Hot News
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TCL 6-Series – is it really the best budget Smart TV?
Most of us don’t have huge budgets for a new television, but we want to buy a new television with excellent quality. For this, our top pick at the moment is the TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R635). TCL is well-known for its competitive pricing, and its 6-Series is no exception. The TCL 6-Series Roku TV (R365) combines TCL’s excellent value…
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Vizio P-Series Quantum X reviews and ratings
Are you in the market for the best TV to watch sports or TV shows? Or are you looking for the best screen that can give you an exceptional gaming experience? Vizio P-Series Quantum X might be the TV for you. Vizio P-Series Quantum X TV is bright, colourful, and contrast-rich. It will surely impress you with its picture performance.…
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Which LG OLED TV should you purchase?
Lately, LG has been killing it with their new smart TVs. They are currently the only manufacturer that actually produces OLED TV screens, so it’s no surprise that their OLED TVs are the best in terms of technology and price. The company released a wide selection of OLED TVs, ranging from the fancy GX and WX to the more affordable…
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Top 8 TVs to buy in 2021
If you haven’t upgraded yout TV for a few years, you are likely to be surprised with how far the technology has improved. Besides the outstanding picture quality that you can expect from 4K HDR TVs available today, the latest TVs also have slick user interfaces that bring major streaming platforms to your house without any cables or external streaming…
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Phuket opens – Around 300 seats sold for July 1 arrival flights
Officially, Phuket is open again. The doors are now open to vaccinated international travellers. Driving north along Thepkasattri Road this morning around 6.45am was a convoy of 15 white passenger vans, vans which haven’t really seen the light of day, ferrying tourists around the island, since April or May last year. Today they are being pressed into service for a…
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Small businesses fear Phuket Sandbox will leave them behind
With the Phuket Sandbox reopening just hours away, many businesses in the tourist-reliant province hopefully await the return of foreign travellers and the restart of the economy. But while businesses that had the financial means to weather the long-term closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic prepare excitedly, many smaller businesses that lacked the funding to revive themselves are not nearly…
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New details in the Phuket Sandbox Royal Gazette publication
By now we’ve all read (and re-read and re-read) the general rules of the Phuket Sandbox reopening tomorrow. If you haven’t, one of our numerous previous stories has the full text in English released by Phuket’s governor. But with the Royal Gazette finally publishing the reopening, making it legal and 100% approved just 1 day before the opening, a few…
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Woman killed while trying to cross the road in Nakhon Si Thammarat
A woman was hit by a car while she was crossing the road in the Na Bon district of Nakhon Si Thammarat this morning, says police. Veerayuth Rakthai, a police chief investigator says the victim was a Myanmar national identified as 54 year old “Chan” and says she worked at a rubber plantation. According to Thai media, Chan was attempting…
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Bangkok airport police stop Chinese with babies, seize fake birth certificates
Police are investigating a suspected illegal surrogacy operation after 2 Chinese nationals were stopped at a Bangkok airport as they were attempting to leave the country with 2 baby boys. Police say they seized fake birth certificates. The Chinese nationals were at the Suvarnabhumi Airport with the 6 month old and 1 year old boys. Airport officers stopped and checked…
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Police in Lop Buri seize more than 8 million methamphetamine pills
In a drug seizure yesterday, police in Lop Buri searched 2 cars headed toward Bangkok and found more than 8 million methamphetamine pills in the vehicles. Officers arrested 4 people on charges of possession of illicit drugs with intent to sell. Police say they had received information on the drug trafficking operation after other investigations that led to several arrests…
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Tourism jobs continue to be lost – nearly 1 million in 2021
It’s easy to look scornfully at the government and tourism industry’s rose-tinted predictions of the Phuket Sandbox reopening and further return of international tourism to Thailand by the end of the year. But a look at the current statistics for the battered tourism industry helps explain the need for hope. This quarter, 550,000 jobs were lost in the tourism industry.…
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Dutchman arrested for allegedly selling used cars with fake registration
Thai Immigration police arrested a 35 year old man from the Netherlands who ran a dodgy used car business where he allegedly faked the vehicle registrations. Police say he was also overstayed his visa by 10 years. Police identified the Dutchman as Stanley Richy. They say he ran a second-hand car business and had a business page on Facebook under…
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Thailand tourism officials predict best and worst case scenarios for reopening
The best-case scenario in Thailand’s reopening… 3 million foreign tourist arrivals this year, Tourism Council of Thailand says. It’s a far cry from the around 40 million welcomed to Thailand in 2019. But with Phuket set to reopening tomorrow under the “Sandbox” travel model, and other areas posed to reopen later this year, tourism officials guess, that in the best…
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Bangkok man arrested for allegedly having 200 marijuana plants
A man in Bangkok was arrested for allegedly having 200 marijuana plants. local police had taken a team to the 5 story business on Wacharaphon Road in Bang Khen where they discovered the small forest. Police arrested the green-thumbed owner identified only as 31 year old Jirawit. Reportedly, the 1st floor of the business sold curtains, snacks, and coffee. The…
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Krabi man allegedly fires gun at quarantine hotel, flees with wife and son
A man in Krabi was arrested after he allegedly fired a gun, shooting through a window of an alternative state quarantine, or ASQ, hotel and ran off with his wife and 9 year old son who were staying at the hotel after coming in close contact with those infected with Covid-19. 45 year old Somyos Khongsiri’s wife and son were…
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Travelling to Phuket for the Sandbox starting tomorrow, July 1
Now officially announced in the Royal Gazette, a whopping full day before the start of Thailand’s reopening plans, here is the list of who will be able to travel to Thailand. You will need to be fully vaccinated, that’s the key point, and rather than quarantining in a hotel room for 14 days, your ‘quarantine’ is now the huge tropical…
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Man in Pattaya arrested after allegedly stealing liquor, running across roofs
Police in Pattaya arrested a foreigner and budding ninja yesterday for allegedly grabbing 2 bottles of liquor from a local store and running off without paying. The shop clerk and nearby residents chased after the man, who apparently ran across the roofs of people’s homes to get away. Reports say he was caught after falling from a roof. Residents found…
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Suspect arrested in murder of noodle shop owner
A manhunt has concluded in the northern Thai province, Chiang Mai. Police were looking for a man who allegedly killed a 63 year old noodle seller. Despite being rushed to a hospital, the woman who had suffered stab wounds to her neck and back would later be pronounced dead. Police say they were called to a roadside noodle stand. Once…
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Phuket re-opens Thursday, hotels ready and waiting to welcome foreign guests
As the southern island of Phuket gets ready to re-open to vaccinated foreign tourists on Thursday, hotel operators say they’re well prepared. A Bangkok Post report takes a look at the measures in place for the imminent launch of the Phuket “sandbox scheme”. Yesterday, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha highlighted the need for robust measures to stop the spread of Covid-19. At…
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Koh Larn to pilot Pattaya’s reopening to tourists
Koh Larn off the coast of Pattaya could be reopening to tourists in the near future. As Thailand prepares to reopen to foreign tourists by October, the Chon Buri island will serve as a pilot project for the area’s reopening. Pattaya Mayor Sontaya Khunpluem says the city is in favour of the Thai government’s 120-day reopening plan, a goal announced…
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Gunshots on Jomtien Beach road, no injuries.
Gunshots rang out in the normally peaceful streets running along Jomtien Beach, frightening people in the neighbourhood but not injuring anybody. The incident took place early yesterday morning when an as-yet-unidentified man fired several shots in public along the beach road. The man is said to have fired off several rounds of gunshots from inside his car around 2:30 am…
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Poll: Majority of Thai people against 120 day reopening plan
Who isn’t excited about the 120 day reopening plan announced by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha last week? Turns out nearly 74% of people in Thailand, that’s who. In a new poll by the National Institute of Development Administration, the majority of people surveyed were against the reopening in less than 4 months (the PM made his 12 day call last Tuesday).…
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Former military conscript arrested for Child pornography in Tak
Police in the northern Thai province of Tak have arrested a child pornography distributor. They seized thousands of digital files that included both underage girls and “underage women”. Cyber crime police and local police raided a house. They arrested a 28 year old person identified as “Mr Olarn”. They seized a computer, a mobile phone and a bank passbook. The…
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Activist group seeks to dissolve ruling Palang Pracharath Party, PM’s resignation
An activist group that goes by the name Prachachon Khonthai (People Of Thailand, or POT), say they are filing a petition to dissolve the ruling Palang Pracharath Party next week. The 30 members strong group had come together yesterday on Phitsanulok Road, Bangkok. They gathered surrounded by 300 nearby police officers. The leader, Nititorn Lamlua, who was previously a People’s…
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Welcome back home: Phuket’s message to the world, echoes its X-Factor, its people
“As the countdown to the Sandbox hits seven days, resort island pays tribute to its real-life tourism attraction.” OPINION by Bill Barnett, c9hotelworks.com Tourism eyes around the world are focused on a resort island in Thailand this week for the reopening of international, vaccinated travel to the Phuket Sandbox. A key emerging storyline from the island’s frenzied runaway to July…
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Senator tests positive for Covid-19 after Parliament sessions
After a week of important meetings with most of Parliament in attendance, Senator Lieutenant General Lertrit Wechsawan has tested positive for Covid-19. The 74 year old member of parliament was in attendance for the parliamentary proceedings regarding government referendum voting and later confirmed the diagnosis. It is hoped that exposure and close proximity was limited with the senator, and it…
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Full text of Phuket Sandbox order released in English
Today, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew signed Phuket Province Order No. 3491/2564 officially detailing the rules of the Sandbox reopening. While most provisions have been widely discussed – fully vaccinated travellers coming from at least 3 weeks in a low- to medium-risk country, negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours, US $100,000 Covid-19 insurance, 14 days in an SHA+ hotel, tests on…
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Must you be married to share a room in the Phuket Sandbox?
In an attempt to clarify without actually clarifying the issue, the Phuket Tourist Association was compelled to release a follow-up statement in response to an off-the-cuff remark by an official that implied that only legally married couples could share a room in the Phuket Sandbox rollout. Apparently, the grapevine went like this… During a Zoom meeting with the Association of…
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Police to prosecute yesterday’s protesters for Covid-19 violation
Yesterday saw many protesters commemorating the 89th anniversary of the bloodless revolution that turned Thailand into a constitutional monarchy. Today police declared they plan on prosecuting demonstrators for violating the Covid-19 emergency decree banning groups of more than 50 people and are currently gathering evidence against rally leaders and protesters. Police officials say that the protesters exceeded the emergency decree…
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Update list of high/medium/low risk countries for travelling to Thailand
Update: Under the “Phuket Sandbox” and “Samui Plus” travel models, travellers not only need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to be eligible to enter Thailand under the schemes, but they also need to be travelling from countries classified by Thailand’s Department of Disease Control as a low to medium risk for Covid-19. The DDC posts a new list on…
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