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 NewsThai public health ministry warns medical workers of new Covid-19 wave in a secret document

    Thai public health ministry warns medical workers of new Covid-19 wave in a secret document

    The Permanent Secretary of the Thai Public Health Ministry, Kiattiphum Wongarajit, has launched an urgent report to warn the provincial public health officers of the “new wave” of Covid-19 in Thailand. The official Facebook page of the Rural Doctor Society reported on their “urgent and secret document” to the public yesterday. The page said… “The warning sign to get ready…

  • Thailand NewsThai energy chief suggests senators shed suits to save energy

    Thai energy chief suggests senators shed suits to save energy

    The Deputy PM and Energy Minister, Supattanapong Punmeechaow, has urged the nation’s senators to be energy-saving role models for Thailand. The 62 year old MP has suggested every senator should avoid wearing suits to reduce the use of air-conditioning in Parliament. During today’s senate meeting at the Parliament House senators, Sakon Satjayanit and Suradet Jirathiticharoen raised questions about solutions to…

  • Road deathsTeen killed and 2 year old in critical condition after motorcycle tragedy

    Teen killed and 2 year old in critical condition after motorcycle tragedy

    A teenage boy has died and a 2 year old child is in critical condition after an accident yesterday at a motorcycle racing charity event near Krapang Surin Public Park in the southern province of Trang. A motorcycle racer lost control and crashed into the watching crowd alongside the racing track causing 1 death and injuries to 7 people. Sixteen-year-old…

  • World NewsNo Thais were killed by Burmese bombs says army

    No Thais were killed by Burmese bombs says army

    There were conflicting reports yesterday of Thai residents being killed as a result of the bombs dropped on Karen village in Myanmar near the Prop Phra district in Tak province in northern Thailand. The media reported there were Thai casualties as a result of the bombing at the border on Friday but the Thai army denied this was the case.…

  • Bangkok NewsThai taxi drivers protest against extended GrabBike deadline

    Thai taxi drivers protest against extended GrabBike deadline

    Bangkok motorcycle Taxi riders and Taxi drivers today burned their orange safety vests in protest of the Transport Ministry’s decision to extend the licence of GrabBike riders for 2 more months. The company announced last week that every one of their Grab riders must register as a public transport operator and change their registration plates from white to yellow if…

  • Tourism NewsUnlicensed pool villa in Pattaya raided by police

    Unlicensed pool villa in Pattaya raided by police

    Residents living in View Point Village in Bang Lamueng district in Pattaya filed a complaint to the authorities after foreigners caused carnage at an unlicensed pool villa. The Assistant District Officer, Pornchai Sung-iad, investigated the View Point Village, where several houses operate as pool villas and found that a number of locals were concerned that more properties in the area…

  • Thailand NewsThai healthcare staff demand reduction to 100 hour working week

    Thai healthcare staff demand reduction to 100 hour working week

    Thailand’s overworked healthcare professionals have petitioned the leader of the opposition party to help them get better working conditions after it was revealed most of them work about 100 hours a week. The Thai Frontline Physician Confederation yesterday handed a letter to the leader of the Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat, outlining their demands. Chutinart Chinudomporn, a female Thai doctor…

  • World NewsRoyal Thai Air Force sends F-16 fighter jets to check air incursion by Burmese military planes

    Royal Thai Air Force sends F-16 fighter jets to check air incursion by Burmese military planes

    The Royal Thai Air Force sent 2 F-16 fighter jets to inspect Thai airspace after a MiG 29 fighter jet from Myanmar was detected flying over the Prop Phra district in Tak, the northern province of Thailand. Yesterday, the Royal Thai Airforce reported that an unidentified aircraft was spotted in Thai territorial air space at 11.16am. The plane was later…

  • Bangkok NewsPolice close joints on Khao San Road for selling cannabis without a licence

    Police close joints on Khao San Road for selling cannabis without a licence

    Police have closed all shops selling cannabis on Khao San Road in Bangkok for operating without a license on a public road. The police told the businesses that selling cannabis wasn’t wrong, but it is illegal without permission to do so. Since cannabis was decriminalised on June 9 and removed from the Public Health Ministry’s narcotics category, cannabis shops have…

  • Thailand NewsPayPal Thailand back this year for those with Thai ID Cards

    PayPal Thailand back this year for those with Thai ID Cards

    PayPal announced its service will be up and operational in Thailand this year under its registered company name PayPal Thailand. To use the service, current users would be required to verify their identities via the Thai National Digital ID platform, and this process requires a Thai national ID card. Obviously this is a problem for foreigners. PayPal made some changes…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok open-air film festival is free to moviegoers next month

    Bangkok open-air film festival is free to moviegoers next month

    Bangkok’s open-air film festival, Krung Thep Klang Plang, which means Bangkok open-air theatres, rolls out the red carpet for the whole month of July. The open-air theaters will be held at a number of different locations throughout the city, and the first event kicks off on July 7 at Laan Kon Mueng space in front of the Bangkok City Hall,…

  • Central Thailand NewsLocals urge officials to fix roads and halt pricey street lamp project

    Locals urge officials to fix roads and halt pricey street lamp project

    Locals from Nakhon Thong Village in the Racha Thewa district of Samut Prakarn, the central province of Thailand, have made an impassioned appeal to the media to highlight the provincial government’s neglect of their roads in favour of pretty street lamps. Samut Prakarn provincial officers continue to ignore residents’ calls to improve the district’s dangerous roads and thoroughfares. The road…

  • Thailand News400 new drinking fountains to be restored to Bangkok streets

    400 new drinking fountains to be restored to Bangkok streets

    Four hundred new pedestal drinking fountains will be reinstalled on Bangkok’s pavements. In December last year, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration assigned the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority to demolish 400 public drinking fountains from the city’s paths, that were first introduced in 1999, because they were old, creaky, and lacked maintenance. Metropolitan pedestrians complained to the authorities that they were unable to use…

  • Visa InformationMore than 100 foreigners in Phuket swindled by visa agency

    More than 100 foreigners in Phuket swindled by visa agency

    More than 100 foreigners in Phuket enlisted the help of a non-profit organization and a class action lawyer after they were swindled out of thousands of baht by visa agents. Asia Titan Group ATG, and Phuket Siam Corporation Service, are 2 of the visa agencies named by foreigners who were lured into handing over cash for a visa extension. The…

  • Bangkok NewsUPDATE: Former Special Branch Officer names police involved in illegal casino operation

    UPDATE: Former Special Branch Officer names police involved in illegal casino operation

    UPDATE An ex-Special Branch Bureau officer has revealed the names of police involved in the operation of an illegal casino in Bangkok that was raided last Friday and denies he had any part of it. Former Pol Lt Col Santana Prayoonrat was discharged from the police service 20 years ago after obstructing officers from making arrests in regards to an…

  • Crime NewsTaxi driver faces prison after allegedly attacking policeman while drunk

    Taxi driver faces prison after allegedly attacking policeman while drunk

    A taxi driver faces prison after allegedly attacking a policeman while under the influence of alcohol and fleeing the scene. The taxi driver, Charoensak Boonchuay, was spotted driving erratically by a police officer, Pongpan Ponchai, on his way home from work yesterday. Pongpan followed Charoensak until he parked his green and yellow cab in front of Huachiew Chalermprakiet University near…

  • Central Thailand NewsThai netizens berate government for wasting public cash on working holidays

    Thai netizens berate government for wasting public cash on working holidays

    Thai netizens have slammed government officials in the central province of Pathum Thani for wasting taxes on a pointless trip to Phang Nga and Phuket. Government officials from the Mueng Tha Khlong District were supposed to be taking part in a working seminar to develop women’s potential in Phang Nga, and Phuket, from June 23 – 26. But the non-profit…

  • Pattaya NewsForeign sex pest caught assaulting Thai beauty contestant

    Foreign sex pest caught assaulting Thai beauty contestant

    A drunken foreign man was caught sexually assaulting a female contestant at the recent Miss Universe Thailand beauty contest. The sex pest was captured harassing the woman at the parade, part of the Pattaya International Pride Festival 2022, last Sunday on a Facebook Live stream. Kasama “Tangkwa” Sue-tong, who was the third runner-up in the contest, told the Miss Universe…

  • Bangkok News3 Thai political activists tried to commit suicide in prison

    3 Thai political activists tried to commit suicide in prison

    Bangkok Remand Prison yesterday reported that 3 Thai political activists, jailed according to the lèse majesté laws, tried to commit suicide in prison due to stress. Two male prisoners slashed their wrists with a piece of metal while a third prisoner tried to overdose on 60 paracetamol tablets. Thai human rights lawyer, Arnon Nampa, yesterday announced the news on his…

  • Tourism NewsFake voucher victims demand action against Pattaya travel agent

    Fake voucher victims demand action against Pattaya travel agent

    Angry victims lured into buying fake vouchers worth millions of baht are demanding immediate police action against a Chon Buri-based travel company after six months of procrastination. Sixty victims yesterday submitted a letter to the Central Investigation Bureau commissioner asking him to follow up on their complaints about being conned into buying fake vouchers from the Colour Ocean Group. A…

  • Crime NewsSchool director fired after allegedly covering up rape of 11 year old girl

    School director fired after allegedly covering up rape of 11 year old girl

    An investigation has been launched to discover why the female director of a school in the central province of Kanchanaburi allegedly asked an 11 year old schoolgirl to keep quiet over her rape ordeal. The 11 year old girl was raped by a 12 year old boy in the classroom at a school in the Wichian Buri district on Tuesday,…

  • Bangkok News4.3 million baht seized in police raid on illegal casino

    4.3 million baht seized in police raid on illegal casino

    A police raid that seized 4.3 million baht from an illegal underground gambling den has sparked a bizarre war of words between the authorities and a nongovernmental organisation. More than 4.3 million baht was seized after police raided an illegal casino hidden on the underground floor of the Ayothaya Tower on Ratchadapisak Soi 18 in Huay Kwang district of Bangkok.…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket’s Central Patong shopping mall plans reopening and recruitment drive

    Phuket’s Central Patong shopping mall plans reopening and recruitment drive

    Central Patong shopping mall in Phuket is launching a large-scale recruitment drive on the back of plans to reopen after a year of closure due to the pandemic. Central Department Store, the managers of the shopping centre, informed stores in the Central Patong shopping mall of the temporary closure on February 1 last year. But on Saturday, the Thai department…

  • Thailand NewsPop star demands to know why her pet dog died on Thai flight

    Pop star demands to know why her pet dog died on Thai flight

    Thai pop star Prompwilai “Mimi” Leesiriroj has demanded an explanation from Thai Airways, and China Eastern, as to why her pet dog, Melody, died while travelling on a flight from Thailand to China on Friday. The 22 year old singer, also known as Mimi Lee, found stardom in China after she won a reality TV show called Produce 101 China,…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok approves 7 places to protest under Public Assembly Act

    Bangkok approves 7 places to protest under Public Assembly Act

    Bangkok has announced 7 public places where people can protest under the Public Assembly Act but stipulated that protestors must inform the relevant authorities before using the venues. Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt today signed a law declaration to approve the 7 public places in Bangkok. According to the statement, clarifying the specific places in Bangkok would help the city avoid…

  • Northern Thailand News60% of new HIV cases in a northern Thai province are from high school students

    60% of new HIV cases in a northern Thai province are from high school students

    Healthcare workers from the northern province of Phitsanulok claim they discover 2 HIV cases every hour, and that 60% of HIV cases in that area are found in high school students. The statement was made yesterday at a healthcare meeting to discuss the silent danger of HIV at the Crystal Conference Room of The Park Hotel, Phitsanulok. The conference was…

  • Bangkok NewsPassengers still required to wear face masks on BTS Skytrain

    Passengers still required to wear face masks on BTS Skytrain

    Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain operator today insisted that all passengers still have to wear a face mask on their trains and around the platform area despite an announcement on the Royal Gazette platform that face mask wearing is now voluntary in Thailand. The Royal Gazette last night surprised people in Thailand with the official announcement that wearing masks is voluntary in…

  • Tourism NewsPattaya bans local vendors from Na Jomtien Beach

    Pattaya bans local vendors from Na Jomtien Beach

    Local authorities have banned vendors from operating on Na Jomtien Beach after they colonized a new stretch of the seaside resort in Pattaya to sell their products. The authorities issued the directive following a conflict over the public spaces on the popular beach between local sellers in Pattaya and visitors. In April, authorities added more sand to the seaside spot…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok’s Bon Kai community fire victims provided free accommodation for a month

    Bangkok’s Bon Kai community fire victims provided free accommodation for a month

    The National Housing Authority has offered temporary accommodation for victims of a fire at Bon Kai Community in Bangkok. The authority says residents can stay free for a month and then pay 999 baht per month after that. The fire broke out on Tuesday at the Bon Kai Community on Rama 4 Road in the Pathumwan district of Bangkok. Fortunately,…

  • Thailand NewsThailand expects economy to grow 3% next year

    Thailand expects economy to grow 3% next year

    The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council expects the Thai economy to grow by 3% next year, even if there is more tension between Ukraine and Russia. The council’s permanent secretary, Danucha Pitchayanan, says by coordinating with every country Thailand can grow despite the current choppy economical waters the world has to navigate. The 51 year old…