same route. The…
- Thailand News
2 more student protest leaders arrested
A pair of student activists, 2 of 5 facing warrants, were arrested this afternoon on charges related to an anti-government rally they helped to organise on July 18. According to Yaowalak Anuphan, head of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the latest campaigners to be nabbed by police are Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree and Panumas Singprom. Tattep was taken into custody in front…
- Thailand News
Prominent dissidents arrested, bailed again
A pair of prominent activists, outspoken lawyer Anon Nampa and Panupong “Mike Rayong” Jodnok, have been granted bail after their arrests Monday for sedition in connection with the Free Youth movement’s protest at Thammasat University, north of Bangkok on August 10. Both have been arrested before. Student activist, Panupong was arrested in the eastern Rayong province while waiting to greet…
- Thailand News
Thieving Suvarnabhumi cabbie nabbed
A shifty taxi driver made off with a bag that a previous passenger had left on a trolley at Suvarnabhumi airport. CCTV footage shows a man entering an orange cab with several bags but he forgetting a small backpack left dangling on a trolley. After a green and yellow cab arrived its place and some passengers had loaded up their…
- Northern Thailand News
Phayao gunmen kills 3, then himself
4 people including a 5 year old girl are dead, after a man went on a shooting spree last night in the Chiang Kham district of the upper northeastern province of Phayao. Another man was wounded before the gunman took his own life. Police say the fatal rampage began about 8:10pm at a house in Ban Nong Ha, in tambon…
- Crime News
Bangkok man arrested for selling e-cigarettes, vaping fluid
A Bangkok man is facing 3 years in prison and/or a 600,000 baht fine for selling e-cigarettes and vaping fluid, which are legal in many countries and even encouraged by some people as an aid to giving up actual cigarettes, on Facebook. Trading standards officers and police, acting on a tip, went to a house in Bangkok’s Nong Khaem subdistrict,…
- Crime News
Samut Prakarn man arrested for multiple indecent assaults
A man in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok was arrested yesterday for alleged serial sexual assaults and vulgar behaviour with women, following a complaint by a female student. Police arrested 29 year old Montri Khambai at a house in Bangchalong subdistrict after a female student of Huachiew Chalermprakiet University filed a complaint that she was assaulted on Friday night.…
