- Economy News
Thai Airways union says it won’t oppose bankruptcy proceedings
“We opposed this position before but after reexamination, we have to show creditors that Thai Airways will genuinely follow the restructuring plan. Including adjustments to the board and staff.” In an abrupt reversal, the president of Thai Airways’ labour union announced yesterday that the union won’t oppose the government’s plan to reduce holdings in the airline and restructure the carrier…
- Covid-19 News
State of emergency likely to remain through June
Despite the reopening of many businesses and a loosening of the national curfew, Thailand’s national state of emergency appears set to remain in effect for at least another month, as authorities are “still not confident” about the nation’s recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, according to a military source. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha met yesterday with military top brass to address the…
- Economy News
Thai car production hits 30 year low
As late as last year, the automotive industry in Thailand was the largest in Southeast Asia and the twelfth largest in the world, with an annual output of around 2 million vehicles. But in April this year, Thailand’s car production hit its lowest level in 30 years – just 24,711 units – amid weak global demand, factory shutdowns and widespread…
- Food
Pattaya police chief battles Thailand’s Iron Chef in cook-off for the needy – VIDEO
Police in Pattaya are doing more than continue their project to cook food for the needy and unemployed: yesterday they had an upbeat cook-off between the police chief and a famous Thai TV chef. The project is designed for locals who are unemployed or furloughed due to the current Covid-19 crisis. Read more about that HERE. The Pattaya City police…
- Northern Thailand News
5 dead in high speed Surin crash
5 are dead after a pickup truck traveling at high speed crashed into a Mitsubishi Pajero in Issan’s Surin province yesterday. The incident happened on Surin-Prasat Road near the Sab-anan rice mill in the province’s Chaneang district. The pickup’s driver, who was one of those killed in the accident, is believed to have lost control of the vehicle on the…
- Crime News
Chon Buri pedestrian dies in hit-and-run incident
A hit-and-run incident early this morning has left an unidentified male pedestrian, believed to be Thai, dead in Chon Buri’s Banglamung district. Police were notified of the incident at around 12:30am Authorities, emergency responders and The Pattaya News rushed to the scene to find the body of a man, believed to be Thai, estimated to be 35 -40 years old,…
- Crime News
Security guard stabbed to death in Samut Prakan
A female motorbike taxi driver has allegedly stabbed a security guard to death after a quarrel at a parking building in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok. Police heard about the fatal stabbing of 37 year old Sathaporn Thong-In at 10am. The victim was found lying in a pool of blood and had a stab wound on the left side…
- World News
12 Rohingya arrested for illegal entry in Tak province
Police in the western Thai province of Tak, near the Burmese border, say 12 Rohingya were arrested in the Mae Sot district and charged with illegal entry. The Rohingya are an ethnic group in Myanmar. Most live in Rakhine State on Myanmar’s western coast. Myanmar is a majority Buddhist state, but the Rohingya are primarily Muslim, though a small number…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Most of Thailand placed on storm alert
As Thailand continues to feel the effects of cyclone Amphan, officials in Bangkok and 62 of Thailand’s 76 provinces have been ordered to monitor for possibilities of flash flooding and other impacts until tomorrow, according to director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department. Authorities say 223 households in Nan, Lampang, Kalasin, Surin, Amnat Charoen, and Uthai Thani have already…
- Covid-19 News
New drug has potential to stop Covid-19 without a vaccine
Scientists at China’s prestigious Peking University say a drug being tested at a Chinese laboratory could not only shorten recovery time for those infected with Covid-19, but perhaps even offer short-term immunity. They believe it could “bring the coronavirus pandemic to a halt”. The director of the university’s Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Genomics told AFP that the drug has…
- Covid-19 News
Trial Covid-19 vaccine shows promising results – VIDEO
US biotech firm Moderna announced yesterday that its trial vaccine, the first to be tested on humans, appears to be safe and able to stimulate an immune response against Covid-19 infection, offering a glimmer of hope in the ongoing battle to contain the pandemic. (Interview with trial patient below) The initial findings, from the first 8 people to receive 2…
- Education
e-learning leaves many students locked out of new school term
Many Thai children, with no smartphone or internet to access online classes, find themselves unable to begin their new school term and participate in the online learning. The issue has become a hot topic among netizens after cases emerged in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province of children unable to join online classes. One 54 year old woman there says that…
- Northern Thailand News
Parents believe murdered Mukdahan girl was killed by a local
The body of 3 year old girl, missing since Monday, was found naked and apparently strangled in a forest in the northeastern province of Mukdahan on Thursday. Now her parents believe their daughter was killed by a local villager. “Nong Chompoo’’ Wongsricha went missing on May 10. After a massive search involving some 500 officers and volunteers, police in Dong…
- Northern Thailand News
African Horse Sickness spreads in the north east, death toll passes 500
The outbreak of African Horse Sickness, or African Plague, that emerged in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima recently, has killed well over 500 horses and now spread to neighbouring Saraburi province. At least recent 28 horse deaths in Saraburi are attributed to AHS, a highly infectious and deadly disease, according to Saraburi Livestock Development officials. The department vaccinated horses…
- Environment News
Phi Phi’s Maya Bay won’t reopen until fully rehabilitated
Maya Bay, Krabi’s main tourist attraction since it was featured in the 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio film ‘The Beach’, will remain closed as natural rehabilitation of the beach and bay continues, after vast areas of coral were destroyed by excess tourism and boat traffic. Indefinitely. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment says that in future boats will not be allowed…
- Crime News
Nakhon Si Thammarat gangster arrested over murder of wife’s lover
Police in the southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat have arrested a 32 year old local gangster and drug dealer for the murder of a 41 year old criminal associate last Tuesday. The incident took place in the evening, on the side of the road in the Klai sub-district of Tha Sala district. They identified the suspect as Sunathorn…
- Crime News
Pattaya motorbike taxi breaks through curfew checkpoint – VIDEO
A motorbike taxi in Pattaya broke through a police curfew checkpoint at around 10:30pm Friday. Though the curfew has now been adjusted to 11pm, at the time both the driver and his foreign passenger were in violation. The incident led to a police chase that was caught on video: Officers pursued the pair before arresting them on Sukhumwit Road. They…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 update: 3 imported cases found in quarantine (May 17)
Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, reported 3 new Covid-19 cases at this morning’s press briefing. All 3 are returnees, male students – 1 from Pakistan and 2 from Egypt. The new cases bring the national total of infections to 3,028 as the nation begins relaxing emergency restrictions and reopening shopping cetnres and other businesses.…
- Crime News
Unidentified foreigner arrested in Nonthaburi drug sting
77kaoded reports that police in Nonthaburi conducted a drug sting at a petrol station on Tiwanon Road late last week. They arranged to buy 20 grams of cocaine for 100,000 baht from a foreigner identified only as “Mike”, who arrived on a Yamaha motorbike. But as officers revealed themselves outside the petrol station toilets Mike realised his situation and ran off.…
- Northern Thailand News
Mukdahan border police seize 480 kilograms of marijuana
In a third major seizure in a matter of days, border patrol police seized 480 kilograms of compressed marijuana on the banks of the Mekong River in the northeastern province of Mukdahan. Authorities estimate the street value of the marijuana to be at least 10 million baht. A village head and 2 other accomplices were arrested, police told a media…
- World News
Cambodia discharges last Covid-19 patient, no new cases in a month
Thailand’s neighbour Cambodia has had no new Covid-19 cases for a month and its last patient has recovered and left hospital, leaving the country with 0 cases. But no easing of restrictions related to the virus, including school closures and border entry checks and quarantines, was mentioned in the statement from the Cambodian Ministry of Health. Cambodia’s last reported new…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok City Hall allows 10 more types of business to reopen
The Bangkok Municipal Administration, aka. City Hall confirms that more businesses in the city will be allowed to reopen today, including most shops at malls, in keeping with the second phase of the nationwide relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions. A BMA spokesman says its communicable disease control committee had eased restrictions on 10 business types. The businesses allowed to reopen are……
- Covid-19 News
PM looks for an exit from the Emergency Decree
Deputy PM Wissanu Kreangam says that PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha is ordering an in-depth comparison of the legal measures that can be used to control Covid-19 if the government revokes the state of emergency. The Emergency Decree, issued back on March 24, gave the PM and the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration extraordinary powers – implementing curfews, travel restrictions, restricting provincial governors…
- Crime News
Woman arrested in Chon Buri for false police report
Police in the Si Racha area of Chon Buri province have arrested a 31 year old woman who they say has confessed to filing a false police report about her gold necklace being stolen. Wanida Srinuan alleged that, earlier in the week, she was walking by the Noen Krabk Temple when an unidentified Thai man drove by and snatched the…
- Northern Thailand News
Airports open, quarantine rules and Samui – the latest
Airports of Thailand warns domestic airline passengers to check provincial travel restrictions before they book flights. Currently, there are 5 airports fully operational – Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang), Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Hat Yai, but only 4 airlines, namely Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet are serving them. Phuket airport was set to reopen…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 update: 0 new cases, 0 new deaths (May 16)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced that there no new reported cases of Covid-19 this morning at its daily press briefing, the second time in a week. The national total remains at 3,025 cases reported since the beginning of the outbreak. No new deaths were reported either, leaving the toll at 56. The southern island province of Phuket, which…
- Transport News
Thai Airways should file for bankruptcy: former finance minister
A former Finance Minister is proposing that Thai Airways formally file for bankruptcy, so the troubled national flag carrier can use the protection of the country’s bankruptcy law to begin rehabilitation. Kla party leader Korn Chatikavanich maintains that this is a “golden opportunity” for the financially battered airline to enter administration, under the bankruptcy process, and clear the way for real,…
- Covid-19 News
Government urged to investigate forced unemployment claims
A Thai labour rights group is urging the government to investigate whether some employers are abusing labour laws to avoid paying their workers during the Covid-19 crisis. The call was made during an online seminar on unemployment related to the outbreak. Some businesses are allegedly requiring their employees to seek unemployment compensation from the Social Security Fund, when they should…
- Covid-19 News
Shopping centres, department stores prepare to reopen tomorrow
Department stores, shopping centres and larger restaurants, as well as other businesses across the nation, will begin gradually reopening tomorrow after nearly 2 months of closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the national state of emergency declared to fight it. The decision to go ahead with Phase 2 of the easing of restrictions was announced yesterday, but has yet…
- Covid-19 News
University hospital unveils robots to assist in Covid-19 cases
A fleet of robots, designed and built with the assistance of Toyota Motor Thailand to reduce contact between Covid-19 patients and medical staff, was unveiled at Bangkok’s Ramathibodi Hospital yesterday. A a neurosurgeon at the hospital and head of the team that came up with the idea, presented them in a media briefing. “A prototype was developed in March, but…
