Neill Fronde

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 News

    Video of feet on bread appears to be from India, not Thailand

    A video and news story that sent an uproar through the Thai community of workers at a bread factory putting their feet on the bread before packaging has been revealed to have not taken place in Thailand. The Immigration Bureau had ordered a far-reaching check on breadmaking factories across Thailand and particularly in Bangkok to try to uncover the source…

  • Covid-19 News

    Phuket Covid-19: 3 new deaths, 322 released from medical care

    Phuket had 228 new infections and 3 new Covid-19 deaths yesterday, bringing the total to 64 since the start of the third wave of the pandemic in Thailand, with 16 of those deaths occurring over the last week and 44 of them happening in the month of September. The death toll stood at 20 as this month began, and has…

  • Bangkok News

    Partitions to be added to 3,000 taxis to fight Covid-19

    A pilot project is underway, launched by the Department of Land Transport, to install 3,000 partitions in taxis for Covid-19 safety throughout the month of October. The Minister of Transport Saksayam Chidchob stated they hope the move instils confidence in hired transportation services and increases public safety against the spread of Covid-19. The acrylic partitions will be installed in taxies…

  • Thailand News

    Police warn against OnlyFans creators dressing as sexy police

    After police arrested a popular Thai OnlyFans creator a few days ago and subsequently warned the people of Thailand that posting explicit content on OnlyFans or similar sites is illegal in Thailand, the Royal Thai Police have issued an additional warning for a specific subset of adult content creators they intend to crack down on. The police threatened that they are seeking…

  • Thailand News

    Quarantine shortening proposed for certain situations

    In an attempt to boost the economy, the National Communicable Disease Committee is proposing a shortening of quarantine periods for travellers under certain circumstances. The proposal was made in a meeting today of the committee with Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul chairing the meeting and vowing to pass on the plan to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The…

  • Bangkok News

    Bang Sue Station begins 150k vaccine booster shots tomorrow

    Bang Sue Grand Station will begin the rollout of Thailand’s booster shot program, a third vaccine to bolster the effectiveness of those that received 2 Sinovac vaccines previously. The director of the Bang Sue central vaccination centre confirmed the rollout will begin at 11 am tomorrow. The first round of injections will be for 150,000 people who initially were vaccinated…

  • Economy News

    PM Prayut announces a 5-point plan for the future economy

    In an online meeting hosted by the National Economic and Social Development Council, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced his intention to revise Thailand’s economic and production outlook and methods. The plan looks towards future trends and the increasingly ubiquitous digital economy and aims to get Thailand in line for growing the economy now and in new sectors. The goals would…

  • Phuket News

    Minor Phuket entry revision: Covid-19 test within 7 days, not 3

    The good news is, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew announced that restrictions and on entering Phuket will ease on October 1. The bad news is, this hasn’t been officially enacted yet and the actual changes to restrictions are extremely minimal. According to the announcement by the governor, a meeting yesterday of the Phuket Communicable Disease Committee has decided on the following overhaul: instead…

  • Pattaya News

    Pattaya restaurant busted selling alcohol, 15 arrested

    15 people were arrested at a restaurant in Bang Lamung, accused of drinking illegally in violation of Covid-19 restrictions in Pattaya. Last night, Pattaya City Police raided an unnamed restaurant in Jomtien that was suspected of selling alcohol. Officers arrived at the restaurant early in the evening to discover 9 foreigners and 5 Thai nationals plus the person running the…

  • Phuket News

    Phuket Covid-19: 1 new death, hospital occupancy rates fell

    With over 200 people being released from Covid-19 medical care in Phuket and 76 hospital beds freed up, the hospital occupancy rates fell to just over 82%, down from a peak around 90%. Today saw 239 new infections, a slight drop from yesterday, and one new death. The death was of a 47 year old man who smoked. He had…

  • Pattaya News

    Pattaya tourism focusing on Russian and Indian travellers

    Chinese travellers have been the bread-and-butter for Pattaya tourism, but with Covid-19 restrictions, The Pattaya Business and Tourism Association is focusing on Indian and Russian tourists instead for the planned reopening on October 1. The president of the PBTA had announced that while other cities and provinces have postponed reopening plans, Pattaya stands ready to reopen to international travellers in…

  • Phuket News

    Police suddenly began raiding Patong bars selling alcohol

    While it’s been illegal for bars to open in Thailand and the selling or consumption of alcohol in public is forbidden, police have been looking the other way as patrons sneak beers in bars in Patong, the famous entertainment and nightlife district in Phuket. But after over a month of this occurring under the radar, police have begun raiding and…

  • World News

    Tesla stock dive costs Elon Musk $7 billion, World’s Richest Man title

    While it may have been a rough week for many in the stock market, sell-offs hit Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk particularly hard. The often provocative tech innovator, crypto agitator, and founder of Tesla lost more than US $7 billion in 24 hours, knocking him from his perch as the world’s richest man. Before anyone starts a GoFundMe, it…

  • Covid-19 News

    Post-Covid condition MIS-C afflicted 30 to 40 children, 1 death

    A post-Covid-19 condition called MIS-C has affected 30 to 40 Thai children and may have caused the death of one youth. The condition, multiple-system inflammatory syndrome in children, can affect children and teens who had been affected and then recovered from Covid-19. The president of the Royal College of Paediatricians of Thailand explained that the condition is fairly rare but…

  • Phuket News

    Burmese man arrested for rape and assault of Thai woman

    A Burmese man accused of the assault and rape of a Thai woman he had hired as a maid has been arrested by Phuket City Police. The 42 year old man lives near the fishing port area in Rassada and was taken into custody after the Phuket Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant yesterday. The 47 year old woman from…

  • Phuket News

    Phuket Covid-19 passes 60 deaths, 100 Sandboxers, 9,000 total cases

    Several milestones were passed in Phuket regarding Covid-19 in the past few days as the death toll hit 60 while Sandbox infections passed 100, daily infections were over 250, and the total number of Covid-19 infections since the beginning of the third wave passed 9,000. More than 5,000 people have been released from medical care or supervision though. The past…

  • Pattaya News

    October Pattaya reopening on schedule according to mayor

    Despite Chon Buri having the fourth highest Covid-19 infection rate in the country, the mayor of Pattaya City said that they are ready and on schedule to reopen international tourism on October 1. While there has been a lot of doubt over partial or full reopening next month for Thailand, the mayor assured that the “Pattaya Move On” Sandbox program…

  • Tourism News

    Travel data to Thailand for 106 million people unprotected online

    106 million visitors to Thailand over the last 10 years were discovered to have had their personal information unsecured online. Comparitech, a cyber security firm that discovered the database, revealed that the data has been unprotected online without any password protection possibly for the last decade. The unprotected data included people’s full names, passport numbers, gender, residency status, date they…

  • Crime News

    Meth busts yield 882,000 pills and 5.6kg of meth in Songkhla

    2 drug busts over the last few days in Hat Yai and Bang Klam netted over three-quarters of a million methamphetamine pills and over 5 kilogrammes of crystal meth. Police in Songkhla had been conducting surveillance in order to uncover both suspected drug dealers before carrying out the raids that found 882,000 meth pills. On September 13, police arrested a…

  • Thailand Protest News

    Coup anniversary marked by car mob with over 1000 vehicles

    A massive car mob of protesters numbering well over 1,000 vehicles braved the heavy rain to call for the prime minister’s removal and to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the coup that began the trend of military control over Thailand. This latest in a continuous succession of protests against the current leaders of Thailand marks the anniversary of the coup…

  • Phuket News

    Phuket domestic travel rules need streamlining, officials discuss

    Officials in Phuket met yesterday to consider ideas about how to ease travel restrictions for domestic travellers in hopes of enabling domestic tourism to grow. With current harsh restrictions, mostly people with an imminent need to travel in and out of Phuket can jump through the hoops to access the island. Many business owners say they have seen little benefit…

  • Politics News

    Nida Poll: PM Prayut shouldn’t take over PPRP or form new party

    A new Nida Poll about the recent shakeups in the government with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and 5 cabinet members defeating a vote of no confidence shows that only 16% of people believe that the Prime Minister should become the new leader of the Palang Pratharath Party, while many feel it’s time for him to move aside and make way for…

  • Covid-19 News

    Covid-19: Detailed info on vaccinations, hospitalisations, and provinces

    Covid-19 numbers continue to slowly fall as today’s report from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration saw 117 deaths and 13,576 new infections in the past 24 hours. 131,095 people remain under medical supervision while 12,492 people have been released from medical care in the last 24 hours, bring the total recovered from the virus to 1,330,238. 395 of the…

  • Phuket News

    Covid-19 prison death yesterday the second this week in Phuket

    Today’s Phuket Covid-19 updated reported one new death, and now details are emerging on it, the second death of an inmate in prison. Phuket Provincial Prison officials have confirmed that an inmate has died of a Covid-19 infection after an outbreak discovered 2 weeks ago. The death was a 24 year old man who had lived in Baan Bang Duk…

  • Tourism News

    Local businesses say they aren’t profiting from Phuket Sandbox

    While large resorts and big businesses in Phuket might be seeing revenue from the Phuket Sandbox, interviews with small local businesses suggest they are seeing little to no benefit from the reopening with its strong restrictions. Most business owners agree there won’t be any real income for most until there is a full reopening with fewer rules and more nightlife…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Woman shot by stray gunfire during motorcycle shooting

    A 58 year old woman in Nakhon Ratchasima was shot by stray gunfire while eating in front of her house as a motorbike shootout occurred in front of her. Her son-in-law in his pickup truck was being pursued by the two armed motorcyclists when she got caught in the crossfire during the incident that occurred on Thursday night in the…

  • Crime News

    Phuket pair arrested in possession of meth pills, homemade gun

    After receiving a tip about the possibility of drug trafficking in Phuket, the Thalang Police carried out a drug bust that took two suspects into custody who were in possession of 310 meth pills and a loaded gun in Pa Khlok. The incident took place yesterday when police officers arrived at the address for which they had received a tip-off…

  • Covid-19 News

    Prayut to propose to CCSA to reopen theatres, allow filmmaking

    Fans of the silver screen may have some good news coming soon, as Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has agreed to pass on a proposal from the Creative Industry and Artist Network to reopen theatres and to allow filmmaking to proceed again. The prime minister met with representatives of the network which acts as a lobbying force on behalf of…

  • Northern Thailand News

    Woman dresses as astronaut to show moon-like road condition

    A Khon Kaen woman found a creative way to get the necessary attention from government officials to finally repair the terrible potholes on her road. Anyone who has driven around Thailand enough has encountered a road so rough and full of potholes that it resembles the surface of the moon. And if anyone wants to fake another moon landing, Khon…

  • Covid-19 News

    CCSA announces vaccination goals for October; 50% inoculated

    Today the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration released a statement outlining the vaccination goals for Thailand in October in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of their list items seem to contradict each other, with the CCSA vaccination plan calling to inoculate people 50% and then 70% and then “fully”. The main intention of Thailand’s vaccine efforts is to…