- Politics News
Kiwi PM Jacinda Arden to quit next month (video)
An emotional Jacinda Ardern announced she “has nothing left in the tank” and is standing down as New Zealand’s Prime Minister. The 42 year old revealed she will resign next month and will not take part in this year’s General Elections. A tearful Ardern told a press pack in the coastal city of Napier yesterday that Tuesday, February 7 will…
- Crime News
Bank of Thailand blames dating app for phone hacking
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) denied a claim made on social media that a man lost money from his bank account after recharging his phone at a public outlet. BoT believes the theft occurred because the man was a victim of a malware attack. Police also attributed the theft to malware, stating that the user had downloaded an unsafe dating…
- Entertainment
Netflix looking to pay cabin crew staff 12.7 million baht
United States movie-streaming giant Netflix is prepared to pay US$385,000 (12.7 million baht) to secure the world’s best-trained cabin crew members for one of its private airlines. The US subscription-based streaming platform announced on its platform yesterday that it is searching for “individuals with independent judgement, discretion, and exceptional customer service abilities and can work with little direction and a…
- Politics News
Deputy PM pledges to increase state welfare benefit to 700 baht
Not to be outdone by Pheu Thai Party (PTP) election promises Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon pledged to increase state welfare scheme benefits if he becomes prime minister in May. The PTP, led by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, vows to increase the daily minimum wage for Thai workers to 600-baht, introduce a 25,000-baht salary for graduates by 2027 and reduce utility…
- Crime News
Perverted teacher sacked after sending video of underage sex acts to school chat group
A perverted teacher who had sex with underage children in Nakhon Ratchasima and accidentally sent videos of the acts to a group chat has been sacked while a police investigation is underway. The teacher allegedly tried to commit suicide when the news broke. The unnamed arts teacher at Non Sungsritani Secondary School in Non Sung district in Nakhon Ratchasima, Isaan,…
- Thailand News
DCD predicts a fourfold jump in dengue and malaria victims in Thailand this year
The government’s Disease Control Department (DCD) reckons Thailand will see a huge jump in malaria and dengue fever cases this year. The Director-General of the DCD, Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong, believes the number of malaria and dengue fever sufferers will increase significantly by at least three or four times more than last year. “There were 10,174 cases last year, three times…
- Crime News
Android users urged not to charge phones in public in case they get hacked
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) is advising the public to exercise caution when charging their smartphones in public after a Thai man’s Android phone was hacked at the weekend. The CIB believe hackers have found a way of altering charging cables to steal personal information from phone users. Wisanusan Sam-pok revealed in a Facebook post on Sunday that 101,560 baht…
- Politics News
Shakhtar president donates £22 million of Mudryk Chelsea transfer fee to Ukraine war effort
The president of Shakhtar Donetsk announced he is to give £22 million (886 million baht) to the Ukrainian war effort after the transfer of Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea. Shakhtar chief Rinat Akhmetov sold Mudryk to the London club over the weekend for a record transfer fee in Ukrainian football of £89m. The donation serves as a financial boost for Shakhtar,…
- Crime News
Mafia chief nabbed by Carabinieri after three decades on the run
After 30 years on the run, Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested in Sicily by the Carabinieri police. The 60 year old was detained in a private clinic in the Sicilian capital Palermo, where he was reportedly receiving treatment. Denaro is believed to be a leader of the notorious Cosa Nostra mafia and has been sentenced…
- Road deaths
Five men fatally injured as pickup hits tree in N Thailand
Police reported that five men were fatally injured and four sustained serious injuries after a pickup truck veered off a rural road at a bend and collided with a tree in the Non Thai district, Northern Thailand yesterday morning. According to police, Sergeant Major Phayungkiat Waisanthia, who is based at the 11th Infantry Division in Bangkok, was driving eight friends…
- World News
Death row convict chokes to death
The Japanese Justice Ministry reported that a female convict on death row for the murder of two men choked to death. The Justice Ministry announced Miyuki Ueta lost consciousness while eating some food at the Hiroshima Detention Centre at about 4.20pm on Saturday. The cause of death by suffocation was confirmed by a doctor who examined her body after she…
- Bangkok News
Potential homeowners need to show some financial frugality this year, says Bangkok property platform
One of Bangkok‘s largest property platforms is urging potential homeowners to show some financial frugality this year if they’re planning to invest in the real estate market. DDproperty.com pointed out that property prices and interest rates are rising and warned buyers to show some due diligence. DDproperty.com General Manager Wittaya Apirakviriya reckons residential prices will increase by 5-10%, in line…
- Crime News
Another black life taken in US police custody
Three things are certain in life in the United States: day follows night, innocent people become fatal victims of random gunman attacks, and black people die in police custody. Already this year, three black men have lost their lives while in the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The latest black life to be lost while in LAPD…
- World News
Twitter staff in Singapore fired, more job losses in Asia predicted
Staff at Twitter‘s Singapore office were fired yesterday. Employees were told via email that they had to evacuate the CapitaGreen building premises by 5pm. An anonymous staff member informed the press that Singapore-based employees at Twitter have been temporarily reassigned to work remotely within the company’s internal system. According to a tweet by Casey Newton, the operator of the technology-focused…
- World News
Thai police collar slippery Singaporean scammer
Thai police finally caught up with a slippery Singaporean hacker in Bangkok yesterday and placed him, and his girlfriend, under arrest. Ong Jian Zhen allegedly scammed hundreds of social media accounts in Singapore and fled to the safe haven of Thailand last year to escape the wrath of his own country’s courts. Zhen was already on the Thai wanted list…
- Covid-19 News
Chinese tourists won’t trigger increase in Covid-19 cases
The Department of Disease Control (DDC) reckons the influx of Chinese tourists will not trigger an increase in Covid-19 cases in Thailand but added the department will evaluate the status of coronavirus infections in two weeks’ time. DDC Director-General Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong revealed yesterday that the average daily number of cases is 900, and the number of Covid patients in…
- Entertainment
Probe finally launched into mystery of missing Vatican girl after 40 years (video)
An inquiry into the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl 40 years ago has been launched by the Vatican after a request by the girl’s family. The 15 year old girl’s vanishing in 1983 sparked a number of theories and has been the subject of a popular Netflix series called Vatican Girl in 2022. Emanuela Orlandi, the teenage daughter of a…
- Tourism News
Cabinet announces change to holiday calendar
The government yesterday announced a change to the Thai holiday calendar. Government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul revealed the Cabinet has declared Friday, May 5, a special holiday, making it a four-day holiday for Coronation Day. The Cabinet agreed to change the date because this year’s Coronation Day falls on a Thursday, reported Bangkok Post. “The long holiday for Coronation Day will…
- Politics News
Soapy king makes PM Prayut’s inauguration slippy
Former soapy king turned amateur super-sleuth Chuwit Kamolvisit tried to gatecrash Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s inauguration into United Thai Nation (UTN) Party yesterday. PM Prayut officially joined the UTN Party yesterday where he gave an impassioned speech on how he values the democratisation process, seemingly forgetting that he toppled the democratic process when seizing power in a 2014 army coup.…
- Crime News
Police close unlicensed cannabis stalls in Pattaya
Pattaya Police swooped on unsuspecting cannabis stalls operating without a license in the Bang Lamung District at the weekend and closed them down. Officers closed five unlicensed cannabis shops, and arrested one man, after inspecting hundreds of stalls in Pattaya over the weekend, reported Pattaya Mail. Pattaya Police chief Pol. Col. Kullachart Kullachai and Dr Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, director-general of the…
- News
Fans boo Thai royal anthem at Blackpink concert
K-pop band Blackpink kicked off their world tour in Bangkok on Saturday to a chorus of boos. Thai media reported video clips released on social media shows fans booing as the Thai royal anthem played on stage as the words “Please pay your respects to His Majesty the King” appeared on the screen before the band took to the stage. Prachatai English…
- World News
Indian man jailed for urinating on 70 year old female passenger
An Indian man has been jailed after he urinated on a 70 year old woman passenger on an Air India New York to New Delhi flight. A New Delhi court sentenced Shankar Mishra to 14 days in prison for outraging the modesty of a woman while police investigated the incident on Saturday, November 26, 2022. If convicted, he faces up…
- Expats
Two Thailand population reports reveal conflicting data
Statistics provided by the Central Domicile Registration Office revealed that on December 31, 2022, Thailand’s official population stands at 66,090,475. The Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data contradicts this however, saying it is over 70 million residents. Last year, an announcement formally published in the Royal Gazette stated that the official population of Thailand as of December 31,…
- Expats
Italian legend Gianluca Vialli dies after long battle with cancer
Former Italy, Sampdoria, and Chelsea star Gianluca Vialli died at the age of 58. The Cremona-born Italian, who also managed Chelsea and Watford, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2017 but was cleared three years later only for it to return in 2021. Vialli played in Serie A, for Sampdoria and Juventus, before moving to Chelsea in England to finish…
- Expats
Prince Harry’s admiration for Jeremy Corbyn vilified by British establishment
The vilification of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle by the British tabloids continues to gather pace on the back of a new book written by the Duke of Sussex with the revelation that he backed former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Led by the Daily Mail, which has a particular axe to grind after the High Court in…
- Crime News
Eight found dead with gunshot wounds in a Utah family home
The United States added yet another senseless shooting statistic to a cast of thousands when a family of eight, including five children, were found shot dead in a house in Enoch City, Utah. Police discovered the bodies while conducting a welfare check at the property yesterday. No motive has been determined and no further information has been released about the…
- World News
Over a quarter of travellers from China test positive in Taiwan
Thailand may want to rethink its pandemic prevention strategy for Chinese tourists after news broke this week that more than a quarter of passengers from China landing in Taiwan tested positive for Covid-19. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) in Taiwan reported that over a quarter of the 500 plus travellers who arrived in Taiwan from China returned positive Covid…
- China News
Flights between Shanghai and Phuket, Guangzhou and Chiang Mai resume
Flights between Shanghai and Phuket, and Guangzhou and Chiang Mai, will resume this month says Shanghai-based Spring Airlines. The budget airline also revealed that flights from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and Taipei, will also be relaunched in January while the resumption of flights between the metropolis and Singapore is being considered. Another Shangai-based airline, Juneyao Air, announced late last month…
- Technology News
Thais can apply for a digital ID next week
Thai nationals using public services provided by government agencies will be able to apply for a digital ID card next Tuesday, January 10. Deputy government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul announced the digital ID will apply to agencies under the Internal Affairs Ministry first and then expanded to other government and private agencies, such as commercial banks. The policy will primarily focus…
- News
Love affair between Japanese porn star and Thailand goes on
The love affair between a Japanese porn star and Thailand continues. Adult movie star Rae Lil Black is back in the Land of Smiles to try and find a Thai husband, so she says. The 26 year old actress arrived in the kingdom on December 10 last year. Since then, the smoking-hot actress has been pictured in several locations boosting…
