- Northern Thailand News
Cabinet waives tolls for 8 days over Songkran break
Thailand’s cabinet has decided to waive tolls on the Bangkok-Pattaya and Bangkok-Bang Pa-in-Bang Phli motorways starting April 10 until midnight on April 18. This takes in the main Songkran break between April 12 – 14 and the annual ‘seven days of danger’. A Cabinet spokesperson say that a large number of people are expected to leave Bangkok for the provinces…
- Thailand News
Thaksin is in Hong Kong. Thailand wants to extradite him.
The exiled former Thai PM, Thaksin Shinawatra, is in Hong Kong to be part of the wedding party in the marriage of his youngest daughter Paetongtarn ‘Ing’ Shinawatra to a commercial pilot, Pidok Sooksawas. Thai authorities are seeking the extradition of the exiled former PM from Hong Kong, according to local HK media. Many of the powerful Shinawatra clan are…
- South Thailand News
Dead dugong washed up on Trang Beach
PHOTOS: DNP A dead dugong which was washed up on a beach in Trang today has been sent to Phuket Marine Biological Centre for further examination. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation reports that Chaiyapruek Weerapong, the head of Mu Koh Libong Non-Hunting Area in Trang was notified that the dugong was washed up on the beach…
- Pattaya News
Man stabbed at a Chon Buri karaoke lounge
PHOTO: Thai Rath Police were called to a karaoke lounge in Sri Racha, Chon Buri last night after a man was stabbed following an argument. 39 year old Chuchart Kamngern was found outside the lounge with a serious stab wound to the left side of his chest and was rushed to hospital in Sri Racha. Thai Rath reports that staff…
- Phuket News
Indian tourist rescued from a near-drowning at Patong Beach
PHOTOS: Patong Surf Life Saving An Indian tourist has been rescued from drowning after getting into difficulty while swimming at Patong beach yesterday. Patong Surf Life Saving report that around 1.30pm at Patong Beach an Indian tourist was spotted in the water, choking and fighting to stay afloat. Lifeguards dived in and brought him back to the beach. He was…
- Phuket News
Polish man charged after threatening people with a gun in Patong
PHOTOS: Patong Police A Polish man has been charged with carrying a gun in public in Patong, Phuket. Patong Police report that at 6.20pm last night (Tuesday) they were notified that a man was using a gun to threaten others at a hotel on Pisit Koranee Road in Patong. Police headed to the hotel to find the Polish man. He…
- World News
People have short memories. Why the Boeing 737 MAX will survive the current crisis.
If history is anything to go on people’s current fears about the Boeing 737 MAX jets will be short-lived. The make0ver of the venerable 737 plane, the most popular passenger jet in history, was supposed to set Boeing on a path to success. Airlines said it was the plane they wanted – perfect for short-haul, cheap to run, new efficient…
- Thailand Election News
Choosing sides. Abhisit Vejjajiva will have to choose after Sunday.
PHOTO: The Nation Sunday’s election will not be the end, it will only be another episode in a two-decade long drama as Thailand struggles with democracy and attempts to throw off the shackles of nearly a century of military tampering in political affairs. Thailand’s oldest political party, the Democrats, head into Sunday’s election with leader Abhisit Vejjajiva facing some tough…
- Bangkok News
BKK taxi driver returns 400,000 baht to Danish tourist
Usually maligned, it’s great to post a good-news story about Bangkok’s taxi drivers. A capital city cabbie is being praised after returning a bag containing 400,000 baht to a Danish tourist. T News reports that Somsri Ralat picked up the Danish tourist and his Thai wife at BKK airport and was taking them to their Hotel in Bang Yai yesterday…
- Thai Life
Mummy makeovers rising trend in medical tourism market
Mummy makeovers in Thailand? You may not have heard about this phenomenon but it’s a real thing in the medical tourism market. Thanks to Thailand’s burgeoning medical tourism sector, more and more women are going under the knife to regain their pre-pregnancy stomach. Opting for lavish trips to South East Asia, female patients are travelling to Thailand for numerous treatments…
- Pattaya News
Japanese tourist re-united with his bag and valuables
PHOTO: The Pattaya News A Japanese tourist has offered his sincere thanks to a minivan driver, Pattaya’s Tourist Police and the Department of Land Transport. The Pattaya News reports that 46 year old Japanese tourist Ryochi Mihashi had taken a minivan ride from Rayong to South Pattaya but left his bag in the van. The bag contained 4,100 baht, US$440, 56,000…
- Hot News
Premchai verdict and prison sentence comes just 5 days before the election
Premchai Karnasutra, once listed among Thailand’s richest people, has been found guilty in a Kanchanaburi court of poaching protected animals, and sentenced to 16 months in jail. Wildlife rangers arrested the 64 year old tycoon along with four other associates in the Thungyai Naresuan nature reserve, a world heritage site in Kanchanaburi in February last year. The incident has caused…
- Bangkok News
Siam Songkran Festival lights up this year’s Songkran in Bangkok
Sick of running around Bangkok with your 200 baht Tesco water pistol? Combine the annual water festival with a world class music festival instead. Welcome to Siam Songkran, Thailand’s newest four-day Songkran festival set to be held April 12 – 15 at Bangkok’s largest city centre entertainment zone, SHOW DC Arena. A time of tradition, Songkran is also a time…
- Northern Thailand News
TAT expects 2.3 million tourists for this year’s Songkran
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is expecting more than 2.3 million local and foreign tourists will join the various Songkran celebrations this year. They say that should generate 20 billion baht+ in revenue for tourism and tourism-related services. TAT’s Governor Yuthasak Supasorn says 300,000 international arrivals are expected to celebrate the five day festival starting April 12, along with two…
- Bangkok News
Thailand releases Burmese migrant activist, will deport him
PHOTO: Facebook/Ye Min- Migrants workers wearing T-shirts with the image of Ye Min wait for his release in front of the court in Samut Prakan, Thailand A prominent Burmese migrant activist Ko Ye Min, one of founders of the Aid Alliance Committee in Thailand, has been released from jail pending deportation by a Thai court. “Ko Ye Min was freed…
- Hot News
Court to rule on Premchai poaching case today
The Thong Phaphume provincial court in Thailand’s western province of Kanchanaburi will deliver its long-awaited verdict in the illegal hunting case on the billionaire Thai construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta today. He, and his hunting party, is charged with killing protected species. The alleged offence took place on February 3 last year in Kanchanaburi’s Thungyai Naresuan wildlife sanctuary. They were arrested by…
- Thailand Election News
EC claims yesterday’s ballots are safe and secure
PHOTO: Pattaya Mail The Election Commission says all yesterday’s ballots are secure. They’ve told a suspicious media that they, and members of political parties, are allowed to check the security of yesterday’s paper ballots at Thai Post offices and police stations around the country where they are being stored before heading to Thailand Post’s HQ in Bangkok today. The EC…
- Thailand News
One dead, kids injured in school bus accident in Prachinburi
Photo: Prachinburi PR Office A bus has crashed just north-east of Bangkok, killing one and injuring another 10. Wangkhon Police in Prachinburi were notified of the accident at 4:40am early today. The bus was travelling from Nong Bua Lamphu, north east of Thailand, to Prachinburi. The bus was carrying 20 high school students and 19 teachers. When the bus arrived…
- World News
Preliminary data suggests ‘similarities’ to Lion Air incident – Ethiopian Airlines crash
PHOTO: The ‘black box’ data recorder arrived in Paris last week Preliminary data analysis from the black boxes of last week’s Ethiopian Airlines plane crash has revealed “similarities” to last October’s Lion Air incident. Ethiopian Minister of Transport, Dagmawit Moges, says that investigators recovered all relevant data from the data recorders on board the fateful final flight of the Boeing 737…
- Phuket News
25 year old electrical contractor electrocuted in Chalong, Phuket
FILE PHOTO A 25 year old electrical contractor has died after accidentally touching a high voltage power cabling in Chalong. Police say that the power was still connected when the man was working. Pakasit Raksakam was working on the cabling when he accidentally touched a cable that was still live, according to fellow contractors working nearby. Rescue workers arrived on Soi Na…
- Thai Life
A new visa paperwork problem for some expats?
We get occasional emails from expats relating their various problems with Immigration as they apply for new visas or renewals. The common thread is that applying for, and renewing visas, is becoming unnecessarily complicated. This one seems complex. Names have been withheld for privacy. “I am a British citizen and my baby’s visas were renewed without an issue, but the…
- Phuket News
Water shut offs to hit parts of Patong, Kata and Karon for a week
The Phuket Water Authority (PWA) has announced that water supply in some areas of Patong, Kata and Karon will be shut off from 9am to 5pm from March 25 – 31. Water will be shut off while work is being carried out in the repair and maintenance of the Reverse Osmosis (RO) water pumping station in Karon. Areas to be…
- Bangkok News
Reduce Bangkok’s motorcycle death toll by 82% – add dedicated lanes
PHOTOS: Daily News Dedicated motorcycle lanes might be the answer to lowering the death toll around Bangkok’s congested streets. A leading engineer has suggested that Bangkok should introduce motorcycle lanes. The Engineering Institute of Thailand’s Dr Thanet Wirasiri says that Thailand has some of the most dangerous driving conditions in South East Asia – and things were getting worse all…
- Chiang Mai News
Production staff coughs up blood during filming in Chiang Mai
PHOTO MONTAGE: Daily News A Chiang Mai filmmaker is calling on authorities to urgently tackle the problems of smoke haze and air pollution around the northern capital because it’s posing severe health problems. The filmmaker, frustrated with problems associated with production in Chiang Mai this week, has posted photos of a trainee from his company coughing up blood. He says…
- Krabi News
Suspects arrested on Koh Phi Phi – Attack on 25 year old US tourist
PHOTOS: Daily News Krabi Police say that they have a second of three young men who attacked an American tourist on Koh Phi Phi back on on March 9. But they are trying to locate 25 year old tourist Stephen Trimble who is now believed to be on Koh Phangan. They want him to give evidence so that they can…
- Thailand Election News
Don’t drink and vote – 24 hour alcohol ban starts at 6pm
Police are out and about in Thailand’s popular tourist zones warning people that there will be an election alcohol ban starting at 6 tonight, for 24 hours. There will also be a ban next weekend as well. Nobody appears to have told the police and officials that international tourists don’t vote. “No selling of alcohol will be allowed from 6…
- Bangkok News
Porsche/motorcycle crash – one dead, another woman loses baby
PHOTOS: Thai Rath | Sanook A Porsche Cayman S has been involved in a collision with two women on a motorcycle at 3am this morning (Saturday). The incident happened in Putthamonthon Sai 3 Soi 5. Thai Rath reports that the carnage happened as the vehicles collided outside a car repair yard. A friend of the women says that 24 year…
- World News
Accused Australian killer appears in Christchurch court charged with murder
A 28 year old Australian man smirked as he walked into the Christchurch District Court in New Zealand’s South Island this morning, charged with murder after a carefully planned mass shooting at lunchtime prayers at two mosques. The public was banned from the courtroom for the proceedings, but an angry crowd waited outside the court building. Brenton Tarrant was brought…
- South Thailand News
3 wounded in explosion at Narathiwat border defence unit
Three security officials have been injured in the latest bout of southern violence when armed militants attacked a border defence unit’s base near the Kolok River in the Tak Bai district in the southern province of Narathiwat on the Thai/Malaysian border. Several houses and cars nearby were also damaged by the powerful IED (improvised explosive device). Initial reports have revealed that a group of about 6 militants opened fire at the base with automatic weapons, followed by…
- World News
UPDATE: Christchurch massacre – The mind of an alleged mass murderer
The gunman who Facebook live-streamed himself shooting his way into the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch also posted a political manifesto addressing his reasons for the attack. In his manifesto he described himself as “just a regular White man”. At this stage 49 people have died after a gunman opened fire at two mosques in the South Island city of Christchurch.…
