- Covid-19 News
Despite special tourist visa approval, hoteliers remain skeptical about reopening
As news comes of the cabinet approving a special long-term tourist visa scheme, hoteliers are remaining skeptical about reopening due to the lack of clarity in the recent announcement, which will reportedly take effect next month. The president of the Thai Hotels Association’s southern chapter says more hoteliers will consider reopening if the government gives further information about the plan…
- Thailand News
Disaster plan in place as Tropical Storm Noul puts agencies on high alert
Agencies are on high alert after Tropical Storm Noul is set to hit the country tomorrow through Sunday. The Agriculture Minister says a disaster plan is in place to help prepare for an emergency from the effects of the storm which strengthened from a tropical depression to a tropical storm on Tuesday. The Thai Meteorological Department has warned that the…
- Thailand Protest News
Students choose Thammasat University for September 19 protests without permission
Students protesters are moving forward with rally plans for this Saturday, September 19, at Bangkok’s Thammasat University Tha Prachan campus, despite failing to get permission from university administration. The campus has been chosen before for such rallies and some students are reportedly threatening to break into the campus if they have to. The United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration Group…
- Thailand News
Thai traditional trades staying alive in ‘new normal’
Thai silk and craft-related trade is staying alive in the ‘new normal’ era thanks to the Support Foundation created and backed by Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. The Foundation for the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Related Techniques under the Royal Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen, was initiated in 1976 with the hopes of introducing original handicrafts to the younger…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Heavy rain across Thailand coming this weekend
The Thai Meteorological Department has announced this morning that heavy to very heavy rain is slated to grace the skies this weekend, September 18-20, all across the Kingdom (there goes the weekend!) . The forecast comes after a category 2 tropical depression over the middle of the South China Sea officially ‘strengthened’ around 1 am this morning to a category…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya’s Hollywood Club closes again as it awaits foreign tourists
After Covid-19 forced Patttaya’s ‘The Hollywood Club’ to close and reopen, the establishment is now once again closed and reportedly awaiting a green light allowing foreign tourists to return. Damrongkiat Pinitkan, the club’s owner, says, “Our major customers are foreign tourists. We still did not open the club zone when the last phase of removing Covid-19 lockdown restrictions allowed us to…
- Phuket News
Missing retired police officer found pinned under tree in Patong
A retired police officer’s body has been found in Patong, Phuket after being reported missing in the foothills of the west coast Patong area. The man, 79 year old Lt. Seri Phupet, was found with his legs pinned under a fallen tree and had a machete reportedly by his side. Seri reportedly had been missing for the past six days…
- Visa Information
Immigration to provide 30-day extensions after ‘visa amnesty’ ends, in some circumstances
The Thai cabinet has approved a number of concessions on the situation for people stranded in Thailand under any form of tourist visa after September 26. The Thai Immigration Deputy Commander announced that…. • Tourists unable to return home after September 26 (the end of the tourist amnesty), due to sickness or are unable to fly, are to apply for…
- Northern Thailand News
Kalasin drowning victim’s body recovered
Police In Isaan’s Kalasin province announced today that the body of an elderly woman, who fell into Lam Pao stream in the capital’s central district and was believed drowned, was found. On Friday, 76 year old Chan Phonpradit, and her 42 year old daughter Malaithip, went fishing on the bank of the Lam Pao stream near a low dam at…
- Pattaya News
Unknown man severely injured in Pattaya after motorbike strikes barrier – VIDEO
A Thai man, whose identity is still unknown, was seriously injured in the early hours of this morning after his motorbike hit a road barrier in Pattaya. The incident happened at about 2:30am on the railway road near Wat Tham Samakkhi. The victim, who police estimate to be about 30 years old, hit the barrier at what appears to have…
- Politics News
Survey: majority support students’ freedom of expression
A recent survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, found that a majority of Thais agree with students across the country giving the anti-government”3 finger salute” and wearing white ribbons, saying that they have the right to free expression. The study was conducted August 25-27 on 1,317 people aged 15 and over, of various levels of…
- Covid-19 News
Global Covid-19 infections soar past 25 million
Covid-19 infections around the world surpassed 25 million today, with India setting a grim new record for the highest single-day rise in cases, 78,761. Roughly a million new cases have been detected globally every 4 days since mid-July, according to an AFP tally. The surge in India, a country of 1.3 billion people, comes as the government further eased lockdown…
- Crime News
3 Cambodian men arrested for Pattaya knife attack
Police in Chon Buri province’s Phan Thong subdistrict say 2 Cambodian men were seriously injured this after 3 co-workers attacked them with knives. The incident happened at 1pm on Friday. The 2 men, named only as 28 year old “Rai Rai” and 30 year old “Suporn”, were both bleeding from several slash wounds on their arms and torso when police…
- Covid-19 News
Second locally produced Covid-19 vaccine proves effective in monkey trials
A doctor at Chulalongkorn University yesterday announced that announced tests of a new locally produced Covid-19 vaccine on monkeys have proven successful. The head of the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre, Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, says the latest vaccine, which uses proteins from tobacco leaves, was been tested on mice and monkeys with satisfactory results and will…
- Phuket News
Worries remain over government’s “Phuket Model”
As the government has gradually eased Covid-19 restrictions, the tourism sector has high hopes for a good recovery. The resort island province of Phuket is eager to reopen to foreign tourists to help stimulate the local economy, which has been hard hit by the pandemic. The “Phuket Model” has been proposed to reopen the province in October in a “new…
- Crime News
Bangkok clinic accused of botched cosmetic surgery after patient dies
“Polchana says the victim found the clinic on social media on August 10 and decided to go ahead with liposuction and breast augmentation.” A cosmetic surgery clinic in Bangkok’s Yannawa district is being accused of negligence over the death of a patient. 29 year old Polchana Chantarakasem lodged a police complaint against the clinic and demanded an autopsy into the…
- Crime News
Pattaya man arrested after firing pistol in public
A 7-eleven employee in Pattaya has been arrested after firing a gun in public. Pattaya City police arrested 20 year old Jakkrit Paleang, a 7-eleven staff worker, yesterday and seized a handgun with several bullets. The arrest came after an 18 year old man, whose name was not given to reporters, filed a report to police that Jakkrit threatened him…
- Economy News
Bankruptcy court finds Thai Airways sunk by graft and mismanagement
“Thaworn also claims to have evidence of bribes of at least 5%, or about 2.6 billion baht, to politicians, officials and company executives…” Troubled national flag carrier Thai Airways, which has filed for bankruptcy protection and business rehabilitation, was “sunk by mismanagement and graft”, according to a court investigation. Thaworn Senneam of the Democrats revealed that the investigation focused on…
- Politics News
Chinese Coast Guard nabs fleeing Hong Kong activists
Chinese authorities have captured and arrested around a dozen Hong Kong activists from Hong Kong who were attempting to leave the former British colony by speedboat. The incident shows the intensification of Beijing’s campaign to seek out protest leaders and those resisting the Communist Party’s tightening grip there. The arrests, made last. Sunday, are the first confirmed case of such…
- Economy News
TAT launches “White Vest” tourism campaign
The Tourism Authority of Thailand this week launched its “White Vest” tourism campaign this week, based on intensive training to promote safety, hygiene and world class customer service at tourist spots throughout the country. Those who pass the campaign will be awarded a white vest and a certified ID badge that they can wear to signify to all tourists, both…
- Crime News
New developments in “Boss” hit-and-run case
The chairman of the committee investigating the alleged mishandling of the 2012 hit-and-run case of Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya has found solid evidence to prove serious problems with both the police and the prosecution. Speaking at yesterday’s committee meeting at the end of its 30 day mission, Vicha Mahakun said the findings will not only convince PM Prayut…
- Northern Thailand News
Nakhon Phanom school director in hot water over alleged toilet spycam
The director of a school in the northeastern Nakhon Phanom province has been “moved to an inactive post” pending the results of an investigation into a video that shows him placing a camera in the toilet of a pub. The head of the primary school, in Ban Phaeng district, has been assigned to the District 2 provincial education office until…
- Chiang Mai News
Yemeni national in apparent suicide at Chiang Mai hotel – VIDEO
In a presumed suicide, a boxer from Yemen reportedly jumped to his death from his fifth floor hotel room in Chiang Mai. Police in Chiang Mai’s central district were informed of a man falling from a hotel in Sriphum subdistrict last night. At the scene, they found the body of 23 year old Ahmed “Kovid” al-Aidros, a Yemeni national, with…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 update: 1 new imported case, no deaths (29 August)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported a single coronavirus today – an asymptomatic returnee from the Netherlands in state quarantine – bringing the total in Thailand to 3,411 since the outbreak began. A CSSA spokesperson said said the new case is 30 year old employee who arrived in Thailand on August 15 and stayed at a state quarantine facility…
- Pattaya News
Couple shocked in Pattaya as homeless woman gobbles their ice cream – VIDEO
A couple in Pattaya were shocked yesterday when a homeless woman approached and ate their ice cream while they were recording a video. The video was posted on Facebook and can be seen here. The couple who posted it, 29 year old Pat and 26 year old Nam, told The Pattaya News that as they were eating Bingsu ice cream…
- 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
3 Nabbed for illegal online gun sales
Authorities in Thonburi, just south of Bangkok, yesterday announced the arrest of 3 Thai men for selling guns online. a GSG .22 calibre semiautomatic pistol, a .22 pen gun, a magazine and a great deal of ammunition, along with many tools. They were arrested in the Petchkasem area west of the capital. Bangkok. Police say 25 year old Sukkasem or…
- 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…
