Hot News
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Sponsored Siam Paragon's 'The Luxury Watch Destination' presents exclusive showcase of luxury timepieces
Siam Paragon reaffirms its positioning as the "Luxury Watch Destination," Thailand’s epicentre of over 43 prestigious watch brands. This underscores the confidence of leading watch houses and Siam Paragon’s commitment to delivering world-class and unparalleled experiences to the customers continuously....
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Koh Phi Phi officials say keep sea clean after pregnant shark trapped in hat dies
The head of Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park is advising people to keep the Andaman Sea clean after divers found a pregnant blacktip reef shark dead, her body stuck in what appears to be part of a woven straw hat that had unravelled and gotten tied up in coral. In a video from the divers, the brim and top…
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Thailand’s boat show saga – aches and pains for Phuket’s yachting industry
“The country’s leisure yachting businesses may face yet another round of ‘too many boat shows’ once the Covid disruptor has passed into relative insignificance.” It’s hard to imagine something as straightforward as a boat show causing endless controversy – but that has been the case almost since Thailand’s first show, Phuket International Marine Expo (PIMEX), held in 2003 at the…
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Love is in the air… and the beer… and the Prosecco
Origins of Valentine’s Day, with a Thai twist, by Barry Daniel Saint Valentine’s Day is traditionally a time for romance, flowers, candle-lit dinners and the whispering of sweet nothings into the shell-like ear of the object of your affections. But in Phuket there can be other distractions! History is unclear on whether any of The Beatles had journeyed to Thailand…
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Oil still pollutes Rayong beach, Thai tourist says oil on his body after a swim
Following the second oil leak in Rayong, not only was leaked crude oil still on Mae Ramphueng Beach, but a Thai tourist says water reeked of oil and his body was covered in oily stains after a swim. Another local shared a picture of what looks like a coral-covered with a black strain. Locals say they are worried about the…
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Tourist who sat on endangered reef faces 10 years in prison, up to 1 million baht fine
A Thai tourist who posted a photograph of himself sitting on an endangered coral reef faces a fine of up to 1 million baht and a 10-year prison sentence. Wisutr Rattanasathian shared a photograph on his Facebook page on Saturday, which shows him sitting on the protected reef off Koh Khram Noi, in the Sattahip district of Trat province, eastern…
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Recent crimes in Phuket are damaging its reputation
Just when Phuket thought it was about to revive its crippled tourism economy, the recent murders, thefts, and taxi ripoffs on the Island province are scarring its public image. The most high profile recent event is the murder by two hitmen of deported Canadian gangster Jimi Sandhu at a villa in Rawai, on the southern coast of the island. The…
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UPDATE: Phuket gunmen named, possible related shooting in Canada last Tuesday
Police have identified the 2 gunmen who are being sought over the apparent gangland killing of Indian-born Jimi Sandhu on February 4 in Rawai, Phuket. Arrest warrants for 2 Canadian men have been issued. The alleged gunmen have been named as 36 year old Gene Karl Lahrkamp and Matthew Leandre Ovide Dupre, also 36. The arrest warrants follow an intensive…
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Robbers shoot and kill customer in Northern Thailand gold shop
Three robbers fired bullets through a glass door of a gold shop yesterday in Tak, in Northern Thailand, killing one customer. The customer was a 30 year old man. He died after being rushed to the hospital. The robbers smashed another glass door of the shop with a hammer. They then smashed the showcases where the gold was being displayed.…
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21 Thai fraud gangsters caught in Cambodia, will be deported back home
A joint team of Thai and Cambodian police caught 21 Thai fraud gangsters in Cambodia who allegedly tricked Thais into investing in fake digital assets. The 21 people are part of three different gangs headed by Chinese nationals. The director of the Police Cyber Task Force says one gang stayed in a hotel, and tricked Thais into investing in fake…
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Fisheries Department will temporarily halt gulf fishing for marine breeding season
The deputy director-general of the Fisheries Department announced yesterday that in coming months, four areas of the gulf will be closed to fishermen for marine breeding season. From February 15 to May 15, waters near the coasts of Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, and Surat Thani will close. From May 16 to June 14, the foot of Khao Ta Mong Lai…
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Thailand hopeful to draw Indian tourists with new travel bubble
Ah yes, another travel bubble proposal. This time with India. Thailand hopes to fix its plundered tourism economy by drawing in more Indian tourists with a new plan between the two countries known as the Thai-Indian Air Travel Bubble. A spokesperson for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said the ATB will give extra convenience to people travelling between Thailand…
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Volunteer teams clean trash and weeds from Phuket canal
Two volunteer organisations are joining forces to clear garbage and weeds from the Bang Yai Canal, which runs from Samkong into Phuket Town on Phuket’s east coast. The organisations are the Royal Thai Volunteers and the Rak Bang Yai Club, who announced the cleanup plan on video teleconference yesterday. The groups say they hope to clear the “bad smells” coming…
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Thailand, post Covid. What needs to change?
OPINION As Thailand starts to peer out from behind the Covid curtain, many expats and potential travellers are wondering if much will change after 2 years of lockdowns, closures re-openings and re-entry ‘plans’. Will we see changes in visas, property ownership, entry requirements and business laws? One of our YouTube commenters wrote in with his current ‘wish list’ (below). As…
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First 10 days of February arrival figures for Thailand – Test & Go V2 “sluggish”
So who is travelling to Thailand at the moment, and how many are coming through the turnstiles? For the first 10 days of February, there was a total of 55,823 travellers entering Thailand. 23,036 travellers entered on the Test and Go program, another 27,667 through the Sandbox scheme and 5,120 arrived to do the Alternative Quarantine program at a qualified…
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Second oil leak from undersea pipeline discovered in waters off Rayong
Officials in Rayong are once again dealing with an oil leak from an undersea pipeline belonging to Star Petroleum. According to the Pollution Control Department, the oil slick has been spotted in the Map Ta Phut sea. Department boss Atthaphol Charoenchansa says Star Petroleum has confirmed that around 5,000 litres of oil have created the slick, which extends for about…
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Thailand ranks 72 in Democracy Index 2021
The Economist Intelligence Unit has officially deemed Thailand a “flawed democracy” out of four categories: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes. It ranked Thailand 72 out of 167 countries in its “Democracy Index 2021,” which ranks countries for how democratic they are. The EIU says democracy has declined across the globe since 2020. That year, 49.4% of…
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Police in Phuket find guns suspected to have been used to murder Jimi Sandhu
Police have found two guns at a beach in Phuket which they believed were used in the recent murder of 32 year old Jimi “Slice” Sandhu, a notorious gangster from Canada. Sandhu, who was born in India, was deported from Canada for “serious criminality” in 2016. He entered Thailand by private jet on January 27 carrying a fake Canadian passport…
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Central Festival Samui opens Covid test centre for Test & Go, Sandbox tourists
A Covid-19 testing centre has opened on Koh Samui to travellers entering under either the Sandbox or Test & Go travel schemes. Koh Samui Hospital and Bangkok Hospital Samui have teamed up with Central Festival Samui to open the “Samui Swab Centre” to offer convenient Covid-19 RT-PCT tests for tourists who are required to take two tests after entering Thailand.…
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Phuket conservationists butt heads with locals on coral reef
Conservationists are fighting to stop a bay being dredged in Ao Kung in Pa Khlok, on Phuket’s east coast, as they say it will damage nearby coral reefs. A former village headman says the bay needs to be dredged because fishing boats have a hard time getting to the port at low tide. At a meeting with representatives of local…
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Criminals pretend to be police, scam Swiss man in Phuket
Scammers went after a Swiss national living in Phuket when they pretended to be police, and told him he had to pay a fine for receiving funds through illegal activities. The “police” contacted the man, Alain, saying a FedEx package couldn’t be delivered. Since Alain was expecting a FedEx package, he listened. The story then changed to say Bangkok police…
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Insurance companies “hesitate” to give Covid-19 insurance to foreign tourists
After facing losses from Covid-19 claims from local cases, many Thai insurance companies are indicating that they are hesitant to provide Covid-19 insurance for foreign tourists entering Thailand under the current regulations. The deputy governor of marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand said only a few companies are now interested in joining the Test & Go programme, the…
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Activist ousted from protest movement amid sexual misconduct allegations
A student activist has been stripped of his membership of the Dome Revolution Party, a movement he led, over sexual misconduct allegations. Sirichai Nathuang, a 21-year-old Thammasat University student, has also lost his seat on the Thammasat University Student Council, according to a Bangkok Post report. Sirichai has been come in for fierce criticism on Twitter after a fellow student…
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Oil-affected Rayong beach will host Valentine’s Day event to celebrate reopening
Love will conquer all, including an oil spill off the Thai coastline. The Rayong beach where oil reached its shores last month will host a Valentine’s Day event called “Rayong in Love” to celebrate the beach’s reopening. The event at Mae Ram Phueng Beach will start on Saturday, February 12, and end on Monday, February 14. The Rayong governor said…
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Pattaya drunks steal road signs to pay for more booze
Three drunk men in Pattaya cut up several road signs and planned to sell the parts for money to buy more booze. Police saw the three men with hardware tools, stealing signs on main roads in the Pattaya and Banglamung area. Police arrested one man, 27, and he’s now being charged for theft. The other two men fled the scene.…
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Songkran to be cancelled if daily Covid numbers hit 30,000 – DDC
Thailand’s famous water festival Songkran might be cancelled for another year if the daily Covid-19 cases reach 30,000 cases per day, the Department of Disease Control says. The massive water gun fight, celebrating the Thai New Year, was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to coronavirus concerns. The DDC warns that Songkran, which is April 13 to 15 this year,…
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One Night in Bangkok: Top 5 hotels to wine and dine your dinner date for Valentine’s Day 2022
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, choosing the perfect place to celebrate with your current or soon-to-be significant other can be quite the challenge. Fortunately, for those living in the Big Mango, there are numerous hotels offering a delectable array of luxurious menus and memorable views — at unforgettable (i.e. exorbitant) prices. So here’s a shortlist of our Top…
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Government cracks down hard on pork hoarders
After Songkhla authorities accused one food company of hoarding 200 tonnes of pork in January, the government is on a mission to crack down on pork hoarding. Authorities have gotten more strict about storage and receiving procedures, and inspected 24.48 million kilograms of pork. They then seized 1.07 million kilograms of it that was hoarded. Pork prices are finally lowering…
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Travellers can register for the Thailand Pass no less than 24 hours before their trip
For those planning a trip to Thailand, travellers will need to register for the required Thailand Pass QR code no less than 24 hours before a trip, but the Thai government is highly recommending that travellers register and plan a trip at least seven days in advance as the processing time before approval can take three to seven days. For…
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Thai police track down, arrest suspect in bank robbery case
Police arrested a man suspected of robbing a bank in the central province Saraburi and running off with around 210,000 baht in cash. In an expedited investigation, with local police promising to find the suspect within the week, officers tracked down and arrested 33 year old Weerachai Auttaparp at his house about 10 kilometres from the bank. Videos from the…
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Truck drivers threaten to camp in front of Energy Ministry because of diesel price
Angry truck drivers say they will protest and camp out in front of if Thailand’s energy ministry if the minister doesn’t lower diesel prices in seven days. The chairman of the Land Transport Federation of Thailand (LTFT) also said the federation would join protests with other groups hurt by Thailand’s rising cost of living, like farmers affected by low crop…
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