- World News
Laotian tourists are flocking to Thailand
Crowds of eager Laotian tourists are flocking to Thailand now that Thailand and Laos have eased travel restrictions this month. Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said yesterday that the checkpoint in Nong Khai, which borders Laos in Northeastern Thailand, is now the fourth most popular entry point into Thailand. The top 3 most popular entry points are Suvarnabhumi and Phuket…
- Economy News
In midst of price inflation, Thailand to freeze prices on dozens of products
In the midst of the world’s overwhelming price inflation, Thailand plans to freeze the prices of 46 items. The items are grouped into 9 categories, which are: paper and paper products, transport-related products, farm-related products, petroleum products, medicines, construction materials, “important” farm products, consumer products and food. The items include bicycle and car tires, motorcycles and trucks, water pumps, fertiliser,…
- Pattaya News
Free massages in Pattaya until end of June
Feeling stressed? A project training aspiring massage therapists is providing free massages at Pattaya City Hall from Monday to Friday from 9am-3pm, on the fourth floor. The project began this week, and will last until June 30. If you’re dying for relief from your hectic daily life, 20 massage trainees are happy to help. Massages are free for both Thais,…
- Crime News
Police arrest suspects in illegal lending network across Thailand
Police across Thailand have arrested 29 alleged members of an online illegal lending network. Police from the Economic Crime Suppression Division said small-business operators filed a complaint that they had borrowed money from the website, and were charged unusually high interest rates. When the business operators couldn’t make the payments, the websites’ operators sent men to intimidate them, according to…
- World News
Pakistani government tells people “drink less tea” amidst economic crisis
Pakistan is the latest of several countries hit by an economic crisis. In the midst of the crisis, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning and Development has some interesting instructions for citizens: drink less tea. Pakistan is the world’s largest importer of tea, buying more than US$640 million worth in 2020, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. The minister, Ahsan…
- Phuket News
Sea turtle lays 60 eggs at Phang Nga beach
A national park in South Thailand’s Phang Nga province has reported yesterday that 60 sea turtle eggs were found on a beach near the park’s office. The eggs are believed to have come from a green sea turtle, and are expected to hatch in 60 days. The eggs have now been moved to a safe area nearby, in order to…
- Pattaya News
Completion of Pattaya’s Walking Street postponed again
Pattaya City authorities are kicking the can down the road again. After Pattaya city officials announced last month that construction of the city’s famous Walking Street would finish in August, they now say it will be completed in September (presumably September 2022). The contractor, DD Infrastructure Company, informed Pattaya’s city council chairman that the postponing is due to the delay…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Upper Thailand warned to be extra cautious on floods next week
Grab your rain boots once again! As rain pours down on Thailand (well, it’s the wet season), the country’s meteorological department has warned today flash floods and overflows are expected in upper Thailand from June 19-21, Sunday to Tuesday. During these days, the southwest monsoon will strengthen and the monsoon trough will move down from across Myanmar and upper Laos.…
- Thailand News
TAT says it’s the season for venemous jellyfish in Thailand
After thousands of “fire jellyfish” washed up on the shores of Krabi’s Bok Khorani National Park earlier this week, Thailand’s tourism authorities are warning of more venomous jellyfish to come. On Facebook, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has urged swimmers and snorkelers not to take any risks on beaches where jellyfish warning sings have been posted. TAT acknowledged that it’s…
- Eastern Thailand News
Officials in eastern Thailand scramble to save tree from tourists
Officials in eastern Thailand are scrambling to save a lone tree on a tiny islet off Trat province from tourist destruction. The islet is only a few metres wide, with nothing on it except the tree and its roots. The director of maintenance at Koh Mak Tambon Administrative Organisation, Lertrob Saithongpu, said the wee little islet can only handle 5…
- Phuket News
Phuket vice governor announces 5 year goal to cut road deaths in half
Phuket’s Vice Governor Anupap announced a 5 year goal for reducing Phuket’s road deaths at a meeting yesterday. Anupap said the goal for 2027 is to have only 12 deaths per 100,000 people. This would mean 41 road deaths a year in Phuket. Last year, Phuket saw 70 road deaths. To meet the 2027 goal, Phuket would have to cut…
- World News
Sri Lanka to start 4 day work week so people can grow food amidst crisis
Amidst Sri Lanka’s unrest, the country’s government announced yesterday that it will start a 4 day work week for public sector workers for the next 3 months. The Department of Government Information said the day off could be a day for people to grow food, since Sri Lanka is expecting a food shortage. The department said… “It seems appropriate to…
- Pattaya News
Artificial reefs placed around Pattaya’s Koh Larn and Koh Sak
Thailand’s authorities are building new homes for Pattaya’s marine critters, hoping to boost coastal tourism. Yesterday, government authorities placed 300 sets of artificial reefs around Koh Larn and Koh Sak, 2 small islands off Pattaya. Pattaya’s Deputy Permanent Secretary, Kiattisak Sriwongchai, said the island’s coral reef had been especially damaged by people walking in them. The artificial reefs are made…
- Crime News
Brother of pregnant Thai woman murdered in Taiwan demands justice
The brother of a Thai woman murdered in Taiwan is calling on police to catch the killer. Thirty-eight year old Yingyot Sae Li said the man who murdered his sister and her husband had been very close to his family, and grew up in the same village as them. His sister, Potjanee, had been 5 pregnant with twins when the…
- China News
Men brutally attack group of women at restaurant in China
Several men attacked a group of women at a restaurant in northern China last week after one of the women rejected a man’s advances. Security footage shows a man in a restaurant in the city of Tangshan approach a woman dining with 2 of her friends. The man puts his hand on the woman’s back, and she pushes him away.…
- Phuket News
Phuket desperate for more skilled hotel workers
Hotel managers in Phuket are panicking over a skills shortage in their industry. According to some managers, many skilled and experienced staff left the industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, hotels have the numbers of staff needed, but they have half the age and experience of former workers. The area general manager of Angsana Laguna Phuket, Michael Zitek, said at…
- Phuket News
Phuket officials hold job fair, wanting to solve unemployment problems
A job fair in Phuket yesterday featured over 30 employers receiving applications from hopeful searchers. Phuket’s Vice Governor Pichet, who facilitated the event’s opening, noted that “there is a lot of interest in applying for a job”. The fair advertised 1,000 vacancies. It was held at the Central Festival Phuket, in the middle of the island. Pichet added that the…
- Northern Thailand News
Northeast Thai man shoots and kills ex-wife, and himself, after she refuses to re-unite
A man in Northeast Thailand has shot and killed his ex-wife after she refused to go back to him. The man, 35 year old soldier Akkhaphon Phonphan, shot his ex-wife, 34 year old nurse Naphaporn Nakkiew, at Khon Kaen Hospital in the early hours of this morning, before turning the gun on himself. According to Khon Kaen city police, Naphaporn’s…
- Northern Thailand News
Former police inspector in North Thailand scammed, loses retirement funds
A scam gang, pretending to be police, have tricked a former police inspector in North Thailand into handing over all of his retirement money, totalling 1.8 million baht. The former inspector, who lives in Lampang province, said the scammers called him on June 1, claiming to be from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission. The scammers told the former inspector…
- Environment News
Officials raise awareness on World Oceans Day in Patong
A Thai official spoke about threats to the country’s oceans at an event marking World Oceans Day yesterday in Patong. Thailand’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Varawut Silpa-archa, led the event titled “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean” at Loma Park in Patong Beach. Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Services hosted similar events in 10 coastal provinces. Varawut…
- Pattaya News
Chon Buri teacher allegedly injures student with forced exersises
A teacher in Sri Racha district of Chon Buri province has allegedly injured a 12 year old student by forcing her to do 60 squat jumps. The girl’s father says she was hospitalised for 6 days for “a very bad fever and leg pain”. He said his daughter was discharged from the hospital on May 31. The father, 36 year…
- Phuket News
UPDATE: Phuket hospital director speaks at press conference on baby’s broken arm
UPDATE The director of Vachira Phuket Hospital, where a newborn baby mysteriously suffered a broken arm, has spoken at a press conference on the incident yesterday. The director, Dr. Weerasak Lorthongkam, said the baby was in a normal state after she was born (on May 23). He said that on June 5, she was able to move her arms and…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok’s new governor requests a year to study traffic solutions for the city
Bangkok’s newly elected governor has requested a year to study how best to solve the city’s traffic problems. In a meeting with metropolitan police today, Governor Chadchart Sittipunt outlined plans to set up a traffic command centre, which will cooperate with several other institutions. These include traffic police, the Transport Ministry, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, the metro system, and…
- Crime News
Thai police arrest 6 suspects for 20 million baht Covid-19 test scam
Police from Thailand’s Consumer Protection Police Division announced today that 6 suspects have been arrested for a 20 million baht Covid-19 test scam. The suspects allegedly offered to sell ATK tests on 4 Facebook pages, charging about 10,000 people 900 baht per box when there was a shortage of test kits, according to Police Major General Anant Nanasombat. After the…
- World News
Dengue fever breaks out in Singapore
Dengue fever has broken out in Singapore, as the number of cases has already climbed to more than double the number throughout all of 2021. The city-state’s peak dengue season usually begins on June 1. A spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of Health told CNN that on May 28 this year, Singapore already had about 11,670 cases. Throughout all of 2021,…
- Phuket News
Man dies after being swept out to sea in Phuket
A man in Phuket’s Thalang district has died after being swept out to sea when he went fishing near a beach earlier this week. Rescuers found the man’s body between several giant rocks near Banana Beach on Monday (June 6). The man’s girlfriend said he had been fishing on a rock on Sunday as she accompanied him. When a huge…
- Thailand News
Even Thailand’s monkeys don’t have monkeypox
Thai officials have now run tens of thousands of tests for monkeypox on monkeys throughout Thailand (we’re not quite sure why). There have so far been 25,000 tests, out of 50,000 monkeys in 222 locations across the country. Yesterday, a veterinarian at the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Phattarapol Mee-on, announced that all the tests have turned…
- Phuket News
Newborn baby allegedly has broken arm after staying in Phuket hospital
A new mother in Phuket is dealing with a horrifying situation after a nurse informed her that her baby had a broken arm. The baby has had to stay in the hospital since she was born on May 23, and a doctor said she choked on amniotic fluid and needed a lung X-ray. The mother, 30 year old Aujchara Jantararat,…
- World News
Singapore is looking to Thailand and other countries for its chicken supplies
Singapore’s chicken supply is depending on Thailand, plus a few other countries, after Malaysia banned poultry exports last month. Before the ban, about a third of Singapore’s chicken came from Malaysia. In a country that takes its Chicken Rice meal VERY seriously, the situation has become an acute supply chain shortage in the island nation. Singaporean Minister of State for…
- World News
Three charged over rape of a mother of two on a train in Pakistan
Three men in Pakistan have been arrested over the rape of a woman on a train from Karachi to Multan on May 27. Pakistan’s railway ministry reported that the men asked the woman to move to a carriage with air conditioning, before they attacked her on the moving train. One of the accused is a ticket checker for the train.…
