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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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Phuket’s high season delayed until after Christmas
PHOTO: The Hotel Specialist “Diversifying Phuket’s market to rely less on Chinese tourists is key to improving tourism in the province.” It will be a quiet Christmas in Phuket as the island’s high season will come late for hotels this year, with most reservations are for after the Christmas celebration. Tourism in Phuket usually increases in November, but this year’s November…
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Bangkok air pollution on the rise again
Flimsy paper face masks will be the only winner in the latest round of air pollution smoking up Bangkok at the moment. The Thai Pollution Control Department reports that excessive PM2.5 particulate is currently on the rise in the capital, suburbs and two neighbouring provinces. PM2.5 particulate is the term used to describe very fine dust particles that reduce visibility…
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Phuket King’s Cup regatta organisers deny allegations of coral destruction at Kata
SCREENSHOT: Part of the post from the Kata Beach Shore Diving The 2019 King’s Cup Regatta in Phuket has been run and won, packed up and gone home. The annual event, run for the 33rd time this year, is one Thailand’s most prestigious yachting regattas and traditionally allows its vessels to anchor in the natural Kata harbour, using the Beyond…
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Hotel association wants rules on short-term rentals, home sharing
PHOTO: Airbnb and other accommodation-share businesses, plus a glut of newly opened hotels rooms across the country, is putting pressure on the traditional hotel model The Thai Hotels Association has again asked for a meeting with the Minister of the Interior to discuss the impact of short-term rentals and home sharing services like Airbnb on the domestic hotel business. The…
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You introduce new visa requirements? We don’t send any tours.” – Taiwan
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times “This is not the first time the Thailand Trade and Economic Office has come under fire for enforcing unpopular policies that were introduced without a lot of thought.” It’s now emerged that the proposed requirement for Taiwanese tourists to submit financial statements to obtain a Thai visa happened after the Travel Agents Association of Taiwan threatened to…
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Bad report card for PM Prayut after 6 months in office
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has scored poorly in an opinion poll by the National Institute for Development Administration, or NIDA, after his first six months in office. The poll ran from November 29-December 3 and included 1,278 adults from across Thailand with varying occupations and education levels. The purpose of the survey was to gauge satisfaction with the Thai PM’s…
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Thai beauty takes Miss Supranational crown
PHOTO: PAGEANTCircle A Thai contestant, Anntonia Porsild, has been crowned Miss Supranational 2019, beating out contestants from 77 countries. She is the first Thai to receive the honour. Miss Supranational is a privately organised beauty pageant organised by a Polish TV network. Yana Haenisch from Namibia, Jesica Fitriana from Indonesia, Janick Maceta del Castillo from Peru, and Gabriela De La…
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Speaker demands to know how renegade MP could attend House vote
PHOTO: House Speaker Chuan Leekpai. “Please explain”. Parliamentary House Speaker Chuan Leekpai is demanding an investigation into why parliamentary security didn’t arrest fugitive MP Waipote Arpornrat when he attended a House meeting on Wednesday. Opposition MPs have voiced suspicion over the presence of Waipote, a member of the Palang Pracharat party, in the House chamber for a crucial vote over…
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Strong winds topple power poles in Prachuap Khiri Khan
PHOTO: Chaiwat Satyaem Strong winds have knocked down four high-voltage poles in the south-central province of Prachuap Khiri Khan, damaging roadside shops and buildings. The disruption damaged local power and electrical appliances in many homes in the Pran Buri district, south of Hua Hin, on Saturday. The damage happened whilst the Thai Meteorological Department was issuing more warnings of strong winds in…
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Airport Link offers free rides on December 12 so people can watch the Royal Barge Procession
PHOTO: royalcoastreview.com Bangkok’s Airport Rail Link is offering free rides on December 12 to people heading to the shores of the Chao Phraya, and vantage points, to welcome His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn in the final act of the Royal Coromnation. The Royal Barge Procession is the final ceremony of his coronation which was held earlier this year between May…
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Increase agreed for Thailand’s minimum wage
PHOTO: Chiang Mai Citylife Thailand’s minimum daily wage is going up. But not by much. The National Wage Committee has singled out nine provinces for a 6 baht increase in the minimum daily wage, while the rest of the country gets an increase of 5 baht. The Permanent Secretary of Labour, Suthi Sukosol, confirms the nine provinces are Chonburi in eastern…
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Thai government looks to revive Pak Bara and Songkhla deep-sea port projects
The government is looking at reviving deep sea-port projects in the south of Thailand. They were shelved two years ago as the government bowed to public opposition at the time. The Transport Ministry is considering reviving the Pak Bara, Satun, and Songkhla deep-sea port projects. Both projects are in the south of the country. The projects have been shelved at…
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Calls for Government to take shark fin soup off the menu at official functions
PHOTO: Government members arrive at the Rajpruek Club on Tuesday night for dinner including shark-fin soup – Pornprom Satrabhaya/Bangkok Post Shark Fin-Gate has riled plenty of activists and opened up an environmental can of worms. An environmental foundation is calling on the Government to stop serving shark fin soup at its functions, after it was revealed that the dish had…
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Cooler weekend on the way across Thailand
PHOTO: rove.me It’s winter, but not in the smow/sleet/icy roads sort of way. Winter in Thailand means clear blue skies in the south and cooler temperatures in the central and northern regions. (Five day forecasts below) Most parts of Thailand are forecast to experience cooler weather this weekend, when temperatures in the north and north-east are forecast to drop to…
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23rd dead dugong found off Krabi for 2019
PHOTOS: Thon Thamrongnawasawat Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat, marine biologist and academic, has posted about the region’s 23rd dugong found dead this year. The dugong was 2.7 metre long and 51 centimetres wide. The dugong’s body parts were still intact and there was no trace of physical attack or damage. The dugong body was found in Moo 1, Ban Hua Laem, Koh…
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Over 50 Chinese youth arrested for running scam call centre from Samui hotel
PHOTOS: CTN News 54 enterprising teenagers, most from China, have been arrested for running a call centre scam from a Koh Samui resort. The Chiang Rai Times reports that the arrests happened after police received a tip-off from a Chinese person who had worked for the call centre. Police say the Chinese teenagers were enticed to come and work for…
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Less rain for the south, colder weather for the central and north
PHOTO: Get out the coats and warm underwear if you’re in the north The Thailand Meteorological Department today forecasts cooler weather for central and northern parts of the country, as a result of a strong high-pressure system over southern China that is causing temperatures to drop by 1 to 3 °C in some areas. The north and north-east is now…
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Taiwan challenges Thai government over new visa requirements for their citizens
The Taiwanese government says it’s concerned about new Thai government visa rules being imposed on its citizens travelling to Thailand. A new application scheme launched on November 29 by the Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei now requires applicants to show evidence of sufficient funds for their trip. The requirement, which asks Taiwanese nationals to submit bank statements from…
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Thai Navy rush to contain oil slick in the Gulf – three rescued off sunken vessel
The Royal Thai Navy has sent two ships to prevent a 4 kilometre-long oil slick from advancing toward Thailand’s eastern Gulf coast. The vessels are equipped with skimmers, oil booms and oil dispersants contain the spill. The oil slick came from a sunken tanker, the Golden Bridge 2, that capsized and sank in high seas on December 3. It was about…
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Thai officials criticised for serving up shark fin soup at Government party
PHOTOS: Thai PBS World Environmental groups are outraged after shark fin soup was served at an official Government party in a Bangkok hotel on Tuesday. The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha attended the event. Thai PBS World reports that the soup was served at a gathering of various pro-government parties, as part of a menu that included steamed snow fish in…
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Wanted MP sneaks into Thai parliament for crucial vote
WANTED: Pol Lt-Gen Waipote Arpornrat Renegade fugitive MP Waipote Arpornrat escaped the notice of parliamentary police, and government MPs, when he managed to stroll in the Lower House parliamentary chamber undetected during Wednesday’s sitting. Arpornrat is a member of Palang Pracharat, the most prominent party of the ruling government coalition after jumping ship from the Pheu Thai party, He was stripped…
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Thai central bank calms businesses concerns over strong baht
The Bank of Thailand is attempting to quell business concerns over the strong baht, saying the currency will eventually reverse its upward trend and that more two-way movement in relation to the US dollar is expected in 2020. The central bank’s deputy governor Mathee Supapongse says that investors now see the baht as overvalued, given the kingdoms sluggish economic forecast…
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Thanathorn says “a storm might be coming”
PHOTO: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of the Future Forward Party, at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Bangkok – Khaosod English Thailand might again see street protests again, according to Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of the Future Forward Party and former MP. Thanathorn forecast the tipping point could come if the Future Forward party is dissolved next month. He was speaking yesterday…
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Government extends time for payouts to storm victims
People affected by tropical storms ‘Podul’ or ‘Kajiki’ are now eligible to receive compensation up to March 31 next year, an extension from the original deadline of November 25. Deputy spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek says households in 32 provinces are entitled to receive 5,000 baht each, from an overall budget of 2.09 billion baht. Tropical storm Kajiki was a full on…
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No tax on Chim Shop Chai stimulus package perks
The government will waive personal income tax on the financial privileges given to consumers under the Chim Shop Chai (Eat Shop Spend) economic stimulus programs that have been run over the past two months. This means the 1000 baht handout and the ‘cash-back’ rebate amounts won’t be subject to tax. The government spent 19 billion baht on the three phases…
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Police shoot and kill major meth trafficker in Nakhon Si Thammarat
PHOTOS: Chiang Rai Times A Burmese drug trafficker has been shot dead in a gunfight with police in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The ambush was the result of a sting after police pretended to be buyers. Authorities raided a house rented by the suspect and found a tablet press, 11 kilograms of methamphetamine powder, 500,000 ‘speed’ pills…
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Civic groups threaten legal action over U-turn on farm-chemical ban
686 civic groups threaten to sue Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit over the U-turn on banning three agri-chemicals. Thai PBS World reports that the groups are all in favour of the ban on paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos, which the National Hazardous Substances Committee (NHSC) recently agreed to ban. And then it changed its mind. They say they are working with a group…
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Thai victims’ group warns of mass protests against ‘military’ government
PHOTO: Adul Khiewboriboon, chairman of the Committee of Relatives of the Black May 1992 Victims A support group for families of victims of Thailand’s 1992 political unrest says the kingdom’s deteriorating political and economic environment could turn into violent street protests like those in Hong Kong. Adul Khiewboriboon, chairman of the Committee of Relatives of the Black May 1992 Victims, says…
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PM says Thailand must spend in dollars to weaken the baht
PHOTO: Bloomberg “We have to think how we will spend in dollars in many ways to help weaken the baht.” Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says the nation should think about ways to spend in US dollars to help weaken Thailand’s booming currency. Speaking in Bangkok the PM said that the private sector also needs to help with the process. “A current-accounts…
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The 33rd Phuket King’s Cup Regatta runs to December 7
The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, kicks off its 33rd year this week and will run to December 7, 2019. With 10 classes of Keelboats and Multihulls, and six International Dinghy Classes, and the new IOMC (International One Metre Class) class, the regatta aims to grow sustainable sailing communities and help develop the skills of a new wave of sailors and…
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