Hot News
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Airbnb welcomes new Thai Tourism Minister support of ‘short term’ accommodation
Airbnb welcomes the new Tourism and Sports Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan’s and his commitment to grow tourism and support short-term accommodation in Thailand. Speaking to local media on his first day in office, Minister Ratchakitprakan identified short-term accommodation reform and growing tourism in secondary cities as a priority area for the Tourism and Sports Ministry. Airbnb’s Head of Public Policy for…
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Bangkok’s ‘Backpacker Central’ gets a makeover
Khao San Road in Bangkok, which has become famous (and slightly infamous) over the years without much interference, is about to get fully-fledged make-over with the help of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority. Thai PBS reports that works are scheduled to begin in March next year with a budget of 48 millon baht set aside for the work. Bangkok’s Deputy Governor Sakonthee…
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Dongtan Beach speed bumps deter after hours racing in Jomtien
Jomtien Beach now has new speed bumps and lines painted on the roads to help deter motorbikes and cars speeding down the road along the beach late at night. The local Pattaya council has now installed speed bumps in Dongtan Beach in Jomtien to discouraging the speeding. While vehicles are currently prohibited from 10am – 5pm daily, cars and motorbikes have…
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North-central Thailand’s Yom River in Phichit runs low
Stories keep emerging about river systems, the lifeblood of agriculture in northern and north-eastern Thailand, drying out or dropping dramatically in level. A section of the Yom River that runs through the Sam Ngam in district in Pichit, north-central Thailand, has almost run dry following months without rain. The river was already reported as unseasonally low during April this year.…
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Pope scheduled to visit Thailand this November
Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Thailand and Japan this November, according to reports in Catholic websites in Rome. sanook.com reported the news yesterday. His visit will coincide with the 350th year anniversary of the presence of the Roman Catholic Church in Thailand. As of 2018, there are 379,975 Catholics in Thailand, a figure that represents 0.46% of the total…
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Ministers visit Thai southern provinces for economic brainstorming session
PHOTO: Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, centre, arrives for a meeting in Yala yesterday – The Nation The new Thai Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit (and leader of the Democrats), along with the Deputy Transport Minister Thavorn Senniam and Deputy Interior Minister Niphon Bunyamanee, held a multi-party discussion yesterday at the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre in Yala province. The meeting aimed…
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Egyptian tourist stabbed in the neck at a roti street store in Phuket
PHOTO: Daily News A roti roadside vendor has been arrested after attacking a tourist by stabbing a man in the neck outside a Family Mart store. 30 year old Mahmoud Abbas is now recovering in hospital following surgery. He was admitted with a 7 centimetre gash on his neck. According to reports in Daily News, the roti seller stabbed the…
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Constitutional Court accepts petition over Prayut’s fitness to be PM
The Constitutional Court yesterday accepted a petition from opposition MPs questioning PM Prayut’s “qualifications” to hold the post of Thai prime minister. The Court announced its decision on its website, commenting that the petition had been signed by a total of 110 MPs from various opposition parties but declaring that Prayut was free to continue carrying out his duties as…
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Zambian arrested on overstay and animal cruelty charges in Samut Prakhan
PHOTO: khaosod.co.th Thai immigration police have arrested a Zambian man for an alleged overstay and committing acts of cruelty following a Facebook post that sought help for the dog. The Nation reports that 27 year old Wachisa Sikwese has been arrested by Immigration police. They reported that Sikwese was arrested shortly after Watchdog Thailand spotted a Facebook post that sought help…
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Tweet forces Suvarnabhumi immigration to explain long lines
PHOTO: Travel Daily Media “Suvarnabhumi hell for tourists. Look at queues today. Never seen this long.” In response to English-language teacher Andrew Biggs complaining about the long queues at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Immigration Bureau says it had already mobilised more personnel to facilitate immigration clearance. Biggs, the owner of Andrew Biggs Academy and co-director of andrewbiggs.com, an English language-learning website…
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Bangkok’s Blue Line from Hua Lampong to Bang Kae launched for 3 month trial
Bangkok Expressway has started a 3 month trial run of the extension of the Blue Line train service from Hua Lampong station to Bang Kae station. Thai PBS report the the Blue Line, between Taopoon terminal and Bang Kae, is expected to be officially launched at the end of this month. Another extension of the same line from Taopoon to…
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National agenda will be prepared for dugong conservation in Thailand
PHOTO: Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa in Koh Libong, Trang, yesterday/Facebook Speaking to reporters during a trip to Koh Libong in Trang yesterday, the new Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said that Thailand should draft a national agenda for dugong conservation. He was visiting the ‘nursery’ of the the young dugong ‘Mariam’ saying that Thailand could become…
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UPDATE: 3,000 baht Phuket van fare for Australians tourists “all a misunderstanding”
As a follow up of the complaint about an overcharged van fare of 3,000 baht from Phuket International Airport to Kata by two Australians, a meeting was held yesterday between the driver, the tourists and a representative from the Phuket Land Transport Office. They agreed, in the end, that it was all “a misunderstanding”. The complaint about the expensive fare…
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British expat arrested over dog attack in Phuket. 15 year old dog ‘ok’.
PHOTO: Shop surveillance footage of the attack A British expat, Mervyn “Merv” Harding, has now been charged over his attack on a 15 year old dog outside a massage shop in southern Phuket on Tuesday. CCTV footage caught the man parking his motorbike, pulling a metal rod from under the bike seat and then repeatedly beating the animal as it…
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Thailand’s tourism copes with surging baht headache
PHOTO: Thailand’s new tourism & sports minister, Piphat Ratchakitprakarn, hoping the finance ministry will listen to his pleas about the high baht Thailand’s new tourism & sports minister, Piphat Ratchakitprakarn, is blaming the surge of the baht for sucking the life out of tourist arrivals into Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. Piphat yesterday said he’ll discuss with the Bank of Thailand…
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43 year old British man arrested over Phuket dog attack
PHOTO: Facebook/Naiharn Beach Dogs Mervyn Harding, a 43 year old British expat, has ben charged over animal cruelty after he was identified on CCTV attacking a dog with a long rod on Tuesday morning (July 16). He was charged after attacking the dog in front of a massage shop near Nai Harn Beach around 7am on Tuesday. Police started investigating the…
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New Thai Tourism & Sports Minister has a wish-list to improve tourism
PHOTO: Tourism and Sports Minister, Pipat Ratchakitprakan – mots.go.th The new Thai Tourism and Sports Minister, Pipat Ratchakitprakan, has set out a shortlist of priorities in his new role. He says setting and maintaining better safety standards are vital to regain the confidence of foreign tourists. The minister says he would also discuss the high baht with the Finance Ministry and…
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TMD issues a new weather warning for tropical storm Danas
The Thai Meteorological Department has issued another warning about tropical storm Danas since saying it’s on the move, from the Philippines’ Luzon, north and north-eastward into the East China Sea. The storm appears headed for Taiwan and likely to dump plenty of heavy rain on the way. The storm is ‘sucking’ in moisture from the Indian Ocean across southern Thailand,…
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Aussie tourists ripped off 1,500 baht each for a van ride in Phuket
A Facebook post in the “Phuket People Voice“ page has published the photos of two Australians who reported to Kaon police after being ‘ripped off’ in a van ride from the airport to their Kata hotel. A policeman at Karon says… “An Australian citizen came to report the situation in Karon saying that they ‘called’ (hired) a van from Phuket Airport…
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15 year old Thai student dies following attack in SOTUS hazing tradition
PHOTO: Anti-hazing activist Panuwat Songsawatchai/Facebook Khaosod English is reporting that a high-school student, who was in a coma following ritual hazing at a Nakhon Pathom school, has died today. Pisit Kumniw, a 15 year old student at the Phra Pahtom Wittayalai School, in Nakhon Pathom north-east of Bangkok, allegedly died from injuries sustained from hazing by senior students in a class three…
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Bangkok drug gang nabbed for selling Pattaya tourists illicit drugs
PHOTO: 77kaoded Three men have been arrested in Pattaya and 833 grams of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and 6,700 methamphetamine pills seized. Police also seized a car and two motorcycles. Three Thai men – 23, 29 and 35 year old – were arrested and charged with possession of Category One drugs with intent to sell. Daily News reports that the three man gang was…
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BMW speeds away as policeman tries to hang on at Bangkok toll booth
SCREENSHOTS: Sanook A policeman has ended up in hospital after being dragged along by a white BMW after trying to stop the car. CCTV footage from the Thanyaburi Toll booth on a Bangkok ring road shows the BMW driving away from the booth, with the policeman clinging on to the roof. The car veered to the left suddenly to ‘shake off’…
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Second hand car dealers arrested over 5 year old scam in Chiang Mai
PHOTO: Daily News Police in Chiang Mai say they have arrested a married couple involved in an alleged scam of 52 people in the northern Thailand city. The incidents were reported to police five years ago. 55 year old Anucha “Teng” Dorkmaingam and his 39 year old wife Warawee or Suthicha Suphan were arrested at a Chiang Mai restaurant. Daily…
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Van, baht bus and taxi drivers fight for passengers at Pattaya pier
PHOTO & VIDEO: Ruk Siam News Pattaya taxi, van and baht bus drivers, authorised and unauthorised, are fighting over tourists at the Bali Hai pier. Ruk Siam News says that efforts by the Pattaya City Council to sort out the issue at the south Pattaya port have been ineffectual and that there are often more drivers than passengers vying for…
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Weerasak paints a rosy tourism picture as he steps down from Ministry
Weerasak Kowsurat, outgoing Tourism and Sports Minister In a final spin at the microphone as Sports and Tourism Minister, Weerasak Kowsurat made statements about Thailand’s tourism numbers and the Thai baht that differed from other published numbers and local anecdotal reports. Weerasak claimed, despite the appreciation of the baht, that Thailand has attracted as many as 21.08 million tourists in the…
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“Thailand shouldn’t have water problems” – a personal view
OPINION Post from a concerned Phuket resident who is worried about the future of the island’s most precious resource, fresh water. Despite being surrounded by water, potable water supplies are in peril for the forthcoming high season with lower-than-usual rainfall and the dams still at historically-low levels at the time of publishing this story. The person has asked to be anonymous……
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Future Forward’s Thanathorn on European and US lecture tour – VIDEO
The Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit spoke with American NBC’s Andrea Mitchell about his hopes and aspirations for Thailand’s future. He also addresses his own current situation in regards to charges he is facing over alleged media shareholdings. Thanathorn is currently suspended from participating in the new Thai parliament as an MP as he awaits the Constitutional Court to hear…
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Phuket’s Banyan Tree celebrates 25 year anniversary with new Serenity Villas
2019 is a year of celebration for Banyan Tree Phuket, with the resort offering two brand new villa categories, as part of its year-long 25th anniversary celebration. In September this year, the iconic Banyan Tree Phuket, the flagship property for Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, will celebrate 25 years as Phuket’s premier holiday resort. The festivities will include the release…
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King urges new cabinet to solve problems for Thailand’s happiness and security
PHOTO: Thai PBS “In the process of doing a job, there will be problems, and that it was normal that they must be solved at the core so the administration of the country can proceed smoothly.” – HM The King His Majesty has offered moral support to PM Prayut and the newly sworn-in cabinet ministers, urging them to perform their…
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Thai Airways close to sale of used planes to US company
PHOTO: Thai Airways Airbus A340, Airplane Pictures Thai Airways International President Sumeth Damrongchaitham reports that the national airline expects to sign an agreement this month with a US logistics firm on the sale of eight used A340 aircraft worth between 4-4.5 billion baht. The company is in the process of examining the contract before closing the sale deal of Thai Airways…
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