- Tourism News
Rare display of Bryde’s whales wows tourists in Andaman Sea
Tourists enjoying a boat trip yesterday were treated to a rare display of a pair of Bryde’s whales showing off in the Andaman Sea off Phang Na province. According to Lertsak Ponklin, the president of Phang Nga Tourism Business Association, the two giant sea mammals were spotted frolicking in the Similan Islands National Park. The tourists aboard the Wow Andaman…
- Expats
‘Water Festival 2023’ promotes traditional Thai culture
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced plans to promote traditional Thai culture with a series of events for Songkran under the “Water Festival 2023” banner in four regions between April 13 and 16. The event is a collaborative effort between TAT, Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd (ThaiBev), and several other partners, including the Culture Ministry, the Royal Thai Navy,…
- News
Painting stolen by Nazi Party to be returned to Jewish decendants
A painting from the 19th century that was once owned by Hermann Goering, a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, is going to be returned to the descendants of its original Jewish owner. The Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University in Britain agreed to return a painting by French artist Gustave Courbet to the descendants of its original Jewish owner, who…
- World News
Thailand’s neutrality ensures exclusion from US Summit for Democracy
It appears Thailand’s nonpartisan stance toward China and Russia ensured their exclusion from the United States’ Summit for Democracy meeting yesterday. Thailand pledged to remain neutral in regard to the Russia-Ukraine conflict last year and also refused to get drawn into the US’ latest warmongering plans against China ensuring the kingdom’s absence. Just like in 2021, only the Philippines, Malaysia,…
- News
Bangkok’s Le Du the toast of Thailand after scooping ‘Best Restaurant in Asia’ award
Bangkok’s Le Du was the toast of Thailand last night after being crowned “The Best Restaurant in Asia 2023” at the exclusive culinary award ceremony, climbing three places to No.1 from No.4 last year. According to new rankings released by the 50 Best Organizations, Japan is the top destination in Asia for gastronomes this year, with 17 of the “best”…
- Environment News
Chiang Mai tour operators concerned over pollution, bookings down 50%
Tour operators in Chiang Mai raised concerns after the latest tourism figures revealed bookings were down 50% after the popular tourist destination was ranked the world’s most polluted city. But that’s not all, respiratory diseases in the province continue to rise The air quality index produced by Swiss company IQAir revealed that Chiang Mai had a reading of 216 at…
- Politics News
Keir Starmer’s cowardly betrayal of Jeremy Corbyn (video)
The decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to stop Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour Party candidate will be seen by many members as a cowardly betrayal of Biblical proportions, of Brutus stabbing Caesar in the back, and ironically Stalinesque! The NEC yesterday voted 22-12 in favour to prevent the former Labour Party leader from standing as an…
- Songkran News
Get soaked in fun, frolics and Thailand’s Songkran Festival
Filled full of festivals, fun and frolics, April is one of the most celebrated months of the year in Thailand with the traditional Thai New Year of Songkran one of the most culturally important celebrations in the kingdom. The Songkran festival is known worldwide and is celebrated to honour family values, pay respect to seniors, and participate in traditional ceremonies…
- Environment News
Managing blacktip reef sharks in Maya Bay, Thailand
The National Parks Department of Thailand aims to enhance the management of the country’s popular tourist conservation areas following the return of blacktip reef sharks to Maya Bay. Maya Bay was closed for four years, from 2018 to 2022, to facilitate the recovery of the island’s wildlife. The bay’s popularity surged after the release of the 2000 movie The Beach,…
- News
Thailand set to be the location of White Lotus season III
The location for the next series of the award-winning HBO drama White Lotus is Thailand, according to Variety magazine. Series creator, writer, and director Mike White was seen in Thailand at a Four Seasons location late last year setting media tongues wagging that the Land of Smiles would be the destination for series three of the gripping drama. Series one…
- News
Motorists in Thailand warned to pay outstanding fines this week or else!
Motorists in Thailand have been warned that they will not receive their annual vehicle registration tax sticker if they have outstanding traffic fines by this weekend. The government today announced that motorists have until Saturday, April 1 to settle any unpaid traffic fines otherwise they will not receive their annual vehicle registration tax sticker to display on their windshields. Furthermore,…
- News
People in Thailand spend too much time on their backsides, a new report reveals
People in Thailand spend too much time sitting on their backsides, a new study reveals. The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) revealed that 76% of Thai people spend seven hours or more sitting down, underlining the need for the nation’s population to get off their arses and engage in more physical activity to improve their health and wellbeing. MOPH director-general…
- News
Not all trips to a police station in Thailand end in tragedy, with some there’s a happy ending
Heard the joke about the police officer in Thailand offering massages, soothing herbal sweets and a cold drink instead of a cuff around the ear and a night in the slammer? No? Well, that’s because it’s not a joke. A visit to a police station in Thailand is usually a daunting exercise for most whether you’ve committed a crime, filed…
- Crime News
Pattaya Police says two women shot were wrongly targetted
Pattaya Police believe the two women wounded in a shooting in Pattaya in the early hours of this morning were wrongly targeted. Pattaya Chief of Police Thanapong Photi reported a Thai woman and a Chinese woman were shot at about 2am today at the entrance of Soi Chalernprakiat 4/1 in Bang Lamung district. Forensic officers and police discovered a black…
- Environment News
Fruit to the rescue: governor eases contamination worries by eating some mango
To alleviate concerns about radioactive contamination in the province following the theft of a Caesium-137 cylinder last week, the Governor of the Prachinburi Provincial Office organized a fruit-eating exercise. The caesium-137 cylinder was stolen from a National Power Plant 5A Company facility at 304 Industrial Park in Prachinburi province, central Thailand on February 23, but it wasn’t reported missing until…
- Automotive
Porsche celebrates 30 years in Thailand with multi-coloured 911 model (video)
Porsche Asia Pacific is celebrating 30 years of its high-performance sports car in Thailand with a new multi-coloured bespoke Porsche 911 Carrera GTS in honour of the importance of colours in the kingdom. The German luxury car was first introduced to the Thai market in 2002 with the establishment of Porsche (Thailand) Limited, a subsidiary of Porsche Asia Pacific Pte…
- Crime News
Police arrest 2 women in Buriram for alleged online child sexual exploitation
Police in Buriram arrested two women for alleged online child sexual exploitation in a raid on a bar-restaurant in the province this week. Officers reportedly uncovered two underage girls working in the establishment and two women were charged with exploiting the girls. The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD Police) arrested the owner of the bar-restaurant, 35 year old Tuenjai ‘Kukkik’…
- Crime News
Thai pervert jailed for 2 years for hidden cameras in Australian Embassy, Bangkok
A Thai man was labelled “a serious threat to society” by a judge who sentenced the pervert to two years in jail for allegedly installing hidden cameras in women’s toilets at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok. Nayot “Bank” Thamsongsana, a former IT worker at the Australian embassy in Bangkok, has been convicted in the Bangkok South Criminal Court after pleading…
- Crime News
Loutish foreigner arrested for running amok in Pattaya restaurant
Another loutish foreigner did himself proud by running amok in a Pattaya restaurant in the early hours of this morning. One Thai eyewitness alleges that the half-naked man from the waist up was either under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Police were called and arrested the unruly man after he refused to calm down at an unnamed Isaan restaurant…
- Education
UNICEF urges Thailand to invest in its children’s education or suffer
UNICEF urges Thailand to invest in its children’s education for the socioeconomic prosperity of the country. The humanitarian organization made the plea on the back of a report which revealed a large majority of Thai students drop out of education halfway through. Kyungsun Kim, director of UNICEF Thailand, said the number of Thais who are “not in education, employment or…
- World News
PM Prayut cuts ribbon on new ferry service to boost tourism in Thailand
Caretaker Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha celebrated his 69th birthday in style yesterday by cutting the ribbon to officially open a new river ferry service to connect Thailand and Malaysia. The ferry service will transport passengers, cargo and vehicles across the Ko Lok River, connecting Tak Bai Customs House in Thailand with Pengkalan Kubor Customs House in Malaysia. The Narathiwat…
- Crime News
German pedophile arrested for producing child pornography in Pattaya
Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) arrested a German pedophile for shooting and distributing child pornography involving his teenage stepdaughter from his home in Pattaya. The 76 year old perverted expat, Wilfried Wilms, was taken into custody on Saturday, March 18 following an alert from the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, which traced child pornography back to Wilms’s Meet4U and…
- World News
Winnie the Pooh movie banned in Hong Kong amid President Xi links (video)
The British horror film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has been cancelled by Hong Kong prompting speculation that the movie was pulled because of the resemblance between the character and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It’s not the first time China has scrapped a movie. US netizens made such comparisons between Winnie the Pooh and President Xi when the latter…
- Entertainment
Good at solving games, riddles and have a high IQ? Try this teaser
Good at solving games, riddles and have a high IQ? Alright, let’s dive into the wacky world of brain teasers and puzzles! These mind-bending challenges have been around for centuries, and they continue to fascinate and frustrate us to this day. One such brain teaser from JagranJosh that’s been making the rounds lately is the X in a sea of…
- Tourism News
Aussie dad gets into fistfight with monkeys on Ko Phi Phi in Thailand (video)
An Australian dad got into a fistfight with a gang of monkeys on a Thailand beach after they attacked his one year old son. No pistols at dawn followed but it got quite feisty. Riley Whitelum and his wife Elayna Carausu, along with their two sons, were on the Ko Phi Phi Islands when the incident occurred. While relaxing on…
- Politics News
Thai MP accused of insulting the King of Thailand
Padipat Santipada, a member of the Move Forward Party (MFP), is facing a lese majeste charge in Thailand after being accused of insulting the king in a political speech delivered earlier this month. The charge against Padipat relates to Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, filed a…
- News
Health officals urge caution after 2 people die from eating horseshoe crab
Health officials in the southeastern province of Trat issued warnings to the public after two people died from consuming mangrove horseshoe crabs. Five others have been hospitalized after eating the lethally poisonous crustaceans. Horseshoe crabs are a staple food in the region, but the mangrove variety, also known as the round-tail horseshoe crab, is highly toxic and has been blamed for…
- Technology News
IDC predicts smartphone market in Thailand to remain stagnant
The Thai smartphone experienced a significant decline in 2022 and is expected to remain stagnant due to inflationary concerns, rising interest rates, and a lacklustre growth forecast for the Thai economy, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). The IDC reported that 16.6 million smartphone shipments were made in 2022, marking a 21% decline from the previous year and the…
- World News
Thai nationals rescued from prostitution ring in India
A prostitution ring disguised as a spa in Koregaon Park was uncovered by the Pune City police, resulting in the rescue of seven women, four of whom were Thai nationals. The operation in the western Indian state of Maharashtra led to the arrest of one individual responsible for running the spa, while the search for the owner continues. The Social…
- Crime News
Shameless Bangkok taxi driver swindles foreigner at Suvarnabhumi Airport
Another Bangkok taxi driver has brought shame to the capital by swindling a foreign customer at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The driver has been subsequently banned for life from picking up passengers at Bangkok’s premier airport and authorities say his license could be revoked. The unnamed taxi driver last week allegedly used a fake list of fares to cheat a Taiwanese…
