- Thailand News
Police crack down on gambling in Samut Prakan and Pathum Thani
Police found a gambling network in an unregistered house in Pathum Thani last night. They seized 112,700 baht in assets and gambling equipment, and arrested forty-two people. They then raided a house in Samut Prakan, and seized 49,300 baht in cash and betting slips. They also seized a security camera system and gambling equipment. In total, 85 people were arrested,…
- Northern Thailand News
Korat has 7 Covid-19 clusters
Seven schools in Korat, a Northeastern province, have Covid-19 cluster infections. Buayai Technical College is the most recent school to be hit. 19 students there tested positive, and teachers and students are now doing online learning until February 9. Students and staff took ATK tests on Saturday, and there were no new infections found. Health officials are monitoring the Covid-19…
- Thailand News
Sri Racha’s hemp-marijuana festival starts February 9
Festival organisers will host an event promoting marijuana for health benefits, even though they note that recreational smoking is still illegal in Thailand. The festival is called “Hemp-Marijuana, King of Herbs,” and will last from February 9-14 at the Pacific Park Shopping Mall in Sri Racha. The festival will have concerts, 24 booths that will teach people how to grow…
- Thailand News
Prayut tells Bangkok vocational students to stop violence
After police found more than 32 knives, and gun ammunition at one Bangkok university on Thursday, PM Prayut has called on students and alumni to end to the violence. Police searched the school grounds of the Uthenthawai campus of Rajamangala University of Technology after a video of students firing guns into the air went viral on Wednesday. Uthenthawai is one…
- Thailand News
Suvarnabhumi airport warns people travelling out of Thailand, don’t bring over 30 masks
After the Central Committee on Prices of Goods and Services announced on January 25 that face masks were on its list of controlled products, Suvarnabhumi International Airport announced yesterday that people flying out of Thailand can’t bring over 30 face masks with them unless they have a doctor’s note. If they have a doctor’s note, they may bring up to…
- South Thailand News
Security captures fourth Songkhla insurgent after long siege
Security forces captured the fourth insurgent after three others tried to escape from their hiding spot in Chana, a district of Songkla. The insurgent hid in a house, even though local religious and community leaders begged him to surrender. After a pause, there were gunshots again in the evening. Security forces then moved in. The insurgent had an M16 rifle,…
- Northern Thailand News
Kids aged 3-5 in one Northeastern school get exam points deducted if they cry
Kids aged three to five years old taking an entrance exam to one preschool in Maha Sarakham, a Northeastern province, get three points deducted from the exam if they cry during it. The school’s director told Thai PBS the policy was created to make sure the exam was fair because when some children cried, it distracted other children. The director…
- Thailand News
Foreigner steals 3,600 baht from Phuket cab driver
A Phuket cab driver caught a foreigner stealing 3,600 baht from his cab on camera last Sunday, January 30. The driver works for the inDriver app. He had stopped to get out of the car for a bathroom break when the foreign man snatched the cash into his pocket from the centre console between the two front seats. The driver…
- Thailand News
Anonymous complaint against Bangkok governor candidate causes probe
The House committee on corruption and misconduct prevention and suppression plans to probe a Bangkok candidate for governor after an anonymous party sent a complaint to the House committee chairman last month. The complaint said the candidate’s wealth was unusual, and he had committed wrongdoing. A committee spokesperson said the probe will start soon. The candidate, Suchatvee Suwansawat, said he…
- Northern Thailand News
Rock in Naga Cave looks like mythical snake, drives up tourism in Bueng Kan
A giant rock in Naga Cave, located in the Bueng Kan province of Northeastern Thailand, has bumps that look like snake scales. The rock is said to look like Naga, a mythical serpent that Northeastern Thais believe brings rain to their crops. The rock is now drawing tourism to Bueng Kan, and 20 hotels in the Bueng Khong Long district…
- Thailand News
9 children get blood disorder after eating sausages from illegal Chon Buri factory
Nine children have methemoglobinemia, a blood disorder, after they ate sausages from one factory in Chon Buri. Local police and officials from the Food and Drug Administration inspected the factory and talked to the owner after labels on the factory’s products matched what the children had eaten. The owner admitted to producing sausage products for five years without a permit.…
- Thailand News
Officials will install traffic lights and surveillance cameras at 100 Bangkok crossings
In the aftermath of a fatal accident where a motorbike hit and killed a pedestrian, Bangkok officials plan to install traffic lights and surveillance cameras at 100 zebra crossings. The lights will be installed in two weeks, and the cameras in a month. Out of the city’s 3,280 zebra crossings, only 1,277 have flashing lights warning drivers to slow down…
- Thailand News
Deputy PM vows stricter punishments for traffic violators following fatal crosswalk accident
Following the deadly crosswalk accident where a police officer struck a pedestrian with his Ducati motorcycle, Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan ordered harsher legal punishments for traffic violators in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, although it has not yet been announced exactly what the punishments will be. He also called for providing info online about violators’ histories and past offences and…
- Thailand News
Most Phuket tourists infected with Covid travelled from Russia and Kazakhstan
Most tourists who tested positive for Covid-19 when they arrived in Phuket travelled from Russia and Kazakhstan, but particularly Russia, the Phuket provincial governor told the Bangkok Post. The governor says there will be an investigation of why a significant number of infections involved travellers from those countries. Governor Narong Woonciew says that out of about 300 daily diagnoses in Phuket,…
- Phuket News
Phuket reports higher infection rate in second Covid tests for Test & Go travellers
With two RT-PCR tests now required for Test & Go travellers, one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations, Phuket, is reporting a higher infection rate for the second test. Following the emergence of the Omicron variant in Thailand, with many travellers testing positive for the mutated strain, the Thai government decided to require two RT-PCR tests instead of the initial…
- Thailand News
Thailand takes steps to fight tiger poaching following last month’s Bengal killings
Thai authorities taking steps to end the longstanding problem of tiger poaching. The move follows last month’s case where two Bengal tigers were killed at a national park in the western province of Kanchanaburi. Park officials found the pelts hung up at a camp and the tiger meat cooking on a grill. The country’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and…
- Thailand News
Farmers dress as superheroes to get more customers after drop in sales during pandemic
A Thai sugarcane farmer in Prachin Buri and his brother-in-law are dressing up as Batman and Superman to attract more customers. Sales had dropped since the Covid-19 pandemic, and the two needed a way to bring them back up. The two men sell sugarcane juice every day between 1pm and 3pm at the intersection on Route 359 in Krabin Buri,…
- Thailand News
Thailand and Saudi Arabia patch things up 33 years after Blue Diamond Affair
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha visited Saudi Arabia earlier this week, and Thailand and Saudi mended relations they broke 33 years ago following the Blue Diamond Affair in 1989 where a Thai cleaner in Saudi’s royal palace stole diamonds worth US$20 million from the prince. The next year, three Saudi diplomats and a businessman trying to recover the gems were killed. According…
- Thailand News
Sneak peek into MONOPOLY: Phuket Edition coming in March
A new version of MONOPOLY heads to shelves this March, this time it’s Phuket edition. The game will include sights like Sarasin Beach, Kata Beach, Central Phuket and Karon Viewpoint. All these sites are well know to both locals and tourist. Sarasin Bridge was the first bridge that linked Phuket to mainland Thailand (a mere 300 metres). Kata Beach is…
- Thailand News
Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon discusses Phuket pedestrian safety
Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon brought up pedestrian safety crossings yesterday at an online meeting with a road safety policy committee, and the interior minister. Phuket officials have now been told to paint warning lines ahead of pedestrian crossings, letting drivers know they will have to slow down soon. The group also talked about the new points system that started in…
- Events
Thai youth orchestra Siam Sinfonietta to perform in Bangkok’s Sathon
Thai youth orchestra Siam Sinfonietta will perform at the Bayan Tree Hotel in Bangkok’s Sathon area this Sunday at 7pm. The orchestra will perform music from Russian ballets, including Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Tickets are 1,000 baht for people who go alone, and 800 baht for people who go in groups of two or more. People who go in groups of four…
- Northern Thailand News
Soldiers in Chiang Mai seize drugs after gunfire exchange, suspects still at large
Three armed men in Chiang Mai near the Myanmar border opened fire on Thai soldiers on Wednesday night. The soldiers shot back, and after five minutes of shooting between the two sides, the gunmen ran into the jungle. The soldiers then searched the area and found 200,000 methamphetamine pills and 750 grams of heroin. The methamphetamine pills were wrapped in…
- Thailand News
African Swine Fever spreads across Thailand, cases reported in 13 provinces
African Swine Fever is spreading across Thailand. The country’s agriculture minister said the disease has infected pig farms and one slaughterhouse in 13 Thai provinces in Central, Northeastern, and Southern Thailand. The infected farms and the five-kilometre radius around them are now declared epidemic zones. Instead of giving the ministry’s 2.9 billion baht emergency budget to pig farmers as he…
- Thailand News
Another Bangkok pedestrian killed crossing the road
After last week’s tragic killing of a pedestrian by a motorbike at a Bangkok zebra crossing, a pickup truck killed a pedestrian crossing the road in Samut Prakan this morning. A pickup truck struck 33 year old Win Mar Soe, who is from Myanmar, and reportedly swung her 10 metres. First responders took her to Chularat 9 Airport Hospital in…
- Thailand News
Domestic vacationers, not international, will be majority of Phuket hotel guests
A report by one real estate consultancy says domestic vacationers, not international tourists, will probably make up the majority of Phuket hotel guests in 2022. After a peak of 5.3 million arrivals at Phuket hotels in 2019, the arrivals dropped by 80% in 2020 to only 1.1 million. Constantly changing Covid-19 policies and confusion over them hinder travellers from booking…
- Thailand News
Foreign man in Pattaya arrested for allegedly trying to fight locals
Police arrested a shirtless foreign man at a supermarket in South Pattaya between last night and this morning. The man allegedly harassed locals by shouting and trying to pick fights. Police say he seemed very intoxicated. They eventually arrested the man and brought him to the station to slap him with multiple legal charges. The man’s nationality hasn’t been reported…
- Pattaya News
Toddler drowns at Chon Buri’s Bangsaen beach during family vacation
A family vacation turned into a horrific tragedy when a toddler drowned at Bangsaen beach in Chon Buri earlier this week. The boy, who was only three years old, had been on a vacation with his parents, who live in Samut Prakan, a province just southeast of Bangkok. The boy’s mother says he disappeared from her sight for only a…
- Northern Thailand News
Rangers find man’s body in Nakhon Ratchasima national park
Yesterday, park rangers found a man dead in Thap Lan National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima in Northeast Thailand, known as the Isaan. The ranger team was on patrol when they stopped to rest at a waterhole. They then found the man lying on the ground, looking as though he was sleeping. The team called the national park chief, who reported…
- Thailand News
Monkey with ghost face and slug snake part of 224 new Mekong species
A monkey with white circles around its eyes, making it look like a ghost, is one of 224 species newly added to a list of species in the Mekong region. Scientists discovered these species in 2020, but the report last year was delayed. The monkey is the only mammal on the list, and the rest are reptiles, frogs and newts,…
- Thailand News
Thailand will raise 12% fewer pigs this year, livestock department says
Thailand’s livestock department says farmers will probably raise 11.8% fewer pigs this year. Already, male pig breeders have dropped 41.1%, while female breeders have dropped 11%. The department general said this is because of economic conditions during the pandemic, and also farmers not having too many pigs in case of disease outbreaks. There are 107,000 pig raisers in the country,…
