- Crime News
Police receive reports of Ponzi scene affecting 200 on Koh Samui
PHOTO: Manager Online 200 Thai wives of foreigners have reportedly lost up to 120 million baht in a Ponze scheme on Koh Samui. A group of 20 affected victims were represented by ‘Praew’ who reported to the Bophut Police Station to register a formal complaint. Bophut Police are trying to interview 30 victims each day since the complaint was registered…
- Road deaths
American dies after being knocked over by motorbike north of Bangkok
An American pedestrian has died after being run over on Klong 1 Road leading to the Lumpini Township condominium, north of the Capital. Police and emergency services responded after reports that a foreigner had been struck by a motorcycle just after midnight this morning. Volunteers from Ruam Katanyu provided CPR to the man, reported by Sanook as 35 year old ‘Carl’ from…
- Phuket News
Lost Leopard Cat kitten being cared by Phang Nga wildlife officials
The small leopard cat kitten, found near a rubber plantation, is doing well and being cared for by Phang Nga wildlife nursery staff. It is not known what happened to the kitten’s mother. It was rescued on Monday near a rubber plantation in Krabi province by a Ban Pho Riang resident. The surprised passerby who found the the kitten fetched called officials at…
- Crime News
Thai police impersonator arrested in Bangkok
PHOTOS: Daily News A 41 year old man has been arrested in Bangkok for impersonating a policeman, claiming to know the Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police and extorting people. Sayan Pimpatan has been arrested, and a police uniform (with the rank of senior sergeant major), a 9mm gun, ammunition and a car, seized. The arrest follows complaints about a man impersonating…
- Northern Thailand News
Resort used by Palang Pracharat over weekend may be on encroached land
PHOTO: 88 Garmonte Resort, Nakhon Ratchasima – Foursquare Thailand’s Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation is mulling the demolition of a venue where Palang Pracharat held a seminar at the weekend. The party has come under fire from opposition MPs about using the forest resort which has allegedly encroached on forest land. Located in Wang Nam Khieo district in…
- Crime News
Phuket’s roti knife attack victim identified as Ambassador’s son
PHOTO: เสียงประชาชน คนภูเก็ต Phuket People’s Voice The Egyptian tourist slashed by a roti seller in Chalong’s Soi Ta-iad over the weekend, has been identified as the son of the Egyptian Ambassador in Uruguay. The incident occurred on July 19, when a man from Koh Lanta, 32 year old Surachai Raksap, attacked an Egyptian man with a knife in front of a…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok council to raise fines for motorbike footpath riders
Bangkok’s deputy governor says he has received approval from the BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) to raise fines imposed on motorcyclists caught driving on Bangkok’s sidewalks from 1,000 to 2,000 baht, starting next month. He said he was unhappy that a number of motorcyclists are still using the city’s footpaths as shortcuts, despite the existing 1,000 baht fine. The BMA says…
- Crime News
Businessman files petition against 29 officials and police
PHOTO: เรื่องจริงผ่านเลนส์.com (The Thuth by lens) The owner of owner of P.S.O. Import (Thailand), 75 year old Prasert Pimpaporn, has petitioned Crime Suppression Division police to take action against 29 army soldiers, police and officials. Prasert was accompanied by lawyer Ananchai Chaiyadet to file the petition with the investigation chief of CSD Division 5 accusing the officials of allegedly filing false…
- Thailand Weather Updates
Bangkok gets a peak hour battering
PHOTO: FM91 Trafficpro Bangkok and its suburbs were battered by a heavy thunderstorm late yesterday afternoon (Tuesday). The rains brought with them the usual traffic chaos during the rush evening hours and blew over trees and power poles in the suburbs. Those trying to avoid the traffic down below used the BTS Skytrain riding above the chaos below but were…
- Tourism News
“Worst in ten years” – Chiang Mai hotels
Hoteliers and business in Thailand’s main tourist areas continue to be at odds with the official narrative trotted out by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. This time hoteliers in Chiang Mai are reporting tourism in Thailand’s north is the worst in ten years at the moment. A report in ThaiVisa says that bookings are 40% down when compared to the…
- World News
A year after the Laos dam collapse homeless survivors wait for help
PHOTO: World Rainforest Movement A year ago, a dam at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydroelectric project in southern Laos collapsed under pressure of rising monsoon waters, sending floods downstream and killing over 70 people, though the official toll is lower. 12 months on, thousands are still waiting in temporary camps in the impoverished state. A report by International Rivers…
- Politics News
House speaker warns MPs to behave when new Thai parliament sits tomorrow
PHOTO: “Behave!” – House Speaker Chuan Leekpai – Thai PBS The first sitting of the new parliament will be tomorrow (Thursday) when the coalition government, led by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, will lay out the policies of the government. And MPs are being warned to behave ahead of time. Members of parliament are being warned by the speaker of the house…
- South Thailand News
Surat Thani governor does spot checks on free school lunch program
PHOTOS: Thai Rath Want to find out if the public school free lunches are up to scratch? Send out a team of people to ‘test drive’ the free lunch program that has come under scrutiny in recent years. There have been accusations of rorts, poor quality and downright corruption at some schools that were meant to be providing a nutritional…
- Northern Thailand News
Fake goods valued at 11 million baht go up in smoke in Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai Province’s Customs Department in Mae Sai has incinerated illegal and fake items valued at over 11 million baht. The illegal items are goods that “do not follow the customs law of Thailand”, aka. fakes and brand copies. Most of the items were seized from the Thai-Burmese Border Gate in Mae Sai. The illegal goods were gathered and burned at…
- Transport News
Thailand’s taxi and tuk tuk scams and annoyances
“Where are you going?”, they shout from across the road. A Tuk Tuk driver wants to help you get to your next destination but the willing smile and lure of a ride in a local jalopy may have switched off your trusty scam-detector. Tuk Tuks and taxis, and the motorbike taxis too, are a convenient, safe and reasonably cheap way…
- South Thailand News
Thai military under fire over alleged torture of a man in Pattani
PHOTO: Pattani United Liberation Organisation president Mr. Kasturi Mahkota An apparently healthy man, taken to a military camp in the Thai southern province of Pattani for interrogation on Sunday night, has ended up in the provincial hospital’s intensive care unit with brain swelling. The Pattani United Liberation Organisation is condemning the Thai military over the incident. Kasturi Mahkota, PULO president,…
- Thailand News
Thai workers killed in van crash in South Korea
PHOTO: Thaikuknews Two Thai citizens have been killed in South Korea after their passenger van carrying 16 people skidded off a mountain road heading to a farm. The Korean Times reports that the two Thais, the van driver and another passenger were seriously injured after the van crashed through a guard rail. Nine other people, of mixed nationalities, were in the…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya police crackdown on middle eastern bike renters
PHOTO: Pattaya Update News Regular and traffic police have been out in force overnight were out in force in Soi Yen Sabai and Soi VC, South Pattaya following about complaints about middle eastern men keeping residents awake with noise from motorbikes. Pattaya Update News reported that some fled before police arrived but many other had their bikes seized. a total of 20 motorbikes…
- Transport News
Chiang Mai airport threatens to sue Grab car driver
PHOTO: Chiang Mai Airport surveillance camera “The Airport Director claims that security staff were only doing their job and that Grab cars were not currently registered as public transport vehicles.” Chiang Mai airport officials are denying a Grab car driver’s claims that officials attacked him and say counter-charges will be filed against the man. Workpoint News report that 39 year…
- Koh Samui News
Spanish tourist found after missing on Sunday night in Koh Samui mountains
Missing Spanish tourist, 57 year old Luis Cabello Ortega, has been found on Koh Samui. Island deputy police spokesman Pol. Col. Kritsana Pattanacharoen says Luis, who was lost in the forest of Na Muang Mountain on Koh Samui, has been found safe and well by villagers who returned him to his hotel in Tambon Borput. Luis says he enjoyed the…
- Tourism News
Pattaya tourist slump – visitors leaking to Vietnam
The new Minister of tourism and sports says tourism in Thailand is up nearly 1% (0.89% to be precise) in June year compared to last year. But as ministers bicker over the numbers – up or down – other business leaders says that tourism on the ground in Pattaya is much worse than the figures suggest. According to ThaiVisa, the “outlook…
- Transport News
A proposal for Greater Bangkok’s fourth airport
PHOTO: Thailand Construction A new airport in Bangkok’s Nakhon Pathom province, just to the west of the capital, will be greater-Bangkok’s fourth air travel hub. The announcement was made on Saturday. Jarun Meesomboon, deputy director-general of the Airport Department, says the new 3,500 rai airport was a priority for the new Transport Ministry. He optimistically claimed it would cost only…
- Politics News
The price of opposition in Thailand
“They create an atmosphere of fear by attacking us, even in broad daylight in the streets.” Sirawith Seritiwat, aka. ‘Ja New’, is not new to politically motivated violence. As the metal bars beat him again and again in broad daylight in a Bangkok street last month, he wondered if this time the attackers were going to kill him. Suddenly others…
- Tourism News
Airbnb welcomes new Thai Tourism Minister support of ‘short term’ accommodation
Airbnb welcomes the new Tourism and Sports Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan’s and his commitment to grow tourism and support short-term accommodation in Thailand. Speaking to local media on his first day in office, Minister Ratchakitprakan identified short-term accommodation reform and growing tourism in secondary cities as a priority area for the Tourism and Sports Ministry. Airbnb’s Head of Public Policy for…
- Transport News
Bangkok’s ‘Backpacker Central’ gets a makeover
Khao San Road in Bangkok, which has become famous (and slightly infamous) over the years without much interference, is about to get fully-fledged make-over with the help of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority. Thai PBS reports that works are scheduled to begin in March next year with a budget of 48 millon baht set aside for the work. Bangkok’s Deputy Governor Sakonthee…
- Transport News
Dongtan Beach speed bumps deter after hours racing in Jomtien
Jomtien Beach now has new speed bumps and lines painted on the roads to help deter motorbikes and cars speeding down the road along the beach late at night. The local Pattaya council has now installed speed bumps in Dongtan Beach in Jomtien to discouraging the speeding. While vehicles are currently prohibited from 10am – 5pm daily, cars and motorbikes have…
- Pattaya News
Repair budget for decaying bridge on Koh Larn postponed to next year
Plans to fix up the Koh Larn Tien Beach bridge have been put back to next year. In recent months news stories have reported that the bridge is in urgent need of repair. Locals are claiming the structure is “close to collapse”. The bridge and walkway link Tawaen Beach and Tonglang Beach. Pattaya’s Deputy Mayor says that a 4.5 million…
- Phuket News
Body of second missing Filipino found off Phuket
PHOTO: ejan.co The body of the second Filipino who went missing late last Wednesday afternoon at Freedom Beach in Phuket has now been found and recovered. The body was found between Phuket and Koh Phi Phi by a local fisherman around 12pm yesterday. His body was brought back to Phuket and arrived at Chalong pier yesterday afternoon. The body has…
- Koh Samui News
Spanish tourist remains missing in Koh Samui mountain trek
PHOTO: Thai PBS A Spanish tourist remains missing after being lost on Na Muang Mountain 2 on Koh Samui. Police and rescue workers spent over three hours searching for 57 year old Louise Cavelo Ortega yesterday afternoon but the search was suspended as night fell. Heavy rain and the dark made it almost impossible for police to proceed. The search resumed this…
- World News
KL’s Petronas Tower architect Cesar Pelli dies at 92
“It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of our founder, mentor, and great friend, César.” – business partner Fred W. Clarke. From Malaysia to the US, famed architect Cesar Pelli, known for his innovative skyscrapers and use of coloured glass, has died at the age of 92. “He was a gifted architect and teacher, two callings he…
