- Food
Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list – “Biased, commercialised and a big publicity stunt.”
By Clinton Palanca The winners of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants has been announced, the list released. There will be the usual accusations that the list is biased, commercialised, a big publicity stunt and, most important, that it is of very little value to the vast majority of the population. Food tourism has become a big deal. I remember when I…
- News
Driver says fire started in luggage compartment – Tak bus tragedy
A news story from Thai Residents is saying that the driver of a tour bus in Tak which was completely destroyed by fire and killed 20 Burmese workers and injured 3 others, claims a cigarette butt which got into the luggage compartment sparked the blaze. His claim has not been confirmed by forensic police at this stage. 47 passengers, all…
- Health
Thailand regional Number Two in ‘new fatties’
PHOTO: BFM TV Thailand is become a country of fatties, certainly when compared to the average Thai 20 years ago and in relation to the other countries around us. A study called ‘Obesity in Thailand and its Economic Cost Estimation’ by the ADB Institute shows that Thailand now ranks Number Two in ASEAN countries when it comes to people suffering…
- News
French tourist dies after visit to Emerald Cave in Trang
A French tourist has died during a visit to the Emerald Cave on Koh Muk in the Trang province. 62 year old Jose Michel Rusebeker was reported by Daily News to be on a trip with his wife when he fainted whilst in the cave. Despite efforts of another person in the tour, tour crew and park rangers, he was…
- News
4,000 runners compete at 4th Supersports 10 Mile International Run 2018 @ Thanyapura, Phuket
A weekend of sporting fun saw a record-breaking 4,000 runners enjoy the 4th Supersports 10 Mile International Run 2018 Phuket Presented by Thanyapura. Held on March 24 & 25 at the award-winning Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort, there was something for everyone with distances including a 500 metre Kids Run, 3 Mile (4.8km), 5 Mile (8km) and the iconic 10…
- News
Road-resurfacing in Kathu leaves traffic hazard
Good news for people driving around the Kathu Ring Road (specifically the section going past the Loch Palm Golf Course entrance), the roads are being resurfaced from the entrance of Soi Namtok to near the entrance of Loch Palm Gof Course today (Monday). Bad news, the roadmakers have left a 8-12 cm gap between the surface of the road and…
- News
Bus driver admits taking methamphetamine before fatal journey
The 44 year old driver (reported to be 45 in other media) of the bus which crashed in Nakhon Rachasim on Wednesday night, killing 18, was arrested in roadside buses where police found him hiding after he fled the crash-scene as emergency responders dragged the dead bodies from the wreckage. Krissana Juthachuen has admitted that he used methamphetamine to keep…
- Thai Life
Phuket gets Number Two in list of Top Asian Destinations
The trip advisor list of Asia’s top 25 destinations is in. Good news… Thailand has five locations in the Top 25 reader-voted list. Bad news, Thailand’s not Number One. The Indonesian island of Bali has come in Number One with Phuket in Number Two spot. Hanoi in Vietnam is in Number 3, Cambodia’s Siam Reap Number 5 and the mega-city…
- News
Nakhon Ratchasima bus crash kills 16
At least 16 people were killed on Wednesday evening when their double-deck coach crashed with a 18-wheel truck before slamming into roadside shops in in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Wang Nam Khieo district, 300 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, and ending up in a ditch. Witnesses say that the driver of the coach survived the accident and fled from the scene. The accident…
- News
Soi Dog calls for probe after temple dog poisoning
Soi Dog Foundation (SDF) today called for a full investigation into the poisoning of dogs and puppies in front of children at a school and on temple grounds in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province, and called for an end to such atrocities. Video of the killings has gone viral on Facebook, with more than a million views by today. The SDF…
- News
Van carrying Swedish tourists smashes into truck in Phang Nga
Just one day after a double fatality in a tour bus in Phang Nga (story HERE) another passenger van has crashed into the back of a 10 wheel truck on the Phetkasem highway in the Takua Thung district, Phang Nga. The truck was carrying seven Swedish tourists, three have been injured. Yesterday, a passenger van carrying Chinese tourists crashed into…
- Thailand News
Whoops. Billboard faux pas in The Philippines.
It was bound to happen sooner or later. This time someone snapped the OMG moment so we can all share the embarrassment of the Executive Building Centre in The Philippines. A pornographic video was aired on one of the digital billboards flagging the Executive Building Centre in Makati Avenue, Makati City yesterday, around 2 p.m. The spectacle was captured by a…
- News
Australian engineer says he’s ‘found’ MH370 – Malaysian search team says ‘no’.
A report has emerged saying that Malaysia Airlines MH370 has been found. The official MH370 Response Team says the reports are ‘unfounded and baseless’. Malaaysia’s Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, also head of the Malaysian Civil Aviation Authority, say the team has read the stories in a number of junk UK media, Daily Star, The Sun Daily and The Star, express.co.uk and…
- News
Dual pricing. Fair or price gouging?
Photo TIT – This Is Thailand Facebook page Thailand’s dual pricing policy continues with, it seems, a completely random application of the system. In some places flashing your Work Permit might get you an exemption so you can pay local price but there is no consistency. What are your experiences with dual pricing? Do you think it’s fair? If we’re…
- News
Tourism set to rise 18% for this year’s Songkran
Songkran is on the way. That means water fights in the main tourist destinations around the country and Thais fleeing the cities and work locations to head back to their homes ‘upcountry’. With the official Songkran break starting on a Wednesday this year you can be assured that many will take the Monday and Tuesday off in that week and…
- News
Now, a SEVEN metre python!
A video posted on YouTube shows Pathum Thani snake catchers round up a seven metre long, almost 100 kilogram, python from near the yard of a PTT gas depot in Khlong Luang district, just north of Bangkok. Amnat Saengsawang said it was the biggest snake he has captured in 30 years of doing the job. Click to watch the video…
- News
7-11 rolling out facial recognition in its 11,000 Thai stores
Smile, you’re on camera. Your friendly, neighbourhood convenience store, 7-Eleven store is rolling out facial recognition technology. The Japanese-owned franchise has 11,000 stores in Thailand. The convenience store chain says they’ll will roll out the technology in a number of different ways, including to identify regular and loyal customers, monitor stock levels of products and better analyse customer traffic trends.…
- Food
Menu favourites re-imagined – Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach
SPONSORED CONTENT Menu favourites have been reimagined to mark the Mövenpick Group’s 70th anniversary, paying tribute to the company’s founding principle – doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way. Baar, Switzerland, February 12, 2018 Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is kick-starting 2018 with a burst of gastronomic vision and flavour as its parent company, the Mövenpick Group, celebrates seven decades of…
- News
Monster python caught and released in Nakhon Si Thammarat
Snake catchers in Nakorn Sri Thammarat have caught a monster python. The reptile was 5.5 meters long and weighed 100 kilograms. It took ten people to hold it for the video. As you can see the python wasn’t too happy about being in the selfie. It was spotted by a rubber worker who saw it curled up by a termite…
- Thai Life
5 Reasons to head to the Top Of The Gulf Regatta 2018
Now entering its 14th year, the Top of the Gulf Regatta at Ocean Marina in Pattaya has grown to become an award-winning multi-class regatta held annually in the Gulf of Thailand. Homed at Ocean Marina Yacht Club, the regatta has morphed from its humble roots into one of the largest sailing events in Asia today, and attract sailors of all…
- News
Nearly 1300 houses damaged after week of ‘freak storms’
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation says that summer storms have damaged 1,293 houses in 24 Thai provinces. And one person has been killed as a result of the storms, primarily in the north-east and central provinces. The storms have hit the 24 provinces between March 5-8. The director-general, Chayapol Thitisakdi, says summer storms have hit 189 villages in 57…
- Thailand News
Has Alexa been laughing at you?
Voice recognition personal assistants are all the rage at the moment, sometimes with hilarious results. Alexa is a offering from Amzon and might be having the last laugh. (By the way Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos was found to be the world’s richest man in a Bloomberg article today). Anyway, Amazon is promising to keep virtual assistant Alexa from spontaneously cackling,…
- News
‘MURDER AMONG THE MATEYS’ – Murder Mystery Dinner Night
After a voyage filled with pillaging and plundering, The Jaded Jewel – a pirate ship captained by Redbeard, an old but dangerous pirate – is docked in a cove near Port Royal. As the pirates head into town to celebrate their homecoming and spend their gold and goods, a night of turmoil and trouble is sure to transpire. As the…
- Thai Life
Thailand’s outbound travel industry booms
We all know there’s plenty of tourists heading TO Thailand this year. But what about the traffic in the other direction? Outbound travel from Thailand is set to hit 10 million this year, nearly a third of the inbound tourist traffic this year, according to the first comprehensive market research report on what is expected to be the “the next…
- News
What does Anastasia Vashukevich know?
PHOTOS: Instagram The raid on a ‘sex seminar’ in love-making in Pattaya last week has grown into an international story of intrigue with links to the ‘Russia-meddling-in-US-election’ ongoing investigation. A Belarusian escort, with close ties to a powerful Russian oligarch said from behind bars in Bangkok, yesterday that she had more than 16 hours of audio recordings that could help…
- News
‘Freak storms’ on the way – Thai Meteorological Department
The Thai Meteorological Department has issued a warning of freak storms in regions of the country until Friday, with the possibility of hail storms in some parts of the northern and northeastern regions. They say the ‘freak storms’ would be attributable to strong high pressure from China which is moving southward to cover the Northeast and the South China Sea…
- Travel
Thai Airways continues to struggle against newer, nimble competitors
Fierce competition and rising fuel costs are said to be the main cause of Thai Airway’s tough last year. Thai’s operating profit for the last year was down nearly 30% to 2,856 million baht. This included the parent airline and all its subsidiaries. The main culprit, according to TTR Weekly, was a 24.2% increase in fuel prices for its planes.…
- Food
East-Meets-West at the Laguna Phuket Food & Music Festival 2018
A three-day “East Meets West” Food & Music Extravaganza is headed back to Laguna Phuket on April 27-29, following on from last year’s inaugural edition. Laguna Phuket has announced the 2nd annual Laguna Phuket Food & Music Festival, saying the three-day food and music extravaganza would attract food and music lovers from around the world to the resort complex at…
- News
Nearly 5,000 visited this year’s Thailand Yacht Show
After four days and excellent weather, the third edition of the Thailand Yacht Show finished last Sunday with the traditional symphony of horns at Ao Po Grand Marina, Phuket. Over the four sunny days the show welcomed a total of 4,730 visitors who were treated to new yachts on display, activities for kids and the family and the best of…
- Thai Life
Top 25 Asian beaches survey is out – three in Phuket
Thailand has ended up with two beaches in the top ten in the latest ‘Top 25 Beaches in Asia’ survey. The survey is based on comments from TripAdvisor’s 300 million users, or at least the ones that have visited a beach in Asia and taken the time to make a comment. The top three beaches are Agonda Beach in India…
