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  • Radio station gunman confesses, faces murder charges, death penalty | Thaiger

    Radio station gunman confesses, faces murder charges, death penalty

    The gunman who allegedly shot 3 of his coworkers at a public radio station is facing murder charges and the death penalty if convicted. The 59 year old Wim Sonsuk was an electrician at the station. He lashed out after problems with his coworkers at the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand in the northern Phitsanulok province. On Wednesday, he allegedly…

  • Thai Airways can’t refund 24 billion baht in unused tickets | Thaiger

    Thai Airways can’t refund 24 billion baht in unused tickets

    Thai Airways’ recent declaration of bankruptcy and debt rehabilitation has left many holders of unused tickets high and dry. The carrier grounded its fleet in early April due to the Covid-19 crisis, and is now unable to refund tickets purchased for the period since. The troubled national flag carrier’s PR department said yesterday it is unable to offer refunds at…

  • Standard Chartered Bank forecasts 2 year economic recovery for Thailand | Thaiger

    Standard Chartered Bank forecasts 2 year economic recovery for Thailand

    Standard Chartered Bank says that it remains conservative on Thailand’s economic outlook, even though signs are emerging with the possibility of a further policy rate cut to below 0.25%. Their latest report forecasts a return to pre-Covid levels could take more than 2 years depending on improving business sentiment as the economy reopens, noting that the government has been disbursing…

  • Security chief says country to reopen July 1 | Thaiger

    Security chief says country to reopen July 1

    The chief of Thailand’s National Security Council announced today that Thailand has set July 1 for the end of all “business and activity lockdowns” ordered to cope with the Covid-19 crisis, include provincial and international travel. The announcement also included the end of the Emergency Decree and curfews, Bangkok Post reports. NSC Secretary-General Somsak Rungsita says the lift of restrictions…

  • Bangkok’s UK visa application centre to reopen | Thaiger

    Bangkok’s UK visa application centre to reopen

    Below is the text of a press release from the British Embassy, lightly edited for brevity: “On June 1, UK Visas and Immigration will begin a phased resumption of services and our main Visa Application Centre in Bangkok (The Trendy Office Building, 28th Floor Sukhumvit Soi 13, Klongtoey-Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110) will be open. Customers who were unable to attend…

  • Massage shops, boxing stadiums may be allowed to reopen next week | Thaiger

    Massage shops, boxing stadiums may be allowed to reopen next week

    But we won’t know until tomorrow. Phase 3 of the easing of Covid-19 emergency measures could finally see boxing stadiums, massage parlours, spas, cinemas and tutorial schools allowed to reopen next month. Pubs, bars and nightlife venues are expected to remain closed, well that’s the rumours for now anyway. The deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department says activities and…

  • Thai man arrested for distributing child porn on social media | Thaiger

    Thai man arrested for distributing child porn on social media

    A man was arrested for processing and distributing child pornography after a report from a US agency, police announced yesterday. The US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children traced the uploaded pornography back to Thailand and notified Thailand immigration police. The man, Thai media reports as ‘Kittiphong’, uploaded and sold the child pornography on Twitter and the messaging app…

  • Man arrested after firing shots at coworker, shoot out with police | Thaiger

    Man arrested after firing shots at coworker, shoot out with police

    A man has been tracked down and arrested after he shot at a coworker and later fired shots at police, one bullet accidentally hitting his brother-in-law. The coworker was not harmed after 27 year old Thirawat Thamkhanthee fired shots at him outside a Rayong factory on Tuesday, the Bangkok Post reports. Rayong is a province to the east of Bangkok.…

  • Central buys Family Mart Thailand | Thaiger

    Central buys Family Mart Thailand

    Shopping centre operator Central Retail Corporation has bought 100% of Family Mart, one of Thailand’s major convenience store chains, as it “moves forward to develop a new business model to cater to modern consumers”. CRC’s chief executive officer says the acquisition will strengthen Central’s hold on the food market and convenience store business in Thailand, which is burgeoning. Since 2012,…

  • More people charged in illegal surrogacy scandal | Thaiger

    More people charged in illegal surrogacy scandal

    More people involved in the surrogacy scandal turned themselves in yesterday and are now facing charges. According to the Bangkok Post, 4 doctors and a scientist are looking at charges for their alleged involvement in the illegal ring which uses Thai women to carry babies for people in China. A report yesterday says a Thai doctor faces charges for human…

  • Son stabs father multiple times in Nakhon Si Thammarat | Thaiger

    Son stabs father multiple times in Nakhon Si Thammarat

    A father was stabbed 9 times by his son yesterday in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The Bangkok Post reports the 25 year old son was high on drugs and acting erratic. His 53 year old father tried to calm him down, but the son took out a knife and stabbed his father multiple times. The father, a…

  • Emergency Decree extended through June amidst accusations of political motivation | Thaiger

    Emergency Decree extended through June amidst accusations of political motivation

    As widely predicted, the Cabinet yesterday extended the Emergency Decree for a third month, to its limit at the end of June. Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, quickly explained that the decree was enforced because it enabled more than 40 laws to be tied together to allow for quick enforcement at the national level.…

  • Gunman kills 3 at Northern Thailand radio station | Thaiger

    Gunman kills 3 at Northern Thailand radio station

    Thai media reports 3 people are dead after a shooting today at the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand radio station in Phitsanulok, Northern Thailand. One other person is injured. Khaosod English reports that the suspected gunman, Win Sonsuk, has already been arrested. He was a staff member at the radio station. He was working as a transmitter engineer. One of…

  • Unemployed elephants: Some return to the wild, others sent to work in logging business | Thaiger

    Unemployed elephants: Some return to the wild, others sent to work in logging business

    The drop in tourism has had a huge impact on the elephants in Northern Thailand, leaving many elephants, you could say, unemployed. While some elephants are out of business and been taken back to their natural habitat, others are struggling in captivity and might be sent off to work in animal labour which some people may deem as unethical. A reporter…

  • Dozens get hospitalised after eating raw meat salad | Thaiger

    Dozens get hospitalised after eating raw meat salad

    Dozens of Northern Thailand villagers became sick after eating raw buffalo meat and were treated for food poisoning at local hospitals. All 79 people treated ate the raw buffalo meat. The meat was sold in beef stalls at wet markets in Phayao Province next to Chiang Rai, Thai media reports. Some people bought the meat, possibly thinking it was beef,…

  • Internet service blocks PornHub, backs down after outrage | Thaiger

    Internet service blocks PornHub, backs down after outrage

    It’s no secret pornography is a little tricky to access in Thailand (according to someone else’s research). Recently, the internet service True Online confirmed that they are blocking the popular site PornHub, but quickly backed down on their statement after a storm of angry comments on Twitter. “I pay you asshole, are you my parents?” one person wrote on Twitter,…

  • Woman charged after abandoning cats at Wat Pho | Thaiger

    Woman charged after abandoning cats at Wat Pho

    A Bangkok woman has been fined after she tossed five bags, each containing a cat, over a wall and into Wat Pho on Sunday evening. Maybe she thought she was doing a good deed by dumping the cats off at the Bangkok temple, but she was dressed like a common thief working at night. Videos show her dressed in all…

  • UPDATE: ‘Bleach mum’ was the maternal mother of sick boy | Thaiger

    UPDATE: ‘Bleach mum’ was the maternal mother of sick boy

    Today local Thai media report the latest update about the women allegedly forcing her children to drink bleach. Her adopted daughter died due to ‘allergies’ back in December. But the latest case of her sick son now unveils a suspected malicious intent to cause illness in her children. Doctors at Thammasat Hospital in Bangkok confirm that a DNA identity test…

  • 3 quarantined returnees confirmed with Covid-19 in Thailand (May 26) | Thaiger

    3 quarantined returnees confirmed with Covid-19 in Thailand (May 26)

    Today, in the Centre of Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily press conference, Dr. Taweesilp confirmed 3 new cases of coronavirus in Thailand, of which all were recorded as quarantined overseas repatriates. This brings Thailand ‘s total of confirmed Covid-19 cases to 3,045. The death toll remains at 57 fatalities with no additional deaths reported today. Dr. Taweesilp says from the new cases…

  • Dozens of plastic containers per person in state quarantine | Thaiger

    Dozens of plastic containers per person in state quarantine

    …and the rest of us haven’t been helping the plastic problem either. Thailand started the year eco-friendly by banning single-use plastic bags. All good, but with “stay at home” orders and mandated quarantines, plastic waste has been increasing. One Thai artist, who stayed in a state quarantine facility, added up all the plastic containers and bottles he used during his…

  • Evidence mounts against “bleach mum” | Thaiger

    Evidence mounts against “bleach mum”

    Officers of the Crime Suppression Division say text messages on the popular Line application show that a woman accused of forcing her two year old “son” to swallow bleach isn’t the boy’s biological mother. This evidence, together with DNA test results expected next week, may lead to human trafficking charges being pressed against the woman as well. A Line chat…

  • Thailand’s economic forecast among Asia’s worst: central bank governor to step down | Thaiger

    Thailand’s economic forecast among Asia’s worst: central bank governor to step down

    The governor of the Bank of Thailand will step down when his term ends in September. Veerathai Santiprabhob announced yesterday that he has decided against seeking a second 5 year term for “family reasons.” His departure comes as Thailand sees its economy contracting as much as 6% this year, mostly as a result of the impacts of lockdown provisions to…

  • Thai police deny using emergency decree as political tool | Thaiger

    Thai police deny using emergency decree as political tool

    Following the arrest of two activists in Bangkok on Friday, police deny using the emergency decree to suppress political dissent. Both activists were arrested at the Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre, where a small group was commemorating the 6th anniversary of the May 2014 military coup that swept PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to power, tossing out the elected government of Yingluck…

  • Two brothers shot dead after fight over pickup truck | Thaiger

    Two brothers shot dead after fight over pickup truck

    Three brothers got into a fight over a pickup truck their deceased father left for one of the sons. It ended with two of them shot dead, Nation Thailand reports. A witness says that the pickup truck was left behind for 39 year old Sarayut Mustofadi, but his older brother, Seri, took the truck. Witnesses say Sarayut and his brother,…

  • Thai food giant to provide a million meals priced at 20 baht | Thaiger

    Thai food giant to provide a million meals priced at 20 baht

    Thai food conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Foods says it plans to offer heavily discounted ready-to-eat meals for those facing financial difficulties as a result of the economic fallout of Covid-19. CEO Prasit Boondoungprasert says a million meals will be distributed to Fresh Mart shops around the country and will cost just 20 baht. There will be a choice of dishes on…

  • Thousands of people have been travelling between provinces | Thaiger

    Thousands of people have been travelling between provinces

    … but not quite as many as before, so far. The Director General of the Department of Land Transport says that more people have been using the inter-provincial buses services after the government recently easing Thailands’ lock down situation. He says… “Although some long distance services are still not in operation to comply with the night time curfew, many inter-provincial…

  • Gang raids virus screening checkpoint and empties community pantry | Thaiger

    Gang raids virus screening checkpoint and empties community pantry

    A coronavirus screening checkpoint in Northern Thailand has been ransacked yesterday morning. Police say around 3 men cleaned out and knocked over the community pantry, which was stationed at the checkpoint, and destroyed some of the plastic chairs. Around 1 am, the group stormed the checkpoint, a tent step-up used to check people travelling in and out of the village…

  • Horse riding makes a comeback on Hua Hin beaches | Thaiger

    Horse riding makes a comeback on Hua Hin beaches

    From next Friday, horses are expected back on the beaches of Hua Hin, on the Gulf of Thailand. It follows the easing of more Covid-19 restrictions last week as Prachuap Khiri Khan officials allowed some businesses, including horse-riding operations, to reopen. It’s understood that hotels, department stores and shopping malls are also back in business. Hua Hin is starting to…

  • Relatives claim British pensioner was mistreated and starved by Thai family | Thaiger

    Relatives claim British pensioner was mistreated and starved by Thai family

    Relatives of an 86 year old British war veteran claim he endured starvation and mistreatment at the hands of his Thai family in Samut Sakhon, central Thailand. After receiving medical clearance, the man was flown home to the UK yesterday on an Eva Air flight. A report in Thai Visa says the man, named only as “Ron”, was rescued after…

  • Phuket’s lost summer – looking to 2021 for tourism recovery | Thaiger

    Phuket’s lost summer – looking to 2021 for tourism recovery

    In a solemn recognition of the reality of Phuket’s stalled tourist industry, a spokesperson for the southern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association is saying most of the west coast hotels are unlikely to reopen until the last quarter of this year. And that’s just the start of the problems for the popular island beach resort. For now, Phuket’s International…