- 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 –…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya Cricket Club match report – Indoor cricket league
September 12 was the inaugural round of the recently created Pattaya Indoor Cricket league. PCC was due to play Asian Stars B whilst Rugby School Thailand (RST) were due to play Asian Stars A. Unfortunately, both Asian Stars teams failed to materialise, so PCC played RST. This hotly contested match also saw the appearance of new members to PCC –…
- 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…
- Politics News
Proposal: New law that will allow six cannabis plants per Thai household
PHOTO: Campaign posters before the last election for the Bhumjaithai Party who continue to push further legalisation of cannabis The Bhumjaithai Party, a party in Thailand’s coalition government, is now proposing a law that would allow Thais to grow a limited amount of cannabis at home. This takes laws, passed less than a year ago that legalised the drug for…
- 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…
- Phuket News
Wan Yubamrung’s subordinate arrested for attempted murder in Patong
PHOTO: Manager Online Last night (September 12), 32 year old Thanpawat Supchotiwanich, a subordinate of Thai Pheu Thai party politician Wan Yubamrung, was arrested in front of his house in Soi Ekkachai 135, in Patong, acting on a warrant issued back in 2010 after he shot a business peer over an undisclosed conflict. Thanpawat is also known as ‘Tong Deksuegaeng’…
- 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…
- Environment News
Indonesian forest fires surge, intense smoke floats over neighbours Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia
by Dessy Sagita “The number of “hotspots” has jumped sharply in Indonesia on Wednesday, according to the Singapore-based ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre.” Intense forest fires continue to rage across the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan in recent weeks. More than 930,000 hectares of land have been burned, hundreds of residents evacuated, and more than 9,000 personnel have been deployed…
- 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…
- Environment News
Can we defeat dengue? Mosquito trials raise hopes.
“We have seen a remarkable reduction of dengue cases after the release.” by Jenny Vaughan If you’ve ever experienced a bout of Dengue Fever, this will be welcome news. And if you live and work in the tropics in south east Asia, Dengue looms as a constant threat. Hundreds dead in the Philippines; a threefold increase of cases in Vietnam;…
- 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…
- Chiang Mai News
Dental assistant turns ‘pro’ selling fake retainers and braces
PHOTO: WorkPoint News The Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office has arrested an unqualified or registered dental retainer seller that used to work as a dentist assistant. She has been selling the fake retainers to customers online via Facebook. Nattawut Prasertsiripong, from the Department of Health Service Support was contacted to take legal action against the woman making fake retainers…
- 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…
- Northern Thailand News
UPDATE: Parents report daughter located in Bangkok
UPDATE from earlier story… below • The missing girl has been located in Bangkok, according to her parents • They told police that she has lied to them before and that last night’s story had been fabricated by her • The girl’s boyfriend has returned to his work in Kalasin after hearing his ‘girlfriend’ had been located in Bangkok •…
- World News
Burmese kids dodging cows and cow dung to play rugby
by Richard Sargent – PHOTOS: AFP It’s a case of dung and dragons. Sidestepping cowpats and garbage, Myanmar’s only home-grown junior rugby side train on the outskirts of Yangon, preparing to take on children from the city’s well-heeled international schools. When the Little Dragons aren’t running barefoot on the litter-strewn dirt, the makeshift field on the outskirts of Yangon is sometimes used…
- Northern Thailand News
Udonthani girl wakes up in a mystery forest after getting on interprovincial bus
PHOTOS: Sanook An Udonthani girl has gone missing since getting on a tour bus heading to neighbouring Kalasin Province. She called her mother and fiancé with “fear in her voice” claiming that she woke up in the middle of a forest with other passengers and had no idea where they were. No one has heard from her, or the other…
- Technology News
iPhone 11 launch – Apple cuts prices, new services
by Glenn Chapman “The new iPhones are jam-packed with new capabilities and an incredible new design.” – Tim Cook Apple unveiled its iPhone 11 models last night (Thai time) with a price cut for the most basic models while also laying out plans for streaming and gaming services as it bids to weather the slump in the global smartphone market.…
- World News
Smoke haze affecting neighbouring countries to Sumatra and Borneo islands
PHOTO: Malaysia’s Kuching on Borneo this week “Hundreds of schools shut as forest-fire haze blankets SE Asia.” Huge fires are raging across vast swathes of Indonesia’s rainforests – some of the world’s biggest – with toxic smog shutting hundreds of schools. Massive jungle areas in Sumatra and Borneo island are ablaze as thousands of personnel battle to quell the fires, frequently…
