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Sponsored What do you need before moving from the US to Thailand?
The Thaiger key takeaways The most common medical emergencies for expats in Thailand include motorcycle accidents, tropical diseases, and food or water-borne illnesses. Air pollution and heat-related conditions like heatstroke also pose serious seasonal health risks, especially in northern and...
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Alleged “Arab mafia” members arrested in Bangkok
The chief of the Thai immigration police today announced the arrest of two Arabs in Bangkok’s Nana area. INN reports that they’re “local mafia”, running protection rackets and committing robberies and assaults. The case began when a Thai salon owner filed a report with Lumpini police claiming that her husband and 3 year old son were assaulted by 2 men…
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Bangkok police nab illegal Nigerian 2 year overstayer with cocaine
A Nigerian man who entered Thailand illegally 2 years ago has arrested in Bangkok’s Suan Luang area and found to be in possession of cocaine. Thailand’s immigration chief says immigration officers were keeping tabs on a drug distribution network and soon had a black man in their sights at a condo building in the Suan Luang area of the capital.…
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Thailand’s GDP forecast to fall up to 9% this year
Thailand’s GDP is set to fall 7-9%, year-on-year, according to the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking. The fall is, not surprisingly, being fallout from the catastrophic drop in tourism and lower exports. Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand, says the expected contraction was revised downwards from 5-8%. The committee also predicted exports would drop…
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Human trafficking and drugs suspects nabbed using airport biometrics
2 suspects have recently been arrested using the biometric security system recently installed in international airports across Thailand. In the first case, a suspected human trafficker was apprehended after returning to Thailand during the Covid-19 crisis. Immigration officers received information from Chiang Mai police about a person travelling into Thailand from Japan. On July 14, a Thai citizen returned to…
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10 new 5G towers going up in Nong Prue, Pattaya
The Nong Prue tambon, to the east of Pattaya City, will be the home of 10 new 5G WiFi “Smart Poles” . The installation starts this month. The announcements were made by the Nong Prue Mayor Mine Chiyanit and the team from United Technology Enterprise who are installing the new towers and technology. The Smart Pole set ups will be installed…
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Bangkok casino gunman’s killer surrenders, confesses
In the ongoing saga of Monday’s fatal shooting a Bangkok gambling den, a suspect surrendered to police today for shooting dead a gunman in the illegal casino in Bangkok’s Yannawa district. A man calling himself “Boy BanKrua” turned himself in to police and handed in the gun he allegedly used. The suspect says he shot 61 year old Taworn Sisot,…
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Police questioned as casino shootout evidence goes missing
Bankok police are being questioned over their handling the Monday’s shooting incident at an illegal gambling den in the capitol’s Thung Mahamek area, in which 4 people, including a police officer, died, and whether officers are concealing evidence. The secretary-general of the Justice Reform Institute said yesterday that police appear to be treating the shooting in the same way they treated…
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No current plans to extend list of foreigners allowed back into Thailand
There is no immediate plan to extend the list of foreigners being allowed to come to Thailand at the moment. Specifically still excluded are retirees with valid visas, homes and families in Thailand. The directive comes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since Thailand’s experience with Covid-19, it has closed its borders to tourists and visitors, stranding both Thais and…
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Tourism sector pin hopes on “Safe and Sealed” scheme to lure international visitors
In the latest plan to bolster Thailand’s withering tourism industry, business operators are proposing a new inbound tourism plan called “Safe and Sealed”, to replace the delayed “travel bubbles” scheme and prevent Thailand realising the worst-case revenue scenario of only 675 billion baht next year, down from 3 trillion in 2019. At a joint meeting yesterday of the Tourism and…
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Unidentified woman attacks foreign man in Pattaya
Police in Pattaya report that a foreign man was attacked by an unidentified woman in front of a restaurant on the city’s Beach Road. The incident occurred at 6:15pm yesterday at a McDonald’s located on Beach Road between Soi 5 and Soi 6. The man, whose name and nationality are being withheld by police, was attacked by a Thai woman…
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Harry Potter-themed protest openly questions monarchy’s role
Thai protesters strayed into more sensitive territory Monday night as they added the prickly, and largely taboo, topic of the Thai monarchy to the list of issues to include in their demonstrations. At a Harry Potter-themed rally, dubbed “Harry Potter versus You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”, anti-government demonstrators at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument demanded changes to Thailand’s revered monarchy and called for curbs…
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Police seize property valued at 200 million baht from suspected hill tribe drug gang – VIDEO
Anti-narcotics police in 4 provinces seized property valued at around 200 million baht from a suspected drug trafficking gang… mostly northern hill tribe people, in coordinated raids yesterday. 30 targets in Bangkok and Hua Hin, as well as in northern and southern provinces, were raided by armed officers. 24 houses, 5 shophouses, 12 land title deeds, 22 cars and 27…
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Koh Samui bridge collapse leaves truck stuck under pier
In the second setback in a week for the beleagured Raja Ferry Co., a steel boarding bridge for vehicles at Raja 1 ferry pier on Koh Samui collapsed yesterday, leaving a truck wedged under the wharf. The incident follows Saturday’s ferry disaster in which 3 people are confirmed dead and 3 remain missing. The pier is one of the 3…
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PM vows to “spare no one” in fatal casino shooting
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has says he will “spare no one” if Monday night’s fatal shooting shooting in a Bangkok gambling den involved illegal police activity. He was reacting to the shooting death of Watthanaset Samniangprasert, an interrogation inspector at Samae Dam police station in Bang Bon district, and 3 others, 1 of them a woman, at a gambling den in…
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Stormy weather wreaks havoc, destroys homes, in southern Thailand
The current stormy conditions have caused severe damage to a number of homes in the southern province of Surat Thani, with some villagers left homeless. At one property in the Phra Sang district, the roof and garage have collapsed, with the 45 year old homeowner, Rachan Churak, having to flea the property with his family. Rachan says the damage occurred…
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Legally grown marijuana to boost medical field, economy
In its weekly meeting yesterday, the Cabinet approved a Public Health Ministry proposal to amend the Narcotics Act to allow patients, medical practitioners and traditional healers to grow marijuana for medical and commercial use. The deputy government spokeswoman said the Cabinet approved the proposal submitted by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to amend narcotics legislation enacted last year. Anutin, also…
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Farmers call on Thai government to overturn ban on pesticide use
A group of Thai farmers has submitted a letter to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, citing the ineffectiveness of products used to replace Paraquat and Chlorpyrifos, and calling for the ban on those chemicals, introduced on June 1, to be overturned. In the letter, they suggest the Hazardous Substances Committee impose restrictions on use of the products instead, while educating farmers on…
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Independent panel recommend re-instatement of ‘Boss’ charges
Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya is likely to not only face charges of “reckless driving causing death” but also drugs charges involving Cocaine use. In another dramatic twist in the ongoing “Boss” saga, an independent panel has recommended the reckless driving charge be re-instated along with new charges of Cocaine abuse. Nearly 2 weeks ago the deputy attorney-general, and an acting police…
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Thai PM says he supports changes to Constitution
In an apparent nod to the student protests which have swept the nation for over 2 weeks, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has promised to push for constitutional amendments, saying the government will present its version of a charter rewrite bill in the next parliamentary session. Speaking after yesterday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Prayut said his position has been to support the…
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Maid fakes burglary after stealing employer’s safe
A Burmese maid has been arrested after stealing a safe from her employer and then trying to convince her there had been a burglary. The worker, named only as 34 year old Ice, was employed by 62 year old Samniang at her home in the central province of Samut Songkhram, some 80 kilometres south-west of Bangkok. Samniang says she called…
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Independent panel reviews Boss case to see if it can be re-opened
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has asked the independent panel examining the dismissal of charges relating to the 2012 hit-and-run case against Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya if it can be re-opened. Prosecutors abruptly decided not to arraign Boss on a charge of “reckless driving causing death” after the other charges relating to the incident had lapsed due to the statute of limitations. “I’ve…
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107 kilograms of cannabis seized, 3 arrested in Chon Buri drugs bust
Police in Chon Buri have carried out a large drug seizure, confiscating 107 kilograms of cannabis, as well as other items. 3 suspects are under arrest. Police confirmed the arrests and confiscation of illegal substances at a press conference held shortly after. The first 2 arrests took place at a restaurant in Soi Buakhao in Pattaya, with the suspects named…
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Price of gold rises but investment not without risks
A leading investment research firm says the price of gold is on the rise, with predictions bullion could reach US$2,000 an ounce. Chayanee Juengmanon from Morningstar Research Thailand says one exchange-traded fund favoured by most domestic gold mutual funds, recorded net inflows of over $20 billion within the last year, a 30% increase in the value of its assets. gold…
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Over 1,000 homes damaged as remnants of tropical storm Sinlaku wreaks havoc in Ranong
Tropical storm Sinlaku has made its presence felt in the southern province of Ranong, damaging over 1,000 properties in the Pak Nam district. Pak Nam’s location on the Andaman Sea means it bore the brunt of the storm, but the district of Suksamran was also badly affected, with several homes dragged into the sea by a fierce current co-inciding with…
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Phuket may be chosen as test case in phased re-opening to foreign tourists
As the Tourism Authority of Thailand considers how the country might safely re-open its borders, the Bangkok Post reports that there are tentative plans afoot to kick off the project with Phuket, possibly in October. The director-general of the Department of Health, Panpimon Wipulakorn, says Phuket’s position as a self-contained island means it would be easier to control any potential…
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Chon Buri and Pattaya residents told to prepare for a week of rain and potential floods
Rain, and more rain. That’s the forecast for many parts of Thailand today. Already, over the past 24 hours, there has been torrential rain storms hitting parts of Phuket and Chiang Mai. Today the Thai Meteorological Department is forecasting a week of poor weather ahead in the Chon Buri province, east of Bangkok. There is an 80% chance of rain…
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Thai PM orders seizure of body of key “Boss” witness for new autopsy
The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered officials to seize the body of a new witness who emerged 10 days ago in the Boss Yoovidhya hit-and-run case from 2012. The PM has instructed a new autopsy to end public speculation about the circumstances of his death – a motorcycle road death in Chiang Mai last week. Meanwhile, Chiang Mai police released…
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Swiss clothing firm denies layoffs
Contradicting earlier reports, Triumph International (Thailand) has denied any link with a garment company that laid off 800 employees on Friday. A statement from the Swiss Triumph Holding AG on yesterday said the company sold its production facilities in Thailand to Body Fashion (Thailand) 4 years ago. Accoding to the company’s head of corporate communications: “In fact, Triumph has handed…
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Second autopsy requested in Red Bull witness’s death
Police in Chiang Mai have asked the family of a key defence witness in the ongoing case of Vorayuth Yoovidhya, heir to the Red Bull drinks empire, to delay the cremation of his body. 40 year old Jaruchart Martthong was killed in a motorbike accident on Thursday involving another driver. Chiang Mai police say CCTV footage shows that Jaruchart tried…
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Hundreds left jobless as Air Force cancels golf club contract
Hundreds of people were left jobless in Chiang Mai yesterday after Wing 41, a property owned by the Royal Thai Air Force and the location of the Star Dome Golf Club, put up a sign cancelling its contracts with all renters. According to Wing 41, all contracts expired yesterday and as of today Star Dome will no longer be open…
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