Neill Fronde

Neill is a journalist from the United States with 10+ years broadcasting experience and national news and magazine publications. He graduated with a degree in journalism and communications from the University of California and has been living in Thailand since 2014.
  • Thailand NewsDelivery riders want employee support and benefits | Thaiger

    Delivery riders want employee support and benefits

    Delivery riders in Thailand are calling for the next government to provide them with the same benefits as employees in other fields. Riders deal with work hazards ranging from harassment to road accidents, often without support or backup from their employers, including health insurance. Food delivery riders are often classified as “partners” instead of “employees.” This distinction results in a…

  • Tourism NewsTour guides to ask PM to act on illegal foreign guides | Thaiger

    Tour guides to ask PM to act on illegal foreign guides

    Chinese-speaking tour guides in Thailand have called for the government to take action against illegal foreign guides who they claim are stealing their jobs. The Professional Guide Association of Thailand held a meeting on Saturday to discuss the issue and vow to escalate the issue all the way up to the prime minister. The association lamented that the number of…

  • Crime NewsPolice arrest 2 “doctors” at 2 clinics without licenses | Thaiger

    Police arrest 2 “doctors” at 2 clinics without licenses

    Some things you might be able to fake without a proper license but two men were arrested for allegedly working as doctors without licenses in Bangkok and Pathum Thani. Their clinics were raided by Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD) yesterday. The first clinic, located in the Lat Krabang district of Bangkok, was busted for operating without a permit. The clinic…

  • Crime NewsPolice nab 3 Chinese nationals for kidnapping, extortion | Thaiger

    Police nab 3 Chinese nationals for kidnapping, extortion

    Police arrested three Chinese nationals in Thailand for allegedly kidnapping and extorting about 3.2 million baht from a Chinese woman. Officers arrested two men and a woman at a hotel in the Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province. A 23 year old Chinese woman studying for a bachelor’s degree filed a complaint with the Thong Lor police on Friday. In…

  • Politics NewsDonald Trump faces arrest, but is back on Facebook | Thaiger

    Donald Trump faces arrest, but is back on Facebook

    This weekend marked some highs and lows for former US President Donald Trump. Just one day after announcing his supposedly-triumphant return to Facebook, Trump claims that he expects to be arrested this coming Tuesday. It would mark the first time in US history that a president was arrested or faced criminal charges while occupying the White House or after leaving…

  • Bangkok NewsHealthy Station: improving Bangkok resident life | Thaiger

    Healthy Station: improving Bangkok resident life

    The Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) has expressed concern over the physical and mental health of Bangkok residents. They have launched the “Healthy Station” project which aims to promote a healthy lifestyle among Bangkok residents by utilizing public spaces. Bangkok is not the healthiest environment to live in, with toxic dust and pollution, eternal traffic jams and the high stress of…

  • Politics NewsNew bill to legalise sex work proposed | Thaiger

    New bill to legalise sex work proposed

    The Thai government is drafting a bill to legalise sex work to protect sex workers from exploitation. The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) has proposed the bill, which will also limit the minimum age to provide or buy the service. According to Narong Jaihan, a lecturer from the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University, sex workers under…

  • Crime NewsNew cyber crime law helps banks and victims | Thaiger

    New cyber crime law helps banks and victims

    A new Royal Decree on Cyber Crime Prevention and Suppression is now in effect in Thailand. The new law has provisions to help victims, banks and authorities combat illegal online activities. The decree allows victims of online scams to use a hotline to report mule accounts set up using their stolen identity immediately to 15 banks. Victims can also file…

  • Central Thailand NewsMissing Caesium-137 cylinder spotted at car wash | Thaiger

    Missing Caesium-137 cylinder spotted at car wash

    If you stole a cylinder of an isotope that is a main contributor to the total radiation released during nuclear accidents, would you throw it in your truck and go about your normal day? Authorities searching for a capsule of Caesium-137 believed to be stolen from a power plant in Prachin Buri on February 23 are following up on a…

  • Politics NewsWoman says Prime Minister’s security assaulted her | Thaiger

    Woman says Prime Minister’s security assaulted her

    Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is facing new scrutiny for the alleged misconduct of his security staff. Yesterday, The Thaiger reported on a woman charged with causing chaos in public as the prime minister passed. But now, former Puea Chart Party election candidate, Wanthana Othong, is telling her side of the story. She has filed a complaint against PM Prayut’s security…

  • World News‘Discipline’ vs science: 5.30am school start in Indonesia | Thaiger

    ‘Discipline’ vs science: 5.30am school start in Indonesia

    The early bird catches exhaustion. Starting school early in the morning has been found in numerous studies to result in a lack of sleep and decreased focus among students. In 2014, a landmark study suggested that school should never start before 8.30am. Additionally, a 2017 study found that starting classes at 10am led to a 20% improvement in the national academic…

  • World NewsSingapore 2 year old girl run over, possibly by her father | Thaiger

    Singapore 2 year old girl run over, possibly by her father

    Tragedy struck a family in Singapore on Monday when a two year old girl died in a freak accident. The young girl was run over by a van in a car park in the Woodlands area of the city-state, possibly by her father. Emergency services raced to the scene after the incident was reported on Woodlands Street at 2.40pm. The…

  • Transport NewsSingapore Airlines flight grounded after bomb threat | Thaiger

    Singapore Airlines flight grounded after bomb threat

    A bomb threat led to an emergency grounding of a Singapore Airlines flight in South Africa. Singapore Airlines flight SQ478 was grounded in Johannesburg yesterday following the threat. The aircraft landed at OR Tambo International Airport and all 58 passengers and 15 crew members successfully disembarked. The plane was flying from Singapore to Cape Town and was just doing a…

  • World NewsHouse thief caught by getting wedged in the door for 5 hours | Thaiger

    House thief caught by getting wedged in the door for 5 hours

    When robbing a place, is there anything worse than getting caught in the act? One Indonesian house thief found out the hard way that there is one thing worse – getting caught in the door. A man in North Sumatra found himself in a tight spot when he got stuck in a heavy door mid-burglary. The 30 year old criminal…

  • Pattaya News8,000kg of dead fish wash up on Chon Buri beach | Thaiger

    8,000kg of dead fish wash up on Chon Buri beach

    Nothing ruins a lovely day at the beach like thousands of kilogrammes of dead fish washing ashore. But the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources has at least confirmed the source of the vast quantities of chacunda fish gizzard shad that washed up on Bang Saen beach in Chon Buri province. It turns out the disgusting display of dead fish…

  • China NewsChina eases visa restrictions coming out of Covid | Thaiger

    China eases visa restrictions coming out of Covid

    China is relaxing some of its pandemic travel restrictions again. On Wednesday, the mainland will begin issuing a range of visas to foreign nationals, according to the country’s foreign ministry. The move inches China closer to full reopening, marking a departure from the zero-Covid strategy they had held tightly to up until a few months ago. A social media account…

  • Tourism NewsRecord numbers of Russian tourists affect economy | Thaiger

    Record numbers of Russian tourists affect economy

    Thailand has seen a sharp rise in the number of Russian tourists in the country. So far this year over 370,000 Russian visitors have arrived in Thailand. That’s 67% of last year’s entire total of 435,000. Pol Maj Gen Phanthana Nutchanart, the deputy commander of the Immigration Bureau assures though that the influx has not increased Russian criminal activity. The…

  • Tourism News4 new unique airlines look to open in Thailand | Thaiger

    4 new unique airlines look to open in Thailand

    Thailand’s Transport Ministry revealed that four new airlines are seeking to operate in the country, according to a source who spoke to the Thai news site Thansettakij. The four companies are P80 Air, Really Cool Air, Landarch Airline and Siam Seaplane. The source added that it would take some time to obtain air service licences. The four airlines were expected…

  • Tourism NewsVocational education to aid Phuket labour shortage | Thaiger

    Vocational education to aid Phuket labour shortage

    Phuket tourism completed a full turnaround from the Covid-19 pandemic days of no customers to so many customers that there aren’t enough workers to take care of them. Now, an agreement has been signed between the Office of Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) and representatives of the business sector in Phuket to address the labour shortage in the province’s tourism and service…

  • Politics NewsMan goes viral for resemblance to PM Prayut | Thaiger

    Man goes viral for resemblance to PM Prayut

    Many of us – especially the more homely amongst us – have probably wished they looked like a celebrity. But be careful what you wish for because one man has shot to viral fame for his uncanny resemblance to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Thai social media users were stunned after seeing images of a vocational education expert online who happens…

  • Phuket NewsTuk Tuk driver caught stealing Swedish tourist’s phone | Thaiger

    Tuk Tuk driver caught stealing Swedish tourist’s phone

    A tuk tuk taxi driver was arrested on Saturday in Patong for stealing an iPhone 14 Pro Max from a Swedish tourist in Patong. According to the Patong Police, Merdzana Pepic reported to the police station that she might have forgotten her mobile phone in a Tuk Tuk taxi. She had taken the tuk tuk taxi earlier in the morning,…

  • Phuket News78 baby sea turtles hatch, 96 more eggs laid in Phang Nga | Thaiger

    78 baby sea turtles hatch, 96 more eggs laid in Phang Nga

    It’s been a good week for sea turtles in Thailand, particularly in the southern province of Phang Nga. Not only did 78 baby leatherback sea turtles successfully hatch, but a green sea turtle laid 96 eggs this week. In a positive sign for conservation efforts in Thailand, dozens of baby sea turtles have hatched and made their way to the…

  • World NewsVideos released from NZ pilot hostage in Papua | Thaiger

    Videos released from NZ pilot hostage in Papua

    Three new videos have been released featuring a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by separatists in Indonesia’s Papua region. They call for the United Nations to mediate in the conflict in the resource-rich region. Philip Mehrtens, who works for the domestic Susi Air service, was abducted by the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) last month after landing…

  • World NewsMount Merapi volcano eruption in Indonesia | Thaiger

    Mount Merapi volcano eruption in Indonesia

    Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, erupted again yesterday, spewing volcanic ash up to 7 kilometres. Details of the eruption were reported by the country’s Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Centre (BPPTKG). The eruption occurred around 12.12pm local time and a lava flow of 1.5 kilometres was observed. For the past several months, the volcano situated on…

  • Environment NewsCoral Rehabilitation for Divers Volunteers protects reefs | Thaiger

    Coral Rehabilitation for Divers Volunteers protects reefs

    A new Coral Rehabilitation for a Divers Volunteers training program in Phuket has attracted several foreign divers interested in the restoration project. The course aims to provide participants with knowledge of how to operate procedures in coral rehabilitation following academic principles. The program, created by the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has…

  • Phuket News2 Phuket restaurants busted with protected marine life | Thaiger

    2 Phuket restaurants busted with protected marine life

    In Phuket, two floating restaurants have been busted possessing protected marine life in violation of environmental laws. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) inspected floating restaurants in Phuket on Friday to check whether they had protected marine life and found a stash. Social media posts shared the findings online. The DMCR inspection found that both restaurants had ornamental…

  • Phuket NewsDo your part: sign up as a Phuket Tourist Police volunteer | Thaiger

    Do your part: sign up as a Phuket Tourist Police volunteer

    For all the armchair activists and online commenters saying the police should take more action, now is your chance to help. The Phuket Tourist Police are looking for a few good men and women. They have announced that they are seeking foreign volunteers to assist with law enforcement on the island. But don’t delay – the last day to submit…

  • World NewsGhibli Park bars men from takes sexy pics with statues | Thaiger

    Ghibli Park bars men from takes sexy pics with statues

    It’s ok to love statues, but it’s not ok to LOVE statues. Visitors to Japan’s Ghibli Park will be prohibited from taking inappropriate photos with statues of characters from beloved animated films. The restriction comes after photos of men pretending to sexually assault young female characters were posted on Twitter last month. The photographs in question depicted a visitor capturing…

  • World NewsBullets found on plane cause evacuation in Korea | Thaiger

    Bullets found on plane cause evacuation in Korea

    A few stray bullets are enough to ruin an entire flight. Yesterday a Korean Air plane was evacuated after two live bullets were discovered on board. The incident took place at Incheon International Airport in South Korea. The plane was bound for Manila and had 230 passengers on board at the time. The discovery of the bullets resulted in the…

  • Pattaya NewsSattahip resort ordered to close for land encroachment | Thaiger

    Sattahip resort ordered to close for land encroachment

    A lesson that never seems to be learned time and time again in Thailand: if you’re breaking the law, maybe don’t advertise it on social media. A luxury resort in the Sattahip district of Chon Buri has been ordered to close due to land encroachment after recently posted advertisements on social media for sea-view rooms. Star Over Sea received the…