Hot News
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From January 1, 46 shopping centres and convenience chains stop giving out single-use plastic bags
It’s slowly happening, but the out-cry over single-use plastics is gathering pace and some of the ‘big names’ are now changing their policies. Yesterday’s announcements are certainly a step in the right direction. From January 1, 2020, major shopping malls and convenience chain stores will discontinue providing single-use plastic bags to customers. The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment…
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Thailand’s ‘economic condition index’ expected to decline in Q3
PHOTO: Culture Trip Thailand’s household economic condition index is likely to drop further due to the ongoing global economic slowdown. Another drop would make it the third this year, measured in quarters. The slowdown is impacting the domestic economy and employment, according to the Kasikorn Thai research centre. Thai PBS reports that the latest ECI report indicates that a survey…
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How to celebrate Loy Krathong or Yi Peng in Chaing Mai
PHOTO: yipengchiangmailanternfestival.com The Loy Krathong festival, known in Chiang Mai as Yi Peng, runs from today until Tuesday, November 12 It started last night at Three Kings Monument around 6pm, where 500 dancers perform terra cotta candle worship dances. People also started lighting candles around the moat and old city, a focus for the events each year. Today, November 10, it’s the…
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Thai deputy PM puts security agencies on alert for Loy Krathong
PHOTO: english-room.com The Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan is instructing administrative state agencies, including police and Army, to work closely and provide security to people during Loy Krathong celebrations tomorrow, November 11, according to Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt-General Kongcheep Tantravanich. Prawit is telling them to be well prepared to handle all possible exigencies due to accidents in water or criminal acts…
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More rain for the south, cooler in the north
PHOTO: TripSavvy The Thailand Meteorological Department says the north of the country is experiencing fog and scattered showers as a result of a high pressure system over the region. Temperatures are expected to drop by 1 – 3 degrees Celsius, leading to cooler mornings, especially in mountainous areas. Meanwhile, the south of the country can expect more rain, with heavy…
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Government’s economic stimulus package generates over 10 billion baht so far
PHOTO: Fodors Travel Guide The Thai government’s campaign to stimulate domestic tourism – the Chim Shop Chai campaign – has generated over 10 billion baht so far. The Nation reports that transactions carried out through the g-Wallet app have generated 225 million baht in the Yala province alone. The southern province now ranks 10th highest for spending during the campaign.…
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Transport Ministry succumbs to increase in luggage charges for airport taxis
Items of luggage that measure 26 inches (66 centimetres) or more in length will now incur a taxi ‘handling fee’ of an additional 20 baht in an agreement reached between airport taxi drivers and the Transport Ministry. It’s understood the Ministry approved the increase after caving in to a protest by taxi drivers on Thursday. Over 100 members of the…
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Swiss man nabbed on Koh Phangan, overstayed visa by more than four years
PHOTO: Naew Na A 52 year old Swiss expat has been arrested on Koh Phangan in violation of his visa conditions. Naew Na reports that the man had overstayed his entry visa into Thailand by over four years. Police tracked him down at a rented house on Koh Phangan, a small Gulf of Thailand island near Koh Samui. He had overstayed…
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Pattaya police clarify the details of the ‘escape’ story
Pattaya Police have tried to wrestle back the ongoing media speculation over the case of the American and two Thai escapees, who escaped from the Pattaya Court last Monday at 3pm. At a media briefing yesterday they said the escape, hunt and capture had been reported poorly, was full of speculation and factual errors. They pointed out that the wife…
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German retiree bundled up and robbed in his Phuket house
PHOTO: Achadtaya Chueniran “The men ran off with two ATM cards and were able to convince the couple to tell them their PIN codes.” A 70 year old German expat has been tied up and his arm slashed during a robbery at his Rassada residence last night. Two men attacked the man, accosted his Thai wife when she arrived home, and…
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Samui Elephant Sanctuary wins ‘Responsible Thailand’ award in London
The Samui Elephant Sanctuary is this year’s winner of the ‘Responsible Thailand’ award in the category of Animal Welfare for its work rescuing and rehabilitating elephants in Thailand. The award was presented by His Excellency Mr. Pipat Ratchakitprakan, Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports at the World Travel Market in London. The same award was won by Elephant Nature Park…
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Thai Airways moves flights around for Loy Krathong and New Year’s Eve
PHOTO: Chiang Mai Citylife In view of the fact that residents in northern Thailand traditionally release paper sky lanterns (khom loi) during celebrations such as the upcoming Loy Krathong festival and New Year’s Eve, Thai Airways says it will be making some changes to its schedule for safety reasons. The airlines’ Vice President of Aviation Security and Standards, Pratana Patanasiri,…
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European level 4 motorbike exhaust standards coming
A new law says that motorcycles manufactured in Thailand must meet the ‘Euro 4’ level of exhaust emissions standards, according to the Office of the Prime Minister. The Cabinet approved a draft of the law yesterday. “This draft makes clear the government’s determination to solve pollution caused by motorcycles,” a spokesman said. “Thailand’s emission standard is currently only at Euro…
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Phuket police arrest man for attempted rape in Krabi
PHOTOS: Phuket Hot News Phuket police have arrested a man who attempted to rape a woman in Krabi. Phuket police held a press conference to announce the arrest of 29 year old Nantachai ‘Loob’ Boonrak, who was earlier reported trying to rape a woman harvesting mushroom in a forest in Ao Luek district, in Krabi. The man was arrested at…
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Ease on foreign investments and cut on official interest rate
The Bank of Thailand will now allow Thai residents to send money overseas to invest directly and the domestic trading in gold in foreign currencies. The Central bank governor Veerathai Santiprabhob says the move should help slow the baht’s worryingly rapid appreciation. The new measures will come into effect tomorrow. Exporters will be allowed to invest their earnings abroad, up to…
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Two convicts recaptured after escaping Rayong police station
PHOTO: The Pattaya News In the wake of the daring escape from a Pattaya courtroom by three prisoners on Monday, The Pattaya News reports that another two convicts have managed to escape from a police station in Rayong, southern Thailand. It’s understood they have now been recaptured. The two prisoners are believed to have made their escape from the Nikom…
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Thai road death toll tops 12,000 in 2019
PHOTO: Motorcyclist skittled by pick-up and killed in Ranong this week – Daily News Thai media report 12,304 people have been registered as dying at accident scenes in Thailand so far this year. Academics caution that this figure only relates to those who die at the scene, and the actual death toll is far higher when when all all data…
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Phuket Airport officials warn about sky lanterns during Loy Krathong
Phuket airport officials are urging people not to release sky lantern (khom fai)on Loy Krathong as well as the forthcoming New Year. Vijit Keawsaitiam, the Deputy Director of Phuket International Airport, held a meeting about safety measures and discussed about banning lanterns and firework activities during Loy Krathong festival and the New Year celebrations. The Deputy Director said that releasing…
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Absurdities of modern flying, and do we really need to be shown how to fasten a seat belt?
PHOTO: Groovy air-hostesses from the late 1960s when flying was more glamourous. “Now everyone can fly” and that’s brought us to where we are now. There used to be a time when flying was a pleasure, an expensive pleasure. The passengers were part of the ‘jet-set’, and they could smoke cigarettes and sit in wide, comfortable seats. They would dress…
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Airbnb shares research and best practices for Thailand’s short-term rental industry
Yesterday The Thaiger published a story about Airbnb, supplied through The Nation, that contained a number of inaccuracies. We now publish the entire original media release from Airbnb… Airbnb has today released its proposed regulatory principles for short-term accommodation which would support the Thai Government’s objectives of making Thailand the premier tourist destination in Asia and one of the top…
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Bangkok to move all motorcycle taxi ranks off sidewalks
PHOTO: Win Drivers in Bangkok awaiting their next fare – Yahoo News The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration says they will move all motorcycle taxis ranks (also known as “Wins”) off the city’s pavements by the end of this year. The awaiting motorcycle taxis, with their colour-coded high-viz jackets, are ubiquitous around the capital Naew Na reports that 495 ranks currently use the…
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Pattaya fugitives’ pick-up truck found, two people arrested
PHOTO: The Pattaya News The pickup truck used by three drug defendants, who attacked police and escaped from a Pattaya Court, has been located and seized in Chon Buri. Police have arrested two people suspected of helping the three escapees. The Isuzu truck was silver\white in colour, not bronze as originally reported. Police found the truck at an industrial park…
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Former hotel employee uses stolen data for online shopping binge
PHOTO: INN News Police have arrested a man for using stolen credit card information for an online shopping spree, with a final bill of over 500,000 baht. 35 year old Jirat Siriwattanakul used to work at hotels in Chiang Mai and Phetchaburi Provinces before getting into online shopping, with other people’s money. Jirat is charged with impersonation and using another…
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UPDATE: Three Pattaya fugitives, including one American, still on the run
Three prisoners, one of whom is American, and all of whom are described as armed and highly dangerous, remain on the loose after a daring escape from a Pattaya courtroom yesterday. The Pattaya News reports that the prisoners are Thai nationals Mr Noi Ton Nintet and Ms Sirinapha Wisetrit, along with American national Mr Bart Allen Helmus, who is understood…
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Three on the loose – Officer stabbed as three escape Pattaya jail
PHOTO: Injured officer rushed to hospital after the shooting at the Pattaya City Court – The Pattaya News Three prisoners, including an American citizen, have escaped from the Pattaya Courthouse and are now, as of Tuesday morning, on the loose. A police officer was stabbed in the melee. Pattaya police learned of the incident at 3:30pm at a holding cell…
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Up to 30,000 caught up in “Forex- 3D” Ponzi scheme
PHOTO: INN News The Thai justice ministry has revealed that one hundred victims were preparing to press the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) to consider the “Forex-3D” Ponzi scam case as one with ‘special status’. Read the background to the story HERE. There are thought to be up to 30,000 victims of the scheme was offering 10% interest per month to investors,…
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Bangkok Airways announces ‘sale’ for fares to Samui
Bangkok Airways has announced its ‘Samui Year-End Sale’ promotion, which commenced at the start of the November, offering discounted fares on its domestic and international routes to and from Samui. The flights to Samui cover Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi), Chiang Mai, Phuket, Krabi and U-Tapao in Pattaya. We’ll do them the courtesy of reporting that they’ve announced one-way fares start from 1,990 baht…
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Chonburi manufacturers suspend operations, workers laid off
PHOTO: Nippon Steel Steel Processing Company storage yard and port facilities Thailand’s division of the Nippon Steel Steel Processing Company, in Rayong province, says they will suspend operations, temporarily, starting November 9, citing a steady drop in steel sales. Japan’s local affiliate Nippon Steel, says that, if all its employees work full-time, the company’s output of steel will far exceed…
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BMA adds pedestrian walkways and better disabled access
PHOTO: Bangkok Post The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has launched a program to improve flyovers in high-traffic areas with pedestrian crossings which will also include facilities to help the elderly safely cross Bangkok’s busy roads. The report says that road-crossing signals will be established along with flyovers with lifts for the elderly and disabled, particularly in high-traffic areas. Flyovers with ramps linking…
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British man arrested on Koh Phangan over local drug charges
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times A UK national is now in custody in Koh Phangan following an arrest for for drug possession with intent to sell. The arrest followed a tip-off that a foreigner, riding a Harley Davidson around the island, was selling drugs to tourists on the island. Police say that 36 year old Matthew Beresford was stopped after “acting…
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