Petch Petpailin

Petch Petpailin

Petpailin, or Petch, is a Thai translator and writer for The Thaiger who focuses on translating breakingThai news stories into English. With a background in field journalism, Petch brings several years of experience to the English News desk at The Thaiger. Before joining The Thaiger, Petch worked as a content writer for several known blogging sites in Bangkok, including Happio and The Smart Local. Her articles have been syndicated by many big publishers in Thailand and internationally, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Bangkok Post. She is a news writer who stops reading news on the weekends to spend more time cafe hopping and petting dwarf shrimp! But during office hours, you can find Petch on LinkedIn and you can reach her by email at petch@thethaiger.com.
  • Thailand NewsRed Shirts lead rally against Thailand PM on August 23

    Red Shirts lead rally against Thailand PM on August 23

    The leader of the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, or Red Shirts, yesterday invited people to protest against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on August 23, the day before he officially stands down as Thailand’s PM. The 68 year old prime minister is expected to resign on August 24 after two concurrent four year terms. In Section 158 of…

  • Thailand NewsNetizens slam cannabis firm for encouraging underage users

    Netizens slam cannabis firm for encouraging underage users

    Thai netizens raised questions about the easy accessibility of a cannabis vending machine that has mysteriously appeared in Bangkok. Last Saturday, a Thai Twitter user, C.Veasarach, posted a picture of a cannabis vending machine in Bangkok, although did not state its exact location, named This Machine Is Green, with a caption that said… “Here it is… This is a vending…

  • Northern Thailand NewsSexy Thai model fined at 5,000 baht for dancing topless in club

    Sexy Thai model fined at 5,000 baht for dancing topless in club

    A sexy Thai model has been fined 5,000 baht for a public obscenity act after a video of her went viral dancing topless at a nightclub in the Isaan province of Khon Kaen. The nightclub was also fined for operating without a license. Paphavee “Oil” Chaimongkol, aka Oil Roi Joob, which means Oil Kissyface, was working as a DJ at…

  • Bangkok News83 Bangkok bars don’t meet safety standards

    83 Bangkok bars don’t meet safety standards

    Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt revealed that 83 bars in Bangkok lack the necessary safety standards to legally open and that the Chatuchak district is the worst offender. He insisted that if nothing improves those bars would be closed permanently. Chadchart yesterday answered media questions on health and safety in the capital’s entertainment venues. He revealed that he introduced strict safety…

  • Central Thailand NewsMan escapes death after pickup slams into unfinished drain in Thailand

    Man escapes death after pickup slams into unfinished drain in Thailand

    A pickup driver was lucky to escape with his life after his vehicle crashed into an unfinished water drain on a poorly lit road in Nakhon Pathom, in central Thailand. The driver walked away from the accident relatively unscathed after his vehicle had careered into the ditch in treacherous rainy conditions. The incident happened on the Malai Man Road in…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok bootleggers face jail after 2 million baht of booze seized

    Bangkok bootleggers face jail after 2 million baht of booze seized

    Two bootleggers in Bangkok were arrested yesterday and 2 million baht of smuggled booze was seized as part of a successful joint police and Excise Department operation. The smugglers face four years in jail and a fine of up to 400,000 baht Police officer Somboon Tienkhao revealed officers were tipped off that an illegal alcohol operation was being exercised on…

  • Thailand News2 Thai activists released on bail after 64-day hunger strike

    2 Thai activists released on bail after 64-day hunger strike

    Two Thai female political activists were released on bail yesterday after a 64-day hunger strike. They had been jailed under the Section 112 charge of defamation of the Thai royal family. The political activists, Natchanit “Baipor” Duangmusit, and Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkom were imprisoned in May under the lèse majesté laws. The court had refused bail many times during their imprisonment…

  • Pattaya NewsChon Buri night club blaze kills 13 & injures 40 people

    Chon Buri night club blaze kills 13 & injures 40 people

    Thirteen people died and more than 40 were injured last night after a fire broke out at the Mountain B night club in Chon Buri province. Located on Sukhumvit Road in the Sattahip District of Chon Buri, a blaze ripped through the one-story glasshouse, that has only one entrance in and out of the building, at about 1am when the…

  • Chiang Mai NewsMahout asks media to help find elephant tail hair thieves

    Mahout asks media to help find elephant tail hair thieves

    The managing director of the Maesa Elephant Camp in the northern province of Chaing Mai has appealed to the media to help track down thieves who broke into the camp to steal elephant hair to craft talismans. Anchalee Kanlamapijit, the managing director of the camp, contacted Thai media yesterday and asked them to spread the news about the elephant story,…

  • Crime NewsPedo father & 2 stepbrothers jailed for raping 12 year old Thai girl

    Pedo father & 2 stepbrothers jailed for raping 12 year old Thai girl

    The father and two stepbrothers of a 12 year old Thai girl have been jailed for the alleged rape of the child. The father, 46 year old Yapard Aree-air, and two stepbrothers, 19 year old Arun Saeng-atit, and a 17 year old Khao, were arrested and charged, after the girl reported the incident to police in the southern province of…

  • Northern Thailand News2 dead & 5 injured in gunfight between teens in Northern Thailand

    2 dead & 5 injured in gunfight between teens in Northern Thailand

    Two teenagers were reportedly killed and five injured when a gunfight broke out in the car park of an entertainment venue in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani. Eyewitnesses revealed that about a dozen teenagers clashed in the car park of Talat Nikon Thani on Chayangkun Road in the Nai Mueng District of Ubon Ratchathani, and about 70 to 100…

  • World NewsAirlines urged to avoid Taiwan airspace amid China’s military drills

    Airlines urged to avoid Taiwan airspace amid China’s military drills

    China warned airlines operating in Asia to avoid airspace over Taiwan over the next four days as the mainland’s military conducts a series of exercises until Sunday, August 7. In response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan yesterday, the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command of China announced that the country would conduct a series of military…

  • Northern Thailand NewsEight women killed in drug driving accident in central Thailand

    Eight women killed in drug driving accident in central Thailand

    A minibus driver allegedly under the influence of drugs who fell asleep at the wheel faces time in prison after killing eight elderly women passengers in the Isaan province of Khon Kaen. The minibus overturned and landed in a ditch on the Khon Kaen – Kalasin Bypass Road in the Phra Lap Sub-district, Mueng Khon Kaen District, Khon Kaen province…

  • Thailand NewsHopalong thief stole 150,000 baht of jewellery to fund cannabis biz

    Hopalong thief stole 150,000 baht of jewellery to fund cannabis biz

    A lame-leg university student who used a fake gun to rob a jewelry store of gold necklaces worth 150,000 baht in the Isaan province confessed he only did it to fund a cannabis plant business. The 24 year old, named Pornthep, held up the gold shop at gunpoint on Chom Pon Road in Thesaban Nakhon Ratchasima District in Nakhon Ratchasima…

  • Bangkok NewsChadchart to level up quality and safety of Bangkok street food

    Chadchart to level up quality and safety of Bangkok street food

    Chadchart Sittipunt yesterday met up with the National Food Institute to discuss the launch of a new Bangkok Safety Street Food project. The Bangkok governor headed a meeting with the project’s committee at City Hall to discuss plans to improve the quality and safety of street food in the capital. Now that almost all home working has stopped and most…

  • Pattaya NewsBanned vendors relocated opposite Na Jomtien Beach

    Banned vendors relocated opposite Na Jomtien Beach

    The local vendors banned from setting up shop and selling food and drinks on Na Jomtien Beach in June have been relocated and are now open for business again. Vendors may be still miffed by having to move but it’s good news for tourists and travelers who now have more space to enjoy the golden sands, instead of having to…

  • Bangkok NewsWoman demands cash from Bangkok mall after being bitten by a venomous snake

    Woman demands cash from Bangkok mall after being bitten by a venomous snake

    A Thai woman complained on social media that a Bangkok shopping mall refuses to take responsibility after she got bitten by a venomous snake in the mall’s car park in the Bang Kae district. The woman posted her story on Facebook under the account name, Apple Samart, on July 31, where she uploaded pictures of the offending snake, a red…

  • Northern Thailand NewsBodies of a couple found buried in Isaan province remain unknown

    Bodies of a couple found buried in Isaan province remain unknown

    The naked corpses of a Thai woman and a foreign man discovered buried in a forest near Baan Tung Arun Community in Chok Chai district, Nakhon Ratchasima, or Korat, Isaan province, remain unidentified. Police reported yesterday that the investigation to find out who they were continues after revealing enquiries had been made to a number of hospitals specializing in silicone…

  • Thailand NewsShiitake happened to nearly 2,000 victims in Thailand who lost over 1 million baht in a mushroom farm scam

    Shiitake happened to nearly 2,000 victims in Thailand who lost over 1 million baht in a mushroom farm scam

    Shiitake happened to about 2000 people who invested in a mushroom farm in the Isaan province of Sakhon Nakhon after scammers without good morels said thank you very mush to more than 1 million baht of their cash. The media reported that Turtle Farm in Sakhon Nakhon invited people from all over Thailand to invest and become shareholders in the…

  • Bangkok NewsNew Bangkok tunnel closed on opening day due to flood

    New Bangkok tunnel closed on opening day due to flood

    You couldn’t make this up. Finally, after 13 years of construction, the new Fai Chai Tunnel in Bangkok officially opened yesterday only to close due to a flood. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt last month visited the unfinished Fai Chai Tunnel to talk with the Director of the Public Work Department, Taiwut Khankaew, about the project’s delay. Chadchart made a few…

  • Thailand NewsWoman urges people to beware of air-con scam in Thailand

    Woman urges people to beware of air-con scam in Thailand

    A Thai woman warned people to be careful after she was scammed into buying two second-hand air conditioning units with a secret top-up installment plan. The woman posted her story on Facebook, under the moniker June Smile, of how she was conned into buying two air-con units with an extra 900 baht a month top-up plan despite believing she had…

  • Central Thailand NewsHouse in central Thailand collapses & kills 88 year old woman

    House in central Thailand collapses & kills 88 year old woman

    An 88 year old woman died yesterday after her house in Ang Thong province in central Thailand collapsed on top of her. The heavy rain was too much for the 100 year old construction, located in the Bang Chak sub-district, Wiset Chai Chan District, in Ang Thong, and the roof literally fell in. The house was built in a traditional…

  • Central Thailand NewsThai man beset by Black Magic faces jail for stealing holy relic

    Thai man beset by Black Magic faces jail for stealing holy relic

    A Thai druggie obsessed with Black Magic faces five years in jail and a 100,000 baht fine after stealing a holy statue from some military premises. Habitual drug taker Thongchai Saengtrakarn was arrested yesterday after stealing the holy statute from the entrance of the Defence Technology Institute in Nontha Buri province near Bangkok on Thursday, July 28. The 38 year…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok chief says 300 water pumps need changing to fix floods

    Bangkok chief says 300 water pumps need changing to fix floods

    Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt called upon the city’s private sector to help solve the capital’s age-old flooding conundrum. The 56 year old chief said he is determined to sort out Bangkok’s perpetual drainage system. He revealed that, after a thorough investigation, the city needs to replace about 300 water pumps that are over 15 years old. Last Friday, Chadchart inspected…

  • Road deathsPatient dies after the route of emergency rescue van blocked

    Patient dies after the route of emergency rescue van blocked

    A heartless nurse who blocked the path of an ambulance, and therefore delayed its journey to help a critical patient, is threatening to sue the emergency services and netizens who criticised her after she complained about the ambulance. The patient later died because the emergency service van did not get there in time. Tal Sulawan, a practical nurse in the…

  • Central Thailand NewsKilljoy scientist poo-poos Thai hermit’s supernatural power show

    Killjoy scientist poo-poos Thai hermit’s supernatural power show

    The video of a hermit showing off his supernatural powers by sitting in a large pan of boiling water has resurfaced after two years and gone viral. But, a killjoy scientist has dismissed the supernatural claim as nothing but smoke and mirrors. The video featuring the hermit, also a Thai tattoo artist, standing and sitting in a giant wok of…

  • Central Thailand NewsBomb explosion injures 5 students in a Thailand school

    Bomb explosion injures 5 students in a Thailand school

    Five teenage students were injured yesterday after a ping pong bomb exploded in the classroom of a technical college in the central province of Ayutthaya. One of the students was carrying the bomb inside a school bag and when he accidentally dropped the bag at about 11am it exploded injuring him and four of his classmates. Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok film festival urged to avoid deep south torture movies

    Bangkok film festival urged to avoid deep south torture movies

    The Internal Security Operation Command urged Bangkok’s open-air film festival to avoid screening movies or documentaries related to torture in the deep south provinces of Thailand. The military department said the event should only bring happiness and smiles to residents. Bangkok’s open-air film festival, which rolled out the red carpet on July 7 at Laan Kon Mueng space in front…

  • Northern Thailand NewsA debt-ridden Thai woman seeks help after spiky durian assault

    A debt-ridden Thai woman seeks help after spiky durian assault

    A Thai woman in the northern province of Lamphun has asked for media help after she was assaulted with some durian fruit because of a loan shark debt. The woman, Duangduen, revealed she borrowed about 20,000 baht from a money lender to open a shop with a friend last year. But things spiraled out of control and the interest repayment…

  • Bangkok NewsThai couple killed in drink driving incident in Bangkok

    Thai couple killed in drink driving incident in Bangkok

    A Thai couple selling food on a footpath along Rama 3 Road in Bangkok were killed yesterday in a drink driving incident. The drunk driver was caught by residents while trying to flee the scene. The two deaths happened in front of a food court named I SEE SEE on Rama 3 Road at about 5pm yesterday. The couple who…