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Retiring in Thailand, most of the things you need to know
Please note: The information in this document is provided as a guide only. You should always check the latest information with a Thai Immigration official or professional visa agent. Thailand remains a popular world location for retirees – the beaches, climate, access to good medical care and great food. There may be a few more potholes in the roads and…
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Hackers moved the Google location for Phuket’s popular Promthep Cape
A house at the Huay Namthor village in the Muang district of Phuket has been getting some additional visitors since December 31. Tourists, using Google Maps to find the popular attraction of Laem Promthep (Promthep Cape), the southernmost spot of the island, have been ending up 4 kilometres away from their intended destination. The location pin had been moved by…
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Police in pursuit of Hua Hin man writing on a woman’s underwear
PHOTO: Thai Rath …we should clarify that the woman wasn’t wearing the underwear at the time. Hua Hin has a creative freelance writer on the loose who has been choosing the medium of women’s underwear to share his words of wisdom. But the messages have been salacious in content and causing a great deal of distress for the owner of…
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Thai PM on the defensive before the censure debate even begins
“A soothsayer is always a soothsayer, but that does not mean I am insulting their predictions. I respect opinions based on astrology.” Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is warning the opposition parties not to censure the performance of his previous administration (the NCPO) and to concentrate on the current government, which has been operating for nearly five months. He reminded critics…
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First meteor shower of the year to be visible January 4th
PHOTO: Artists impression. In truth there could be up to two meteors per minute at the peak, but you’ll need to be in a very dark location to get the best from the experience. Set the alarm and boil the kettle for a wake-up coffee. The year’s first meteor shower will grace Thailand’s skies on January 4, according to the…
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31 Thai provinces bracing for “severe drought”
The drought situation across nearly half of Thailand is about to get worse. The water levels in the Mekong River is at its lowest level since 1992 and the Provincial Waterworks Authority is warning 31 provinces to prepare for severe drought this year. Thai PM Prayuth Chan-o-cha is expressing concern over the situation and instructed officials to distribute water to…
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Ex-PM Thaksin reunites with daughter on New Year’s Eve
Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who’s been in self-imposed exile since being ousted in a 2006 coup, has appeared in a photo with his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted on her Facebook page on New Year’s Eve. The accompanying message said that she is again celebrating New Year with her father abroad and that she misses her mother, siblings and three…
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Rival demonstrations scheduled for January 12 in Bangkok
Over 10,000 people have registered for the “Run Against Dictatorship” in Bangkok on January 12, while government supporters say they are planning a rival event on the same day. The two events point to increasing political tension in Thailand, which has seen violent street protests and even coups in recent decades. Critics say the general election in March was manipulated to…
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Single-use plastic bag ban just the beginning – Thai Minister
“It is a huge New Year’s gift to Thailand and the world.” This proud announcement from the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varavuth Silpa-archa voicing his strong support of the ban on plastic bags that kicked in yesterday. 75 companies, covering shopping malls, and department and convenience stores, have stopped distributing single-use plastic bags. It’s a positive step as Thailand starts…
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Thai retailers start plastic bag ban. What are you doing to help?
And so it begins, a new era in Thailand, and a new paradigm where plastic bags may be seen as environmental pariahs instead of day to day necessities the Land of Smiles. Yesterday marked the first day of the ban on single use plastic bags implemented by around 75 brands under the Thai Retailers Association to reduce plastic waste. The…
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Australian Navy evacuates coastal residents whilst southern NSW and eastern Victoria burns
PHOTO: Victorian Government Emergency officials in Australia have a 24 hour deadline to move thousands of people stranded on the New South Wales (NSW) South Coast who could face a looming fire crisis when this weekend’s latest heatwave arrives. Bushfire-ravaged communities in southern NSW are assessing the damage after seven lives and 176 homes were lost. In Victoria, south of NSW,…
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Vietnamese woman arrested using someone else’s passport documents
The Immigration Police have arrested a Vietnamese tourist posing as someone else. Immigration Police at Suvarnabhumi Airport report that on December 31 a foreigner, holding a passport with ID that didn’t look anything like her, tried to check in with the dodgy documents. Officials intervened and apprehended the girl when she was trying to use the passport to check-in with an…
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Greenback falls below 30 baht to the USD
The Greenback has dropped below 30 baht against the US$, its strongest position in six years. The currency closed at 29.88 baht to the dollar yesterday. But Thai officials say the drop through the 30 baht barrier is not a concern and more of a ‘blip’ than an ongoing trend to increase its value against the Dollar. At 4pm this…
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EssilorLuxottica announces a 6.3 billion baht fraud at a plant in Thailand
EssilorLuxottica has reported a 213 million US$ (6.3 billion baht) fraud in on of its plants in Thailand. EssilorLuxottica is a French-Italian multinational corporation based in Paris with subsidiaries and manufacturers around the world. Essilor Luxottica, a global designer, manufacturer and distributor of ophthalmic lenses, frames and sunglasses, has announced that its subsidiary Essilor International recently discovered fraudulent fund transfers in one…
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Bangchak petrol stations installing EV charging locations and solar panels
“Currently PEA is surveying the sites of Bangchak’s petrol stations that are suitable for installing EV chargers.” This from Somchai Techavanich, Chief of Marketing and VP of Marketing at Bangchak Corporation. The group recently announced that the company is planning to install EV (electric vehicle) charging stations at its petrol stations under an MoU for clean energy business development signed…
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Top 10 most popular stories at The Thaiger in 2019
There has been plenty of news around in 2019 for Thailand. The Top 10 stories ranked by their significance by our writers is very different from the Top 10 stories you searched for and clicked on at The Thaiger. Some other stats. You clicked on The Thaiger 81,177,191 times (up to December 29) during 2019, the busiest month was October…
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Thailand set to launch two more budget airlines in 2020
While Thailand’s flagship Thai Airways struggles, two new budget airlines are preparing to take off in 2020. The past decade has been challenging for Thailand’s legacy airline whilst newer, more nimble and cashed-up players enter the market. As reported in The Thaiger last week, both Thai Summer Airways and Thai Eastar Jet have gained Air Operating Licenses from the Civil…
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Opposition will increase pressure to amend Thai constitution in 2020
Opposition parties will intensify their push to amend Thailand’s 2017 constitution and allow “fair political ground rules for all parties”, according to Phumtham Wechayachai, a key member of one of the parties, Pheu Thai. He says the opposition will work through a joint parliamentary panel, recently formed to study constitutional amendments, headed by Phiraphan Saleeratthavipark, a veteran Democrat MP who…
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Thai baht hits highest level against the USD in six years
The baht finished in spectacular fashion after a year as one of the world’s most stable currencies, when it reached 30.15 baht against the US$, its highest level in six years. Kasikornbank Bank is forecasting that the Thai baht could move into a range of 30-30.30 baht to the dollar this week (up to January 3). Investors have been selling USD…
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159 people dead after first three days of Thai holiday campaign
PHOTO: VOA 159 people have died in the first three days of the Christmas/New Year holiday 7 day safety campaign. During those three days there has been 1,504 crashes resulting in 1,549 injuries. The numbers take into account last Friday up to midnight Sunday night. The capital, Bangkok, has registered the highest death toll and the highest number of drink-driving…
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Man arrested with loaded gun in Pattaya, allegedly firing in public
PHOTO: The Pattaya News A 42 year old Thai man has been arrested, not far from the same Pattaya checkpoint where a 26 year old man was earlier arrested with a live grenade. Police responded to a complaint that someone was firing a gun on Soi Bun Bunkaram 5 around midnight on December 29. Officers, and a reporter from The Pattaya…
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Latest NIDA poll says Thanathorn “most suitable” for PM
A recent NIDA survey has named Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit “the most suitable person” for the post of Thai PM and his Future Forward Party as the best party to lead the country. The survey by the National Institute for Development Administration, or NIDA Poll, was conducted between December 18 – 20 on 2,511 Thai adults of various occupations and levels of education.…
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Thai police dis criticism of their Koh Tao Murder investigation
PHOTO: Bangkok Post Thai police have publicly hit back at foreign media allegations that their forensics investigation into the highly-publicised 2014 murder case on Koh Tao did not meet international standards. The publicity about their allegedly botched investigation began in 2014 with the brutal murder of two British tourists, David Miller and Hannah Witheridge, on Koh Tao island off Surat…
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Phuket police arrest eight drug dealers along with weapons and ammunition
On December 29, Phuket police arrested eight drug dealers and also seized a collection of drugs and weapons. In the first case, police arrested 29 year old Auttarit Chuachit and 28 year old Taweewan Suwannapo for possessing methamphetamine pills and Kratom leaves along with a gun and ammunition. They were arrested at the parking under a condominium on Thepkasattri Road…
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Thai road toll jumps to 109 after first two days of seven day campaign
Road incidents during the first two days of the seven day New Year holiday period have risen to 974. The southern province of Surat Thani, just north of Phuket, had 33 incidents and 37 people injured. Chiang Rai and Nakhon Sawan have had the highest death toll with 6 deaths each. Police have been instructed to tighten up traffic checks…
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Thai justice minister supports chemical castration of rapists
The Thai Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin has given his support to a law that would require chemical castration for convicted rapists. Democrat MP Rangsima Rodrasmi proposed the law during a discussion in the House of Representatives on sexual violence. The House has created an extraordinary committee on the prevention of sex crimes. Rangsima suggested sex offenders should be castrated, chemically or…
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Thanathorn says he’ll fight for Thailand’s ethnic minorities
Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit says his opposition party will press for recognition of the basic rights of Thailand’s ethnic minorities, including ancestral land rights and access to state welfare. The party leader was in the western province of Tak on Friday to attend New Year celebrations among the Hmong hill tribe, and to seek their support for the…
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Bangkok is in the middle of a battle between the Chao Phraya and Gulf of Thailand
The natural ebb and flow, and the eternal battle between waters flowing down the Chao Phraya and up from the sea, may affect Bangkok’s tap water supply. This year the water flowing down the mighty river may not counter the water trying to flow up towards the capital from the Gulf of Thailand. The slow sinking of Bangkok (the capital…
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Indian visitors to Thailand help break tourist arrival record
With a few days left to go in 2019, Thailand has already stepped over last year’s record arrivals of 38,260,000. The 38,260,000th visitor to Thailand in 2019 arrived on December 20, a tourist from India, Devanshi Deepak Kesaria. Thailand has exceeded last year’s record for foreign tourist arrivals. This final result for tourist arrivals into the Kingdom in 2019 will end…
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Three Bangkok police fired after proof of extortion emerges
UPDATED STORY Three policemen who worked out of the Thonglor Police Station, on the eastern edge of Bangkok city, have been suspended from their duties las Friday, pending a full enquiry. Thai Rath reported that the three had been relieved of their duties after allegedly receiving a bribe from a French businessman. The three policemen were identified as Maj. Phitsanupol…
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