Jon Whitman
- Thailand News
Selfridges’ Thai owners take on 70 billion baht debt
Central Group, Selfridges’ Thai owners along with Austrian enterprise Signa Holdings, have taken on another £1.7 billion (US$ 2 billion, 70 billion baht) of debt in a strategy to increase investment returns. The London branch of Bangkok Bank provided the loan, secured against the lease on the retailer’s London flagship store. Selfridges said the loan would “release capital” for the…
- Tourism News
Expensive flights to Thailand too hot for Chinese mainland mainstream
Expensive flights to Thailand from bigger cities in China are delaying Thailand’s tourism recovery. Most tariffs are still one and a half times more than pre-pandemic prices, while for smaller cities, fares are more than double previous levels According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn, while most tickets are cheaper than last year, prices for March…
- Thailand Election News
UTN deputy leader accused of taking King’s name in vain
A Saturday speech at an election rally by deputy UTN leader Trairong Suwankiri that referred to the Thai royal family has set a former election commissioner’s ears buzzing. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s brand new Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party (United Thai Nation/UTN) could be in trouble. The new political force is already looking somewhat slightly tarnished, as a senior PM…
- Tourism News
Nok Air begins Bangkok-Hyderabad flights
Thailand’s budget airline Nok Air has begun direct Bangkok-Hyderabad flights linking the Thai capital with India’s IT hotspot. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 189 Economy Class seats plies the nonstop route from Don Mueang International Airport to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport four times per week. Nok Air begins Bangkok-Hyderabad flights The new route provides Hyderabad, a major centre for the…
- Hot News
Grab Food delivery guys do the funniest things…
A clip of a Grab Food delivery guy who suddenly started entertaining diners on the piano at a bakery in Khon Kaen in northeast Thailand went viral this weekend. The clip shows the delivery guy playing the piano and singing a song while waiting to pick up his order. And he’s not half bad. Restaurant goers were visibly delighted and…
- World News
J-Hope of BTS to begin mandatory military service
J-Hope of BTS has become the second member of the K-pop group to begin his mandatory military service in South Korea. J-Hope, a member of K-pop supergroup BTS, has cancelled his request to delay enlistment, the group’s agency said Sunday, in a move to join the country’s military service. The 29 year old singer had previously applied for a postponement…
- Northern Thailand News
Udon Thani thief with a heart of gold, and head of lead
What happened to an Udon Thani thief last week could so easily happen to any of us. You are strolling down the street – or cycling – and something in a shop window catches your eye, shiny and glittery. You pause to admire some random treasure beyond the glass and you think: “That’s beautiful. I’d love to own that.” But…
- Health
FDA seizes imported Chinese food
The Food and Drug Administration seized almost 4,000 items of imported Chinese food from seven Bangkok stores yesterday. FDA deputy secretary-general Weerachai Nolwachai said his agency had discovered that 3,783 food products sold at the stores had not been certified by the Thai FDA. Weerachai said… “They have no proper labelling for food products, and no Thai labels. None of…
- Things To Do
Preserving Thailand’s historic railway heritage
In most countries, people take great pride in their railway systems. Thailand’s historic railways, however, occupy a different place in the national psyche. Time, money and effort go into the conservation of valuable public assets around the world that give a sense of place, beauty and identity. When developers want to tear down old railway stations, people take to the…
- Chiang Mai News
Where’s our money? Chiang Mai bank loses farmers’ 100 million baht
More than 200 angry members of an agricultural cooperative laid siege to Chang Phueak Police Station in Chiang Mai on Friday demanding to know where their farmers‘ 100 million baht has gone. Members of the San Pa Tong Agriculture Cooperative claim that more than 100 million baht (US$2.8 million) deposited with a “reputable bank” has vanished from their account. Police to…
- Transport News
Thai Airways to merge with Thai Smile to ‘reduce losses’
Thai Airways is to merge with Thai Smile to “reduce losses.” The plan is expected to be approved by the end of this year. Piyasvasti Amranand, chairman of THAI’s committee overseeing the airline’s rehabilitation, said the restructuring had been on the cards for a while and had always been part of the plan. “A study about the merger plan is…
- Hot News
Thai wife murdered in Yorkshire Dales – British police go home
A British police cold-case squad are in Thailand to speak with the family of a Thai wife murdered in the Yorkshire Dales. Twenty years after the half-naked body of Lamduan Seekanya, was found in a stream near Pen-y-ghent in 2004, officers failed to interview her husband, prime suspect David Armitage. For 15 years the identity of the woman remained unknown…
- Entertainment
Netflix subscription fees cut to outmanoeuvre rivals
Streaming giant Netflix has cut subscription prices by up to 60% in over 30 countries, including Thailand. Netflix subscription fees are seen as too high amid serious competition. The move to cut prices could boost growth. Why do Netflix subscription fees matter? While streaming services such as Apple TV+ and Disney+, have decided to hike subscription rates, Netflix has decided…
- Entertainment
Is TikTok disinformation threatening ‘democracy’ in Thailand?
Especially at voting time, fears grow of TikTok ‘disinformation’ threatening democracy. Politicians and their paymasters are terrified that they can no longer control the supply of information to the public, thanks to platforms like Facebook and TikTok. With Thailand’s general election only a few months away, the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) is battling to take back control of information…
- Transport News
Thai Airways Q4 loss narrows
Thai Airways Q4 profit almost tripled as tourists started to return to the holiday kingdom. The carrier’s net income for the three months ending December 31 rose to 11.2 billion baht (US$300 million) from 4 billion baht a year earlier, chief executive officer Chai Eamsiri said on Friday. Thai Airways Q4 profit to support strong growth in 2023 Operating income…
- Business News
Malware and ransomware biggest threat to Thai businesses
Malware and ransomware continue to be just as much of a threat to businesses this year as last, according to a cybersecurity firm FortiGuard Labs. The global cyber threat study and research team, found malware and ransomware with sophisticated attack patterns and delivery remain the main threats to Thai organisations. Vulnerability will increase During the fourth quarter of 2022, FortiGuard…
- Things To Do
Best park runs in Bangkok
There’s no better way to take in the sights of Bangkok than by running. Public transportation away from the metro systems is useless. Taxis and tuk tuks are a baffling rip-off. The city is far too big to walk around. Park runs in Bangkok are the most fulfilling transportation routes in the city. One of the coolest places to see…
- Health
Reserves of Rh-negative blood in Thailand critically low
Reserves of Rh-negative blood in Thailand are critically low, a challenge that can only be met with the help of the international community. Like most Asian nations, Thailand has a very low prevalence of Rh-negative blood, with some suggesting as few as three in every 1,000 Thais have this blood type, compared to around 15% of Westerners. There are only…
- Expats
‘My husband keeps disappearing to Thailand’ – and I don’t know why
It sounds like a bad dream. But for one woman it is the very sad reality of her marriage. The New York Post reported how a 70 year old woman shared on UK television that after 50 years of marriage, her husband keeps disappearing to Thailand and spending “hundreds of pounds there monthly.” Speaking on a segment called the “Dear…
- Tourism News
Forest encroachment at Thap Lan puts tigers at risk
Forest encroachment at Thap Lan National Park in Prachin Buri – the heartland of Thailand’s tiger population – has become so severe that Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa is considering the possibility of new borders being drawn up. Varawut said… “I’m confident the government won’t be disadvantaged by using forest borderlines to solve this problem inside the park.…
- Environment News
Restoration of Maya Bay balances tourism, sustainability
The restoration of Maya Bay, Thailand, balances tourism with sustainability. Phi Phi Islands’ tropical paradise, made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie The Beach, has drastically reduced visitor numbers, and sea life is flourishing. The beach was closed in 2018 and before the pandemic hit, and in many respects, the past two years without pressure from great numbers of visitors have…
- South Thailand News
New species of orchid found in S.Thailand
A team of botanists from Prince of Songkla University have described a new species of orchid, Aphyllorchis periactinantha, at the Paribatra waterfall in Ton Nga Chang wildlife sanctuary in the southern province of Songkhla. A team of scientists led by Sahut Chantanaorrapint, a professor from Prince of Songkla University biology department first identified the new species. Sahut said the Paribatra…
- Transport News
China’s home-grown cruise ship close to launch
China plans to make a big splash with the launch of its first home-grown cruise ship later this year. It will be the nation’s first voyage into a sector dominated by European shipyards, and a critical step in reducing reliance on external sources. Lavish, unsinkable and afloat by May Known as the H1508, construction began in October 2019 and she…
- Hot News
Bing gagged after ‘ugly’ journalist compared to Hitler
Microsoft’s new Bing search engine has been gagged since a supposedly dentally-challenged journalist was compared to Hitler. The upgraded search engine with new artificial intelligence (AI) functionality, powered by the same kind of technology as ChatGPT, was announced earlier this month. The Bing bot was meant to be all about how AI will change the way people access information online.…
- Crime News
‘Big Joke’ team search home of alleged triad leader Yu Xinqi
Following last week’s Facebook revelations by the Pied Piper of Bangkok Chuwit Kamolvisit, immigration police Saturday searched a house in Bangkok’s posh Watcharaphol area belonging to alleged triad leader Yu Xinqi. The house belongs to the Chinese businessman who Chuwit alleges set up the Shaanxi Association of Thailand, without a license from the Ministry of Interior. The search of the house…
- Hot News
Thailand women’s footie team to miss WC finals
It’s been more than three years since Thailand‘s women’s football team were given the biggest-ever spanking at a women’s World Cup, a 13-0 hammering by the United States. The humiliation left woman’s football in a perilous state in the kingdom. New-look Thailand’s women’s soccer team On Saturday, a new-look Thailand team with a confident head coach and the youngest group…
- Crime News
Chiang Mai mother pays 400 baht (plus extras) for husband’s murder
A Chiang Mai mother trapped in a loveless marriage of more than 20 years, last week decided that she had taken enough beatings and abuse. Living in the village of Khun Yuam, Kanda Cheewasawat was exhausted by the brutality of her vicious, drunken husband Phetchaburapa Meesri many years before. She had often tried to leave, but he wouldn’t let her.…
- World News
ASEAN to rescue trafficking victims from Chinese gangs
Thailand is a key destination country for migrant workers, human trafficking, and forced labour. Many IT jobseekers who end up in Thailand look to ASEAN to rescue trafficking victims recruited by Chinese gangs as slaves in cybercrime factories. ASEAN is now to help rescue these trafficking victims reeled in with promises of high-paying jobs overseas which turn out to be…
- Hot News
Warrior Zhuo and the Fish Farmer, a TikTok love story
As women all over the world struggle to avoid nuptial nonsense if they can, the ancient institution has lost none of its lustre in China, where love and marriage blossom beside the street, and Warrior Zhuo met her match. Chinese media loves a love story. Zero-to-hero narratives with fairy-tale endings are not hard to find in the world’s most populous…
- Phuket News
Russian brotherhood stealing Phuket jobs
Hotels are unwelcoming. In the massage parlours, everyone is tense. Down Walking Street, in the girly bars, excitement is high and the air is filled with fearful chatter. The girls are aquiver in anticipation. The Russian ‘brotherhood’ (bratva) stealing Phuket jobs is bringing a whole new style of beatings and rapes to Thailand’s peaceful brothels. How will the new regime…
