- Crime News
Biometrics identify 8 fake passports in 3 days
PHOTO: Workpoint News Thai Immigration Police have been lauding the success using their new Biometrics System at the airports. In 3 days, 8 foreigners have been nabbed using fake passports. In the case of these 8 cases, all the passports were purchased from an Iranian Agent. Immigration Police reported the arrest of the foreigners on September 13 who were using…
- Environment News
Another dead dugong found off the coast of Trang
PHOTO: The baby dugong Mariam, who brought a lot of publicity to the plight of the local dugong population, died in August Another dead dugong has been discovered floating in the Andaman Sea, between Koh Ya in Trang and Koh Ngai Island in Krabi. The corpse was discovered yesterday by a local tour boat. It’s been a bad year for…
- World News
US Fed poised to cut rates this week
“Hiring, while strong, has slowed. Business investment is moribund. Exports are weakening. And manufacturing – always a vital economic weather vane – is in recession.” by Douglas Gillison Facing a dauntingly uncertain economic horizon and constant criticism, including insults and demands for stimulus from the US president, the US Federal Reserve is set to cut interest rates this week. In speeches…
- Politics News
“The fake university degree is irrelevant if Thammanat has a genuine BA degree” – Wissanu
PHOTO: Thai PBS World “Wissanu refused to give a direct answer to a reporter’s question about whether Thammanat would still be considered qualified if the higher-level degrees were proven to be fake.” Key leaders of the coalition continue to back the embattled deputy agriculture minister Thammanat Prompao despite a week were his drug past has been revealed in a Sydney…
- World News
World’s largest trading bloc to be concluded by the end of the year
The next negotiating round for the formation of RCEP will be held in Da Nang, Viet Nam on September 19-28 . RCEP is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and when negotiated and signed, will become the world’s largest and most powerful trading bloc. RCEP includes all ASEAN economies, plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Economic ministers…
- Business News
Large Thai business feeling the effects of US-China trade war, rise of the baht
So what do Thailand’s big banks say? The ongoing US-China trade war and the appreciation of the Thai baht against other currencies is now starting to impact larger corporates in Thailand. Wasin Saiyawan, senior executive vice president and chief of wholesale banking at Siam Commercial Bank says, that although large businesses are resilient to any impact and their ability to…
- Environment News
Phuket’s Surin Beach’s anti-erosion walls fails causing another environmental disaster
PHOTOS: ขยะมรสุม ขยะมรสุม has posted on their Facebook page about the ugly and failed attempt at an erosion wall at Phuket’s Surin Beach (photos below). He said in his post… “Found this big pile of trouble at Surin Beach. What are these sacks for? Are they becoming trash? You won’t conquer nature with sand sacks. If you want to make…
- World News
‘Tank Man’ photographer dies – defining photo of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests
PHOTO: Charlie Cole “Tank Man” has become one of the defining images of the 20th century, but the image remains largely unrecognised in China due to censorship of the image and the wider crackdown.” The photographer who photographed the defining image of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown – a solitary man defiantly blocking the path of a column of tanks –…
- Opinion
Why the Chinese are more important than Western tourists to Thailand
OPINION by Dan Cheeseman – Dan About Thailand We need to wake up and smell the roses, us Westerners are no longer an important group for the Thailand tourism industry – in fact, we are what you would call ‘niche’ – and with good reason. The Chinese are here in numbers and not only will this continue to grow but…
- Politics News
Embattled Thammanat Prompao considers 100 defamation lawsuits against accusers
PHOTO: Reuters The high-profile deputy Agriculture Minister, and government ‘fixer’, Thammanat Prompao says he will file about 100 defamation lawsuits against individuals and organisations who have dug up his criminal past, including his reported heroin-trafficking past in Australia, including a four year jail term, and people questioning his educational credentials. He claims they are all a plot to discredit him.…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya tourist racks up 50,000 tab after ringing bar bell 20 times
PHOTO: Channel 7 A 33 year old tourist from Oman, visiting a Pattaya bar with his Thai girlfriend, has ended up with a bill of 53,300 baht for his night out. But “it was all a misunderstanding”. In a bar along Na Klua Road he rang the bell about twenty times. This traditionally means the staff and all customers can…
- Technology News
‘Body farm’ scientists find corpses move
Rest in peace. Apparently the ‘rest’ isn’t quite as ‘peaceful’ as we first thought. Not quite as much as zombies, but anyway… An Australian scientist has proven human bodies move around significantly for more than a year after death, in findings that could have implications for detectives and pathologists around the world. After studying and photographing the movements of a corpse…
- World News
Algorithm update: Google will now promote “original reporting”
“It remains to be seen how such changes will affect news outlets, especially smaller online sites and local newspapers, who have borne the brunt of the changing media landscape.” “Original reporting will be highlighted in Google’s search results.” That’s the claim from the company in the latest changes to its algorithm. The world’s largest search engine is under increasing criticism…
- World News
Immigration police in the Philippines arrest 270 Chinese in fraud raid
“A total of 277 people were taken into custody in the operation that Philippine officials carried out in conjunction with Chinese authorities.” Police in the Philippines have arrested more than 270 Chinese nationals following a raid on a gang wanted over a vast investment fraud that has cost victims in China millions of dollars. Agents swooped on an office building…
- Thai Life
Muay Thai gains momentum in Nepal
“Muay Thai fighters are so strong, they can knock down a tree with a single kick.” Gymkhana, with the help of Nepal National Muay Thai Association, organised the first semi-professional competition and plans more in the future. While still a child Rahul Moktan heard his father talking about the Thai sport of Muay Thai, which has since paved his way…
- World News
New Zealand announces tougher gun laws after mosque massacre
PHOTO: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern – TVNZ “Under the new legislation, a registry will be set up that is designed to track ownership of every legally owned firearm in the country.” New Zealand legislators have unveiled new laws aimed at ensuring only “fit and proper” people can own guns in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed…
- World News
Manila traffic jams block ambulances, patients die on way to hospital
by Cecil Morella / Joshua Melvin Gridlock in Manila is costing lives as ambulances stuck in traffic face severe delays in the race against the clock to reach the city’s hospitals, medics warn. Special lanes for emergency vehicles are not enforced, the infrastructure is outdated, and local drivers are often unwilling or unable to make way – a situation experts…
- World News
US trying to make ‘meaningful progress’ in US-China trade negotiations
PHOTO: CNBC by Heather Scott US trade negotiators want to make “meaningful progress” in upcoming talks with China, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, one day after conciliatory gestures by both sides boosted hopes of an eventual resolution. The slugfest between the world’s two largest economies has cast a shadow over global economic growth with both Chinese and US economies…
- World News
Bangladeshi police force gang-rape victim to marry suspect
FILE PHOTO “Police officials on Thursday said the marriage appeared to be part of an effort to prevent the suspects from being prosecuted.” Two Bangladeshi policemen are being disciplined after a rape victim’s family claim she was forced to marry one of the accused rapists in a police station in the northern district of Pabna. The mother-of-three had accused five men…
- Politics News
Seri Ruam leader says he told Sydney Morning Herald to investigate Thammanat Prompao
PHOTO: Seri Ruam Thai party leader Gen Seripisut Temiyavet “The Seri Ruam Thai party leader said that he was not afraid that he might be sued for providing information to the Australian media.” Seri Ruam Thai party leader Gen Seripisut Temiyavet claims that he was the source who tipped off the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in Australia to investigate the…
- World News
Vietnam versus Thailand – which is the best for travel or living?
They are both beautiful countries and stand out amongst their south east asian counterparts for their food, culture and scenery. But which one is your choice for travelling or living in? Here are some introductory thoughts… Influences Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and the former king, King Bhumibol, was greatly loved and respected. His son, King Maha Vachiralongkorn, now maintains…
- Politics News
Government loses another MP as member heads to prison
Another blow to the ruling Palang Pracharath party and coalition after the MP for Kamphaeng Phet province, Pol Lt-Col Waipote Arpornrat, lost his Member of Parliament status after the Supreme Court upheld the 4 year prison sentence handed down by the Appeals Court for his involvement in the disruption of the ASEAN Summit in Pattaya back in 2009. As the…
- World News
No durian at Disneyland, but outside food now allowed at Shanghai Disney
Outside food in, but durian can STAY OUT! Same with STINKY TOFU! This according to Shanghai’s Mickey Mouse. Disney’s Shanghai theme park is loosening its ban on outside food following a lawsuit earlier this year, but the home of Mickey Mouse still won’t tolerate visitors taking in instant noodles or pungent foods such as durian. A student, ‘Wang’, filed a lawsuit…
- World News
Doing Myanmar’s Mergui Archipelago in style
Burma Boating is set to launch monthly cruises around the Mergui Archipelago in southern Myanmar, combining two of the most sought-after activities in these pristine waters – yachting and scuba diving. The SY Dallinghoo, a 30 meter classic gaff-rigged schooner crafted by renowned US yacht designer Dudley Dix, will cast off from the port of Kawthaung in southern Myanmar once…
- World News
Malaysia demands Indonesia acts on smog-belching fires
“An official in Sarawak state on Borneo is demanding Indonesia send face masks and medical supplies to Malaysia for those affected by the pollution.” Malaysia is stepping up pressure on neighbouring Indonesia to tackle huge blazes tearing through its rainforests and smothering Southeast Asia in smog, as fires typically started to clear land for crops send diplomatic tensions soaring. Burning…
- Politics News
MP formally breaks away from the coalition over Thammanat Prompao remarks
PHOTO: “Hello?! Did someone ask me something? Mr. Pichet Sathirachavan, leader of Prachatham Thai party, has formally announced they have decided to break away from the governing coalition to join the independent opposition camp with the New Civilized party. Yesterday PM Prayut Chan-o-cha covered one of his ears with his hand as he pretended not to hear one of many…
- Northern Thailand News
Thai police officer arrested with nearly 200,000 meth pills in his luggage
PHOTO: Thai PBS World A serving policeman has been arrested by police in Chiang Rai province after 198,000 methamphetamine pills were found in his luggage on a Bangkok-bound bus. Mae Sai district policemen at a checkpoint in Tambon Pong-Ngam, stopped a Nakhonchai Tour bus bound for Bangkok from Mae Sai, for a routine check. The officers found a locked suitcase on…
- Politics News
Coalition considers demoting clumsy deputy agriculture minister, Thammanat Prompow
Key members of Palang Pracharath are now discussing the future of deputy agriculture minister Thammanat Prompow’s as ‘fixer’ or coordinator of the coalition’s minor parties. The coalition’s smaller parties, some of them just single MPs, are in uproar following the controversial minister’s “monkey keeper” weekend remarks, potentially causing new rifts in the shaky coalition government. At the weekend the minister…
- Transport News
Phuket’s most expensive car number plate is ‘9999’ costing more than 700K
FILE PHOTO Following the auction for car license plates organised by the Phuket Land Trasport Office over the weekend, it’s been revealed that the number 9999 got the highest bid at 710,000 baht. This year’s auction was for the ‘ขก’ category, which represents ‘treasure, virtue and fortune’, and there were 301 numbers available. The Chief of Phuket Land Transport, Banyat…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya tourists comes off motorcycle at “badly lit” roadworks
PHOTOS: The Pattaya News Rescue services have had to rescue another foreign tourist who hit a sign at some pipe laying works, falling off his bike. The incident happened in Thepprasit Soi 7 at 2.20am this morning. The tourist suffered minor head injuries and road rash. His Yamaha motorcycle was laying on the ground nearby. The tourist was taken to Pattaya…
