- Northern Thailand News
Cross-border drug trafficking is a “leading concern”
Thousands of people have been arrested since October for drug trafficking in Northeast Thailand. Methamphetamine and cannabis cross the Laos and Cambodia borders into Thailand and make their way down to Bangkok other parts of Thailand. According to Bangkok Post, the issue has now become a leading concern for Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin. 18,360 people were arrested from 17,685 cases…
- Central Thailand News
Street vendor on-selling community pantry donations
One vendor seems to be using the pop-up “pantries of sharing” to their advantage, taking the donated grocery products and then on-selling them at a market in Rangsit, outside Bangkok. In a photo shared on Twitter, the products, like soy milk and instant noodles, have a label showing that they are from the community pantry. The community pantries have been…
- Crime News
Gang raids virus screening checkpoint and empties community pantry
A coronavirus screening checkpoint in Northern Thailand has been ransacked yesterday morning. Police say around 3 men cleaned out and knocked over the community pantry, which was stationed at the checkpoint, and destroyed some of the plastic chairs. Around 1 am, the group stormed the checkpoint, a tent step-up used to check people travelling in and out of the village…
- Northern Thailand News
African horse sickness: Imported zebras need health check and quarantine
Humans have the coronavirus, the animal world in Thailand has an outbreak of their own: African horse sickness. The government is now requiring all imported zebras to be quarantined and tested before entering the country. The same goes for horses. Why are people importing zebras? Who knows, but apparently it hasn’t been that hard to get the exotic animals into Thailand.…
- Northern Thailand News
Police arrest 3 involved in mystery woman’s marijuana syndicate
Police seized hundreds of kilograms of marijuana from a drug network run by a mystery woman in the Isaan region, north east Thailand. The syndicate was run by a woman known as “Jae Saigon,” meaning “sister on the merit path,” according to Bangkok Post. A photo from a police suspects chart shows a woman wearing a white robe and her…
- Crime News
Thai prison governor fired for allowing inmate conjugal visit
Should prisoners get a little love? Not in Thailand apparently. Recently, a prison governor was booted after he allowed an inmate to have a conjugal visit. Typically, a conjugal visit in Western countries means the inmate and the visitor are in a private room together with a sofa or bed, sometimes a TV. In this case, the inmate at the…
- Crime News
Animal activists claim police officer killed beloved campus dog
A Thai animal rights group is accusing a Chiang Mai police officer of abusing and killing a beloved dog, Tia, a stray adopted by students at Chiang Mai University. Watchdog Thailand, based in Chiang Mai, investigated the incident after the dog’s body was found last week and recently reported their findings to police, according to Nation Thailand. The autopsy of…
- South Thailand News
Officers demand 5 million baht bribe, hundreds riot – VIDEO
All claiming to be police officers, 3 men in Southern Thailand tried to extort a man for 5 million baht so he could avoid arrest. Somehow hundreds of villagers in Surat Thani got involved and surrounded the policeman’s Toyota Fortuner, according to Thai media. A video from Thai PBS shows villagers rocking the vehicle back and forth, and the rear…
- Central Thailand News
Man smashes coffee cup on policeman’s head after being told to wear a mask
A man has smashed a ceramic cup on a police officer’s head after he was told to wear a face mask yesterday in a province outside Bangkok. The officer, Thai media reports as 41 year old ‘Saroch’, was doing a routine check for coronavirus prevention, making sure vendors and business owners are abiding by emergency regulations. The Bang Nang Buat…
- Crime News
Man steals one million baht to pay off gambling debts
What would you do if you were broke and owed 800,000 baht in gambling debts? Rob a bank? Seems like the start of a movie, but that’s basically what happened earlier this week in Northern Thailand. On Monday, 2 men robbed a car at gunpoint in front of Bangkok Bank Branch in Chiang Saen and sped off on their motorbike, Thai media…
- Bangkok News
Temple closes to mark decade since redshirt crackdown
A Bangkok temple, where 6 people were shot and killed by the military during the 2010 “redshirt” political protests, has closed during the tragic event’s 10 year anniversary. A sign was put in front of Wat Pathum Wanaram saying it was closed for “disinfection,” according to Khaosod. But many see the significance of the closure relating to the events a…
- Central Thailand News
Man’s death raises alarm about homeless during the pandemic
A homeless man died recently of pneumonia, raising the alarm of Thailand’s homelessness problem during the pandemic. A few days before he died the man, who has not been identified, went to a community pantry in Suphan Buri, just outside Bangkok, and took home just one carton of milk, according to Nation Thailand. He then developed a fever last week, testing…
- Business News
Krispy Kreme employee allegedly fired after post about former Thai King
A man was fired from a Krispy Kreme Doughnut Thailand store after making disparaging remarks about a former Thai king. Now some people are boycotting the doughnut business for their actions. But Krispy Kreme executives deny the allegations. ‘Chaiyaporn Sornbudnak’ made a post on Facebook about King Rama IX, who died in 2016. News sites can’t even publish the man’s Facebook…
- Northern Thailand News
University lecturers suspended over sexual assault allegations
Two Isaan university lecturers have been suspended following sexual assault allegations The 47 year old male lecturer was accused of sexually abusing his own children – a 9 year old girl and a 7 year old boy, allegedly on several occasions. The man has been charged with statutory child rape, according to the Bangkok Post. The man was accused by his…
- Northern Thailand News
Mother leaves newborn in north east forest after giving birth
A newborn baby was found in an Isaan forest recently. Thai news reports say that the baby was covered in blood with the umbilical cord still attached. Luckily, the baby survived and is now in the care of a local hospital. A villager found the newborn while walking through the forest in the Nakhon Ratchasima province, north east Thailand, and…
- Covid-19 News
“Amazing Trusted Thailand” – tourism rebrands
International tourists still can’t enter Thailand, so the country is using this time to rebrand their tourism promotions. The aim is to add some “trust” in regards to the country’s health profile with hopes that tourists will visit Thailand worry-free. Tourism is going from the “Amazing Thailand” brand to “Amazing Trusted Thailand.” The intention is that they want tourists to…
- Covid-19 News
Thai company steps up to ease condom shortage
A shortage of condoms is one thing. A shortage of condoms while people around the world are stuck at home is another. Since a top condom manufacturer in Malaysia halted production due to the coronavirus pandemic, a Thai company is now stepping up to fill the gap. Thai Nippon Rubber Industry, the country’s biggest condom manufacturer, is increasing production by…
- Crime News
Woman accidentally shot during father-son fight in Nakhon Si Thammarat
A man accidentally shot and killed his daughter-in-law during a fight with his son last night in southern Thailand. After a heated argument around 7:30 pm Sunday, a father got out a shotgun to shoot his son, but the trigger failed, Thai media reports. The son, 33 year old Niran Rakkaew, then tried to grab the in the gun from his…
- Crime News
Phuket woman shot in her bed, ex-husband wanted
A young woman was shot at while she was asleep in her bed early yesterday morning in Thepkrasattri, central Thalang district. Her ex-husband is currently a prime suspect. 23 year old Duenphen Waree was targeted around 5:50am Sunday at her home in Thepkrasattri, Phuket, according to a report from Thalang Police. Waree’s mother woke up from the sound of 5 gun…
- Business News
Tesco addressing migrant worker abuse at Thailand distribution centres
Migrant workers at Tesco’s distribution centres in Thailand are being abused, according to an annual modern slavery statement from the UK-based company. Out of 187 migrant workers interviewed in Thailand, many had issues with unexplained and illegal wage reductions, excessive overtime hours, indebtedness through recruitment fees. Migrant workers at Tesco’s distribution centres in Malaysia had similar problems. Last year, Tesco reported migrant workers…
- Northern Thailand News
Dengue fever on the rise in Isaan
While the country is slowly getting a handle on containing the coronavirus pandemic, the Isaan region is tackling a bout of dengue fever. There’s been a rise of the mosquito-borne illness in Nakhon Ratchasima with 737 cases. Local health volunteers have ramped up initiatives to prevent the further spread of the disease. Abate sand granules are being used to kill mosquito…
- Covid-19 News
100 billion baht fund in the works for small businesses
A pay cheque might be on the way for small businesses that kept paying their employees, despite loss of business from the pandemic. An up to 100 billion baht fund, or 3 billion USD, is planned to be set up to help Thailand’s small businesses, according to Reuters. Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak said assistance from the Finance Ministry will be for…
- Covid-19 News
No sex for a month, Thai disease expert claims
Coronavirus survivors should wait a month before they get ‘intimate’. At least that’s what one Thai medical expert is saying. No sex for 30 days. For some, that may be worse than 14 days of quarantine. “Semen of recovering might carry the virus”, according to Veerawat Manosutthi, senior medical expert at the Disease Control Department, told Khaosod English. The claim is found…
- Covid-19 News
National parks may remain closed for another 2 months
One positive aspect of the pandemic is the affect park-closures seem to be having on the environment, specifically some of the animals living in the parks. Looks like Thailand’s national parks might continue to be closed for at least another 2 months. All of the 133 national parks were initially closed to limit tourism and visits to those areas and…
- Bangkok News
Architecture students propose redesign and makeover of Bangkok prison
Most of Thailand’s prisons are well past their designed capacity. Living conditions for inmates are cramped and unsanitary. Now some architecture students are trying to come up with creative solutions to improve the living environment at one Bangkok prison. They’ve been working on design proposals that would make the conditions more “humane” at the Thonburi Remand Prison. “Treeward” is one design…
- Covid-19 News
Tenants bailing out of pricey Bangkok offices amid pandemic
Bangkok’s high-end office district is looking more like a ghost town as the coronavirus pandemic seems to have many companies bailing out of their pricey office spaces. The increasing vacancy trend of Grade-A office space is expected to continue, possibly until a coronavirus vaccine is in effect, according to managing director of Phoenix Property Development and Consultancy, Surachet Kongcheep. Business owners have…
- Covid-19 News
Suicide deaths during pandemic could exceed virus-related deaths
Stress with money and other worries, brought on by the pandemic, have led a significant number of people in Thailand to take their own lives. Those who have studied the subject in Thailand say the number of suicide deaths this year could exceed the number of coronavirus deaths. Scholars in Chiang Mai University studied suicide cases that took place between…
- Central Thailand News
One death and many sick after eating dumplings
Around 2 dozen people got sick and 1 person died sometime after they ate dumplings sold by a street vendor in Samut Prakan, a province south of Bangkok. Bacteria was found in the dumplings, or kanom jeeb, after a lab test, but health officials say they’re still not sure if the bacteria caused the food poisoning. They’re still investigating before they…
- Crime News
Gang leader arrested for fraud million baht scheme
Police have caught the leader of a gang who stole millions posing as government officials to bribe contractors into handing over money for fake construction projects. The alleged boss of the scheme, 50 year old Rachasak Butpornprasert, was arrested at an Ayutthaya temple after being wanted by police for a year. Butpornprasert also goes by the name “Noppadol Srino” according…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Lightning kills one, injures another in northern Thailand storms
One man was killed and another was injured in lightning storms in northern Thailand. Both were tending cows on their farms. 62 year old Prachuab Phunok died while he was working on a field in the northeastern Mukdahan province’s Nong Sung district, near the Laos border. Police say he was sitting under a tree when lightning struck and killed him. Meanwhile…
