- Phuket News
75 year old tourist ‘attacked’ by small unidentified shark in Phang Nga
A Phang Nga swimmer was was bitten and attacked by a mystery beastie…. thought to be a shark, and probably a small bull shark. The A 75 year old German tourist says he was swimming in the sea off the southern Thailand beach with his wife on Sunday. The incident occurred only 6 – 7 metres from the shoreline. He…
- Krabi News
Community volunteer jumps out in front of two out-of-control motorbikes
A member of the Krabi Civil Defence organisation in Krabi has become a real-life hero after jumping in front of two motorbikes carrying 2 adults and 2 children. The motorbike was hurtling down a hill and was unable to slow down (you guessed it, brake failure), as it was getting to the bottom of the hill. One of drivers showed… “It…
- Environment News
Central Thailand farmers ignore orders to stop burning off their sugar cane
Stick your burning ban up your 2.5 micron particulate! Local sugarcane growers in Nakhon Sawan, central Thailand, are burning their fields at night despite authorities’ ban on the practice. It appears little to nothing is being done to curb the practice which is one of the main causes, if not the main cause, of the smoke and haze problems in…
- Thailand News
Court rejects Premchai’s request to remove electronic monitoring ankle bracelet
Premchai Karnasuta, the fallen business tycoon who was sentenced last year over a case of hunting and killing protected species in a Kanchanaburi national park, has been trying to get his electronic monitoring ankle bracelet removed by the court. But the Thong Phaphum provincial court today rejected Premchai’s application for the removal of his electronic ankle bracelet. The request was…
- Politics News
Thousands join the pro and anti government protests in Bangkok
Protesters, from both sides of the political camp turned up in two different parts of the capital yesterday for their respective political rallies. Organiser of the anti-regime “Wing Lai Lung” (Run to Oust the Uncle), Tanawat Wongchai, told the crowds at Suan Rot Fai in Chatuchak, a northern suburb of Bangkok, that the run marked the start of the campaign…
- World News
8,000 evacuated from menacing Taal volcano, south of Manila, Philippines
A volcano, not far south of Manila in The Philippines, has been spewing volcanic ash along with rumbling sounds and tremors most of yesterday. Philippine authorities have raised the alert level and ordered the evacuation of about 8,000 residents and suspended flights at Manila’s civil airports. The highest alert is level 5, when a volcano is actually erupting. At this…
- South Thailand News
Two young girls swept out to sea in Narathiwat, search continues
Search and rescue volunteers and officials in Thailand’s south spent all yesterday searching for two young girls who went missing. At this stage the two are believed to have drowned. The pair were swept into deeper waters by a series of large waves in the Gulf of Thailand seas off Naratat Beach in Narathiwat province on Saturday. Strong winds and…
- Crime News
Two motorbike thieves nabbed in Phuket
Two men have been arrested in Phuket last night. They’ve been charged with stealing motorcycles and then reselling them. One of the arrested men is an unemployed 36 year old tour bus driver. According to police, he was able to convince a 21 year old accomplice, who was his neighbour, to help him steal the motorcycles,. The stolen motorbikes were…
- Road deaths
5 dead, 8 injured as tourist passenger van slams into rear of broken down truck in central Thailand
Five tourists have died and another eight injured after their passenger van slammed into the rear of a parked ten wheel truck that had broken down. The incident happened outside the Ban Noi PTT petrol station in Nong Phai district on the Saraburi to Lomsak Road. The van was on its way from the south to Khao Khor in Petchabun,…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Top 10 ways to save our water
Hot weather and Thailand’s boom-or-bust water issues (floods in wet season and water shortages in the hot season) are a part of our life. It’s predicted that there will be hotter hot seasons and wet-seasons with less rain in the future. Even if we’re not sure what the future brings we should all be conscious of our water usage, be…
- World News
Iran military admits ‘unintentionally’ shooting down the Ukrainian passenger jet
Iranian officials have announced that its military “unintentionally” shot down the Ukrainian Boeing 737 jet that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 aboard. Earlier the Iranian government had repeatedly denied accusations that it was responsible. The plane was “accidentally”shot shot out of the sky on Wednesday, just hours after Iran had launched a retaliatory missile attack on two US…
- Crime News
Senior police double down with their praise of the new Biometrics system at Thai airports
Police are doubling down with their overt support of the new biometrics system at airports. A high-level disagreement over the 2.1 billion baht contract for the biometrics equipment and installation, is emerging as the reason for last yea’s mystery side-lining of the former head of Thailand’s immigration Bureau, Surachat Hakparn. Ever since the introduction of the systems at airports across…
- Thailand News
New survey shows Thai kids are subject to excessive levels of bullying
Thai students are suffering from high levels of bullying – physical, verbal and online. Two years ago a Department of Mental Health survey indicated that Thailand had the second highest rate of bullying in the world. The most recent survey shows things have not improved and remain alarming. 92% of Thai school kids have been exposed to physical or psychological abuse…
- World News
100s of pages of damaging documents about the 737 Max released by Boeing
Boeing has released more than 100 pages of internal company documents to the House and Senate committee, and media, further casting doubt about the company’s goodwill around the troubled 737 Max jet. The latest incarnation of the Boeing 737 was grounded last year after two fatal crashes which exposed weaknesses in the design development process and software systems. 400 of…
- Crime News
Lone gunman storms into Lopburi gold shop and kills three people – VIDEO
Police are now on the hunt for the Lopburi gold-shop robber who has killed three and injured four. The man stormed into a Robinson Department Store gold shop last night killing three people as he walked in. He shot without hesitation and paid no attention to the people he’d shot. One of them was a young boy. The gunman also…
- Pattaya News
Thai woman’s car trashed in Sattahip by stray dogs chasing a cat
A woman’s Honda has been trashed by a pack of soi dogs who were trying to get at a local cat that had taken refuge in the engine bay of the car. The 29 year old Thai woman ‘Nichapha’ from Sattahip, south of Pattaya, was called by neighbours who called attention to the state of her car. On first inspection…
- Crime News
Thailand’s top cop embroiled in the Surachat car-shooting case – Audio clip released
“Stay away from Big Joke shooting.” A leaked phone conversation reveals Thailand’s senior police chief instructing a deputy to distance himself from the Surachat drive-by shooting case. Former Immigration Chief Pol Lt Gen Surachat Hakparn’s white Lexus SUV was shot at eight times in a Patpong soi in Bangkok on Monday night. There was no one n the car at the…
- Events
Thailand Yacht Show 2020 opens in Phuket
The fifth Thailand Yacht Show is now open at the Royal Phuket Marina in Koh Kaew. The annual on-water yacht-fest features an array of over 50 luxury yachts and boats, including several world and Asian premieres, from the region’s leading brokers. The show runs until January 12 and is open from 11am – 7pm nightly. The overall intention of the…
- Environment News
Bangkok’s ranks world’s third worst air quality. Forecast to be bad for the rest of the week.
Bangkok ended up recording the world’s third worst air quality on Air Visual, the air quality monitoring app, yesterday. Not a chart you want to be on top of. Meanwhile, the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority remains on high alert for a predicted rise in PM2.5 levels for the rest of the week. High temperatures and light winds are compounding the problem…
- Crime News
Surachat claims shots at his car were related to a 2 billion baht Immigration purchase
Thailand’s former immigration supremo, Surachat Hakparn, spoke to the media yesterday about the bullets fired into his car on Monday night. He was not in the car at the time. He speculated confidently that the shots fired at the white Lexus SUV, parked near a massage establishment in Patpong, Bangkok, were connected to a two billion baht purchase of a…
- Crime News
Bank rolls over after security footage captures employee stealing money
Look up before you steal money in a bank. There’s probably going to be a security camera. A female bank employee has been caught red-handed stealing 10,000 baht of an elderly customer’s savings. CCTV at the bank shows the moment when the teller stole the elderly man’s savings. The daughter of the victim shared the video online for everyone to…
- South Thailand News
Police and sniffer dogs search for 18 Rohingya who escaped from southern detention centre
Police and soldiers are searching forest areas around the border areas of Sadao district, south of Hat Yai in Songkhla, as they look for 18 illegal Royingha migrants. Originally 19 fled from the camp, about five kilometres from the border but one broke his leg during the escape and was soon found while hiding in a nearby village. 18 are…
- World News
Hanoi the cheapest overall, Bangkok the cheapest food – Backpacking in Asia
Overall, Hanoi in Vietnam is the cheapest backpacker destination in Asia, whereas Bangkok offers the cheapest meals whilst on your journey. Alpha Travel Insurance has revealed the Asian cities offering the most affordable experience for backpacking based on the costs per day, of a hostel, transportation, meals, drinks and attractions. You can view the full graph HERE. The article looks…
- Bangkok News
Convenience store motorcycle shopper says he sorry for stunt
A cloth bag would have sufficed. But with all the pictures of Thai inventiveness to replace the plastic bags at convenience stores, one man just drove the point home, literally. The man who drove his motorbike into a convenience store to take home his shopping now says he’s sorry for his actions after the pictures went viral online and received a…
- Business News
Two out of three CEOs say the 2020 Thai economy will not improve – Survey
Many CEOs, based in Thailand, don’t expect Thailand’s economy to improve during 2020. Many surveyed cited global economic uncertainties, according to the “CEO Survey” of 100 individuals. The survey was conducted by Krungthep Thurakit newspaper a month ago. Around 68.4% of the respondents didn’t expect the economy to improve this year, while 31.6% were saying that the economy would fare…
- Business News
Doctors, teachers and WHAT?#! Thai kids career choices 2020
PHOTO: Bangkok Prep The results of the 11th Children’s Dream Career Survey for 2020 are out. The annual survey is conducted by Adecco Group Thailand. 4,050 Thai children, aged 7 to 14 years from all parts of the country, were surveyed about their dream career. The top dream career for Thai kids is to become a doctor, followed by teacher. The…
- Tourism News
Nearly 2 million Thai travellers head overseas for new year break
Nearly 2 million Thais travelled internationally for this year’s New Year celebrations. That’s a 3.9% increase over the previous year. Thai overseas travellers totalled 1,944,220 people. And although up 3.9% on outbound traffic the year before, it was 2.2% below estimates. Domestic travel between provinces totalled 4,298,626 people. That was down 6.4% from last year and 8% below estimates. Finally, travel within…
- Environment News
Thai PM will head new drought command centre
Cabinet is expected to approve the establishment of a special command centre along with associated budget to tackle Thailand’s looming drought; expected to be the worst in four decades. The hot season is now well underway and is expected to continue until mid April. Narumon Pinyosinwat, a government spokesperson, says the “command centre” will be headed by Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha…
- Bangkok News
Seawater v Freshwater in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River. The seawater is winning.
The Office of National Water Resources is holding an urgent meeting today, with other Bangkok water agencies, including the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority to discuss the worsening salination problem in the Chao Phraya river. They note that that the back flow of seawater into the river is now threatening the city’s tap water supply. High tides, rising sea levels, a worsening…