Hot News
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6 sentenced to 20-50 years in prison for Eagle Gates investment scam
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced 6 people to prison for money laundering and investment fraud. The 6 defendants were involved with the Eagle Gates Group, a company which was found to be a front for transnational crime, according to the Department of Special Investigation. The first defendant was sentenced to 50 years in prison while the other 5 were each…
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Could there be another coup in Thailand? VIDEO
Our analysis about the likelihood of another coup in Thailand, along with a list of 12 previous coups and their consequences. Please watch the video and subscribe to our YouTube Thaiger channel. Last Thursday was another day of political cat and mouse, protesters staging three more rallies around Bangkok whilst officials again huffed and puffed, not really sure exactly how…
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Inequality likely after economic recovery – Bank of Thailand governor
It’s expected to take at least 2 years for Thailand’s economy to recover, but once it does, inequality is likely to become a top concern, according to the Bank of Thailand governor Sethaput Suthiwart-Narueput. “It is expected to take at least two years before the Thai economy returns to its pre-pandemic levels in terms of GDP… Even when the economy…
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Surin merchants report fake 100 baht bills
Fake 100 baht bank notes are reportedly being exchanged in the Isaan province Surin. 2 local merchants say they were each handed what appears to be a counterfeit bill from a customer. A noodle vendor at the Surin Municipal Market says she noticed a 100 baht bill she got from a customer felt strange, more like photocopy paper, she said.…
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Maya Bay may re-open next year, under strict conditions
The government is considering re-opening Maya Bay in 2021, although things are not expected to return to how they once were, with the famous beach overrun by out-of-control tourist numbers each day. Nation Thailand reports that a panel of environmental experts will be consulted on a possible re-opening of the bay, made famous in 2000 with the release of the…
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Norwegian expat in Pattaya arrested on child porn charges
An elderly Norwegian man has been arrested in Pattaya on charges of downloading, collecting, and possessing child pornography. The 87 year old expat was arrested yesterday in the Jomtien area, after authorities identified his computer IP address as being the source of illegal downloads of child sexual abuse material. The Pattaya News reports that members of the Institute of Forensic…
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Tourism Minister optimistic high season will see 10 million domestic trips a month
The Tourism and Sports Minister is aiming to see domestic tourists undertake 10 million trips a month during the forthcoming high season. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn is hopeful the stimulus measures approved by Cabinet will boost tourism numbers and help off-set some of the economic devastation caused by the closure of Thailand’s borders. Domestic tourism first began to pick up in May,…
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Police arrest man for allegedly hiring a 9 year old boy to deliver drugs
Police arrested a man for allegedly hiring a 9 year old boy to help him deliver illicit drugs. Weerasak Khongsuk from Buriram was charged with drug possession and inciting youth to commit crimes. Weerasak would allegedly pay the child up to 300 baht per delivery. The pay would depend on the amount of drugs the boy was delivering. Police say…
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Temperatures to drop in Northern Thailand, heavy rain expected in the South
The wettest month of the Thai seasons has past. Now we head into cooler, and drier weather, at least in the central and northern regions. Cooler weather is expected in Northern Thailand while a monsoonal trough over Southern Thailand is expected to bring heavy rain, according to the Thai Meteorological Department. Meteorologists say cool weather with isolated rain is possible…
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2 alleged drug traffickers killed in shoot off with task force officers
Special task force officers shot and killed 2 men suspected of drug trafficking in a shoot off in Chiang Rai’s Mae Fa Luang district during a 2-day drug suppression operation in 3 provinces. Altogether, authorities seized more than 9 million methamphetamine pills and arrested 2 men on drug trafficking charges. In Chiang Rai, soldiers from the Pha Muang task force…
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PM calls for long-term plans to revitalise Phuket and Koh Samui
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is calling for long-term plans to rehabilitate Thailand’s tourist destinations following his visit to Koh Samui and Phuket where he saw first hand how the Covid-19 pandemic affected both islands. Prayut says conditions at Phuket are much more drastic as the province heavily relies on international travel. The prime minister says Phuket generates the second-highest income from…
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Empty Emirates plane lands in Phuket, first international flight since lockdown
An empty Emirates Airlines plane landed at the Phuket International Airport, the first international arrival at the airport since the Covid-19 lockdown was put in place 7 months ago. While no passengers were onboard the aircraft, flight EK376 was welcomed by a “water cannon salute” and landed while PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was visiting the airport, according to a Facebook post…
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4 political activists, including human rights lawyer Anon, released from custody
Human rights lawyer and protest leader, Anon Nampa, has been released from custody, alongside 3 other pro-democracy activists. Thai PBS World reports that Aekkachai Hongkangwan, Somyot Prueksakasemsook, and Suranart Paenprasert left Bangkok Remand Prison with Anon, just after midnight last night. Their release comes after the Criminal Court rejected a bid by police to retain the 4 in custody. Anon…
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Pattaya journalist injured as foreigner steals gun, fires at police, then kills himself
An armed man has killed himself after a stand-off with police in Pattaya that lasted several hours, during which a journalist was shot. It’s understood the man, a 25 year old American citizen, stole a Glock 9mm with 8 bullets from a shooting range, with staff trying but failing to stop him from making his getaway on a motorbike, according…
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2 dead, 1 injured in suspected murder-suicide in Samut Prakan
A man allegedly shot and killed a woman before shooting himself to death after finding her in bed with another man. Police say the other man was shot and injured as he was fleeing the Samut Prakan apartment. Police were called to the second floor apartment above a boat noodle shop and found the owner of the shop, identified as…
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Hotels reluctant to apply for ASQ status due to government’s cap on tourist arrivals
With the number of foreign arrivals who can enter Thailand on the special tourist visa limited to just 1,200 a month, hotel owners say they’re reluctant to apply for alternative state quarantine status. Hoteliers say a lack of tourists in sufficient numbers, coupled with the number of quarantine facilities already in existence, means the investment required to gain ASQ approval…
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Aghast! PornHub blocked in Thailand, again
Thais will be out on the streets protesting again. This time over an apparent blocking by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of the porn portal ‘PornHub’. The site was started in 2007 and has developed into one of the world’s most popular adult porn platforms and is the ‘go to’ favourite of Thais, well until yesterday anyway. Logging…
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Thai Airways offers ‘semi-commercial’ flights to 7 international destinations
After a major slowdown in both international and domestic travel due to coronavirus travel restrictions, Thai Airways is now offering flights to and from 7 international destinations over the next 2 months, according to the airline’s chief executive Wiwat Piyawirot. These flights are “semi-commercial.” Wiwat says return flights are intended for Thais returning home from overseas, those with families in…
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“We love them all the same” – His Majesty comments about the Thai protesters
In a rare moment, and certainly the first time commenting about the current political unrest, His Majesty King Vajiralongkorn has described Thailand as “the land of compromise”. The comment came in response from a question by Jonathan Miller, a correspondent of British broadcaster Channel 4, who was part of an audience of international media invited to sit among a crowd of royalist…
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Phuket is “100% ready” for Special Tourist Visa flights – Transport Minister
The Phuket International Airport is ready for international tourists. The airport has been preparing for weeks and initially expected a group foreigners on the new Special Tourist Visa to arrive last month. Covid-19 mobile testing vehicles were even sent to the airport in early October, prepared to test all the tourists upon arrival, but the travel plans were cancelled last…
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3 people missing after being swept away by flash flooding in Prachinburi
A Highways Department official and 2 villagers are missing in the eastern province of Prachinburi, after they were swept away by strong currents caused by heavy flooding. Thai PBS World reports that heavy rain resulted in water runoffs from mountains in Khao Yai and Tap Larn national parks, leading to flash floods. 32 provinces were on alert after heavy rains…
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Minister declares Phuket Airport ready to welcome STV arrivals
The Thai Transport Minister has declared Phuket International Airport ready to welcome tourists arriving under the recently-launched Special Tourist Visa scheme. A similar announcement was also made in the days before the much-discussed October 8 STV tourists who never arrived. Now we wait again… Peppering all these apparent preparations is a visit from the PM and cabinet officials to Phuket.…
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Fuel tanker driver killed in crash, truck engulfed in flames
A fuel tanker truck driver died yesterday in the northern province Lamphun after crashing into a car. The truck carrying fuel overturned and caught fire. 59 year old Nikom Kamchan’s body was found near the wreck after firefighters extinguished the fire. It’s the second fuel tanker fire in the past week. 29 year old Patcharin Somsawan says he was driving…
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PM in 2 day visit to economically-ravaged islands of Phuket, Samui
The PM and his Cabinet are visiting Phuket and Samui today and tomorrow, in order to meet with business leaders and provincial government, to discuss ways to help the decimated local economies. Since the closure of borders in late March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began its worldwide rampage, former tourist hotspots like the southern islands have borne the brunt of…
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2 protest leaders re-arrested while recuperating in hospital
3 protest leaders are recovering in hospital following skirmishes outside the Bangkok Remand Prison during their release on Friday night. 2 of the 3, Panupong Jadnok and Parit Chiwarak have been re-arrested, while still recovering at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok. Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul is also being treated at the hospital and it’s understood police are seeking a court order to…
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When hoteliers emerge from 2020, the business will be hard
OPINION Is it time re-imagine the guest relationship? Globally, more than a hundred million travel and hospitality jobs will be lost in 2020 due to Covid-19. Here in Phuket, where I moved in 1988 as the opening general manager at Amanpuri, we have seen as many as 60,000 job losses in the hotel sector alone, which accounts for 86,000 registered rooms,…
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POLL: Do you believe anything was achieved after last week’s emergency session?
Asked about the effectiveness of last week’s emergency joint session to discuss the political impasse, most Thais believe the talkfest in the Thai Parliament was just a “stalling tactic”, buying time for the incumbent coalition government. The debate was held last Monday and Tuesday. There were no substantive motions coming from the 2 days of debate, merely the setting up…
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Eerie green glow hovers over Ranong on Halloween
Thai social media is in a meltdown after people shared photos an “eerie green glow” spotted in night sky over Ranong province in southern Thailand (5 hour drive north from Phuket). The pictures of the eerie green glow were snapped by residents living in Muang Ranong district. Of course the theories have been coming thick and fast – it was…
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Foreigners who test positive for C19 in Thailand won’t be able to use the public health system
The battle to reopen Thailand’s borders is shaping up as a 3-way PR fight between economic hawks who are eager to re-open to reboot the country’s tourism industry, a government and medical officials resting on their laurels after containing the virus, and a risk-averse population who, survey after survey, indicate they are keen to keep the borders closed. In another…
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Nearly 5,000 Thai Airways staff to deplane in voluntary resignations
Officially, 4,977 staff at Thai Airways have applied for different stages of its Mutual Separation Plan for the survival of the airline. In other words they’ve been politely asked to resign. The airline employs about 20,000 people. The beleaguered national carrier has endured a decade of substantial losses, endless headlines about systemic corruption, padded senior staff contracts and executive perks.…
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